How to care for your lips

Lips can create a makeup look by gap just adding colour to them. However, before we start with bright lipstick ps and glosses, we need to learn how to take care of our lips.

1. Scrub 

Your lips aren't always perfectly smooth and especially in winter our lips can get flaky and dry. Not good if you want to rock that bright lip for winter. You can buy lip scrubs like Lush's Popcorn or Bubblegum, but you can always make your own. I like to use sugar (and occasionally honey). I rub the sugar and honey onto my lips and rub in a circular motion. The sugar scrubs off the dry skin and the honey moistures your lips. 

2. Moisture 

A good lipbalm is essential in our beauty bag. Some lipbalms can be drying for your lips so it's good to try a few. As a student, my budget is quite small and I tend to look for cheaper beauty products. I have found that brands like, Burt's Bees provide great lipbalms for great prices. I don't have one at the moment as I used it all up but I prefer the original. Another pro for Burt's Bees is that the flavours are quite yummy (can't think of any other word!). I love the mango one, and would reapply it again and again just for the scent/taste. It's a great plus!

3. Hydrate

Lastly drink plenty of water. Water is great for keeping your lips nice and healthy and soft. Being dehydrated isn't great for your body and mind, just drinking 8 glasses of water a day (2 litres), can not only help the appearance of your lips, but also your body and skin. Your body will thank you.

That's all the tips I use for keeping my lips soft, especially when you want to rock a bright lip colour. Enjoy! 

Nee x

Rimmel Apocolips Review

Today I will be reviewing the Rimmel Apocolips, which have caused quite a buzz in the beauty world. Although they have been out for a bit, the hype is still big. 

The shade that I have bought is Apocolipic, a bright hot pink with a slight blue-ish undertone. The formula of this product is like a liquid lipstick, it has the same pay-off as a good lipstick and great staying power. This product can both be worn as a glossy lip or a matte lip, if blotted with a tissue. 

The product comes out quite thick and only a small bit is needed to be applied. I like to dab a small bit onto the centre of my lips and blend it out. The slightly tapered brush also helps get around the cupid's bow. The staying power is pretty good, staying for most of day with a little bit of touch-up during the day. This product can be a little bit drying so I would suggest applying a lipbalm beforehead or giving your lips a good scrub. 

Overall I love this product and it is one of my go-to lip products. I used this plenty during the summer and I feel like it could still be used into autumn. I rate the Apocolips line a 4.5/5 as I love the other colours available too. The only (tiny) downside is it can wear off on the centre of my lips but it can be touched up easily. 

See you soon,

Nee x

Back To School Makeup

Today was my first day back at school and this morning I was trying to decide what makeup I should. I decided to stick to my basic routine. 

I started out with a base of bareMinerals Original Foundation buffing it into my skin using my travel size Ecotool's Contouring Brush. I brushed my eyebrows into shape and defined them using MAC's Omega Eyeshadow and my Ecotool's Liner Brush. 

On my eyes I used a bareMinerals Eyeshadow 'Satin Ruffle' and placed it on my inner corners to brighten my tired eyes. I blended MAC's Omega Eyeshadow into my crease and underneath my lash line. I lightly lined my eyes with a bit of Lancome's Le Krayon Khol in Black and smudged it out. Then, I coated my eyelashes with Clinque's High Impact Mascara in Black. 

Lastly I brushed some Benefit's Benetint on my lips to finish. 

An easy and quick look for everyday for school

Nee x

Cheeky Little Haul ft. Bershka + Awear

Yesterday, while I was out spending my last few moments of summer (I'm back to school tomorrow, eek!) I came across a few pieces for my A/W wardrobe. 

       

The first item I bought was this burgundy  shirt from Bershka. It's made with a light jersey material and is a nice piece to layer with. I choose this colour as I heard burgundy is in for A/W. the shirt was a bargain at €9.95, a key staple piece.

Next I went to Awear where I picked up two pieces. I decided to check out the sale as they have good bargains there. This swallow dress was the first dress I saw and loved it. The swallow print is gorgeous, a print I love myself, and the dress fitted perfectly. It was €15.

Lastly I bought this cute lip clutch, a cheaper (and cuter) alternative for the infamous Lulu Guinness lip clutches, know widely around the world. The price for this beauty was €15, a fraction for Lulu Guinness'. 

That was all for my haul and I hope you all have a great day (especially those who are back to school like me). 

Nee x

bareMinerals Original Foundation Review

I have had this foundation for a few years years already now and I decided that this should be the product I review here. 

BareMinerals (or Bare Escentuals) is a mineral makeup brand which provides makeup made the minerals in rocks and in the earth. It is also a brand that suits most skin types, even sensitive skin. Being blessed with sensitive skin myself, I decided to try out the foundation, a few years back. 

My mum (who has sensitive skin aswell) has been using this product longer then me along with my sister. One day, my mum brought me into a Brown Thomas, department store with sells designer brands. she had booked a makeover session at the bareMinerals, which had been my first time properly using there products. Once the makeover was complete, the lady gave me a little sample of the mineral foundation in the shade 'Fairly Light'. I had begun using it on days when I felt like I wanted to wear foundation (being a teenager means you can get away with makeup-free days). That's were my love for the foundation began. I used it again and again. 

The foundation is in a loose powder form with a tint of colour and can be buildable. BareMinerals recommends that you should apply a primer on the skin to help the foundation stay on the skin longer, but I don't because I prefer to have light coverage of foundation on my face. I apply the foundation using an Ecotools Contour Brush, tapping the foundation onto the lid and swirling my brush around and tapping off the excess. If I have a few spots on my face I take some the foundation onto my ring finger and pat it out the spot. The heat from my fingers, warms the foundation making it cling to the spot better.

 Aswell as having something lighter on your skin, the minerals in the foundation are supposed helps to treat spots, and get rid of them. Sometimes this works, but I find a good cleanser works best to get rid of spots on my face. 

The price of this foundation is a little steep at €26 for 8g in Debenhams stores, however the starter set comes with two foundations (in shades closest to your own colouring), mineral veil, bronzer and brushes to get started. It is priced at €58 (again in Debenhams), but it is always best to get it at Christmas when it is on offer. 

The foundation is good for those who like a light coverage foundation and sensitive skin. I would give it a 3.5/5 as it clings to some of my dry skin (probably because I don't use a primer) and it's price tag is a little steep. It is great to start off as a teenager, even just getting the sample size because it's easy to bring around and it's shelf life lasts longer than a liquid foundations. 

See you soon in another post,

Nee x