Colourpop Series #1 | Light Nudes Shades

Hello everyone! Welcome to the first of my posts in the colourpop ultra matte liquid lipsticks series (but for short I'm calling it colourpop series haha). So as you may have seen in my hauls I ordered a LOT of liquid lipsticks from colourpop as well as a few satins, and I thought the best way to review them would be in groups of three. I also wanted to let you all know that COLOURPOP WILL BE SHIPPING INTERNATIONALLY ON TUESDAY 12TH OF JULY!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉 So I hope these posts will be helpful to you when placing orders, they have such a huge range of shades that it can be a little overwhelming, so check back on my blog every weekend for a new post with thorough reviews ^_^

For each of these posts there will be a corresponding swatch videos on IG, so you can see how the shades look against my skintone (medium/olive/yellow toned). I will also be using a lot of ratings in this post as I have found the colours to differ in terms of formula. Starting off with the things that don't change though, I do like the packaging it's lightweight, has silver detailing which makes it look a little more pricey than it is and I also like how the doefoot applicator is pretty small! Personally I'll only use a lipliner with a liquid lipstick if the shade is a little too light and I need some more definition, otherwise I'll just line my lips with that liquid lipstick itself as they normally have more than enough opacity and longevity alone.

Its also important to note that all liquid lipsticks are a little drying and colourpop's are no exception. Some people find them to be a lot more drying, however you simply need to remember to apply them to DRY lips (which have been balmed up before and of course scrubbed too), and also you only should apply ONE layer. Avoid applying it to the bottom lip and pressing them together, it is better to put on a single layer on both lips and wait for the application to dry down. This way the liquid lipstick will set well and last too. I also find that the more dehydrated that I am, the more the formula sets into fine lines on my lips.

The three colours in this post are: Bianca, Clueless and Solow.

1. Bianca 

Colourpop describes this as a soft mauve pink and I totally agree with that! Bianca is by far my all time favourite nude liquid lipstick from all the brands I have tried. Nude shades are really hard to get right, regardless of the formula as they can often look cakey or flaky and accentuate lines on the lips due to the lighter shade. Bianca however glides on in a thin layer and I can hardly feel it on my lips when it has dried, which I love. It lasts a really long time on my lips, easily passing the 5/6 hour mark and it not in the slightest bit streaky. I do go over the edges of my lips once this has dried down with a slightly darker lip liner which gives my lips more definition, as this shade is JUST a little bit too light for me and could wash me out without that lipliner. However like I said, so far its the best nude liquid lipstick in my stash and I envisage repurchasing this one a couple of times!

Overall Rating (colour, longevity, comfortableness) : 5/5

2. Clueless

Colourpop describes this as a dusty mauve pink and this shade is the supposed dupe for Kylie's lipkit in Candy K - when you look at online swatches, it certainly does look similar. I wanted to much to love this shade, but I have more of a love/hate relationship with it. All colourpop liquid lipsticks require special prep as I have touched upon above, however clueless is a shade which can look terrible if you're not extra extra careful. For some reason the formula of this shade is thicker than the others that I have tried, so when it does eventually dry down it almost sits thickly ontop of the lips and really accentuates any lines and ridges in the lips. Also I noticed that due to the thicker formula, it looks so weird around the inside edges of my mouth after a couple of hours - not a good look! So the best way to describe this shade is cakey, which is a shame as the colour is quite a flattering mauve shade. It definitely does have a blue tone to it, which makes my teeth look brighter but thats the only thing I like about it! I wouldn't repurchase it but I've not heard a lot of negative reviews so perhaps I got a dodgy one? Either way it looks darker than the swatch so do be aware of that.

Overall Rating (colour, longevity, comfortableness) : 2/5

3. Solow

Colourpop describes this as a neutral nude pink, however its definitely got a hint of peach. I'd say its more of a medium shade of pink rather than nude, and it is a little out of my comfort-zone as its quite a bit brighter than my typical go-to. So I'd only reach for this shade when its the summer time and I'm wearing lighter shades in general. I've mainly been using this colour to mix with lighter shades, as it looks beautiful with Bianca! Also when it comes to mixing colourpop ultra mattes, I'd highly recommend using your finger and working quickly, or a brush. This has a similar formula to Bianca, its quite thin and very liquidy and it sets well on the lips without accentuating any imperfections. Solow is a nice enough colour and it doesn't look too off against my skintone, however I don't think I'd repurchase. It's not a shade I'd reach for over and over like Bianca. I recommend this colour more to your fairer skinned ladies, as it can look a bit chalky against medium/dark skintones.

