200 Follower Giveaway! (Closed)

Yesterday I hit 200 GFC followers! I did an excited dance when I hit 10 followers so you can imagine how happy I am now.

If you don't like cheese then you may want to skip this paragraph. Thank you so much to everyone that follows me and leaves lovely comments. Back when I first started about 5 months ago I never imagined so many people would want to read my ramblings. I really love being a part of the blogging community. It's already given me so many more opportunities and a way to make new friends. Yay for bloggers!

To say thank you one lucky person will win a box of some of my favourite products so you can see you love them as much as I do. This includes:

•  Maybelline On and On Bronze Colour Tattoo
• Essie Orange Its Obvious
• Korres Mango Lip Butter
• MUA Dolly Cream Blush

All you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Unfortunately this giveaway is UK only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

*The winner of is Zoe! I have already sent her an email to let her now. Thanks to everyone that entered*

My Week In Pictures #1

I know most people do this with Instagrams but I still don't have an account so instead I made an effort to take pictures of some of the stuff I got up to this week and put them all together. We didn't get very much snow in Manchester so it has been a pretty normal week but some good things happened. The YSL glossy stain I won from a giveaway finally arrived and I absolutely love it! Then on Saturday I went to Leeds for the Benefit Fine One One Launch which you can read about here. On the more boring side of things I have been enjoying reading Turn Of The Screw for English Lit ad of course I spent a lot of time in my onsie drinking lots of tea, as per usual. 

What have you been up to this week?

Benefit Fine One One Launch

Yesterday I hopped on the train to Leeds to go to the launch of Benefit's newest product Fine One One. It's a cream blush and lip tint in stick form consisting of coral, pink and champagne colours that can be used individually or all together to give a natural glow to the cheeks. You can see the peachy effect it creates in the picture above. Perfect for Spring and Summer! The lovely Benefit ladies showed us the different ways of applying it to create different looks. One way was to have the highlight colour  at the top at gently sweep it over the face for a natural look or you could face the highlight at the bottom and turn it 360 degrees to give a more defined look. The Benefit team are a right bunch of clever clogs! I was really surprised at how quick and easy the application was and it wasn't at all streaky.

It was a lovely time meeting other bloggers and spending the afternoon with Joanna who has become a friend through blogging. The Benefit ladies were all so kind and helpful they made the evening really enjoyable. Look how cute the nibbles were!

I think this is the most polite sweet I have ever eaten.

What do you think of Fine One One? Will you be splashing the cash on it?

❄ An Early January Favourites ❄

It's nearly the end of the month and I decided to join the monthly favourites band waggon.  I have lots of new things from Christmas to talk about so this is the perfect time to start. Also can we all take a moment to appreciate the fact I am early with this. Early! I annoy all my friends because I'm so late so you should feel honoured.

Maybelline Baby Lips
I know you must be sick of my rambling on about these but they are just perfect. The three shades I have are Pink Punch, Cherry Me Red and Grape Vine. When I first applied the colour I was surprised at how noticeable the colour is and it lasts for a couple of hours too. They smell so good I have been shoving them in my friends face and getting them to smell it.

Naked 2 Palette
I bought this as a late Christmas present  for myself after lusting after it for so long. I've been using it every day for a month and it's still amazing with every use. Worth the hype and then some! All the colours are gorgeous but Half Baked, Verve and Snake Bite are my favourites.

Vera Wang Princess Eau De Toilette
I got this in the sale for £22 after loving a sample size. It is described as having waterlilly, apple, mandarin meringue (?!), golden apricot skin, dark chocolate, amber, musk and vanilla. What a list! I normally don't like musky scents but this has the perfect hint of musky-ness. It lasts a good few hours on the skin so it has become my new everyday perfume.

Soap and Glory Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser
Skin care doesn't really float my boat. I  normally just can't get excited over moisturisers and cleansers but this is an exception. Since the first week of using it I noticed my skin looked so much brighter and it feels so soft. I have also noticed I've been getting less break outs and the break outs I have been getting are much smaller. The only thing not good about it is the herbal smell which I wasn't expecting from Soap and Glory. The benefits are so worth putting up with the smell for though.

Nivea Rich Regenerating Night Cream
Surprisingly another skin care item! As you may know I love the day cream version of this so as I was in desperate need of a new night cream I decided to give this a go. It has such a thick buttery texture which makes it feel luxurious to apply. It is seriously moisturising and makes my skin feel so soft. Best of all it doesn't cause me to break out! I've tried Simple, Organics, Superdrug Own and so many more night creams but Nivea night cream is the only one not to make my face look like a darts board. Everything about it is perfect and I highly recommend fellow dry skin suffers pick it up. The only thing I don't like about the brand is the fact everything comes in a cardboard box which is so wasteful.

