Pink Haired Princess

Post does not contain affiliate links or PR gifted items. Last week, if you missed it, was the Yayoi Kusama illustrated Lancôme JT to celebrate 10 years of Juicy Tubes. I have quite a lot of images to get through today, so I'll get straight to it. 

Post contains affiliate links (which when clicked, can earn the blog a small commission on purchases made). No PR products in this post. I was really excited to see The Disney Cruella Collection by MAC launch. As I've previously mentioned on the blog, the 2010 MAC Venomous Villains included 4 Disney villains, one being Cruella De Vil from the animated 101 Dalmatians. However, Disney's Cruella is back for 2021 in a collection of her own, to coincide with the new live action film of the same name, starring Emma Stone (out 28th May). The range was quite small, but I picked up a few pieces. I was really tempted with the concept of the eyeshadow palette (magnetic sections that break apart to create smaller palettes), but I wasn't sure I needed it (other than the stunning khaki shimmer shade).

Post contains affiliate links, lipstick is not a PR item.   It's a long running joke in our house that each lipstick I buy is the same shade...erm, do they not know that every nude is different? Not that my family read here, but if they did, the lipstick I'm swatching today would surprise them as it's...green. Yes, really!! The L'Oreal collaboration with fashion house Balmain isn't a new one, but I found this lipstick online earlier this year and it just so happened to be the colour I was really intrigued by at the time of launch. I don't get out often to Boots or Superdrug to test their makeup brands (well with Covid, nobody does now), so I don't buy much in the way of drugstore/high street brands these days and after initially eyeing this collection, I'd forgotten all about it, until I stumbled upon it here .

Post does not contain gifted items and contains some affiliate links. I took a bit of a chance ordering the MAC Bronzing collection earlier this month. It's not launched in the US yet, I believe it came out here (UK) first and for me anyway, it was out of the blue as I hadn't seen any teasers and for some reason MAC don't email me newsletters of new releases (yep, I've ticked the box to allow it). I used to buy (direct from them) regularly and I think at some point the emails just stopped and my interest waned as I didn't stay on top of new launches like I used to. Marketing, take note!  As I've been saying on the blog, I'm really enjoying the MAC limited releases again. The second I saw this, I was intrigued with the packaging. It reminded me slightly of the water droplet (aka the best packaging ever) Alluring Aquatic range from summer 2014, so I ordered some bits. There were no social media photos or swatches anywhere . MAC describe their shades, ...

Post contains some affiliate links.  No products gifted.   Before Christmas I ordered a couple of bits from the Clarins Spring 2020 Milkshake collection . At the time, it was an online exclusive so there were no swatches or info as nobody had bought it yet. To be truthful I wasn't quite sure what I was buying, as it's an entirely new formula for the brand, but I ordered one of the mousse lip colours. I've been getting more and more into MAC again recently, but missed the Pony Park K-beauty collaboration last Autumn. A few weeks ago, I noticed they had some back in stock, so ordered the highlighter and a lip product. Again this was pegged as a mousse formula, so I wasn't quite sure what it was going to be like. When it arrived, it immediately struck me that it was similar to the Clarins one I'd bought (and promptly put away because I wasn't that enamoured with it), so I've photographed and swatched them both to review.

I'm trying to get back into beauty blogging again. My old features such as Monster High Monday , the Lipstick Challenge and Beloved Beauty Bits , fizzled out when I was unable to wear makeup and keep up my beauty regime. Poor ' Too Pretty To Swatch ' died before it even began! I contemplated resurrecting it, but the thought of 'ruining' these items purely to swatch for the blog then relegate back to their box, kinda defeated the purpose of the whole thing. The point was to see beyond the pretty surface and hopefully find new favourites that I could integrate into my regular makeup routine, not a one-time use thing. Even wearing makeup once a month would be more than I'm capable of right now, so I'm trying to work around that to see if there is something more 'manageable' I could continue doing on a regular basis. Of course, I also don't buy nearly as much makeup as I used to, because I don't see the point when I'm not wearing it, b...

Remember the MUA lipsticks I swatched a couple of weeks ago? Well another two I bought at the time, were these matte lipsticks. Again they cost £1 and they are currently on 3 for 2 and you get a free tote bag, which is even sweeter.

