My Current (Random) Wishlist

I honestly thought I would have loads of extra time for posting now that Miss MB is at nursery two mornings a week. I was clearly delusional! The six hours I gained were swiftly eaten up with cleaning the house and other unsavoury chores. My spending money has taken a battering too with the nursery fees to pay, leaving me with very little to spend on the 'pretties'.

So, to cheer myself up, I thought I would compile a little wishlist. I can see that there has been a definite shift in my spending habits lately as my list is a mix of beauty and other things. Wonders never cease!

Navy Converse
This is actually a bit of a lie. What I really want are a pair of the Catwomen Converse but sense (and the school run) tell me the navy would be a better investment. After years of avoiding navy, my wardrobe seems to be full of it, so I really do require some footwear that isn't black.

Illamasqua Magnetism lipstick
I have been crushing on this lipstick for ages. I knew I had to have it when I first heard the description and then London MakeUp Girl's tweet sealed the deal. I may wait till it's available through ASOS.

Lotus Wei Inner Peace Energy Mist
I came across the Lotus Wei mists and elixirs when I visited the Content Beauty store over the summer. The names sound so appealing and I've lost count of how many times I've wished I had the Inner Peace mist in the last week. The return to school has been bumpy to say the least!

Trollbeads
I finally purchased a bracelet to put my beads on. I bought the leather bracelet in beige and my two beads look rather lonely on it. I'd really like to get some more artisan made beads and I have been stalking Summerday's store on Dawanda and Suzielaws's store on Etsy for the last month or so.

Mood board from ILIA Beauty blog

Ilia Lipstick in Ink Pot
I know I probably don't need any more lipsticks but when I spied this via the ILIA beauty e-newsletter, it grabbed me (look to the bottom right of the mood board). I'm positive this is the shade that Sasha's Mum recommended I keep my eyes peeled for too. What's not to love about purple?!

More Kjaer Weis
I've wanted to buy some more Kjaer Weis pieces for ages. On my shopping list are the Blossoming cream blusher and eyeshadow in Charming. I imagine I will purchase both in the pan form. If you're in the UK, you can buy Kjaer Weis from Slowfashionhouse.com

Pirates: An Adventure with Scientist on DVD
I am a child and I am not ashamed!!

Care to share what's on your wishlist at the moment?

My Sheer Lipstick Collection including ILIA Beauty Dizzy and W3LL People Lip Shine #3

I was struggling with inspiration for a post this morning, so we have Miss MB and Musing on Beauty to thank for this blog post. Miss MB was wondering around with one of my new lipsticks, which is always dangerous, but seeing the lipstick made me realise that I have a fairly large collection of sheer finish lipsticks which continues to grow.

Nudist Lip Shine #3

The lipstick she was clutching was the W3LL People Nudist lip shine in #3 above, a gorgeous glossy sheer red with a lovely balmy texture. It's one of the items I purchased whilst I was at Content Beauty last week to meet Sasha Plavsic, founder of ILIA Beauty. I will return to this visit in another post as Sasha was incredibly inspiring and I have lots to report back. Meeting Sasha and also browsing all the lovely natural brands in Content has had me reflecting on whether I want to make a more permanent switch to cleaner brands in future. Anyway, I digress..

Sasha inspired another new lipstick purchase whilst I was there, her Lip Conditioner in Dizzy. This orange sheer is a favourite with her Mother, who loves it for layering. Depending on the natural colour of your lips, Dizzy can produce a more coral shade. I purchased it for layering with brighter colours and so far have had success pairing it with Lancome Rose Boudoir.

Dizzy

I have always been a fan of sheer lipsticks, as they're so easy to wear but I seem to have made a major return to them recently. All of the ones I have here are really balmy and comfortable to wear and are excellent if you suffer from dry lips. The ILIA lipstick in Crimson & Clover isn't strictly speaking a sheer but I wanted to include it alongside the other ILIA lip colours. It's more pigmented than the lip conditioners but I don't find it completely opaque either. I have reviewed the majority of these lipsticks before and will add links where available.

From left to right: ILIA Blossom Lady*, Arabian Knights, Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2*, Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia, No.7 Poppy King lipstick in Glamour and Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Bonheur.

Swatches L-R: Chanel Bonheur, Ilia Blossom Lady, Arabian Knights, Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2, Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia and No.7 Poppy King lipstick in Glamour.

L-R: Chanel Bonheur, Ilia Blossom Lady, Arabian Knights, Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2.

L-R: Ilia Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2, Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia and No.7 Poppy King lipstick in Glamour.

Do you like to wear sheer lipsticks or do you prefer to wear a gloss to create a lip shine? I'd also love to hear your opinion of more 'clean', botanical based lines too.

* The lipsticks labelled with an asterisk were received as PR samples, albeit rather a long time ago.

Ilia Beauty Lipstick in Crimson and Clover

Crimson and Clover was one of the new Ilia lipstick colours released recently. I believe this particularly colour might be limited edition but it is still available on the Content Beauty website where I purchased from.

