Another Obsession: Highlighters

If you looked at my makeup collection, you would see I have 3 main weakness, lipstick, eyeshadow palettes and highlighters. The most recent of them weaknesses would definitely be highlighters, I can't seem to stop buying them lately. And today I thought I'd share them all with you.

In the drugstore category I have one single highlight, MUA's Undress Your Skin and two palettes, the Sleek Solstice palette and Makeup Revolution's Highlight palette. I have to admit I very rarely reach for these as I tend to favour my high end ones. But after getting them out again and swatching them, I think I will be making an effort to use them more. All of them are really well pigmented for such affordable products, and look lovely when applied. The Sleek palette has four shades in it, a cream champagne pink shade, a pink/purple baked powder highlight, a yellow toned powder and a bronze baked powder. All of them are amazingly pigmented and look gorgeous on the skin. This palette is getting a lot of attention at the minute because Jaclyn Hill has recently talked about it, and I completely understand the hype. I've loved this palette ever since I bought it last year when it was released. My second palette is from Makeup Revolution and is the one that I very rarely reach for, although pigmented in my swatches these powders take a lot of building up on my face and I can never be bothered to use it. In it there is a pink a peach and a yellow/gold highlight. Lastly is the very first highlighter I bought, MUA's Undress your skin its a beautiful well pigmented pink toned highlight that I just don't reach for enough. I adored this when I first got it but like I've said these ones have unfortunately been neglected for my more expensive highlighters.

sleek solstice: ecliptic, hemisphere, sub solar, equinox, makeup revolution: golden lights, peach lights, pink lights, mua: undress your skin.

High end wise I have 5 single highlighters, my one cream highlighter is Benefits, Watts Up this one is a mini from a Benefit set I got, and if I'm honest I've only used it once, I don't really get a long with cream products. Next is the first high end highlighter that I got, which can also be used as a blusher. This is Dior's Rose Diamond and it is still one of my favourite products. This gradients from a lovely white pearly highlight to a pink blush, all the colours can be used separately or swirled together depending on what kind of look you are going for. It transfers onto the skin quite sheerly but leaves you with a lovely subtle glow. Another hyped up product is The Balm's Mary Lou Manizer, the pigment on this is amazing its a gorgeous champagne gold and it looks amazing on the skin, a little goes a long way with this so I can imagine it will last me a long time. Lastly I have two Becca highlights, and these were both 100% purchased because of Jaclyn Hill. First is her collaboration with Becca, Champagne Pop a gorgeous champagne highlight that shows up quite bronzey on me but still looks lovely. And secondly Pearl, this was released in the Christmas palette from Becca and I was devastated that I missed out on it. It's a pale girls dream highlight, a stunning white 'pearl' shade. Being the massive Jaclyn Hill fangirl that I am, I was over the moon when I found out these beauties were permanently being sold in the UK and I bought them both a few days after their releases. These highlighters are by far the best I own, extremely pigmented, long wearing and the softest powders I have ever come across, even my Real Techniques Duo Fibre brushes have made marks in these! Again a little goes a long with Pearl and Champagne Pop so they will last me forever (if they don't break beforehand with their amazing texture)

benefit watts up, dior rose diamond, the balm mary lou manizer, becca pearl, becca champagne pop

So thats my extensive highlighter collection, more shimmer and glow than any girl will need in a lifetime, but I can guarantee I will add plenty more to it. Next up on the hitlist is definitely Anastasia's Glow Kits they look amazing!
Have you got any must have highlighters for me to try, and what are your makeup weaknesses? Let me know :)
Much Love 

Gemma xo.

My Lip Combo Of The Moment

I have been making a conscious effort recently, to change up my make up looks on a daily basis to get through the hoards of eyeshadow palettes that I have. One thing that always stays the same though is my lip combo, as I have the most perfect one for everyday use, or a night out for that matter.

I was drawn to Rimmel's Exaggerate Lip Liner in Eastend Snob (£3.99) from the minute, I saw Amelia Liana say that it was a dupe for her favourite liner from Charlotte Tilbury, Lip Cheat in Pillowtalk. I have since gone through two tubes of it, because I am in love. It is literally the most perfect liner, creamy in consistency, which has led to me snapping it a fair few times whilst applying :( It glides on the lips likes a dream, is amazingly pigmented and although matte, doesn't dry out the lips what so ever. It is a gorgeous mauve pink shade that is perfect for that still, ever so popular Kylie Jenner lip. 