Overall Rating (colour, longevity, comfortableness) : 3/5

I do apologize for these swatches! I didn't have time to get a better one that this, however like I said I have swatched these over on my IG, so check those out if you want to see more. From left to right is Bianca, clueless and solow and from these three I will repurchase Bianca for sure! Although it looks darker in this swatch, it appears lighter and a good nude shade against my medium skintone (even if a lip liner is needed!).

Have you tried any of these shades? Which are your favourites?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Colourpop Series #1 | Light Nudes Shades

Hello everyone! Welcome to the first of my posts in the colourpop ultra matte liquid lipsticks series (but for short I'm calling it colourpop series haha). So as you may have seen in my hauls I ordered a LOT of liquid lipsticks from colourpop as well as a few satins, and I thought the best way to review them would be in groups of three. I also wanted to let you all know that COLOURPOP WILL BE SHIPPING INTERNATIONALLY ON TUESDAY 12TH OF JULY!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉 So I hope these posts will be helpful to you when placing orders, they have such a huge range of shades that it can be a little overwhelming, so check back on my blog every weekend for a new post with thorough reviews ^_^

My Must Have Makeup Geek Shadows | For Brown Gals

Hello lovely people, I hope you're doing well. Today I am going to be sharing my favourite Makeup geek eyeshadows with you, these are the ones I've had for a good few weeks and I have loved the most. I will be doing a full eyeshadow collection and swatch post, as well as a makeup geek starter kit but all in due time. I wanted to kick off my MUG posts with my favourites, the ones that should my whole collection go missing God forbid, I would want to repurchase immediately and these are also the shadows (from what I've tried so far) that look best on a brown/medium complexion. Now I'm not too happy with my swatches, but I tried to get them as accurate in colour as possible so I hope they're still helpful!

Also you may have noticed the 'For Brown Gals' in the title, so I hereby welcome you to a brand new series on my blog - these posts are totally for every single skintone, but especially for my fellow olive/brownskinned girls who want makeup recommendations that are catered to them. I will be doing a couple of these posts here and there from now on ^_^

When I asked on twitter how you guys would like these swatches, with or without primer the general consensus was both. So I have put a line of primer on top (the milani eyeshadow primer £5.99 which is a dupe of the Urban Decay and Too Faced one so I've heard) and as you can see the line went a bit wonky haha. I hope you can also see that primer makes a pretty big difference with the matte shades in the swatches, even though these mattes are great when applied alone on the lids! For some reason bare skin one-swipe swatches don't do them justice at all, which is why I wanted to show the colour with a base underneath as I usually always use one. All in all makeup geek eyeshadows show up well with one swipe of the brush which is why I love them. I should also mention that although I do highly recommend this primer, half the time I'll end up using a concealer instead, so long as it brightens up the lid and gives the shadow something to stick to, it works ^_^

The Crease Shades

Creme Brulee (£6.00): This is the shade most of you will have seen on YouTube over and over, it was one of the shades that was top of my wishlist. It has not disappointed me in the slightest, I use this almost every single time I wear eyeshadow, because it is the most perfect crease/transition shade to ever exist. I never could quite understand why so many girls raved about it, but trust me this is the type of colour to make your eyeshadow look go from a 3 to a 7, if you were judging it in numbers! A sweep of this in the crease helps other colours blend seemlessly and look as if you've spent a long time on the eyes, which is why its effortless and a total essential for me.


Tiki Hut (£6.00): Tiki hut is one of the newer shades that was released this summer and the formula reflects that, very pigmented and it blends like a dream. I would describe Tiki Hut as a medium brown shade with a mix of dark yellow, which makes it an amazing crease shade. It's a little more on the warm side, but could easily be used with a cool eyeshadow look to add some depth. I am very much a neutral girl, so these colours which are a little off the standard browns, really excite me as they add so much even though they look like nothing special in the swatches haha.

Frappe (£6.00): This shade is a must have with creme brulee, the two are like inseparable sisters I usually always use them together! Frappe is a warm toned brown which has a tiny tiny hint of pink. It is a lot warmer than Tiki Hut, but it's not darker if that makes sense, so you can apply a wash of frappe all over the crease and then apply a brighter/ligher shade all over the lid et voila you are good to go! So basically frappe is another one of those basic looking shades that I can't imagine not owning now, its great for adding a little bit of warmth along the lower-lashline for a day-time look too. However my primary reason for loving this shade, is just how effortless it is in the crease, clearly I am using the word effortless a lot in this post thus far - but thats what you want in a crease shade!


