Makeup

Charlotte Tilbury matte revolution lipstick, worth the hype?

Flatlay of Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipsticks in shades Pillow Talk and Bond Girl
| Lipstick and late nights

Ah Charlotte Tilbury, the queen of some of the most aesthetically pleasing, skin perfecting, no makeup-but-secretly-wearing-shitloads-of-makeup products out there. It’s no secret that her tonally perfect, copper-clad goodies are every Instagrammers dream, and products like Wonder Glow and the Hollywood Flawless Filter foundation have become the stuff of legend since her rise to cosmetic fame over the last few years, but the must have accessory of the moment is without a doubt a CT lippie. I mean is your makeup bag really complete if it doesn’t feature one of these metallic little beauties? They’re practically fashion.

Word on the street for some time now has been that the must-have item is a Matte Revolution lipstick, with the range having shot to social media fame and being featured in just about every editorial out there. In fact it’s been so in-your-face visible that I can’t quite believe it’s taken me this long to try them out.

The colour range is a dream with something to suit every skin tone, and many shades being inspired by fashion and beauty icons from across the decades, making them easily relatable when trying to envisage your perfect shade. There’s even a pretty sweet feature on the website where you can view the shade on a wide variety of skin tones for a realistic idea of how it will suit you.

I wanted to select a perfect nude for both day and night, so after much deliberating settled on the critically acclaimed (and consistently sold out) Pillow talk for day, and Bond Girl for night.

  • Pillow Talk
  • Bond Girl

Here’s what Charlotte has to say about these shades…

“Pillow Talk -The universally-loved, best-selling lipstick launched to give all women what Charlotte Tilbury calls ‘the most beautiful lips of your life’. The moisturising matte formula smooths and shapes the lips of your dreams to allure, tempt and perfect every pout. It’s formulated for every woman at every age and any skin tone. “

“Bond Girl – Darlings, mimic the sultry, alluring look of the Bond beauties. My Matte Revolution Lipstick in Bond Girl has all the ingredients for a lit-from-within pout. This gorgeously chic natural berry shade is inspired by the Bond girls from Halle Berry to Barbara Bach to Olga Kurylenko.”

Convinced that my life was about to be changed forever with a mere slick of lipstick, I just had to share the results with you guys, so here it is, what is possibly about to become one of the most unpopular opinions on the internet today… they’re OK.

I know, I know, we were all expecting proclamations of love right about now, but for £24 a lipstick, I just wanted a little…more. Here’s why:

The colours are a dream, they really are, but for a matte lipstick I find that they lack a little opacity. When I apply a matte lipstick, I expect full colour in a single swipe, but with this I found I needed a good few layers before the colour reached it’s full potential. To be fair, the website does label the lipsticks as ‘buildable’, but if I wanted to buy a sheer lipstick, I’d buy a sheer lipstick.

  • Pillow Talk
  • Bond Girl

To give you guys genuine view of how these apply, in the above pictures I’ve applied straight from the bullet as recommended on the website which states the following as a feature:

“Revolutionary, square, angled tip mimics the shape of a lip brush for precision application”

I also didn’t use a matching lip liner to test the true precision of the application. The lipstick boasts a cashmere finish thanks to lip nourishing ingredients such as orchid extract, and long lasting results. I’ll give them the cashmere finish, my lips really did feel smooth and soft, however due to having to layer it on to achieve the maximum colour payoff, I still felt that it was a little thick feeling. As for being long lasting, I’m afraid this was another downside for me. After only a couple of hours without eating or drinking anything there was a significant amount of fading and I had to reapply. Oh dear Charlotte…

Don’t get me wrong, there really are many positives too. Pillow Talk when paired with a liner (I used a Kiko Golden Waves liner) is truly stunning, and lasted much longer. For the shade alone I’ll go back to this one time and time again, it really is the perfect nude. You can also tell by the feel that they are made using quality ingredients which is great. Bond girl didn’t quite deliver the deep berry shade that I expected, however it is a fabulous universal tone that would suit almost any skin tone. I just can’t help but feel overall that the Matte Revolution lipsticks are just a little too style over substance for me, and as gorgeous and flashy as they may look in an Instagram post, I probably wouldn’t repurchase in the future.

Have you guys tried the Matte Revolution lipsticks? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Until next time,

B x

Getting Christmas party ready with Kiko Milano.

| Lipstick and late nights

With less than a week to go until the big day, parties are in full swing, prosecco is popping all around us and there’s more glitter in the air than at a pride march, and I’m not sad about one little bit.

At Christmas and New year, we really do pull out all the stops when it comes to looking our most fabulous. We spend hours, waxing, preening, plucking, pampering, tonging and everything in between to make sure that we are the belles of the ball, so who has time at the end of all that to fit in a makeup appointment too?!

