Culling Crayons...

I used to love drawing with chunky crayons when I was little. Nothing got a three year old Keeks more excited than a big blank page and a packet of fresh Crayola’s (except maybe my Barbie dream house), so of course when beauty haulin’ I naturally gravitate towards these bad boys.

For me lip crayons are the ideal hybrid of a lipstick and a lip pencil - easy and foolproof for even the biggest makeup novice. I’ve tried many over the years but these four have stuck in my collection, all serving different purposes...

My initial foray in the lip crayon game was with the Clinique Chubby Stick, which was probably many people’s first. This crayon is the balmiest I own and what I slick on for a tint of colour and a hint of moisture. The original formulation comes in 18 shades, the Intense range, which offers a stronger colour pay off, comes in 10 and they’ve recently brought out the Baby Tint, which is less colour and more moisture. They aren’t cheap at £17 but they are kind of the crème de la crème of the lip crayon word and, if you have the dollar, they are worth the splurge.

For a statement matte lip (but seriously matte) I reach for my Topshop lip crayon. A more precise hand is required for this one but once you have the application down, it’s a great matte blue-toned red – I think the one I have has been discontinued but the lip bullet in wine gum is a pretty good match . My other matte crayon is from Bite and I picked it up from Sephora in Miami. I hadn’t heard about the brand because it’ not available in the UK (unless, of course you order it from Sephora) but it was the packaging that had me. I wanted everything. No joke. For me this is a fab semi-matte and the colour (rhubarb) works great as a nude lip for me.

Me final crayon is a real good’un. The Soap & Glory sexy motherpucker gloss stick is unlike any other, because, well, it’s glossy. The colour I have is Raplumsel and is a deep plummy raspberry. It possesses the ability to make a face look ‘done’ with a swipe on the lips. The formula is creamy rather than sticky and so avoids the whole lipgloss in hair sitch. J’adore.

Love Keeks xo

Reviewed - Soap And Glory Sexy Motherpucker Gloss Stick

Soap And Glory Sexy Motherpucker Gloss Stick in Rumplumsel - £8.00

I'm quite a fickle girl when it comes to lip products. I stay pretty loyal to balms, when I was younger I lived for vaseline, then moved on to Carmex and then more recently I've loved the Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm, but when it comes to the actual make up-y stuff, meh, it's whatever I grab first from my make up draw.

And that's just when I bother with the stuff. Sometimes I prefer gloss or lipstick, but far too often I'll just opt out altogether for the sheer convenience of a balm. And that's were this bad boy comes in. A weird hybrid of all three, the ability to build up the colour like a lipstick, the glossiness of a gloss and the ease of a lip balm. I just wish they had more colours...

Love Keeks xo

The Everyday Make Up.

Hello My Lovelies!

So I wrote this post and was about to publish it and everything, with the whole post dedicated to the poignancy of it being my 100th post -  when I realised I had a draft post lurking around and it's actually my 99th. Fail. Oh well, this my almost 100th - 1. 

I was having a look back at my previous blog posts and realised I've never done a post about my everyday make up! Of course this does vary from time to time but this winter I've rarely deviated from these products and brushes for my daytime make up.

Firstly I obviously cleanse and moisture, (I'm thinking about doing a separate skincare routine post?) then I pop on some of the Ginzing eye cream on. Now I know that this is technically an eye cream but I thought for all the shimmer in it, it could be seen as a brightener of some sorts, which is how I see it. I then apply lip balm, otherwise my lips are super dry and lip products won't apply smoothly.

Base - I then go in with my foundation. This winter I've been loving the Le Teint Touche Eclat but as it  moves into spring (hard to believe, I know) and summer I switch to my Bareminerals matte powder. I dot the foundation on my face then buff it into my skin, sometimes I just use my fingers. Next I dot some concealer on my blemishes and down the centre of my nose buffing it out with the Real Techniques deluxe crease brush. I don't use this concealer under my eyes as when I have in the past I've found that it tends to gather in creases - not what you want from a concealer really, so I'm on the hunt for another.

Brows - I brush through them then use my brow kit; the wax sparsely, then the powder, applying with my Real Techniques brow brush. I then brush through them again removing excess.

Eyes - Day to day I normally just do subtle winged eyeliner. I first apply the Rimmel kohl liner in a thin line then to make it really dark then use the Soap & Glory liner to make the line smooth. I just find that using the Rimmel makes the line a lot darker. Followed by lashings of mascara.

