Braving Berry Lips - Smashbox Be Legendary Long-Wear Lip Lacquer - Currant*

Despite all the beautiful, wild and crazy lip colours that are now on the market it's pretty safe to say that I'm quite boring when it comes to lip colour - My vast lip collection is full of varying shades of pink, and nude, with the odd and barely worn red, berry and coral thrown in for good measure. As much as I would love to wear a deep wine or burgundy shade like MAC Sin or even something a little bit more daring, I'm just not brave enough.

Sometimes though you need to step outside of your comfort zone, and recently Smashbox gave me the opportunity to do exactly that with one of their Be Legendary Long Wear Lip Lacquers in the shade Currant.

Hailed by Smashbox as the new generation of lip colours, the Be Legendary Long Wear Lip Lacquers promise long wearing, vibrant colour, without any stickiness, tackiness, dryness, or uneven fading. They contain a special combination of strong, staining pigments, glossy pearls, and Vitamin E for moisture.

There are currently around 15 shades to choose from but the one I received was Currant, although this is probably a pretty safe colour for most of you, for me this pink toned, muted raspberry shade was a real step outside my comfort zone,

Although it looks a lot darker in the funky, angular square tube than it does when it's swatched and on the lips, it still took me a good six months before I plucked up the courage to give it a go and wear it our of the house. I wasn't sure at first but this product has really grown on me and it's become one of my go to lip colours since the Autumn of last year.

This product is basically a clever cross between a lipstick and a lip gloss. It has a smooth creamy formula, with only the merest hint of taste and scent, that feels moisturising on the lips, and has the sheen of a gloss but without the sticky or tacky feel - perfect for windy days and if you've got long hair like me

It comes with a cleverly shaped sponge, doe foot style applicator that allows you to both line, and define, and fill in your lips. The pigmentation on this one was excellent, and depending on heavily and how much product you applied you could either create a full on glossy block shade, or by
applying it lightly and blending it out with a brush you can create more of a glaze effect.

I'm going to be honest with you, I've read a few reviews and a few people have said that this is quite a messy product to apply, and unfortunately I have to agree with them. Although the applicator is very well designed the formulation is quite liquidy so it does have a tendency to migrate beyond the lip line especially if you have any fine lines around your lips. I don't mind tidying up as I go but on Mummy Lou who cough cough has a few more lines than I do, the effect was something along the lines of eating a jam doughnut, not a good look, and clean up was definitely required. Just a quick tip though if you do need to do a quick clean up, use a damp cotton bud or you might be left with a bit of staining around your mouth!

In my experience this product isn't quite as long lasting as Smashbox claim, the gloss that you get with the initial application does last quite a bit  longer than say a conventional lip gloss, but you do get a lot of transference onto glasses, cups, and dare it say other people ;) As the glossy finish fades though you're gradually left with a semi matte, pink, berry stain that fades fairly evenly and lasts for a good few hours

Despite the duck faces (sorry I was having a bad facial paralysis day :() I hope you can see just how pretty this shade actually is. I've actually grown to love the pretty raspberry shade but I do think that the formulation needs some work. Yes it's definitely moisturising and unlike some reviewers I didn't feel any extra dryness at any stage, the pigmentation in this case is superb but I just found it way too much effort to apply neatly and unfortunately it didn't wear quite as well as Smashbox claimed. Yes the gloss aspect lasted way longer than a conventional lip gloss, but it still transferred and disappeared within the hour, leaving behind an all be it nice shade of lip stain. I like the colour but given the application, transfer and wear issues, at £19 I just couldn't justify purchasing this product either in this shade or anyone of the other 14 colours. Smashbox Be Legendary Long Wear Lip Lacquer in Currant retails at £19 for a 6ml tube and is available from both the Smashbox website and Boots online and selected Boots stores. Are you a fan of berry lips? Let me know and if you have any similar toned berry lip recommendations I'd love to hear them x

*Sample

A Trip To The Metro Centre

Hey Guys
Well we made it after a few weeks of aborted attempts we eventually made it to the Metro Centre yesterday. I have to be honest and say I'm pretty broke ahead of my holidays so my mum bought me a few things, meaning I only made the tiniest little dip into my monthly spends, first up the things that St Mummy of LouLouLand bought me :) She gave my £20 for spends so I did what any bargainista does and I went into Primark. I've read so many posts lately on the delights of Primark at the moment but I have to say I was a bit disappointed nothing really jumped at me and the things that did seemed to stop point blank at a size 12 :( Never mind I did pick up one thing that I have seen in pretty much every Primark haul lately some lovely and cozy fleecy PJ pants

For just £5 these will be sooo warm for the winter, Mummy Lou is even considering getting some for herself! That was the only clothing item I got the rest was all accessories - first up one of these ski headbands - I got one last year and it kept my ears toasty and warm - it was £1.50

Next up hair bobbles -  as you know Primark hair bobbles are a real staple of mine (click here to read a review) and I was delighted to see that they had introduced a whole load of new colours, so yes your eyes aren't deceiving you I picked up 5 packets!

