July Favourites

Here are some of my favourite beauty products from july. There's been a heatwave here in the UK for the past couple of weeks so it's been SO hot and sunny everyday! It's not been a big makeup month for me because of this, I've been going for simple makeup instead of experimenting.

From left - right: Sun In Super spray in hair lightener, Revlon Photoready Skinlights bronzer, Balance Me rose otto intense lip salve, L'Oréal Paris Lumi Magique concealer, Max Factor Wild Mega Volume mascara and Rimmel London ApocalipsRlip lacquer.

Sun In spray in hair lightener - Super
My hair always lightens to a light auburn colour during summer, but this year I want to try and make it even lighter so thought I'd give this a try while it's on offer at Superdrug for £4.75. It naturally, gradually bleaches the hair when heat is applied to it. All you have to do is spray it into damp hair, comb it through then either use the hair drier or sit in direct sun light to heat it up. My hair has got so much lighter after using it for about a month and I'll definitely carry on using it for the rest of the summer.

Revlon Photoready Skinlights in 400 Bronze Light
I bought this a couple of months ago and have used it almost everyday since. I LOVE it. It isn't too dark and blends so easily, and I love the slight shimmer to it, it's enough to give my skin a healthy glow but not so much that it actually looks glittery. I've always used a tiny bit but found that now I have a bit of a tan I have to build it up a bit more. The bottle is 30ml so I know it will last me a long time, well worth the £11.99 I payed for it.

Balance Me Rose Otto Intense Lip Salve
I got this lip salve free with a Glamour magazine ages ago but didn't like it at first because of the strong smell. But my lips have gotten so dry and chapped in the past few months so I dug this out to give it a try and after using it for a few months I'm now used to the smell and hardly notice it. The lip salve claims to 'plump, smooth and hydrate' and it definitely does. It makes my lips look and feel so smooth and one application will keep the dry skin away for a whole day. It also makes my lips so much bigger, but doesn't have that weird tingly sensation like a lot of lip plumpers do.

L'Oréal Paris Lumi Magique concealer in 02 Medium
This concealer is amazing! It works great as a highlighter around my eyes and down my nose; it really brightens up the face, covers up dark circles and imperfections and generally makes me look more awake and younger. It's also so lightweight, it doesn't feel or look heavy or cakey so is perfect for summer.


Max Factor Wild Mega Volume Mascara in Black
This mascara first came to the Superdrug where I work about 3 weeks ago I think. It is on an introductory price of £4.99 at the minute, saving £2. The price is amazing for a max factor mascara because it is part of their new more affordable Wild Mega Boutique range. The price and the packaging both drew me in and I had to get one straight away. At first I found this mascara very messy, the formula was quite wet and I found I had to comb through my eyelashes with a seperate comb afterwards to get some of the blobs of mascara off, but as I've used it more the formula has definitely thickened up and it has become one of my favourite mascaras. I like the brush and don't own any mascaras with similar brushes, but one thing I don't like is the end; I find it quite hard to grab my inner corner lashes with the flat, chunky end. I would definitely recommend this mascara to anyone on a budget.

Rimmel London Apocalips lip lacquer in Nude Eclipse
I can't even begin to describe how much I love these lip lacquers. I wear Nude Eclipse pretty much every day and I can 100% say it's my favourite lip product EVER , I even own two - one that stays in my handbag and one that stays at home with the rest of my makeup. I also own Big Bang, Galaxy, Apocaliptic and Luna which are all gorgeous colours which I really need to start wearing more.


So there you go, my July favourites! A bit early maybe, but at least I'm organised!

BH Cosmetics 120 Color Palette 1st Edition - review and swatches

I know that EVERYONE has this palette, so this is less of a review and more look what I got!' I also wanted to swatch every colour, as I struggled to find someone who had swatched every single colour before I bought this palette,  but my camera quality isn't great so it would have been pretty pointless.

The palette contains a mix of matte and shimmer colours, with a row of 6 speckled colours. I think the mattes are quite chalky, but they're not hard to work with at all, I just find that I have to load a bit more onto the brush but they're so easy to blend. The browns on the very bottom row are my favourites because I love a smokey eye.

The shimmer colours are SO pigmented, I absolutely love them. They are so bright and colourful and stand right out, I love putting one of them in the inner corner of my eye for a pop of colour. I've worn the greens the most because my eyes are slightly green and I'm always trying my hardest to bring it out, and I think it works well.

I haven't really used the speckled colours yet so can't say much about them, sorry:-) 

I love the packaging; it's very professional looking and is the perfect size. I was expecting it to be very large and bulky, but surprisingly it's very slim and compact. It would fit perfectly in my handbag if I dared take it out of the house!

This is the full palette, the top tray lifts up and sits on top of the bottom one.

A closer look at the first half of the palette, with flash. This is the half i generally use least

Here are some random swatches from the top half of the palette. I swatched the ones that are, in my opinion, the most eye catching, the prettiest and my favourites. This photo is in natural daylight, without flash.