Tuscan Sun (£6.00): This is the only shade that didn't come out very clearly in the swatch above, boo! So I'll describe it as more of a subtle dusky shade and I adore this so much! Another one of the newer shadows for the MUG summer collection, tuscan sun is the most beautiful warm shade I have ever used in my crease. When I first purchased it I wasn't sure that I would be getting a lot of use out of it, however just a little tap of the blending brush and a sweep in the crease and it makes your eyeshadow look appear a lot more complex than just a simple brown (or creme brulee!). Another favourite way to wear this shade is to apply it happhazardly all over the crease area with a large blending brush and then taken a smaller more precise brush, loaded with frappe and blend it more precisely into the crease itself. It takes about 30 seconds but again looks so beautifully blended out, without any hard work!

Moving onto the bolder lid shades, these were really hard to photograph and swatch accurately (this particular photo is like my 38927743 attempt), but I think I've just about got it! Some of these are the foiled eyeshadows which do cost a little more so thats why I've included prices. However each of these four are amazingly pigmented, like one swipe wonders and so buttery to apply on the lids.

Magic Act (£9.25): Okay I know I just said I got these swatches right🙄, but Magic Act is a lot more of a true gold and that is why I ADORE IT. If you know me, you know I love a good gold shade because that pop of shine is everything, especially on a medium skintone/brown eyes. What I really like about this shade, aside from the creamy foiled formula, is how it blends so beautifully with lots of shades, browns, greens, reds, khakis etc. Its literally the perfect gold shade, not too cool or too orange...I LAVE IT. I do tend to apply this with my ring finger as the warmth of my finger seems to pick on the most pigment over a brush.


Grandstand (£9.25): This is a gorgeous rich rose gold mixed with brown and again the formula is second to none, totally worth the extra £3 because the pigment packs a punch. Grandstand makes for a stunning base colour if you are creating a brown smokey eye, or you can just pack it onto the outer half of the lid for some extra omph and a bit of depth during the day time. I haven't used this shade much so far, but I know I will get a lot of use out of this pan because the shade is just so stunning and very wearable.


Goddess (£6.00): This is a shade from their standard line and it isn't as metallic as the two above, nor as pigmented as their newer shades, but for quite a strong colour this makes it a lot more wearable in my opinion. I adore this colour, which I'd describe as a dark copper shade which looks incredible used alone or with one transition shade if you fancy a little more depth. Again a perfect shade for medium skintones, and if you have brown eyes you simply NEED this colour in your life, its the one wash wonder I'll be using all summer long, with just a simple pop of highlight in the inner corner. I have quite a few of the copper/orange/red shades from MUG and I will be doing an indepth comparison post, but this so far is definitely my favourite and it really stands out if you apply it with a damp brush too.


Venom (£6.00): And finally the most 'out there' shade from my must-haves, which won't be everyones cuppa tea - venom is the most gorgeous, richly pigmented dark moss green shade with a very subtle golden shimmer. I honestly thought this shade was one of the foiled finishes when I first opened it, because it is super duper pigmented. Now venom is not the easiest shade to wear obviously, but I feel like once I watch enough tutorials I'll become confident enough to wear this at least a couple of times a month haha. This tutorial has seriously inspired me, look how beautiful!! Anyway if you're as big of a fan as green as I am, then you should definitely pick this up ^_^

And the final four, I call these shades the 'deepening/depth' shades, which are essential for adding a little more definition to any looks in my opinion. I have a mix of cool and warm tones here and I enjoy using them all equally.

Wild West (£6.00): Another one of the newer shades, I love wild west because it is such a unique muted kind of shade. A hint of brown, but more plum-like, which makes it really lovely for a 'gentle smoke' (a bit of definition without getting too dramatic y'know?). It's so different to your average dark brown or even black, which is why its in my must haves because again its a lovely versatile shade.

Pretentious (£6.00): this is not strictly a deepening up shade, but there wasn’t any room for it in the other two, so here it went! Pretentious is a beautiful antique/bronze shade which is one of my go-tos for all over the lid. Again its a shade that I love against my olive skin tone and brown eyes, either used alone as a one wash shade or used for more of an intricate look with deeper matte browns. Seriously a must have (this shade also looks GORGEOUS with a damp brush by the way - thats the only way you'll get a colour like the one in the swatch I have found!).

