Beauty | A Clinique Skincare Haul

I'm getting married in 5 months, so I thought it was about time I sorted some skin issues out so it's in tip top shape for the day. I thought quite a while about where I wanted to go, but I decided I needed to go to one counter and speak to someone. I've used Clinique before and my skins always agreed with it, so off to the Clinique counter I went.

The Dupe | Clinique Chubby Stick v Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker

I know, there have been a LOT of chubby stick dupes in the drugstore. It even got to a point where I refused to buy any more lip crayon-esk products because I was so bored of the whole thing. However, Clinique's Chubby Sticks were the first to market and honestly - not many of the drugstore brands managed to remake the same formula, until this one.

The Comparison | Chubby Stick v Sexy Mother Pucker

So, I know there are countless versions of these crayon lip products around now - probably one for every brand out there now. However, when I think of them I always think of the Clinique Chubby Stick as being the game starter, the one I compare them all too. Although there are some lovely ones on the market (my favourites being Revlon and Bourjois's offerings) the closest I have found to the Chubby Stick is Soap & Glory's Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick. 

I've done a full review on the S&G offering here and the Chubby Stick here if you want to take a peek but I thought I would do a quick comparison for you here. 

I've found with a lot of the other sticks that are glossy the formula is quite thick and a little heavy in places, whereas the Chubby Stick and Sexy Mother Pucker have quite a thin formula so it's lovely and light and incredibly comfortable to wear. I would however say that Chubby Stick is a lot more balm like then the Sexy Mother Pucker. It's a lot more nourishing whereas the Sexy Mother Pucker is definitely more of a gloss. They give a very similar level of gloss - not too shiny and slippery, but not subtle either. They give them a healthy shine. 

Longevity wise I do have to hand it to the Chubby Stick - it lasts for a good couple of hours longer then the Sexy Mother Pucker, I think this is because of its more balm like qualities, it grips the lips a bit better than a gloss product usually does. In terms of pigmentation they are very similar, its a touch of sheer, buildable colour. More colour than a normal gloss, more of a tinted balm. 

Then we move onto price... Obviously the Clinique Chubby Stick is a bit more pricey, coming in at £17.00 whereas the Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker is at more then half the price at just £8. It's definitely more purse friendly and considering the products are so similar it's definitely more of a bargain. The only thing I would say though is that there is a much wider range of colours in terms of the Chubby Stick. Overall I'm torn! I do love the Sexy Mother Puckers, but the Chubby Stick just pips it to the post for longevity.

What's your favourite crayon lip product?

The How To | New Year Face

Happy New Year everyone! As promised a new post on the first day of 2014 - eek! Over the next couple of weeks I'll be popping up some "Best of" posts as well as the usual resolution bits and bobs.

I am working today so couldn't do too much of a heavy New Years. I just went round to the besties house with the boyf and her boyf and we had a nice evening of games and drink. Perfect way to bring in the New Year with my two favourite people in the world!

I wanted to show you my New Years face. It occured to me I do a lot of reviews, but it might be nice to see some of these products in action so I'm starting a new feature. First up - New Years! Even though I was staying in I still wanted to make an effort and look that little bit glam.

Products used:

Clinique Stay Matte Foundation | Soap & Glory Kiss Ass Concealer | Nars Deep Throat Blusher | MAC Adored MSF | Estee Lauder Pure Colour Eyeshadow Duo in Raisins | L'Oreal SuperLiner in Black | No7 Extreme Lashes Mascara | 17 Deluxe Lipstick in Prohibition

What was your New Years face? Did you have a good evening?

Gateway Trends | Red Lips

 

If you're like me, when a trend comes a knocking you like to dip a toe as opposed to dive right in. Not entirely sure how many metaphors I used in the sentence but hey. So I've decided to do a little series showing how to "gateway" into these trends... Basically, how to ease yourself in. 

