High Street Must Haves.

HIGH STREET MUST HAVES.

Sleek 'All Night Long' Palette - £7.99 

BARGAIN ALERT / They're currently on offer 2 for £10 in Boots, for that price you'd be crazy not to pick up two.

This is a newer palette from Sleek that contains some really beautiful shades, there's a matte ivory and a deep brown which covers all neutral bases, there's a few golds, greys, a cranberry, a beautiful rosy purple and a few other shimmers. They're all intensely pigmented and easy to blend.

Collection Blush and Glow Palette - £4.99

This is an absolute steal at under £5 as it offers everything you'd need to create a contoured, highlighted and flushed face. The bronzer is the perfect shade for my NC25/30 skin, it's matte, blends beautifully and can be built up to your desired intensity. The highlighter is slightly too pale and icy for my taste, but that's purely personal preference, on fairer skins it would look beautiful but I prefer more golden or champagne shades. Then we have two blushers, one is a rosy pink that almost gives the Benefit Dandelion effect, brightening your face with a hint of colour and the slightest amount of shimmer. The other is a deeper, matte pink which I also love to dust higher on the cheekbones. I'm on my second palette, I've even got my boyfriends mum converted to using this daily.

Natural Collection Lipstick - Apple Blossom - £1.99

I've raved about this for years. I love this shade, it's almost identical to Mac Fleshpot - a nude, milky pink but with a creamier, moisturising finish. I find this lasts really well on my lips, it's incredibly pigmented and you can get these on offer, 3 for £5. There are a few other really beautiful shades in the Natural Collection range so if you haven't stopped for a browse before, go have a swatch.

Maybelline Baby Lips - Pink Punch - £2.99

This isn't a product for everyone, the shade is a very Barbie-esque pink that looks glossy on the lips but it's also intensely moisturising and great for a hint of colour if you apply it sparingly. On days when I want to look fresh faced and feminine, I love dabbing this really lightly on the lips, blending it in and it just looks like an effortless tint of colour.

Topshop Doe Eyed Mascara - £10

This is hands down the best mascara I've ever tried. I've gone through three tubes of this and as long as they make it, I'll buy it. The brush is huge but it does an amazing job of separating your lashes, adding length and volume. I also love that you can layer this and by that I mean you can apply a coat, let it dry, then apply another layer and it wont clump on you. It doesn't transfer or smudge underneath my eyes, which in a mascara that's not waterproof is hard to find.

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Product RAVE // Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer

 Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer

I adore this product. 

I brought a mini of the Hourglass mineral veil primer from Space NK a while back and had forgotten about it completely, then when I came out to Australia I brought it with me. Since then I've used it for every special occassion and evenings out. I was attempting to draw out its lifespan by using it sparingly but once it was gone, I definitely missed it from my make up routine so I had to invest in a full size version. I found it on the Mecca make up website for $79, but if you're in the UK this will set you back £52 for a 30ml bottle. If you've seen my haul posts on Instagram or my blog in the past, you'll know I can't lie when I say I'm an addict to high end brands, but I really do believe it's worth investing in a few quality products to build your make up bag around. A good primer, foundation, concealer and mascara.
The packaging of all Hourglass products are chic, expensive and eye catching, with their simplistic design, even their mineral veil comes in a heavy glass bottle with a pump - I know some people look at glass packaging as a disadvantage, but I've never had an issue even when travelling. I use a single pump to cover my whole face and it comes out white, but blends in to nothing yet leaves your skin feeling like velvet. It's mineral based, water resistant, oil free and boasts an SPF of 15 whilst eliminating redness, minimising pores, softening fine lines and creating a flawless base for make up application. This leaves my face looking refreshed and almost as if you've used a soft focus tool on your skin. I find it makes applying my foundation and concealer such an easy task and things just blend so effortlessly. I won't lie and say this keeps my oily skin shine free all day, it definitely does prolong the wear of my base products but it is 32 degrees out here most days recently and if I didn't have a little bit of oil production it would mean I wasn't perspiring at all, which would be dreamy but unrealistic, haha. Not only can you use this as a primer, it can also just be worn alone as a light sun protectant and to help achieve flawless skin without actually applying tinted products. 

