My Top Seven Winter Lip Picks!

Hey there!

I know I haven't posted anything new in a while, so I'm hoping to redeem myself with this photo-heavy post about my favorite lip colours of this season! I thought I'd post it now as we all know that lip products are perfect stocking-filler size, so I figured you might want to add some of these items to you Christmas wish-lists...

Lets get started with a swatch-shot of all seven colours... or three shots in a variety of lights, since you want to know how the colour will fare in a variety of situations right?

So here are the colours swatched in natural light;

From the top, the photograph shows my Topshop lipstick in Rumour Has It, my Rimmel Moisture Renew in shade Electric Plum, my favourite MAC lipstick in Sin, Revlon's Just Bitten Lipstain and Balm in Frenzy, a Dior lipstick which my boyfriend got for me as a little surprise (I'm not sure what the colour is because can't spot it on the package... but the number on the bottom says 455), my lush Long-Lasting Lipstick from Estee Lauder in Rose Candy and finally my Carmex Moisture Plus lip balm in Peach Sheer Tint!

And then I took a shot with flash indoors, and one without also. I think these shots are good for letting you know what kind of finish the colour has, sheer, matte, silky, glossy etc.

So here are the actual products, and as you can see in the swatches, I've put them in colour order, starting with the palest pink, going through the richer purples and then to the more nude shades.

First up is the Moisture Plus Peach Sheer Tint by Carmex. This product cost me £4.49 from Boots and it is literally one of my ultimate Holy Grail products. It is perfect for winter as it's super-duper hydrating and keeps the cold weather from turning my lips dryer than the Sahara. Plus, the cute pinky-peach wash of colour means I can roll out of bed in the morning, slick this on and be ready to go!

Next up is my Rose Candy Long-Lasting Lipstick from Estee Lauder. I actually got this free at one of the Inspire and Mentor events with Marie Claire a couple of months back but it retails at Boots for £18.50. Again, it is a great product for winter as it's really hydrating. But this time the colour pops a bit more which I think is gorgeous when I'm wearing my thick cream scarf and my hair down!

Thirdly is another high-end product. This Dior lipstick in shade 455 was a little luxury treat from my boyfriend a few weeks back. It seems to have been discontinued since, but there is a new lipstick from Dior in a similarly yummy colour (called Londres) for £22 at Debenhams. Anyways, enough about that. I love this colour because it is quite a deep pink almost plum colour (the photo doesn't really demonstrate quite how deep it is...) Plus, it smells like Parma Violets candies which I love :)

My fourth pick is a product which I never would have expected to be on one of my favorites lists, and yet Revlon's Just Bitten Lipstain has actually grown on me since my previous comparison review of it which can be found here... Perhaps it's because this shade - Frenzy - is a little subtler than the previous one I reviewed - Gothic. Nonetheless, I'm a convert. Again, the photograph isn't quite true to the shade... It seems the lighting made the colour appear more subtle when in reality, it is quite red. I like to wear it underneath Topshop's Rumour Has It and also Carmex Moisture Plus as the colour can sometimes be a little too over-powering needing a nude wash over the top. Howevever, it's also fantastically buildable! I'm glad the lip-balm is included though because it can be really quite drying. It can be bought at Boots for £7.99.

This is one of the sexiest shades of the season. Sin by MAC (£13.50) is just so vampy and chic... it looks dangerous! I like to use my finger to apply it and build it deeper and deeper so it acts almost as a stain. It can dry the soft skin on lips out quite a lot which can obviously be remedied with a slick of balm over the top. However, it's a shame really to use a balm as the real seduction in this shade is the matte effect... It's worth it for a day or so of dryness!

My Moisture Renew by Rimmel in shade Electrick Plum was the first lipstick I ever had. We've been through ups and downs, we've laughed, we've cried, we very nearly died (not really, but it rhymed...) and yet, this is still one of my fave shades for A/W because it is so rich and purpley without being too outrageous for everyday use. And I do wear this almost every day. It's nearly all run out now (which makes a lot of sense as I've had it for about four years... I know it's unhygienic and I should have gotten rid of it a while ago, but I always use a brush to apply this and heck, I love it so screw the rules!) This can be bought at Boots for £6.29.

Finally, my Topshop Limited Edition lipstick in Rumour Has It (£9) has been one of my favourite purchases this season. Although alone this shade does have that kind of 'concealer-on-the-lips' effect that I HATE with a fiery passion (as can be seen in this photo) when layered over any colour it adds a creamy, velvety nude variation on the shade and just makes lips look so kissable! It's a great buy, trust me! Get your hands on one quick though, because once the season ends, so does the collection!

So that's it! What do you think of these shades? This is my first post including lip photos, and I took them all myself so I know they're not perfect. Does anyone have any tips for taking lip photos? Also, I was shocked that my Top Seven Winter Lip Picks didn't include a bright red! This is very surprising to me as I usually love vibrant reds for this season, and yet this year I'd hardly noticed the absence of one... How bizarre. Maybe I should invest? Anyone have a favorite red lip shade?

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you'll be purchasing any of the shades :)

Love

gabriellasofia

x

How I'm Wearing the New Season's Trends...

