My Perfect Nude Lipstick and Glosses

These 4 beauties live in my handbag, they are the ones that I can apply and chop and change any time as they will pretty much suit any make up that I am wearing.

As much I love to experiment with bright colours on my lips, most of the time I tend to apply nude shades as they are just so easy to wear and work for both day and evening. However, I have to say these four are definitely my go to shades and the ones I wear the most often.

Yes To Carrots C Me Shine Lip Gloss in Playful Nude - £5.99


I absolutely love this nude gloss, it is thick and creamy in texture, smells of mint choc chip ice cream and makes my lips look full, glossy and luscious. It is 95% organic, paraben free and has ingredients such as jojoba and shea butter to keep lips moisturised.

I like to wear this alone or on top of the No7 Lipstick shown in the picture above - Nude Rebel.

Flawless You Forever Couture Pout Mineral Lip Gloss in Adelina - $18


This is just gorgeous, the applicator is a long stick with a foam wand and the gloss is non sticky and applies evenly. It is sheer and has reflective tints which really do make my lips look fuller for that 'A' list pout. It has a beautiful gold shimmer that is incredibly flattering on the lips and I often get asked what I am wearing when I have this on.

Lord & Berry 20100 Shining Lipstick in Intimacy - £8


I am a great fan of the Lord & Berry Shining Lipsticks, which are really giant pencils. They are so soft to apply and well pigmented that you only need one application to achieve full coverage. Intimacy is one of my darker nude shades and leans to being pinky/brown in tone, which you can see in this FOTD post.

No7 Soft Matte Finish Lipstick in Nude Rebel - £9.75 (limited edition)

My all time favourite nude lipstick, it feels lovely on the lips and has a very soft sheen to it. Sadly it is limited edition from back in 2010 so very soon I will be hunting for a dupe!

Swatches of all four nudes in the order they are listed.

Without flash 

With flash

What are your favourite nude lipsticks/glosses?


*PR Samples except for the FYF gloss which I won in a twitter comp and the Lord & Berry which I won in a blog competition.

FYF - Flawless You Forever Luscious Mascara Review

Flawless You Forever Mascara in Black claims to be an everyday formula that lengthens, separates and thickens lashes and is buildable for more dramatic lashes. Containing panthenol and keratin it strengthens and nourishes lashes.

My thoughts 

I have been reaching for this mascara a lot as I do find it to be an excellent everyday mascara. I like the brush size and design which makes it easy to coat the lashes and reach the smaller ones without poking yourself in the eye. It separates them beautifully for soft, natural looking lashes. It is a nice, decent black and is buildable but does begin to clump after a few strokes, which I find with a lot of mascaras.  I don't find it to thicken lashes that much though so prefer to use a different mascara to provide drama and impact.

I find the formula and results to be similar to Clinique's High Impact Mascara (review coming soon)

The brush

And finally, the before and after shots.

Before

After 

FYF Luscious Mascara in Black costs $16 from www.fyfcosmetics.com

*I won this mascara in a twitter competition

Boxing Day Make Up - Face Of The Day

My Boxing Day make-up

Primer - Clarins Beauty Flash Balm
Eye Primer - Urban Decay EyeShadow Primer Potion Eden
Foundation - Airbase High Definition Airbrush Make-up Shade Medium 03
Concealer - Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Light
Bronzer - Accessorize Baked Bronzer Duo - Bali Shade 2
Blusher - Accessorize Merged Baked Blusher 6 - Scandal
Eye Shadow - 17 Trio Eye Shadows in Enraged
Eye Liner - Clinique Quickliner for Eyes in Intense Plum (Ltd Edition)
Mascara - Flawless You Forever Luscious Mascara in Black
Lip gloss - Laura Mercier Nude Lip Glace in Champagne

An Autumn Make-Up Look - FOTD

My Autumn Face

I have done this makeup a few times now and think it is ideal for daytime. I find it warm and fresh.looking.

Products used 

Primer - Benefit Porefessional 
Eye Primer - Urban Decay EyeShadow Primer Potion Eden 
Foundation - Estee Lauder Double Wear in Pale Almond
Bronzer - Accessorize Baked Bronzer Duo in Bali 
Blushers - Accessorize Merged Baked Blusher in Scandal, Nars Deep Throat Blush
Skin Highlighter -MAC Semi Precious Rose Quartz Mineral Skinfinish (lightly brushed all over face).
Eye shadows - Cult GD Lazy Days, Max Factor Earth Spirits Eyeshadow in Burnt Bark
Mascara - Flawless You Forever Luscious in Black
Eyeliner - Clinique Cream Shaper for Eyes in Chocolate Lustre
Lipstick - Lord and Berry 20100 Shining Lipstick in Intimacy


Have you adapted your makeup colours for winter?

Make Up For The School Run - Just 2 minutes!

My little boy has recently started nursery school, whereas before we could pretty much be anywhere at anytime we are now battling against the dreaded clock..

I like to take my time applying my makeup, nothing excessive like Joan Collins (a rumoured three hours) but around 10- 15 minutes usually and more if required.

I have quickly learnt that in order to get myself and him ready in the morning the one thing that I don't have much of is time. Most of my morning is battling with him to eat his breakfast and chasing him around the house to get ready!

I like to wear makeup and am not the kind of person that will pop to the shops without my makeup.

So I have perfected the it takes less than 2 minutes ready for the day look.. I know it takes this as I timed it!

Two minutes, four products.


Base - Liz Earle Skin Tint in shade Beige 02 
Blusher - Flawless You Forever Cheeky in Country Fresh - I love how natural this is.
Mascara - Max Factor Xperience Volumising Mascara in brown/black - My go to everyday mascara
Lipstick - Revlon Colourburst Lipstick in Raspberry 045 - An instant pop of colour is a guaranteed face brightener, I LOVE this shade.

