MeMeMe Cosmetics Lip Glide | Review & Swatches

As much as I love make up, I notoriously always forget, or leave out my lips. I have quite thin lips so I tend to shy away from making them stand out by sticking to neutral/nude colours. And trust me, I have tried to do that whole, lip liner-Kylie Jenner thing, but I felt that I looked ridiculous...

Rich Truffle, Winter Berry & English Rose (no lip liners used)

Rich Truffle - a very neutral/nude colour, reminds me of MAC Velvet Teddy... Called it! Either way those 90's brown lip colours are so gorgeous.
Winter Berry - a deep plum colour, perfect for the winter months (but I'm going to wear it in Summer anyway)
English Rose - a cute, girly, light-pink colour.

But MeMeMe have turned that around for me, I always just assumed that I wouldn't suit bolder colours because I didn't suit one shade of red lipstick that I tried 5 years ago. But I have honestly fallen in love with their Lip Glides, especially in the shade 'Winter Berry', after initially thinking that 'Rich Truffle' would have been my favourite.

The pigmentation of each of the Lip Glides are amazing, you don't need much more than one coat over your lips to make a difference. One thing I have really noticed is the amazing staying power, especially with Winter Berry, I tend to wear it with a lip liner and what I find with a similar colours from another brand is they'll fade leaving behind just the lip liner and looking rather strange. But the Lip Glides have just as good staying power as a lip liner.

The formula is really creamy, and isn't drying on the lips either, they simply glide over your lips easily, meaning it doesn't matter how dry your lips are. Also, because of the pencil shape of the Lip Glides it's much easier to be precise than it is with a normal lipstick. Lastly, the size of the glides are perfect! I've had my trust Winter Berry sitting in one of the pockets in my hand bag ready for the odd top up during the day.

I honestly have never loved a lip product this much before, there are two shades I haven't gotten which are Deep Scarlet and Playful Peach - but I plan to add those to my collection soon and hope there may be some new shades released in the future! But for now you can see the rest of the range here.

Emma xo

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My Rodial Glamtox Routine

As a person who loves all things makeup, you would think I would be high up on my skin care... Shamefully, I'm not. But the past month I have been determined to change that! One of the brands I tried to up my skincare game with is Rodial, who are a brand that I've heard so much about but never had the chance to try them out for myself, so I was extremely excited when I was given the chance to try out some of their products from their 'Glamtox' range...

Step 1:
Once I've woken up, I'll wash my face (to rid any makeup I might have missed the night before) then brush my teeth etc. Then when my face has dried I use the Serum (£59). I was kind of wary at first because I've used so many hair serums where if you use too much you end up with greasy hair, so the thought of a greasy face really didn't appeal to me. But I was pleasantly surprised, my skin absorbs the serum quickly, no sticky or greasy residue left behind and it leaves my skin feeling ever so soft.

Step 2:
Once the serum has absorbed into my skin I then use the Day Cream (£75) over the top for extra moisturising effects. Both the day and eye creams have SPF 15, which is really useful for the up-coming summer months!

Step 3:
I then rub in the Eye Cream (£50) using my little finger in circular motions to help tackle my dark under eye circles. Dark under eye circles is something I am REALLY paranoid about, I don't know why but I try to focus on them a lot in both my skincare and make up routines.

Step 4:
I then proceed to apply my makeup as usual!

Since starting my glamtox, I have noticed great changes to my skin, it has never felt this soft in my life, it feels like a baby's bottom! The one big change I've noticed is the pesky dry patch of skin I had on my face seems to have cleared up greatly too, still a bit dryer than the rest but I think with continuous use of this product it will definitely clear up. However since I am only 20 years old, I cannot really comment on the anti ageing/wrinke side of things yet, but it has definitely made a difference on my dark under eye circle and the hydration works a dream, I am still so impressed with how soft my skin is!

Have you tried anything from Rodial? If you would like to see more of their Glamtox range you can find it here.

Emma xo

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Brand Focus: Seventeen

Okay so I'm going to start on a personal note - I have finalllllllllly finished my last assignment for this year at University, so blogging will be back on track from now on! Yay! To get back on track I'm going to introduce you to a brand I think is highly under-rated which is Boots' own brand, Seventeen.

Stay Pout Lipsticks, Showmance and Rule Breaker | £4.49
Showmance is a light, coral-y, orange colour which is a perfect for the up-coming Summer months! And Rule Breaker is a red-y plum colour, a lip shade I've recently discovered I love. I always avoided colour in my lips and stuck to nudes because I have small lips, but since trying a plum shade I'm in love and I can't get enough!

CC Cream w/ SPF 25 | £6.99
I've been reaching out for this a lot lately, with the really hot weather that we've been having the high SPF is perfect! It glides on to the skin easily, sitting well and leaves a lovely radiant glow.

Wow! Tan Liquid Glow | £5.99
I would describe this as a highlighting bronzer, but it is really quite a light shade, I don't think I would ever use this for contouring. However it is perfect for mixing into foundation, it gives a lovely glow to your skin.

Instant Glow Bronzing Rocks | £4.99
Firstly for this product I have to comment about just how gorgeous the rocks are, one is this stunning pale pinky/nude colour which I adore and the other is this lovely bronze shade, which looks like a metallic bronzer. Both the colours help achieve a more natural glow, than just the one on it's own.

Seventeen Gel Colour | £3.99
The colour of the nail varnish I received is stunning, I love a green nail, it reminds me of summer and festivals... I really can't wait for festival season! It's really easy to apply, and it leaves a super shiny finish to my nails once it's dried.

Have you tried anything from Seventeen?

Emma xo

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How much is my makeup collection worth?

So, like many other bloggers, I have a spending problem. And as I'm a beauty blogger, I'm always excessively buying new make up! That's why this idea occurred to me, one day I was wondering just how much is my stash actually worth? Of course I won't have spent as much as the total as I have taken advantage of my fair share of 3 for 2s and I have a Superdrug discount card. But still, I can't help but wonder...

I've decided that listing every single product I own would make this post waaaay too lengthy and I really don't want to sound braggy because that really isn't the aim of this post, so I'll keep it short and sweet and do it by 'category'. 

Brushes
19 items = £141.98

Primer

4 items = £52.49

Foundation

14 items = £139.27

Concealer

6 items = £60.07

Highlighters/Bronzers/Blushes

13 items = £202.35

Eyeshadow

16 items = £345.88

Brows

6 items =£61.46

Sharpeners

2 items = £10

Eyeliner

3 items = £39.99

Mascara

9 items = £107.44

Lipstick

15 items = £136.39

GRAND TOTAL = £1,297.32

How crazy is the total?! I'm half shocked, but I was also expecting it. I would love to see anybody else doing a post like this to make sure that I've not totally gone make up mad... But I know that I would hate to part with it all.

Emma xo

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Me, My Brows and I

My favourite part of my makeup routine has to be filling in my eyebrows. Is that weird? I just find that eyebrows are such a delicate part of the face and it can be quite hard to get them just right. You have to shape, define and colour them, making sure that both brows match. But filling them in will always be a very staple part of my routine, no matter how I've done my makeup my brows will always be filled in.

Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel (Strike) left, Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow Pomade (Medium Brown) right

Products used:
Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel in Strike | £18.50
Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow Pomade in Medium Brown | £15
Rimmel Brow This Way Brow Gel in Dark Brown | £3.99
Zoeva 317 Wing Liner Brush | 6.80 Euros

Step 1
I start off by outlining my brow shape with the Wing Liner Brush by Zoeva using either one of the Illamasqua or Anastasia Beverly Hills brow gels (as they're pretty much the exact same product). I like using Zoeva's Wing Liner brush instead of their 322 Brow Line brush because the wing liner brush is much more slanted which I find makes defining the arches of my brows much easier.

Step 2
Once I have finished drawing an outline for my brows, I start to fill in them in still using the Zoeva Wing Liner Brush. Depending on my makeup style that day I'll either faintly colour my brows in, giving them a natural, yet fuller look, or on some days I'll be slightly heavier handed making my brows that little bit darker. The one thing with brow gels is that it can look awful when over used, which I'm always a bit scared of.

Step 3
Then once my brows have finished being filled in I simply neaten up my brow hairs using Rimmel's 'Brow This Way' Brow Gel in Dark Brown, then that's it, my brows are finished!

What are your go-to brow makeup items?

Emma xo

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Rimmel London: Scandaleyes Eyeshadow Sticks Review

Lately I've been finding myself having even less time to do my makeup before I head off to University in the mornings. I've been having a little more time in bed and a little less time on my makeup... You know the drill, beauty sleep and all. But eye shadow is what I struggle with most when in a rush and I can't just skip it as it's a staple part of my makeup routine! So this is why I decided to try eyeshadow sticks...

