Review and Rave: Nivea Lip Butter - Caramel Cream

First of all let me start by saying I love this!!! (a little background info...) I spend 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year torturing my lips with matte lipsticks and sugar scrubs so its payback time - Autumn.The season of pumpkins, mittens and of course disgustingly dry and chapped lips! In my hour of need I have always turned to that little yellow tin of loveliness, Carmex, however this year Carmex didn't work!! Dun Dun Dunnnn.. SO it's okay, Blistex will come to my rescue, slightly more medicinal but much less yums - this didn't work either :( And then... After seeing this on a few blogs and noticing it retails at £1.25 at Superdrug I thought 'ah, why not!?' I picked it up in Caramel Cream as this appealed to me most.

Formula - Buttery, soft and smooth.
Smell - In my eyes, the most delicious smell EVER.
Taste - None (suits me).
Look - Slight shine but not too glossy.
Packaging - Practical, matte tin.
Results - Amazing. My lips are the smoothest they've ever been.

I'm converted! This tin holds an impressive 16.7g compared with 7g of Carmex at double the price!? Its a no brainer. If you haven't already tried this I recommend you do asap :)

More Magazine Freebie NOTD

 

 

I'm sure you've all seen/nabbed the great More freebies in this weeks issue, the lovely people at More are giving us the chance to collect four great Model's Own products. I only picked up this one as I couldn't find the other nail varnish anywhere and I'm not a huge fan of lip glosses.

 

Today I'm celebrating handing in my Sociology assignment, FINALLY! It's been a huge drain on part of my life since September and I'm so glad to have it over and done with, it is however a small victory as I still have two more assignments due before Christmas.. Under pressure!

 

To show off my new polish and to spend a congratulatory half an hour on myself (a rare treat) I decided to put together a little NOTD. My nails are ridiculously short and flaky at the mo so to be honest I don't really like the look of this combo on my nails right now, however I'm sure it would look lovely on anyone with nicer nails than me!

 

 



Model's Own - Nude Beige / NYC - Wild with Passion / Barry M - Pink Irridescent

Did any of you grab any of the great freebies?

 

Sian xoxo

NYC 16H Lip Stain and Applelicious Glossy Balm - Reviewed.

NYC 16H Lipstain in 'Berry Long Time'

I'm strictly a matte lipstick or softening balm kind of girl, there is no in between. I don't 'do' with sheer tints, lip butters or gloss, its a full on pigmented lip or just a slick of 'medicinal' balm. However lately my lips have been so rough and dry that I haven't been able to wear any bold lip colours (I have just found the solution to all my problems in the shape of Nivea Lip Butters, but that's a separate post) so I went in search of something a little more easy going on my lips, something which would forgive the horrible scaly texture of my pout and give me just a sheer tint on top of or underneath my lip balm, as I didn't want to spend a great deal on a product that isn't really me I turned to NYC, a great value for money and very overlooked brand (in comparison to MUA).

The two products I picked up are the 16H Smooch Proof Lip Stain in 498 'Berry Long Time' and the Applelicious Glossy Balm in 356 'Big Apple Red', swatches below.

L-R - Berry Long Time and Big Apple Red

 

 



Berry Long Time

£3.99 - Superdrug

 

This is packaged like a felt tip pen, very in-offencive but not anything to write home about looks wise. It takes a while to get used to the application (may be because this is my first lip stain use) but once on I find this doesn't bleed, leaves a nice level of colour and has no scent however it seemed to have rubbed off on me after about 4 hours, far from its promise of 16 hours. It's an okay product considering the low price but not something I'd repurchase, unless a new colour is released which wows me.

 

 





 

Big Apple

£2.49 - Superdrug

 

 

On first glance this is packaged just like an ordinary cheapo lippie but when you open it up it has a lovely apple design in the core of the balm - very cute touch! It smells of the typical artificial apple-y scent you find in washing up liquids, hand soaps etc, nice and fresh but nothing spectacular. This offered me a very low level of colour but with the addition of a non sticky glossy finish. This didn't do anything to sooth my chapped lips, so again a lip balm would also be needed. I probably wont repurchase this, although it is great for the price!

 



Thursday's Girl in Photos #4

Costa getting me in the Festive Spirit / New fave skirt c/o Izabell London / Cute swallow earring I found deep in my jewellery stash / Roast Beef and Sprouts / Truly Red Matte Lips / Cute Mittens c/o Primark / The World's Softest Socks / Kitkat

So the Christmas countdown properly begins this week, just think this time next month we will all be stuffed full of turkey and surrounded by wrapping paper and lots of lovely new stuff!! Exciting :) Before all that I have two assignments due, a very stressful couple of weeks ahead for me!!

 

I'm going to be doing a few lip product reviews in the next week, so be sure to check that out!

 

Hope you're all having a lovely week

 

Sian xoxo

Thursday's Playlist

Not Giving In - Rudimental feat John Newman and Alex Clare

The Power of Love - Gabrielle Aplin

Breathe Me - Sia

Ottis Redding - Try a Little Tenderness

This week im loving... #2

Hey Beauties,

So... I caved *hangs head in shame* not majorly though, just a couple of cheap lip products (I will review soon) and the stunning nail varnish above. It was 3 for 2 in Superdrug so I felt rude not to!!

1) I love NYC for a quick pick me up and this nail varnish has done exactly that - Its a beautiful mid purple berry shade - Wild With Passion - it's a great formula, just like all NYC nail varnishes are and is opaque in just two coats. All this for £1.49!!

2) While browsing the gift aisle in my local Boots I noticed this and the Scrub of Your Life were being sold in dinky travel sizes for just £2.50, I'm not sure if this has always been the case or not. I already own and love the Scrub of Your Life so I thought I'd try Flake Away out and as with all other Soap and Glory products it has not disappointed me! Smells yummy and leaves my skin lovely and smooth = happy girl!

3) Have you been missing Nathan in the past two series of Misfits? Yeah me too. In fact I've stopped watching in protest! So you cannot imagine my joy at discovering Robert Sheehan is now over at the BBC playing the gorgeous Billy in a new sitcom - Me and Mrs Jones, BBC1 Fridays at 9:30pm.

4) This foundation and I have never quite got on for a number of reasons; It's too greasy for me in the summer, I was wearing it in a shade 2 darker than I needed, its felt too thick and never lasted the whole day. But now... Oh were best friends! I'm not sure why, perhaps my skin has changed, getting the right shade definitely helped too! It offers me medium coverage and lasts up to 10 hours when used with a primer and powder. This is now my day to day foundation - I even repurchased it last week, something I only ever usually do with my holy grail, Revlon Colour Stay, for days I feel like I need more coverage. I now have all my foundation boxes ticked :)

 

What have you loved this week?

 

 

Sian xoxo

Wishlist #1

 

- Michael Kors, Champagne Chrono Dial Watch MK5055: buy

- YSL Rogue Pur Couture in Rogue Roxanne: buy

 

- Vivienne Westwood, Winter Tartan Small Flapover Purse: buy 

- Rubber Duck Onesie: buy

 

- Ebay, Red Christmas Deerlet Jumper: buy

 

- Model's Own, Wonderland Collection: buy