My Top 5 Lipstick Shades for Spring!

First thing's first.. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I hope that all of you have been spoiling your mummy's rotten, and have enjoyed your day today! 

So this week I thought I'd share with you the lipsticks (both high end and drugstore) that I will be wearing throughout spring. In my recent posts 'Naked 2 Review' and 'Beauty Haul' I had briefly showcased two of the lipsticks that I will be writing about today, both being two of my ultimate must buys for this season!

This spring, it's all about the purples, the bright pinks, the soft coral nudes, and of course a bright orange lipstick is a staple for your makeup bag!

 MAC MORANGE - £15.00

Left - With flash
Bottom right - Without flash
Top right - Half on, half off.

UPDATE! I had written about this in my post 'Beauty Haul' and honestly Morange is a must have for spring! But believe me when I say that this colour is not for the faint hearted… when applied with a lip liner (I use 'What A Blast') the colour is rich, opaque and pigmented - the perfect orange. However, I find that although the application is beautifully creamy, (as it is under the amplified cream range) it somehow loses its pigmentation because of that, and for that reason I would highly recommend wearing a lip liner along with it, as the staying power reduces and a reapplication is needed. You can purchase this at any Mac or Selfridges store (as far as I know.)

MAC SPEAK LOUDER - £15.00

Left - With flash
Bottom right - Without flash
Top right - Half and Half

Speak Louder is a watermelon pink with a creme sheen finish. I don't usually wear creme sheen finishes because I find that the colour isn't as strong and it's just a little too glossy for my liking, however this shade is completely build able and not too harsh on my skin tone as I'm more of yellowish hue and this lipstick has blue undertones within it. I think that this colour would suit pretty much anybody as it's a very all round shade of pink and as well as being worn in the spring, its a very summery shade too! 

MAC FAUX - £15.00
Left - With flash
Bottom right - Without flash
Top right - Half and Half

Okay so, I just feel the need to tell everyone how Faux is probably one of my favourite shades of MAC lipsticks… ever! It's just so, so versatile, I've had it for a good year now and I've been wearing it throughout summer, winter and now spring! It allows my eyes to do the talking when I'm rocking a smoky eye, and it very subtly lets my lips do the talking when all I've done is accentuated my lashes. I would say that if you have lips that are prone to drying because of MAC lipsticks, then a lip balm under this lipstick wouldn't go amiss, as its neither matte nor glossy and therefore can dry out your lips. The colour is a frosty pink, with mute warm undertones and to be honest I just love it. Perfect spring/summer/winter lipstick!

REVLON COLOURBURST MATTE BALM - UNAPOLOGETIC - £7.99
Left - With flash
Bottom right - Without flash
Top right - Half and Half

So recently I had taken a trip down to Boots, my local drugstore as I was in desperate need of cotton pads, and erm, sort of found myself being swayed? pushed? attracted to? the beauty isle..woops. Anyway, I came across these Revlon Colourburst Matte Balms, and at first they appear to look like the chubby sticks that Clinique came out with, except these are matte (and much cheaper too.) The application is intensely smooth, and similar to a carmex lip balm, make your lips tingle a little which I kind of like haha! The colour on the photos don't do the actual lipstick/balm any justice however, because it's actually a lot brighter in real life! The colour itself is actually similar to 'Speak Louder', but I feel this lipstick has warmer tones within it. At half the price of MAC lipsticks, I really think these are a brilliant buy, as they are highly pigmented and very long lasting. I went to the gym straight after a 5 hour day at college, showered, and the colour (believe it or not) was still on my lips, albeit a slight tint!

REVLON COLOURBURST MATTE BALM - SHAMELESS - £7.99
Left - With flash
Bottom right - Without flash
Top right - Half and Half

Okay so last but not least, my absolute favourite purple lipstick (so far) that I have purchased! This is a very blue toned purple, and I really like that. Most of the purples I have are very pink or red toned, and I felt that I didn't have one that was true to its actual name, until now. Again, the application is smooth, however you do have to build on this lipstick a little before getting a complete opaque finish, but it is not drying whatsoever, and the staying power is beyond commendable. This, along with Morange is a definite spring staple, and quite possibly my favourite colours at the moment!

So there you have it, my top 5 lipsticks for spring! I hope you find a colour within this range that pleases you,

Jazz x

NAKED 2 Review

Hey beauties! So first of all, apologies for being M.I.A for quite some time.. it appears that college has taken over my life, and with deadlines and exam season approaching (and rapidly, may I add), blogging will become difficult but we will power through!

