NYX haul

When an email telling me NYX was hitting my local Boots landed in my inbox, I almost did an excited wee. For months I've been lusting over Instagram feeds and blogs waiting for this very moment.

The stand itself was a dream. Rows and rows full to burst with products begging to be bought. I swatched so much my hand looked like a contender for the Turner prize. Half an hour and a very bored boyfriend later, I'd whittled it down to just six products... I still want it all.

Perhaps my most eagerly anticipated purchase was the Lip Lingerie liquid lipstick. I bought two fairly 'everyday' shades; Lace Detail (a pinky 'your-lips-but-better shade) and Corset (a grey/brown toned beige nude). 

The HD concealer pops up on every 'My Top Five.. ' concealer post I've ever read so my hand was practically forced. Right?! I got this in the shade Fair to highlight my under eyes however I think this product has such a full coverage that I won't need to conceal beforehand! 

As we get into warmer weather I like to switch the dark smoky eyes for a contoured and defined look. It's so hard to find a completely matte shadow from an affordable range so imagine my delight when I found an entire matte range. Better still, I found my perfect contour shade - Get Naked. 

Highlight that could blind someone? Hello NYX Illuminator in Ritualistic. The highlighter looks pearly in the pan but when applied it's leaves a  beautiful champagne toned glow.

Finally, something to keep my beautifully blended eyeshadows in place in our ridiculously hot English summer (optimistic, I know), the Proof It waterproof eye primer. I hope this can battle the oil slick that seems to occur in warmer weather!

Even though I only completed my first purchase around 48 hours ago I'm so impressed I'm scouring reviews to create a shopping list for my next visit! I'd love to read some recommendations if you have any...

Rimmel Colour Precise Liquid Liner

Eyeliner and I had a very close but troubled relationship in my late teens. With liner almost as bold as Miss Winehouse herself, my eyes looked small and often a bit of a mess if I'm honest. Eventually, I reluctantly gave in to that sinking feeling that liner was just not for me and broke it off.

Being that winged liner has made a humongous comeback recently via Insta and YouTube, I decided to give my long lost love a second chance and invested all my faith into Rimmel's Colour Precise. 

Bold colour, clean lines and all day wear are the selling points of this boy wonder and I feel like I can I can back that. 

The colour is a very deep, pigmented black that will only require one coat. 

Achieving clean lines is made easier by the whole concept of a felt tip. The tip is tapered to an extremely precise point for super fine detailing, but applying a little pressure will thicken the line to your desired width. I'm also obsessed with the sillicone grip on the body of the pen - a genius idea for improved control.

As for all day wear, it's pretty hardy stuff. On top of having ridiculously oily lids, I am a compulsive eye rubber (is that even a term?). I am forever fiddling around with my eyeballs and it seems to hold up pretty damn well. 

All in all a pretty impressive first venture back into the wing liner fold.

Flawless Foundation with Revlon Colourstay

Colorstay has always and will always be my favourite foundation. It's full coverage and blends well, as well as being perfectly formulated for oily skin.

This foundation is the bigger, better looking sister of Photoready, which I also love.

Teeny tiny criticism; it has no pump. This peeves me so much! To dispense the product you have to tap the bottle onto the back of your hand, which can take a while considering it's thick compared to other foundations. Other than the lack of pump, I like the heavy, glass bottle which makes it feel more expensive than it's £12.99 price tag. 

I always find the colour range on Revlon particularly good for more yellow based skin tones such as mine - Natural Beige is my shade of choice. The foundation is, as I said, very thick but a little goes a long way. I roughly apply it with a foundation brush and then blend with a damp beauty blender.

There are two variations of this product; Normal/Combination & Combination/Oily - I use the oily version and I can hand on heart say, it lasts all day even without primer or powder. Add those in and you could near on get 24 hours out of it. 

Taupe Lip Dreams

In the spirit of Valentines day, I'm sharing my new love, this Maybelline 24hr Superstay Lip Colour in Soft Taupe (615).

I wanted a darker neutral - something to give me that 90's-esque lip. I picked this up in the expectation that it would give me my desired effect along with the promise of being super long-lasting... I was not disappointed.

So, the way this works is you apply the colour first, just like a lipgloss. Leave it to dry for a couple of minutes then swipe the balm over the top to moisturise.

I really like the colour. It's like a dark beige that's almost slightly grey in some lights. I think it's perfect for a very monotone look with a taupe eye.

Let's talk about staying power. For want of a better analogy, this sticks like shit and truly does last for 24 hours. I would however top up every few hours, just to keep it looking fresh.

There's lots of pretty colours in the range, and I'm definitely going back for more! 

Happy Valentines!