Here you go - a picture of me on the school run

Face Of The Day - FOTD

20 years ago we were heading out to visit some family friends when my dad (a keen photographer) noticed the gorgeous blossom on one of our trees and stood me in front of it for a photograph. He loved that photo of me, aged 13, so much that he had it enlarged and it has been on display ever since.

Yesterday, I had a phone call from my dad asking me to come over, the tree looked similar to that day 20 years before and he wanted to take another photograph of me standing in front of it.

Now aged 33 I am looking forward to comparing the two pictures :-)

As a 13 year old I was fresh faced with not an ounce of make up on,  a major difference will be that yesterday's photograph will have me wearing it...

Here is a picture of me as I left my house. At the moment I am really loving strong lip colours.

With flash 

Unfortunately my hay-fever has set in and I think I have rubbed my eyes a little too much (evidence is the bags under my eyes)

What I am wearing - 

Clinique Redness Solutions Makeup

FYF Cheeky Blush in Country Fresh

Estee Lauder Signature Hydra Lustre Lipstick in Apricot Sun

No7 Intense Volume Waterproof Mascara in black

L'Oreal Paris Colour Appeal Eye Shadow  in Smoky Beige  - This is by far my favourite taupe base colour ever - sadly my dad got this for me when he was in America :-(

L'Oreal Paris Chrome Intensity Eye Shadow in Cacao Mania 

Clinique Cream Shaper Eye Liner in Chocolate Lustre

FYF - Flawless You Forever Makeup - Review

I first came across the Flawless You Forever brand when I saw a review on a blog. The picture was of a gorgeous blusher that was called Floral Blush,  a blusher that is shaped like a flower...

I was sent 3 products to review from the range - Mineral Loose Powder, Powder Blush and Lipgloss - Mint.

I like the outer packaging

The loose mineral powder foundation and powder blush

Impeccable Mineral Loose Powder - $28 for 14gm. I am using the shade Nude.

Readers of the blog will know that personally I am not a huge fan of mineral loose foundation. I just seem to prefer the coverage and quickness of application of a liquid foundation. Powder seems to sit and accentuate the pores in a way that liquid doesn't.

However, I applied this with a Kabuki brush from ' Green People' and I can see the attraction people have of powder foundations. It blended in very easily and evenly. For me the testimony was from people who commented on how well I looked without knowing that I was using this foundation. I don't think I am totally converted just yet to loose powder but if you like mineral foundations then this is a foundation definitely worth considering.

Nude is for light pink toned complexions (I am usually light with yellow tones) but this worked well for me.
There are 2 other shades in the range Medium- For light to medium skin with medium undertones
Sand- For medium skin with yellow undertone.

It is talc free and comes in a sifter jar.

Cheeky Blush $17 for 3gm. Shade - Country Fresh 

This is by far and away my favourite product out of the three that I was sent. It is a gorgeous fresh pinky toned blush that provides a beautifully natural flush to my cheeks. It is a matte blusher so perfect for everyday use. It is so easy to blend and build-able. I would definitely purchase this as I absolutely love it.

Cheeky Blush comes in 5 shades.

These pictures are with flash (excuse the mugshot style photo)

And without flash and on a different day...

Lipgloss - Mint Glow $18 - Shade Minty Star

Click for a closer look!

The packaging is attractive and the black handle is slightly cushioned.

Minty Star is a purple/brown tinged colour

This smells so minty, like those blue Spearmint Sweets or toothpaste. I really love the scent of it. It tingles on application  for a few minutes which I am not a fan of as you know from previous reviews but it also has a wonderfully cooling effect from the mint extract. This gloss is wonderfully pigmented, glides on smoothly and evenly with the applicator and has an almost frosted appearance under the light.

Unfortunately this shade does absolutely nothing for me, it is just too dark and makes me look severe,  but I can see that it would look great on darker skin tones and really does enhance the lips. As it comes in 5 shades I am personally drawn to Minty Bubbles a cute pink shade.

All items are available to purchase from www.flawlessyouforever.com. They offer free delivery worldwide.

WIN FYF MAKEUP 

**** I have teamed up with FYF to offer one lucky reader 3 fabulous items from the range. For entry details click here  ***  Giveaway closes Midnight 23rd February 2011

FYF - Flawless You Forever Fabulous Makeup Giveaway *NOW CLOSED*

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED

I have teamed up with the lovely people at FYF - Flawless You Forever www.flawlessyouforever.com to offer one lucky follower of BeautySwot a fantastic prize consisting of the following products -

Miracle Coat Nail Enamel in the pretty shade 909 London - The perfect Spring colour
Dewdrop moisturising lipstick in the gorgeous shade of 304 Soho
Cheeky Powder Blush in shade 751 You - I love this shade!

These are 3 fantastically wearable shades that would be a great addition to your makeup collection this Spring.

I have been trying out some of their products recently so look out for my review in future posts :-)

To be in with a chance of winning this great prize please see details of how to enter below -


The rules

1. You must be a follower of this blog and leave a comment below asking to be entered into the giveaway with your name and email address, so that I can contact you if you are the lucky winner. It's easy to follow my blog - just click the FOLLOW button on the right of the page and follow the instructions. This will gain you one entry. 
2. You can gain an extra 2 entries by tweeting about this giveaway. Just tag your tweet with @BeautySwot at the end so I can see it. 
3. You can also gain another 3 entries if you blog about / have a link to this giveaway on your side bar - please post link to show you have done this. 

The (not so) Small Print -

• Maximum entries per person is 6
• Open only to European citizens
• All entries will be logged and numbered, and the winner will be selected by www.random.org
• Entries close at midnight (GMT) 23rd February 2011

Thanks for entering and good luck!


xxx