Giveaway Winner!

The winner of my giveaway to win all of the above items has been chosen via Random.org and it is.....  Scarlett of Scarlett Hearts!

Congratulations! An email is on its way to you!

Thank you to everyone who entered and I'm hoping to have another giveaway soon.

Victoria 

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CLOSED - 100 Followers Giveaway!

To celebrate reaching 100 followers, I've decided to hold a small giveaway of some of the things I am loving at the moment!

One person can win

• Models Own Polish in Tropical Sun
• Maybelline Eye Tattoo in On and On Bronze
• Carmex Moisture Plus in Sheer Berry (not yet available in the UK)
• Soft Paris Strawberry Balm

To win you must:

1) Follow me, either with GFC, Bloglovin, Hello Cotton or via email

2) Tell me in the comments what product you are loving right now

3) Leave an email or twitter name so that I can contact you if you win!

4) For an extra entry, follow me on twitter @cosmeticravings and let me know you have done this in the comments.

The giveaway will finish at 10pm Sunday 20th May and I will post the prize out the following week.

UK only followers only I'm afraid.

Carmex Moisture Plus in Sheer Berry

While we are waiting for the warm weather to reappear and for it FINALLY to stop raining (!), I’ve been looking for lip products which will care for my lips whilst giving a hint of colour and I've recently gone back to and old favourite.

Last year, I fell in love with the easy-to-wear formulation of the Carmex Moisture Plus Sheer Lip Shines, as they provided the perfect mix of a hint of colour combined with an excellent moisture-quenching formula. They were a staple of my holiday makeup last year, being easy to just slick on and go, so when I discovered a couple of additional shades were available in the US, I was determined to make them mine!

Sheer Berry is exactly as it sounds, a sheer, moisturising colour with a hint of red.  Like the other Lip Shines available in the UK which I reviewed here, this doesn’t impart an awful lot of colour on the lips, so if you are after an opaque look, this would not be for you.  What it is useful for is providing a hint of colour, making for a more informal look, perfect for lazy days or casual weekends.  

The swatch looks very shiny, and on the lips, it maintains the same glossy formula.  Due to this formula, it doesn’t stick around for long – one and a half hours tops – meaning you do need to reapply often.  For me, this isn’t a big issue though, as it is so easy to apply by just whipping out the tube and slicking it on. 

Not sure why my watermark came out so large here!

I have to mention a couple of things about packaging and availability of this product in the UK.  I contacted Carmex when I found out  these shades had been released, and enquired as to when they would be launched in the UK.  They responded by saying that they currently had no plans to release them in Europe (although I’m sure I have seen them on some Irish blogs).   A search on eBay should be able to locate them, and even with postage, they are still very reasonably priced.

Verdict

As the Moisture Plus range contained some of my staple products last year, I was always going to love this new shade and it didn’t disappoint.  Although there are so many balm / lipstick hybrids being launched at the moment, this is the only one I have tried to date which genuinely has moisturising properties and also includes a SPF.  I feel this product would suit those who are shy about wearing brighter lip colours and want to dip their toe (or lips!) in the water.  It would also suit those who tend to have a signature style of bright or red lips, but who want to try something lighter and fresher for Summer.  I would certainly recommend this product, or indeed any of the other Moisture Plus Sheer Lip Shines, and I would urge you to put this on your shopping list if you are heading over to the US this Summer. 

5/5

Price – around £4-6 with shipping from US

Where to Buy – US eBay 

I am also having a giveaway shortly at 100 followers, where you will have the  chance to win one of these, as I picked up an extra one with my eBay order!

2011 Favourites: Part 1- Makeup

I’m a little late with this but I wanted to do a short list of my highlights of the last year. There are some gaps, especially around the skincare and bodycare, mainly as there have not been any stand out superb items this year in these categories. I am still searching for these!!

 

Perfume of 2011 – Viktor & Rolf, Flowerbomb

http://www.julietinton.com/

I adore this and chose it as my wedding scent in June. It is a lovely sweet floral scent with an undercurrent of pepper to it and is very distinctive. I am on my second bottle of it already!

 

 Lipstick – Chanel Rouge Coco Mademoiselle(review here)

 

Bought on a whim, and my first foray into Chanel’s Rouge Cocos, this is a neutral, easy to wear shade which goes with everything. It helps me to look polished and pulled together in one easy swipe.

Lipgloss - Benefit Ticket to Glossytown (review here)

There has not been one outstanding lipgloss for me this year, however I have enjoyed using Benefit’s Ticket to Glossytown set, which was a set of 6 mini lipglosses from their permanent line, suitable for all occasions. 

Lip Balm- Carmex Moisture Plus Ultra Hydrating Lip Balm in Peach  

I reviewed this in full here but it has been my staple through all of summer, during my holidays and into the winter. It keeps my lips feeling super smooth and provides a hint of colour which warms up my skin.

 

Eyeshadows – Chanel’s Illusion d’Ombres (review here)

I started with one and swiftly bought another two shades, and I have a feeling there will be more purchases in the future…. These are really easy to use and stay put for hours. I reviewed these here.