Thanks to Kiko, you don’t have to, as their holiday collections are packed full of gorgeous, glittering goodies to help you get party ready in a flash.

This isn’t an ad by the way, I’m just a huge fan of Kiko’s affordable yet super high quality products. They may be a nightmare to work for (seriously, talking from experience here… avoid like that creepy guy with the bad breath at the office party…) but I keep coming back time and time again to stock up on their fantastic cruelty free cosmetics all the same.

Insider tip: a fair amount of Kiko products are dupes of high end products at a fraction of the price! Love Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation? Try Kiko’s Liquid Skin at less than half the price!

I’ve hand picked a selection of products to help you sparkle your way in to the new year that’ll save you a fortune on salon visits leaving more money for Prosecco, right..?

1. Kiko Glitter Shower Eyesadow – £8.90.

These incredibly glitter packed shadows make creating a sparkling eye look an absolute breeze. It genuinely could not be easier, just pop on a base shadow across the whole lid and blend upwards and outwards over the crease, then pick a good amount of the shadow with your finger tip (that’s right, no brushes or sticky glitter glue necessary!) and swipe across the lid. Easy peasy!

This is a single swipe of the eyeshadow, just look at that base pigment!

I chose shades 02 – Golden Rose, and 03 – Grape Topaz, which are fab to mix and match or wear alone. Finish with some smudged liner to smoke it out and some nice big lashes if you’re feeling bold enough.

2. Kiko Dark Treasure matte liquid lip colour – £8.90.

For me, I go for a liquid lip when facing a big night out every time, a girl needs a certain amount of staying power to get her through that many G&T’s! Especially if your night out involves a meal, nobody wants to be sneaking off to top up in between every course.

It’s safe to say that I am OBSESSED with Kiko’s latest offering, so I picked up two shades that will get you through the holiday season with more pout for your pound.

The smooth and completely opaque formula is super easy to apply in a single layer, while skipping a liner at the same time. It dries to a lovely soft matte and stays put all day with very little transfer, which is an absolute winner for me.

The shades I bought are 06 – Catching Red, which by the way might just be the most perfect shade of red I’ve ever found! It’s giving me serious Gwen Stefani vibes. Despite a blue undertone, you could rock this shade with any skin tone. Also 07 – Opulent Wine, a lovely rosy, berry shade, ideal for when opting for a simple eye such as a winged liner. It’s deep enough to add a bit of drama to a black dress, but not quite as intimidating as a red for those not used to wearing a bold lip.

3. Kiko Sparkling Holiday Glitter Nail Lacquer – £4.90.

We all love a good Christmas manicure, but do you really want to be wearing it every day for three weeks? Give yourself a pamper at home for your night out with these FABULOUS glitter nail lacquers.

Seriously, they are the bomb! Just pop on a nude base, slap on two coats of glitter, and top with the Kiko gel top coat, and bam! A salon quality manicure that will last for days!

I chose 01 – Gold in my mind, and 02 – Twee Rose, which by the way, match both shades of eyeshadow perfectly! What a fab wee secret Santa gift that would be.

I used both shades to create an ombre, which FYI, is near impossible to pick up on camera…but looked great in real life, honest!

This shimmering collection of goodies is sure to see me through the festive season in typically over the top style.

Don’t forget that if you want to give any of these a try before you buy, just pop in to a Kiko and ask an assistant to apply some for you or show you how to use them.

I hope you are all having the most wonderful festive season so far. Time for me to get back to guzzling mulled wine and eating my body weight in cheese.

Happy Christmas everyone,

B x

Henna brows with Marcia at The Brow Houz.

| Lipstick and late nights

It’s official, the nation has gone brow crazy. No longer is a good old wax and tint enough for the majority of us beauty obsessed lot, oh no, we’re now all about threading, HD brows, microblading, powder brows, ombre brows…the options are endless. News just in though, there’s a new kid on the brow obsessed block – henna brows are here, and they might just be a bit of a game changer.

Makeup artist and brow expert Marcia Wilkes kindly asked me along to the Brow Houz to give them a try, and as someone who spends a good ten minutes perfecting that sculpted brow look on a daily basis, I jumped at the chance to try out the treatment that promised to give me an extra ten minutes of snooze time in the mornings!

For the last two years, The Brow Houz has made a name for itself as the place to go for the best brows in Aberdeen, with beauty loving customers travelling from far and wide to up their brow game at this award winning salon.

Marcia has been based at the Brow houz for some time, offering up the most fabulous HD brows and gorgeous makeup looks to lots of loyal customers, and has recently added henna brows to her lineup.

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My attention was well and truly grabbed and I was ‘dyeing’ (wayyyy! Geddit?!) to try them out… (I’ll see myself out).

I know what you’re thinking though – henna? Isn’t that just the stuff you get dodgy ‘tattoos’ with on holiday? Well absolutely not! Henna is a plant based dye that when made in to a paste, can be used to dye skin, hair, fabric and everything in between, and guess what, now brows too!

