The Best Nude Pencil For Pale Complexions (And It's Only £1.50)

Nude eyeliners are not only great for applying to your waterline and making your eyes appear bigger and brighter, but they make for great blemish concealers as well. It's best to wipe them after use, or have separate pencils for each task, for sanitary reasons, but it really is worth it. 

I've been using Rimmel's Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner in Nude (second swatch) and Look Beauty's (remember this brand?) Long-Last Liner Eye Brightener (third swatch) for a while now. They look incredibly orange on my incredibly pale arm, but they're really not that bad on my face.

Still, I've found a pencil much better in the last couple of weeks, and it's from the brand Essence. The Essence Long Lasting Eye Pencil in Say Hi Light is just £1.50, and is lighter in shade. This makes my eyes look brighter, and conceals my blemishes more than the other two. It's creamy and pigmented, but what has impressed me the most is how long lasting it really is. It stays on my waterline all day, and when it came to removing the swatches above, it was the last one standing. To top it all off, it's mechanical, so you don't need to sharpen it.

I've already bought another because I know it's going to get a lot of use, and I'm always worried brands will discontinue my favourite products!

Essence products can be found at Wilko, online and in store. If you've yet to check them out, I'd recommend you do so. You never know, you may end up finding an all time favourite, costing you just the loose change in your pocket.

An Essence Haul | First Impressions & Swatches

I'd never taken an interest in Essence before this week. I just thought it was a cheap, childish brand, which is ridiculous because I like other brands with a similar price point. Anyway, since getting into wearing lip liner, I'd seen the Essence ones being spoken about a few times, so thought I'd pop into my local Wilkinson (Wilko) and have a look at the stand.

Everything above was £1-£4, which isn't bad at all. The packaging looks a little cheap, but I've seen far worse. The products also have that cheap smell to them, which doesn't bother me too much, but thought it was worth mentioning.

The reason for going to the stand in the first place was to pick up a lip liner or two. I ended up walking away with 06 Satin Mauve, which is a natural, muted pink shade. It's slightly harder in texture than the Rimmel Exaggerate ones, but this was £1 instead of £3.99. I read that they used to be softer, but Essence wanted to make them act more as a lip liner, which I get. I've used it once so far, and think it does the job perfectly well.

There were a lot of lipsticks, separated into different formulations. I went with two shades from the Long Lasting Nude range, which were £2.30 each. 03 Come Naturally is the cooler of the two, and is a mauvey shade. 05 Cool Nude is a pink toned nude. I like them a lot so far, but I think it's pretty hard to get a lipstick wrong. The formula doesn't feel any different to a normal lipstick, so I don't know where the 'long lasting' part comes into it, but they're creamy and comfortable on the lips.

Do the next lip products look familiar to you? The Liquid Lipsticks are £2.50 each, and are practically the same as the Maybelline Colour Elixir Lip Lacquers. I have 02 Beauty Secret, which is an everyday pink, and 06 Make A Statement, which I'd describe as being a daytime rosy red. Just like the Maybelline ones, they're a pigmented, balmy gloss. I like them, but I don't think they should have been called liquid lipsticks. They're not.

I barely wear eyeshadow, but the All About Nudes Eyeshadow Palette (£4) looked too pretty to pass up, and I thought my mum would appreciate it. I think it's a great little palette so far. The bottom champagne shade has a pearl finish, and the bottom taupe shade is shimmery, but the rest are satin. They're buttery soft and not chalky, and the pigment payoff isn't bad either. It's not mind blowing, but I think that's okay for these types of shades.

I also picked up an eyeshadow in 19 The Grammy Goes Glammy, which is a shimmery champagne, and was just £1. I don't think the shimmer is fine enough to be used as a highlight on the face, which is what I thought I could use it for at first, but they had a couple other similar shades. Like the eyeshadows in the palette, it's buttery soft.

Long Lasting Nude Lipstick in 05 Cool Nude, Long Lasting Nude Lipstick in 03 Come Naturally, Liquid Lipstick in 02 Beauty Secret, Liquid Lipstick in 06 Make A Statement, Lip Liner in 06 Satin Mauve, Eyeshadow in 19 The Grammy Goes Glammy, All About Nudes Eyeshadow Palette.

