*more excited squeals* ... (#Revolution x The Emily Edit)~

Words cannot describe how excited I was when one of my favourite YouTubers announced that not only was she releasing a collab palette, but that it would be with one of the most affordable and, thank goodness for us UK folks, accessible make-up brands out there, Makeup Revolution! Congrats Emily! I'm so happy for you!

The Emily Edit 'The Wants' palette - £15 - available from Superdrug and Makeup Revolution

The launch of this actually happened while I was on holiday so I couldn't get to it as quickly as I would have liked, and while is was a bit of a bummer that I had to wait a bit to buy this as the initial release sold out basically immediately, I'm super glad for Emily that her palettes (this is one of two) were so well received and that the launch was such a success! And just to go a wee bit off-topic here, as you can see, this palette isn't my usual cup of tea, but I jumped to buy it anyway as if there's someone I feel I can trust to make a palette with genuine and honest care and that just works, it's Emily.

But anyway, on to the swatches:

As I mentioned earlier, the colour selection isn't really what I would naturally gravitate towards and so kinda scares me a bit, but there are definitely some shades that I'm super excited to play with and who knows? Maybe I'll even be inspired enough to experiment a bit? =D

Ugh. As you can probably tell, I haven't really been having any great skin days lately... but for the sake of this post, I sucked it up and took some try-on pics anyway! This was my first time trying out this palette and unsurprisingly I went straight for the purples! And the fact that it turned out fairly decently is another plus for the palette!

  
(shades featured: 'the cream' [brow highlight], 'prayer' and 'apartment' [crease], 'belle violet' and 'cheer' [lid], 'family' [lower lash line])

In the past I've been perfectly happy with the Makeup Revolution eyeshadows that I've purchased and so far I'm not disappointed in the slightest with how this palette is performing. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that I'm actually a little bit impressed by how high-end the whole palette feels! Everything was easy to blend (great for when you're rushing your makeup like i did...), went on nice and opaque and just performed well in general, so another well done and good job to Emily!

So I guess overall I'd say that this palette is worth going for for the number of shades and the quality of the eyeshadows at such a great price point, plus, the HUGE mirror included (which i'm sure i've already put many fingerprints all over) and you get to support a really awesome and special lady whilst looking fabulous doing so. So what are you waiting for? Go grab it before it sells out again! ;D

-Philippa. x

PS.: goes without saying, but if you haven't already, go check out emily on youtube for honest make up reviews, fotd inspo and super heart-warming family vlogs.
PPS.: obvs not sponsored. ha. i wish. =P
PPPS.: oh yeah, forgot to mention as well, loving how chic the packaging is! trés classy! 

Let's Talk... Must-Have Lip Balms!~

Can one ever have too many lip balms? You tell me...

For a few years now I have been on a relentless quest to find the best lip balms out there to slather all over my extremely pathetically weak and delicate lips, and I believe after much searching, much travelling, much research and much, much spending, I have finally found them!

So, with that said, rather than talk about the insaaane collection of lip balms I have accumulated over the years, I will instead only be talking about my essential, cannot possibly live without, must-have lip balms (plus a couple of honourable mentions!) and without further ado, here we go!

Rose & Co. Rose Petal Lip Salve - £3.99 - via Superdrug

The Body Shop Hemp Heavy Duty Lip Care - £4.50 - via The Body Shop

Nivea Hydro Care Lip Balm - £0.99 - via Superdrug

Let's talk about the Rose & Co. one first. This, I first discovered a few years ago when ASOS was carrying them and I bought it as one of those little things to push your basket total just enough for free shipping. As it says literally on the tin it is 'the celebrated beauty balm' and while I had never heard of it until that moment, I have never regretted the purchase and have been singing its praises to anyone and everyone ever since! Need a balm that soothes, protects, moisturises, stays put for ages AND smells good? This is your winner. And at £3.99 for 20g? Bargain!

Next, The Body Shop. When I saw the words 'Heavy Duty Lip Care', I knew I had to try it out as when my lips get bad, they get BAD. While not as prettily packaged or as pleasant to smell, it certainly works as advertised, having helped bring my lips back from the cusp of flaky, cracking doom many times. It's not as slippery as other moisturising lip balms, but it seeps straight into the skin and gets to business better than just about any other, so despite its high price point, I just can't say no!

Lastly, an oldy but a goody, Nivea Hydro Care. I've tried a few Nivea lip products over the years, but this has been the only one I have gone back to time and time again. It may not be the fanciest lip balm Nivea has to offer, but regardless of its simplicity it is the perfect light, moisturising lip balm I have tried. Doesn't hurt that it's only 99p either! 

Aaand now for our honourable mentions!

Vaseline Cocoa Butter Lip Therapy - £1.95 - via Superdrug / Boots

Nivea Raspberry Rosé Lip Butter - £1.50 - via Tesco

Of course, how could I make a lip balm list without mentioning Vaseline? Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of Vaseline, as there's something about the consistency I'm not too game with, but undeniably, the Cocoa Butter Lip Therapy in particular is a must-have, particularly for those of you who like a good, affordable lip balm that works. Plus, it works quite well in helping to remove stubborn lip products! My main gripe with this however, and the reason that this is only an honourable mention, is that the longevity in effectiveness isn't really there and after application it stays quite thick and slippery for too long (in my opinion). So yeah.

