Category Archives: make up

Your Lips But Better- Code Beautiful review and giveaway

26th June 2019

[post contains gifted items]

It’s been a little while since I last ran a giveaway on the blog so I’m delighted to be teaming up with Code Beautiful to review two of their products and offer the chance to win them to one of my readers.

Code Beautiful is a is a vegan-friendly beauty brand that focuses on the basics and getting them right. They kindly sent me out two of their products to try and share my thoughts on, and based on looks alone I was excited to test them out.

Lip Intense lip plumper*
Soft Smooth lip liner*

I instantly loved how sleek these products look. The lip plumper especially with it’s matte black packaging and graphic design.

I tried the Soft Smooth lip liner (£18) first- it’s a fantastic nude/pink colour that works with the majority of the lipsticks in my collection. One of it’s top selling points to me is the self sharpening technology making it perfect to keep in my handbag without worrying about it going blunt. This claims to be a long-lasting product and I can report it lives up to it’s claim. I got a good 8 hours out of this and during that time nothing budged. It also works as a lip plumper giving more definition without the need for needles. Pricey for a lip liner, I agree, but I can’t fault the product.

The Lip Intense lip plumper (£20) contains an exclusive blend of ingredients to help redefine your lips natural contours making them look fuller.
Again it’s a great suits all shade, and, plumping properties aside one of my favourite clear lipglosses I’ve tried for it’s longevity (a good few hours) and non-sticky formula.
In terms of plumping, don’t expect anything drastic (100% a good thing in my book). Instead of artificially inflated lips this actually makes your mouth look more hydrated with a longer term gentle plumping effect thanks to hyaluronic acid and the magic ingredient Hilurlip.
There is a gentle minty tingle when you apply this which I loved, and on the whole I was just hands down impressed with how much better my lips looked.

You can pick up both of these products on Amazon (linked above) and for your chance to win simply follow the steps below.

Win The Fabulous Lip Duo From Code Beautiful #17

Posted in beauty, giveaway, make up

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Vegan Friendly Velvet Matte Lipsticks from essence!*

10th February 2019

Regular readers of the blog will know how much I rate budget makeup brand essence (you can find my previous posts here).

It has been a while since I tried anything new from essence but I was recently sent three shades from their Velvet Matte lipstick range and wanted to share my thoughts on the blog.

Lipsticks c/o Essence

Firstly these lipsticks are an absolute bargain at £2.30 each (available from Wilkinson stores and online at Wilko.com). I firmly believe that what essence save on fancy packaging they pour in to product quality.

And that’s not to say these lipsticks look terrible, quite the opposite. I like the minimalistic design and lightweight casing, but it’s the performance of these lipsticks that truly won me over. Soft and luxurious feeling with amazing lasting power- I popped one of these on for work the other day, around 8am and it was still going post lunch, somewhere around 2pm which far exceeds many lipsticks I regularly wear. These give intense colour and a great matte finishing without drying out the lips, again, something many more expensive brands can’t quite pull off. The shades I was sent are typical of what I would usually pick (although they were sent at random) but the entire range caters for all tastes with 12 colours in total.

From left to right- Shade 10 (greedy coffee), Shade 01 (donuts go nut), Shade 04 (hungry pink)
The lipsticks are also suitable for vegans and available now! Have you tried anything from essence recently? I’m really far behind on their new launches so let me know what I’m missing.

Products sent to me for blog consideration, I was under no obligation to post.

Posted in beauty, brands I love, make up, review

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Get your Glitter on with Essence!

29th May 2018
I do love a bit of glitter, I always have done- it’s so irresistibly messy and attention grabbing and it’s a standing joke that any one who is around me ends up covered in some form of sparkle.

So you can imagine my excitement when I heard about the launch of a range of glitter pigments from Essence. No longer reserved purely for the festive season, these glitters are perfect for holidays, parties and festivals and are a hugely affordable way to update your existing look with minimal effort.

There are 8 glitters in the range, costing just £3 each as well as a glitter primer and applicator brush which also costs £3 per piece- this basically means you can get a whole wardrobe of glitter AND the accessories for £30 which represents amazing value.

I haven’t had a chance to test these out yet, as much as I love to sparkle I think that a full face of the shiny stuff for work would be a step too far, but I will be sharing my look on social media as soon as I get a chance.

These great value pots of joy are just one of several new and exciting products I’ve clocked from what remains my favourite budget brand. I’ve got my eye on the holographic lip colours, holo wow eye and face palette and nail products which I’ll be trying to obtain next time I’m at my local Wilko for some half price pick and mix!

Essence products are available nationwide from Wilko stores or online at wilko.com. Have I convinced you to check them out yet with my numerous rave reviews? If I have let me know which products you’re loving in the comments, as well as how you’ll be rocking your glitter this summer (I’m thinking a subtle sparkly eye would be perfect for holiday evenings.