I know, I know, what is this? A beauty post? Surely not! It's definitely been a long time since we've had one, mostly down to me not wearing makeup. I feel kinda sad when I see all my pretty palettes and lipsticks, sitting unused, but writing about them and not having the energy to use them is worse. Avoidance, I'm good at that apparently. Well I took these photos in the summer after a little makeup haul. Obviously I'm rarely buying makeup these days, because it seems silly to, but these were mega cheap and I saw them online and thought I'd give them a try. I was getting a free palette or something at the time...there's no offer on them currently, but they are £1 each. As my Mum would say "you cannae go wrong with that"!

Hello my lovelies, how are you today?  I have the most wonderful lipstick to show you.  Isn't that just the prettiest thing you've ever seen?  Even my Mum was impressed and she doesn't wear makeup!

I love when you get in touch with requests for beauty posts or further help regarding something I've already posted, especially when it's something I can easily locate and re-photograph. I got one such email recently from Romy, asking for advice regarding NYX Round Lipsticks . Seeing as my NYX lippie posts always prove quite popular, I thought I'd take some new photos and updated swatches and post them here for everyone to see. Romy was particularly interested in brown lipsticks (so that's what I've concentrated on today) and I have to say this is what NYX really excel at. There are plenty of options and I own many of them. In my opinion these are not 'nude' colours, at least not for someone as pale as me (I'd recommend 617 Summer Love, a pinky beige for pale skinned gals). I think pale, light, possibly even medium olive complexions will find these too dark to be a true nude. I've bought some in the past and been disappointed at them not bei...

I was desperate to get my hands on the latest Viva Glam lipstick from MAC when it launched last month. Actually I wanted it sight unseen, when I heard last year that it involved Nicki Minaj and Ricky Martin! It was an obvious guess the lippie would be mega bright and most likely pink, judging from the Pink Friday/Nicki Minaj collab and the fact she practically always has bright pink lips. A lot of people found the PF lipstick unwearable but it's actually one of my favourites and this is coming from someone that doesn't really suit pink lips! I love and live in nudes and can be tempted with browns and purples, but pink and I don't really get on and I never wear reds or orange. I wanted this lipstick though. I'm not entirely sure why, it could be the Nicki Minaj connection, because I think she looks fearless and fabulous in everything! As always, I did my homework before committing and even although all the online swatches and images were screaming "it's ...

Here's part 3 of my MAC lipstick swatches. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here . A reminder of the finishes below. Lustre (L) Usually slightly sheer in colour (not what you see in the tube), glossy, lustre finish. Dark, pigmented natural lip colours can shine through if the lipstick shade is light, however Lustres are slightly more opaque than Glaze lipsticks. Glaze (G) A shiny finish, with a hint of colour (natural lip colour can shine through as the lipstick colour is not pigmented/intense). Matte (M) Intense colour, matte finish (get what you see in tube), no sheen or shimmer. Can be drying because of this. Frost (F) Reasonably good colour pay-off and a frost, shimmer finish. Can have shimmer, sparkles or be duo-chrome (two tone sheen in the light). Satin (S) Almost matte but with slight sheen, good colour pay-off, smooth colour. Slightly more conditioning than Matte. Amplified Creme (A) High impact, intense colour with subtle sheen. Very creamy and smooth. Cremesheen...

Here's part 2 of my MAC lipstick swatches. You can find Part 1 here . A reminder of the finishes below. Lustre (L) Usually slightly sheer in colour (not what you see in the tube), glossy, lustre finish. Dark, pigmented natural lip colours can shine through if the lipstick shade is light, however Lustres are slightly more opaque than Glaze lipsticks. Glaze (G) A shiny finish, with a hint of colour (natural lip colour can shine through as the lipstick colour is not pigmented/intense). Matte (M) Intense colour, matte finish (get what you see in tube), no sheen or shimmer. Can be drying because of this. Frost (F) Reasonably good colour pay-off and a frost, shimmer finish. Can have shimmer, sparkles or be duo-chrome (two tone sheen in the light). Satin (S) Almost matte but with slight sheen, good colour pay-off, smooth colour. Slightly more conditioning than Matte. Amplified Creme (A) High impact, intense colour with subtle sheen. Very creamy and smooth. Cremesheen (C) Moisturizin...