My Makeup: Berry Lips With Clinique Chubby Stick Intense

There's something new on the block for us Chubby Stick lovers, Clinique Chubby Stick Intense. A richer, more pigmented formula that has been gracing my lips for the majority of this week and so far so good! 

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in Grandest Grape

Compared to the original Chubby Sticks the formula provides a much more glossy, pigmented finish and it's easy to achieve a full coverage look, whereas the original were more of a tint. They've added a couple extra ingredients in there, like shea butter and jojoba seed oil for that extra kick of nourishment. After being out and about in the cold I was pleasantly surprised to not return home to dry and crusty lips, they were still in soft condition! 

Clinique Chubby Stick in Volumptous Violet (right) VS Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in Grandest Grape Swatch

On the lips the formula feels much lighter than a lipstick, which makes them easier to wear, especially when wearing a heavily pigmented colour. During my first venture into the dark lip zone I was pleasantly surprised to see minimal fading on my lips, despite drinking and eating (with caution) giving them fantastic lasting power too. I would've loved to have seen the colours from the original Chubby Stick collection like Woppin' Watermelon and Mighty Mimosa available in the Intense range but overall a big thumbs up from me!

Wearing Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in Grandest Grape

I've been pairing this lippy with a light base combination of Giorgio Armani Maestro Fusion and By Terry Touche Veloutee followed by a lot of mascara for something quick and effortless.

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense are available in 8 shades and the shade I've been wearing is Grandest Grape. They are £16 and will be available from November. 

Will you be trying out Clinique Chubby Stick Intense?

How To: Deal With Puffy Eyes

When it comes to eyes, I'm a firm believer it's all about treating from the inside out. Those extra couple hours of sleep portray a tremendous difference in the appearance of my eyes, in redness, puffiness and brightness. When I find myself trolling home in the early hours of the morning or tearing myself from my bed equally early, my eyes start to suffer and there are a couple of products I pull out...

As soon as my eyes start to open I'll reach over to my bedside table where cotton pads get doused in Liz Earle Soothing Eye Bright Lotion, which I've raved about here, and patted onto my eyes making waking up a little more bearable. 

There are two masks that I keep on rotation if I have an extra 10 minutes, firstly Origins No Puffery Cooling Eye Mask, which I apply a thick layer of around my eyes and wash off. This stuff is seriously refreshing and the wonderfully cooling effect is fantastic wake up call for my eyes! I tend to keep this stashed away in my fridge for extra power. 

Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Eye Mask which I wrote about here are my pre-party saviours, that contain cucumber which includes Vitamin K, great for shrinking capillaries which helps reduce dark circles. Now I didn't see anything miraculous in that department but there was definitely some hydrating, less redness and soothing going on. 

If theres minimal time for pampering I'll reach for Coupe Eclat which I picked up from Beauty Mart. I'll break the little capsule and dab the liquid into my skin for some added brightening. My favourite out of the bunch has got to be Clinique Even Better Eyes, purely for the cooling massage tip. I'll apply this like an eye cream squeezing the tube as I run it along my orbital bone. Doing this feels instantly cooling and soothing, especially after a long day of staring at a screen! The actual cream is slightly light reflective which helps aid under my eyes in looking brighter, it has the smoothest almost velvet like texture that concealer applies like a breeze over the top. 

What do you reach for when your eyes a looking a little puffy?

Loves Of The Month: September

Contrast to relaxation August, September was hectic, with London Fashion Week, a new job and other bits and pieces left little time for trailing new things as I just relied on my loves, namely Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk, Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara and L'Oreal Super Liner. I did however dabble in plenty of skincare...

Clinique Chubby Stick in Mighty Mimosa

These sticks are totally foolproof and easy to use, they are the perfect combination between a balm and a gloss and one coat provides a glossy sheen to the lips. My favourite shade is this baby peach, Mighty Mimosa. 

Pixi Lash Line Ink

Super black, extremely easy tapered felt nib and last all day without budging! Now to decide which one I prefer most, L'Oreal or Pixi...

Origins Drink Up Intensive Mask 

An overnight mask that saved my dehydrated skin over the last month, leaving me waking up to a brighter more even skin tone. Applied before bed, exactly like a moisturiser, massage in it's thick formula and peachy scent and wash off in the morning. 

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone

Applied as a base before foundation provides the most natural but visible glow, that doesn't look like I've dipped my face in a bowl of glitter. It adds a juicy boost, as if I've been on holiday the past week or been on a detox!

Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Cocoa Body Scrub

When a body scrub smells this good, you'll want to get buffing everyday! It leaves skin soft and gleaming after it sloughs away every trace of dead skin. Love!

Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate

Another overnight skin treat! A nourishing elixir that I apply after toning, pressed into the skin that doesn't feel too oily or greasy, it hydrates dry patches overnight, balances everything out and I found my foundation lasting longer on my skin after use.

Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm

Not only does this smell amazing, it also removes makeup with such ease without irritating the eyes. Applied as a balm all over my face and massaged in then removed with a warm cloth, leaves skin feeling smooth without an oily film. 

What have you been loving this month?

Beauty On Location: Sunday Brunch

As I'm sure you can imagine, after previously having one too many glasses of wine the night before, tearing myself away from my duvet for an early brunch was quite the task. Let alone appearing semi -presentable when last nights mascara was still remnant on my eyelashes. Enter the reason why I love Micellar Waters - just a couple of sweeps with a cotton pad and all is gone (post here).

Lifeless sunday morning skin calls for the big guns - glowy foundation, glowy concealer, glowy you-name-it. All the early morning saviours (post here) were used in full glory for some extra luminosity and faking that extra couple of hours sleep. In terms of clothing jumpsuits are a life saviour, something great to just throw on without having to think through an outfit.

