Estee Lauder Pure Color Matte Lipstick in Nude Velvet 03, Swatches & Review

Hi everyone. I know Nude lipsticks are a nightmare to get right. Especially with my skin tone, they tend to make me look washed out and slightly ill. Most nude lipsticks don't actually enhance my face, but make it look worse. So when a nude lipstick comes along that looks great and actually brightens my complexion, it's such a rare occurrence that I must rave about it.

The lipstick in question in Estee Lauder Pure Color Matte Lipstick in Nude Velvet.

This is part of their new limited edition range of matte lipsticks. I don't know why, but I just love the texture of a matte lipstick. Matte lipsticks ARE drier than normal lipsticks, but somehow I like the velvety feel on my lips. Maybe because I can feel the lipstick, I am reassured it's still there and not rubbed off?

This colour differs from traditional nudes in that it has a certain 'peachyness' to it. The colour isn't a flat brown nude, but a beautiful nude with a slight peach-pinkness to it.

On my arm, I must admit the colour does look fairly brown...

But the colour looks lighter and peachier once actually on the lips. Sorry for the dry looking lips!

I'm in love with the shade of this lipstick, but I have to say this lipstick does accentuate dry lips (as you can see in the above pic). So I would recommend getting rid of any dry flakes (try scuffing them gently with a wet toothbrush) before use.

Pros:

Beautiful light peachy-pink nude colour

Feels velvety soft on the lips

Cons:

Matte lipsticks are a little drying, and accentuates dry lips

Limited Edition

Colour may be a little light for some

*Can any of you help me by recommending a good blush shade to go with this lipstick?*

HELP! Please help me with ideas for a Halloween costume

Hi everyone, just a very very quick post.

I have a Halloween party to attend on Sat, and have no idea what/who to go as.

The theme is 'Villains'.

Good ideas given to me so far are 'Black Swan' and 'Lady Deathstrike'.

I'm a huge fan of sci-fi movies so something from them might be good.

Thanks in advance for your help!!

My husband's costume on the other hand is sorted. He's going as the pig from angry birds. He made the costume himself!

I would quite like to go as something more flattering than this.

Majolica Majorca Puff de Cheek Peach Macaron

Here's a close up post of the blush my sister gave me; Majolica Majorca Puff de Cheek in Peach Macaron PK301.

Majolica Majorca is a Japanese drugstore brand owned by Shiseido. Puff de Cheek is a cute little round pot of blush in adorable packaging. It comes in a variety of adorably sweet shades, and I have it in Peach Macaron (PK301).

You must be thinking 'what happened to the puff? Why is it all frayed?' I have to admit that it didn't come like that. I dropped the puff on the floor, and decided to wash it in the washing machine?!

Peach Macaron is a lovely medium peachy pink shade. Not overly orange and not overly pink.

Here are pics of Peach Macaron on my cheeks:

The puff and blush both feel silky soft on my skin. Thanks again Jill for this blush!

Gifts From My Sister

My sister came to visit me during the Summer. She lives all the way at the other side of the world in Australia. She's 3 years younger than me, but is already a successful doctor. I'm very proud of her!

Anyway, she brought along a few gifts for me.:

A sweet Japanese lunch box.

It comes with 3 adorable pastel forks.

She stopped over in Malaysia to visit our parents along the way, and bought me this blush from Watson's.

Majolica Majorca Puff de Cheek in Peach Macaron.

It's a pretty peachy pink shade, which I'll do a separate post on later.

From Australia, she bought me a big tub of Lucas Papaw Ointment. It's a multi-purpose balm which I've raved about before. I use it for just about any skin ailments; dry skin, sensitive skin, minor burns and rashes.

My skin used to get irritated and slightly red due to hypersensitivity. I don't suffer from those problems anymore as I slather this on my skin whenever it begins to feel a bit prickly.

Peter Alexander is a gorgeous sleepwear shop in Australia, and my sister got me a pair of pink pajama shorts with black cats.

The cats almost has a velvet look and feel to them!

It was fun having my sister around. Her trip felt so short, but we got to do lots of thing we both enjoy. We watched The Phantom of the Opera (me for the first time, her for the 4th?! She's a bit of a Phantom freak). A tradition of ours is to also go to museums and zoos together to relive our childhood. We had a private tour with the Natural History Museum, and my husband took us to Longleat Safari.

Thanks Jill for your presence all these lovely gifts!