Top - Crimson and Clover, Bottom - Arabian Knights

Crimson and Clover is more opaque and pigmented than Blossom Lady or Arabian Knight but it still has that lovely comfortable balm feeling that I really like about the Ilia lipsticks. It's an usual to find such a vibrant colour that isn't drying, and boy is this vibrant!

I find the colour a little tricky to describe. It is a bright crimson red that and I feel it leans slightly orange when applied. As the glossy colour fades, it leaves a stain on the lips but the stain is quite different to the original colour. The stain is bright pink rather than red, which makes me doubt the orange leaning. I like the colour it leaves me with and it is much better than sporting the 'ring of doom' but I suppose it does dictate caution in your choice of pairings.

I hope you will forgive me for including a full face picture rather than a lip close up. I think it probably gives better impression of the colour but I really wish I'd had the foresight to finish the rest of my makeup before taking the picture!

Ilia Crimon and Clover Lip Conditioner is available from Content Beauty and costs £20.

Ilia Arabian Knights compared to RBR Murmurings

About a month ago I showed you Ilia Arabian Knights applied. I have worn this lipstick a lot since I purchased it. Ilia lipsticks have a nourishing balm texture which makes them very comfortable to wear. I'm also a fan of these sorts of sheer berry shades for easy wear so this was really the perfect choice for me. If you're a fan of the Clinique Almost Lipsticks you'll enjoy the sheer Ilia.

Swatch of Arabian Knights

Whilst on holiday, I wore Rouge Bunny Rouge Murmurings and Ilia Arabian Knights a lot. Murmurings is one of the Rouge Bunny Rouge's Succulence of Dew lipsticks, so like Arabian Knights, this has a sheer finish. By eye these quite similar colours but I didn't get round to swatching them side by side until I returned home (my apologies for failing to get the swatches in the same order in both lighting conditions).

Top - Murmurings, Bottom - Arabian Knights (direct sunlight)

Top - Arabian Knights, Bottom - Murmurings (overcast lighting)

I was relieved to see that the lipsticks are similar but not identical. Murmurings is more brown toned and plummy whereas Arabian Knights is a brighter, cooler berry. The colours look more similar on my lips than in the swatches because of the sheer quality but Arabian Knights still looks the brighter of the two. 

I cannot choose between these lipsticks, both are lovely in terms of colour and texture. It can be difficult to find really comfortable lipsticks and I would happily recommend either of these formulas. RBR Murmurings costs £21 is available from Zuneta. Ilia Arabian Knights costs £20 and is available from Content Beauty and Mise Beauty.

Vapour Organic Stratus Soft Focus Skin Perfector (s902)

Stratus Soft Focus Skin Perfector by Vapour Organic Beauty is quite different to other primers that I have tried before. It isn't silicone based, instead it is oil based: the first ingredients listed are Camellia Seed and Sunflower Oil. It is described as a 3 in 1 moisturiser, primer and no colour foundation.

s902

It also contain silica, mica and titanium dioxide and I think these are responsible for the 'soft focus' effect. As you can see from the close up of the product, it has very small light reflecting particles. These are only really apparent in close up and give the skin a soft glow rather than full-on sparkle. Silica is often used for oil control but I'm not sure whether it would have this function in an oil based product. In the picture directly above I had massaged the blob of product into the skin, I appreciate it's probably hard to see anything obvious but it improves the texture of the skin, gives a soft glow and reduces redness.
 
Although the Skin Perfector is designed for all skin types including oily and combination skin, being oil based, I wondered how it would fare on my often combination skin. My skin needs more hydration in the winter months but my T-zone can look very shiny if a moisturiser is too rich. I find the Skin Perfector makes my skin feel very comfortable, especially if the foundation I am wearing is a little drying. My skin doesn't look greasy, it feels silky and hydrated but it obscures imperfections in a different way to the more common silicone based primers. My skin looks healthy rather than flawless if that makes sense?

Interestingly, the Skin Perfector comes in 3 'shades': s902 for fair to medium skin with neutral or pink undertones and to colour balance redness, s903 for medium tan skin with yellow/olive undertones and dark skin and s904 for light to medium sallow or olive skin. There is also a stick form of the Skin Perfector but I can only see this on the Vapour Organic website so I assume this isn't available in the UK.

Ingredients:
Organic/Bio Camellia Oleifera (Camellia) Seed Oil, Organic/Bio Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Oil, Silica, Organic/Bio Cera Alba (Beeswax), Lysine, Organic/Bio Lecithin, Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E) Organic/Bio Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil & Organic/Bio Lecithin & Organic/Bio Cucurbita Pepo (Pumpkin) Seed Oil & Organic/Bio Papain (Papaya), Sambucus Nigra (Elderberry Fruit Extract, Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Essential Oils & Natural Fruit Essences, Boswellia Carteri (Frankincense)*, Organic/Bio Ocimum Sanctum (Tulsi/Holy Basil), Organic/Bio Nelumbo Nucifera (Lotus) Flower Petals. *Wildcrafted ingredients.


The Vapour Stratus Soft Focus Skin Perfector is available from Content Beauty and costs £47 (30ml). 


Disclosure: PR Sample