Lanolips Review

A while back I decided to buy myself some Lanolips after hearing Sharon Farrell on YouTube rave about it. So I popped down to Boots and got myself a tube and see how it worked. 

 

Now, I'm a massive lip balm user to the point I think I have a serious addiction and normally, I make my own but the cold winter has been really cruel on my lips so I decided to invest in something a bit more heavy duty.

My dog did decide that it was the perfect chew toy, so apologises for the manky cap!

 Lanolips is an Australian based brand and as the name suggests, it's a lanolin based product. Now, props to them for using only lanolin and lanolin oil and not making it stink of sheep and having really cute packaging but that's where the amazingness begins and ends.

It's not a bad product, not at all bit an over priced one. I dropped £10.99 on this lip balm and while it was nice, it wasn't nearly £11 worth of nice. It didn't really moisturise my lips sufficiently and I was liberally. It's a typical lanolin product and you do need to let it melt a wee bit before it spreads but I'd not consider that to be a negative in any way, shape or form because that is the nature of lanolin - it is a solid at room temperature. It melts really easily and applies nicely.

While it was a nice product, if you really wanted a lanolin cream, I would either make your own or buy nipple cream cause it's cheaper and would work the same. As nice as it is, there's nothing special about it other than it doesn't stink of sheep so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you really loved lanolin based creams.

Slightly disappointed given the hype surrounding this product but it was nice enough bit not enough to make me want to rush out and buy it again. 

Where to buy
Boots

Story of my Life TAG

It's been a weird week and it's flew by. Flew by so fast I didn't properly prepare anything for my blog. Bad Holly, I know. I have so many new products I'm still trying out and I didn't want to rush a post just to have something up so I've decided to do a tag!

I read this originally on taylorscollectionn and thought it was a cute idea! I know I'm a wee bit older than same of the questions are targeted at but fuck it!

I also thought I'd be nice to do a more wee personal post cause I've not really let the whole 1 person that probably read this semi regularly anything about me!

So without further ado, here's the Story of My Life TAG (Que One Direction)

1. Where and when was your birth?
- I was born on 15th August, 1991 in a hospital in Bellshill that no longer exists!

2. Who chose your name (s) and was there a reason?
- My Mum chose my name. I was gonnae be called Rachel but didn't suit it so I was called Holly and my middle name was also chosen by my Mum because she loved The Addams Family so I was named Holly Wednesday!


3. Earliest childhood memory?
- My earliest memory is a really fuzzy one, I mind being in a hospital going to visit Abbey(my youngest sibling), how had just been born and trying to get Emma (middle sibling) to play with me in the stairways. I remember it was overcast.

4. What were your hobbies as a child?
- Me and my sisters were budding cinematographers as weans, and photographers, and witches, and really everything. We all had really over active imaginations so a lot of our time was spent making up games with our Barbies or Lego. Both of which had epic ongoing story lines that spanned years.

I also loved drawing and crafting stuff, still do but I don't spend as much time doing it as I should.

We also loved playing video games. The Sims and Age of Empires II have such fond memories.

5. Do you have any siblings?
- Haha! Aye, I do :p I've not mentioned them in this tag yet though...

6. Funny story of something you did or said as a child that still makes you cringe?
 - Not really something that makes me cringe but it does make me laugh then I think about it. I've never slept well and suffered from really bad nightmares and terrors up until I was about 20ish and as a child I used to stress so much over the phrase "catch up on your sleep"

You see... I used to think you had to sleep for 8 hours a night and if you didn't, you had to "catch up" and make the hours back. So I used to get myself all upset cause I thought I'd never be able to repay my sleep debt. Silly, I know!

7. Did you do well at school (are you doing well at school?)
 - I was good at school, in the top or second top classes. Apart from Maths, I was shite at maths.

8. First teenage celebrity crush?
- God! I don't know. I really don't. Hmm... He wasn't my first but he's one I mind; Ron Weasley from Harry Potter. I think was 13 or something.

9. Favourite song (s) of all time?
- Take on Me by a-Ha is ma jam! Never fails to make me smile. And aye, I do the high note and naw, I'm not good at it (is anyone though, really?)

10. Favourite moment or memory of your life so far?
- The one I'm thinking about is a bit too personal for me to share on the internet so I'll tell you a fun wee memory I have from my childhood. My mum used to have this acoustic guitar and me, Emma and Abbey used to make up songs and write parodies while pretending to play it. I still could sing you that one about the gnome.

