Beauty Bits - The Red Lip Favourites

I enjoy wearing a red lip any time of year, but when December rolls around, it just feels extra appropriate and festive. I've included 6 of my favourite reds that look gorgeous regardless of whether you're in the midst of winter or going through a summer heat wave. Ranging from the bright and seriously vibrant, to slightly darker more sultry reds, these are some great ones to try out if you're looking for a new red lippie. 

Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet No.40 "La Sensuelle"

- One of the darker, cooler toned reds of the bunch with a slightly blue/berry undertone. The formula is matte but still very smooth and moisturising. Longevity-wise it isn't the best, but the plus is that it fades away nicely without leaving any awkward line around the edges of the lips. A perfect "winter red" for those of you in the Northern hemisphere, but I still wear it in summer too. This is definitely the most luxurious of six, but worth every penny in my opinion.  

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm "Standout"

- A very similar but more affordable alternative to the Chanel lipstick above, with just a hint more pink. The matte formula is smooth and glides on easily, giving quite a satin finish that's only a touch more drying than the Chanel. The longevity is great and I find it lasts a good few hours, although you will need to re-apply after eating!

Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil "Dragon Girl"

- This is the newest addition to my red lipstick collection and has quickly become one of my absolute favourites. This is my perfect red and leans slightly to the pinker side. It is just a gorgeous, bright, vibrant red that would look great any time of year but is particularly perfect during the warmer months. The formula is spot on - matte but not drying and with good longevity. It's easy to draw on with it's pencil-like packaging and is just generally awesome. I can definitely see why everyone raves about these ones. 

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet "Hot Pepper"

- On the more orangey side of the red spectrum, Hot Pepper is super bright and super long lasting (I'm talking hours and hours) with a liquid lipstick formula that dries down to a matte almost powdery finish. One application is all that's needed and you're good for the day. The only downsides are it can be a little drying, as well as being a bit of a pain to get off... but a lipstick that requires no touch ups? That gets a big thumbs up from me. 

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick No.720 "Fire and Ice"

- Another warm toned red, this one is lovely and creamy, and just an all round beautiful lipstick. It is one of those colours that really lifts and brightens the face and I love pairing it with a golden eyeshadow.

Fresh Sugar Tinted Lip Treatment "Cherry"

 - As it's name suggests, this is more of a tinted lip balm so is very moisturising and nourishing. It can give quite a bold, strong look if layered on more thickly, or can be sheered out and smudged in with your finger to give more of a natural stain, which is how I like to wear it. I've actually received quite a number of compliments about this particular colour and it's one of my most worn because it's just so easy and low maintenance. The only downside is it can be quite difficult to get in Australia (I picked mine up from Sephora in Malaysia), but if you can get your hands on it it's a great one to try.

L-R - Chanel "La Sensuelle", Nars "Dragon Girl", Fresh Sugar Cherry Lip Treatment, Revlon "Fire and Ice", Revlon "Standout", Bourjois "Hot Pepper"

What's your favourite red lipstick?

Lauren

xxx

Baking Gingerbread

There's just something so Christmassy and lovely about the smell of gingerbread baking in the oven. I made it for the first time last year, and it's a pretty simple recipe so I thought I'd take some photos this time and share it with you.

Gingerbread is perfect as a little home-made gift, or just to bring round if your'e visiting a friend. The recipe I used is from last years

Kikki.K

Christmas catalogue and is super yummy!

 (On a side note, Kikki.K has some great gift packs if you're Christmas shopping for stationery lovers!)

This recipe makes 60-70 cookies. I didn't read that part last year and decided to double the recipe... That was a big mistake - unless you want a crazy amount of gingerbread!

Ingredients

For the Gingerbread:

* 200g butter

*250ml golden syrup

*400g white sugar

*1 tbsp ground cloves

*1 tbsp ground ginger

*1 tbsp cinnamon

*250ml cream

*1 tbsp bicarbonate soda

*7-8 cups plain flour

For the Icing:

*2 large egg whites

*2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*3 cups icing sugar (sifted)

*food colouring

Method:

Gingerbread

*Note - you'll need to prepare the dough a day in advance

1. In a medium saucepan on low heat, melt the butter and combine the syrup, sugar, spices and cream.

2. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the bicarbonate soda and 7 cups of flour. Mix to combine ingredients into dough.

3. Leave the dough to rest in the fridge overnight

*

I suggest taking the dough out of the fridge about 10 minutes before you plan to roll it out so it has time to warm up a bit (otherwise it's very hard to work with!)

4. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius

5. On a floured bench, work the mixture with your hands as you add the remaining flour. 

This is what the recipe said, but I basically just scooped out a chunk of dough from the bowl, added flour as needed and rolled it out as thin as I could. 