Have you tried any of these? What have you been loving this month?

Time For Change

If you are thinking "who an earth did I accidentally follow?" worry not. I used to be britishbeautygeek.blogspot.co.uk but I decided to have a change of name. You may be wondering why but you properly don't care. I'll tell you anyway.

To be honest I was never fond of the name British Beauty Geek because it didn't seem very interesting or imaginative. Having the word beauty in the title felt pretty limiting. So instead my uncreative mind came up with Life And Lipsticks because I love life and I love lipsticks! With a change of name there are going to be some other little changes too. I'm hoping to do more chatty life style posts and maybe even fashion (eeek!) but it will still be mainly beauty. I just didn't feel like the previous posts were personal or chatty enough and as much as I want to write about what people want to read it needs to be fun too.

To begin life style posts here are some cute pictures of my dog Tilly playing in the snow. Isn't she a poser?

                                                               Have you been enjoying the snow lately?

Updated Tag: How Much Is Your Face Worth?

*If you are wondering who on earth I am I used to be britishbeautygeek.blogspot.co.uk but I've had a change of name*

Back when I first started blogging about 5 months ago this tag was my third post (click here to read it). Since then my whole make up routine has changed and I use more high end products. So I though it would be fun to show you the sort of products I use everyday and see how much more my face costs now.

Brushes:

Real Techniques Buffing Brush- £5.50
Bare Minerals Flawless Application Brush- £19

Real Techniques Contour Brush-£5.50

Bare Minerals Precision Eye Shadow Brush- £1.40 (from a blog sale)

Mac 217 Brush- £14

Face:

Nivea Daily Essentials Rich Day Cream- £3.99
Soap and Glory Eye Cream- £10.50

Revlon Primer - £12

Estee Lauder Double Wear- £27

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer- £4.19

Benefit Erase Paste- £18

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder- £3.99

Cheeks:

NYX Taupe Blush- £5

MUA Cream Blush in Bittersweet- £2

Bobbi Brown Pink Sugar Blush- £18

Mac Pearl Cream Highlight- £14

Eyes:

Sleek Light Brow Kit- £8.50

Urban Decay Primer Potion- £14.50

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette- £36

Urban Decay Ink For Eyes in Zero- £15

Cover  Girl Lash Blast Fusion Mascara- £5.61 (converted from $8.99)

Rimmel Black Kohl Liner-£2.99

Rimmel Nude Scandal Eyes Kohl Liner-£3.99

Lips:

Korres Jasmine Lip Butter- £7.50

Mac Please Me- £14

Total: £262.16

That's over £100 more than before! I can't say I am surprised at the given my love for Urban Decay eye products and Estee Lauder Double Wear. I didn't realise how many products I use until I wrote this up though.

I won't tag anyone particular to do this but if you fancy giving it a go it is fun. Send me the link if you do or have done this because I love reading these posts.

 

Empties #2

I don't use up products very often which is why the empty posts are few and far between. My Mum has been very confused why I've had a bag of empty products lying around my room for the past couple of months. Us beauty bloggers have some weird habits!

Simple Cleansing Lotion :
I finished up this cleansing lotion a while ago. Before I started using a hot cloth cleanser I would put a splodge of this on a cotton wool pad and remove all my make up before cleansing. It's so creamy and gentle to use and it feels quite luxurious.
Repurchase? No because I use a hot cloth cleanser instead now

Simple Eye Make Up Remover:
This was nocking around my room for ages so I finally decided to finish it up. Unfortunately I really don't like this. It did a rubbish job at removing make up so I really had to scrub at my eyes which is not good. Even when I used it very gently it left my eyes feeling sore which is a big let down for a brand that is meant to be kind and gentle to sensitive skin! I used to love Simple but it has put me off trying more of their products.
Repurchase? Definitely not

Nivea Rich Day Cream:
This is a rich moisturiser that is great for my very dry skin. It sinks in really quickly and is very moisturising without causing a break out which is great as most of the rich moisturisers I've tried have done. The only thing I don't like is the slight powdery floral scent but luckily it barely lasts.
Repurchase? Yes

Collection Concealer:
It wouldn't be an empties post without one of these! This is my 4th tube and certainly not the last. Its the perfect high coverage concealer that lasts all day. I get through one every two months which isn't bad for a fiver.
Repurchase? Yes

Cherry Carmex:
I love the smell of it! Cherry scents in general float my boat but Carmex do it especially well. The gel is really nice and thick although it isn't the most moisturising. As my friends will tell you, I'm a tiny bit of a germ-o-phobe. Not ocd but I am very particular so I love the packaging of Carmex tubes because any nasties can be wiped off and its all clean again. I find the lip balm in twisty tubes collect so many germs and dead skin, gross.
Repurchase? Maybe but I have so many other lip balms

Have you finished anything up recently?

