palmer's | 'dark chocolate & peppermint' lip butter

palmer's 'dark chocolate & peppermint' lip butter: £2.99

a new autumn lip colour

collection lip definer in shade 2 cappuccino: £2.79

if you know me, you know i love a dark lip. that said, i was tired of my selection of burgundy and purple toned dark lipsticks and was on the search for a new, more brown toned one after falling in love with the colour of the mac spice lip liner but knowing i could never, ever possess anything mac. after trawling many online cruelty free makeup brands and spending hours in my local superdrug and boots swatching my hands looking for the perfect shade to no avail, i decided to give up on looking for a lipstick and instead turned to lip liners, and that's when i clapped eyes on this offering from collection.

upon first inspection, i doubted that cappuccino would be the shade i was looking for because it looks quite tame and almost nude in the bullet, but after i swatched it i realised that it had a load of potential if i was to build it up. for £2.79 i didn't think about heading to the till with it and it's been a story of nothing but love since then. 

with the product being a lip liner it's of course somewhat drying, but if you pop a little bit of lip balm on before applying it the job's a good 'un. the finish of the liner is a lovely, smooth matte one that actually has pretty decent staying power. of course if you sit down to eat a meal you won't be left with very much on your lips afterwards, but i've sat and drank cups of tea wearing it and it still looks good to go afterwards! unlike other matte lip products, this liner doesn't flake or chap unattractively throughout the day, so you're not left with that awful line on your inner lip that shows where your lip begins and product ends. 

all in all, i am super duper impressed and so beyond happy that i stumbled upon this little gem. i was starting to give up hope that there was a cruelty free option of this shade out there waiting for me, and to find it for under £3 was just absolutely fabulous. collection as a brand generally impress me anyway because the quality of their products is always great for the prices they charge, and this lip liner is certainly no different and has now firmly made its way into my list of favourite lip products. 

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this or that: lip exfoliators

e.l.f. lip exfoliator: £3.75 / lush popcorn lip scrub: £5.50

as far as lip exfoliators go, i can't say i'm all that clued up; to my knowledge, there are three popular options: the well loved lush lip scrubs, the e.l.f. lip exfoliator and a body shop lip exfoliator, and of the three i've mentioned, i've only ever branched out enough to try two of them. that being said, i'm thinking perhaps the apparent lack of options available on the high street is due to the success of the limited options available to us all; why fix something if it ain't broken, eh?

i first purchased the the e.l.f. lip exfoliator around this time last year, it being the first i'd ever tried, and from then i haven't looked back. it's one of those items that quickly found its way into my daily routine and got me wondering how the hell i'd ever gone about my normal makeup routine without it by my side, so it came as no surprise to me when i purchased another within the year. then, as the makeup junkie within me took over, i decided to pick up a lush lip scrub on a whim on boxing day to try out, and since then i've been using both products intermittently to keep my lips in top form.

i find it hard to actually pick a favourite of the two items; the e.l.f. product is compact, somewhat easier to transport and definitely less messy than the lush product, but i still find myself reaching for the lush option because it smells and tastes delicious, provides a thorough scrub of your lips and seems to last a lifetime. the e.l.f. product isn't unpleasant in taste or smell, but the cocoa taste can often be a little overpowering, and sometimes the lipstick-like formula of the product can be a little bit too abrasive on lips that only need a little bit of a scrub.

for the above reasons, i keep one of each product within my makeup bag at any one time, using the e.l.f. product occasionally when my lips are in dire need of saving, and using the lush product on a pretty much daily basis when my lips just need to be perfected a little before applying my lipstick. both products are fantastic value for money, having lasted me now for 5+ months and not even being half used, so once again i'm finding it hard to say for sure that you should buy one item over the other. i suppose in terms of availability, the lush option might be easier to get a hold of as it's a) available on the high street, and b) the lip exfoliator is an e.l.f. favourite (meaning it frequently sells out online so you can often be waiting weeks before you can even place an order for one!), so if you're looking for convenience, opt for lush. if time isn't an issue, give e.l.f. a go and save a couple of quid, but all in all, you'll be receiving a fantastic product whichever you opt for.