My Recent Non Beauty Acquisitions

I've been trying to save money on beauty products so that I can have more to spend on clothes. I've so far managed to curb my spending on products and finally no longer feel guilty buying too much makeup.

The following haul was purchased over a space of a few months, and I never got round to posting about them.

First up is one of my favourite purchases this year. A sequin dress from Mango.

I love romantic, ethereal looking dresses, and I like how the sequins aren't too 'bling' on this dress. I also love the soft, ballerina feel of the skirt.

Also from Mango is this bolero.

It's sequined too, like the dress.

I got this clutch at a 50% discount from Miss Selfridge. I think it'll be great for Summer parties, especially weddings. Hopefully it'll be quite nice for winter too since it reminds me slightly of snowflakes.

I bought this black lace clutch from Accessorize.

I've always wanted a military coat, but without looking like I'm actually in the army. I can't wait til it gets colder so I can wear my new blue coat from Zara.

Banana Republic just opened a store in Manchester, and I bought this crystal belt from it.

Last but not least, I got a pair of teal velvet ballerina shoes from Topshop.

5 Product FOTD - featuring Lavshuca PK-1 from Riya

Hi everyone, here's a quick and simple look I did today using 5 products. I like/try to keep the amount of products used to a minimum as I know that I can end up with too much product on my face if I'm not too careful and get carried away.

The earrings I'm wearing are from Orelia, bought in Topshop. Speaking of Orelia, I really like the sound of that name and may one day name my daughter (if I have one) Aurelia.

Today's look featured the Lavshuca eyeshadow palette I recently received from Riya at pinkstrawberrielove:

Swatches of the pretty shades below:

I used the brown shade in today's look.

The other products used in today's FOTD:

The 5 Products:

Shiseido Integrate Eyebrow Pencil in GY963

Laura Mercier Cake Liner in Black Ebony

Lavshuca Eyeshadow in PK-1

Topshop Cream Blush in Flush

Une Lip-Toned Colour in L03

I'm receiving an overwhelming response to my giveaway. Thanks to those who've entered!

New Clarins Instant Definition Mascara Review

I recently received a travel sized sample of Clarins' new Instant Definition Mascara, and here are my quick thoughts on it.

It comes in 3 shades; Intense Black, Intense Brown and Intense Blue -£19

The sample was in Intense Black. As this mascara was a sample size, it did not have the gorgeous gold packaging of the full-sized product.

Here's a close up of the mascara wand -the tip is in the style of a comb.

According to Clarins:

A repairing and nourishing formula that strengthens and adds intense colour and volume to every lash. With a texture that creates a highly resistant, even film along the length of the lashes to give stay-fast daylong wear.

Application according to Clarins:

Using the nylon fibre brush, apply the mascara to the upper and lower lashes working from the base out to the tips. More brush strokes add more volume. Using the elastomer bristle tip, separate and define the shortest lower lashes at both the inner and outer corners of the eye. For lash perfect precision you can also use the tip to comb and place lashes one by one.

My Thoughts:

Here is a pic of my lashes without mascara:

And here is a pic of my eyes with Clarins Instant Definition Mascara:

I found that they do increase the length of my lashes giving an almost false lash look. However it did not increase the volume of my lashes much. The mascara accessed the corner lashes fairly well. My eyes are pretty sensitive, and this doesn't irritate them. In addition, the mascara has good staying power and doesn't smudge. I found them a touch more difficult to remove than other mascaras.

The problem I have with this mascara is it's rather clumpy. More clumpy than other formulas I've tried. I need to separate my lashes with a disposable mascara wand to remove the clumps.

Would I purchase the full size?

Sadly not. At £19 it's fairly pricey for a mascara. I much prefer my Max Factor False Lash Effect which cost almost half that. My main lash concern is lack of volume so I'm more interested in mascaras which give high impact volume to my stringy lashes!

Giveaway Winner

Thank you so much for entering my giveaway which ended yesterday.

I received an overwhelming response, but sadly there can only be one winner. I've just calculated that winner via random.org. I'm happy to announce that the winner is...

EZZY from Dubai

Congratulations Ezzy! Please email me your address so I can post your prize out to you.

I feel so bad that there can only be one winner, but I'll host another giveaway very soon. Thanks again for all those who have entered, and for the regular readers of my blog who have supported me!

My Skincare Routine

Many of you have asked me to write a post on my skincare routine, and I've been meaning to write one for the past few months. It's something I never got round to doing, but finally I've gotten my act together. I also wanted to turn this post into a video, but realised I don't know how to make one.

