Clinique lip pop shade extension

Up until recently I would've never made a bee line for clinique's makeup, skincare yes but makeup no. However the recent releases by Clinique have completely changed my opinion and now make them one of my favourite brands as a whole. I am completely obsessed by the original lip pops, but now with the recent shade extension and lip liners I am genuinely worried for my bank balance. 

If you haven't tried the lip pops before, get yourself to a counter now! I would say they are up there now with Mac lipsticks for me. The formula is so creamy and rich, plus the pigmentation is lovely. The pops contain a primer in the formulation which means they have an 8hour wear to them so you don't have to keep on reapplying throughout the day. I made a bee line to the Reds and berry colours and will say I was amazed by how long the colour actually stays on the lips for.

(Top to bottom: rebel, raspberry, kiss, party) 

    (Top to bottom: mocha, blush, sugar, papaya) 

(Top to bottom: cranberry, cayenne, café, licorice, Cosmo, cola, sassafras, hibiscus, punch, jam) 

The liners are a lovely added extra. I've tried the old Clinique lip liners and wasn't impressed with the colour selection or the texture if I'm honest. The new lip liners are a lovely creamy texture unlike many that are very drying on the lips. The shades are great and cover all bases and they're overall just amazing! 

I would 100% recommend these to a friend, I think I have about 6 already and have my eye on a few other shades. If your looking for a good quality lipstick that's going to last, get yourself down to your nearest Clinique counter! 

Lysette xo 

New York State of mind

New York City, a destination that I've dreamt about since watching Ugly Betty, Home Alone, Gossip Girl. Since catching the travel bug New York was no 1 on my list and when I had the opportunity to fulfil this dream I didn't even contemplate the thought of not going. 

To say the trip did not disappoint would be an understatement to say the least, I would say it exceeded my expectations and more. We arrived around 8 on the Sunday night and were immediately met by the chaos that is Times Square. Our hotel was on 8th avenue so just seconds away from the throng of it all. We decided to explore Times Square and spent the evening scoping out the surrounding shops and restaurants.

Day 1 started early due to jet lag. Awake every hour from 2am as soon as it hit 6:30 I had to get up and start the day. We had breakfast at a little coffee place opposite our hotel which ended up becoming our go to breakfast place. The weather on our first day was amazing, a crisp sunny day which was why we decided to hit the top of the rock which is an amazing viewing point at the top of the Rockefeller centre. According to a lot of newyorkers the view here exceeds that at the top of the Empire State, plus it's cheaper with less queues. The view was stunning and the weather meant we could see everything, Brooklyn bridge, the Statue of Liberty and the Hudsen river to name a few. A recommendation if your in New York around December is to go to the ice rink and have a look at the massive Christmas tree at the Rockefeller centre. Unfortunately the tree wasn't up when we went but it's definitely something needed to be seen. 

Next we headed to Central Park which is about a five minute walk from the Rockefeller centre. I fulfilled my dream of taking a picture next to the Plaza hotel which is in one of my favourite films of all time, Home Alone 2. It's right next to Central Park and is one to see if your a lover of the film. We walked around Central Park soaking up just how autumnal it was. 

From there we hit the shops. We walked to Bloomingdales on Lexington avenue which had the most amazing Christmas shop. The decorations were amazing and I have to say they went to town on filling every space on the Christmas trees. We explored Lexington avenue then walked down to fifth avenue, which if your planing on spending dollar this is the place to go. I couldn't resist taking a picture of tiffanysandco the buildings just so gorgeous that I couldn't help it. After satisfying our shopping needs we headed back to the hotel for a much needed rest. At this point our feet were killing! I don't care what people say the majority of things to do in the touristy area of New York are walkable. Your wasting your time and money paying for taxis as its so busy on the roads walking is just as fast as taxi. For dinner we ended up eating in a restaurant in Times Square which did the most amazing garlic prawns. I'm annoyed at myself for not remembering what the restaurant was called. 

Day 2 

Again we were up early, damn jet lag. We decided we wanted to walk the high line. So went and got breakfast and started the 30min walk. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as good as the previous day so we did have to battle a few rain showers. This was totally worth it by the time we got the the high line. For all that don't know this was a disused trainline high up off the ground that was about to be demolished but Diane von furstenberg and other contributors fought to restore the line. Now it's an amazing walk way that's very understated and isn't very busy. It gives you great views of the Hudsen river and has many stopping points if you just want to stop and watch the cars go by. If you walk the whole line you'll end up at the meat packing district and Chelsea. This area is a honey trap for all the in people so you may spot to celebs whilst your there. That afternoon we walked to Macy's then up to Victoria secret and the Lexington hotel. We finsined our day by having dinner in an Italian restaurant close to our hotel called Charlotte. 

