favourites: lipstick;

A little known fact about me is that I am an avid lipstick collector.  I have dozens of lipsticks in my collection of all colours and brands.  I can't so much as walk past a make-up stand without picking up a tube or two... or four.  However, this does not mean that I am much of a lipstick wearer.  I rarely wear lipstick, or anything on my lips at all!  In fact, there's several lipsticks in my collection that have never even been used!  I do almost always carry one around with me though, just in case, and when I do wear lipstick I tend to stick to the same few every time.  In no particular order, here are my favourite and most worn lipsticks:

(1)  Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Crush:  These chubby-stick lip stains have become infamous in the blogging community since their release, this colour in particular.  Crush is a deep plum colour that is quite sheer and glossy.  Perfect vampy lip colour for beginners.  

(2)  MAC lipstick in Up The Amp:  As I mentioned in my December haul post, I had been lusting after this shade for months before I finally picked it up, and I was not disappointed.  It's an Amplified Creme finish, meaning it's really creamy and moisturising, and this blue-toned lilac is the prettiest, most wearable purple I've ever seen.

(3)  MAC lipstick in Please Me:  This is the first MAC lipstick I ever bought, and it is still a firm favourite of mine.  It's one of the lesser-known "your lips but better" shades, it seems, but the matte finish and slight coral tone really won me over!

(4)  Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate in 107:  I feel that everyone and their mother owns this lipstick, and rightly so.  The Kate Moss matte collection has one of the nicest matte formulas I've ever used (I'm a matte finish junkie), and this berry red shade is perfect for spicing up these cold Irish "summer" days.

(5)  Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate in 16:  Can you tell I adore the Kate Moss lipsticks?  This summery colour is more on the pink side of coral, and I've been reaching for this one quite a lot in the last week.  It's a bit creamier and glossier than a matte finish, meaning it doesn't dry your lips out so much, and the packaging is just gorgeous!

(6)  Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Cotton Candy:  The Revlon Lip Butters, much like the lip stains, have been hugely hyped, and I completely agree.  Cotton Candy is a sheer, glossy, barbie-pink with a gold sparkle and sheen.  It's really moisturising, and is great for giving a quick wash of colour.

Have you tried any of these lipsticks?  What are your favourites?  Thanks for reading!

haul: mua makeup academy cosmetics;

MUA (Makeup Academy) is a cosmetics company that I've heard very much about during my years of creeping through the beauty blogging community, but because it's sold exclusively in-store in Superdrug (which we don't have here, boo) I never had the chance to try any of their products.  Until now!  Last week, I put my debit card to good use and shopped to my heart's content at their online store (click here).  I have to say, I'm very impressed.  There's a great selection of products and colours, the price is a steal (all of this, including shipping, cost less than €40!!), the quality is surprisingly great, and it arrived in just three days!  Delighted.

(1) Undressed eyeshadow palette:  One of the best neutral palettes I've ever used, and it cost just £4!  Unreal!  Full review coming on this soon, so I won't say too much.

(2) Trio Eyeshadow in Eden:  This trio contains a jade green shade with gold shimmer, a mint green with gold shimmer, and a cream/gold duochrome with gold shimmer.  You need to work a bit harder with these to get a good colour payoff, but still very pretty.

(3) Trio Eyeshadow in Innocence:  This trio has a brown/teal duochrome which is mindblowingly beautiful,  a mid-tone shimmery golden brown, with a more peach/white highlight colour than the Eden trio.  So excited to use this one!

(4) Glitter Eyeliner in shades 6 & 8:  Shade 6 has small hot pink glitters with larger iridescent blue glitters.  I have no idea when I'm going to use this, but it's just so pretty and girly!  Shade 8 has gorgeous spring green glitters.  This liner is slightly thicker than the pink one.

(1) Lip BOOM lipstick and Gloss in Cheeky! and It's A Situation:  The idea of this product is that you can wear it several ways: either the lipstick or gloss alone, or layered together to make your lipsCheeky! is a matte, barbie pink colour (quite similar to St. Germain by MAC).  It comes with a pink gloss that is chocked full of sparkly silver glitter.  It's A Situation is red berry colour, with a rose coloured gloss with the same glitter.  Both are very pretty, and the lipsticks are quite nice considering that they're matte, and especially considering the price.  The glosses have a sickly sweet scent, which I'm not a huge fan off, but the colours and the glitter are FAB.

(1) Love Hearts nail polish in  U R FAB and I <3 U:  U R FAB is like a pastel red colour, if that makes sense?  It's more of a reddish colour than a pink.  Perfect.  I <3 U is just a nude/cream colour.  Very pretty for everyday.

(2)  Nail polish in shade 13:  I don't own many green nail varnishes (this is only my second), so this metallic green is a great addition to my collection.

(3)  Nail Constellation in Leo:  Microbeads!  I'm loving textured nails at the mo, and I've never tried a microbead product before.  So excited for this!

(4)  Fur-Effect Nails in Fluff & Cuddles and Fluffy Bobbin:  Fluff & Cuddles is a pink-maroon colour, and Fluffy Bobbin is indigo.  Strange.  Very strange indeed.  These feel almost like suede when applied.  I think I love them, but it's very difficult getting used to having furry nails!