I don't know if any of these will become all time favourites, but I'm pleased with what I bought. I'm considering going back to the stand and trying a couple more things anyway, which says something!

Lip Lining

If you'd told me a year ago that I'd be wearing lip liners, and nude ones at that, on nearly a daily basis, I wouldn't have believed you. When I've thought of lip liners in the past, I've thought of overdrawn lips and hard, scratchy pencils, but much like lip glosses, they've come a long way.

The Rimmel Exaggerate Automatic Lip Liners are probably the most talked about on the highstreet, with high praise and comparability to more expensive ones. They glide on with ease, aren't patchy, and last most of the day on my lips. One of the best things about them, though, is that they don't need sharpening. I bought Eastend Snob first because everyone raves about this shade. It's an everyday pink, which is very pretty indeed. I then wanted something a little more nude, and while Addiction looked a little too brown in some swatches, I went ahead and bought it anyway. I'm so glad I did because it's much more natural than I thought it'd be. At £3.99 each, these pencils are a steal.

I've bought a lot of NYX products recently, and one of them includes the Slide On Lip Pencil in Nude Suede Shoes, which was £5.50. Like the Rimmel ones, it's very creamy, maybe even a little more so. The only thing I don't like about it is that it needs to be sharpened, which wastes product. NYX offers a mechanical lip liner, which I'll no doubt be buying in a couple shades, but I liked Nude Suede Shoes the most out of the swatches I saw.

I love how a lip liner can make a lipstick last longer, or even be worn on its own, and I love how it allows you to create a fuller lip if you want to. I can really notice a difference when I don't draw an outline now.

The top left photo shows my bare lips, top right with NYX's Nude Suede Shoes, bottom left with Rimmel's Addiction, and bottom right with Rimmel's Eastend Snob. I haven't edited or colour corrected them at all, but I'd say they're probably a little deeper in person. I'm also wearing a lip balm under all of them to prevent any unwelcome dryness (they're still lip liners, after all).

Your lip liner recommendations are most welcome!

Revlon Ultra HD Lipsticks

Gladiolus, Iris

Revolutionary wax-free gel technology for true colour clarity in one smooth swipe.

I've been waiting for these to be released in the UK since I first saw them on American soil many, many months ago. Throughout April, I was looking in Boots whenever I walked past, but for some reason, they were no where to be seen. I ended up going to Superdrug where they were 2 for £10 instead of £7.99 each. So, were they worth the wait?

Pros

• These babies are pigmented. One swipe and you have intense colour. I prefer building my lip products up and creating a subtle stain, so don't wear them to the extent of the swatches above, but like having the option to if I wanted. You can always make pigmented products less pigmented, but if there's little pigment to begin with, you're limited to what you can do.
• They glide on, with no dragging whatsoever. 
• Following on from this, they feel light.
• They don't settle in the lines of my lips, which I was expecting because of how pigmented they are.
• I find them long lasting. I've been wearing them much less intense, and there's still some faint colour after 10 hours.
• They don't dry my lips out. I've heard others say they're not as forgiving for them, though, so just keep that in mind.

Cons

• If you wear them to their full intensity, they have the tendency to bleed ever so slightly. This is the downside to them being so pigmented and creamy. I'll be wearing a lip liner with them next time I wear them so bright.
• The packaging could be improved if the bullets retracted all the way down, to save you from catching the product on the lids. Saying that, I haven't found them to be as bad as others were saying. Only a small amount sits above the casing (they're wound up in the photo above - when they're retracted, the smallest part of the slant cannot be seen). I have yet to catch them on the lids and make a mess.
• There's some slight silver shimmer in Iris, which annoys me because it's such a beautiful colour. Why do brands ruin lip products with shimmer? Obviously, this is more of a personal preference, but I feel like most people prefer a solid cream colour.

Although they're not perfect, they're better than I thought they'd be. I've read a mixed bag of reviews, so wasn't sure what to expect. I'll probably get some more shades in the future, but won't be running out to buy any soon. Saying that, who knows what'll end up in my basket on my next shopping trip? I've been spending some pretty pennies recently!

