QVC's Top Tips for 'Puckering Up' on National Kissing Day, Thursday 20th June 2013.

Pucker up my lovelies!! It's National Kissing Day tomorrow, and QVC have enlisted the help of some 'Pouting Professionals' (love that term) to give you some fabulous hints and tips to get your lips luscious and ready for action!

All products recommended are available from the QVC Website, or on Sky channel 640, Freeview channel 16, Freesat channel 800 or virgin TV channel 740.

Now all I have to do is find somebody to smooch... ;-)

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

Korres Raspberry Liquid Lipstick - Shade 13, Soft Pink - Swatched!

This liquid lipstick is a gorgeous muted pink, with a slightly coral undertone - although I thought, judging by the sticker at the end of the box, that it would be more of a baby pink. I'm glad it's not though as I adore the colour and also that it can be built up to be a slightly stronger shade.

It's a perfect hybrid between a lipstick and a lip gloss as it has more staying power than your average lipgloss, whilst keeping the fantastic shine that you come to expect from a gloss. It's also not sticky like a gloss, in fact it has a beautiful, silky feel to it that I like very much. I also feel that it is fairly moisturising on my lips compared to a gloss.

I love that there is a small amount of sparkle running through the liquid lipstick, but I love even more that I can't feel any gritty texture on my lips because of it. I can't stand feeling like I have bits of crap on my lips when wearing lip products with a chunkier shimmer running through it.

I get about 2-3 hours wear with it, without excessive eating/drinking which I think is quite good, considering the gloss finish, and the fact that it isn't a bright or dark shade that usually last a little longer, due to the nature of their more pigmented hues.

Available from various outlets such as Zuneta and Bath & Unwind for around £15.

Have you tried a liquid lipstick before?

No flash, dull day.

Flash.

PR Sample - Views are my own!


This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

The Hunt For The Perfect Nude Lipstick!

Ever since my love for lipstick came back in a big way just before I started this blog, I've favoured the brighter shades - pinks, reds, corals and more. I couldn't get enough of them, and I've loved every minute.

However, I have been completely avoiding nude shades as I've loved the bright, bold shades so much that nudes never really called to me when browsing for lipstick... that, and also because I've never found one that doesn't make me look dead.

These look quite nice?!

I don't know if is my inexperience in the nude department (oo-err), or if it's simply that I just don't suit them and am destined never to wear one whilst still looking like I'm in the land of the living.

So, I have decided that it is now my life's quest to find my perfect nude shade and this is where you come in, I'd love for you to suggest your favourite nude shades to me so that I can check them out.

I'm thinking that I might need something with a pink or peach undertone, rather than out and out beige as I'm pretty sure that pure beige would give me that dreaded look of death. I don't care which brand make the lippy, although it needs to have some staying power as I hate to have to reapply every 5 minutes whilst I should be having fun.

What do you think my dears? x

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

Party Season Make-Up - Sisley Hydrating Long Lasting Lipstick

I've been planning out my party season make-up recently so thought I would do a series of posts to show you some fabulous make-up that is perfect for partying the night away this Christmas!

The first product I want to show you is a gorgeous cherry red lipstick from Sisley that just screams Christmas to me. The lipstick is a beautiful shade of red, it leans towards blue rather than orange which I generally prefer (and is a bit kinder to the colour your teeth, since orange tones have the bad habit of making your teeth look a bit discoloured) and I think would be suitable for all skintones; even if you don't normally feel that you can wear a red, as there's enough pink in this to stop it looking too in your face - especially if you use a light hand to apply it.

The lipstick comes in a luxurious gold bullet that, much like YSL's packaging just screams high end - it even has it's own little velvet 'coat' which is quite cute and will offer some protection to the gold casing should you want to sling it in your bag and take it out with you. It has a rosy scent to it, and rose is actually a scent that I really don't like generally, but this is very subtle and actually not at all offensive to my nose - thankfully, since it's worn right under it haha!

I'm very impressed with the pigmentation in this lippy, I used a fairly light hand with my swatch application, and you can see that it's still very vivid indeed. It also lasts quite well throughout the day, considering it's a hydrating formula that would normally slip off a bit quicker on my lips - I got about 4 hours wear with it, and it faded pretty evenly too, which is an important factor for me!

Indoor daylight with flash!

Daylight with flash!

All 3 outside in daylight, no flash but various angles to show how it the pink comes through!

I notice that lanolin is at the top of the ingredients list, I expect that this is where a great deal of the hydration comes from as it's said to be able to hold 200% of its own weight in water! It's a key ingredient in the Lanolips range, a range that has the USP of being hydrating and good for your lips... so this is great to see as a major ingredient in this product! Let's face it, products that make your lips look dry (or actually do dry them out) are never a good idea!

