Instagram Round Up - April 2017

Hey guys, hope you're all well! I wanted to kick off May with a new monthly series, rounding up some of my favourites posts from the last month over on Instagram. Everything is linked, but you can also find all my loves on the new shop tab, located on the top right. So here's my beauty and style diary for the month of April, enjoy!

2nd April 

Jacket - Topshop* (Similar)

Sweater - New Look* (Similar) 

Bag - Ted Baker* (Same style but no longer available in Rose Gold)

Leather Trousers - Next

Boots - New Look* (Similar)

2nd April

Soap & Glory The Ultimelt*

Garnier Micellar Water*

L'Oreal Fine Flowers Toner

Bioderma*

Drugstore Skincare Week Series 

3rd April

L'Oreal Total Cover Concealer Palette 

4th April 

Models Own Lilac Icing

7th April
Jeans - American Eagle
Bag - Ted Baker* (Same style but no longer available in Rose Gold)
Pom Pom - Next*
Shoes - Converse*

10th, 12th & 18th April
Jumper - New Look* (Similar)
Bag - River Island*
Jeans - Bershka* (Similar)
Espadrills - Matalan

11th April
Benefit Dandelion Dew*

13th April 
Zoella Daisy Picking Candle*

13th April
Maybelline Lip Contour Palette

16th April
Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter*

17th April 
Sunglasses - Quay Australia*
Jacket - Topshop* (Similar)
Jumper Dress - Boohoo*
Bag - River Island*
Trainers - Converse

18th April
Primark 2 in 1 Straighten & Curl Iron

20th April
Soap & Glory The Ultimelt

21st & 26th April
Maybelline Baby Lips Crayon

22nd, 24th, 25th & 28th April
Sunglasses - Quay Australia*
Jacket - Topshop* (similar)
Jumper Dress - Bohoo*
Bag - River Island*
Trainers - Converse

22nd April
Bag - River Island*
Nail Polish - O.P.I You're Such a Budapest*

24th April
Spring/Summer Nail Polish Picks & Trends

25th April
Sleek Solstice Highlighting Palette*

27th April
April Favourites 2017

28th April
Barry M Holographic Lights*

29th April
Maybelline The Pixie Collection - Available from 3rd May exclusively at Superdrug

30th April
It's First Impressions Week over on my channel here, so a keep a look out for product reviews on all of these new highlighters!

Sleek Matte Me Birthday Suit Review & Photos

Sleek Matte Me Birthday Suit

If you haven't guessed already matte lip products are defiantly my favourite right now, so much so that I have been trying to find lots of different ones from a variety of brands to test out and compare to see which really is the best. Sleek's bestselling shade Birthday Suit was one I had been trying to get hold of for a while now, luckily I finally got my hands on it before it went again! So here's my thoughts.

Price

The Matte Me Matte Lip Creams retail for an affordable £4.99 for 6ml of product. The collection is made up of 12 wearable on trend shades including,

Velvet Slipper

Shabby Chic

Fired Up

Bittersweet

Old Hollywood

Vino Tinto

Birthday Suit

Fandango Purple

Petal

Brink Pink

Rioja Red

Party Pink

All shades are available directly from the Sleek Website here or Superdrug online and in stores.

Packaging

The packaging is very simple yet informative on what exactly these are, I also like the fact you can see the shade clearly through the tube too. The wand itself has a long, flat doe-foot applicator which helps you to apply the colour precisely, although I did find the wand a little stiff and ridged to work with.

Application

This colour is beautifully pigmented and super matte, it's also opaque within one swipe. The consistency is wonderfully creamy with a slight mousse like texture to it, which makes it glide onto the lips perfectly.

Birthday Suit has a brown base with a dusky pink undertone to it.

Longevity

This shade stayed really well throughout the day, it didn't transfer at all either, I did get a slight bit of wear in the inner part of my mouth from eating, but nothing to drastic which was great. The only thing I would say is I found this lipstick to be super drying on the lips and by the end of the day this did feel slightly uncomfortable, so I would advise applying this onto well moisturised lips.

Overall Thoughts

Overall I loved this shade as it was super flattering on the lips and totally wearable for everyday. Although the applicator was a little stiff, the colour did glide on beautifully and was opaque in one coat, which was great as these are such an affordable price point.

 

As I mentioned above the only thing that really let these down for me was just how uncomfortable they were to wear on the lips once the colour had dried matte, it just felt super drying which was a shame, but I do know most liquids lipstick are notorious for drying out the lips anyway and so super moisturised lips are the key to any matte lip look.