And to round it all off, another Nivea mention! With this, I've only had it for a little while, having purchased this just before Christmas, but so far I am LOVING what I am getting out of this little tin and while it might be a little too early to call it yet, it's feeling like this could become a must-have for me! And the smell? Oh my goodness, that alone was the reason I bought it, it's sooo yummy!

So there we have it! My first post of the year and damn, was it a wordy one! Hope this has been a helpful read and if anyone has any other suggestions of lip balms I just HAVE to try, give me a shout!

-Philippa. x

PS.: other honourable mentions not included in this post as i just could not bloody find them are chapstick medicated and a blistex one that i tried about 5 years ago, loved, lost and have never seen anywhere since. =(

PPS.: btw, yes, i do use / have used most of the lip balms in the first picture, minus the sealed ones obvs. i generally have at least one lip balm in every bag and jacket so that i can try out several at the same time to compare without too much bias.

Let's Talk... Eyeshadow Palettes!~

Welcome to a new segment of my blog! For the life of me I’ve been struggling to maintain this thing and figured doing ‘Let’s Talk’ posts will help push me to write about stuff without necessarily needing to go pestering poor Ama for shoots or spending money for hauls!

So this is gonna be like a review-not-review where I basically talk about products I have…? Not really sure what else to say, but maybe it’ll inform you a little bit more about me, my spending habits, and maybe even give you ideas of stuff you might potentially like? Anywho…

Anyone who knows me well will know that lately I have been extra obsessed with eyeshadow palettes. Currently -and rather sadly- I only own a few, but I definitely have my eye on more, so watch this space I guess!?!*

For now, though, we’ll just talk about the ones I do have and I’ll give a little run down on value, quality, etc., and some swatches, so yeah, like I said, kind of like a review-but-not-review.

I’ll start with the cheaper palettes first; here we have Makeup Revolution’s ‘Iconic 3’ palette:

Makeup Revolution Redemption Palette (in Iconic 3) - £4 - available from TAM Beauty or Superdrug

Apparently this is a dupe for Urban Decay’s Naked 3 palette, but what do I know? Visually, I guess you could say they are pretty similar, but I’ve never tried Urban Decay eyeshadows beyond swatching, so meh, guess you gotta go find out yourself? Regardless, this palette is a steal at £4 and the quality is pretty amazing for such a low price! Definitely one of my favourite colour selections with its pinks and browns, very romantic!

Also from Makeup Revolution, I have the ‘Give Them Nightmares’ palette:

Makeup Revolution Salvation Palette (in Give Them Nightmares) - £6 (currently on sale for £4!) - available from TAM Beauty

Value-for-money-wise, the Salvation palettes appear to be on top; a lot of shades for very little money. However, the quality does stumble and vary a little because of that, though not in an overly disappointing way. Most shimmers are amazingly pigmented, most mattes are a little sheer and there can be a fair bit of fallout, but like I said, price-wise, it’s all good. And as for this palette in particular, the colour selection is just soooo me and soooo Halloween! So awesome!!

Next up, we have a palette from Sleek:

Sleek Makeup i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette (in Bad Girl) - £8.99 - available from Sleek or Boots

This is the ‘Bad Girl’ palette and just like with the previous palette, the colour selection for this is just on point! Very, very me, or at least how I like to see myself, but that’s neither here nor there! Sleek eyeshadows, as far as I know from endless swatching, are some of the better quality eyeshadows available from the ‘drugstore’ and it’s definitely a brand I see myself buying more from in the future.** This palette definitely does it's brand justice with the colours all being super pigmented and easy to blend. The only ‘eh’ I’d have to say, is that the amount of shimmer is insaaaane and it goes everywhere, though maybe that’s not really a bad thing…? Still LOVING it though!!

Now for my newest palette, which is the ‘Northern Lights’ palette from Cargo:

Cargo Cosmetics Eyeshadow Palette (in Northern Lights) - £35 - (no longer available)

This palette, I had to buy off Depop, as it’s actually from their 2014 holiday collection. However, I love the theme of this palette and upon finding it at a bargain price, just had to have it! The colour selection is not really one I’d normally go for, but there are definitely some colours I’m glad to now have within my reach. Despite the higher pricing, I don’t really feel like this blows my mind with how much better it is than my cheaper palettes, because really, it’s okay, but not phenomenal. I dunno, maybe I just need to play around with it more? We’ll see…

And lastly, my precious baby, my Tartelette In Bloom palette!

Tarte Tartelette In Bloom (Tartelette 2) palette - £35.40 - available from QVC

I mentioned this in my recent beauty haul post, and now that I have actually played around with it a bit can happily report that this thing is LIFE. It is the perfect everyday palette for me and I am just sooooo chuffed that this wasn’t a waste of money! Definitely worth the price; the quality is great and the colours are wonderful for so many different looks and skin tones… and did I mention it smells great too?!? I love this so much! <3

So those are all my palettes (so far, ehem…); I don’t know what it is about eyeshadow palettes, but I just can’t stop wanting more! I’m becoming somewhat an addict, I think… oh dear!

Hope you enjoyed reading my first ‘Let’s Talk’ post (sorry it was a little wordy!) and I hope you’ll be looking forward to future ones!

Philippa. x

*zoeva palettes! lusting after them, will definitely be adding them to the collection soon! and the kat von d ones! particularly metal/matte and innerstellar, such beautiful shades! so much want!!

**i know they’re hard to find now, at least in-stores, but check out sleek’s ‘goodnight sweetheart’ palette! that thing is soooo gorgeous!!