My 5 Best Lipsticks for Under £5

Seeing as I mentioned a couple of fantastic cheap lippies in my recent April Fashion Finds, I thought I should show them on my lips. I always find swatches on the back of a hand are nothing like the outcome on your lips! So I thought it might be a good idea for me to put together a list of my 5 top cheap lipsticks for under a fiver. I don't wear lippy daily, but I'm becoming more and more fond of certain ones! I'm not sure that I'll ever spend a colossal £14 on a MAC lippy after finding these babies! 

For reference, I generally find lipsticks quite uncomfortable to wear and a bit of a hassle to reapply, plus my beauty knowledge is rather poor, so these are judged mainly on this basis!

17 Supreme Shine in Hot Stuff, £4.99 at Boots - but I've found half price vouchers at the Advantage Card Kiosk! this was actually how I first tried the formula. Although it is called Supreme Shine, I don't really feel that the formula is massively shiny. There's no glitter particles in the formula (I personally dislike that in lipsticks) and it's not too drying. A good in-between for moisturising and mattifying. Hot Stuff is a relatively neutral bright red, I'd say it's slightly blue toned (I'm a bit rubbish with that kind of thing though). Favourite red lippy at the moment!

17 Supreme Shine in Red Devil, £4.99 at Boots - same formula as the former, but a darker shade, more like MAC's Russian Red. This is certainly more blue toned and I think it'd suit almost anyone! Again, pretty comfortable to wear and lasts well for the price!

Maybelline Colour Sensational in 175 Pink Punch, £2.99 at eBay - not entirely sure if this is still in stores seeing as it's selling on eBay for such a cheap price?! But this is a super formula for me, a really bright shade, but not drying. I also really love the packaging! The colour hasn't photographed on my lips too well, it is more like the tube colour in real life! I haven't worn this loads because I do find it makes my teeth look a little yellower, but I just think the formula and price is super - might have to give some other shades a go.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Tokyo, £5 at NYX - I seriously love this colour, but the formula is a bit tricky to wear if you have lips that tend to dry out when you use lippy - like mine! I really have to be having a good-lip-day for this one! It shows up every flake of skin, every crevice. This is an extremely matte finish, but is relatively comfortable to wear, although I wouldn't wear it all evening. It doesn't last very long on me either - I have to reapply really regularly. But I also have this Lip Cream in Amsterdam and love that shade. The doe-foot applicator enables precise applications for a clumsy'un like moi. The pink shade of Tokyo is a nice change to my red obsession! Plus, at a fiver it's a really affordable option for something a little different!

Barry M Lip Paint in 129 Palest Lavender, £4.49 at Barry M - this is my current favourite! If Barry M have reformulated all of their Lip Paints to be like this one, I might have to buy some more... It's a light pinky-purple with a blue undertone. I do have two older Lip Paints, but they're really quite drying. Palest Lavender is nothing like these older ones. It's a little less cakey and glides on a lot better. I also really love this shade - it washes me out a little, but it does look better when I have blonde hair! It does need reapplying every hour or so, but I love that Barry M provide more unusual colours in their range at budget prices.

I'd love to know of any of your bargain lipstick finds! I'm loving trying out crazy new shades - so please share your favourites in the comments!

10.5.13

My 5 Best Lipsticks for Under £5

eBay Find - ASOS Spike Link Bracelet Cheaper Dupe

   Over this weekend I've done a tonne of needless trawling through eBay in order to avoid doing uni work. Yesterday I came across this  bracelet on eBay, I wasn't actually searching for a dupe of the spiked ASOS bracelet at the time, I was looking for an ear cuff similar to the ones at Regal Rose. If you read my blog regularly, your bound to know that I can't resist a good dupe / bargain / lookalikey product! I love sharing what I find with you guys and I hope you like this find too.

   Seeing as I've been hankering after the ASOS original of this bracelet for over a month now, as soon as I happened to cross paths with this cheaper alternative I had to get it! The only difference seems to be in the colours. The eBay bracelet has an antique finish on both the gold and silver versions, there's a black bracelet too, which seems to be a kind of matte material. Whereas the ASOS bracelet looks like a polished silver coloured metal, as you can see here. I'm 80% sure there was a gold version of this bracelet on ASOS too, but I can't seem to find it! 

   Anyhow  - take a look at the comparison of both silver versions of the bracelet for yourself...

   The ASOS version is £10, free delivery is offered my ASOS on all orders too. The eBay version (available in 3 colours) is £2.99, postage is an extra £1. That's £3.99 in total, 60% less than ASOS! It's also from a UK seller with 100% positive feedback. I ordered myself the silver coloured bracelet from eBay yesterday. I'll let you know about the quality and such when it arrives!

    By the way I'm currently running a giveaway! It's really quick to enter and just 15 bloggers have entered so far (thank you if you're reading this :)!), meaning the odds of winning are pretty good at the moment! I've tried to be as generous as possible, so please click the link and check it out.

25.3.12

eBay Find - ASOS Spike Link Bracelet Cheaper Dupe

Another Primark Purchase - Spring Suitable, Cute, Chiffon Dress for £15

   I bought stuff, as ever, that I don't really need but can't bring myself to take back. This time, it's a blazer and a dress from Primark. Both were £15. I'll go into the blazer in my post that will follow this one.

   I spotted this dress and was unsure about it at first, but I ended up buying it and thinking "...mehh...I'll probably end up taking this back". I tried it on today and I'm in love with it! I think it's cute and girly yet a bit unusual (well, it won't be that unusual as it's from Primark, but you get what I mean). It's not overly girly though, which means it's allowed into my wardrobe - I'm still a bit of a tomboy at heart.

   It looks pretty well made and well finished for the price. The fabric is floaty chiffon, peachy cream in colour, with fuchsia and black detailing and a cute ribbon that ties into a bow around the collar. It also came with a thin, pink belt. The only thing I'm a little annoyed about is that it didn't come with a slip underneath it. I don't know if I picked up one without a slip or if they just don't have them, but for £15 it seems a bit weird not to get a slip under a dress this see-through...

   I've put a grey H&M dress underneath to counteract this, which is fine for now, but I think it will look funny in some lights. I'll probably have to get a cream one. If I pop into Primark within the next week or two and I haven't worn this out by then, then I'll see if these dresses are meant to have little slips underneath (unless any of you guys know?). Overall, I really do like it despite this though. I hope you guys think this purchase is justified by the cuteness of this dress!

Ps. My legs look oddly grey, even though they are very pale anyway. Damn lighting.

16.3.12

Another Primark Purchase - Spring Suitable, Cute, Chiffon Dress for £15

Finds: Everything under £16 - Ark Sale

   For the purpose of not making a huge post dedicated just to the Ark sale I've collated small bundle of my favourite items, trying to stick to the theme of monochrome / burgundy. All the items shown here are under £16 (unbelievable, right?!) and Ark offer free delivery to the UK on all orders, which is really impressive (and makes it harder to resist a sneaky purchase).

   If you love a steal like me, keep an eye on their sale items. Actually, look now - as there are so many gems in the sale right now that I didn't get a chance to include here. The reductions are really good!

L-R:

Earrings

Leggings

Dress - £15

Playsuit - £15

Cardigan - £16

Belt - £11.99

Please note: the belt is the only item that isn't in the sale - but I think it is still well priced. The Religion earrings are out of stock too, but I love them too much to get rid of them from this post!

6.3.12

Finds: Everything under £16 - Ark Sale