2015 Beauty Favourites: Eye & Lip Products

Now that you’ve seen my base and cheek favourites from the year of 2015, it is time to move on to the second and final half of my yearly beauty favourites. This time around I am talking about my favourite eye and lip products from 2015 and again a lot of these will be no surprise to you! So I am going to quit rambling and get on with it!

Eyeshadow

2015 was the year of eyeshadow for me. It was always the one product I neglected because I never really understood the difference it made and I never had much of an idea on how to apply it either. Although last year saw me finally pick up a few blending brushes and get blending to something that actually looked half decent. Now we have reached the end of 2015, I can’t even go without eyeshadow, it is my favourite thing to apply and I am truly obsessed with buying more eyeshadows.  After hearing so many rave reviews I just had to try out the By Terry Ombre Blackstars and I am so glad I did. These are just incredible. It took me a while to truly appreciate how good these are but they are seriously one of the best eyeshadow products I’ve ever used and the best eyeshadow sticks. I have the shades Misty Rock (which I spoke about here) and Bronze Moon which are two truly gorgeous and unique shades. The formula though makes these even more amazing, they are seriously creamy and glide on super smoothly and are super easy to blend. If that’s not enough, they last for ages too. So yeah, I quite like them!

In terms of palettes, 2015 was definitely the year I became a real life eyeshadow palette hoarder. I just love a good palette! Whilst there was a few I could have mentioned, there was two that really stole my heart this year and two I know will become long term favourites. First up, the Zoeva Cocoa Blend palette which I raved about here. This was such a surprise love for me as it was so super affordable yet such great quality. The colour range is just perfect and right up my street. I am still so impressed with this and it is definitely one that everyone needs to pick up.

The Urban Decay Naked palettes will always be mine and everyone else’s one true love. I am lucky enough to own all of them including the newbie Smoky palette although I truly fell for the second edition (review here) to the Naked lineup and I think I can call it my favourite of the four. The taupe shades are just so beautiful and are so versatile for everyday wear or an evening look. Of course the quality of Urban Decay eyeshadows are also just truly incredible!

Mascara and Brows

These next two products are probably quite obvious mentions if you are a regular reader of SBL. First up, my mascara pick has to be the Benefit They’re Real. I truly realised why this is such a cult product half way through the year after trying it out and then switching my choices up. I eventually came back to this and I just love it. It just adds oomph to my lashes and adds length and volume and paired with my Shu Uemura eyelash curlers it is dream come true lashes!

Another Benefit product came to the rescue in saving my brows. I picked up Benefit Gimme Brow (review here) during the year and it has just became my go-to for brows. It is so easy and convenient to simply swipe through your brows but it is still pretty buildable and really defines them. I’ve actually pretty much finished my tube of this which lasted so long (considering the size and cost is off putting!) so I will definitely be repurchasing this!

Lip Liner and Lipstick

Lip products will always be my one real love when it comes to beauty so I did have a little difficulty narrowing this down. 2015 was the year for lip liner and Mac’s liner options will always remain top for me. Their Soar lipliner became a staple in my collection and a cult product for many beauty enthusiasts. The gorgeous mauve plum-y nude shade is just the perfect undercoat to so many of my favourite lipsticks so is a no brainer really. The formula is great too and glides on smoothly to create a good base for lipstick.

Speaking of Mac, I will always have a love for a good Mac lipstick. I’ve enlarged my collection quite a bit over the year and grown a few favourites. I have a love for the mauve My lips but better kinda shades and Mac Mehr is the perfect fit. It is a little more intense than just a basic nude especially when combined with Soar but it is such a gorgeous and unique shade. The matte formula is also long wearing as you would expect but still comfortable without being drying. Another Mac fave was Mac Plumful which I picked up at the start of the Autumn season. This is my first in the Lustre finish but it is super comfortable and moisturising on the lips. The plum-y pink shade is also so gorgeous and different to anything I own.

Nars are one of my favourite makeup brands so it was no surprise I was going to love their matte lip pencils. I honestly think these are one of the best lip products around. They are so long lasting it is unreal but still feel comfortable to wear as well as coming in a collection of pretty shades. I have quite a few but I thought I would just mention two of my ultimate faves from the year. Whenever I need a red lip, I always go for Nars Cruella, probably my favourite ever red. It is quite a deep red but one you can rely on to stay put whilst you eat! The other shade was my Summer love, the unfortunately limited edition Iberico which is a gorgeous orange-y red. A shade that is totally unique to my collection and one I can’t wait to wear again come Summer time!

Last but not least, 2015 saw the discovery of Charlotte Tilbury. I finally took the plunge this year and picked up a couple of her gorgeously packaged products that soon developed into an addiction! I now have four of the Matte Revolution lipsticks and I can say they are truly worth the splurge! The matte formula is not what you would expect, they are seriously creamy and so comfortable to wear. As I said I have four shades from the line up but a couple of my faves are the truly gorgeous Lost Cherry; a beautiful bright coral red perfect for Summer (review here)and Miss Kensington; my perfect nude.

What was your favourite eye/lip products from 2015?

