Beauty Trends - Liquid Highlighters

I'm back with another beauty trends post! This time I want to discuss liquid highlighters. They've been around for quite some time, but it's only recently that we're seeing brands of all shapes and sizes release their own take on the trend. 

Liquid highlighting isn't my first choice for a few reasons. Finding a formula that works alongside your foundations and other make-up is quite the challenge. Who else has done a full face of make-up only to trip at the last hurdle with a dodgy liquid highlighter?! That, and the more subtle finish is generally what steers me away. Because of this, I don't own a huge amount of them in comparison to my ever-growing powder highlighter collection, but the ones that I do own caught my eye. 

Colour Pop Crystal Collection Liquid Highlighters

Shades L to R - Rose Quartz, Aquamarine, Aventurine & Amethyst 

If you know me, you'll know I'll buy pretty much anything Colour Pop releases. I was particularly interested in the 'Crystal' collection as it was a whole host of products that Colour Pop had never created before. Since the price is always right, I decided to pick up all four of the liquid highlighters to put to the test. 

I've tried them a variety of ways, mixing them in with my foundation and using them as intended, a liquid highlighter. With them being that on-trend holographic effect, mixing them with foundation isn't a great option as they alter the colour of my foundation. However, they were beautiful as an actual liquid highlighter! I was pleasantly surprised when I dabbed on the product to my cheekbones and was left with a beautiful duochrome luminosity. Yes, they are subtle, but the shift in colour makes them much more interesting than your average highlighter.

Cover FX Custom Cover Enhancer Drops in Moonlight

These are genuinely a game changer when it comes to liquid highlighters. They don't come cheap, but they certainly pack a punch. This is the only liquid highlighter I've found that isn't subtle and provides an intense glow with one drop! There's quite a few different shades, but I opted for a classic icy champagne colour. I'm not sure you'd need more than one of these unless you're a die-hard fan, but as far as liquid highlighters go, these are in the lead!

Urban Decay Aura Illuminating Mix-In Medium

This is a two-in-one product from Urban Decay, but all about 'that glow'. The prime function of this product is to mix it in with your foundation to create an illuminated base, but you can definitely use it to light up your cheekbones with an ethereal glow. I prefer it as the mix in medium, but it definitely adds a slightly radioactive looking effect if you add too much so be careful! As you can probably tell, I can't resist the more unusual shades of highlight so if you're like me, you'd love this tone of blue glistening on your cheekbones. 

That's all I have for liquid highlighters! I know so many people who opt for these over the powder option, it really depends on your preference! I'm sure there's one that suits everybody's taste, whether it's mixed in with your foundation, or dabbed on the high points of your face. Let me know in the comments any that you've found that you love!

Beauty Trends - Glossy Lips

A few months ago, I started a series on my blog called 'Beauty Trends', where as the title states, I talk about a current beauty trend, and share some products related to it! Trends in make-up are something that's ever-changing, so I created this series as a way to share my thoughts on them.

Today, I wanted to discuss 'glossy lips'. You're probably thinking, 'How is this a trend? They've been around forever?'. True! But we can all agree they're fast emerging from all beauty brands, both high-end and drugstore, and matte lips are beginning to take a back-seat. (Our dry lips are jumping for joy!). Never in a million years did I think I'd be a 'gloss gal' since the mere thought of a lip gloss makes my hair stick to my face. With that being said, I'm incredibly picky when it comes to which ones I'm prepared to leave the house wearing, so I thought I'd share a variety of ones that have made my collection. (Ps, I'm kind of into my nudes!).

Bare Minerals Gen Nude Buttercream Lip Gloss in Flirt

Jouer High Pigment Lip Gloss in Fifth Ave

Kylie Cosmetics Gloss in Like

I thought I'd start by sharing my favourite high-end glosses. I have a lot more from the Kylie Cosmetics range, but 'Like' is such a 'me' shade, a classic brown nude! Besides the shades, another huge similarity with these glosses is that they're all super pigmented. The Jouer gloss in particular is almost like a super shiny lipstick, it's divine. I'm not a huge fan of a sheer slick of gloss on my complexion as it seems to wash me out, so opting for glosses with a strong pigment are the perfect way for me to dip into the trend, without compromising on my overall look!

Bare Minerals do a huge range of non-sticky nude glosses to suit all skin-tones and tastes. I picked up 'Flirt' as it leans towards the mauve-y tones that I'm totally obsessed with.

Max Factor Colour Elixir Honey Lacquer in Honey Nude

Max Factor Colour Elixir Honey Lacquer in Chocolate Nectar

Maybelline Colour Sensational Vivid Hot Lacquer Liquid Lipstick in Unreal

3INA Lip Gloss in 112 Nude

Colour Pop Ultra Glossy Lip in Finders Keepers

Here is a drugstrore/affordable selection of my favourite lip glosses! Again, super similar shades, but I just can't run the risk of a bold glossy lip, it's mayhem. 