So recently I had come to learn that I will be attending a grand total of.. wait for it.. three weddings! Many of you may be thinking, '3 weddings? That shouldn't be too difficult to style for, it's just three different outfits, three different hair styles, and three different make up looks, right?' WRONG. Let me fill you in here. You see, the thing with Indian weddings is that, we actually have one or two days leading up to the wedding, whereby traditional rituals and ceremonies are held, then the following day the wedding takes place, followed by a party in the evening should the bride and groom wish for it, and then the wedding reception which can be held either the day after, or even before the wedding. So that ultimately means, I have to create and style three different looks, for 3 different days, for three different weddings… *welp*

This is where Naked 2 comes into play. I had been searching for a versatile and exciting eyeshadow palette for quite some time, and to no avail. With custom MAC Palettes being out of my price range (by a long shot) I decided to try and test out Urban Decay's Naked Palette 2, as many of my friends had been raving on about both 1 and 3. So, why didn't I go with their advice and buy either one of those? Well to put it simply, I'd fallen in love with Naked 2s vast range of neutral taupes and mid tones, elevated with darker shades of browns and beiges and a charcoal black. It's the perfect palette for anybody who like me, can sometimes enjoys the attention being on your eyes but in other circumstances like your lips to do the talking (ha, no pun intended) - this eyeshadow palette does it all. 

Eyeshadow names from left to right: Foxy, Half-baked, Bootycall, Chopper, Tease, Snakebite, Suspect, Pistol,Verve, YDK, Busted, Blackout.

Foxy - is a nude, cream shade, with a matte finish. Although it looks oh so pretty as it is, I find it to be slightly chalky when applying it onto my lid, and therefore I only really use it as a base colour which is brilliant in that sense because the matte finish and neutral colour makes any other shadow I use on top, pop!

Half baked - is a bronze gold with a shimmery finish, beautiful if you are looking to create a subtle day time look, just pair it with chopper and YDK in your crease and boom. Perfect spring day look.

Bootycall - is again, a colour I would use as a base or along my brow bone, as I find it doesn't quite sit right against my skin tone, however I did recently use it along with Tease and Snakebite.. and I do really like that combination. It's a matte nude cream similar to foxy with a slight hint of rose in it.

Chopper - sooooo apparently Kim K's makeup artist used Chopper a lot when creating some of her beautiful make up looks.. eep! This shade is the most gorgeous deep copper, and although sometimes I find the shimmer can sort of fall out during application, the actual finish and colour is so gorgeous and rich it's pretty difficult to stay mad at it. I usually use this when creating a brown smoky eye look.

Tease - WOW. I love this! Okay so this matte shade is the most intriguing of all. It is a pale, yet creamy brown, with slight purple undertones..strange? Yes. But versatile and b-e-a-u-t? Most definitely. I recently did a friends make up and used tease all along the eye lid, followed by busted, blended into the crease, and finally finished it off with blackout, blended along the outer corners of the eye for the most amazing smoky eye which was carried off as an evening look.. something I would probably do myself for the wedding reception I have to attend. Because Tease isn't all that pigmented I would recommend using it for both day and evening looks.

Snakebite - another one of my favourites, Snakebite is a mid-brown shade with a shimmery finish, which is so so versatile, I use it for both day and evening looks, and it is especially effective if you would like to create a dark smoky eye. 

Suspect - I haven't actually used suspect myself yet, although it does look like it would pair well with chopper and half baked to create the ultimate subtle yet super cute spring look. It is a lovely taupe colour with a shimmery finish that I would recommend be used as perhaps an all over the eye lid jobby before blending Halfbaked into the crease finished off with Chopper or Snakebite in your outer eye corner. 

Pistol - Again, I've not used Pistol as I don't tend to wear silver on my eyes a lot, however after careful consideration, I think that it would look lovely if worn with perhaps Bootycall or even Verve and Blackout for the classic black smokey eye.

Verve - a gorgeous shimmery mushroomy taupe kind of colour.. another one that I haven't tried out yet but I can imagine it going quite well with pistol and perhaps even busted.

YDK - is a colour that I find is the most perfect shade for any skin tone, and applies like a dream! It can be paired with mostly any of the other eyeshadows in the palette, and is essential within this collection, as is Busted. It is a shimmery brown tone, with a slight gold finish which I love.

Busted - another one of my ultimate favourites! I absolutely fell in love with both this and Tease when I first laid eyes on this palette, and is very versatile. It is a very deep brown, with a hint of purple (I think?) and can be dressed up or down, and I find I will probably be using it a lot during wedding season, as you can create many different looks with it, it is build able and pigmented, so even the tiniest amount can look effective. A winner for me.

Blackout - finally. Naked 2 would not be complete without a charcoal black as I find that because many of the colours are taupe/beige based, the black just enhances and creates a versatile palette that like I said above, can be dressed up or down. A perfect finish to the collection!

Just a little look I created using - Tease all along the eye lid, followed by Busted blended in the crease of my eye, finished with winged eyeliner, and a soon to be reviewed drug store lippy! 

