New In: Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24 Hour Leather Effect: Creamy Beige and Vintage Plum

So the new shades of the Maybelline Colour Tattoos were top of my US shopping list...until I spotted these in my local Boots store this morning! Maybelline released the Leather Effect collection of their well-loved Colour Tattoos earlier this year, and they've finally hit UK shores. These look to be the only two available in the UK for now: Creamy Beige and Vintage Plum. Creamy Beige isn't dissimilar to the MAC Paint Pot in Groundwork, maybe not a dupe but not far from it. I think it'll make a lovely matte base shade. Vintage Plum is a gorgeous greyed out lilac - not unlike the Colour Tattoo in Permanent Taupe but with a touch more purple in there. 

After a stark realisation that my face resembled a glitter ball at work last week, I've been looking to pick up some more matte shadow shades and try them out for size. At just £4.99 a pot, these might be the perfect two, although picking these up hasn't put me off the scent of the new Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 palette when it's released. Perhaps a new love affair with matte shadows is about to begin!   

K x

Long Lasting Eyeshadow Sticks: A Travel Essential.

So it’s 5 weeks until my next overseas adventure, and I’m already starting to think about what I’ll pack in my makeup bag. I’ve amassed a fair few cream eyeshadow sticks and I’m beginning to really love them. Swipe, blend, go. Perfect for the days when you sleep in before work, and equally perfect when you’ve 10 minutes to get ready before setting out to explore on your travels. Plus – you really don’t need to spend much to get your hands on a great one.  Here are some from my collection that have made my travel shortlist so far:

The Original: Clinique Chubby Stick for Eyes in 02 Lots o’ Latte. Clinique led the way with their chubby stick range and other brands were fast to follow suit. This is a solid offering in a lovely cool toned brown - I really love the shade name too! With a primer this lasts about 5 hours on me, and makes a great base to build on with powder shadows.

The One from Across the Pond: Make Up Forever Aqua Shadow in 30E.This brand is on every beauty addict’s US shopping list. I actually picked this up in Copenhagen Sephora, and realised I’d paid a pretty penny for it once I figured out the exchange rate! The shade 30E is a warm rosy gold which is shimmery but not glittery.The wear is excellent on these but be warned: blend the second it hits your eye, as once this sets it Does. Not. Budge. 

The Bloggers’ Favourite: KIKO Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow in 25, 07 and 38.The fact I have three of these is possibly testament enough. These are smooth, long wearing and hold their own used solo, but are easy to blend together for a more dynamic evening look. Kiko’s offering are a strong contender to be the only eye shadows I travel with! 38 is a particularly special shade…it’s a rich, taupey lilac with finely milled silver and gold glitter. Love it.

The Ones I Hunted High and Low For: Smashbox Waterproof Shadow Liner in Chrome and Luminous Fig. The minute I read Sali Hughes’ love letter to the Smashbox Shadow Liner I knew I had to get my hands on these. My Mum found a stash in a Cosmetics Company Store and I swiftly put in my order with her. I must admit I don’t love these as much as I’d hoped, but if Sali loves them then I think I just need more practice. I picked up a grey shade in this formula, which is definitely harder to master than my standard beigey browns!

The Wild Card: Barbara Daly Make Up Long Wear Eye Shadow in Shell and Shimmer Sand. Barbara Daly makeup reminds me of sneaking pastel eyeshadow into my Mum’s Tesco shopping trolley when I was a teen. But a recent revisit to the brand has really come up trumps – these are fabulous. I particularly love shell as an inner corner highlight, but worn all over the lid with liquid liner and a red lip would be a perfect city break look.      

So which am I going to pack for my upcoming trip? Erm…Can I take them all? I guess what I didn’t mention is that they’re so compact that you can definitely pack a few!  

K x

The Glamour Beauty Power List 2014: Latest In Beauty Box

 

In the spirit of expanding my beauty horizons, I decided to bite the bullet and order my first ever Beauty Box.  And what a box this is!  Glamour Magazine have collaborated with Latest In Beauty to create a box with some of the best of their Glamour Beauty Power List 2014.   

My box contained the following products:

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer

James Read Sleep Mask 

Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara  

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

Maybelline ColourSensational Nude Lipstick in Sultry Sand 

Eyeko Mascara Off Eye Make Up Remover Wipes

Philip Kinglsey Daily Damage Defense

I think this is an amazing deal at £15.99 for products worth over £80 - plus you get a 12-month digital subscription to Glamour thrown in too. The mascara and primer were already on my shopping list, so to be honest the rest was pretty much a total bonus in my eyes. I'm super excited to try out the original Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish too, being a fan of their limited edition camomile version. The lipstick is perhaps a tad light for me though.  I love the idea of beige-nude lips but this reminds me of an encounter with my Mum's concealer aged 5 - I thought it was a lipstick and thus applied liberally.  So fingers crossed it surprises me and doesn't mimic the result from all those years ago!