I found that I steered clear of the drugstore when it came to my quest for the perfect gloss, and it's probably because of all of those childhood experiences, y'know, Barry M candy flavoured glosses, Bourjois 3D glosses in sparkling reds.. don't get me wrong, they were the business back in the day, but totally not my vibe now.. anyway, I digress! To my pleasant surprise, I picked up some REAL gems in the drugstore, some I even wear more than the high-end ones. The Maybelline Vivid Hot Lacquers are not something you want to sleep on, run and check them out, they're seriously a handbag staple of mine!

Huda Beauty Lip Strobe in Enchanting

Colour Pop Ultra Glossy Lip in Super Cute

Colour Pop Ultra Glossy Lip in Nonsense

Huda Beauty Lip Strobe in Shameless

Finally, I wanted to go on to glittery lips! I love to pair a liquid matte with a glittery gloss, it transforms any lipstick into a show-stopping disco ball, and who doesn't want that?

I don't have a huge amount of these in my collection, but I wanted to share some that are worth checking out!

Huda Beauty lip strobes are new on the scene, and they are stunning. I've never seen glosses that have such dimension and colour shift. There's a huge colour range in this buttery smooth formula, from glistening golds and holographics, to glitterball pinks and enchanting purples. I picked up these two first, but I'm already itching to pick up my next lip strobe!

The other two I swatched are no longer on sale, so I won't tease you with them too much, but a classic clear gloss laced with flecks of glitter is a total must in my collection these days. I'm constantly being mesmerised by insta-girls with multi-dimensional lips, and if chucking a slick of glitter gloss into my make-up routine is going to make me look half as good, I'll definitely be doing it!

I hope you enjoyed this post, and you found a gloss or two to add to your make-up bags! Leave me any suggestions of glosses you guys like below so I can check them out too! <3

Colour Pop Haul & My Experience Ordering to the UK

If you're remotely tuned into the beauty world, there's no question that you've seen Colour Pop Cosmetics circulating the scene and quite frankly, completely taking it over!

I know that since I set my eyes on those lippie stix, (what feels like a million years ago), I had to get a hold of them! I would trawl the website, looking for loopholes in the system meaning I could get a package delivered to the UK, and of course, nothing! I suppose you could say I had the option of using a US postal service, but the whole thing seems a little complicated if you ask me, and low-key expensive. 

When it was announced that on July 12th, we'd be able to have Colour Pop products delivered to our door no matter the location, (albeit a few exceptions!), I think I shed a tear. I was actually at my brothers graduation whilst placing my order, one minute after the international shipping went live, my hefty order had been placed.

As it's been such a long wait for international shipping to begin, there's been ample collaborations that have come and gone, and countless limited edition products, but nonetheless, I managed to rack up my total to $177, plus $35 shipping! I didn't mind paying out for the products, but that is one ridiculous shipping price. I'll touch on that later.

On to the products!

From left to right - Lumiere, Tootsi, Brink, Pillow Talk, Taurus & Climax

Lippie Stix

Possibly my all time favourite Colour Pop product! I had already tried two of the lippie stix out prior to ordering directly from Colour Pop, as a UK website called Lustre Cosmetics was stocking some bits, (for a slightly increased price, I'll add!). I actually repurchased the shade 'Taurus' as it's the most stunning brown shade I've ever used. The one I currently have on the go is a shadow of the product it used to be, writing rubbed off the packaging, covered in all kinds of powders and shadows from my over flowing make-up bag! I'm glad to have a fresh one in my collection!

I purchased a variety of matte and matte X formulas. The matte X formula is stunning, so pigmented, so creamy and a dream to use. The two I have in that formula is 'Pillow Talk' and 'Climax'. I couldn't resist getting a shade out of my comfort zone! 

If you pick anything up from Colour Pop, make sure you grab yourself one (or two) of these!

From bottom to top - Lumiere, Tootsi, Brink, Frick N Frack, Dopey & Taurus

Lippie Pencil

Another product that I already owned one or two of! The perfect partner for your Colour Pop lippie stix, or any other lip product for that matter! These are of a top quality formula, super creamy, pigmented and the shade range is excellent. I picked shades to accompany the lip products I'd purchased, however they go beautifully with the majority of my lip product collection too. 

From left to right - Lumiere 2, Dopey, Teeny Tiny, Frick N Frack, Are & Be & Limbo

Ultra Matte & Ultra Satin Lips

I'd tried one Ultra Matte out before, although I really didn't give it a good test as the shade was totally not for me. (It was 'Kapow' if you're wondering!). But the formula seemed lovely, and the pigmentation was great. I picked up four ultra mattes and two ultra satins, and let me tell you, the ultra satin formula is second to none. It's true what all the US beauty gurus say, it really is incredible! I need some time with the ultra mattes to gage my true thoughts as I really haven't had a chance to give them a go. I can do a full review on just the ultra mattes if you'd like?