The Nuthurst Grange Country House Hotel

So as it was my uncle's birthday last week, he thought it would be nice to go for lunch with the whole family to celebrate (and amazingly, the weather was beautiful!) We visited the Nuthurst Grange Country House Hotel which is the cutest hotel in Hockley Heath, hidden amongst fields and gardens.

Dress - Boohoo.com
Boots - Topshop (link here)
Necklace charm - Accessorize

I'd bought these boots just yesterday, and figured that they were comfy enough to wear outside as I could not resist a walk around this little country side estate! They're cut out, and I would normally wear them without socks or tights, but whilst the weather looked gorgeous, it was still a bit breezy, so I paired my dress with tights! 

I'm also loving the whole monochrome vibe at the minute (I always have but I've sort of been in denial about it haha) - so i went for an all black look today, despite it being a summery day. This dress was perfect for me because I absolutely love high necks and velvet detailing (I'm not reaaaally a massive fan of a full blown velvet piece of clothing) so when I found this dress on Boohoo.com for only £20, I snapped it up quicker than anything! Its versatile - it can be dressed up or down, and today I went for the in-between.

We had a lovely gourmet-style lunch, my favourite part being dessert! This is a cute little place to visit for anyone who enjoys a beautiful country side view with their meal! 

Beauty Haul

Last weekend my mum took the liberty of treating herself and I to a spot of retail therapy. Whilst our excuse was that we have a grand total of three weddings to attend this year, in actual fact our lust for beauty were the only reason we ventured into the MAC and Lush stores!

Lush - Ultrabland Facial Cleanser

Lush - None Of Your Beeswax Lip Balm

MAC Amplified Creme Lipstick - Morange

MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil - What A Blast!

MAC Lip Pencil - Boldly Bare

MAC Matte Lipstick - Taupe

Lush - Feeling Younger Skin Tint

MAC

So whilst I was having a browse through my lipstick collection, I had noticed that I didn't own a certain colour which happened to be an orangey-red hue, therefore I had made it my mission to find and purchase that exact colour whilst out shopping. This turned out to be MAC - Morange. Now, having tried and tested this product out for myself, and at the time being skeptical about going for a creme finish (I always find they are less pigmented than I desire), I can safely say that this particular lipstick actually succeeds in presenting itself as being a well pigmented, stand out, bold orange (with a slight tint of red) lippy! I only have to swipe the lipstick across my lips twice before being satisfied with its finish, and if I don't use a lip liner underneath (I wear What A Blast! by MAC) it safely stays put for around 3-4 hours, which for a creme finish is pretty good.


Another little number I had picked up was Taupe, which is sold under MAC's Matte finishes. At the moment, Taupe is my go-to nude lippy, which I wear practically everywhere as it is so versatile! It's a brown nude, and is pretty much a perfect 'my lips but better' kind of colour, which I have been dying to find. It is not even slightly drying on the lips and is well pigmented and stays on for a good while, although I do prefer to wear a lip liner (I wear Boldly Bare) underneath as I find it extends the staying power. 

Lush


Right firstly let me just say that it is extremely difficult for me to find a decent lip balm anywhere! I actually find that the more I use lip balms, the drier my lips become, leading to me buying pots upon pots of different lip balms to cure my dry lips (thank you, winter.) However, just as mum and I had finished shopping, we decided to take a cheeky little trip into Lush - one of our favourite beauty stores! I love that the products are made so naturally, it just makes me feel a little less guilty about all of the slap I put on my face. So, I asked the kind lady that was serving us in Lush what I could use to treat my lips, and she recommended I use None of Your Beeswax Lip Balm, a lip balm made from coconut oil and hints of lemon. I. Love. It. Not only is it super moisturising and keeps my lips supple for long periods of time, it also smells amazing..bonus! 


This next product is something my mum picked up for herself as she has extremely drying skin.. but only throughout winter. This was a tricky issue for her because she has very sensitive skin and reacts quite easily to normal cleansing products and sinfully, does not follow the three step skincare routine. For this, she was recommended the Ultrabland Facial Cleanser. It has a creamy, pasty texture and you can use it either in the morning, or evening or both should you wish to (as you would with a normal cleanser). You just place a little on your fingertips (a little really does go a long way in this case) and massage it into your face, removing it with a warm damp cloth or warm water. So far my mum has really taken to this product, telling me that it has significantly reduced the dryness of her skin, and she will continue to invest in this product!


The last thing I had bought was the Feeling Younger Skin Tint. This is a beautiful vanilla coloured tint, which I use mainly for highlighting and it works a treat. Again, a little goes a long way and I always find myself accidentally taking out a little more than I need, which could probably be stopped if it was in a different kind of dispenser. But I really enjoy using this product, and until I try out MAC's Vanilla pigment, I shall continue to use this!