Recent Favourites!

My last blog post feels like forever ago so in the absence of monthly favourites I thought I'd do a round up of the many beauty things that I've been loving recently (sorry if the photos are looking a little bit dodgy, my camera sensor has decided to go on strike so I've had to use my phone!).

Soigné Nail Polish in Chou-Fleur Violet* (£11)
I received this polish in this months Harper's Bazaar Birchbox and I was so thrilled to see it because I absoltely love this colour. My whole polish collection is a ménage of bright pinks and purples so this one fits right in, and have you seen the packaging? It's very Chanel-esque and I don't think I've ever had a nail polish that's been packaged in anything more than just a bottle. Wear time is about average for this polish but its rare for me to find anything that lasts a long time on my flaky bendy nails. 

This month's Birchbox is one that I'd really recommend- there's a mini size Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish with muslin cloth (so perfect for travel/overnight stays if you already have a full size), a Philip Kingsley mini, and a certain well known product from Benefit among others, so I'd definitely pick up a subscription even if it's just for this month!

Revlon Colorstay Foundation for Normal/Dry skin in Buff (£12.49)
It took me forever to try this foundation, but since buying it I really haven't been wearing anything else. I much prefer the version for dry skin even though mine is super oily, and the staying power and coverage from one layer is unrivalled in any other foundation I've tried. 

I use shade Buff which oxidises a bit from the colour in the bottle and matches well when I'm lightly tanned, but I need to hit the bronzer when I've got a darker tan as the next shade up is a bit too pink for my skin. I like to apply Colorstay with a flat or angled top kabuki brush and then pat in where needed with a complexion sponge. 

The only thing that really gets my goat about this foundation is that Revlon really need to put a pump on the bottle- the dry skin version is very liquidy and it's so easy to pour out too much, while the oily skin version is so thick that you really have to bang it on something to get anything out!
Mac Pro Longwear Concealer NC20 (£15.50)
I'm not too keen on this concealer under my eyes as it makes me look a bit wrinkly before my time, but I really love it on the face for redness and blemishes. It lasts really well on the skin, doesn't look cakey, and I don't know if I can ever see myself actually finishing the bottle as you only need a tiny dot for each blemish. I also really like using a couple of pumps of this concealer mixed in with BB cream for a more natural looking base that still has good coverage.

Beauty UK Baked Blush in Halo (£3.99)
I first read about this blush in a post by Gemma at Miss Makeup Magpie (go follow, that blog is the shizz) and knew instantly that I had to have it! Not actually a blush, but a highlighter- It's a lovely champagne-with-a-touch-of-pink shade that sits really well on my skin tone and gives much more of a sheen than a glittery sparkle. 

The cardboard box packaging is very lightweight and does well to contain any fallout as swirling a brush across the marbled powder can kick up a bit of shimmery dust. I think this is actually the only highlighter I've used all month and it's taken pride of place among my affordable favourites!

W7 City Slicker Eye Makeup Remover* 140ml (£4.95)
If there's one thing that made me really want to crack open this bottle it's the colour of the liquid, I really love the bright blue shade! The colour isn't the main reason I love this bi-phase makeup remover though, it's more the fact that I can use just one cotton pad to remove not only several coats of waterproof mascara but also the makeup from my entire face. 

The City Slicker uses oils to break down and remove eye makeup pretty effortlessly, but even on the rest of my face it doesn't break me out, and after a cleanse over the sink my skin feels really smooth and soft. I'm so done with face wipes that are either not wet enough or too rough, and I'll definitely be purchasing another bottle when this one runs out.

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish 100ml (£13.25)
I thought this hot cloth cleanser was all blogger hype, but my skin actually seems to really love it. I first tried the Cleanse and Polish as par of a Twitter gifting promotion but have since bought a full size tube and was also thrilled to see a mini in my Birchbox. 

Since starting use, my face has been smoother, less dry and I've generally had less breakouts (ignoring the one that erupted a couple of days ago). Rubbing cleanser onto dry skin took a bit of getting used to, but I really regret that I didn't try this sooner as it's now a firm staple in my skincare routine.

