Crystal Pink

I realize every post and video on my blog and YouTube channel has been pregnancy or baby related recently, so I thought I'd do a little beauty post today for ya'.

This, right here, is my ALL TIME FAVOURITE LIPSTICK...

Yup, other lipsticks have come and gone, but I always come back to Crystal Pink by Estee Lauder. For all of you beauty bloggers out there, you'll understand this is a pretty big statement!

This smells incredible, and is the most deliciously moisturizing lipstick I have ever used. I don't even need to apply a balm before application unless I want to.

The staying power is amazing (just like any other lipstick you need a top up after you eat, but other than that). It's seriously long lasting.

It's the perfect day-time shade, pink enough to look like you're wearing lipstick but not too pink to look over the top.

I know £20 may seem expensive, but believe me, it's 100% worth it!

I'm not sure if you will really be able to tell the colour of the lipstick by this photo, I didn't filter it, and sorry for the tired face, getting up for work at 6am does this to me...

Have you ever tried the true colour lipstick collection by Estee Lauder? What are your all time favourite lipsticks?

Couture

Hey darlings! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend so far? 

I've realised that I hardly ever blog at the weekends, so I thought I'd say hello today to make a change. I'm not sure if I'll end up doing a photo diary this week, it's been a hectic weekend where we didn't really take photos. Friday night we went to the new gastro pub in Clapham called 'The Jam Tree'. There's one in Chelsea too, they do little cocktails that come with jars of jam that you add to sweeten them up, how cute? Yesterday involved taking my dog to the groomers, and we did and Ikea trip too, (I finally tried these meatballs everyone goes on about) so you see, nothing overly exciting to photograph I'm afraid!

I filmed my tanning routine video today, possibly the most awkward video I've made yet (and that's saying something).  I'm looking forward to speaking to some of you tonight in the #bbloggers chat, come say hi if you like, I'm at @HannahMaggs22.

Anyhoo, shall we talk lipstick? Meet my new favourite autumnal shade, Couture by Dainty doll.

If you follow my blog, you might remember I reviewed another Dainty Doll lipstick shade 
here. I really rate these lipsticks, I know at £12.50 a pop each they do fall under the more expensive high street brand, but they are simply gorgeous and definitely worth it. 
When I first applied this, I was a little bit like 'wooooah, it's dark'. I thought it looked a bit gothy. But the longer I had it on, the more it grew on me. Yes, it's a little dramatic, but it's such a beautiful rich shade. I think I'll even be wearing it to the office at some point this week. I just think it's a really gorgeous colour for Autumn and Winter wardrobes. If you can't quite make out the colour, I'm wearing it in the video I've just filmed.

The pigmentation is yet again, incredible. The staying power is awesome, even after you've been eating or drinking. It doesn't stain your lips after removal like some darker shades of lipstick tend to do. As I said before, Dainty Doll are my favourite formula when it comes to lipsticks, they are just so creamy and intensely moisturising. I know Dainty Doll isn't a brand many of you are familiar with, but I'd definitely recommend trying them.

Do you like dark dramatic lipstick shades, or are you too scared to wear them? What's your favourite Autumn lipstick?

Don't you know people write songs, about girls like you?

Hey darlings, I'm feeling a little fragile today. Amarretto sour cocktails on an empty tummy last night, I'll never learn. Are any of you going to the Vogue Fashion Night Out in London tonight? I'm skipping it, I don't think I can deal with the crowds of people who are going to be in town. Although its a school night, I'm heading to the opening of a bubble bar in South London. I know it sounds pretty weird, but there are free cocktails, it would be rude not too.

Today it's another one of my YSL beauties here for you, Rouge Volupte in 'Peach Passion 13'.

Unfortunately this one is a little too loved to show you the actual lipstick, it's in an embarrassing state to say the least. I'm literally getting every last scrap of lipstick out if it, that's how much I love it.