 Mascara – L’Oreal Volume Million Lashes Mascara

 

This was the mascara that finally made me shift my allegiance from Max Factor False Lash Effect. It applies easily, has a wand that I haven’t managed to poke myself in the eye with yet, and stays on all day without flaking or smudging which is a rarity for me!

 

Foundation / Tinted Moisturiser – No 7 Triple Protection Tinted Moisturiser (review here)

 

This was a winner for me and I’m onto my 3^rd bottle! I have been using this daily for over a year as it evens out my skin tone and provides a small amount of coverage for those days when I don’t want to wear full foundation.

 

Blush – Benefit Coralista

 My go-to everyday shade for an easy flush of colour without too many sparkles. It is very similar to Nars Orgasm.

 

Concealer – Bobbi Brown Touch up Stick in Warm Sand

A HG product for me, I have been buying this for several years now. In stick form, it is very handy for touch ups throughout the day and blends effortlessly to cover blemishes and imperfections whilst never caking.

 

Nail Polish – Chanel Graphite

I did a recent NOTD using this for New Year’s Eve and it is the polish I have worn most over the past 6 months. I never have a problem with wear time with Chanel polishes and this glides on beautifully and is unique to my collection.

What were your makeup hits of 2011?

Review: Carmex Moisture Plus Ultra Hydrating Lip Balm in Pink and Peach

With the weather getting progressively colder, I have been on a hunt for a new super moisturising lip balm and when I spotted the Carmex Moisture Plus Ultra Hydrating Lip Balm and noticed that it was tinted, I knew I had to have it!

I can't actually remember the last time I purchased a Carmex balm as I've been faithful to Palmers Cocoa Butter balm and Burts Bees for longer than I can remember.  Recently, Carmex have brought out their balm in tinted tubes of peach, pink and clear.  I purchased the peach last weekend and loved it so much, I had to pick up the pink one this week too!

The tints are in long tubes, made to look more like a lipstick than a lip balm and the balm within them looks very vibrant.  The tubes themselves are plastic, with the colour of the tint on the side of the tube.  They don't feel particularly luxurious but for an affordable tinted lip balm, I can live with functional packaging.

As you can see from the swatches, with the peach on the left and the pink on the right, the colour is fairly sheer but it is certainly visible on the lips and makes you feel a little more polished on the days you can't be bothered with much make-up.  They also both have a gorgeous fruit scent that smells good enough to eat!  

Verdict

For an affordable treat and a very wearable one at that, these are a great purchase.  I'd love to see Carmex come out with some additional colours and expand the line  - a soft red would be amazing.   

5/5

Price - 4.49

Where to buy -  Boots, ASOS

Pre-Holiday Haul!

As it was my last day at work today for three whole weeks, I thought I would celebrate by having a little lunchtime spree in Boots!  A lipgloss purchase always cheers me up a stressful, busy day!

I bought:

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel in a small tube.  I use this regularly as it works well with my oily / combination skin and I wanted a smaller, travel-friendly version to take on my holidays.

Carmex MoisturePlus Ultra Hydrating Lip Balm in Pink and Peach – I will do a brief review of these shortly as I love them!  I bought the peach earlier in the week and liked it so much I had to pick up the pink when I saw it today - and it was free as I bought it with my points!

Benefit,Ticket to Glossytown – I saw these on another blog a few days ago and thought it was a great price, especially as I haven’t tried any of Benefit’s glosses before.  As I have said previously, I am not the biggest fan of Benefit’s packaging but these mini glosses are very cute.  A review and swatches are coming up soon.

This week I also bought the Bobbi Brown Sparkle Eye Shadow in Denim from an eBay seller.  I had been after this for a while and it had popped up on eBay occasionally but not at a price I was prepared to pay.  It came out with the Denim and Rose collection last year I think.  I’m not going to do a full review of it as it has been discontinued now and isn’t that easy to get hold of but I am a little disappointed with it as Bobbi Brown’s quality is normally very good. 

  

As you can see from the swatches below, it is VERY sparkly and isn’t that pigmented. Due to the bad light in my flat, the it looks as though it is a sparkly grey, however in real life it is a true denim blue. The swatch on the left is one swipe and the swatch on the right is 3 swipes and I had to swipe across the shadow quite forcefully as it is very dry.  I have worn it today though by patting it onto my lids rather than brushing it on and not blending it too much, and this seems to work better as you can actually see the colour and not just lots of silver sparkle!  It does last well throughout the day without creasing, when worn over a primer and I didn’t have any fall out which I was very surprised by as I usually expect to have glitter everywhere by the end of the day when wearing a sparkly eyeshadow!

All in all, I am pleased I purchased it as it is an interesting colour and unique to my collection, it just could have been executed better.

I’m starting my 3 weeks off work in the best possible way tomorrow with a Nail’s Inc 3 Week manicure at the Champagne Nail Bar.  I’m so excited for my holidays!