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Posted in beauty, brands I love, fashion, make up, review

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Winter Wonderland with Essence Cosmetics

22nd December 2017
It’s the season to sparkle! And whilst this post might be a bit late in the day for Christmas party inspiration, there’s still NYE to come, and what better excuse to up your makeup game?

As ever, Essence have come up trumps with on trend and affordable products to really add some sparkle to your festive look.

First off, apologies for the dire lighting and the lack of swatches in these photos. I wanted to do this post before Christmas but time constraints with work, and the winter lighting meant trying to grab these at 8am, just before leaving the house!

Anyway, excuses over and on to the products…

Contour fans and highlighter addicts will LOVE the prismatic hololighter stick which gives the most amazing sheen thanks to it’s holographic pigments. This is a multi-use product and an absolute bargain at £3.50- if you only bought one thing from Essence then I think it should be this.
Another amazing shimmer product is the moonlight eyes eyeshadow in the shade Angel. I own a couple of these now and I love the subtle, build-able iridescent colour- they make a great base shade for any look.

I’ve always heaped praise on Essence eyeliners and review the metal art lip & eye liner in a previous post. For party season I’m loving the shade “steel the show”, especially paired with vibrant shock lash & brow gel mascara in “sparkle on”.

The Metal Shock eyeshadow is another product I previously reviewed (and rated) and the “moon dust” shade is a welcome addition to my growing collection. I’ve used these for every party I’ve been to this month- as a base to which I’ve pressed some loose glitter or pigment on to for maximum impact.

I’ve not had a chance to try the nail products included in the package as I’m still sporting a shellac manicure. I plan to give my nails a break in the new year so will try these products out and share the results on instagram, but if you’re impatient to see for yourself and want a fun party look then you can read more here, here and here.

If you’re looking for some last minute party makeup, or fancy some on trend and affordable updates for the new season then definitely head to your local Wilko store or to their website where you’ll find all of these products and more for under a fiver per piece.

Posted in beauty, brands I love, christmas, make up, review

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Tricks and Treats with Essence

29th October 2017
My favourite budget makeup brand, Essence have been at it again and dropped a whole host of fun products just in time for Halloween. It was my intention when these samples arrived to create a full on Halloween look but work and life took over and I’m afraid all I have for you is some swatches and lipstick experimentation. I’ve probably saved you all from a true fright anyway, whilst I can get by with everyday makeup skills I’m not exactly experienced in anything more special…anyway, whatever your plans are on Tuesday, here are some last minute must haves to complete your look.

I was so excited by all of the eye products in this package especially the brand new moonlight eyes cream in the shade gilded. This is a super light mousse type eyeshadow in the most awesome metallic copper shade. The colour is really buildable making it perfect for both work and play- I don’t have a price for this yet but I can guarantee it’ll be excellent value.

Another brand new product was the metal shock eyeshadow in supernova. Another awesome metallic finish, this time in a cream format. This is fantastic for a party smokey eye and will be well used and loved in the run up to Christmas.

The two eyeliners in the package are perfect for creating fun and funky Halloween looks. The metal art lip and eye liner in rock chick is a gorgeous metallic liner that is perfect for jazzing up any eye look or creating more dramatic designs all over the face. The super last black eyeliner has a thicker brush than I’d usually use but I still rate it, as per all long lasting essence products this really lives up to the hype and I highly recommend this to all liquid liner fiends.

Being a true lipstick fiend I was obviously excited by the products in this package. The metallic blue metal shock lipstick and metal shock lip paint are both absolutely perfect for Halloween in these spooky shades. Excuse the dodgy application in these pictures- I was in a rush and didn’t prep my lips before hand…whilst these might not be colours I’d sport on a daily basis, and my Halloween plans involve a sofa, a boyfriend and a kitten I’ll probably pop some on just for the fun of it- if nothing else I can leave a cheeky metallic smooch on Bob’s cheek!

For a more subtle look I love the sheer and shine lipstick which is so sheer I couldn’t get a good photo of it on my lips. I have a huge collection of this essence range now and love them for every day subtle lips or for toning down a heavy eye makeup look.

Lastly we have the holo rainbow nail polish which I couldn’t swatch as I currently have a gel manicure for once. This is seriously stunning though, even in the bottle and I can’t wait to try it out! This is the shade holo love, but there are four more in the range which I will definitely be buying, I’m sure.
If you’re looking for some last minute Halloween makeup, or fancy some on trend and affordable updates for the new season then definitely head to your local Wilko store or to their website where you’ll find all of these products and more for under a fiver per piece.
Anyone got any exciting Halloween plans?

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All products in this post were sent to me for blog consideration, all thoughts and dodgy makeup skills are my own.

Posted in beauty, brands I love, make up

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