Again, there's every shade under the sun, Colour Pop really don't miss a thing! Of course, I stuck to what I know best, the mauves! (I'm sure I'll pick up a crazy blue shade at some point though!).

From bottom to top - Amaze, Sequin, Stereo, Telepathy, Belladonna Lily, Slave 2 Pink & Fantasy

Super Shock Eyeshadows

Okay, this is the kind of product you need to see for yourself, touch in person, these are a whole new world of incredible. I have tried these before, I actually have quite a number of them, and I can agree with most others that the mattes aren't anything to dance about, but the shimmers/metallics? I will DANCE. I will pop, lock and drop for these babies. One swipe, and your eyelid is in complete disco ball mode. I chose a mixture of classic gold/copper shades, and a few pops of colour. How stunning is Slave 2 Pink?! I chose the first two because I've seen Amrezy coat her lids in them numerous times, and if it's good for Amrezy, it's good for me!

Please, if you care about your face, get yourself a super shock shadow. 

Highlighter - Butterfly Beach, Blush - Aphrodisiac

Blush & Highlighter

This looks like the perfect highlight and contour duo, doesn't it?

This 'contour' shade is actually from the blusher section, and I thought it was a dusty rose.. it even says in the description that it's the perfect sculpting shade, so I don't know what I was thinking! Either way, it truly is a gorgeous shade to bronze/contour with, and I'm looking forward to trying out my first cheek product!

The highlighter is slightly darker in person, but for my current post-holiday state, it's going to be an excellent match for my skin-tone. I've already got one of these products from Colour Pop, and I found the consistency slightly difficult to apply in comparison to my other highlighters, but I guess it's about getting used to the unique Colour Pop formula!

Brow Pencil - Black N Brown

Brow Pencil

Alright alright, that attempt at drawing an eyebrow is below average, but I had good intentions, okay! 

I'm quite content with my eyebrow product collection, and there's never anything I particularly want to add to it, but I figured for $6 and a lot of hype behind it, why not pick a brow pencil up! I assumed mine would be in the shade Black N Brown, it's actually a very accurate description of my eyebrow colour, and it's perfect! It's incredibly pigmented and easy to use, and it comes with a spoolie on the end which is always a huge thumbs up from me! One quite bad downside is that you can't twist the product back down again.. what kind of madness is that?! As long as you remember not to over twist it up, you should be fine, but just pre-warning you!

I really want to try the creme pots/pomade next!

Ordering, Shipping & Delivery

On to the less exciting part of online shopping. The additional fees! I have been waiting for the day Colour Pop shipped internationally for the longest time, so I had mentally prepared myself, (and my bank balance) to be open minded about the coming fees. Ordering was the same as any other online retailer. Shipping though.. wow. I had anticipated something along the $20 mark, but I hadn't expected to be hit with a whopping $35 rate! Daylight robbery at it's finest.. or not so finest. When you've got plenty of other US retailers shipping out products for significantly less, it's quite frustrating when such a successful business can put you out of pocket like that, but hey, I'm sure they'll become more accustomed to international shipping in the near future.

Speaking of acCUSTOMed! Customs. The 'C' word. I don't know one person who isn't afraid of getting hit with that poison pen letter through their door. I think it's only me who isn't massively fussed about it. I take it into consideration when making international purchases, and I weigh up whether the total I'll be spending is worth the products, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't, but it's worth thinking about! I mean, I definitely don't appreciate customs fees, especially as there really isn't a boundary of whether you'll receive one or not, just a case of the waiting game! So I spent $212 in total including $35 shipping, and I received a customs fee of £31.99. From experience, that's not too bad considering the amount I'd spent. 

We're nearly at the end! So I get my package home, I grab a knife, (no no, this isn't going to a dark place), swiftly open my package to reveal my beautiful new products neatly packed, and very carefully packed too, I'll add!

It's only when I come to searching for my 'Where the Light is' quad by Kathleen Lights that I realise something or some things are missing! I specifically remember ordering 30 products, so I whipped out my order sheet, checked off the products that I'd actually received, only to find I was missing my eyeshadow quad and a lippie stix! Quite disappointing, but I thought I'd let you know that I've been in touch with customer services, and they are having them shipped out to me now. A little unfortunate I have to wait again though!

Overall I'm really impressed with my experience and my products, despite a little glitch! I can't say I'll be ordering frequently as the shipping is just so not okay.. but I definitely will be doing large orders here and there, so stay tuned for round two!

You can purchase Colour Pop products here!