11. Have you fulfilled any of your dreams or ambitions yet?
- I have! I am a fully qualified Makeup Artist and while I hated University with a vehement passion, I stuck with it and got my degree.

12. What are your dreams and ambitions for the future?
- I have a million and one things I want to do! My aim is to be one the ways to becoming self employed by the end of the year. I also want to take sewing lessons and learn how to make clothes and also go back to The Academy of Makeup and do their hairstyling courses!

I want to be a one woman whirlwind!

And there we have it! My first tag! If anyone gives a shit and wants to do this tag then I tag you!
:) Just mind to tag @tayscollection on twitter so she can see it too!

xx 

New Revlon Colourburst Balms

So we finally got Revlon's new stain balms launched here in the UK! Whoop! I personally adore Revlon's lip products and I was so excited to see a huge extension to their Colourburst Balms because I loved the whole "chubby stick" trend that was floating about. I love lip crayons!

After pouring through one million swatches online, I decided to mosey on down to Boots and check out these new Stain Balms and try to decide which ones I was going to throw my money at.

So I looked at all of them: 10 Mattes and 10 Lacquers, so there was plenty to choose from but I finally settled with one from each texture. Limited funds suck but I made the best with what I had!

Shameless and Ingenue were my final two!

Left to Right: Shameless (Matte) & Ingenue (Lacquer)

Before I get into swatches and the review I want to give my overall impression of the line. The Matte colours are all gorgeous and all extremely pigmented with a wide variety of colours. The Lacquers are more like lipglosses, shiny and sheerer in pigmentation than the mattes. The Matte line is probably my favourite of the two because it has a better colour selection and tonnes of great spring/summer colours. But really, I think it comes down to me preferring a punchier lip.

Swatches

Top to Bottom: Ingenue, Shameless

I'll start with Ingenue. I love this colour! It's a beautiful nude colour on my medium skin tone and just glides across the skin. While the camera doesn't pick it up, it does have a wee bit of glitter in it but not offensively so - I barely notice it on the lips when it's on but I do notice some glitter residue once the colour has wore off.

It has decent staying power but don't expect it to last all day. It is still a gloss. This stays on my lips for about 2 hours-ish if I'm not eating or drinking.

Naked Lips

Ingenue

Moving on to my lip colour of the moment: Shameless! Where do I start? As soon as I knew Revlon were coming out with the purple I had to have it. Purple is my ultimate favourite colour and I love it on lips. And it's matte. And it's in a lip crayon format. It's beautiful. Like Ingenue, it glides onto the lips like butter and despite being a matte formula it's not overly drying but still stays in place pretty well.

I get about 3 1/2 hours of full colour (with me powdering it) and another hour or 2 with the stain left behind with the pigment. So this will linger for a while and I've not noticed any traveling with this lipstick. It stays pretty much were you put it.

Naked Lips again

Shameless

I apologise for the blurry picture but this is as close as I could get to represent the colour Shameless goes onto my lips.

Overall, I love these new balms. I love the different textures and it's great to see so many matte lipsticks on the highstreet! Once I have a bit extra money I'll be definitely be buying more of them!

Where to Buy
Boots
Superdrug

x

Beautiful Night Time Eyes with Naked 3

Yesterday I showed you how to do a simple but flawless daytime eye using the new Urban Decay Naked 3 palette and today I'm going to show you how you can take that same look and turn it into a smokey night time by added just a black eyeliner and one more shadow!

Night Time Smokey Eye Using Blackheart

1. Take your favourite black liner, draw a thick line close to the lashline and blend that upwards. I used a Sleek one of Emma's in this tutorial but I wasn't sold on it. My recommendation would be the Rimmel Scandaleyes black liner - it's easily the best liner I've used.

2. Just to make sure the deep of the eye isn't lost, I took a bit more of Nooner and added it to the crease contour. For some reason my phone picked up more of the grey in Nooner than the pink, but I assure you I did use Nooner!

3. I then took Blackheart and patted it all over the lid and used a smaller brush to smoke it under the eye. Sorry for not actually taking a picture of that but for some reason I skipped that step in the photo session. That's what I get for talking too much!

4. Blend all of that out to make it super smokey! Add more mascara if you fancy it but I didn't apply anymore to Emmy here. For some reason, my camera didn't pick up any of the pink glitter but it was stunning in real life!

Products Used
Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette
Sleek Eau La La liner in Black
Ecotools Eyeshadow Brush
Ecotools Smallest brush from the 5 Piece Eye Set

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Beautiful Eyes with Naked 3

Today I'll show you how to achieve a quick and easy daytime eye look using the Naked 3 palette. Now, I know a lot of people are making tutorials that are a bit more intricate and lavish but the average woman doesn't really have the time or the skills to sit and do the perfect eyes using 10 shadows.