Cheeks - I then apply some NARS bronzer with my contour brush, dusting along the top of the hollows of my cheeks, forehead and chin. Bronzer is a new step for me I only got it at the end of December but I love including it now! Next up is blush! I got my Gino McCray blusher in Thailand last time I was there and it's like it's never ending, which is good because it's my favourite. I first use my Mac 168 dabbing it on my cheeks and sweeping it up on my cheekbones, I then use the Mac 187 to blend the colour out a bit more to make it natural.

Lips - I normally keep it simple with a nude lipstick; my current favourite is my Chanel lipstick in Determinee.

Throughout the day if get a bit oily I use the Bobbi Brown pressed powder and my powder brush down the centre of my face. 

And there you have it, a rather long post about my everyday make up! What are some of your everyday products? 

Love Keeks xo 

Berry Lips.

Make up

Eyeshadow - Mulch by MAC // Eyeliner - Supercat by Soap & Glory

Mascara - Volumizer by Bourjois // Foundation - Le Teint Touche Eclat by YSL

Lipstick - Deep Attraction by MAC

Earrings - Gift, similar ones here! // Top - H&M 

Hey Dolls,

So every year I get super excited about the prospect of fancy dress for Halloween, and it never happens! I'm in my third year at uni and I've done fancy dress once. Such a bad student.

So as I thought I'd be doing nothing again this Halloween (more on that later), I decided to get my vamp on with some berry lipstick. I'm not usually one for dark lips because they are so high maintenance with the reapplication and the, "have I got lipstick on my teeth????" but I haven't had any mishaps with this one yet and because it's a Lustre finish it feels really moisturising and doesn't leave my lips dry.

So I am actually doing something this Halloween, I'm going out with one of my best friends Emma dressed as Angry Birds. Yes as in the game. Wish me luck. 

I'm going to pop a picture on my twitter when we're dressed, so if you're not already following, the links here!

Are any of you dressing up for Halloween parties?

Love Keeks xo

Soap & Glory Supercat Eyeliner Pen.

Soap & Glory Supercat Eyeliner Pen - £6.00

Hey Girlies,

So I've been on the look out for a new liquid eyeliner for a while. Even though I still love my Maybelline gel liner, I wanted to add a liquid eyeliner to my make up bag, just to have the option, also I find doing a thiner line is easier with a liquid liner.

I've heard a lot about this eyeliner pen and even though I've tried the felt tippy eyeliner thingymebob before and found it a bit ... meh, I thought hey-ho no harm in trying another brands attempt, right?

And, you know what, I really do like it. It glides on well and you can do your eyeliner as thin or thick as you like because of the small nib. 

There are some down sides though, firstly I wouldn't recommend for day to night make up as it wears away on me and I don't have particularly oily skin. Also, the colour isn't intense black, you need a few strokes and even then it's not the strongest colour ever.

Despite these negatives it's way way better than other felt tip liners I've tried and I'm gonna stick with it for the micro-mini liner I've been wearing lately.

Are you a fan of felt tip liners? What's your favourite?

Love Keeks xo

Shower Treats

Hey Lovelies,

I thought I'd share with you some products I bought a few weeks ago that I've been trying out. I've needed a bit of shower routine shake-up as all my products were a little bit boring, so I thought I should treat myself to some new products!

L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil - £16

I love this shower oil! It was definitely a splurge as I would never normally spend that much on a bath product but it was a treat to myself. The product comes out like an oil, then when you rub it onto wet skin it becomes like a milky cleansing formula and once washed off it leaves your skin so so soft and lovely! The smell is more subtle than you'd expect from an almond scented product, not sweet but very faint and natural.

Soap&Glory Sugar Crush Body Crush - £8

I think this has fast become my favourite body scrub ever! It's so good, I have to restrain myself from using it every time I'm in the shower; however I do have a sniff of it almost everyday! The smell is incredible, you'll love it if you like sweet, edible scents, it's a mix of sugar, sweet lime, almond oil and macadamia grains. My boyfriend said it smells like Coke, which I kind of agree with, but I would say it reminded me more of the taste/smell of a lemon/lime hard-boiled sweet. The effectiveness of the exfoliator is also really good, what I like most is that it leaves the skin feeling super soft without that oil slick that some 'moisturising scrubs' can leave, which I HATE! I would definitely definitely recommend this body scrub.

Nip + Fab Pistachio Sundae Dry Skin Fix Body Butter - Currently £5.66 @ Boots

This body butter smells so sweet and edible, it's easy to be a tad over enthusiastic about the amount you slather on! Whilst it's a decent enough moisturiser, I do think that drier skin like mine needs a richer cream to do the trick, but if you're looking for a nice lighter moisturiser, then I'd say give this a try.

Have you tried any of these products? What are your thoughts on them?

Love Keeks xo