6. Cut out shapes using your cookie cutters and place on a tray lined with baking paper

I actually found it easier to roll out the dough, transfer it onto a piece of baking paper and roll it out again a bit more thinly. This way you don't have to transfer the cookies from the bench to the paper and risk decapitating the poor gingerbread man.

7. Bake for 5-6 minutes or until golden brown

8. Cool on a wire rack - Ensure the gingerbread is completely cool before you start icing them. 

Icing

1. Beat the egg whites with the lemon juice or vanilla extract until frothy

2. Add the sifted icing sugar and beat on low speed until all combined, smooth and shiny

3. Beat at high speed for about 5 minutes until stiff and glossy

4. Separate into bowls and add food colouring

5. Scoop into sealable sandwich bags, cut a tiny hole in one corner and pipe the designs onto the gingerbread. 

I made a mistake with the yellow and cute the hole a little too big so ended up with quite thick icing. Just experiment and you'll find the best way to manipulate it.

I hope you enjoyed!

Let me know if you give them a try!

Lauren

xxx

Two New Beauty Buys

Last week I picked up two new goodies that were just so pretty that I had to share them on the blog.

The first is this absolutely stunning nail polish by

Essie

called

Hors d'oeuvres

. It is the sparkliest most glitter packed polish I own and perfect for this time of year (now that Christmas is well on its way!)

 It's chock full of slightly larger silver glitter pieces in a base of gold micro glitter. It's gorgeous layered over pretty much anything to add a bit of a festive feel to the nails, but it also gives a really cool gold/silver foil effect when dotted on all by itself. The only downside (which is to be expected from a glitter polish) is that it's a pain in the butt to get off!

The second naughty purchase is the

Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dragon Girl

which has been on my list for a very long time. I was finally pushed over the edge when I read that this is the shade that Taylor Swift wears (yes, I am one of those crazy fans).

This is the first of the Nars lip pencils that I've tried and I absolutely love the formula. It glides on easily and stays put, and despite it's matte finish I find it very comfortable on the lips and not too drying at all. Colour wise, it is the perfect red for me, not too orange or blue toned and with just a hint of pink. Its a very bright, vibrant colour that I think would look great on pretty much any skin tone. 

I have a feeling this is going to become one of my holy grail products and it's definitely going to be getting a lot of use, particularly in the summer months!

 I'm wearing it in

this post

if you want to see what it looks like on :)

Have you picked up any exciting new beauty bits?

Lauren

xxx

My Current Favourite Makeup

I love reading beauty blogs and always plan to throw in a few more beauty related posts on here, but for some reason it never really happens. Possibly because I always end up looking ridiculous in any close up photos I take of my face in my attempt to show you a makeup look (and therefore end up just dropping the whole idea of it).

I've decided to bite the bullet though and go ahead with this one (despite the silly photos!) as it's a makeup look I've really been loving, and I wanted to share with you some of my absolute favourite products. 

I've been going for a super simple, very natural look lately, skipping foundation and instead just using my favourite

Shiseido Natural Finish Cream Concealer

and a dusting of the

Hourglass Ambient Lightning Powder

in

Dim Light.

  It's a really great concealer that I rarely see mentioned on beauty blogs, and the powder gives a beautiful finish. 

I then use a little bit of

Nars Laguna Bronzer

 to add some warmth and the

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush

in Exposed

for a touch of colour. This is by far my most used blush as it goes with any lip colour I wear.

For the eyes I have been loving

Mac's Arena eyeshadow

which is described as a "soft gold-peach with pearl" that is very subtle but perfect for brightening up the eyes. I rarely wear eyeliner partly due to the time consuming nature of it and partly because I like the no-eyeliner look, but I always finish off with a good few coats of mascara - the

Maybelline Full'n Soft mascara

has been a long time favourite. 

For lips, I've been using the

Fresh Sugar Lip Balm in Cherry

which gives a really pretty and subtle pinky-red colour. It looks super bright in the tube but can be sheered out, and because it's a balm, it's  obviously very moisturising. I do tend to switch out my lip products quite a bit, but this is the one I've been reaching for the most lately. 

And that is it!

I always love reading these posts - it's like getting a little sneak peak into someone's beauty bag and often a great way to decide which new products to add to my list, so hopefully it's been at least a little helpful or interesting :)

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

November in Pictures

A pinch and a punch for the first day of the month...

December is upon us, and I have to say I'm very excited about it. I love this time of year (as I've probably said a million times already), with the lovely warmer weather and excitement of holidays and Christmas on the way. 

November has been a pretty good month - there've been ups and downs, but here's a few photos of some of the fun things I got up to :)

I was contemplating doing a kind of "Blogmas" - like "Vlogmas" on youtube where people vlog everyday up to Christmas, but instead trying to have a new post up everyday. I've decided though that might be pushing it a little bit, but I do have some fun plans for a few festive posts - including one on baking gingerbread (yum!) 

I hope you've had a great Monday and first day of December!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx