30 Lips in 30 Days - Too Faced Créme Lipstick

Day 7 of the 30 lips challenge and today we have something from Too Faced. Their La Créme Colour Drenched Lipsticks are £18 a piece for the full size although I just have a mini here and the packaging is a perfect replica of the full size, a luxurious gold metallic tube that still feels weighty despite it's miniature size.

I wasn't sure I'd get on with the shade "Naked Dolly" as it looked like one of those "barely there" concealer-lips type shades but I was pleasantly surprised, the moisture content in the formula sheers out the shade just enough for it to be a super wearable nude without making the colour pay off disappointing, I'd love to see how the deeper shades come out. The formula is comfortable on the lips but will require maintenance and I love the shade with both neutral looks and paired with a more dramatic eye look.

Empties: Round Three

As part of my pledge to use up my stuff, I'm here with another empties post. Sadly my backups drawer seems to fill up just as quickly as I manage to get through stuff (I blame the Boots 3-for-2 offers). It's a good mixed bag this year with lots of bath and body, some hair, skincare and even a little bit of makeup, so since we have a lot to talk about, lets get on with it.

So I've worked my way through 2 shower gels this month (is it just me that seems to have 2 or 3 different shower gels in the shower at any one time? Hopefully not?). The first of which being the Radox Nourish Shea Butter & Ginger Shower Cream. This is a great shower gel that you can usually find on offer for £1-£2 and the scent is amazing. Lathers well, smells great and lasts quite a long time for the price, a nice unisex shower gel that I would repurchase if I didn't have more shoer gel than I'd care to admit waiting to be worked through. I've also finished a mini Life NK Ultimate Unwind Body Wash. The scent on this was just a bit bland and it was pretty expensive for how average it was to use. Wouldn't pick up another.

I used up two of my back-ups of Lush Butterbear Bath Ballistic. They're essentially the Butterball Bath Ballistic but slightly smaller, cheaper and bear shaped and were a limited edition release last Christmas. I picked up a few because I like to put Butterball in the bath with bubble that doesn't give you that hydrating feeling to make them a bit more luxurious but I only have a little bath in my bathroom so the smaller-sized christmas releases are usually more than enough. I hope they bring it back this Christmas.

I've also used up quite a few body moisturisers. One I wasn't so keen on was the Soap & Glory Girligo Spray-On Body Moisturising Mist. I love S&G's body butters and body creams but this spray was a bit flimsy for me and my skin didn't really get on with it, I'd rather just go for one of the other formulas from them in the future. I also used up the last of my Aromatherapy Associates Renewing Rose Body Cream. This is one of the nicest smelling body creams I've tried in a while and I was sad to see the last tiny bit be used up, at £36.50 for the full size it's a bit overly pricey for me to justify a repurchase when the texture wasn't much more than that of a £10 S&G body cream but it was a treat to use up.

If you want a body lotion that's a bit of a treat but that won't break the bank quite so hard as the Aromatherapy Associates choice, let me point you in the direction of the Cowshed Gorgeous Cow Blissful Body Lotion. At £18 for 300ml, it's not too expensive but the scent and the texture on this is really nice. One thing to keep in mind with this one is that the scent is really quite strong and it will linger on the skin, Space NK are currently advertising a gift set with this body lotion and the shower gel that might just make it onto my Christmas list this year.

A few picks for hair, I'm sure no one will be surprised to see the L'Oreal Pure Colour Shampoo in an empties post. This was my favourite shampoo for a while but last time I went for a repurchase it was out of stock and since I've tried the Ever Strong from the same range and I think I actually prefer that one. The L'Oreal sulphate-free range in general is a really nice one and I'm sure you'd be able to find a formula to suit your own hair needs.

I've also got two heat protectors in this empties. The Vo5 Heat Protect is my all-time favourite that I continually repurchase and will continue to use and love and I've been through another one of those but I also tried the Bumble and Bumble Hairdressers Invisible Oil Heat/UV Protective Primer and used up that. It's a nice formula and the scent is lovely but for me it was just a bit too heavy in the roots of my fine hair and while it was nice through the ends and I did manage to use it up, I'd rather just stick to my Vo5 next time.