Apologies for the lack of lip photograph, with the cold of weather, I've had a bit of a chapped lip issue that I'm currently working on getting rid of, so the pictures wouldn't have been as nice as I'd have hoped for you!

Available from House of Fraser and John Lewis for £31!

Sisley Website!

Mixing It Up With Lipcote!

Lipcote is a product that has been around for over 50(!) years, yet is not really a product you hear much about in more recent times. I actually used Lipcote many of those years ago, I recall trying it when I was about 7 or 8 over one of my mum’s lipsticks, and can still remember how it tingled on my lips!

I’d say that the height of my use of Lipcote was probably in the 90’s though, worn over the top of my Rimmel Black Cherry, Heather & Coffee Shimmer lipsticks (these are the only 3 that I can still remember the names of, I have no idea why these are the ones that stuck in my memory) where it was a staple part of my beauty routine. I stopped using it when my love of lipsticks waned and my love of gloss began, since it’s not intended for use with gloss.

Recently, my love of lipstick picked up again in a big way, and you’d think that I’d naturally have started using Lipcote again, wouldn’t you?! Well I hadn’t, and not because I hadn‘t been happy with its performance in the past, but just because I had completely forgotten about it even existing - well, it had been about 10 years since I’d really bothered with lipstick, and I am getting on now, at the grand old age of 30 – my memory isn’t what it used to be, ha!

Lipcote biscuit.

Anyway, I recently received some Lipcote in the post and it reminded me all over again why I used to wear it so much – it really does help your lipstick last longer. This is especially useful with cheaper lipsticks that don’t claim to be long lasting, but sometimes just have fun colours that you love regardless.

Don’t get me wrong, your lipstick will still eventually fade but at a much, much slower rate – and there’ll be no feathering either, which is always welcome on this girl’s mouth. Lipcote doesn’t change the look of your lipstick, in fact once the tingling has passed, you wouldn’t even know you were wearing it!

Along with my Lipcote I was sent a mixing palette for me to play around with some of my lipsticks to see what colours I could come up with. This is something I’ve always thought about doing, I know that make-up artists play around in this way a lot with products in their kit, but I just never got around to it. I took this opportunity to mix 4 different lip colours using a few of my own lip products – including a couple that were pretty un-wearable, colour wise for me and had been sitting around unloved.

I made a peach shade, a rose-pink shade, a ‘my lips but better’ pinky shade, and mixing the 2 unloved shades together a pink-y nude-y shade too. I’m sure I’m going to have even better results, once I’ve experimented even more.

Have you used Lipcote before?

Sponsored post: views and life story are my own!

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte, Shade 112 - Spellbinding Violet!

The last time I wore such a deep and dark lipstick was probably in my teen years, I’m thinking it could have been Black Cherry by Rimmel and looking back, it was all so (SO) wrong, which is why I was a little worried when I received this particular shade from the YSL autumn 2011 collection.

I really thought it might be too dark and too harsh for me, but actually I’m rather pleasantly surprised as it’s much more wearable than I first imagined, and versatile too as you can dab it on as a stain to give an even sheerer finish! I actually love the colour and that it has flecks of magenta sparkle running through it that add dimension and depth to it, I actually think it would make a fabulous nail polish! Apologies for the lip swatch photographs, they aren’t the best, I took them on a day whilst I was poorly, my lips were dry and my skin was drained of colour too!

 

Flash

 No flash!

Mr Beauty Scoop would disagree with my sentiments about the shade of this lipstick (his actual words were ‘sh!@ty horrible dark lipstick’), but then he’s a bit of a bore where my make-up is concerned, he doesn’t like anything too bright, colourful or dark (so it seems now)... but truth be told, I don’t listen to him all that much where these things are concerned – ha!

The lipstick wears well, just like you’d expect a Rouge Volupté to (even with their glossy finish) and actually survived me drinking from a glass (no straw) and eating a sandwich – it was a little sheerer afterwards, but there was definitely plenty of colour left on my lips. I really do think you get what you pay for with these!

After Eating!

I have a penchant for luxury brands, I make no secret of this fact and Yves Saint Laurent lipsticks in particular really satisfy my need for such luxuries – especially with their gorgeous gold casings! Aren’t they lovely?!

What do you think of this shade, is it something you’d wear, or is it too scary for you?

Quick Pink Lip Demo From Grazia Daily!

You can check out more beauty videos at Grazia Daily.

Ever since I regained my love for lipstick (and more importantly, bright lipstick), I've been watching tutorials on how best to apply it; and I know it's always best to use a brush, but that way kind of always seemed a bit long-winded and impractical when on the go, but after seeing this video, I'm actually keen to give it another go as she made it seem so effortless, don't you think? I'll let you know how I get on! x

MAC Summer 2011 'Surf Baby' Lipstick - Hibiscus!

