Of Love and Lipstick

I was casually scrolling my Instagram feed when I came across this clip of pure, blinding glitter. Because I love glitter so much, I knew whatever it was I had to have it. I noticed the post was from my local MAC counter, so I promised myself that I would go down and have a little nosey. I found out that MAC had recently launched their new Dazzleshadow Liquid; a super shimmery, glittery liquid eyeshadow. I was in love!

This past weekend I celebrated my 25th birthday! I refuse to believe that I am now a quarter of a century. It feels like yesterday I graduated high school, but it's actually been SEVEN years!! My mind has been blown. I'm not a big birthday celebration person; my ideal way to spend my birthday is to go shopping and have a nice lunch. So, on the day of my birthday, I took a little road trip down to the Livingston Designer Outlet. I had wanted to visit the outlet for a long time because I had heard from friends that one of my favourite stores were located there - the Cosmetics Company Store. To find out that there is a Cosmetics Company Store just over an hour away, means that this post might become a a regular thing.  For those who don't know, the Cosmetics Company Store sells discounted makeup from brands under the Estēe Lauder Company - such as MAC, Tom Ford, Origins and Bobbi Brown.

It's been a while since I've put a post out about my monthly favourites, I've been playing around with too many new products to really get a good feel for them. But in March, I started to get back into using things that I really enjoy. My go to products in March were all about being travel-friendly (hence why the majority of them are travel-sized) and simple to use. 

When I first started seeing the Barry M Fall in Love Palette all over Instagram, the first thing I noticed was that it has similar red and orange shades to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Subculture Palette. To be honest, I didn't get subculture because of the issues with the palette's formula and because I wasn't really interested in half of the shades. It was only the warm yellows and oranges that stood out to me. I picked this out not because I though it would be a 'dupe' for some of the  Subculture Palette's shadows, but just because I wanted to experience such bright shades without breaking the bank.  

Now, I'm not one for super unusual or funky coloured lipsticks but when I saw this Kat Von D Rock Candy Studded Kiss Lipstick Set in Debenhams last month, I just had to buy it. The only lip products that I had tried previously from Kat Von D were the Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks, so I was super excited to try something new.

I'm a big fan of the Lush Boxing Day sale, it's the one day each year when I buy the majority of my products to last the rest of the year. Everyone knows that to get the best pick of the sale you have to go to the stores opening, which can get a bit crazy. Now, I could not get to the Lush sale personally, my mum kindly did my shopping for me, but supposedly my local shop was a bit crazy. Bless the hearts of all those Lush employees who have the patience of saints.  I know it's  a bit late because Boxing Day was over two weeks ago; I debated whether to still post this.  I'm still posting this because I think it would be good to talk about what I picked and why.

Let me start by stating: I love Winter! The chunky knits, tartan blanket scarves, and oodles of hot chocolate become my new norm. Christmas preparations come into full swing and everyone becomes super festive. When I think of what type of lipstick I typically gravitate towards during Winter, I see deep dark reds, rich berry tones, and dark nudes. There are five lipsticks in particular that I have found myself reaching for more during the current and past Winters. And they're all tried and tested, nothing brand new or just discovered.