What else can I say? You need it, buy the mini if you're wary and thank me after.

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Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip 'Tulle' & 'Trap'.

Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip in 'Trap' and 'Tulle'

If you follow me on Instagram (lisamichellexx) you'll of seen a month or so back I placed an order with Colourpop cosmetics. I got a few eyeshadows, a highlighter, a few lippie stix and some of their ultra matte lips. I've trialled out all of the products now and I'll be posting reviews on all, but today I wanted to mention these two Ultra Matte Lips in 'Trap' - the lighter, milkier shade and 'Tulle' - the deeper, raspberry. I've been pairing these up together, applying Tulle first all over, then placing Trap on the inside to create a bit of a highlight and contour to the lips. I love how pigmented the Ultra Matte Lips are, Colourpops shade range is totally on trend, the whole branding I adore, although I don't love the cost of shipping to Australia - SOB. As much as I love this combination, I do have to admit that the lighter shades I purchased do get a little dry on the lips and if you apply too much you do get patchiness. I combat this by applying a tiny bit of lipbalm on the top, which I know defeats the purpose of buying a matte product, but it helps extend the wear of them and make them a bit more comfortable on the lips. I'm sure if you applied lip balm first then applied these, it would have the same effect and still dry to a matte, or semi matte finish. I should mention, I don't find this an issue with the darker, or more vibrant shades, I don't have to prep my lips in any way - they stay put and feel completely comfortable to wear. Here's the combination below.

What's your favourite Colourpop product?

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Beauty Wishlist

Beauty Wishlist // February 2016

Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer

I brought a mini of this a while ago to trial out and only used it when I was going out for the evening, or a special occassion and I've just ran out. This is skincare and a primer in one, it's oil free and works really well with my combination skin. It conceals pores, any fine lines, blurs any imperfections and leaves your skin feeling like velvet, leaving a beautiful base for make up to sit on. I also think it helps to prolong the wear of my base, even though I still get a little oily, it's more of a slight dewy sheen on the skin instead of looking greasy.

Too Faced Born This Way Foundation

I've heard so many people rave about this product, claiming it's full coverage, leaves a beautiful finish and works well for oily skin. I'm almost out of my Estee Lauder Double Wear and after a new foundation, I like medium - full coverage, matte or semi matte finish and for it to wear well - is that too much to ask for?!

Perricone MD No Bronzer Bronzer

I swatched this recently and loved how easily it blends in to the skin, it's a lovely natural sunkissed shade with a bit of warmth to it and it just melts in, blending so easily.

Too Faced Cocoa Contour Kit

I've been after a contour kit for a while now, I tried the Anastasia Beverley Hills palette but wasn't completely happy with it. I want the two lighter shades to be like Emphasize Pro Highlighting powder from Mac and a pan form of Ben Nye Banana powder, along with a champagne, shimmery - not glittery, highlighter, then a golden bronzer like Tarte's Park Avenue Princess, along with an ashy contour shade and a slightly warmer colour. I should just get a Z palette and depot all these products indivudually, haha.

Tarte Tartlette Palette

 This is full of matte neutral shades that look really intensely pigmented but easy to blend. I love matte shades and I've really missed having a neutral palette that I can create more easy to wear looks with. Have any of you guys used this palette? Or do you have other recommendations? Ideally I'd just repurchase the Lorac Pro eyeshadow palette but it's so hard to get hold of in Australia!

Kate Somerville Exfolikate

I've heard so many things about Kate Somerville products and this has rave reviews on the Sephora website. I can't go without an exfoliater, otherwise I find make up doesn't sit as well on my skin and my Dermologica Daily Microfoliant is just about to run out!

What are you lusting after recently? Do you have any product recommendations for me?

