TOP 5 SPRING/SUMMER LIP PICKS

Hey :)

So I've been feeling pretty summery lately. Mainly because it's August... but also because the weather has been pretty decent here in the UK (touch wood) which is rare. So with the sun out I like to whack out my pretty pinks, corals and brights!

So here we go...

5th place: The gloss

Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector #02 £17

This is a lovely gloss... that is a sentence I never thought I would say. I hate lip glosses with a passion. I don't know whether it's the rubbish lasting power, the sticky feel or the poor pigmentation... or all of the above? But this one is... just... different. It's unsticky, lasts a long time and adds a really pretty peach colour to the lips - this kind of contradicts my moan about lipglosses above but this is the only lipgloss I have ever found to tick all of the boxes. It's a lovely colour, low maintenance and a great finish - sounds perfect to me.  The applicator is great. It is a squeezy tube but instead of having a plastic end (which I don't like) it has a sponge applicator which makes everything more convenient. Pretty pricey but worth the money.


4th place: The crayon

Bourjois Colour Boost #04 Peach On The Beach £7.99

This is yet another one of the lip crayons that just keep being released at the moment, and with so many floating around it is hard to know which ones to try. I have tried the Clinique Chubby Sticks and the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains but nothing compares to this one. The Bourjois Colour Boost is glossy, long lasting and nice smelling (hint hint Revlon kissable balm stains...). It is really easy to apply, being a crayon and is just, in one word, nice. The colour selection is lovely too. They only have 4 colours at the moment but this one was by far my favourite and the one I had my eye on after seeing it on Zoella. I like the look of the other brighter coral which I may need to purchase but this one is serving me well at the moment. They also have SPF15 which is always great. It's a lovely peachy pink and a very reasonable price.


3rd place: The pinky peach

Mac Cut A Caper - Luster (LE) £15

Again another limited edition Mac lipstick... what can I say? If they're limited edition; you've gotta get 'em! A lovely sheer pinky peach, quite natural and subtle so great if you're after that springy, pretty peach lip. A, I would say, perfect dupe for this is Mac Coral Bliss which is pretty much the same colour but just with a cream sheen formula as apposed to a lustre. The formula of Cut A Caper beats Coral Bliss for me but colour wise they are pretty much the same.


2nd place: the orange

YSL rouge volupte shine in #14 £23.50

This is beautiful. What more can I say? I have to admit that when the orange lip trend came about; I wasn't quick to jump on the band wagon. I found it a bit daunting and like it would make my pale skin look odd and my teeth look yellow... but I have found my perfect orange! This lipstick is a YSL rouge volupte shine which means that it won't apply TOO much colour to the lips, it's more of a sheen of colour. It's an expensive pick but I would say it is worth the money! It doesn't hang around all day but with a YSL lipstick - I really don't mind whacking it out to reapply in public - it's a beaut!


1st place: The bright

Mac Watch Me Simmer - Amplified (LE) £15

My number 1 at the moment is this beautiful bright coral lipstick from MAC with amazing pigmentation and staying power. It is awesome with a plain white or black outfit for a pop of colour! It's very bold so not one for those of you who prefer a subtle look. Unfortunately this baby is limited edition but I have listed a couple of dupes for if you can't get your hands on this! Dupes are: YSL Rouge Volupte Shine #12, Rimmel Apocalips in Stellar (which very nearly made it into this post) and YSL Rouge Volupte #27 - blog post here.

Let me know if you have tried any of these and any reccomendations in the comments!

Thanks for reading guys :)

Jaz x

YVES SAINT LAURENT ROUGE VOLUPTE LIPSTICK #27 ROSE PARIS

Hello! I am Jaz, and welcome to my first ever blog post! I must admit it feels a little daunting with the crazy amount of fonts, formats, colours and layouts to choose from, but I am going to keep it simple and try my best to make my first post a success :)

So, after a little introduction I am going to move swiftly on to the star of this post - the YSL Rouge Volupte silky sensual radiant lipstick in the colour Rose Paris #27. So let's start by talking about the packaging. It's no secret that YSL is a luxury brand, with crazy prices but you really do get what you pay for with this. The lipstick is encased in a mirrored gold cylindrical bullet with a colour band in the middle which corresponds to the colour of the lipstick - very handy if you have as many as I do! Around the colour band is the cut out chain of YSL logos. It really does look beautiful and is one to display on your dressing table.