For the first go I thought I'd go for my first experience of doing a gateway trend... Red Lips! A classic, yet incredibly scary, trend. If you haven't done a red lip before it can be terrifying... So ease yourself in with my top gateway reds!

Clinique Chubby Stick in Two Ton Tomato
Let's go with the higher end version first. This is a beautiful toned down red. More of a tinted balm than anything it's moisturising but toned enough that you get a distinct colour. I wear this quite a lot for day time wear. It's incredibly buildable so the braver you get the more "red" you can go.

L'Oreal Caresse in Rebel Red

Now the drug store version. Another tinted balm classification, it's a bit more pigmented than the Clinique version and a lot sheerer as well so not quite as long lasting or buildable. I do love the colour though and it's perfect for a quick slick of red tone across the lips.

Once you're a bit braver you can get yourself a proper red, like Mac Ruby Woo or Rimmel's Kate Moss lipsticks (in either 01 or 107). All are fab options for when you get the courage to try them. Even when you do get them, a top tip for me would be if you're not 100% confident still, use a brush to apply them and the colour won't seem quite as intense.

What's your current gateway trends? Are there any trends you'd like me to feature in the gateway series?

Make Up | Two Ton Tomato

CLINIQUE CHUBBY STICK IN TWO TON TOMATO

Not going to lie, I am LOVING my gateway reds at the moment. What is a gateway red you ask? Well thank you for asking... Basically, it is a red toned lip product that isn't your full pow HELLO red. It's a gentler red that eases you in to the scary world of red lips.

This is a prime, perfect example and I LOVE it. I got this from the same store as my Mac Daddy's Little Girl at a reduced price of £11 (usually £17) and I am so chuffed with it. I have one of the Chubby Sticks (see here) and have been eager to try another but I swear they have gone up in price so have avoided it, until this little beauty fell into my lap... And naughty Paige is bad at influencing me to buy things (bad Paige).

So anywho, as with all Chubby Sticks, they are my favourite lip crayon product as they are smooth and moisturing and just so comfy on the lips. They have a subtle sheer to them that makes them very wearable and enough pigmentation to say hello I'm not natural. This is a gorgeous red toned crayon, which as I've stated is a gateway red - so perfect for those who want to dip a toe. Longevity isn't fantastic as with all sheer lip products, but while it lasts it really is very pretty.

At £17 these do break the bank slightly, the best dupes I found so far are the Bourjois Color Boost crayons. I do love the Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stains, but they are a bit more matte than these so if you do want an exact dupe go for the Bourjois ones.

What's your favourite lip crayon product?

The Favourites | Best of 2012... Make Up

Welcome to the first in a little mini series of the Best of 2012! The first is make up, as that seems to be the product I talk about the most of here and probably the hardest category to fill... So let's give it a go!

Clinique Stay Matte Oil Free Make Up
My favourite foundation of all time. The perfect partner to my oily skin and complexion. It lasts for a good few hours and is the closest colour match I've ever had. Bit pricey but worth it for me!

Mac Mineralize Eyeshadow in Smutty Green
The perfect colour for the Christmas season, long lasting and ridiculously easy to apply. I would love to try this in other colours as well to see how they all come out!

17 Mirror Shine On Lipstick in Belle
Under a fiver and literally the perfect everyday lipstick. It's a nude pink, with a tint of gloss and really long lasting. It's recently been repackaged and some new lines added, definitely check it out.

Pixi Lash Line Ink
The easiest and longest lasting eyeliner I have ever used. Glides on with a very crisp and clean line, it's a very solid black - not a namby pamby black and the packaging is o so cute!

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Dollface
All the way from the US, this blush is the most incredible blush I have ever used. Lasts longer than my foundation and is the perfect flushed pink colour. Magic!

What's your top 5 make up picks on 2012?

face of the day #4

OH MY GOD IT'S MY FACE!

I know it's been a while since you've seen it... So I thought I would treat you with a little FOTD, just to wet your appetite until I get a few outfit posts sorted for you. I blame the boyfriend, we used to have a little OOTD schedule but that's all gone to pot now the sun goes down earlier and he finishes work late. Boo!

