Chocolate For The Eyes?♥

Shock horror: I love chocolate. Not only chocolate, but makeup, ideally, eyeshadow palettes. Combining the two? My perfect combination. When I was shopping in Superdrug, I may have accidentally fell across the Makeup Revolution stand, then along to the I Heart Makeup stand. I was ooh-ing and ahh-ing at both stands, before settling for the I Heart Chocolate palette. I could easily have bought the whole collection but somehow, my inner makeup soul didn't make me do it.

The packaging reminds me of the Too Faced chocolate bar, which retails for around £40, yet this has a low cost price of just £7.99. The illusion of a chocolate bar is the clear running theme, with the end looking like melted chocolate. Even though it's plastic, I find it to be quite sturdy and secure; the clip is actually impressively good.

Thankfully, it comes with a large, full-sized mirror which would be efficient if on the go. Taking a look at the shadows, you can see there's a wide mixture of colours. Ranging from golds to browns, to khakis to berries, a whole lot of looks can be created using just this one palette. As a being a dupe for the Too Faced palette, there is also a hint of a chocolate scent. Although this is a nice added extra, and it does remind me of chocolate, I can't help but think of plastic chocolate - sorry!

A close up just to appreciate the gorgeous colours. As you can most likely observe, I'm a keen fan of the gold shades. Not only do I like them because they're pretty, but being blessed with blue eyes (yaayy), gold seems to complement them really well. The palette has a mixture of mattes and shimmers. I sometimes stick with shimmer shades on my lids with matte colours in my crease. You can create either a subtle yet natural look or a bold and daring look using just this palette.

Overall, for £7.99, in my opinion, this palette is a bargain. With all the possible looks that can be created, I find myself reaching for this palette regularly. Having all the gorgeous shades means the biggest issue I have is choosing which colours to use! I can guarantee I now wish I picked up the other palettes in the collection!

Have you tried the I Heart Chocolate palette range? Do you recommend any other palettes from I Heart Makeup?

Lancôme L'Absolu Rouge Lipsticks♥*

Is there anything more exciting than new lipsticks? It's the whole excitement of seeing the packaging (again for the 100th time), and trying it out on your lips, none of that hand swatching nonsense! I hadn't heard much about the new Lancôme L'Absolu Rouge Lipsticks* until they landed on my door step. I could wait to see their beauty!

 Classy but minimalistic. The sleek black packaging gives an elegant look and the overall aesthetic looks stunning and pleasing in a way. They aren't the typical "twisty cap" lipsticks - instead, it's almost in a button form. Simply, you press the top of the lipstick and the bottom pops out. I like this concept because it means you won't have those pesty lipstick stains all over your bag from the lid falling off. 

Bouquet Final* - My first impression on this lipstick was wow. It's so bright and vibrant, yet beautiful. As this one is a sheer formula, I was expecting there to be a light wash of colour, however, it definitely has more pay off and pigment than expected. It feels smooth whilst applying on to your lips, and is quite easy to apply in fact. With it being more on the bold side, you'd expect it to be messy to apply, but you don't need a lip liner or anything. It has a gorgeous and glossy finish, and it looks just as it does in the bullet whilst on the lips.

Caprice* - Oh, red lips, how I adore you. How many do I have in my collection now? Clearly not enough, of course. I can't fault this one though, it's a stunner. How classy does it look? Much like the previous lipstick, it has a beautiful, glossy finish. Even though it's a red, I don't feel it's such a bold and statement red - I would class this one as more of an everyday red lipstick - but it still pulls together any makeup look.

These lipsticks are like little tubes of luxury. With their stunning packaging and beautiful shade range, what isn't there to like? They look magnificent sitting in my makeup collection; my lipstick holder to be precise. They are so easy to wear on the lips: they are so light weight and honestly doesn't even feel like I'm wearing a lipstick. They have the typical lipstick smell - sweet but not sickly. I am happy to announce that they aren't sticky at all either, always a bonus! However, the only downfall I have occurred is that the staying power isn't amazing. It lasts a few hours but, it doesn't last much after eating: there is a slight trace of lipstick left behind but apart from that, nothing much. Don't let this put you off though, because, most lipsticks are like this.

I really do like these lipsticks. I like to throw these in my bag for on the go because I know I won't end up with lipstick all over my bag, and I know the application is simple and I don't need to be too precise whilst applying.