I finally made it through my giant pot of Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm. I will more than likely be picking up another eventually but right now my cleansing cabinet is so over-flowing that I can't justify it just yet. It's a lovely cleansing balm that's equally good for make-up removal or an AM/PM main cleanse. Another skincare pick I've worked my way through is the Yes To Cucumbers Soothing Eye Gel. While I used this up and didn't mind how it felt on the skin, the texture was a bit lumpy and it's not quite as cooling as other formulas I've tried so I can't see myself repurchasing this one.

And finally, some make-up picks. I had a mini of the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara and thankfully it dried out on me pretty quickly. I really didn't get on with this mascara, it did nothing for the length of my lashes and just made them look clumpy and spider-y. I also made it through another Soap & Glory One Heck Of A Blot Powder, need I say more? I've got back-ups upon back-ups of this now and have pretty much given up on testing other formulas, it's my favourite setting powder by a long shot.

And there we have it, another empties over. If you have any recommendations for things I should try that could make it into the next empties post, give me a shout in the comments section.

New To Me Make-Up Products

This post isn't necessarily a haul, these products are just a pick of things that I happen to have acquired over the last month through mini shoppings trips and through beauty-box subscriptions. They're the type of products that would pretty much fall through the cracks with my regular posts and so I'm going to try and do these random little group reviews every now and again so that the little bits don't get left behind.

I've been a big fan of Urban Decay Primer Potion for a long time and while I'd heard a lot about the Too Faced Shadow Insurance I hadn't found a reason to ditch my UDPP for this when it was time for a repurchase to be made. That in mind I was quite excited to receive it in a LoveMeBeauty box recently. After all the anticipation, I'm glad I'd never purchased this over my Urban Decay. While it's a nice primer and definitely does the job in keeping your eyeshadow in place all day, the formula seems to separate and become very watery if not used for a few days. Meaning if you aren't wearing powder eyeshadows everyday (which I definitely don't) this one maybe isn't for you.

Another beauty box find was the Caudalie VinoPerfect Radiance Tinted Moisturiser, BirchBox sent me a sample of this product last month and again it's one of those neither-here-nor-there products for me. It's nice and light on the skin but it's a super light coverage meaning I'd only ever really use this for a weekend face when I wasn't going to be wearing much make-up. A nice product but just not something I'd reach for all the time.

I got a miniature eye-shadow as a gift-with-purchase from No7. No7 is one of those brands that I'd seen a lot of in Boots, but nothing had every really caught my eye until a friend started mentioning some of her favourite products this weekend and No7 cropped up a couple of times. I kept that in mind on my most recent trip to Boots and picked up a couple a couple of things and this eyeshadow was in the gift bag that I'd gotten, it's one of those super wearable taupe-y shades that I get a lot of wear out of and I was excited to try it. It's not got the best lasting power and the finish is a tiny bit on the sparkly side for me but I'm continuing to experiment with different types of bases and will update you if I change my mind.

Another No7 product I picked up recently was their High Shine Lip Gloss SPF 15, I love products like this for summer. A sheer, shiny lip gloss with a hint of SPF that you can reapply at your leisure throughout the day. This one is very similar to others but has a pleasant taste and a teeny bit of wearable shimmer to it that I tend to go for more in the spring and the summer and while the bright, orange-y shade is something I'm loving at the moment, I find as it's a sheer gloss it doesn't over power a look.

And finally, I picked up Soap & Glory's Hocus Focus Instant Flaw-Softening Illuminator. It looked a lot like a possible Benefit High Beam dupe but I wasn't sure if it would end up just being the type of product I'd use mixed in with a foundation to amp up the glow a bit for the sumer time. I've only currently used it mixed into Revlon Colourstay Foundation but I really like the effect it gives, these two products work well for an oily/combination skin type as the Revlon gives the coverage and controls the oil but the Soap & Glory adds a bit of glow without taking the make-up into the greasy zone.