This photo was taken with flash. I wish the camera did the colours justice, they're so much brighter in person, and these swatches are without primer!

The second half of the palette, with flash. I've used this half every single day since I got it, mainly the very top and very bottom row.

Once again my favourites and th most eye catching colours. Without flash

With flash

Sorry for this shabby review, my camera quality isn't that great and I have to post everything from my phone so it takes me a while and I'm quite impatient haha which is why this is only a short review.

I got the palette from www.beautystore4u.co.uk. A very reasonably priced, reliable website.
Thankyou for reading :-) x

Melt Cosmetics Lipstick Review and Swatches

I thought for my first ever post I should write about the greatest makeup moment of my life so far - recieving my Melt Cosmetics lipsticks! If you're an Instagram addict like me then you'll most likely know about Lora Arellano and Dana Bomar and their new makeup line; Melt Cosmetics. A line so far containing 5 lipsticks; Belladonna, Stupid Love, Darling, By Starlight and Summer!

The website was launched on May the 17th, perfect timing for me because it was payday! And thank god it was, because these did not come cheap! They are $19 each plus $29 shipping!! And I was also charged an extra £18 customs and handling charge upon arrival, something I wish I had been warned about as I had never heard of this charge before. My package arrived about 3 weeks after I placed my order, taking 9 days to get from LA to the UK which isn't too bad and they were definitely worth the wait.

Top Left: Summer! Top Right: Belladonna
Bottom Left: Darling Bottom Right: By Starlight

As you can see I only bought four of the five lipsticks, but I am really regretting my decision to not get Stupid Love after seeing the swatches everyone is posting on Instagram. These images show the lipsticks on their own, with nothing underneath or on top and no lip liner. The lipsticks are described as 'Ultra matte' and they really are. I've had plenty of matte lipsticks before but they don't even come close to these. Despite being ultra matte they are not drying at all, they are somehow extremely creamy. They don't show up the dry patches on your lips and they don't make them feel really dry, in fact I can hardly feel them on my lips. They are extremely opaque, I found I only needed one swipe straight from the bullet and I was good to go, although I haven't had the chance to wear them out of the house yet! I haven't had to reapply Belladonna so far after about 3 hours of wear, during which I have drank, eaten and touched my lips quite a lot. It does transfer onto things you touch with your lips - mugs, the back of my hand etc but not so much that it bothers me.

Melt Summer!

The first thing I have to say about this lipstick I am quite disappointed with the colour. It was advertised as a bright pure orange, a colour I have been searching for FOREVER. It is more of a peach/apricot but I am still happy with it and will probably wear it more often than I would have worn an orange. The name 'Summer!' describes this colour perfectly, it is a bright, fun colour that feels very summery but it isn't too bright. I think it will be an easy colour to wear because it goes well with so many other colours, or could be worn with a plain outfit and basic eye makeup to give a pop of colour. The scent of the lipstick is also very summery, it smells like vanilla and cake and icing its DELICIOUS! A nice change from the usual plastic and over powering berry scents you get from other lipsticks. I would definitely recommend this lipstick to someone who wants to try a brighter lipstick but isn't quite brave enough to go all the way yet.

Melt Belladonna

This is the perfect, classic blue based red. The blue undertones make my teeth look so white, which I think is necessary when wearing such a bright, eye catching lipstick. The ultra matte finish gives this lipstick a retro, pin up girl look; I will definitely be pairing it with winged eyeliner and lots of mascara. After years of searching for a staple red I know I have found it in Belladonna as I can 100% say it has no flaws. (I feel weird calling this lipstick 'it' I feel like I should say 'she', that's how in love with it I am)

Melt Darling

Just from swatching these lipsticks I already feel as though Darling is my favourite, simply because I own nothing else like it, however I also think it will be the most dificult to wear, because it is lavender, it was clearly made to stand out and make people look twice. I have olive skin but think I will wear slightly more bronzer when wearing this lipstick so that it doesn't wash me out, however I think it would look great on very pale girls too. I can't wait to pair this with smokey eyes and bronzed skin.

And finally, By Starlight

This is the colour I was least excited about trying because it was advertised as a very dark purple, so I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to pull it off, but I was so intruiged I had to buy it. However it isn't as dark as it has been shown in photographs, it is a rich but bright and true purple, and is very flattering despite being a very bold, quite gothic colour (how do they do it?!) I also think the matte finish makes this colour so much more wearable. Mac's Nightmoth lip liner is the perfect match for this lipstick. Unfortunately I found this colour the hardest to apply straight from the bullet, but I think the addition of a lip brush would make it much easier. Lastly, this lipstick does not smell as good as the rest. Weird huh?? Not that it bothers me, a slightly plastic smell is a small price to pay for such an amazing lipstick.

Final verdict:

If you can afford them, get them. They do cost an awful lot but I think they're so worth it. You can get yours at www.meltcosmetics.com :-)

I've blabbed on and on for a while now but if I've missed anything out or you have any questions or even feedback please feel free to comment. Has anyone else tried these lippies? What did you think?

Heather x