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October Favourites

It’s favourites time once again! I have been doing quite a lot of beauty spending in the last couple of months so I have been spending my time trying out a bunch of new products. This month I definitely was swayed by a lot of the newbies in my collection and have found some that I know I will love for a long time to come. As October settled in, I definitely got back into the whole Autumnal makeup look. I have been loving wearing darker lips and bold eye makeup, it’s without a doubt my favourite time of year. So without anymore rambling, here is my beauty favourites for the month of October, enjoy…

Blush is one of my favourite makeup products. I just love collecting different tones of blusher. In fact I’ve bought quite a few additions in the last month but my new addition from Nars has been proving to be a strong favourite. Nars Dolce Vita is the perfect blush for the Autumnal months. A gorgeous rosy pink shade that adds a bit of warmth and life to my pale skin. The formula of these are fab too, a little goes a long way and they last for ages.

As the month has went on I have actually been abandoning highlighter which is a little strange for me although my skin has been quite glowy recently and I am struggling for time in the morning for extra steps in my routine. Although when highlighter has been on the need list I have been reaching for the Seventeen Skin Wow Highlighter*, a gorgeous liquid pearl toned highlighter that adds a beautiful glow to the cheekbones. This actually reminds me of the Nars Illuminator in Copacobana but for a fraction of the price. Definitely a drugstore pick to check out!

Alongside the autumnal inspired makeup I also love dark nails. Those gorgeous berries and deep purples are my kinda shades and I would happily take them over a bright coral any day of the week. I have been loving Essie Bahama Mama, a gorgeous plum colour perfect for this time of year. Of course the formula of Essie is unbeatable and definitely worth the extra few pennies.

This month, I also finally picked up something from Bobbi Brown. Whilst I own one of their brushes I never properly tried anything from their makeup range but I finally changed that this month when I picked up the Bobbi Brown Corrector. I have been suffering from a bit of discolouration under the eyes and thought that this cult product would do the job. After popping to a counter I picked up the shade Extra Light Bisque which works wonders at hiding the blue tones from under my eyes. The formula is super creamy and blends beautifully, a product I know I will rely on for a long time to come!

Finally, what’s Autumn without a berry toned lip. My seasonal pick this year comes from Mac in the form of their Plumful lipstick. A gorgeous plum berry shade in Mac’s lustre finish which offers a sheer but buildable colour. This colour is quite different for me, it fits more into the pink/purple category rather than red so is pretty unique in my collection and it just looks super gorgeous. Love, love, love!

*pr sample

What have you been loving during October?

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Five For Fall: Lipstick

If there is one thing to get excited about at this time of year it is without a doubt berry and red toned lips. You’ve seen my blush choices for the new season but now it’s time to look at some of my favourite lip picks for Autumn, all of which of course follow the typical plum/red/berry tones.

First up is the darkest in the bunch and one of the budget options from the drugstore. Revlon Black Cherry is an intense plum toned shade that was basically created for this time of year. Personally I actually find this shade a little too dark on it’s own but when applied on top of the Benefit Benebalm tinted lip balm the shade is much more wearable. This is actually my only lipstick from Revlon, in fact the only product I own from the brand but I definitely need to pick up some more as the formula is beautiful. Super creamy, the lipstick glides on smoothly on the lips and is a dream to wear.

Speaking of fabulous formulas, I am a huge fan of the Nars Lip Pencils, in fact I think they are one of the best lip products around. The formulas are everything you could want in a lipstick, super creamy and comfortable to wear but also well pigmented and long lasting on the lips. The shade Mandore was part of the limited edition collection last Winter although it appears to be still available. It is a gorgeous deep red shade that will not look out of place during the colder months.

The shade I will probably be getting the most wear out of during the Autumn months is one of the new additions to my collection, Mac Plumful. I mean come on what is a lip post without a Mac lipstick! With a change in season I basically had to head to Mac (it’s like a tradition obvs?) and I had one shade in particular in my mind that I just had to pick up. Plumful is an incredibly popular shade and as the name suggests is a beautiful plum-y pink colour that is completely different to anything in my collection. It is a lustre finish so has a balmy texture whilst the colour appears more on the sheerer side of things although I find Plumful to be rather buildable and can be worn as more of statement lip. This is a lipstick I know I will love for a long time to come.

Another new addition from Mac is from their matte range namely the shade D for Danger. I had originally planned to pick this up at the same time as Plumful although it was out of stock. Luckily for me though I spotted this online at the House of Fraser and was rather surprised to find it slightly cheaper at £14 rather than the usual £15.50. Whilst not much a saving it’s always nice to grab some sort of bargain especially on Mac. The shade is gorgeous and perfect for Autumn. A typical dark berry red shade with a comfortable but long lasting matte finish.

Lastly, I obviously had to mention the Fall classic. Rimmel Kate Moss 107, the perfect berry lip at an affordable price. This is actually a very similar shade to D for Danger that it could be considered as a dupe. Again this one has a matte finish and lasts well on the lips whilst still feeling comfortable.

What is your favourite lip product for Fall?

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