Cocoa Bear (£6.00): Another shade which is raved about over and over on YouTube, and for very good reason! CB is the perfect brown shade in my eyes, very warm toned and beautifully pigmented/blendable. It's my go-to shade for smoking out the lower lashline, even for a day to day look which makes a change for me, but I just cannot get enough of how beautiful it looks! Seriously one of the most beautiful browns ever created, that touch of red adds so much depth to any eyelook. I also love pairing this up with cream brulee for a really simple, warm eyeshadow look, that takes me about 30 seconds to create but it looks a lot more complex!

Mocha (£6.00): And last but not least, OF COURSE I had to include a standard deep matte brown! I adore smoking out my lower lashline with mocha, its the perfect neutral dark brown in my opinion and it looks beautiful on the lower and upper lash line. I am definitely a black-liner kind of girl every single day, however if I do fancy a bit of a softer and more sultry look I'll reach for mocha on a small pencil brush and use it instead. Its an essential because it creates so much depth to my eyeshadow looks and it's a colour that can take you from day-to-night, with no issues whatsoever! 

There you have it ladies! MY personal must-haves, although these aren't all shades I reach for on a regular basis, they're the ones that I absolutely adore and would repurchase instantly. I will be doing a MUG starter shadow post, which'll include the shades I think everyone needs (especially those of you with an olive/brown complexion). I am in the process of reviewing and swatching every shade in colour families, so keep an eye out! 

Have you got any Makeup Geek shadows? Which ones are YOUR must haves?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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My Must Have Makeup Geek Shadows | For Brown Gals

Hello lovely people, I hope you're doing well. Today I am going to be sharing my favourite Makeup geek eyeshadows with you, these are the ones I've had for a good few weeks and I have loved the most. I will be doing a full eyeshadow collection and swatch post, as well as a makeup geek starter kit but all in due time. I wanted to kick off my MUG posts with my favourites, the ones that should my whole collection go missing God forbid, I would want to repurchase immediately and these are also the shadows (from what I've tried so far) that look best on a brown/medium complexion. Now I'm not too happy with my swatches, but I tried to get them as accurate in colour as possible so I hope they're still helpful!

Also you may have noticed the 'For Brown Gals' in the title, so I hereby welcome you to a brand new series on my blog - these posts are totally for every single skintone, but especially for my fellow olive/brownskinned girls who want makeup recommendations that are catered to them. I will be doing a couple of these posts here and there from now on ^_^

June 2016 Favourites

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've blogged, because I've just been trying to enjoy the end of Ramadan as much as I can, however I did want to get my favourites up because I'm the type of person who hates posting mid-month faves haha. This month I have got a BUNCH of new things, due to birthday money and treating myself for my final year university results, however because I've been fasting I've not been wearing a lot of makeup or trying out a lot of new things. So this is probably one of the smallest favourites post I have ever typed up, but y'know with my fabulous ability to ramble on and on this'll still be rather long.

In the month of June the AMAZING summer collection from Anastasia Beverly Hills was released, and the hype was and IS REAL! Seriously they did an amazing job with these new products and I treated myself to the Modern Renaissance Palette (£41) and Glow Kit in Sun dipped glow (£39) and both of these are worth every single penny. The eyeshadow palette is for the first time, permanently available which is awesome because you don't have to worry about it not being available in the future unlike her other palettes! Also you get more pans with this palette AND the size of the pans are slightly larger. There were two reasons why I was excited about this palette, firstly the colour selection is right up my ally - mostly warm but a couple of cool and a LOT of matte shades. Secondly the quality of ABH shadows are incredible. I picked some of the single shadows up in my May birthday sephora haul here, and I was blown away, seriously some of the best eyeshadows I have tried EVER.

The newest glow kit (there are now three in the range) IS limited edition, so if you guys want to get your glow on I'd suggest not hanging around! I have had the biggest stress with these glow kits and I will be explaining everything in an upcoming haul, but anyways this particular glow kit is STUNNING. The formula of the ABH glowkits are what make them super special, creamy, pigmented and long lasting. I love the Becca highlighters (even though I only have one) but I have to admit that sometimes they can look TOO intense and even accentuate any texture on the skin. That just doesn't happen with the glow kits formula, they look good EVERY TIME and the range of colours is fantastic, plus the pan size for the price?? Amazing. 100% worth the £££.

The brush I have been loving to use with this is the Morphe M501 (£6.25) which is a natural hair brush (sable) and it picks up the highlight so perfectly, you literally just need to tap the brush into the pan once and you have enough pigment. When I want a lighter application I'll use a synthetic fan brush as that picks up less product! Also the M501 is the ONLY brush that shows the Laura Geller Gilded Honey highlight up properly, such a great budget buy! I was umming and ahhing over the ABH highlight brush, but this is just over one fifth of the price and does the job perfectly!

