Lip-smackingly Good

Well hello there, nice of you to stop by.

So as a female, who loves lipstick, it can be a little awkward when you see some beautiful colours, then get excited but then you swatch them or put them on your lips and they look nothing like they do in the tube or on the model. As I have darker pigmentation, the colour is bound to look different on my lips than on the model, but you can't really check what it'll look like, even when you swatch it on your arms. A couple of friends have mentioned this same issue and I have noticed a couple of black female YouTubers doing lip swatches, which is so helpful and makes things easier for me anyways. That being said, I wanted to see if this would help you ladies out there, by doing some lip swatches. I'm going to try and include some popular brands and colours along with my current favs', Including lip liners, of course!

Now we have, a popular option and I know a lot of you already have it, but a lot of ladies may not have ventured into it yet. Yerp, the classic red. RubyRoo by MAC. RUBYROO is great but, yes a but, it can get very flaky and transfers easily. Maybe it's just on me but I have heard this from other women too, so be warned! Apart from that and moisturising your lips before using it, I'd say it is a fantastic colour that can make your look go from chill to 'saucay' real quick.

Next up we have a really dark plum from The Topshop makeup range. Say hello to 'RUTHLESS' Now this lippie is a little bit of a struggle, let me not lie. It didn't even turn out great in the shot, but it is a hit and miss. The formula is quite sheer and you have to smack on a good few layers before it looks opaque. My suggestions, wear a dark lip liner under it, apply all over the lip so you have a nice even base to work with. The liner I used and use normally is just below......

......It is BLACKBERRY by Sleek. They do great lip liners for very affordable prices too.

We have colour 240 from the Color Crush range, by Body Shop in the line up now. This is it without any lip liners or other crayons/lipsticks mixed in. The finish is quite glossy and opaque. it's very mixable too. It's a very wearable purple. 

 And here is another purple for you, only this time, it's matte. EXXXAGGERATE is another Sleek lippie, which I do really like for so many reasons. The main one being, it's matte but not drying on the lips. And yes that is how they spell it! I'm wearing it without any liners here and that is usually how I prefer wearing it.

Drum roll please...............

Enter, Charlotte Tilbury's LOST CHERRY. Now this is really the whole point of this post, to let y'all see that not every lipstick will look great at first swatch. I never wear this without some form of liner, usually a brown liner, or base. Don't get me wrong the shade and formula are amazing, much like the rest of the collection, but jheeze it's so bright and unflattering.

The other half of my face wasn't pleased with this swatch.

So here is the same lipstick, but with a brown lip liner. My friends comment "Wow, looks like a totally different lipstick" and indeed it does. How it transfers will depend on your skin tone though, I am dark but I see this looking like the perfect summer pink for a woman of lighter complexion.

Something I will say about the brightness of the lipstick is that it is very mixable, it goes well with so many other lipsticks and liners and still holds its colour and pigment. I do wear it often and like to experiment with it, just not on it's own.

Next we have 34 LA RAFFINEE by Chanel from the Rouge Allure Velvet range. When I received this as a gift for Christmas, best believe I got excited, super excited, one could even say gassed. It is a subtle nude-pink and it is gorgeous. It would be suited as an every day pink. Here I am wearing it without a liner and I like it. Because the formula isn't so heavy and quite silky, it doesn't show up opaque. Even though it's quite sheer, it lasts ages. Like I mentioned before, I'm quiet dark so if this is working for me, then it is bound to work for you. I think I will be purchasing some more Chanel lippies in the future.

*Side note- if you do decide to buy this and it looks 'higgy-haggy' try a dark brown/nude liner, my favourite that works for pretty much everything is Chestnut by MAC, which is featured a couple times in this post as the 'brown lip liner'!

Here is the brown lipliner I used.  CHESTNUT by MAC.

So saving the best for last, one of my favourites, VERVE by MAC. I wear this a lot, like a lot a lot. Hence why it's almost finished. It is great to just throw on and is MY perfect nude. The pigment is alright, not too sheer but buildable. Ladies this is a 'smack it on and leave kinda lipstick' It doesn't make too much of a statement but still looks great.

Without lip liner

With Brown lip liner

So we have come to the end and I really do hope that this has helped some of you lovely ladies out there. If you want anymore swatches, new lines or old ranges, let me know. Feel free to comment, share and let me know what your favourite lipsticks are.

Peace and Love readers.

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x Stitched Roses x



My Current Favs'

Hello there,

I know everyone usually does monthly favourites but I don't like to change up things too much, especially when it comes to beauty & skin care, but every couple of months I get something new or something that I repurchase & today is the day I share some with you guys! Oh & I've got a few other bits and bobs for ya!

BEAUTY

Miceller Water by GARNIER is totally worth the hype! Now I know people have been talking about this for a while now & even more so recently but I've been using this product for about a year now & I don't really want to go back! I believe it's actually worth the hype & it's great for sensitive skin & removes make up so well, although I often use it as a pre-cleaner. If you often react and break out trying new products then I'd say try this, it's most likely going to leave you clean and without breakout! It has no sent and doesn't leave a weird oily residue on your face like some cleansers tend to. Also, did I mention the packaging. There's just something simple and cute about it, especially there new travel size bottles.

Next is the Original Beauty Blender. I also have the beauty blender from Real Techniques, but I wanted to try out the original. It definitely does make a difference & puts my concealer on great, wastes less product & expands more but I still find the Real Techniques blender good as well.

The Zoeva brushes, Oh the Zoeva brushes are something else. I got the classic eye brush set & I'm definitely loving them. They look so sleek and simple & I love how some of the brushes have brush covers which is very important to me. The actual brushes are quite nice and do a good job, but because they're white, they are a little difficult to keep completely clean. 

MUSIC

I love listening to different types of music but there are some that are a constant for me. I'm going to share some of my fav' sound cloud hero's and the songs that keep me tuned in!

Shakka is one of them and one of my favourite songs of his right now is 'When will I see you'. Take a listen HERE.
He's consistently good and his older music is just as good as his new stuff.

Another fav' is Classy D, he usually makes beats and produces music , he also sings which is an added bonus when he features on some of the tracks. A little gem of many in the hemisphere of sound cloud! HERE is a sample from him.

A track I love listening to to calm me down and get me thinking is Jehreeus- God on my mind, HERE! It's a seriously good listen and has some great vocals so go check it out.

Last but certainly not least is Angel. If you guys don't know, please get to know! This right here is a TUNE.

BLOGGERS/ YOU TUBER'S

. Simply Feli .
HER CHANNEL

. Ugly Face of Beauty .
GRACIE FRANCESCA

. Melissa's Wardrobe .
AND LE BLOGGER

RANDOM'S

These cool sunglasses are from H&M Men's. It was about £7. They're just so snazzy and the tint on the lenses are a weird metallic, pink hue! Great for holiday vibes and they made for a key piece when I went on holiday and even when there was a little sun left over in Britain..

These are my babies, my Pro Markers. I got these as a gift but they have been a favourite of mine for about a year now. I use them for my designs and sketches and they have really great 'stroke marks' and the pigments are strong AND the most important thing is they layer well. Only thing with Pro Markers is that you'll need good paper that won't let the colours bleed through! If you're into graphics or rendering or just like to experiment with arts and crafts, try these, they're worth the investment. They're sold in places like hobby craft or on eBay!

My fav book at the moment is 'Noughts & Crosses' by Malorie Blackman. Now this is an excellent read. It's so well written and executed with such creativity and holds some great ideas. I won't go spoiling it for you but if you like books that you can get lost in and make you think then I highly recommend it along with the rest of the series. Amazon have all four HERE.