Day three 

Today was our Broadway way day for Matilda so in the morning we walked to Bryant park which is a great little square that is quite underrated by tourists. I really recommend it is you have a free 30 mins because there's all these amazing stalls, a carousel and an ice rink (which is good to know as many of the other rinks get busy very quickly!). This is a great place to come in the evening as well as the lights are so pretty and the carousel looks even more gorgeous. 

We then walked back to Central Park to go to the zoo. From memory I think the tickets were about $14 per adult so a great price if your wanting to see things on a budget. I really recommend the seal, bear and snow leopard exhibits. After the zoo we headed over the the Alice in wonderland statue as this is something I've wanted to visit for years! It's a great place for a Disney fans and its opposite a little lake where you can race mini boats (this reminded me of Stuart little, if you've seen that film you'll know why).

 In the afternoon we headed over to Broadway which is a must if your in New York. We watched the theatre production of Matilda which was absolutely amazing! I would definitely see it again and would recommend it too all ages. They've done it so well, just like the film, where there's humour for both adults and children.

Day 4 

We had one last shop in Times Square and fifth avenue. Levi, Victoria secret, Sephora, Bloomingdales, bath and body works, Macy's and forever 21 would be shops that I'd really recommend either good prices, good quality or just amazingly Christmassy. I didn't go to shops like H&m or top shop as I live in the uk and can get to these shops easily. My one wish is that we had more that one Sephora in the whole of the U.K. That's just torture for us Brits. 

Day 5 

Much to my disappointment we had to head home. I would say New York is probably my favourite place I have ever travelled to and hope I'll be able to explore more of it in the future as 5 days just aren't enough. We managed to fill a lot into our days and focused what we wanted to do around Times Square but if I come again I'd definitely go to the 9/11 memorial, soho, china town and see more of Chelsea. 

Good bye New York and hello to new adventures! 

Lysette xo 

Smash box Exposure Palettes

Smashbox have really been doing their thing recently and I have been loving it. I just purchased the full exposure palette and the double exposure palette and I am loving them. It may seem slightly excessive to have both but deciding between the two is like choosing a favourite child (I mean look how pretty they are!) 

The pigmentation of the eyeshadows are incredible and I think it's great the choice between the mattes and shimmers. Also I've recently been wetting my brush before using the shimmers as I find this way you get a bolder more striking look which is great especially for events or if your going out anywhere. Also the double exposure palette comes with a sheet telling you what will happen to the shadows once wet which is incredibly helpful if you haven't trailed a look before.

 

This is one look I did using the double exposure palette using colours quartz all over the lid, flushed in the centre and fig in the outer corner. 

On my face I used the shape matters palette also by Smashbox to give more of a contoured look. Lastly my lipcolour is by Aeron in the colour 07 red velvet which is a beautiful deep red that has an amazingly good long lasting power. I wore this out to dinner the other day and I swear by the time I got home the colour still looked as bold as ever and it hardly came off on the glass I was drinking from.

Overall I think these palettes are amazing and definitely need more hype! I would definitely recommend these as a gift to any makeup lover! 

Hope you've had an amazing weekend and come back from more looks using these palettes. 

Lysette xo 

Makeup haul!

Just a few bits and bobs (not) that I've purchased over the last couple of weeks. I thought I'd share with you my last purchases and then gradually give you reviews if I really love a product. There's a mix of different brands and products so I'm excited to share with you my thoughts and opinions.

Lysette xo

The other side of me

I like many of you reading this now I am one hundred percent addicted to makeup. I'm a hoarder whom loves pretty things and never feels completely satisfied with her current makeup collection (however I'm ok with this!). 

The other side of me that not many of my friends and family know about is my obsession with the ugly. I love playing with SFX, blood, gore and being able to create creatures out of story books. I'm the girl that can't watch a film without critically analysing the makeup and prosthetics on the actors. I love looking at a creature of pure imagination and wondering how I could recreate it myself. 