While I love big, dramatic eyes, I wanted to create looks that were simple and easy to copy so that everyone can get the most out of their Naked 3 palette regardless of their skill set.

I will be using my little sister, Emma as my model so a big thank you to Emmy because I'm rubbish at taking pictures of myself. I fail at the #selfie.

Day Time Shimmer

1. After you have applied a primer of your choice. Take your eyeshadow brush and pat Strange all over the lids and to the brow.

2. Using the same brush (or a blending brush that you like) Take Nooner and place it in the crease and blend it out using a windscreen wiper motion. If you are having trouble blending it out, take a bit of Strange again to help defuse the edges.

3. Using a smaller detailing brush (or eyeliner brush) sweep Nooner under the eyes, minding to connect the crease contour with the undershadow by doing a C shape.

4. Then, take Buzz and pat it on the mobile lid.

5. Wipe off the smaller brush, take Dust and pop it on the inner corner for a beautiful glowy highlight.

6. Take a liner brush and create a thin line using Blackheart. Feel free to wing it out if you wish, but I haven't.

Ta-Dah!

7. Apply your favourite mascara!

And there you have it, a simple but effective day time eye that isn't too in your face but still looks perfected and glam!

Tomorrow, I'll show you how to turn this eye from day to night using the Naked 3!

Products Used
Urban Decay Naked 3
Ecotools Eyeshadow Brush
Ecotools Smallest brush from the 5 Piece Eye Set

xx

Naked 3 Palette Review!

Look at it ripple!

I know that everyone and their dug has talked about, raved about, and ran down the street shouting "Merry Christmas" "Naked 3!" when it comes to this palette, but with good reason!

Urban Decay finally brought the long awaited third installment of the Naked Palette franchise. Now, I'll admit, the Naked and Naked 2 palettes were nice but nothing really all that special. I like them, they look beautiful, but in my eyes they were kind of... meh...

Excuse the lampshade!

Not the Naked 3. As soon as I seen the promo images for this palette I knew that we had to be together. This palette is just gorgeous! I mean, the shadows have that exquisite texture and pigmentation that you expect from Urban Decay as a brand and it's pink! Finally a huge neutral palette that actually does something new. I mean, I love browns and taupes but everyone has 1 million and 1 browns and taupes. They also have continued on the embossed tin casing, which is lovely and it's really durable so unless you're traveling with the Hulk you don't need to worry about it falling apart. The mirror is massive, the same as it's neutrally brethen, and combining that with its fantastic selection of pink toned neutral shades it is all you need to look fierce, gurrrrrrl!

I've been watching far too much RuPaul's Drag Race....

Anyway!, lets get down to the nitty gritty and see the wonderful shades in this palette. As I said before, this palette is all pinky toned shades and it is just perfection. I have been wearing this palette for nearly a week straight and every single eyeshadow is divine!

Strange, Dust, Burnout, Limit.

The first 4 colours are our lightest shades.

Strange is a lovely matte vanilla.

Dust is a frosted gold.

Burnout is a shimmery rose gold and

Limit is a gorgeous matte, soft pink.

Buzz, Trick, Nooner, Liar.

 Next four are slightly deeper.

Buzz is a darker rose pink shade than Burnout.

Trick is shimmery warm gold.

Nooner (my favourite shade) is a stunning deep, dusky pink shade. Great for contouring in the crease.

Liar is a beautiful warm minky pink.

Factory, Mugshot, Darkside, Blackheart

Lastly, we have the darker shades.

Factory is a purpley gunmetal.

Mugshot is similar to Liar but a lot cooler in tone.

Darkside is a cool greyish colour.

Blackheart is a a phenomenal deep, dark black shot through with pink glitter. Sickening!

While I know these are really rudimentary swatches, I hope it gets across just how lovely these shadows actually are. They are pigmented, creamy and just goddamn gorgeous!

You can do so many looks with this palette from day to night looks and everything inbetween. I love it. To me this palette has almost nothing negative about it (perhaps the fact that Nooner sounds like a childish term for a vagina).

All in all, if you want a Naked palette but don't know which one to get, or just love pink then grab this palette as soon as!

But if you're not convinced, I'll will be putting up wee makeup look tutorials using this palette all this week! So stay tuned in to see some lovely looks using the Naked 3.


*Disclaimer
 This product was bought by me and my sisters using our own money.