My Saviour Lip Balms

At this time of year, and especially in the Winter, I always find my lips get really dry and chapped through the day, from the cold outside and the central heating in the house, so having a good quality, moisturising lip balm is crucial for me. These two have been my preferred ones this season and I aquired them through my BirchBox subscriptions, which I love! I won't go into too much detail about them but BirchBox is a company that sends monthly beauty boxes to its costumers with 5 or 6 products samples in, one of which is full sized. You can find its website here, where most of the products are available on its e-shop.

The first balm is the Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Treatment by Fresh Inc., which I got in my January BirchBox. It is really long lasting and seals lips against the harsh winter conditions but what makes this unique for me is the great tint in it which enhances my natural lip colour to give a light crimson tone which looks very natural  as it is a balm, but gives a bit more colour to the face. It leaves my lips a lot softer and lasts for about 3-4 hours. Also, there is a SPF of 15, which quite frankly is an added bonus to a really useful product.

My second lipbalm which I have used pretty much constantly for the last few months is the Galenco SOS Repair Balm from my November box. It's a Spanish product which I have worn down to nearly the end as you can see in the photos. This is so nourishing and in terms of colour, is white based but generally just adds a paler tone to the natural lip colour. I've found that this product is great for daily use and also protects against UVA and UVB rays. It contains aloe vera and cocoa butter to soften and moisturise. It lasts about 2 hours but is really good quality in the protection in gives in that shorter period. I managed to track it down to the Omega Pharma Spain website, here.

You may have also noticed from the pictures that I have straight hair, which is very unusual for me but I've had it re-highlighted and is a lot blonder on top which I've inconveniently cut out of the photos, so I am really happy as my whole look is brightened up! Whenever I go to the hairdressers, (Ciente in Berkhamsted) I always get it blow dried straight as it is incredibly long naturally, just above my hips, but it springs up when its curly, so in the meantime I can feel like a Tumblr girl for a few days...

Burberry Weekend for Women Perfume

      I received this perfume not too long ago as a belated Christmas present from my aunt, and have been wearing it a fair bit, but I have to say, I am much more in favour of the long term smell than the first impression it gives. In terms of the fragrance itself, there is a sharp citrus smell when first squirted which fades reasonably quickly to leave a base scent of sandlewood, cedar and musk, which I really love because they have such a warm, homey smell. I much prefer this calmer scent as it is very subtle and cosier than the original wave of citrus, which I think is a bit harsh and slightly reminds me of detergent. It lasts a fair few hours and although isn't one of those indestructible all day fragrances, I think it doesn't need to be! As it gradually fades, the undertones stay to give the base scent that gets lighter as it wears off.

     Packaging is always important in a perfume because however beautiful the smell is, no-one wants a cheap, tacky bottle on their dresser. I really think this bottle emulates the casual feel of the weekend, with the light yellow, sunny tint of the glass reflecting the light of the liquid and the cute white writing and plaid trim around the base. The spray is fairly standard but oh, do I love the lid! I think the Burberry horse and knight logo engraved onto the top, right in the centre, looks so slick and elegant with the matching Burberry title engraved around the edge.

     Weekend is available at different prices in different stores but Amazon is currently selling at £33.16 but The Perfume Shop is massively more expensive for the same 100ml product at £54.99! The 30ml version can also be purchased, if you prefer to switch up your scents more frequently.

A Pop of Neon - Barry M Lipgloss

        Neon is back. No, calm down, it's crucial here not to go over the top! Just a pop of neon in an outfit, be it with the handbag or the shoes or in this case, the lips. This splash of vivid gloss is very girly, though slightly more vibrant without the flash on the camera. I'm not normally too keen on a very bright lip but I bought this jumper from H&M a few weeks ago, and with my pale skin it tends to wash me out so as well as wearing a dark bandeau underneath it, the added colour to the lips brightens up my face a bit more than the usual nude and pale glosses and balms.

        This lip gloss is Shade 5, Bubblegum Pink by Barry M. I found I had to apply quite a few layers to get a strong colour as it is quite a sheer gloss, however sticky it may be! The only other problem I have with Barry M glosses and some other brands actually is that they are very deceiving when it comes to packaging. Although this looks like a large tube it is an optical illusion, with a thick transparent casing around the actual product, meaning it only holds 2.5 ml when it could contain 3x that amount if it used a lot more of the width in the tube. Otherwise, a lovely, pretty lipgloss to add to the rather vast collection...