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e.l.f. | studio matte lip colour in nearly nude

e.l.f. studio matte lip colour: £3.95

ah, matte lip colours, nothing scares me quite like the thought of them, however for some reason i was once feeling brave when placing an e.l.f. order and threw one of their matte lip colours into my basket to give a whirl.

to be honest, i've been really pleasantly surprised by this product. when i think of matte lip colours, i think of dry, flaky, unattractive lips, however the formula of this product seems to ensure that you end up with the absolute opposite end result. the product has a very small, rounded nib, and the formula itself is really soft and creamy with a subtly delicious taste - yes, taste! my initial suspicions when first using the product would be that to apply it onto a lip balm base would produce the best effect, however i was wrong. with a balm underneath, the product seems to stick to it and creates that unattractive, harsh line around the inner edge of your bottom lip (not attractive!), so since then i've been applying it directly onto unaided lips, and for the most part it applies well.

i've found that applying the product from the inner side of your lip outwards in a vertical fashion (as though you were following the small lines of your lips) seems to provide the best results, leaving you with an all over, even coating free of cracks or lines, however give it an hour or so and the product will, unfortunately, start to wear off. i notoriously have trouble finding nude shades that don't leave lines on my lip, so i'm not sure if it's the colour of the product that makes for this result, or the formula itself. that said, the product certainly isn't unpleasant to apply or wear, so i'll be making the most of this product while it lasts. i can't say that i'll definitely be buying any more of e.l.f.'s matte lip colours, but i certainly wouldn't rule them out of future purchases altogether.

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soap & glory | sexy mother pucker gloss stick

soap & glory sexy mother pucker gloss stick in raplumzel: £8

for christmas i received a £10 boots voucher, and with the intention of picking up the supercat liner and soap and glory being on 2 for 1, i decided to pick one of these gloss sticks up on a whim too. i'd never used a gloss stick or any other lip colour in the form of a chubby stick before, so the experience was to be an entirely new one to me.

on first impressions i was a little underwhelmed, the colour pay off just wasn't what i was expecting it to be. i personally love a really deep, intense colour, so the light covering that these gloss sticks offer just wasn't doing it for me. i decided to keep at using the product however and found that the colour is buildable and after a few coats you can achieve a nice punch of colour with a subtle glossy finish. i've used some of soap and glory's other sexy mother pucker lip glosses before and hated everything about them as they're far too sticky and any hint of wind and your hair's stuck to your face (not a pleasant experience or look!) so in comparison to those other products, this lip product is definitely one of soap and glory's more desirable ones in my eyes. i find myself reaching for this product if i'm going for a toned down, neutral look that doesn't require a bold lip to make a statement as it adds a hint of colour and helps to moisturise your lips without drawing all the attention to them.

as much as the product is nice and does its job, i don't think i'll be buying any more from this range as i personally prefer the colour intensity you get from lipsticks and realise now that it was silly of me to ever think that a glossy colour would tick all the boxes for me! that said, if you're into the subtle, glossy pop of colour that you get from gloss sticks, i'd say go check these out.

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sleek | matte me lip cream

there are two things i tend to steer clear of when it comes to lip products: matte formulas and nude colours. however, after my recent stint of becoming utterly obsessed with marina and the diamonds and trying my absolute best to channel the strong, independent lady that she has you believe she is, i decided to dip my toes into a couple of new zones and ended up purchasing this baby.

on first impressions i thought "what have i done?!" as the product applies wet and i assumed (for some reason i just cannot fathom) that the formula would stay somewhat tacky while on your lips, so after rubbing my lips around mindlessly while the formula was drying, i was disappointed when i ended up with a patchy, flaky finish. attempt number two and this time i applied the product evenly and waited patiently for the product to dry before touching my lips together, and viola, the product was even, smooth and covered my lips perfectly!

in terms of longevity, this product's a tricky one. i can sit and sip at my tea and not have it budge, yet throughout the day it'll wear off of its own accord and go a little flaky around the inner part of your mouth, which for me is never a good look, meaning i feel cautious all day while wearing it because i don't want it to resemble the dreaded 'foundation lips' look that is massively avoided. to prevent this, i like to top it up every hour or so just to be safe.

the colour is wonderful. i'm very much into my bold red lips, however lately i've been enjoying wearing softer, more nude colours with a soft pink blush, and this works perfectly for giving an overall softer, girlier look. because of the matte formula, it can however look a little bit overdone because your lips don't have any kind of natural sheen to them, and attempting to give them some kind of sheen with a gloss over the top just budges the product around on your lips leaving them patchy.

all in all, i can say that the matte look has definitely intrigued me. so far i'm finding it a little tricky to wear, however i'm definitely tempted to go ahead and buy some more matte lip products to see what i can get to work for me!

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