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Budget Beauty // Face of Australia

 I know, you can't get hold of Face of Australia the UK, I promise I'll get back to reviewing products that are available worldwide soon enough but I couldn't bypass shining a little spotlight on the brand Face of Australia. I recently picked up a few of their products from Priceline, some I wasn't a fan of, two that I love and they're so cheap I can't not tell you about them. 

 The first is their powder blush in Nutmeg, this comes in pan form and it's just $9.45 - it's a warm coral shade with shimmer, that looks very similar to Coralista from Benefit. It's a little less pink toned and not quite as overwhelmingly shimmery on the cheeks, which for some people be a plus. It's a finely milled powder, buttery and blends beautifully on the cheeks leaving you with a hint of colour and a healthy glow. It's not intensely pigmented, but I do like that you can build it up to the finish you want.

The Brow Sculpting Gel I picked up in the shade Light/Medium, which is ideal for my newly lightened hair. This is really similar to the Benefit Gimme Brow, it has tiny fibres in it and it's a pigmented gel so as you brush through your brows it adds colour and fullness. This didn't leave the dreaded crispy finish that some brow gels can offer, instead it just makes you look like you've got naturally bomb eyebrows which is all I want and it's only $9.95.

Have you found any budget beauty products recently that you love?

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New In / Buxom, Tarte, BareMinerals.

New In: Buxom Divine Goddess Luminizer, Tarte bronzer in Park Avenue Princess, BareMinerals Bareskin Complete Coverage Serum Concealer, Tarte Lights Camera Lashes Mascara, Buxom Full On Lip-Stick in Marrakech. 

I feel like it's been the longest time since I brought myself any high end goodies, so I decided to treat myself, while trying out some new brands that are available to me in Australia. I've always lusted after Tarte and Buxom, but they're not easy to get hold of in the UK. I've been loving brighter skin recently, so I couldn't pass up the Buxom Divine Godess Luminizer, which is literally Victoria Secret babe in a tube. I use this alone as a base, mixed in to foundation, on top, it's so versitile and it never looks overdone. It gives your skin a luminosity that just makes you look dewy - not oily, but healthy. I have oily skin and I don't have an issue with this looking greasy or overdone. Even though it looks golden and warm in the tube, it may add the slightest, almost unnoticeable tint of colour to your face but it's barely noticeable.

To add to the bronze glow, the Tarte bronzer in Park Avenue Princess is a highlighter and bronzer in one. I actually use this on top of my matte bronzer, just to go over my cheekbones and temples to add a golden sheen to the skin. I feel like this just adds the nicest touch of shimmer to the skin, ideal if you're going blush free, just bronzing the skin and want a warm highlighter. It's not super pigmented so I don't feel like you could overdo it even though it looks intense in the pan.

The BareMinerals concealer was a last minute basket add, I swatched it on the back of my hand and the coverage, the smooth finish - I was sold. If you have oily skin, you'll have to set this. It's got a really beautiful coverage, with a very dewy finish which I find works well underneath the eyes, but around the face on my skin type everything just slips around. On dry or normal skin, you would love this, it's super hydrating, it doesn't settle in to lines and it does have a serum finish which is glowy.

The Tarte Lights Camera Lashes mascara is always mentioned on blogs and YouTube, so I couldn't pass up this mini. The brush is full, so it really grabs every hair and it fully coats each lash. It doesn't do an amazing job at adding length, but volume and thickness it's got covered. I need to invest in a good lengthening mascara, then layer it with this and I'll have lashes for days.

The Buxom Lip-Sticks I'd never heard of before but I loved the simple packaging and I fell in love with the shade Marrakech and so would you if you're a nude lover. It's super creamy, really comfortable to wear, relatively long lasting, pigmented and it gives your lips a bizarre cooling feeling when it's first applied.

I'm digging pretty much everything I brought, successful haul - plus I also went back for a beauty blender and I have to say that they're worth the price and applying foundation or concealer with them is just dreamy. I've tried a few dupes, but after the real thing, they don't really compare.

What're your most recent beauty purchases? 

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