FRAGRANCE
So I'm very picky when it comes to smells and it takes me a while to adapt to a new one but this summer, I decided to buy a summer fragrance for my holiday. It was a challenge but I found a nice fruity one from Vera Wang, Princess Power. This isn't usually what I'd go for but it was on sale and smelt of summer (not a great description of the it but that's the best I can do lol). The only thing with this is that it doesn't last very long so I had to carry it around with me for when it faded. Apart from that, great fruity smell. It was from the Fragrance shop, but I'm sure it can be bought in any fragrance store.

Hope you enjoyed the read and the good music!

 Peace and Love readers.

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x Stitched Roses x

Catch up..

Hey guys,

 So if any of you noticed, I was gone for a while,which is very bad blogger etiquette. My apologies. Exams season got intense pretty fast and gradually I couldn't allow myself to get lost in the world of blogging. So setting my priorities I put exams first. BUT that's all over now!!

Finished my last set of college exams and now I play the waiting game that will open up the window to the next chapter of my life.

SO QUICK CATCH UP...

No more exams and summer is here. 

I turned 18 in the beginning of June.
Started hitting the gym(exams really ,messed my system up)

Got my offers from uni's, hopefully going to one in London this September 

I have started designing properly again and I have a few ventures in the pipeline*wink face*

To mark the end of exams I went to an AWESOME concert called #EMfest in Manchester

Check them out:  ETERNAL MINDS

I no longer have my kinky braids(which means no more awkward dread lock comments)

I'm going to see Sam Smith in October. (if you don't already know,check him out,great set of vocals on him)

SAM SMITH

I plan on having fun, laughing so much and just enjoying the last official holiday before I move away!

Have you guys got anything exciting planned for this summer? ^_^

                                                         x Stitched Roses x 

Spring & Summer lips

So I believe that every girl has there own thing when it comes to makeup, some more than others but my 'thing' is definitely lipstick!! I'm not a massive fan of eye shadow because it leaves my eyes sore and itchy but lips... well that I can do
 I have a growing collection and I noticed that I only wear certain colours more regularly in spring and summer!
 I've included some of my crayon lipsticks as lip tints too(for that special lady  who asked).

                                                       The first one is my orange lip tint
                   Both tints make good everyday alternatives to nudes and subtle pinks.

I was trying really hard to pose lol

 

                                                           My purple/ deep red tint

The pigment on these tints aren'tvery strong
  



                         This is from collection, a drugstore brand, It's called Perri



 

This is from No7, called Grace 

 

 

This is my summer favourite, Fandango Purple from Sleeks Matte me range!!

 

My weird grin!

 

 

All the lipsticks apart from the tints are available at good drugstores.

 

Lipstick is certainly the makeup that I reach for when I go shopping. Some say my collection is a little excessive but hey ho.

 

If anyone has any favourite lipsticks for this season and summer, please spread the joy and share with me ^_^

 

x Stitched Roses x

#4oacts of generosity.

So lent started yesterday and usually every year I give something up.
Now I don't always see it through till the end but I do give it a good old try.
Last year I gave up chocolate, sweets and only drank water and green teas. I can freely admit that the chocolate one didn't last, I tried, I really did but after a week my cravings just shot up and, well I gave in. BUT I stuck to the rest and I was better for it.I thank God I did because I felt accomplished after, like I had gone through a sacrifice that let me see just a little of what Jesus had to go through (although I didn't exactly walk through the desert and wilderness but you get my drift)

This year my good friend Tosin, gave me this idea to do something different. It was the 40 acts of generosity challenge,which meant that you'd add to yourself but not give anything up. I hadn't thought of anything to do this year so I figured why not.

Reading through it, it looked like a fun, easy and great way to spend lent. It's day 2 and today I was asked to make a generosity jar, like a penny jar, to put spare change in and use to bless someone else later on during  Easter.

I am weirdly excited to fill it and see who it blesses. You never know it could be you!!


Try it out, It's much easier than abstaining from all things sweet and tasty and you'll learn something along the way. It's not too late to start


The challenge: http://40acts.org.uk/the-challenge/
My friends blog: loudlolalabel.blogspot.co.uk

                                                      
                                                           x Stitched Roses x