So instead, I've swatched it for you, and you can see what it looks like on my lips too.
For all of you who are a little afraid of brighter lipsticks, don't be, this is actually more of a gentle coral peachy shade than an orange. The pigmentation, as with all YSL lipsticks, is fabulous. It's so soft and easy to apply, and really compliments a tan. I find that it really brightens up my face, especially if I'm wearing minimal make up.
It's a great shade for the office to help brighten up the uniform too.
I've been wearing this lipstick all week, with Carmex mint lipbalm underneath, which I absolutely adore too, it's one of those that makes your lips feel a bit tingly and numb. These two are perfect in combination, they come together like lovers :)

The only downsides for this lipstick I'll mention are, it that it doesn't have the best staying power, you'll definitely need to re-apply throughout the day. It doesn't have the name of the shade on the bottom like most lipsticks, this is kind of annoying if you're looking to repurchase. Some people find the lipstick settles into the creases in your lips, it does tend to do this, but I find when teamed with Carmex it looks a billion times better, as it's being applied to a smoother surface.

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know that I really love YSL lipsticks, I blogged about another one here. I do think they are totally over-priced, but I just can't resist. For a start, theres just something about the packaging that makes you feel a little bit special when you pull it out of your make-up bag. And every woman needs a little luxery in their life, right? 

Oh, if you follow me, don't forget to enter yourself in my Topshop giveaway. Good luck!

Topshop make-up giveaway!!- Now closed

*giveaway open internationally*

So, this is my first ever giveaway, eeep! I really hope some of you do actually enter and I don't look like a total loser! I'd just like to thank all of you who are following me :) I tried to pick a couple of things I thought would suit everyone, and that I thought everyone would like. I ended up buying things that I wanted myself and now I just want to keep the giveaway prizes. Pretty sure that's not how it's supposed to work?! 
I picked this gorgeous Topshop lipstick in shade 'Pillow Talk', which I thought will go well with pretty much any skin tone. I don't have this shade yet, but I really want it! I also picked up these Nail Rock wraps in a polka dot print, can't go wrong with those, right ladies? Oldy but goody.
So, if you'd like to enter, all you need to do, is be a follower of my blog on blogger, and leave a comment below with your email address so I can contact you if you win. If you'd like to tweet about it, that'd be great too! I'll announce the winner next Monday (the 10th).
Good luck everyone!

It's my party

Hey lovelies! 
First off, I just want to say huge thank you and hello to all you new followers. I can't believe I've only just managed to find the follow button, what a dork?! 
Anyway a few of you asked me which lipstick I was wearing in my latest beauty vlog, so I thought I'd do a little review for you. On Saturday I was having a proper lipstick dilemma. After turfing out hundreds of lippys onto my bed, I came across this little beauty
 Dainty Doll Lipstick shade 003 'It's My Party'. It’s from the Nichola Roberts collection, believe it or not. I'm so bad, my collection is so big that I forgot I even had this, and I've never even used it!
'It’s My Party' looks red in the photos, but it's actually a bright, deep pink shade, proper party pink! This is without a doubt the most pigmented and easy to build lipstick I have EVER bought. It’s he most comfortable lipstick I've ever used and doesn't dry my lips out at all. I can even use this without applying balm first, and it’s actually really moisturizing too. I would even go as far as saying this might be my favorite ever lipstick.
It was £12.50 which is up there with the likes of MAC, but I'll be honest, I 100% prefer the formula of this lipstick. It’s a shame there are only 8 shades available at the moment, I also have Material World and Couture, I can’t wait to try them now. You can buy Dainty Doll from Boots, and they also have a website.
The only thing I didn’t like was that the lipstick isn’t named on the tube, only on the box (which obviously I threw away). So it was annoying when I went to write about it. 

Have you ever used any Dainy Doll lipsticks?  

Like no other, you can't be replaced

YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick, worth all the hype? Absolutely 110%. I know it seems like the whole world and their Grandma have blogged about this lipstick, but I couldn't not share my thoughts. Without a doubt it's my absolute fav.

I'm literally addicted to this YSL lipstick in shade 'nude beige'. I have no idea why they named it that though, it sounds terrible, but it’s actually a lovely light pink shade. I don't think you can see the shade that well in my photos, the lighting wasn't great, I apologize for that.

The first, strangest and best thing about this lipstick, is that it smells INCREDIBLE! Like some lovely fruity watermelon concoction or something. I literally want to eat it.

It's extremely pigmented and very buildable. It has this wonderful creamy texture like no other lipstick I've ever used. It can be a little drying, and the staying power isn't as good as you might expect, but over all, a great high end lipstick. Not to mention the beautiful packaging. I actually look forward to putting this on, how sad is that?!