Here’s what Marcia had to say about what is set to be the latest brow trend:

‘Perfect for those who like to fill their brows in daily, but also want those extra ten minutes in bed. The henna tints the skin which lasts up to three weeks, as well as the hair which lasts up to six weeks. This treatment is suitable for vegans and vegetarians, and is made with 100% natural ingredients, the nutrients can help encourage hair growth for those who have sparse brows, or have ‘regrowth areas’.

Sounds pretty great, right? As a natural blonde with brows that grow in about three different directions, I struggle to get tint to stick to my brows for longer than a week, so this seemed like the ideal treatment for me.

For the record, Marcia is one of about two people in Aberdeen that I will trust to go anywhere near my brows due to still being traumatised by a waxing incident while modelling for a brows course at college (seriously, that shit sticks with you for life..). Marcia was fab from the start, first of all explaining how the treatment worked and what to expect, and then giving a detailed consultation to decide what colour and shape to go for – I went for dark brown to offset my freshly coppered hair, but if you aren’t feeling a bold as me, a variety of warmer and softer shades are available.

She was super thorough and paid the most amazing attention to detail making sure that they were just right, checking in with me several times and making minute changes before leaving the henna to work it’s magic. The treatment lasted about 45 minutes, with Marcia removing the henna from the inside of the brows a little earlier than the rest to achieve a fabulous ombre and very natural effect.

After removing the rest of the henna, Marcia waxed and shaped my brows to perfection and carved them out with a touch of concealer before checking that I was happy, and boy was I! Here are the before and afters, featuring close ups of my bonny spotty mug and 14 hour old eyeliner:

Would you believe that there is absolutely NO product in these brows?

I was actually pretty blown away by the results, my brows looked thicker, healthier, and absolutely bang-on in terms of colour and shape. Marcia gave me all of the aftercare information that I needed, including to avoid makeup and harsh makeup removers for the next 24 hours, and sent me on my way with a smile on my face a a bit of extra sass in my walk thanks to my sexy new brows. Thank you girl!

Two weeks later, still going strong, just like those pesky spots… No edits or makeup.

I know that you guys will want to know how it lasts, so here you are; two weeks later the tint has faded from the skin (but like I said, nothing ever sticks to my skin so that’s to be expected!) but the colour of the hair itself is still the same as it was directly after the treatment, and I’m still super happy with them!

I fully recommend giving this fab new treatment a go, and advise booking quickly as appointments with Marcia are sure to fill up in no time once the word gets out about how fab henna brows really are.

You can book your spot for henna brows (exclusive to Marcia) along with a host of other incredible treatments at The Brow Houz, or by getting in touch with Marcia directly. Find this gorgeous and talented girl on the links below!

Instagram – https://instagram.com/marciawilkesmakeup?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=gt5jkly2v996

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/marciawilkesmakeup/

Website – http://www.marciawilkes.co.uk

Until next time,

B x

Belle Jorden X Obsession Makeup eyeshadow palette.

| Lipstick and late nights

2018-10-19 078361197..jpg

When I heard that YouTube sensation and all round cool gal Belle Jorden was releasing a makeup line, it’s safe to say that I was more than a little bit excited. Given her cruelty free stance and endless stream of badass, fierce AF looks, I just knew that this was going to be good.

When I heard that the brand that Belle was collaborating with to bring us the range was Obsession Makeup and that the eye palette would cost just TEN tiny pounds, well, I damn near peed my pants.

For any of you that don’t already know, Obsession is the sister brand of this years biggest cosmetics sensation, Makeup Revolution, the brand that brings us high end quality at budget friendly prices. You may have heard me mention them once or twice… (read about 326 times because I frickin’ LOVE them!).

The range can be bought in Boots stores nationwide and online, and consists of a drop dead bloody gorgeous 16 shade eyeshadow palette, and a lip gloss collection made up of two nude coloured liquid lipsticks and a lipgloss to mix and match. Unfortunately the lip collection is like gold dust right now and is sold out online – not surprising given the £6 price tag! Devastatingly I wasn’t able to get my hands on it just yet, but she will be mine…oh yes, she WILL be mine…(Wayne’s World fans raise your hands!)

The palette is not only cruelty free, but vegan too.

The palette is an absolute beauty, jam packed with stunning autumnal shades plus plenty of neutrals for every day wear. There are seven mattes, six shimmers and two with glitter, and I’m genuinely obsessed with every single one.

This has got to be one of the most versatile palettes I own, and can lend itself to anything from soft and sweet girl next door, to full on, dark and vampy Sharon Needles realness.

Swatches of all sixteen shades on bare skin, no primer.

