July Favourites

If you read my latest Life Lately post then you may know that this month wasn’t my strongest beauty-wise. I kept to a low-buy all month and the majority of it was spent makeup-free. Since I haven’t bought many new things either, when I have been wearing makeup it has been sticking mostly to my known favourites from my stash. So, in terms of favourites this month it has been pretty short and sweet and more skincare focused.

Starting with the one makeup item however that I have been obsessed with for the past couple of weeks. Not a newbie by any means and one I have mentioned plenty of times before, in fact it may have been in a previous favourites? It is the cult favourite Mac Velvet Teddy lipstick. Now it really took me a while to truly love this shade. I have a lot of Mac lipsticks in a similar colour family with others that I prefer more like Mehr and Twig for being that bit more pink and flattering. Velvet Teddy lies to the browner toned side of things with a hint of peachy tones. I always liked it but it never blew me away until recently. I strangely was desperate to wear it one day and I have been wearing it constantly recently. It is just a perfect nude that isn’t too brown and basically the whole my lips but better. So worth the hype!

Moving on to skincare bits, I have been trying a few new things recently skincare-wise and have been sticking to a much better routine now especially since I have had so many makeup-free days. First up is another cult product, this time the Pixi Glow Tonic. I had been desperate to try this exfoliating toner for so long cause if Caroline Hirons approves then it has to be a winner, right!? This is the first product I’ve tried from the Pixi brand but I am already thinking of many more products I want to try out. I have always been pretty poor and irregular in using toners/exfoliators in my routine but since I picked this up I have been trying to make sure I am getting my regular use. At first use it is quite difficult to understand what the product is doing but after a good few weeks I can definitely see a difference in my skin. Scarring from blemishes have been massively reduced and that is always my biggest concern as well my skin appearing fresher and smoother. I think I’ve found myself a great staple now in my routine!

If you recall my Origins beauty box post, then it will be no surprise that I am mentioning a product included in that post. I finally got to try the Origins VitaZing SPF 15 Moisturiser and I have been loving it from my first use. I do find moisturisers can be quite tricky to get right, many are pretty basic but not this. The consistency isn’t too thin yet it isn’t too thick and heavy, it feels moisturising and firming on the skin without feeling tacky. It also has a very sheer tint and delivers the most beautiful radiance which just makes this moisturiser so worthy of the pennies. It adds a lovely glow to the skin that looks flawless and healthy. Oh and did I mention it also has SPF included, winner! Again, this could be another long time skincare favourite of mine!

What have you been loving lately?

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Mac 90s Nude Lip Edit: Kylie Jenner Style

The whole Kylie Jenner, 90s nude lip trend might be one you are wishing to see the back off. If you are, I do apologise. I for one whilst am not a ‘fan’ of the Kardashian family, I do love the whole nude mauve lip thing. There is nothing wrong with a bit of a 90s throwback, right!? Anyway I’ve picked up quite a few nude shades from Mac in their lipsticks and liners and thought I would give you a little run down on my picks. A lot of the shades are quite similar to each other so I don’t recommend the need for all of them but hopefully if you are looking for a nude option then one of these might take your fancy!

MAC BRAVE (Satin Lipstick)

The lightest and most nude-ist of the bunch. As you can see I’ve had a lot of wear out of this one. This is a perfect everyday shade, perfect for going to work as it’s not too in your face. If you are not one for bold shades then this is a good shade to start with. If you do want to build it up, Soar lip liner underneath adds a little more oomph to it. The satin formula is one of my favourites from Mac, super creamy and comfortable to wear yet has a semi-matte finish on the lips. Some satin finishes are more long-wearing than others, this is a little on the shorter side for longevity but still not as bad as a more creamier lipsticks.

MAC FAUX (Satin Lipstick)

Essentially Brave but turned up a notch. This shade rocks up a little more deeper than Brave and is much more mauve-y and rosy in comparison. This is a perfect 90s nude shade and definitely one I recommend especially if you want a more creamier formula. Again this is in a satin finish with the same properties as Brave but I do find this a little more long wearing.