K :) x 

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KIKO Daring Games in 30 minutes

So I’m delighted that a recent beauty purchase fuses travel with beauty: my ultimate blog aim that I know my bank balance will probably hinder most of the time! 

Beauty addicts will wonder why I’ve taken my photos of KIKO Milano products a-top a London Underground map, since they’re an Italian company with a distinctly continental feel.  Let me explain, as this illustrates one of my greatest shopping achievements to date.  I had an hour and a half ‘til my train from King’s Cross Station, a day ticket for the tube and failing coffee shop wifi on my hands.  I could sit and wait for the train…or take a speedy jaunt to Regent Street to pick up some of the limited edition Daring Game line.  The round trip took me 30 minutes - I jumped out of Oxford Street tube station, shopped Supermarket Sweep style and hot-footed it back to Kings Cross with an hour to spare before my train home.  I’ve developed a real love for KIKO - there’s just something about getting my hands on products not readily available to me that I just can’t get enough of!

I grabbed (literally!) their Ace of Diamond Lipstick in 27 Defined Burgundy and Poker Nail Lacquer in 24 Intuition Wine - the perfect autumn/winter lip and nail combo perhaps - and they were more than worth the impromptu dash around London.   KIKO polishes last so well on me, and I love the limited edition dice-themed packaging they’ve created.  The lipstick is lovely too and fulfills my annual September longing for a berry stained lip.  If this wasn't matchy-matchy enough, KIKO have released matching lip liners to go with each of the lipsticks...if I make it to London again anytime soon I know what's on my shopping list!

I also added the Colour Up Long Lasting Eyeshadow to my beauty arsenal, in shade 10 Bold Rosy Taupe.  I’ve not used this one enough to give much of a review, but it’s a beautiful taupe-y lilac shade that I think will make the perfect base shade paired with my well-loved Urban Decay Naked 3 palette. 

I’m planning a full post on my favourite beauty items to pick up in London-town, so stay tuned for that!

K x

PS – did anyone else enjoy my Supermarket Sweep reference in the opening paragraph as much as I did when it popped in my head? Dale Winton: quite possibly the original king of the bronzed look.  Ultimate Respect.

An Impromptu Autumn Haul

I toyed with a beauty ban this month with an upcoming trip to save for, but September always brings new beauty launches to draw me in.  Pair that with finally starting this blog and well…some shopping went down.

The product that broke my ban was the Maybelline Color Sensational Elixir.  I needed to repurchase my faithful Maybelline gel eyeliner a few weeks back and the stand was empty in my local Superdrug.  I took a sneaky peek in the drawers under the counter - and there were the Color Elixirs; all ready to be put on stand.  I’m usually pretty aware of upcoming launches, but Maybelline certainly kept this one quiet after the blogger hype when they launched stateside.  So when they finally appeared on counter I was primed and ready for a purchase!  I picked up the shade Signature Scarlet, a bright red shade perfect to match with my standard autumn uniform of brand new tan boots, dark denim and Breton tees.  I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with glossy stain products, so as a backup I picked up another new launch, the Maybelline Color Drama Lipstick in Light It Up – a bold, beautiful matte pencil product.  After a few uses I think this could be a potential pocket-friendly dupe for the Nars Lip Pencil line. I’ll keep you posted.  

So my drawer rummage in Superdrug was to no avail – I may have spied a new launch ahead of release but the gel eyeliner I needed was out of stock.  I decided to try something new having become a little more confident with a cat-eye in recent months, and picked up the Collection Faststroke Eyeliner in Black.  This has proved to be the star of my haul - £2.99, easy to control and stays jet black all day, even on my greasy eyelids.  I think this might be a new love! This paired with one of my new red lip products and lashings of mascara has been a go-to look for me this month.

I rarely go on a Superdrug spree without indulging in a nail varnish purchase…or two.  I picked up the new Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in Paprika – another new autumn launch – and one of the Tanya Burr Cosmetics polishes in Penguin Chic.  I usually love the Barry M Gelly line polishes, but Paprika reminds me a little too much of Heinz ketchup for my liking when on the nail.  It also chipped within 24 hours even with my usual topcoat, which was a disappointment.  I was pleasantly surprised by Tanya Burr’s polish though which wore for a good 4 days without any signs of chipping, and the colour was a very sophisticated dark grey.  They’re currently on offer in Superdrug for £3.99 which is a bargain – I’m considering adding to my collection. 

I hope you enjoyed this haul, and first proper post on The Lipstick Voyage! Please comment below and stay tuned for the inevitable monthly beauty hauls to come.

K x  

Welcome :)

So this post has been a long time coming. Countless potential blog names, multiple post drafts, and hours considering what my corner of the interweb might look like, I've finally made it!  Welcome to The Lipstick Voyage, where I'll share my passions with you from voyages around the world to my weekly voyage to the cosmetic counters. Enjoy :)

K x