Me wearing hibiscus just before my holiday!

MAC Hibiscus is part of the recently (ish) released Surf Baby collection, and is a lipstick that has ended up being one of my favourites, which was kind of inevitable, since it’s limited edition.

It’s a fabulous coral hue that I initially thought might not work for me, even though I loved the look of the colour in the tube, and love corals in general... but I’ve (happily) been proven wrong and it has become one of my most reached for lipsticks!

It is richly pigmented and applies brilliantly, although you couldn’t really tell this on the photo due to my slap-dash application (I had taken better photographs but they got corrupted along with a lot of others recently) plus, it stays on for AGES!

I really recommend this without any hesitation, I think you can still buy it in some stores/concessions, thankfully, as I’m about to buy a back up because I love it so much! 

Quick face shot of me wearing it with no other make-up!

Haul - YSL Goodies!

It's confession time again, I am posting another haul... a rather expensive haul but oh so worth it! These the YSL goodies I bought on a recent visit to Manchester!

I bought 6 lipsticks and one eye shadow palette (as you can see) and they are all bloody lovely. Let me show you in a bit more detail.

Lipsticks:

Rouge Voluptes!

Rouge Volupte: Numbers 8 and 9, Rose Fetiche (Fetish Pink) and Rose Carresse (Pink Caresse).

Rouge Volupte: Numbers 11 and 19, Rose Frivole (Frivolous Pink) and Rose Culte.

I haven't re-photographed No 10, Provocative Pink as you've seen it in these posts here and here, and also it's a competition prize so I didn't want to open it when not necessary!

Rouge Pur: Number 126, Rose Cachemire (Cashmere Pink).

I also bought the Rouge Pur lipstick in Cashmere Pink which is up for grabs in my competition HERE!

The 'Ombres 5 Lumieres' (5 Colour Harmony for Eyes) I bought is palette 7, Bronze Gold and is a beautifully presented shadow palette containing, yes you guessed it, 5 eye shadows! I've been lusting after these for a while, and I have my eye on at least 2 more in the very near future. 

Do you likey my lovelies? x

Competition - Win TWO Yves Saint Laurent Lipsticks!

Fancy winning TWO utterly fabulous, luxurious Yves Saint Laurent lipsticks? Course you do! Well you’re in the right place as I have 2 to give away to one of my lovely followers.

First of all I have a Rouge Volupte Lipstick in shade 10, Rose Fou/Provocative Pink – it’s the same shade that I bought whilst at the airport in my Holiday Duty Free Haul and I love the vivid pink colour so much that I went out and bought another one to give away!

The second lipstick is their Rouge Pur lipstick in 126, Rose Cachemire/Cashmere Pink; a dusky rose hue. I picked this colour as I thought that one (very) bright and one fairly neutral lipstick would make up the perfect prize.


Anyway, to win these beautiful lipsticks (and they really are beautiful - just look at the luxe casing too), all you have to do is:

1. Follow me via GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT (see the picture below if you’re unsure what this is) – you MUST do this, otherwise your entry will not be valid.

2. Leave me a comment in the post below with your Google Friend Connect name (the name that shows above the GFC icons when you’ve followed me – see example picture below).

3. In the comments box, please also leave details that I can use to contact you (it can be email, twitter or any other way that I can get hold of you) if you win!

4. For one extra extra entry you can Tweet about the competition using the following tweet ‘#Competition #Win TWO Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) Lipsticks with The Beauty Scoop! http://www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk’. If you do tweet, then please leave the link to the tweet in your comment, or in an extra comment so that I can easily find it. You still need to follow via GFC to have a valid entry!

This competition will end when I reach 1000 followers on Google Friend Connect, so get sharing! :-)

My Holiday Duty Free Haul!

I couldn't go on holiday without making some use of the duty free at the airport, so here for your viewing pleasure is my *very restrained* airport haul (as I was already over on my baggage allowance)!

First I went to Chanel and bought a Rouge Coco lipstick in 56 'Téhéran', a gorgeous pink-coral shade... one that I've been lusting after for a good few weeks now!

 

Next up was the MAC counter where I purchased 6 eyeshadows:

L-R: Marvel, Contrast & Sumptuous Olive

L-R: Woodwinked, Amber Lights & Bronze

Finally I went to the YSL counter (actually I came back to this a bit later so that Mr Beauty Scoop didn't get in a strop about me buying yet more makeup, ha!) and I bought a Rouge Volupté lipstick in shade 10 'Rose Fou', a gorgeous, vibrant pink!

I think I spent about £100, but could have easily spent about £1000 more (if I had the money, and weight allowance to do so, of course) - it's an expensive obsession!