Rose Gold, Trespassing Taupe, Bluffing, Bad Girl Bronze, Bulletproof Beige

To begin with I picked up two shades from my local Boots to experiment with as I had never used eye shadow sticks before, I played it safe and went with Bulletproof Beige and Bad Girl Bronze. I simply coloured the whole of my lid with 'bulletproof beige' which is a light beige shade - making it perfect for a base, then I used 'bad girl bronze' for my crease which is a dark brown shade and blended them both out with a brush (I tend to use 231 Luxe Petit Crease - Zoeva).

I must say it was the fastest I have ever done my eyeshadow... Ever! There's no fall out as they're quite similar to cream eyeshadows, being soft, creamy and extremely blend-able. Meaning I had no dust falling into unwanted areas, resulting with me messing up my foundation by wiping the dust away... So the first thing I did was go on my laptop and bought three more shades to play with, I'm a very neutral/nude kind of girl so the colours I chose don't vary greatly. I bought Rose Gold which is a metallic copper-y colour, Trespassing Taupe which is a light brown matte shade and Bluffing which is a metallic light brown-y shade.

I'm so glad I gave these a try and I will probably end up buying more! What is your go-to eyeshadow when you're in a rush?

Emma xo

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Benefit Hoola vs W7 Honolulu

Most of the time that W7 have featured on my blog, I have presented you with a dupe of a very popular, yet more expensive product. Today is no different as W7's Honolulu* is a bronzing powder that is extremely similar to Benefit's Hoola, a bronzing powder which we all know and love (I've even bought myself a new one as my old one's looking a bit scummy #bloggerproblems).

Honolulu left, Hoola right.

So what makes these powders so similar? They are both matte brown, with Honolulu being only slightly darker than Hoola. Both are also well pigmented, but in this case I would say that Honolulu is that bit more pigmented. However one of the things I love about Hoola is that it's so build-able, meaning I can go for a simple day-to-day bronze or a more dramatic look and it doesn't matter if I've been heavy handed, whereas with Honolulu all you need it a light sweep. But I've owned and used Hoola a lot longer so my views may be bias, I was still pleasantly surprised at the quality of Honolulu and these differences aren't at all noticeable as you can see from the swatches, it's a matter of preference.

The last W7 dupe I wrote about was their Absolute Lashes mascara, where the packaging was almost identical to Benefit's They're Real mascara. However they've gone for their own style with Honolulu, the packaging looks quite cute and Hawaiian like the name suggests. But I have to say that Hoola has much more practical packaging with the lid being attached plus having a mirror (mirrors always win brownie points in my books). Both also come with brushes that fit inside the boxes reducing the risk of losing them. Although Honolulu's brush feels softer than Hoolas, it tends to flick excess powder making my face look dirty - which isn't a good look on anyone.

Last but not least is the price tag, you can pick up Honolulu at around a fiver when Hoola costs around £23.50 - that's almost 5 times more expensive! With the quality being so similar, I think Honolulu wins with the price as the practical packaging isn't much to give up. Out of all the dupes I have tried this has got to be the best one that matches with regards to quality, so it is definitely worth a try!

Have you tried any of the W7 dupe products?

Emma xo

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*PR gifted product.

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Renting Nail Varnishes? (plus one month free!)

I don't know about you guys, but I've accidentally ended up with a massive nail varnish collection. It hasn't been intentional, but I just love being able to have the choice of painting my nails (almost) any colour I want them to be! I'm also extremely fickle when it comes to choosing, one week I'll really like one colour, then the following week I will be on to another...

So what about renting nail varnishes instead of buying? I've never thought about the concept before, but now I have it actually makes a lot of sense. You don't have to worry about storing them or throwing old still-kinda-full ones that have gone gloopy and you're not stuck with the same old colours. Coloristiq* are the first in the UK to offer nail varnish renting for just £14.49 per month! They work in a similar way to LoveFilm DVD rentals, you simply put the shades you want to try into your wishlist, then they send you 3 available shades for you to use for the month, then when you're done you post them back - it's as simple as that! They rent nail varnish brands like O.P.I, Essie and China Glaze - which can cost around £8 a colour when bought new, so for the same price you can have 3 different shades to switch between! What is there too lose?!

If this sounds like something you would like to try then today's your lucky day - Coloristiq have given my readers the chance to get their second month free. After registration simply email info@coloristiq.com using the code SHIMMERS1 and then they'll do the rest for you!

Are you for or against nail varnish renting? Let me know in the comments!

Emma xo

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