Beauty Haul!

I cannot stop buying make up! I got so many lovely things for Christmas I don't need more but I need to stop 'treating' myself so often. It is all so tempting! Hauls are some of my most popular posts so here are the things I've gotten in the last few weeks.

My Nan surprised me this year with a lot of money for Christmas and I was very sensible putting most of it away for a gap year but kept some to buy the Naked 2 palette. I've been lusting after it forever because it is so raved about. It lives up to the hype! All of the colours are creamy and very pigmented so it justifies the hefty price tag. I also picked up the Primer Potion a few days later because it would be ludicrous to spend £50 on eyeshadows all at once but in my head it is totally fine separately I got this because all of a sudden my eyelids turned extremely oily and the MUA primer wasn't cutting it any more. This is fantastic for keeping eyeshadow looking perfect all day!

If you read my Best & Worst Highstreet Products of 2012 Tag you will know I said the Revlon Lip Butters were the most disappointing product of 2012 for me. As they are currently on offer for a fiver I decided to give it a second chance so I got Raspberry Pie. On the positive side I absolutely love this colour and have already worn it a lot. It does have really nice texture and decent staying power but there isn't much product at all and the texture means it will get used up quickly. I'm glad I didn't pay full price to be honest.

I decided to go for the Sleek Brow Palette because I am in desperate need of better brows as its time to say goodbye to the full fringe. The MUA eyebrow pencil has a great price tag but it looked a little to ginger on me. This was £8.49 which I think is pretty pricey for Sleek but lots of people love it. I've only used it once and the colour is a good match. It's surprisingly easy to use plus it doesn't make your eyebrows look drawn on which is great.

A blog sale bargain I got is the Illamasqua blush in Katie. I hate the bulky plastic packaging of this especially considering Illamasqua is a high end brand. The actual blush is a gorgeous pale pink. It looks amazing on pale skin to give a subtle pink glow. I was a little worried it could be too cool toned but it works. This paired with Mac Creme Cup gives the perfect pink look for pale girls.

Finally I was lucky enough to win a YSL Glossy Stain  from Anna's blog onthedressingtable.blogspot.co.uk . I was having a rubbish week of exam stress so it was a fantastic pick me up! It's so generous of Anna to give away such an expensive luxury item and I am very excited to own one. No doubt there will be a full post on it when it arrives.

That's everything I've bought recently. Have you treated yourself to anything nice?

I've Been Hitting Pans

It's not often that I hit pan on a product which means when I do I get pretty excited. Is that sad? I think it properly is. Recentley I've hit pan on a few of my well loved products and being a beauty blogger I couldn't wait to share them with you. 

 Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze:

I talked about this cream eye shadow in my first post. It is a gorgeous colour and perfect for everyday wear. On lazy days I chuck a bit on and blend it out for a quick eye shadow. The colour is so gorgeous it is enough on its own although it makes a good base too. It is perfect for making blue eyes pop- someone asked me if I was wearing blue contact when I wore this! This used to not smudge or crease on me but about a month a go before my eye lids became extremely oily. On its own it does last longer than a normal eye shadow before creasing or fading but to make it last all day I have to use primer potion. 

Single shadow from MUA Heaven and Earth Palette:
Annoyingly none of  the individual MUA eye shadows have names. This is a light champagne colour that is perfect for all over the lid with a couple of darker colours blended into the crease. For a £4 palette this is great but it doesn't match up to any of the high end eye shadows. I've now gotten the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette so this is getting neglected.

Urban Decay Ink For Eyes in Zero:

This was my first gel eye liner. It's very well pigmented and the creamy smooth texture means it applies like a dream. However I never put this the waterline because that would result in serious panda eyes in a matter of hours. I have oily eyelids so I always make sure to apply primer potion before eye make up but when my eye lids weren't oily it stayed put fine alone.

Korres Jasmine Lip Butter:
You know when you were little and everyone only used the middle of the lip balm so they'd hit the bottom faster? I still do that. I was lucky enough to win this in a give away from Anna who has such a lovely blog. It is my favourite lip product and definitely worth the blogging hype! It has a luxurious creamy texture and a gorgeous sweet smell. I've already ordered a mango one as a back up for when this runs out. This is the first time I've bought something as back up so I must really like it.