To tone down the matte from Eastend Snob, I go over it with MAC's High Stung (£15.50) this is a frost lipstick from MAC, that is absolutely my most worn lipstick in my whole collection. It is a rosy pink shade with silver shimmer running throughout it. Once again this has a great texture, nice and creamy and glides on the lips with ease. Paired with Eastend Snob it is an absolutely dream. A gorgeous mauve pink with a beautiful shimmery twist on the Kylie Jenner lip trend. This is my absolute go to combo for the moment and I can't see myself moving away from it anytime soon. Weather I am out with my baby, running errands, going to work or even out on date nights or with my girls, I always find myself coming back to this pair. And although it isn't anything extravagant or eye catching, if I am ever unsure of what lip colour to wear this is a fail safe way to give my makeup look that extra something.

What are your favourite lip combos at the minute?

Much Love,

Gemma xo.

Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Blush Palette

I am a huge fan of the Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes, but for some reason I have never ventured into any of their other products until now. I fell in love with the Gwen Stefani blush palette the minute the first pictures of it were released and I knew it was something I HAD to add to my collection. So on a recent trip to Newcastle with my other half, I eventually purchased it and have absolutely fell in love with it since.

Housed in a white and gold palette, are 6 beautiful blush shades ranging from a light barbie pink, a bronzer to a champagne highlight. First up we have Cherry a light cool toned pink that has a very slight sheen to it. Easy is my favourite of the bunch, a gorgeous deep rose pink with golden shimmer. The highlighter in the palette is a true champagne colour packed with shimmer. There is also a bronzer thrown in there too Lo-Fi, it is a completely matte medium brown and although it is slightly on the orangey side it is still a lovely shade. That I can get away with using, to warm up my complexion. Hush is another rosy pink that actually shows up as more of a shimmery brown shade on me. OC is the sheerest of them all that took a lot of building up in my swatch. It's a coral shade with a beautiful pink sheen to it. I just wish that it was a bit more pigmented as I've really been wanting a shade like this in my collection.

All in all I really like this palette and although some of the shades could do with a bit more pigmentation, I do think that for once I will actually use every one of them. All the colours blend really well and wear for about 6-8 hours. I think it would be the perfect travel companion because it has everything you need for on the cheeks and is something everyone needs in their make up collection. It seems to be sold out everywhere at the minute except Selfridges, and costs £35.

Much Love, 

Gemma xo.

MAC Lipstick Collection

Hi everyone first things first, apologies for not blogging throughout my pregnancy as promised! The whole thing seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye, and as usual life got on top of me and I never found the time to blog. But once again I'm back, this time with a brand new laptop and camera and I am raring to get my blogging game back on track. To ease myself back into this, I thought I'd start with a relatively simple one, and share with you my MAC Lipstick collection. I love reading this type of blogpost and although my collection is pretty small I hope you like reading about it none the less.

from top, left to right - new york apples, girl about town, lady danger, up the amp, candy yum yum, rebel, show orchid, high strung.

I think I bought my first MAC Lipstick about 4 years ago and my collection has slowly been growing ever since then. I love each and every one that I own and have many, many more on my 'to buy' list. I currently own 8 shades and have 4 different finishes, matte, satin, amplified and frost. I really like all the different finishes but 'amplified' is definitely my favourite, because they are so pigmented yet very creamy and easy to wear.

So onto the collection itself. First up is 'Show Orchid' which although isn't my most worn shade I think its my favourite. It's a gorgeous bright fuchsia pink with blue running through it with a lovely pearlescent finish to it making it slightly on the shimmery side. 

Girl About Town, was my first ever MAC lipstick and back then was the brightest lipstick I had, now however it seems quite dull in comparison to some of my other shades. Just like Show Orchid, Girl About Town is another bright fuchsia pink with blue undertones, but its slightly dark and less shimmery, still very beautiful and highly pigmented.

My last amplified lipstick is Up The Amp, a lovely pinky purple shade, which again has cool undertones, that make your teeth look nice and white. It is a very creamy lipstick that glides on easily and wears for a good 3 or 4 hours on me.

My only satin lipstick is the very well known and much loved Rebel, a deep violet colour that is very pinky on my lips. I always imagined Rebel to be a very deep purple, so I was quite disappointed when it turned out so pink on me, but to get that deep look I desired, I pair it with Sleeks lipliner in Venom, which makes it a gorgeous vampy plum colour.

Next are my two frost finishes, High Strung is definitely my most worn lipstick out of my collection, as it is so wearable for everyday. It is a gorgeous rosy pink with a silver shimmer to it, which makes it look slightly metallic which I love. For an everyday basis I pair this with Rimmels Eastend Snob lipliner, for a shimmery version of the cult 'Kylie Jenner lip'.

New York Apple is a gorgeous red with raspberry shimmer and it is another of my favourites. Although shimmery this is a very pigmented lipstick and lasts for around 4 to 5 hours. I wore this on Christmas Day and it was perfect for the festive season, although I do still put it on every now and again, now we are into the Spring/Summer season.