MUA Luxe Whipped Velvet Blushes

The MUA Luxe Whipped Velvet Blushes are one of the latest releases from the brand. They're described as being ultra soft and lightweight, enabling you to build the colour gradually. 

There's five shades available, each with a matching lip lacquer. Spry is a nude, Chichi is a coral, Ritzy is a raspberry, Rococo (not pictured) is a pink, and Hedonic (not pictured) is a cool toned, almost lavender, pink.

I was expecting these to be very soft powders, but they actually have a cream formulation. I absolutely love cream blushes, so was pleasantly surprised by this. Once applied, they dry to a powder, but still manage to look fresh and natural. They're almost mousse like, so it only takes a couple dabs of your brush to pick up the colour required. Some cream blushes can be quite hard on the surface, so you need to really swirl your brush or finger to get past this, but these aren't like that at all. They're lightweight, blend like a dream, and last all day.

I love them, and love every shade I have. I also like the round pots so much more than the regular rectangular ones. To top it off, they're only £3 each. Do you need any more persuading?

MUA Sweet Sheen Lip Balms

Cherry Bomb, Rouge Rumba, Coral Reef, Peach Dream

The MUA Sweet Sheen Lip Balms are one of the brand's latest releases, and one of my favourites. For £2, you receive a moisturising wash of colour, which lasts for a couple hours. It's as simple as that. They're similar to the popular Seventeen Supreme Shine Lipsticks, but have a little less grip. I have four out of six shades available, with the other two being Pink Lilly (baby pink) and French Violet (lilac). Each shade has a generous colour pay off for a lip balm, which fades without going noticeably patchy. I'm hoping more shades will be added to the collection in the future!

Will you be buying any of these?

AW14 with GOSH | New Velvet Touch Lipstick Shades and Giant Blush Sticks

GOSH Velvet Touch Lipsticks in Angel, Adorable, Temptation, Divine, Scarlet, Diva, Pretty, Night Kiss, and Twilight, Velvet Touch Lipliner in Raspberry Dream, and Giant Blush Sticks in Shy and Passion*

Angel, Divine

I feel like GOSH products haven't been spoken about much recently. I personally haven't used them in ages. So, I was intrigued to see if these AW14 releases were any good! 

The lipsticks haven't disappointed, and are just as intense and long lasting as I remember, without being drying. I dislike Adorable because I'm really not a fan of candy pinks, and Angel is a little too light for my liking, but the rest of the shades are beautiful. Although Angel has the potential to make me look like a corpse, I wanted to show you it on the lips because it's not chalky at all, and that surprised me.  

The lipliner has impressed me more than I thought it would. First of all, the colour is beautiful. It's also creamy and very long lasting. I'll definitely be taking a look at the other shades available next time I'm in store!

The blush sticks are okay. I don't like them as much as the lipsticks, but then I think I'm going through a lipstick phase at the moment! They're supposed to have a cream to powder formula, but I feel like it varies between the shades a lot. Shy is very dewy, even when blended, and it almost disappears, so you need to build the colour up. Passion, on the other hand, has more of a satin finish and is a lot more pigmented. A little amount with considerable blending is needed. I like them, but would like them a lot more if the formula was in between both.

The Velvet Touch Lipsticks are £6.49, the Velvet Touch Lipliner is £4.99, and the Giant Blush Sticks are £6.99, so they're all reasonably priced. You can purchase them from Superdrug stores and superdrug.com

Maybelline Colour Elixirs and No7 BB Lips Beauty Balms

Maybelline Colour Elixir in Mandarin Rapture, Maybelline Colour Elixir in Alluring Coral, No7 BB Lips Beauty Balm in Geranium, and No7 BB Lips Beauty Balm in Blush Coral

The Maybelline Colour Elixirs and No7 BB Lips Beauty Balms are similar products, in the sense that they're both a liquid balm with a decent amount of colour payoff and a high shine finish, so I thought I'd group them together in one post. I also thought that this would make up for the lack of lip swatches. I just couldn't get the photos right! Speaking of which, the photos above look fine on my screen, but not so fine on my dad's, so sorry if they're not looking great on yours!