Mac Cream Colour in Pearl:
I use this every single day I wear make up to give a lovely dewy highlight. Perfect for brightening up dull winter skin! The disadvantage of this is it does get used up quite quickly but that could just be because I like to apply it heavily. A small amount creates a natural finish but it is build able to give a stronger highlight. I'm thinking of trying Mac mineralize skin finish in soft and gentle when it is done because it is so raved about by bloggers.

Have you tried any of these products?

Get Ready With Me- Anna Kendrick Inspired

To go along side the film review of Pitch Perfect (Click here to read) I decided to do an Anna Kendrick inspired make up look. If you don't recognise the name click here or here to see a picture- you'll properly recognise the face. As I admitted in my last post she is a bit of a girl crush! I find I can relate to her because I am petite, look young for my age and pale like she is.Unfortunately I'm no way near as gorgeous as Anna though! And yes we are totally on first name basis.

f

 

  

Anna goes for a simple low maintenance natural look even on the red carpet. I started of by applying my Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation because she always has matte flawless face. I then added Collection Concealer for all the blemishes and Benefit Erase Paste under the eyes. I this with Rimmel Stay Matte powder through the centre of the face. 

Next I did the eyes. Anna always keeps it really simple so I did a one colour brown smokey eye. I took Snakebite from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette and pressed that heavily all over the lid before blending it out with the amazing Mac 217 brush. I took the eye shadow underneath the lash line fairly heavily to add some more drama. Finally I drew a thick line of Urban Decay Ink For Eyes in Zero on the top lash line and added some Rimmel Khol liner to the water line then lashing of Covergirl Lash Blast Fusion Mascara. After that I moved onto the eyebrows using the MUA Blond eyebrow pencil. I tried to add abut more of an angle then usual with out going too scouse brow on it. To finish off I used the lightest colour from the MUA Heaven and Earth palette for highlighting the inner corner to make my eyes look bigger and just below the brow bone to accentuate the arch.  

Then onto the face! I used the NYX Taupe blush to heavily contour the cheeks, jawline and sides of the nose. This creates the illusion of amazing cheek bones and a thinner nose like Anna has. For blush I applied the Jemma Kidd Rose blush just above the cheek bones rather than on the apples of the cheeks as this is what Anna does and I find it more flattering. I finished the face with Collection Shimmer Shade in 1 to highlight along the top of the nose, cheek bones and on the cupids bow which makes your lips look fuller. Anna always has a pretty nude glossy lip so I applied a tiny bit of Topshop Oh La La then some Korres Jasmine lip butter for a glossy finish.

And viola! That is my fairly natural Anna Kendrick inspired make up look. It was really quick and easy to do  and I'm pleased with the end result. I kept it simple as this is my first Get Ready With Me post but I can do more 'complex' ones in the future.

Thanks for reading!x

S&G You Won't Believe Your Eyes Serum Review

I've been on the hunt for a new eye cream for a while now so when I saw this in a Soap and Glory gift set I was excited to give it a try. In general I love Soap and Glory skincare and this was no exception.

t

When I first opened the lid I was surprised to see the applicator. It does look pretty scary! However it works amazingly well. The metal balls feel cool and refreshing in the morning which really helps to make me feel more awake. It feels so soothing and surprisingly gentle to apply. A little squeeze tube makes a tiny bit of product come onto the balls which is all you need. After rolling it onto the eye it does need to be patted in slightly. You should always use your ring finger because the eye area is very delicate and your ring finger is the weakest. The consistency of the  product  is very thin because it is a serum rather than a cream which is personally what I prefer. My under eyes have never felt so plump and soft! It is hard to say if it does brighten dark circles because the darkness depends on the amount of sleep I had the night before. If you're on the hunt for a new eye cream that hydrates, plumps and awakens tired eyes I highly recommend this. I prefer it to the samples of the Benefit and Balance Me eye creams that I used to love.

What's your favourite eye cream? Have you tried Soap and Glory skincare?

 Thanks for reading!x

Film Review: Pitch Perfect

*I know normally only do beauty posts but I thought I'd do a film review to mix things up a bit. Let me know if you like these style posts or you rather me stick to beauty.*

Pitch Perfect is a feel good comedy about two high school acapella groups that are rivals in an competition.  One group is all male and the other all female so of course there is a romantic element. Beca is a wannabe rebel who unwillingly finds herself in the acapella group. The rivalry between the male group 'Treblemakers' and the females 'Bellas' leads to a lot of humorous situations. It is a musical but don't worry they don't randomly burst out into perfectly choreographed dance and song, they only sing when performing. It is, however, one of those films where you leave the cinema wishing you could sing.