W7 Super Pout in Mady (£2.99)
Are you on the hunt for a gloss with a really weird shaped applicator? Well look no further, I've found it for you! I can't wholeheartedly say that a bent spoon shaped wand applicator makes application all that much quicker or easier, but I can say that this gloss has great pigmentation, genuinely makes my lips look bigger, and is really moisturising but non sticky. This milky brown-pink is a nice subtle nude for me, and I also have the shade Molly, a brighter pale pink, which I love in almost equal amounts. The tube says 'one swoop volume lips' and even though it might need more than one swoop, I can't disagree about the volume. 

Manhattan Intense Cheek and Lip Balm in First Class (Limited edition, sorry!)

Manhattan are a German highstreet brand and if you haven't checked them out you really should. Their Intense Effect Eyeshadow in Dusky Pink (which I annoyingly missed out of this post) makes a gorgeous cheek and eye highlighter, and they also have some lovely lip products. 

First Class is a medium to deep purple with pinky tones, and I'm thrilled to find a purple that I can really wear with confidence. This colour is striking but really wearable (although, in all honesty I haven't tried it on the cheeks, and probably wont). If it wasn't for the creaminess I would have thought that this was a lipstick rather than balm as it's so pigmented, but unfortunately doesn't last all that long on the lips so needs two layers with some blotting inbetween when applying. 

I didn't realise this product was limited edition when I included it in my favourites, but watch this video from Manhattan showcasing their Lollipop and Alpenrock collection, it will definitely cheer you up about not being able to get your hands on the balm!

Manhattan Long Lasting Gloss Glide in 56G (£3.99)

Generally I'm not a fan of sticky glosses, but when they promise me good pigmentation plus staying power I think I could learn to get along with them. If you're not a fan of banana scents you might not like this product, but for me it has the two things I really want in a lipgloss, plus its a lovely nudey pink colour!

HD Brows Eye & Brow Palette in Foxy (£25)

These powders are really pigmented and it was a bit of a learning curve when I ditched my previous palette in favour of HD Brows, but they make filling and defining the brows really quick and easy. I use the darkest brown on my brows and the black to line my eyes, and each is lovely and smooth with barely any fall out from the black. The other shades make lovely matte eye colours that blend easily and aren't chalky.HD Brows have recently redesigned their palettes but I don't think I'll be trying the new Foxy out soon as I've barely made a dent in the current pans and I can see them lasting well into next year.

Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara in Dark Brown (£4.99)

This doesn't have the most cementing hold of all the brow gels I've tried, but my brows are pretty unruly and this does an acceptable job of keeping them in place. What I really like is the tint, which isn't too much but really starts off the brow filling process so I feel like I need to spend less time going over with eyeshadow/powder. The colour is a tiny bit lighter than my brows but its very ashy so matches them well. 

I can't think of any other tinted brow gels from an affordable highstreet brand, so I think this really fills a gap in the market quite nicely.

Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan Dark 100ml (£6.99)
If you read my review of the original 1 Hour Tan on LBQ from last year, you'll know that I love the formula and even though I've tried other tans I keep coming back to Cocoa Brown. The problem that I had with the original was that I'd need two coats to get my perfect colour, not a big problem but a bit of an inconvenience. In comes the Dark shade, in an easier to use bottle but with the same brilliant quick drying, moisturising and easily blendable formula. This one is darker than two coats of the original but needs only one hour on the skin, genius! My only gripe is that 100ml doesn't last me very long, so the bottles could really do with being a bit bigger!

Saleya Organic Argan Oil* (£14-£24)

I've been loving this oil over the last few months and my skin and hair have too- I use it for dry legs after shaving, to soften knees and elbows and prevent fake tan grabbing, and 2 drops on damp hair has really done wonders for my ends. I've said before that I can get quite straw-like ends after growing my hair out, but even though it's now down past boob length my ends are looking pretty smooth, they've got a bit of a shine and they're not too straw-like if I do say so myself. Plus, this bottle has lasted me months and months and I'm not even a third of the way through!

Surgical Spirit 500ml (~£3.50)

Honourable mention goes to this massive bottle of surgical spirit for saving my purse and also killing evil stray bacteriums at the same time. I was previously using No7 Brush Cleanser which I was pretty pleased with, but I went through it at an alarming rate (Revlon Colorstay is a bitch on my bristles) and I felt like it was leaving my brushes a little oily. I'd read a lot of recommendations for surgical spirit and I'm so glad I gave it a try. 