“But how does it perform?” I hear you all ask. Like an absolute dream, that’s how. It would be easy to be dubious of the shadow quality or pigmentation given phenomenally affordable pricetag, but Belle being the absolute babe that she is has really has put her heart and soul in to delivering us a top quality product here.

The shadows are smooth and creamy, there’s practically no fallout no matter how much you pile on, and they blend supremely. You’d be practically robbing yourself not to rush out and buy this palette immediately!

Everything is perfect, even down to the packaging. I reached out to Belle to ask if her talented tattoo artist hubby had been involved in designing the beautifully calligraphed cover logo. She was sweet enough to answer and let me know that the awesome design was actually penned by tattooist pal Justin Burnout, who has now firmly secured a place on my list of dream people to be tattooed by!

Serving my best Belle Jorden inspired sassy eye look.

It’s so refreshing to be delivered a palette this stunning and incredible at such a purse friendly cost without compromising on quality. Belle really has done herself proud on this one, it’s already cemented itself as one of my all time favourite palettes and gets a 10/10 from me. You go girl! (Does anyone actually still say that? No? Just me then…)

Pick yours up at boots.com now. Like right now. Or you’ll regret it forever. Seriously.

Until next time,

B x

Revolution Conceal & Define foundation…is it worth the hype?

| Lipstick and late nights

 

There’s a new kid on the drug store makeup block that’s been making some serious waves, gathering accolades along the way such as ‘my new holy grail!’ and ‘miracle foundation!’, but is it really deserving of such powerful acclaims?

Revolutions new Conceal & Define full coverage foundation makes some pretty big claims, and has been garnering some exceptional reviews, so I had to see for myself what all the fuss was about (read: ran down to Superdrug the day it was launched and harassed a shop assistant to find it for me as they weren’t even out of the boxes yet…).

Along with about 90% of the cosmetics loving population, I fell head over heels for the now iconic Conceal & Define concealer when it was released earlier this year. As a budget friendly alternative to Tarte Shape Tape, we were getting all of the bang for a lot fewer bucks, life was sweet.

The only complaint that myself along with half of Instagram had to make was that it lasted such a short time. Well Revolution being the absolute babes that they are listened, and they delivered a solution to us in the form of Conceal & Define…SUPERSIZE! So now I think we can all agree that it’s pretty much perfect, no?

I’ve been trying the foundation out for the last few weeks – obviously to give it a really fair test drive, and nothing to do with the fact that I’m a complete shambles when it comes to scheduling blogging time… Moving on. Let’s talk packaging.

Well it’s just a bit beautiful, isn’t it? Its like a grown up, more lux version of the concealer, mirroring the Insta-worthy copper lid and label, but swapping out the plastic bottle for glass – which not only looks fab, but is more eco-friendly too, yay!

Conceal & Define foundation in F2 and concealer in C1.

“Is it any bloody good though?!” I hear you all ask. Well, yes. And no.

This is going to be a super unpopular opinion, but I really do have mixed feelings on this foundation, possibly because it has such big boots to fill in the shadow of the concealer, but for me it’s just not all that I had hoped and dreamed that it would be.

Let’s break it down.

Coverage.

To me when a foundation says it’s going to be full coverage, I want it to completely obliterate my own pesky skin from human sight, and I don’t feel like this one quite had the opacity that I really need. Blemishes were still visible and I had to apply two layers plus concealer to feel at my full Bianca Del Rio best.

For those with perfect skin, sure you’ll love it, but for never ending acne prone people like me, it’s just not quite there.

Application.

The first no from me is the jumbo doe-foot applicator. While this may be ideal for the concealer, it really doesn’t lend itself to easy foundation application. I have to dip it in and out at least ten times to get the amount of product that I want on my face, and as it’s quite a thin formula, I ALWAYS end up splattering it all over the place while I’m at it. Plus on a hygienic level, this certainly isn’t one you could use on clients easily. Swap this out for a pump and it would jump up a couple of places in my rankings immediately.

On a positive note, it blends easily and builds well, just make sure you work quickly as much like the Kat Von D lock it foundation, it dries on super quickly.

Results.

It’s not all negative here, I promise. The demi-matte finish is lovely and overall the foundation is great for everyday wear. It lasts well throughout the day, but as with most makeup on my nightmare skin, it does develop a bit of oiliness and a degree of separation as time goes on.

The finished result, no filters, no edits.

Just to be clear I do actually really like it! And for a tiny £9 you’re getting a really good quality product here, so please do give it a try because you might just love it, but for a full on night out beat, I feel like I definitely still need to level up.

Enter my absolute hero foundation, the Revolution Pro camouflage foundation, which you can see me gush about lovingly HERE. If you are ready to get serious about full coverage, this right here is your go-to guy, and all for £7!

Have you guys tried it for yourselves yet? If so what are your thoughts? I’d love to hear, so leave a comment!

Until next time,

B x