So from now on I will be posting both the pretty and the fantasy side of makeup and I hope you'll enjoy it! 

Instagram: lysettemua

Hope you had a lovely day!

Lysette xo

Smashbox Shapematters palette

I 

The beauty that you see before you is Smashbox's new shapematters palette which I have been drolling over since I got it. It contains 2 brow colours, 1 brow wax, 4 contour colours, 6 eye shadows and an eyeshadow brush.

I've only been using this for a couple of days but I already love it. The pigmentation in the eyeshadows is amazing and they're so blend able as well. I feel like the colour choice in the eyeshadows caters for pretty much everyone and all different coloured eyes as there's the brown/neural trio, purple/pink trio and silver/cool tone trio. Plus there's a variety of shimmers and mattes. 

At first I wasn't sure how the contour and bronze colours were going to look on my skin tone as some tend to look too red toned on me however both of these colours suit my tone well and are lovely and build able so if you can decide between a natural look or a heavy contour. This palette has both a matte highlight and a shimmer highlight again enabling you to either go subtle or full on.

  (From top row to bottom, contour,  bronzer, matte highlight, shimmer highlight)

The only weeny complaint I have about the palette is I wish it had a third brow colour as I have found that the colours in the palette are too light for me. I've been using them in the front of my brows to give a natural gradient but I have been having to use a darker colour just to go over the top.   

 

So here's one of the looks I did using the palette! I love how subtle you can get the contour and how much of a difference it can make to your face shape. Plus I love the eye look and how the colours bring out blue eyes. I used the pink shades for this look and then the lightest cream shadow to highlight the inner corner of my eyes. 

I hope you had an amazing weekend wherever you are in the world! 

 

Lysette xo

My MOTD

For the last couple of days I've been inspired by the colder autumnal weather making me want to bring back berry lips and copper eyes, which is a look that I LOVE! So I thought I would share what products I've been loving and have been my go to products! 

To start of my makeup look I primed my face with the smashbox photo finish colour correcting primer, focusing this mainly in my t-zone. Then using my all time favourite foundation, Mac studio fix in NC15 I applied this all over the face using a buffer brush to work the foundation in. If you find you have oily skin and want a full coverage foundation to stay on all day then this is the baby to go for!

Next I took my Estée Lauder double wear concealer in light underneath my eyes, my chin, cuspids bow and forehead. I use this to both concealer and highlight my face to help brighten the look of my skin. 

To set all of this I took my Estée Lauder double wear powder in fresh almond mainly underneath my eyes and on my t-zone. I find that this is a great powder if you want something to either wear on its own or to layer on top of a foundation without leaving the skin feeling cakey and stiff. 

To add colour and contour to my face I used the Benefit Hula bronzer on my cheeks, sides of the face and underneath my jaw. This is a great bronzer that looks really natural on the skin but is also very build able. My pet hate is when bronzers make you look muddy but I have never experienced that with this product. This is one that I would recommend to everyone! Next I took the Kiko tri-bal soul baked blusher in 01 deluxe coral which gives the look a subtle pink glow, plus this blusher smells AMAZING and is super affordable. Lastly I used the bobbi brown shimmer brick in pink glow to highlight the tops of my cheeks. 

For the last couple of months I've been using the b cosmetics eyebrow palette to fill in my brows. I find the two different colour great to get the eyebrows looking really natural. I start off using the lightest colour at the start of my brows the gradually add the darker of the two colours to the middle and end of my brows to give them that gradient, natural look. 

On the base of my eyelids I took Amber lights by Mac which is the most beautiful copper colour which looks amazing on grey/blue eyes and really enhances them.

 Next using the smashbox mini full exposure palette in the darkest brown, second row first colour in from the picture. I use this colour in the outer corner of my eye and in the crease to add a bit of depth and to blend out the copper colour. A great tip with this palette is wetting the brush as it makes the eye shadows go really creamy like a stick shadow and the pigments go from great when dry to insane! 

For liquid liner I did a fairly thin line and small flick using the Clinique Pretty Easy Liquid liner in black. This is a new product from the company and had quickly become one of my all time favourite liners and its shaped like a felt tip pen making it so easy to use, plus it stays on for hours especially near the tear duct. In my waterline I applied to mememe eyeline eye pencil in coal which is a gorgeous smoky brown which I blended out with my finger to give a smoky look to the under eye area. Lastly for the eyes I took he Clinique High impact mascara in black and layered that on to give some drama to the lashes.