I picked this huge 500ml glass bottle up from my local pharmacy and it contains 95% alcohol. I feel like it moisturises my brushes just enough while the alcohol kills any bacteria and removes makeup with a gentle rub on a paper towel. Best bit? This Surgical spirit is £3.56 for 500ml compared to No7 Brush Cleanser which is £8 for 185ml. 

I honestly like the surgical spirit better for cleaning my brushes, it has a bit of an odd smell but it doesn't leave such a greasy residue, it cleans my brushes quicker, and also only has 4 ingredients. It's also used to disinfect hard surfaces so is good for acrylic drawers, makeup packaging and anything else that might be holding spot causing bacteria. It may not be the most exciting buy, but its definitely one of my best from the last few months!

Have you tried any of these products? What have you been loving over the last few months?

Review: Manhattan Soft Mat Lip Creams in 56K and 95G

While browsing make up retail sites I came across a product that looked familiar- I’d seen budget Matte Lip Creams reviewed on blogs before, and even though I wasn’t familiar with Manhattan as a brand I definitely wanted to try a couple.
Manhattan is, confusingly, not American but an affordable German brand; they sell a large range of products from their own creation to familiarly packaged products such as the Lip Lacquer Lipsticks. Being a foreign budget brand they are available predominantly on online discount websites and independent cosmetic shops, but I have also seen their products recently in Poundland.

The Soft Mat Lipcreams are applied with a wand and have a thin balmy texture that dries down on the lips to leave an opaque colour with a completely matte finish. Although described as a ‘unique lip cream’, they have a name suspiciously similar to NYX’s range, and the packaging is a dead ringer with a clear plastic tube and matte black lid.
These are available in 7 shades, and I bought the colours 56K and 95G after searching for swatches online. Swatches for these products are few and far between, and the shades looked different in each photo so the colours I received weren’t exactly the colours I was expecting. 56K is a muted warm pink and 95G turned out to be quite a dark brown with warm orangey undertones.

These creams have the exact scent of the NYX products- an artificial vanilla smell that is definitely either love or hate. They apply smoothly and, because the colour range is reasonably the same darkness as natural lips colours, they don’t appear patchy or uneven. Manhattan describe the finish as ‘veletty-matte’ with a ‘wonderfully soft feeling on the lips’, and I would agree; they have a silky, almost silicone feel about them and are almost the polar opposite of sticky. They take a good few minutes to dry and lose some of the slip, becoming a little powdery and having a bit of resistance when the lips are rubbed together. I have worn these when my lips have been very dry, which you can see in the swatch photos above. The creams don’t pick up on the dryness as much as some solid lipsticks do, but on both dry and smooth lips these accentuate the lines and crinkles of the lips close up.

Wear time for these is better for me than lipsticks, which I find it difficult to make last. They have little transfer when dry but need reapplying after eating and drinking. As they’re matte they do dry the lips, but I’ve found much worse culprits and a good layer of lipbalm helps with any dryness.

I really like 56K, even though I was expecting something brighter I’m very fond of milky pinks and it mutes my lip colour while looking quite natural. 95G is a shade that won’t suit light skintones and is a bit too dark for me (you can see in the swatch that it gives a slight orange ring around my lips, but it’s hard to tell without seeing my whole face), but with a few dots of 56k blended on top it becomes a wearable dark nude shade so all isn’t lost.
I have one NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream to compare these to- Tokyo is a very light pink and even though I like the colour I’m not at all fond of the application. I think it’s because it’s so much lighter than my lip colour that it applies patchy in the centre of the lips, settles into lines, and looks thin and chalky, which you can see in a swatch at the end of this post. As the lip creams from both brands have incredibly similar formulas, it’s interesting to see how NYX’s large range of colours can let the product down, whereas Manhattan have stuck to darker shades (similar to the Collection Cream Puffs) which you can’t really go wrong with.

I'm really pleased with the Manhattan Soft Mat Lipcreams, the application and lasting power make them a winner for me, and the price point also helps- they have an RRP of £3.99, but can be found discounted online. I bought mine for £2.99 from Xtras, but they’re available for 99p each on Fragrance Direct. If you’re a fan of the shade range, these make a great cheaper dupe for the NYX creams, and are also a great way to ease yourself into matte lip products if you don’t own any already.

I’ve tried a few other products from Manhattan, one that I really love, but another that I’m really interested to try (if I can find it in the UK) is their ProfessionalMascara with silk keratin and integrated comb in the cap. Have you tried any products from Manhattan?

 (Below- NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Tokyo)