Have you tried any of these products?  Or have you any other MUA products that you'd recommend?  Thanks for reading!

haul: december;

This month, with working extra hours, turning 21, and Christmas, I felt like (albeit briefly) the richest person in the world.  This is a collective haul (another blog first!) of bits and pieces that I've picked up throughout December.  Praise the Lord for Christmas sales!

MAKE-UP & BEAUTY

(L - R back row) BIG solid conditioner // Snow Fairy x2 // Sweet Soap of Mine soap duo

(L - R front row) King of Skin body butter // Godiva 2in1 shampoo bar

(1) BIG solid conditioner:  I'm a big fan of Lush's BIG shampoo, but unfortunately they were sold out, so I thought I'd give the conditioner a try.  I'd never tried a solid conditioner before this, and admittedly I found it more difficult to use than solid shampoos 'cause without a lather, I couldn't tell how much I was using.  Nonetheless, it's super creamy, smells (and tastes) delicious, and left my hair really clean, soft and shiny.  A++.

(2) Snow Fairy:  They only had small bottles left, but they were half price so I bought two!  I've mentioned Snow Fairy before, it's fab.  Definitely worth stocking up over Christmas.  Pity it's limited edition.

(3) Sweet Soap of Mine:  Another first for me, as I've never tried Lush soap before.  This pack contains 100g of Rockstar soap and 100g of The Godmother soap (which smells like Snow Fairy).  Seeing as my skin is quite sensitive, I was a bit wary of trying out the soaps, but I've used Rockstar and I'm impressed.  It felt like it was good for my skin, y'know?

(4) King of Skin:  I lovelovelove Lush's body butters, so I picked up King of Skin to add to my collection.  Haven't used it yet, but I've no fear that I'll love this one too.

(5) Godiva:  *Angels voices from Heaven* This shampoo bar, which is a 2in1, is my all-time holy grail hair product.  I use it just as a shampoo, but the added conditioner gives my hair that extra bit of moisture it needs to stay healthy.  The scent isn't for everyone (personally, I love it) but it lasts for ages on your hair, even after blowdrying and straightening/curling. Mmm. 

MAC Up The Amp //  Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte in 107 // Revlon Colourstay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick in Ultimate Orchid

(6) Up The Amp:  This lipstick inspired my growing love of lilac lip colours, and I've been admiring it with months.  Now, I finally own it!  It's an Amplified Creme which, considering I'm usually a matte finish girl, is really smooth and moisturising, and the colour is prettier than I could have hoped for. Delira!

(7) 107:  I've heard so many good things about Rimmel's new matte lipsticks so I picked one up for myself.  107 is the prettiest berry colour I've ever seen, and I haven't found it to be drying at all.  A big plus for a matte lipstick.

(8) Ultimate Orchid:  I fell in love with this colour the second I saw it.  A pinky-lilac with a slight shimmer. Delish!  It has a matte finish, and it dried my lips out a bit, but it's nothing a lick of carmex can't solve!

Eyeshadow in Antiqued // Paint Pot in Rubanesque // Pigment in Pink Opal // Eyeshadow in Paradisco

(9) Antiqued:  Antiqued is a gorgeous copper-brown with just the right amount of shimmer.  And it's a Veluxe Pearl. Yes.

(10) Rubanesque:  My first paint pot!  I feel like I'm moving up in the world.  If you haven't heard, Rubanesque is a peach gold colour with gold shimmer.  I am so excited to use this!

(11) Pink Opal:  Like Up The Amp, Pink Opal is a colour that I've been admiring from a distance but never had the courage to buy.  It's a white/pink duochrome, and I'm scared to even breathe near it incase I blow half of it away!

(12) Paradisco:  My first Frost finish from MAC.  It's a coral/pink colour which is admittedly quite similar to Expensive Pink, one of my favourite MAC shades.  Still, it's pretty and I can't wait to use it.

Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs in Light Glow // Girls Aloud Part Lashes in Sarah // Lady Gaga Fame perfume

(13) Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs:  Read here.  Love it!

(14) Girls Aloud Lashes:  These lashes were a total disappointment!  In the box, they look gorgeous.  They're long, thick, and covered in glitter.  Fab.  But in reality, with the length and thickness of my natural lashes, they just looked odd, and the glitter on the falsies made it look as though they were covered in eyeshadow fallout.  Plus, the glue in box was completely dried out and unusable.  I won't be buying these again.

(15) Lady Gaga Fame perfume:  I reveived a sample of this in a GlossyBox months ago and I loved it, so I spoiled myself and bought a full sized bottle.  I am awful at describing scents, so I won't even try, but it is everything I love in a perfume.  And the bottle looks stunning, too!

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

Contrast Sleeve Jacket - Red Herring @ Debenhams // Peplum Dress - River Island

Embellished Collar Blouse - Penneys // Oversized Wolf Print Jumper - Penneys

Black Skater Skirt - Penneys // Grey Hi-Lo Skater Skirt w/ Gold Chain - Topshop

Black and Gold overknee Stockings - River Island // Gold Cherub Necklace - Topshop

** I should probably mention that I'm not posting this to 'brag'.  I bought a lot of these things at sale prices with money I worked hard to earn, or that was gifted to me by my wonderful family.  I am so grateful for their generosity, and the effort that they put into make this milestone month special for me. **

Have you picked up many bargains in the sales?  Happy New Year, and thanks for reading!