I really love Olivia Palermo and her classic yet beautiful style, she always looks absolutely flawless.  I have no idea how her collaboration with Ciate London absolutely bypassed me until one day whilst I was browsing in TK Maxx I happened to stumble upon a small selection of this collection (I am absolutely kicking myself for not picking up more now!).  The main product that caught my eye was this gorgeous lipstick in the shade Cashmere.  The packaging is just beautiful and typically classic of Olivia Palermo in a simple black and gold.  It has such a luxurious look to it, especially with the OP and little bow embossed onto the lipstick itself.

As you can see Cashmere is a lovely nude shade and very highly pigmented, with just one swipe you get this amazing colour pay off.  What has sold me most with this lipstick though is the formula.  I have fairly dry lips so am always on the lookout for products that won't dry them out.  This lipstick has a lovely creamy texture and feels rather moisturising on the lips but doesn't look too glossy, which some moisturising lipsticks can.  I have pretty much wore this lipstick daily since the day I bought it.

Like I said I stumbled across this lipstick in TK Maxx and was able to pick it up for just £6.99!  They also had it in the shade Truffle which was a bit more of a pinky nude and after how much I've fallen in love with the formula I really wish I'd bought that one too.  So I'd definitely recommend checking your local TK Maxx on the off chance that they might have a few pieces from this collection, otherwise they are available here but for over double the price at £19!  I think I would still pay full price for it though as I think it is well worth it for the quality.  I have also got my eye on this eyeshadow palette from the collection now too.

Have you tried anything from the Ciate London X Olivia Palermo collection?

Kiss Proof Lipstick, £1.40 - Born Pretty*

My favourite lip products tend to be lip crayons, all the ones I have tried always seem to be so moisturising and so easy to apply.  So when I tried this lip crayon from Born Pretty I had high hopes especially with all of it's claims to be matte, rich, creamy, long lasting, hydrating and "kiss proof".  I selected shade 03, which is a deep berry colour, a colour I have been loving recently.  I feel like the product itself looks a lot more expensive than the £1.40 it costs, however, I don't know if I got a dud one, but the lipstick doesn't seem to be extendable.  I attempted to twist the bottom to see how easily it extends and to see whether it is retractable too only to find that it didn't twist at all.  This is a little disappointing as you can see from the above picture how little product there is at the end but like I say I don't know whether I just happen to have a broken one.

Now onto the lipstick itself, as you can see it is a gorgeous colour and has a lovely matte finish.  One of my main concerns when I saw that it was matte, as somebody who suffers from dry lips, was that it was going to be super drying on my lips.  Just as I was expecting it did feel quite drying once I had applied it to my lips but not so much so that they started to feel cracked and flaky but just not as hydrating as I'd quite have liked.  All the lip crayons I own are the chubby stick type and having a thinner one like this made the lipstick much easier to apply, especially in such a dark colour.  It was much easier to get a neat line around the edge of the lip with a thinner tip.

The main selling point to me for this product though is it's claim to be "kiss proof".  I'm sure I'm not the only girl out there who has a boyfriend who refuses to kiss them when they're wearing lipstick for fear of ending up with lipstick stains on their face.  So, this is where this product really wowed me!  After applying this lipstick it had a slightly tacky feel to it for the first 10 minutes but once it had completely dried this lipstick was not budging.  There is absolutely no fear of it bleeding, which is normally my main concern with such dark colours, and once it is on your lips it's there to stay so feel free to kiss away.  This lipstick does not budge!  It may need it's little touch ups throughout the day after eating and drinking, but this lipstick stays put so well that whenever I had a drink there weren't even any lipstick marks left on my glass.

What's your favourite long lasting lipstick?  Would you give this one a try?  If you'd like to try this or anything else from Born Pretty you can get 10% off with the code "SAK31".

Hydra Temptation Lipstick (Shade #8) - £2.45*

This lipstick from Bornpretty promises to be both moisturising and long lasting.  Both major selling points for me as I'm always looking for products that won't dry my lips out and I'm not really one for reapplying my lipstick every five minutes.

Most of my lipstick collection is made up of difference shades of red and coral, so I decided to be brave and give one of the brighter pink shades a try.  When I took the lid off and saw the Barbie Pink staring me in the face, I thought I'll never be able to pull this one off!  However once I applied it to my lips it was a lot sheerer than I was expecting and didn't look quite as bright, it has more of a lip gloss feel to it once applied but without the stickiness.  Another bonus to me as I love how moisturising lip glosses are but I rarely tend to use them as I don't like how sticky they feel.  The only downside to this lipstick is that it is very soft, which I am assuming is down to the formula which makes it so moisturising, so you have to be very careful when applying it as it does feel like the lipstick itself is about to snap off.  I would probably say it's best to apply this lipstick with a lip brush just to be on the safe side.  For £2.45 though I'd be amazed if it was absolutely perfect and it's something I'm willing to overlook for it's moisturising abilities.  I was also fairly happy with it's staying power, I would say I had it on a good 6-8 hours before I felt the need to reapply.


I have to say that this lipstick has changed my mind on pink lips and I won't be avoiding the shade completely anymore.  If you'd like to give this a try or any of Born Pretty's other products they are offering my readers 10% off if they use the code "SAK31".

The packaging may not be the most extravagant, but it is simple and sleek, and for a mere £1 that'll do me just fine.  As much as I love a bit of pretty packaging just like any other girl, for that price who really cares!  All that really matters is the quality of the product within, and oh what a wonderful product it is.  I have to admit that for £1 I was expecting a dry cakey lacklustre lipstick, but how wrong I was.  The lipstick I chose, Shade 13, is a gorgeous highly pigmented cherry red.  I tend to find that cheaper lipsticks never seem to have much colour pay off but this lipstick throws that theory right out of the window. 

What I actually love most about this lipstick is the consistency.  As you can see in the swatch above it has quite a nice sheen to it, although it does look a tad more like a gloss in these pictures than it does in real life.  Instead of being a dry matte lipstick, this lipstick has a nice moisturising feel to it and glides so smoothly onto the lips, making it easy to apply.  This is perfect for my dry lips, as it keeps them moisturised and stops them becoming a red flaky mess.



 I also picked out MUA's Red Drama lip liner for just £1 too.  This is the only red shade of lip liner they offer but it is a perfect match for the Shade 13 lipstick.  Having never used an MUA lip liner before I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, as I find some cheap lip liners to be quite hard and lacking in colour, sometimes feeling like you have to scratch it into your lips to get even a hint of colour.  I did not have to worry about either of these things though.  This is a nice soft pencil, making it easier to apply and giving a nice neat finish.  It is also very nicely pigmented just like the lipstick.  These lip liners also come with a handy little sharpener in the cap too, making them perfect for on the go.



Have you tried any MUA products?  Which are your favourites?