 

So if your after an affordable matte liquid lipstick with a great on trend colour selection that's pigmented in one swipe then I would say these are totally worth checking out, just don't forget your lip balm, to keep that dryness at bay!

 

I award the Sleek Matte Me Birthday Suit Lip Cream 4.1 out of 5

Wearable Drugstore Summer Make-Up Tutorial

Drugstore Summer Makeup Tutorial

With the hotter, humid months in full swing, I don't know about you but for me it's all about lighter make-up, no foundation and an ethereal glow. Today I wanted to share with you this simple summer, no foundation make-up look using drugstore brands only. I wore this look a ton on holiday as the humidity in Mexico was pretty intense! This make-up is perfect for a Sunny Sunday or an evening out on holiday, it's also affordable too!

Products mentioned:
- Nivea Post Sensitive Post Shave Balm
- L'Oreal Brow Artist Shaper Pencil in Brunette
- NYX Eyebrow Gel in Brunette
- Makeup Revolution Iconic Pro Palette 1
- Maybelline Brow Drama Mascara in Dark Brown
- Maybelline The Eye Eraser in Light
- Crown Blending Crease Brush
- Blank Canvas Cosmetics E32 Eye Brush
- Royal & Langnickel Crease Brush
- Soap & Glory Kick Ass All is Calm Green Corrector
- Real Techniques Buffing Brush
- Makeup Revolution Radiance Lights Palette
- L'Oreal Glam Bronze Cushion De Soleil
- Real Techniques Duo-Fibre Contour Brush
- Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner in Black Shock
- Rimmel Scandal Eyes Pencil in Black
- Milani Baked Blush in Dolce Pink
- MAC 168SE Brush
- Sleek MakeUp Solstice Palette
- Royal & Langnickel Contour Brush
- Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara
- Maybelline Falsies Mascara
- Maybelline Baby Lips in Bubblegum Pop
- Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Gloss in Wink of Pink

Sleek Highlighting Palette in Solstice Review and Photos

Sleek Highlighting Palette

Following on from my review on the Revolution Radiant Lights Palette, I wanted to share with you another drugstore highlighter I discovered recently from Sleek. Having never tried anything from Sleek MakeUp before, I figured this would be a good place to start, so here's my thoughts.

Price
The Solstice Highlighting Palette retails for £10 for 9g of product, which is actually quite a lot for a drugstore brand, but it does come in the most beautiful packaging and it contains four different textured highlighters that can be used on the face and body.

Packaging
The Solstice palette comes in a black box, which has clear and informative information on what you get in the palette, as well as some really useful instructions and tips and tricks on how to use this. The compact itself is stunning and everything about it screams goddess! It's adorned in an expensive looking gold case with a mirror, brush and of course the main attractions, the four beautiful highlighters including,
1. Ecliptic - a cream based light bronze/pink
2. Hemisphere -  a lilac silver baked formula
3. Subsolar - a finely milled champagne, shimmery shade
4. Equinox - a golden peach shade, which is also baked too

Application
As I mentioned on the back of the box, it has a few tips on where you could apply each highlighter, which is what I ended up doing, although I didn't use the brush it came with, as this is one of those standard cheap formulated brushes you tend to get in compacts. Instead I used my fingers and a brush to highlight my brow bone, inner corners of my eyes, cheek bones and cupids bow, but as it mentions on the box these are multipurpose highlighters and can be used anywhere.

Out of all the shades in the palette, my favourite's where Ecliptic, the cream highlight, which looks particularly stunning in the corners of the eyes and cupids bow and Equinox, which is perfect for that cheek strobe and also to dust all over the body. Because of it's lilac base, Hemisphere is not as wearable as the three other shades, but it is lovely to apply for an evening out. Subsolar is a beautifully pigmented champagne shade and again is another one that can be worn anywhere, but I'd say this one is not as smooth and blendable as the others.

Longevity
These stayed really well throughout the day, but if you are going out at night and not re-doing your make-up I would defiantly re-apply them so they pop that little bit more for the evening.

Overall Thoughts
Despite the expensive price tag for a drugstore highlighting palette, these are defiantly unique, beautifully pigmented and versatile. The packaging is stunning and informative and the wear time is great, which makes these an all round perfect quad for anyone and everyone. So if your after a multi-purpose highlighting kit that's not as expensive as some of the high end options, but still has exceptional quality, then this could be for you!

I award the Sleek Highlighting Palette in Solstice 4.7 out of 5