Anywho, this is my current non work face...

base:
la roche posay effaclar duo  |  fade out white moisturising cream  |  l'oreal lumimagique primer  |  clinique stay matte make up in ivory
cheeks: 
bourjois bronzing powder  |  no7 natural blush in soft damsal
eyes:
chanel intense eye liner pencil  |  chanel mascara
lips:
rimmel Kate Moss Matte in 107

I don't actually know what mascara it is, my mum got a free sample of it and she can't remember which one boo, but I am really enjoying it! And I LOVE my new lipstick, its such a deep wine colour and so apt for winter. It's a colour I never considered wearing before so I'm incredibly pleased! And yes, I'm wearing a cute little hat because it is cold outside, very cold!

What's your winter FOTD?

Clinique Stay Matte

Clinique Stay Matte Oil Free Make Up in Ivory £21.50

I had a little tester of this a while ago, and really liked it, yet couldn't justify the price. However, I thought I may as well pick it up at the duty free in Dublin, and I'm really glad I did.

The colour match is the closest I have ever found and it blends so nicely in and gives the perfect amount of coverage without looking cakey or fake. It's really lightweight as well so doesn't feel too heavy or hot.

It's oil free, so suits my skin type perfectly. I don't feel oily and the make up stays in place for a good few hours, which is fab.

I'm still a tad dubious about the price, however this has lasted quite a long time and it really does do the trick and I do really like it. So it might just have to be an investment!

Have you tried any of Cliniques foundations? What's your favourite piece from their collection?

Clinique Chubby Stick

Clinique Chubby Stick in Super Strawberry £16.00

O hello new lip colour. I've wanted to a chubby stick for ages. You know how much I love the Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stain, and these are the original so!

I was not disappointed. The feel of these is so different to the balm stain. They feel more moisturised, and a bit more slick. The colour goes on so easily as well. The lovely Clinique lady told me that these contained honey to moisturize and you could also build as much colour as you wanted. You just need to build it up, or leave it as sheer as you like.

I chose Super Strawberry because I thought if I was going to spend £16 on a lip stick/balm thing, it should be a colour I'm going to wear a lot - i.e. my lips but better colour. It's quite a berry pink I feel, slightly darker to my usual nudey pinks but I love the colour. It just adds that extra pop!

It stays on for a couple of hours, and the feeling either longer which I love. Definitely a favourite of mine and I do want more - I'm just a bit dubious about the price. £16 is quite a lot of money when you can get something very similar from Revlon. I would say the main difference between the two is that Revlon's Balm Stains are more matte and they have a more 'solid' pigmentation. Where as the chubby sticks are a bit more sheer and have, what I want to call, a more natural pigmentation. If this makes sense at all!!

Have you tried chubby sticks? What colour do you recommend?

Clinique High Lengths Mascara

Debenhams have been holding a Clinique Mascara Swap so I wondered on down to my local, lovely Debenhams and handed in my old mascara for this little Clinique beauty. You could choose between either High Lengths Mascara or High Intense Mascara.

I chose:

High Lengths Mascara*

I have to say... this brush scared me a little bit... it just looks the teeth from a dinosaur from Jurassic Park...

It obviously works though if the next photos are anything to go by... Go little jurassic park monster teeth brush!

Now, I'm usually one of those people who look at others mascara reviews, see the 'one coat' photo and laugh, thinking to myself "my arse is that only one coat"... However, this mascara has completely changed my opinion of that: no longer shall I scoff!

You can see from the above photo that it immediately lengthens the lashes and creates a more prominent lash line. The scary brush was really easy to use on the top lashes as well.

I found the brush a little hard to use on the bottom lashes but other then that I can't really say a bad thing about it.

It does look quite clumpy on the photos, but that could just be that I didn't brush out my lashes before hand (bad beauty blogger!).

Which sample did you choose?