Skin

- My current foundation of choice, YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat (post here) mixed in with some Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector (post here) is one amazingly glowy skin combination!

- To conceal the tremendous bag the previous late night had given me I relied on By Terry Touche Veloutee Concealer (post here) followed by a touch of Mac Style blush which does a great job at awakening skin

Eyes

- I swept some of Stila Eyeshadow in Kitten all over my lid, applied some Pixi Lash Line Ink and Maxfactor False Lash Effect Mascara.

Lips

- A coating of my latest lip love, Clinique Chubby Stick in Mighty Mimosa (post here)

It was an extremely sunny day - hence the closed eyes!

All that we can do, is smile

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that one of the reasons why my face has been a little absent from my blog was the current state of my skin.
I think a lot of it was to do with the fact that I've recently come of the pill, which tends to help with outbreaks. It's calmed down a little now, but I'm still getting random little whiteheads and outbreaks, I'm sure this is supposed to have stopped by now, I'm nearly 24!
Lots of you have told me I have lovely skin, but you should know that I wear a ton of make up, I can't leave the house without concealer and foundation. I even wear make-up when I go running. Without it, my confidence is ziltch. nada. zero. I even hate taking my make up off infront of my boyfriend every night, and going make-up free for the beach on holiday. If I went to my office tomorrow with no make-up on, no one would even recognize me.
So I've decided to try and take a few steps in the right direction to try and improve my skin, I'm so sick of it affecting my mood, I really want to change my attitude towards it. I'm going to try and drink a litre and a half of water every day, eat healthier and change my skincare routine (which basically consists of face-wipes at the moment, I know you'll all tell me off for this).
I bought this Clinique '1,2,3 Step' cleanse, tone and moisturize set. I bought the starter pack which was £20 just to see if it agrees with me. I've been using it for 2 weeks now, I'm not really sure if it's made a massive difference to my skin if I'm honest. I don't know if I'll go for the full size bottles yet, I don't really like the smell of the cleanser and moisturizer is pretty hard to get out of the bottle. I don't know why they put it in a hard plastic bottle, surely a squeezy tube makes more sense?! 
Do any of you have confidence issues with your skin? What products have you tried that have helped? Have you tried Clinique 1,2,3 Step?

Currently Loving: Clinique Chubby Sticks

Clinique Chubby Sticks £16

The balms that started the lip pencil trend - Clinique Chubby Sticks. The perfect combination between a balm and a lipgloss providing a glossy sheen to the lips. These have been floating around my handbag for quite some time as they don't require a mirror hence are perfect for applying on the go. Being twist up pencils make them extremely easy to use too!

The formula of these gets a huge thumbs up from me, smooth texture, very moisturising and not sticky. In terms of lasting power it's around a couple of hours so not the longest lasting formula out there but I'll forgive that due to the incredibly hydrating balm. 

Graped Up, Woppin' Watermelon, Mighty Mimosa, Voluptuous Violet (left to right)

Clinique Chubby Stick in Mighty Mimosa

There are 16 shades to choose from but the four that grace my lips are Woppin' Watermelon, Mighty Mimosa, Voluptuous Violet and Graped Up. My most loved shade, as you can probably tell is Woppin' Watermelon but Mighty Mimosa is knocking it off the top spot at the moment as it's a lovely peachy pink with a golden shimmer running through it. The darker shades look a tad scary in the bullet but on the lips provide a beautiful hint of colour that's really soft on the lips - perfect for natural lip lovers. 

Woppin' Watermelon, Mighty Mimosa, Voluptuous Violet, Graped Up (from left to right)

Clinique Chubby Sticks are £16 and available here

What's in my make-up bag?

Good afternoon poppets,
how are you all dealing with this monsoon June?!
I donned the hunter wellies on my way to the office this morning, and snuggled up at my desk with a hot water bottle and a cup of tea. Wouldn't it be dreadful to live in a country where they didn't drink tea??

I know I said I would be a little more diverse on my blog (I promise I will), but I'm really enjoying make-up again at the moment.
I'm thinking of doing a make-up artist course, even though they are ridiculously expensive. If anyone could recommend any around central London, that would be great!

Anyway, let's get down to it.
I love peeking into other peoples' make-up bags, who can resist a good nosey, eh?! So...this is the contents of my every-day make-up bag... 

I'll walk you through it...

Face

Clinique Dramatically different moisturizing lotion

No.7 Concealer- shade 03 fair (I always like to have my concealer in a lighter shade than my foundations)

Chanel Foundations-

My crazy love obsession with Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation is still going strong. We are coming up to our 3 year anniversary... or so.

Chanel Vitalumiere (shade 20 Beige), which I Mix with Vitalumiere Lumiere (shade 30 Cendre Shell) £35 for 30mls, depending on how tanned I am.

 Mac Finishing Mist

Topshop Foundation Brush

Cheeks

Mac Sheer tone Shimmer Blush- Trace Gold

Illamsqua Cream Blush- Sob (I've hit the pan on this one, it's lasted over a year and I still absolutely love it)

MAC 109 Contor Brush

Eyes

Mac Mascara- Studio Fix Boldblack Lash

Mac eyeliner- Smoulder

 Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil- Shade 001 dark brown.

Lips

Carmex Classic Lipbalm (I use this as as a base for lipsticks)

MAC Satin Lipstick- Myth

YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick

Randoms
Make up bag- Muji

Boots Eyelash curlers

Tweezer- Octopus

Bobby pins

 Cath Kidston mirror

Phew! It does seem like a heck of a lot when I list it.
This is my every-day natural make up look (excuse the hair, rain = bad hair day)...

What do you carry around in your make-up bag? is it as much as me?!