That's 150 bobbles for £5 which I don't think is bad, and yes I will get through them all they are probably Tallulah's favourite play things, and I lose about 3 a week to her very sharp teeth, I'm loving all the new colours I really will be able to coordinate my bobbles with my outfits :)

Next up a cute little charm, it has a turquoise stone, and a little silver tone bird and feather detail, these are only a pound and there were lots of different ones to chose from, as well as a faux silver sweetie style bracelet to put them on. I have a little faux Pandora style bracelet that I was going to put it on but once I've got it home it's a different shade of turquoise entirely - never mind I'm sure I'll find a use for it it.

Finally I picked this cute little highlighter up from the make up range High Beauty Baked Highlighter

All the make up items seem to have been reduced to just £1.00 which I guess indicates the end of the range which is a bit of shame to be honest I have discovered some real gems in it. If your interested in what to grab before everything disappears don't forget to keep checking back, one of my planned schedules posts whilst I'm on holiday is a Budget Beauty Series post  focusing on the best of Primark Beauty.

So that was my Primark haul - just £13.50 spent so can you guess what I did you I crossed the mall and went to Superdrug to finishing spending my £20. First up I headed to the Sleek stand which I have to say was an absolute disgrace the stand was coming apart nothing where it was supposed to be, it was horrid. I actually complained to a member of staff who told me that the stand was actually damaged the slots were coming apart so things couldn't stand up and Sleek wouldn't replace it!! She was actually pretty mad at the state of it and the products on it and so she should be, the stand design etc maybe Sleeks responsibility but the state of the products and the damaged testers etc is surely Superdrugs? I tried to get a photograph but I was being glared it constantly after I dared mention it! Hmm anyways I wanted to check out the nude collection, the eyeshadow palette never really appealed as I'm not a huge matte shadow lover, but it was in such a smashed state it would have been hard to swatch it anyways - The blusher on the other hand had sparked my interest!

At first glance it had appeared to be too dark for me but the more I saw it the more I thought I might be able to get away with it - today was the first opportunity I'd had to swatch it and I have to say I really like

Suede 921 is a gorgeous peachy nude, is it anything different to what I already own probably not but hey ho but for £4.29 of not my money it was well worth it, especially since the pigmentation is amazing

The last proportion of Momma Lou's money went on a bottle of Drench Orange and Passion Fruit Juice - OMG how amazing is that stuff , and a little item from MUA. Like my local Superdrug the Metro Centres stand was predictably half empty but I did spy one of the new eyeshadows, this is Shade - 30 Pearl

What an amazingly pigmented metallic copper shade, this brand just impresses me more and more with every product I try!!

I did pick up one thing with my own money in Superdrug - one of the NYC Smooch Proof Lip Stain 16H in 490 Persistent Pink

I've only managed a quick swatch so far but it seems a bit more wearable than the Revlon one I picked up.

I'll do a full review of this product when I get to my Budget Beauty Series post on NYC but first impressions are good x

I did buy one tiny little other thing the time in WHSmith - a copy of Papercraft Inspirations magazine. I used to subscribe to this magazine a little while ago but like the rest of my mags I cancelled it. This months copy though has a free Forever Friends Christmas card making kit with stamps, toppers, and cards. I have a few Forever Friends Christmas kits already  and I thought this would be a great addition to the things I already have.
After that we headed home via Lidl but not before my mum treat us to a little Starbucks trip -  this is one of the new Creme Brulee Macchiatos

I have to say it was yum, the Caramel one has been one of my favourites for a while now but this was equally good, sweet but with a lovely strong coffee taste. I also had one of their Gluten Free Chocolate Brownies which are gorgeous - Starbucks Gluten Free range isn't the biggest but at least us Coeliacs aren't completely ignored!
So that was yesterday, today I am utterly exhausted, achey and sore -why do a few hours pleasure lead to so much pain grr. Anyways if you have any questions on what I've bought please let me know xx

ELF Haul + An Update

Ok I was a bad LouLou yet again - you must be sick of hearing this but I have no willpower lol Last weekend ELF issued another one of their Facebook discount codes so I took advantage :)
The first thing I got was one of their new cream eyeliners - I love cream / gel liners I find them so much easier to apply then liquids - the colour I ordered was Ivory



I thought this would be a great eye brightener - the texture feels super creamy and it would even be great as an eye base - I need the brown one now :)

I also picked up another one of the studio single eyeshadows in Wild Wheat - this is a gorgeous soft golden brown :)



Another thing I got was one of the studio lipstains - these are a double ended component with a stain at one end and a clear gloss - The colour I went for was Birthday Suit - although it this was the colour of my birthday suit I would have a severe case of sunburn lol - It looks quite scary in the tube but it goes on a nice blue /cool toned baby pink



Finally I got one of the duo shadow creams in the shade Eggplant - a nice eggplant purple colour, and a sort of dirty khaki shade - I love these when your in a hurry just smear a bit on your lids and your good to go :)



So there you go another haul post ;) I have been a teensy bit stressed because of my mum so I have gone a bit of over my spending diet this month but it can't be helped and I'm not going to beat myself up over it - I am not going to just let go completely I am still going to try my best but we'll see
Oh as to my mum she had her operation on Saturday morning and was in theatre for about 3 hours she is still on a lot of painkillers etc. but she is starting to use her zimmer frame and move about a bit - she was supposed to be coming home tomorrow but as like the last time she has a little bit of inflammation and swelling so she may be in for a bit longer - we'll have to wait and see hopefully I'll know more tonight - I'd just like to thank you all for your support over the last few days both on here, twitter and on Facebook it's been greatly appreciated xxx