Lastly to finish off the whole look I added a berry toned lip by using the Rimmel lasting finish lipstick in 128 starry-eyed. 

So there you have it ladies and gents my MOTD. Hope you enjoyed the read and had a wonderful day! Thanks for reading!

Lysette xo

My Evening Skincare Routine

 To start off my evening routine i remove my makeup with the Garnier Micellar cleansing water and the most amazing extra large cotton pads ever that i get from Superdrug (does anyone else get really frustrated when you end up using like ten of the mini cotton pads just to get all of your makeup off!). The cleansing water works to effectively remove your makeup without stripping the skin of its hydration. This is such a quick process plus it leaves your skin so soft and supple. I don't know about you but other cleansing waters that i have tried pretty much don't remove any of your makeup meaning your still left with a bunch of foundation sitting in your skin, not nice. 

 Next taking the Clinique Sonic brush and the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish i get rid of the excess dirt and oil as well as any left over makeup from the deeper levels of the skin. I've been using the Sonic brush for about six months now and have noticed a dramatic improvement in my skin. At first i noticed i got a few blemishs but that was to be expected as the cleansing bursh works to bring the dirst and oil to the surface of the skin to help promote a healthy skin turnover and effectively unclog your pores. The brush has been proven to be more effective then handwashing alone and i definitely agree that the overall appearance of my skin has drastically improved. The brush has a detachable head that is recommended to be changed every 3-4 months to maintain results and it also comes in two different brush trypes (normal skin and blemish prone skin). The brush head has two different bristles meaning you can angle the brush to get into hard to reach areas like the nose but it is also gentle enough to use on softer areas like the cheeks. It is also gentle enough to use for 60 seconds a day as its a vibrating brush rather than rotating meaning its not pulling the skin and isnt too rough. The thing that i love about it is its all so quick and easy, you can take it in the bath and shower with you and you don't have to worry about it getting wet. 

Along with the brush i use the Liz Earle cleanse and polish which i find is a great partner to the cleansing brush. I'll be honest and say this is one of the first products that i have tried from the company and i was quite sceptical becuase it smelt heavily fragrance but ill admit i was wrong as this stuff is amazeballs! A small amount of it goes such a long way and i feel like it really helps to bring the empurities out of my skin. The product leaves your skin feeling very hydrated and radient and effectively get into my pores. 

Also just as a side note the staff in the shop that i went to were so lovely and helpful! They were all very knowlegable and made me feel confident in my purchsaes. 

To follow up i take the Cleanse and Polish toner that helps to loosen the bonds that hold the dead skin cells onto the surface of the skin making it easier to wash away. This is a step that i find very important as using a toner ladies and gents is whats going to keep the skin looking radiant even in the cold winter months.

2-3 times a week i use the Clinique exfoliating scrub to unclog my pores and to promote a healthy cell turnover giving my skin radiant and healthy. My skin type is combination oily which means i get and oily t-zone but a really dry and flaky nose, so i try to make sure i exfoliate to keep my skin at a happy medium. 

Now at this point i would normally use a serum but i'm still on the hunt for my go too product so if you have an suggestions i would love it if you left a comment below :) 

After my serum i apply my moisturiser. Ive been switching between two recently, the first being moisture surge by Clinique which i will make a bold statement and say its the best moisturiser i have ever tried! i know, i know that's a big statement. It's an oil free moisturiser which acts like a drink for the skin, hydrating without adding oil. It sinks into the skin so quickly which is great if you want to apply makeup on top and doesn't leave a weird residue. The other moisturiser i have been using is another Clinique product called the turnaround overnight cream. this is a radiance moisturiser which is lovely to give you that warm summer glow. This is suitable for all skin types as it contains salicylic acid, great for blemish prone skin. When you wake up the next day after application your skin looks so lovely and glowy which gives it a thumbs up from me.

The last product in my evening routine recently is a lash serum by No7. its a serum to help the over health of your lashes and to make them longer and thicker in 12 weeks. Ive been using this product for about a moths now and do think my lashes are overall healthier but i'm not sure whether i can say yet that my lashes look thicker and longer. At a small price of £12 though it is one that i will keep on trialling just to see if i really can get my very own natural false lashes. 

So there you have it my evening routine. I hoped you liked it and found it useful. Thanks for reading my lovelies!

Lysette xo