Have you tried these L'absolu Rouge lipsticks? What shades have you got?

*PR Samples

The Lip Stains You Need♥*

I've been experimenting more with all the makeup I own, as I'm currently on a makeup ban until the start of 2017 (I'm a month into the ban and not bought any!), and I've been trying new Autumnal makeup. When Leighton Denny Boutique got in touch about trying their Lip Duals*, I jumped at the chance as they were lip stains, and what better than trying some lip stains for A/W?!

Ravishing Red* - When asked at which shades I would like, I instantly jumped for a red, especially now we're approaching Winter. I thought that a red lip stain would be ever so festive of me, and you just cannot go wrong, can you? The shade itself is just dreamy, I mean, look at how rich and deep the red is. It just calls my name. I, personally, love wearing reds as I feel empowering, and whilst wearing this, I feel like I own the world. Any time I wear this lipstick, I prefer to wear it with winged liner - it looks amazing paired together! Even wearing minimal makeup, it can completely spice up your makeup and change up how it looks. I just love it.

Hot For Chocolate* - I chose this colour for one of two reasons. The first one being that it was completely out of my comfort zone - I don't own any browns never mind wear any - and secondly, I loved the name, I thought it was too cute and reminded me of Christmas and Winter. Anyway, I have decided that this is one of my new favourite lip products I own. I wasn't quite sure how I'd feel about it on my skin tone considering I'm quite pale, however, somehow, I don't think it looks all that bad! And the best thing? It literally goes with every single makeup look you do. Simple makeup? It looks gorgeous. Bold makeup? It looks gorgeous. It's just a beautiful colour and I cannot even explain how easy it is to wear on the lips!

What I liked the most was that they were double sided - a lipstick one on, a lip gloss/stain on the other the concept intrigued me. The lipstick itself is extremely creamy and glides on like a dream - not drying or harsh in any way, shape or form. The gloss itself feels "wet" at first, however, after about one or two minutes, it dries, and this helps prolong the time of wear. None of them feel drying to wear, heavy or uncomfortable on the lips at any point - I often forget I'm even wearing anything on my lips! I receive multiple compliments whilst wearing each of the lip colours. A bonus? They last on the lips for ages, and by that, I honestly mean hours - they remain perfect after eating, and there are still traces of the product on my lips after removing with makeup remover!

Some swatches for you all!

Considering I hadn't heard much about these lip stains, I was still intrigued to try them out nonetheless. I don't think I can recommend these enough; you need them in your makeup collection. I haven't really came across many reviews on these lip stains, but honestly, they deserve the hype! Looking online at them now, I realise there are so many other beautiful shades I would love to try, and there is a vast range of colours for different skin tones, and something that everyone will like!

Have you tried these lip stains?

*PR Samples

Gel Nails At Home♥*

I cannot seem to find any top coat that helps seal my nail polish and help prevent any chips. I just can't. Either it makes it go too thick and it peels off, or it just encourages it to chip. Then came along SensatioNail. Their much raved about Polish to Gel Starter Kit* popped through my letter box not that long ago, and as you could imagine, I was an eager beaver to try it out.

Inside came an LED lamp, polish to gel transformer, gel cleanser, gel primer, a mixing pot, manicure stick, wipes and a double sided nail buffer. There are two different methods; a mixing methods (by far messier) or simple painting method. Personally, I always op for the option of painting my nails, apply the polish to gel transformer and drying them with the LED lamp, then the gel cleanser.

I do like the glossy finish it leaves on my nails, and I do like the fact that it helps prolong the length of time my nail polish lasts on my nails, however, there's one negative which annoys me. It is a complete nightmare to remove. I used a nail polish remover from Superdrug which is a acetone formula, yet it removed basically nothing. I felt I was scrubbing my nails and it wasn't removing any nail polish. My cousin even gave me a bottle of pure acetone which removed the nail polish once but next time I tried it, same struggle. (If anyone knows of anything which helps to remove the polish, hola at me!)

Besides the hassle of removing it, I am a fan of this set. The extra few minutes it takes to do the extra steps is worth it. I have salon worthy nails but from the comfort of my own home!

Have you tried SensatioNail? How was your experience?

*PR Sample