Moving onto a skincare favourite, I am really excited to talk about this on my blog: the Spin for perfect skin vanity planet brush which I have been seeing all over YouTube for months now. I've never been interested in the Clarisonic and similar face brushes, although they appealed to me were a little bit too expensive for me to buy on a whim. I didn't want to spent over £60 on a brush and then end up not liking it, so the price point of the vanity planet brushes were the first thing that drew me in. I knew a lot of YouTubers were getting commission for promoting these brushes, which is totally fine of course, but I do think its a bit silly how they're being sold for $100 and then if you apply a code you get it for only $30...why not just sell it for $30 in the first place?? Seeing it all over YouTube kind of put me off too, but recently due to a lot of stress my skin just wasn't cooperating and it was getting more oily than ever which made me reevaluate my current cleansing routine. I basically went onto their site and created an account, then I placed it in my basket and without typing in any code because somehow when I put it into my basket it was already discounted??? (lol). Then I got distracted and forgot about it and a day later I got an email saying 'looks like you forgot something, heres an extra 10% off to help you make up your mind'...and I paid a total of $20 which is £15!! BARGAIN. Okay now on to the actual product 🤗

So this is what you get in the box, I was planning on doing a separate post but now I'm just going to combine it with my faves as I don't have loads of products to talk about this month. You get a pumice stone, a large body cleansing brush, an exfoliating brush and a daily cleaning brush too. So far I have used all of them, apart from the pumice stone and I have been thoroughly pleased. My skin has never been this soft and smooth, I can finally see why so many girls on youtube are raving about it! I've been using the daily cleansing brush almost every single day after I have removed my makeup and the amount of extra makeup and yuckiness it manages to get off in the most gentle manner possible is amazing. I'm also really impressed with the tougher exfoliating brush, I swear since using this my skin has been less congested and my T-zone is less oily which brilliant! The speed of the brush is slower than I expected, but I do like it because it feels very relaxing whilst also doing what it needs to do.

I wanted to note that this was delivered from a UK address which I was surprised about, but that also explains the affordable shipping costs and why it arrived really quickly. Also this means that it'll be really affordable when it comes to picking up extra brush heads and I'm really interested in trying their teeth whitening kits too. The spin for perfect skin takes 4 AA batteries, I'm using rechargeable ones cause yknow ecofriendly and all zat good stuff, but I was speaking to a lovely reader who's been using this for months and she said she's yet to replace her batteries. So basically if you're not using a facial brush currently, I HIGHLY recommend getting this (remember to keep it in the basket and leave it there for a day or two, maybe you'll be lucky enough to get that extra 10% off too ;D). My face feels cleaner than ever at the end of the day and my makeup actually applies a lot smoother too. I don't have a discount code, but type in spin for perfect skin on YouTube and loads will come up!

And the final makeup product, the blush I have been LOVING is Sleek's Suede (£4.95). It is such a gorgeous nude shade blush, inbetween a pink and a brown it is very flattering on all skintones but especially those of you who have a medium skintone like me! I love applying a small amount of this onto the apples of my cheeks, it makes such a nice change from pinks and shimmers which I typically reach for and it is great for everyday. I highly recommend suede to those of you who aren't really blush people, because it adds a bit of dimension and colour without being over the top ever.

I had to mention the QuayXChrisspy Jetlagged sunglasses (£40.00) which I purchased when I got my 20% off birthday discount code from ASOS! I love a good pair of sunnies and I own one of the Quay glasses already which are matte black and a lot more subtle than these. Quay glasses are very very good quality for a decent price, to be honesy £20+ is expensive to me but provided I take care of them I should still be using them in the next 20 years of so...which makes them an investment right?!? Anyway I really wanted the pair called Gemini and of course those are the only ones the U.K ASOS don't stock 🙄 these were my second faves and they are HUGE, the biggest sunglasses I own so if you're not a fan of large/oversized lens skip these. However I love the rose-gold mirror tint on them and how they provide a lot of protection, especially on those no makeup lack of sleep days too.

Those were my June favourites! What were you loving in June?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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June 2016 Favourites

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've blogged, because I've just been trying to enjoy the end of Ramadan as much as I can, however I did want to get my favourites up because I'm the type of person who hates posting mid-month faves haha. This month I have got a BUNCH of new things, due to birthday money and treating myself for my final year university results, however because I've been fasting I've not been wearing a lot of makeup or trying out a lot of new things. So this is probably one of the smallest favourites post I have ever typed up, but y'know with my fabulous ability to ramble on and on this'll still be rather long.