MAC VELVET TEDDY (Matte Lipstick)

Moving towards the browner tones. I couldn’t do this post without the cult favourite of them all, Velvet Teddy. This is probably the most popular from all the above due to all the KJ buzz. As you can see from the swatch below it is a lot more brown toned in comparison to the first two shades. Yet whilst I don’t really go for brown-y shades, this is still completely wearable as it does have rosy undertones to it so still is a really nice natural everyday shade. This shade comes in a matte finish so is more long wearing but still comfortable to wear since I haven’t found this drying at all on my lips.

MAC MEHR (Matte finish) 

Mehr is probably one of my favourite shades from the bunch. A gorgeous dusky rosy pink shade that is a little more bold than your everyday neutral but not too much. It feels creamy on the lips despite having a matte formula so is long wearing yet nice to wear. This shade also looks gorgeous over Mac Soar lipliner to deepen things a little more. A must have shade in my opinion!

MAC TWIG (Satin Lipstick)

I am going to try and refrain from raving too much about this one cause I love Twig so much! Probably my favourite Mac lipstick and probably even my favourite in general. Again from the picture above you can probably see the wear I’ve had out of it which is a lot! The shade is a gorgeous soft rosy brown-y colour which is super pigmented. The formula is satin again and this lipstick pretty much made me love satin finishes for being long wearing yet with such a creamy formula. I think this is such an underrated shade!

MAC WHIRL (Matte finish) 

A newer one in my collection, this is the deepest colour wise and is a dark rosy brown shade. This is a newer one in my collection and one I just had to have when I kept hearing about it. It is from the matte collection that Mac brought out last year and of course this shade being a lipstick version of the lipliner got people excited. Personally I struggle with this one. It is a lot more brown than I would usually go for, especially on my paler skin it doesn’t have enough pink in it to be overly wearable. It is still comfortable to wear and I do prefer to wear it a little more lightly. It does match up quite well with Whirl lipliner as you would expect but the combo is a little too dark for my liking but may appeal to others. If anyone has any tips for wearing this shade then let me know!

MAC WHIRL (Lip Liner) 

As I said above, essentially the lip pencil version of the lipstick. Again this is a deep rosy brown shade and works best with those with browner tones such as Whirl (obviously) and also Velvet Teddy if brown tones is more your thing!

MAC SOAR (Lip Liner) 

Probably my most used lip liner ever. This is a gorgeous mauve dusky pink shade and works as a great combo with the above lipsticks. The Mac lip pencils are super creamy to apply and by far my favourites. This shade is super wearable and adds a little more depth to shades. It also looks pretty on its own for a perfect mauve nude lip.

What is your favourite 90s nude lip?

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Mac Brave Lipstick

It really didn’t take me long before I finally got my hands on the ever so popular Mac Brave. If you seen my last Mac lipstick post on Mac Mehr you may recall me lusting over this particular lipstick and of course by the time the post went live I had already purchased it. Typical. Now even if you don’t own Mac Brave you are probably aware of it through the hysteria that was created from the Kylie Jenner lip look. I know you are probably sighing at the mention of that again so forgetting the Kardashian connections, here is my latest Mac loving.

Now I mentioned Brave in my Mac Mehr post as they follow a very similar shading. Along with shades such as Twig and Faux these shades make up a range of similar 90s lip nude shades. Think mauve pink/brown colours that are the perfect my lips but better. Mac Brave takes more of a pink route similarly to Mehr but more muted. The soft pink shade is perfect for everyday wear and for something a little bolder it works perfectly paired with Mac Soar lipliner.

Mac Brave has a Satin finish which is probably my favourite finish of Mac lipstick. The formula is creamy to apply and feels comfortable (more so with lip balm underneath) but also has a demi-matte finish to it so feels a lot more long wearing.

I am super glad I picked this one up as I am loving it. It really is perfect for everyday wear and after picking it up in Duty Free it was pretty satisfying to save a few pounds!

Also, excitedly I wanted to let you all know that Styled by Lauren will be having a little makeover! Hopefully by the end of the week it will look a little different so I hope you like it but more on that later! Also, I now have a blog instagram account! Follow me @styledbylaurenblog!

Are you a fan of Mac Brave?

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