The Maybelline Colour Elixirs (£6.99) were not something I intended to buy. I hadn't looked at many reviews online, and the packaging didn't appeal to me. Then I swatched them and realised how balmy and similar they were to the NYX Butter Glosses. I bought Mandarin Rapture first because my store had a very small selection and I didn't realise there was a coral. Then I ordered Alluring Coral a few days later. I definitely prefer the latter. I prefer the colour, it's more opaque and even, and it has no shimmer. Mandarin Rapture's shimmer is very fine, mind you, and you can't detect it on your lips, but I'd prefer there to be none. I feel like they're more pigmented than your standard gloss, they're moisturising, and they last a few hours. Alluring Coral also stains my lips slightly. The scent is a mix of perfume and fruitiness, but it's not offensive. I can see myself buying more of these in the future.

I don't like the name of the No7 BB Lips Beauty Balms (£9), because they've simply jumped on a bb everything trend, but the actual product is impressive. They're like the Elixirs, but they're thicker and more balmy. They also have SPF15, which is an added bonus. Geranium is my favourite because it's more pigmented, but Blush Coral is perfect for those more natural days. I'm not sure how well it'd show up on those with more pigmented lips, though, so keep that in mind. They're more expensive than other high street lip products, but No7 always have an offer on. Buy one get one half price, £5/£3 off voucher, free gift (sometimes you can combine two of these deals at once, too).

Are you a fan of these balmy hybrids?

Barry M Loud Mouth Extreme Liquid Lip Colour Swatches

Left to right, top to bottom: LM3 Gossip (raspberry pink), LM4 Show Off (coral pink), LM5 Chatterbox (pink), LM6 Screamer (peach)

Barry M Loud Mouth Extreme Liquid Lip Colours review here

P.S. These swatches look completely different on every screen I've viewed them on (four, would you believe), so keep in mind that what you are seeing is not 100% accurate. I also couldn't capture them in natural lighting for the life of me!

Top 3 Nail Polishes for Spring

Sinful Colours Easy Going, Essie Go Ginza, Barry M Sugar Apple

I'm not one to only wear darker shades in the autumn/winter and lighter shades in the spring/summer, but I've been gravitating towards pastel shades recently, and they just so happen to be season appropriate. The shades above are the most pastel ones I own. The shades I considered pastel before these are no where near as light!

Sinful Colours Easy Going - £1.99 - review here

Easy Going is an off white pink, which looks clean and delicate on. It's beautiful on its own, but is also the perfect base for nail art. It takes three coats to become opaque, which isn't great, but I can deal with it.

Essie Go Ginza - £7.99 - review here

I used to stay far away from all purple shades, but in the last couple of years, I've come to love lilac and berry shades of polish. This is the lightest lilac I own, and I love it. Again, it's very clean. It takes two coats to become opaque, which is great for such a pastel shade.

Barry M Gelly Sugar Apple - £3.99 - review here

Sugar Apple is one of my most recent additions. Like I said in my review, it's a pastel, yet vibrant, aqua that can appear mint green in certain lights. It's thinner and streakier than the other Gelly polishes in the range, so takes 2-3 coats to become opaque. I was expecting better, to be honest, but love the colour so much that I'm willing to overlook this! 

What are your top nail polishes for spring?

Revlon ColourBurst Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya

After trying, and loving, Revlon's ColourBurst Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon (review and swatch here), I went out and bought Juicy Papaya not long after. It's love, again. The formula is light and moisturising, and it fades evenly after a couple hours. The peachy shade looks surprisingly natural, and suits my colouring well. It's also one of the few shades that I wear to its full intensity. I'm now looking at the other shades in the range in preparation for my next shopping trip!

Are you a fan of the Revlon Lip Butters? What's your favourite shade?