This next lipstick, Candy Yum Yum is one that I absolutely love but I haven't actually wore yet, as it is so matte it settles into every nook and cranny and my lips have just not been in the best condition for it as of late. Candy Yum Yum is another firm favourite with MAC lovers, it is a beautiful bright barbie pink that will look perfect in summer.

Finally I have Lady Danger and although this is another matte it doesn't settle into lines like Candy Yum Yum does and is very creamy, so I have worn this much more. Its is a beautiful orangey red which is again perfect for summer.

show orchid, girl about town, up the amp, rebel, high strung, candy yum yum, lady danger

So that's my MAC lipstick collection, sorry for the lack of lip swatches, but as I've said my lips aren't in a great condition at the minute so they would not be nice to look at, at all. Hopefully that nice arm shot is good enough for you and you can get a rough idea of what each shade looks like. Thank You for reading and I hope you enjoyed my first post back.

Much Love 

Gemma xo.

High End Make Up Haul

Hi Everyone. Back with a haul for you today. These are the more expensive make up bits I have purchased over the past few months.

Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot 

I absolutley adore this product! It was part of Benefits Christmas Collection and I was lucky enough to get the very last one on the House Of Fraser website after hunting everywhere for it. It contains 6 very generous sized blushers, Dandelion, Bella Bamba, Sugarbomb, Hoola (Bronzer), Coralista and Rockateur. A 1.5g sample of Watts Up Highligher and a teeny tiny brush. All for the amazing prize of just £29.50. The Rockateur blush in here is actaully full size and would cost £23.50 alone so you can see just how great value for money this product really is. I know you can't get hold of it anymore but I couldn't not share it with you all.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid

Next up is a old favourite of mine, MAC's Studio Fix Fluid in NC15. I used to swear by this foundation but haven't actually purchased one for a number of years now. The coverage is excellent and the staying power is one of the best I have come across. Many people find this foundation too heavy and cakey but for my combination skin it is just right. The pump is actually one I bought a few years back hence why it looks so grubby but it works, so why buy a new one right? I bought this in the Selfridges sale for around £19 the price it was when I first started buying it!

Urban Decay Naked 2

   

I seem to be working my way backwards when it comes to the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. I started with Naked 3, I then decided this one was a must buy and I'm sure I will eventually purchase the original to complete the collection. Naked 2 is the more cool toned of the 3 palettes and suits my pale complexion perfectly. Since buying this, the 3rd palette which I absolutely adored has well and truely taken a back seat, and rarely sees the light of day. This one is much more wearable and is by far my favourite out of the 2. No.3 is definitely a speacial occasion kinda palette nowadays.

MAC 217

 

It's about time I got my hands on this blogger favourite. Gorgeously soft and perfect for blending eye shadow, I definitely understand the hype now. This brush is an absolute gem. Although I am rather disappointed of how wispy some of the bristles seem to have gone after a few washes, a few of them now point in different directions instead of being nice and straight. Very disappointing for the price of this little thing but I love it all the same, I'm just praying it doesn't get any worse.

The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer

Another firm blogger favourite, The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer is officially one of my favourite highlighters. Its the most perfect champagne highlight that looks great on my pale skin. It's super pigmented, you really only need a tiny touch of this to add a lovely glow to the face. This is going to last me a very long time. I'm still yet to even make a dent in it.

MAC Show Orchid & Rebel. YSL Rouge Pur Couture Le Mats 207

Last but certaintly not least, 3 beautiful lipsticks that I'm sure you have all heard of. MAC's Show Orchid is a very vivid fuschia pink with a somewhat blueish shimmer running through it. It is amazingly pigmented and I am so happy to finally own it after MAC made Pro Products more readily available to us here in the UK, once again I am in love! MAC Rebel is another much hyped product and once again for great reason. As with all MAC lipsticks I own the pigmentation is great and you only need one quick swipe for great colour pay off, and built up it is even more stunning. Rebel is a gorgeous berry colour that leans more towards pink on my lips. It is nothing like this picture that makes it look almost black, my apologies for that. And finally YSL Rouge Pur Couture Le Mats in 207 is a very on trend lipstick shade at the minute. Which I 100% purchased because I saw the beautiful Amelia Liana raving about it. It's a lovely dusky rose colour and is perfect for mimicing Kylie Jenner's famous 90's style pout. Although this is a matte shade it is not drying at all, it glides on and sits on the lips perfectly and feels like any other lipstick. Staying power is excellent and I very rarely need to top this up.

As you can tell I have been treating myself quite a lot since getting my new job and these are the more expensive picks from the bunch.

I hope you are all having a lovely day and enjoyed this post. Please do let me know of any posts you would like to see here on my blog as I am just getting back into the swing of things and would appreciate any ideas you may have.

Much Love Gemma