Obviously I am not a  journalist so this won't be a professional review but from a 17 year old girls perspective I absolutely love this film. I actually laughed so hard that several people turned around and stared at me quite a few times. There were lots of laugh out loud moments from the very beginning to the very end. It's full of quotable lines! Especially from Fat Amy (played by the amazing Rebel Wilson) who is perfect at dead pan comedy. Rebel improvised a lot of the lines and you can really tell. I wasn't expecting to like the music but I've developed a new found love for acepella music. They sing modern songs but the acepella twist works amazingly so I've been listening to them on youtube a lot- *this one is  my favourite. My Mum also really liked the film so it is suited to a range of ages. Whilst it is a perfect girly comedy I do think the humour could easily appeal to guys too. I actually liked this film so much I'm planning to go to the cinema to see it again soon which I have never ever done before. In my books that is impressive.
If you haven't already seen Pitch Perfect I really recommend you make a trip to the cinema to see it or get in on DVD if you're in the US!

Have you seen this film? What do you think?

Thanks for reading!x

P.S-After watching some interviews I've decided that Anna Kendrick who plays Beca is a slight girl crush of mine. I'm always jealous of people that talented! She's so sarcastic and witty but still down to earth. And she is pretty gorgeous! I am aware that I sound like a creep now. Sorry.

Also Skylar Austin who plays Jese looks sort of like Woody from Toy Story. But I still find him extremely attractive. Is that wrong?

Best & Worst Highstreet Products of 2012 Tag

The lovely Louise from confessionsofasecretshopper.blogspot.co.uk tagged me to do this. I was very happy because it's a great way to see what affordable products people have been loving and what to avoid. And yes I did change it all from drugstore to highstreet because I am that petty.

1. What was your favourite highstreet makeup brand of 2012?

Rimmel has always been my favourite. They always produce so many high quality gorgeous products. The best ones have to be the Kate Moss matte lipsticks, scandal eyes nude eye-liner and stay matte powder. Everything is so affordable but doesn't feel cheap so I always find myself going back to trusty rimmel. If only they did lighter foundations!

2. What are your least favourite products of 2012?

I actually found this quite difficult because I usually research make up before I buy it rather than picking it up on a whim. However I got the Maybelline Flash Plum blush on impulse when the Superdrug 3 for 2 offer was on and there was nothing else I needed. In the pan it is a gorgeous purple with lots of gold shimmer but the pigmentation is terrible. I have to apply so much before it even shows up on my cheeks then at the end of the day it fades to look like dirty marks. Unless anybody wants this it is heading to the bin. It's that bad.

3. What is the best makeup bargain of 2012?

This is properly cheating because I only got these for Christmas but the maybelline baby lips are amazing. I have Cherry Me, Pink Punch and Grape Vine. They are very moisturising and give a natural wash of colour to the lips. They're perfect for everyday wear and have become a stable in my make up bag. At just over £1 each they really are a bargain.

4. Show your best highstreet dupe for 2012:

Revlon Pink Pout matte lipstick is a good dupe for Mac Please me. Both lipsticks are a matte finish and a warm pink colour.The Mac one is a better texture and packaging but it is double the price. There's no picture because I sold the Revlon lipstick in a blog sale because there was no point in having two nearly identical lipstick.

5. Which highstreet product did you buy in 2012 that wasn't worth the hype?

The Revlon lip butter were pretty disappointing in my opinion. I had Cupcake which was far too pink and blue toned for someone as pale as I am. I then bought Peach Parfait which  is okay but nothing special about it and definitely not worth the price tag. The pigmentation is just that of a tinted lip balm but it has the price tag of a lipstick. It seems the darker colours are the more people like them but I'm not willing to spend £8 on another in case I don't like that too.

6. Which product wins your award for Best Highstreet Product of 2012?

It has to be the Real Techniques buffing brush and contour brush from the Core Collection. The contour brush is perfect for contour (no shit Sherlock), blush and highlight so I use it for all three and the buffing brush gives very quick flawless application.  They are so reasonably priced, soft and great quality. I literally can't fault any aspect of these brushes and believe me I'm hard to please!

I tag:

• Laura from hiyaitslaura.blogspot.co.uk
• Anna from http://andthislittlepiggybeauty.blogspot.co.uk/
• Joanna from www.mintyessence.com

Do you agree or disagree with any of my choices? What are your best and worst products?

Thanks for reading!x