OPI Steady As She Rose and Models Own Utopia Comparison

 OPI Steady As She Rose, Models Own Utopia

 OPI Steady As She Rose, Models Own Utopia

Baby and middle fingernails (1st and 3rd): OPI Steady As She Rose. Ring and index (2nd and 4th): Models Own Utopia

As soon as I laid eyes on OPI's Steady As She Rose, I knew it was similar to Models Own's Utopia; a polish I already owned. I went ahead and bought it anyway, though, because it was only £3.99 from Fragrance Direct, and I've been loving these clean, understated colours. As you can see, both are light, muted lilacs, but Utopia is slightly cooler in tone. It's such a subtle difference, though, that I doubt anyone would notice if just glancing at your nails. In terms of formula, Utopia is slightly more opaque. Steady As She Rose takes 2-3 coats, whereas Utopia takes 2. I love both, and would recommend getting whichever one you can find the cheapest. As I said, Steady As She Rose is only £3.99 on Fragrance Direct at the moment, whereas Utopia is £5 in Boots. However, Boots also has a 3 for 2 offer going on. Utopia can also be found on/in Superdrug for £5, and it's on Chemist Direct for £4.50. It just depends on where you were already planning to shop to save on postage!

Do you own either of these shades? You can find my swatch of Steady As She Rose here, and my swatch of Utopia here.

OPI Steady As She Rose

OPI's Steady As She Rose is my most recent purchase from Fragrance Direct. At £3.99, I couldn't resist! Steady As She Rose is a very light, dusky lilac. I'm still getting used to wearing shades like these, but I like how clean they look. Two coats were needed on most nails to achieve opacity, but a couple needed three due to streaking. This could be an application error on my behalf, though. It's very similar to Models Own Utopia (swatch and review here), and I have comparison photos on my Instagram here. I'll probably be publishing a full comparison post in the next week, though, so look out for that!

Do you have this shade? Or shades similar to this?

Revlon ColourBurst Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon

Let me introduce you to my first ever Lip Butter, and favourite product at the moment; Revlon's ColourBurst Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon. This admiration is unexpected. I've previously said how I prefer matte, staining lip products. I've also steered away from reds because I've never thought I'm beautiful enough to wear them. So, why I love this glossy red balm, I'm not entirely sure. Wild Watermelon looks like an orangey red in the tube, but goes on more pinky red. I think it's the perfect shade to ease you into the colour family. In terms of wear, it lasts a couple hours on me, and fades evenly. Since I've bought this, I've also bought Juicy Papaya. I think I wasn't interested in the Lip Butter range before because none of the shades appealed to me. These, however, are a different story. On a side note, Wild Watermelon notably shifts colour with different lighting and computer screens, so keep this in mind!

What's your favourite Revlon Lip Butter?

L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Polish in 506 Exotic Grenade

I bought this shade from Fragrance Direct a few months ago, and have only just got round to wearing it! I wasn't expecting to be as impressed as I am by this little bottle. First of all, the brush is perfect. It's wide, rounded, and makes applying the polish a dream. I wasn't expecting this from the look of the tall, thin bottle. Secondly, the formula is great. It's smooth, streak free, and opaque in two coats. A lot of polishes I've tried are streaky on the first coat, but this wasn't, and I think this is mostly down to the shape of the brush. Drying time was also good, and greatly appreciated after the last polish I wore (It just didn't dry, and I woke up the following day sporting the duvet pattern). Lastly, the colour is beautiful. I love berry shades like this.

You can buy Exotic Grenade, as well as other shades, for £1.30 from here. Have you tried any L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Polishes?

My Lip Crayon Collection

MUA Power Pout in Runway, Revlon Matte Balm in Audacious, MUA Power Pout in Justify, Bourjois Colour Boost in Peach on the Beach, Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bar in Juicy Peach, MUA Power Pout in Rendezvous, Revlon Balm Stain in Honey, Revlon Matte Balm in Elusive, MUA Power Pout in Broken Hearted, Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Fuchsia-ristic, Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bar in Juicy Apple, Revlon Balm Stain in Sweetheart, MUA Power Pout in Irreplaceable, MUA Power Pout in Crazy in Love, Revlon Balm Stain in Crush, and No7 High Shine Lip Crayon in Berry.

iPhone photo, natural lighting

Flash

I love lip crayons. I think it's because it was a lip crayon that got me into wearing colour on my lips (outside the house!). That lip crayon was Revlon's Balm Stain in Honey, which is one of my all time favourites. You can see that Honey and Bourjois' Colour Boost in Peach on the Beach are my most worn shades because the swatches are wider, and this is where I've completely worn down the points! I also love how balmy lip crayons are. Even the new Revlon Matte Balms feel comfortable on the lips, and I'm enjoying using them. I have yet to lip swatch these because of a pesky blemish, but will be doing so in the next week or so! You can find reviews and lip swatches of the others here:

MUA Power Pouts in Justify, Broken Hearted, Irreplaceable, and Crazy in Love

MUA Power Pout in Runway

MUA Power Pout in Rendezvous

Revlon Balm Stain in Crush

Revlon Balm Stain in Honey

Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bars in Juicy Apple and Juicy Peach

Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Fuchsia-ristic

Bourjois Colour Boost in Peach on the Beach

Let me just say, the camera really highlights freckles and hair! I didn't even know my lips had freckles on them until I started blogging. I also started waxing my upper lip after some of these swatches, so, uh, excuse the moustache ;) Oh, and on a side note, the MUA Power Pout lids are rubbish, so I wouldn't go trusting them in your bag! Also, the swatches above show just one swipe of each lip crayon, so you can see how pigmented they are.

Illamasqua Cream Blushers in Seduce and Dixie

Seduce, Dixie

Natural lighting, flash

I've only ever tried a nail polish from Illamasqua, and that was because I had an ASOS voucher. The products are more expensive than the amount I'm willing to pay for cosmetics. However, Illamasqua recently had a sale, and I couldn't refuse! I've heard plenty of good things about their cream blushes, so decided to buy Seduce and Dixie (after hours of looking at swatches and reviews!). They're normally £18, but were in the sale for £7.50. There was also a 10% off code floating around, so I ended up paying just £6.75 for each blush. Delivery is free, and I also got 56p cash back on each one - Result! I was intrigued by these because the formula looked similar to my beloved NYX ones; creamy and pigmented. Every other cream blush I've tried has been quite hard to touch, and requires warming up with your fingers before use. This means they're difficult to use with a stippling brush. Thankfully, these are like my NYX ones. They're not quite as creamy, however, but still impressive. On Illamasqua's website, Seduce is described as a warm, rose pink, and Dixie is described as a warm, coral pink. 'Raspberry' and 'coral' would be my descriptions. In the swatches above, I've swiped them with my finger, and then stippled them on so you can see how subtle and natural they can be.

Did you buy anything from the Illamasqua sale? Roll on the next, I say!

2True Nail Polish in Shade 17

This is my 800th post!

I spotted this beautiful, peachy pink shade in Superdrug a few months ago, and thought I'd give it a go for £1.99. The formula leaves a lot to be desired, though. It's sheer, so you need 3-4 coats, and rather streaky. It's also not fast drying, as it claims to be (UPDATE: I painted my nails around 2pm, went to bed around 11pm, and woke up with dents and smudges in my nails. Definitely not fast drying!). Still, I love the colour, and was instantly drawn to it!

Have you tried any 2True nail polishes?

MUA Power Pout in Runway

This is my last drafted post, and I haven't bought anything new recently, so need to go to the drawing board after this and think of new post ideas! This is MUA's Power Pout in Runway. You can see my swatches of the rest of the collection here and here. It's looking a little patchy in the photo above, but it wasn't in real life, I promise! Also, I rarely wear it to this intensity. I prefer to wear it as a light stain and create that 'I've just been eating strawberries' look. Runway is a warm, strawberry red which can pack a punch on my pale lips if desired. Like the other shades, it lasts for a good few hours before wearing away, leaving a subtle stain.

I really like the MUA Power Pouts, and hope they bring out more shades in the future. They're definitely worth more than their £3 price tag!

Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Fuchsia-ristic

Another day, another lip crayon. I've had this one for a while, so thought it was about time I blogged about it! Soap & Glory's Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Fuchsia-ristic is the balmiest lip crayon I own, and the most sheer. It's not designed to be an intense, lip staining, long lasting lip colour, but a rather good tinted lip balm that lasts a little longer than others in this category. It lasts for a few hours, and smells delicious, like vanilla. The name suggests Fuchsia-ristic is a fuchsia, and the bullet suggests it's a bold orange, but it's more of a warm, natural pink.

These gloss sticks are priced at £8, but can often be bought for less due to offers. For example, they are currently only £5 in Boots, so I'm tempted to pick up another shade or two!