Below are the products I use in my skincare regime. As I'm still (relatively) young, I believe in keeping things simple. An overload of products tend to clog my skin, so I much prefer a simple regime of cleanse-tone-moisturise.

I'm pretty happy with the current condition of my skin. It tends to be sensitive at times, but I find that it's fine when I use simple products that don't irritate my skin. I also noticed a huge decrease in sensitivity when I keep it well moisturised as well as when I switched to luke-warm/cool water when cleansing my face instead of hot.

Here's are a couple pics of me au naturel without makeup I look a bit ill I know. I'm not though, it's just what I look like sans makeup!):

My main skin concerns are hyper sensitivity and pigmentation.

And here is a close up pic taken in better lighting:

I LOVE natural products, but unfortunately most of them don't love me. I try to use organic natural products as much as I can, but most organic essential oils (especially floral ones) irritate my skin. Through perseverance, I managed to find a range of products that use natural ingredients but do not irrritate my skin.

Onto my current skincare routine. I have been using these products for 4 months.

Cleanse with Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth cleanser

Tone with Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic

Moisturise with Dr.Hauschka Melissa Day Cream

SPF protect with La Roche Posay Anthelios XL

In the evenings, I replace the Dr. Hauschka cream with Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate, and skip the SPF cream.

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser -£12.25

This multi award winning cleanser uses a warm cloth to cleanse the skin whilst gently exfoliating. I've read some reviews saying this cleanser made them break out in spots, so I'm one of the lucky ones this cleanser works well for. It made me break out in little bumps on the forehead. I figured that as it centered on the forehead, in my case it probably wasn't a bad reaction, but may be a result of the cleanser purging my skin and cleaning out the pores. I stuck with it for a couple of weeks, and after a week my forehead was completely clear.

This cleanser has a thick creamy texture with a herbal eucalyptus scent. Combined with the warm cloths, it makes my skin feel thoroughly cleansed while feeling soothed.

The bad points of this cleanser is that I go through them too quickly. A 100ml tub last me only 3 weeks, so I've recently upgraded myself to a 200ml tube. In addition, the whole removing with a warm cloth thing, while is ok with me, maybe too abrasive for other sensitive skins. Also the cloths may need some getting used to. They need to be washed very frequently ( I use a fresh cloth everyday). This can be a pain while traveling. In Peru we would travel to a different location everyday, so carrying semi-dried cloths was a hassle. (Especially when camping!)

Instant Boost Skin Tonic - £12.25

I like the word tonic, and together with the shape of the bottle reminds me of yesteryear where people shopped for remedies in apothecaries.

This alcohol free toner smells of flowers. It does it's job (i.e removed residual traces of cleanser and closes pored slightly) and leaves my skin feeling fresh.

(For the Liz Earle products, you can find their full ingredients list on their website.)

Dr. Hauschka Melissa Day Cream -£23.95

Specially developed to meet the needs of combination sensitive skin, this cream is right up my street. It has a medium to light texture and smells of fresh lemons. It sinks into my skin beautifully and keeps it well hydrated. It never feels greasy or oily on my skin, even in the hot Summer months. What I love most about this cream is the light healthy glow is gives.

Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate -£19

In the evenings, I use this heavenly scented oil instead of moisturiser. As I get older, I start feeling the benefits of using an oil. This one feels relatively light for an oil and is a beautiful golden colour. I adore the scent. It's hard to describe, but immediately gives me a sense of well-being.

This oil makes me wake up to super soft glowing skin. It's really made me addicted to using facial oils!!

The £19 version comes in a rollerball. I would probably get it in a pump bottle next time due to hygiene reasons.

La Roche Posay Anthelios XL SPF50+ - £16.50

There's nothing much to say except that this is the best daily facial sun protection I've come across. It comes in a light fluid which spreads easily across the face and applies like a dream. La Roche Posay is not a natural cosmetic brand, but I love it all the same. I find them a godd, no nonsense brand whose products do what they claim.

...

So that's my everyday skincare routine. I've been using them for around 4 months now, and as much as I love them I'm still fairly fickle and like to try new products.

* As you can see from my pic above, I have skintone imperfections which I'd like to correct by trying out some brightening products*

I'll write another post soon on the treatments I like to use twice a week (masks etc), as well as a note on skincare -sharing tips which I've received and learnt over the years. As that is generally why I began a blog to begin with to share, swap and learn tips and tricks with all the beauty enthusiasts out there!