It's been a nightmare so far this autumn trying to decide what to wear each day as, here in England, the weather has been so remarkably unpredictable... Some days it's been so warm I've been able to go out without tights on or a jacket, whilst others I've been throwing on knits and waterproof jackets! At least you're about to see A LOT of outfit diversity. Let's get on with the fashion show :)

In the photo to the left I was off to visit my boyfriend and meet his family for the first time in Cambridge so I wanted to make a good - respectable - impression... I think I achieved it. I've got on a sharp-looking blazer from Forever 21! I picked it up in the States this summer, and think it's perfect for that androgynous look that's been all over the catwalks for Autumn/Winter 2011. I'm just wearing it with a simple black t-shirt as it was relatively warm that day, and you can also see I have no tights on. Nonetheless, I couldn't bring myself to totally summer-it-up with gladiator sandals, so went for a more season-suitable flat; the black brogue again in-keeping with the slightly masculine trend. Offsetting that, I incorporated a bit of femininity with this cute floaty mini-skirt with a pink, lavender, black and peach watercolor print. Many of the pieces in this post can be found in my Fall Haul video posted on YouTube a few weeks back. If you missed it, then check it out by following this link... http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=4dTbp0uQL6s

Next up is an outfit which I wore for my mom's birthday meal out. As you can see I've done a cheeky repeat of the jacket (I'm all for repeats... we're living in a recession after all!) However, this time I wore the buttons open and teamed it with a navy, chiffon skirt with cream lining as a nod to the nautical trend of the summer (it was still hot weather, so I figured this was permissible!) I wore this cute little wine-colored cotton vest top tucked in, cinched at the waist with a brown woven belt and my matching Miss Selfridge platform wedges.

I'd curled all of my hair with my curling wand by

Babyliss. As for my make-up look, I sported a pretty, soft, neutral eye with lashings of mascara, a super-groomed brow, rosy cheeks and a Pinot Noir colored lip thanks to MAC! This has been my daily make-up look so far this season.

Ok, so this outfit repeating is getting a bit out of hand now, I know... but as a self-confessed Recessionista who is in love with her blazer-cute-skirt-combo, I can hardly resist! What does it matter anyway?

It's not like I don't work it out by changing up the accessories, right? So, this is what I wore for the Inspire and Mentor lecture with Marie Claire about How to Get Into The Beauty Industry... I did a blog review of the event which can be found if you just click on this link; http://hautefuture.blogspot.com/2011/09/marie-claire-inspire-and-mentor-how-to.html Anyways, as you can see, this time I wore the outfit with a pair of granite-colored opaque wooly tights which I just love (it was getting a little nippy out!) And my heeled tan brogues to give me some height among all those glamorous magazine-types. I accessorized with gold jewelry like this gothic cross necklace I picked up at Forever 21 this summer, plus a dainty gold bracelet I was given for my 15th birthday... Unfortunately, you can't see the bracelet :(

Now, the weather was getting chillier, and yet the sun was shining to its heart's content, so I wore warm-ish clothes to go mooching around the shops, whilst keeping the fabrics relatively cosy.

These cute cord mustard shorts were bought this summer from Delia's and they have these adorable little flowers on the cord in autumn colors like jade and deep pinks which matched perfectly with this slouchy jumper and ribbed tights! I wore my cross necklace again because I love it, then put on these little shoe boots that are super comfy, courtesy of (you've guessed it...) Forever 21.

One weekend a couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend came to visit and we went for a walk around a lake near to my house. The weather was cold and looked pretty rainy, so I decided to layer it up, big-time. I wore this black flowery dress with my biker-boots bought in my local market for about £15 last winter (bargain!)

I chucked on an old denim shirt I found on the Topshop sale the January before last. Due to the rain, my mom forced me to wear this uber-cool (SARCASM) rain-jacket over the top, and I added her black pashmina as a scarf because it really was quite cold. As before, I cinched the shirt with my woven belt, kept my legs warm with grey tights and carried my vital belongings - lipstick and other necessary things for a lake-walk - in my slouchy black Topshop handbag.

On one of my days out in London I really wanted to dress warm, but also, fashionable! So I gave the teddy-boy trend the 'old college try'. I paired this plaid green shirt with my shoe-boots from before as the colors are ever to similar. Then again, I sported the trust grey tights, plus this tan skirt with a orangey-brown belt which almost matched perfectly in color with the button down vest whose collar I had poking over the top of the outer shirt. This was a decision I made simply because of how cold it was outside, but I really liked the double collar look and as collars are set to be diverse this season (Peter Pan collars, fur collars etc) I figure it was a cool new take on the trend! My make-up was kept pretty simple with a neutral lipstick in Rumour Has It from Topshop and a dusting of blusher, and my hair bun was similarly fuss-free, but again this look should be quite familiar as it's been in mags all season!

As for outerwear, I threw on a faux-fur gillet I got in Topshop last A/W and my leather jacket bought for a steal at $20 in Papaya during a family holiday a couple of years back but I couldn't track down any pictures of that :( However, here's another London outfit I wore that weekend with the same faux-fur gillet and leather jacket combo, and the skirt is in cord from Topshop... How cute is the pattern? Who says florals are for summer?! Not me.

Again, I am an ITEM REPEATER with the shoe boots and plaid shirt, but with these rust-colored high-waisted peg-legs and my sisters Topshop cover of a Barbour jacket, I loved this blokey look! I think it would look better if I was a little taller, and yet I think I look a bit country - in a good way - like, a farmer's chic daughter who is dating the handsome stable-boy perhaps... Oh, to dream!

Finally, at the train station on the way to uni the other day, I looked down and though, dang, you look like a little rock chick! So I asked my lovely uncle who was visiting for a couple of weeks to snap this shot and honestly, I strutted around uni more confident than ever before... the rock chick look is really quite empowering - who knew? The shorts are from Forever 21, the little T-Shirt is from Topshop and so are the biker-boots with a little heel. I actually love these shoes so much that I got them re-heeled instead of buying a new pair as they are no longer in stores (I've had them at least two years now...) As usual, I'm rocking the leather jacket and grey tights look... perhaps I need lots and lots more clothes! Haha. If only my student loan would allow it, eh?

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my little How I've Been Wearing the Trends post! Let me know what you've been wearing so far this season, I could always do with some new ideas :) Take care and tell your friends to follow please!

Love

gabriellasofia