These lipsticks retail at £24.50 and although that may seem a bit extortionate, I think they are worth it. They are unlike any other lipsticks I have tried with an amazing colour range and an unbeatable formula (in my opinion). I will go onto explain just why I think these lipsticks are well worth the price...

I buy my YSL lipsticks on www.debenhams.com where I wait for their regular 10% off all beauty items discount :)

The YSL Rouge Volupte lipsticks have an SPF of 15 which is very handy and a lot of us (including me) forget that we need to protect our lips from the sun as well as our faces. If exposed to the sun too much, our lips could develop wrinkles, age spots and even skin cancer so it's great that the worry is taken away with this lipstick :)

The lipstick colour itself is absolutely beautiful! I would agree with YSL in describing it as a bright coral. That's exactly what it is. It is a very bright; almost neon pinky orange. The lipstick looks more orange than pink in certain lighting and vice versa in other lights. It compliments any skin tone as it would look brilliant with a tan but I also like it on me and I am pale with yellow undertones (MAC NC15). If you are afraid of brights then this may be one to steer clear of as it's not for the faint hearted.

Here it is looking more orange which I find only happens in specific lighting:

 Here it is looking more on the pink side which I find is how it looks in the majority of lights:

Wearing: Mac Studio Sculpt foundation in NC15, Collection bronzer in 04, Collection lasting perfection concealer in 01, Maybelline volume express mascara, Mac Omega eyeshadow (brows) and YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick in #27 Rose Paris.

As you can see in the second picture, I like to wear this lipstick with minimal face and eye makeup and stronger brows.

The formula is divine. Think MAC lustres but with MAC amplified pigmentation. If you have tried one of these lipsticks before then you will know what I am talking about when I say that the texture is like butter and it glides on effortlessly with an opaque colour after just one stroke. The lasting power isn't the absolute best (comparing it to a MAC matte lipstick) but majority of them leave a pretty long lasting stain on the lips - this one is no exception. The intensity and brightness may die down a little after about 2 hours of wear but there's no better lipstick to whack out and reapply than this one as it is just a pleasure to use.

The scent is a pleasant fruity scent and I can't see it being off putting to anyone.

Now for the downside, unfortunately, this is discontinued. I became a slight stalker of pretty much every YSL counter near me, constantly popping by and ringing around to try and track it down but after phoning around I just decided to give up and move on. When something is discontinued I, along with I'm sure a lot of other girls, just want it more. But yesterday when prancing around a local-ish Boots I thought I would check their tiny YSL counter just in case. And to my surprise the lovely assistant pulled the last one they had out of the drawer and I bought it immediately! So although it may seem mean to create a blog post about something this difficult to get hold of - if I can maybe you can too! If you can't find a counter nearby that has any in stock you can always try eBay.

Finally, there are a couple of dupes I have found which I will leave pictured below to give you a better idea of the colour and maybe as alternatives if you can't get a hold of this one!

Direct sunlight:

(L-R) Mac's Impassioned, Mac's Watch Me Simmer (LE), Rimmel Apocalips in Stellar, YSL Rouge Volupte Shine in #12 and YSL Rouge Volupte in #27 Rose Paris

 Indirect sunlight:

(L-R) Mac's Impassioned, Mac's Watch Me Simmer (LE), Rimmel Apocalips in Stellar, YSL Rouge Volupte Shine in #12 and YSL Rouge Volupte in #27 Rose Paris

 None of them are identical but they all run with the same sort of idea. I would say closest is MAC's Impassioned which is quite similar but more pink and less of an orange undertone (I will put a separate picture of just these two together).

Mac's Impassioned and YSL Rose Paris:

(L-R) Mac's Impassioned and YSL Rouge Volupte in #27 Rose Paris

So that's it! My first ever blog post complete. Please leave comments and all that jazz telling me how you think I did :) I really hope this was informative and helpful or just at least interesting to everyone! Leave recommendations for lipsticks you think I might like down below and any review requests :)

Thanks for reading guys,

Jaz x