I love this lipstick so much, I actually had 2 (at a whopping £23.50 each that's quite a lot to spend on lipstick), but clumsy old me dropped one out of the window when I was applying my make up. It rolled into next doors gutter and was unsalvagable :( sad times. Good job I had 2, hey?

Have any of you tried YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick before? What did you think?

Tease.

Hello everyone,
I hope you all had a smashing weekend?
Mine was wonderful, the first weekend in ages where I haven't woken up with a filthy hangover. It was amazing (and a little bizarre) to wake up as fresh as a daisy. It meant that we were able to do lots of fun things, canoeing and bike riding, but I'll save that for a later post, I have lots of cute photos to show you.

Today I want to show you a lipstick I've had for about a month now, I bought it for my holiday, I just haven't got around to blogging about it. Tease by Topshop (£8)
Tease is described as a ‘Barbie pink’, but I would definitely say that it has undertones of lilac in it too, which is really pretty. It has a velvet formula, with a matt finish. I did find this a rather drying, even when I used Carmex before application. Maybe because it is a matt finish? I don’t know about you but I tend to find Matt lipsticks much more drying and uncomfortable. I also found it quite hard to build up the colour with this shade, I had to smudge the color in with my fingertips and then keep applying more.
Honestly, I love the colour was a little disappointed with this lipstick, but I guess that it’s always a gamble when you’re trying something new hey?

Have you tried any of the Topshop Lipstick range?

No longer, no longer, what you ask...

Hello lovelies, it’s nearly the weekend, yeaaah!!
Have you got anything fun planned?
I’ve got a bit of a jam-packed one… I’m heading to Soho tomorrow night for my sisters’ birthday drinks. On Saturday the mister and I are going to Kensington Roof Gardens for a bit of a party day, there’s a DJ and drinks, so I'm really looking forward to that.  Sunday it’s my sisters’ actual birthday so I expect the plan will be to head to Hampstead Heath, and then we are going to see The Dark Knight. Pheeewf, it’s going to be manic!

Anyway, down to lipstick. I've always been drawn to nude and pink lipsticks, I tend to pick nude early in the morning when I don't know what I'm doing with my hair/make-up/outfit. Nude goes with everything, right?

‘Hue’ from MAC is a gorgeous pinky-nude shade, one of those I’d describe as ‘my lips but better’. It’s such a lovely day-to-day lipstick that would suit most skin tones.  It has a creamy texture and is very pigmented. The only problem for me is that I find it far too drying. After wearing it for a couple of hours my lips look cracked and dry, even if I moisturize beforehand. So, in all honesty, despite the lovely colour, I don’t think I’ll be repurchasing this, at £13.50 a pop.
Have you tried Mac ‘Hue’? What did you think?

Infared- Topshop Lipstick

Let’s be real, Mondays are hard huh? Sometimes you just need to re-group and put on bright orange lipstick.

So, shall we talk about lipsticks?!

I am a huge sucker for lipsticks and I really can’t rave about this one enough.

‘Infared’ £8 by Topshop. A gorgeous bright orangey-red shade.

The pigmentation in this lipstick is incredible and really buildable too. You can wear it as a lighter coral colour or add a couple of layers to become a bright orange. The staying power is really impressive too.

It's a velvet formula, which means it is super moisturising, and doesn’t dry or chap your lips at all.
It's very unusual for me to find a lipstick which doesn’t dry out my lips, I've only ever found one other (Estee Lauder Crystal Pink ). I do apply Carmex lip balm before and after lipstick application, but with this one, I wouldn't say it was totally necessary.

The quality is comparable to MAC (whose lipsticks are now a whopping £13.50 each). Actually, I’d even go as far as saying I prefer this formula to MAC lipsticks, although the shade selection isn't as varied.

Infared has injected a bit of excitement back into my make-up bag, without breaking the bank. I’ll certainly be adding to my Topshop Lipstick collection, for only £8 you can't really go wrong.

Have you tried any of Toyshops’ Lipstick range?

Anyway, I hope you all had an awesome weekend?

I was a very lucky lady, I spent the whole weekend with my mister. We went to LOVEBOX on Saturday, and then sat in Hyde Park in the sunshine with a bottle of wine on Sunday, bliss.