Depraved? Why, Yes!

When  I saw the subject of today's post, I had to have it. Revolution is a UK beauty brand recently landed on our humble shores, to compete with the likes of Essence, Catrice, Sleek, and NYX. I've been drooling over the website for weeks, and backing out at the last minute every time I get my cart to checkout. Rather than splurging on a whole bunch of things, I decided to invest slowly.

Today, I'm coming at you with the first lip product I have picked up, and as you can see, it's an absolute stunner. Read on to find out about how I dabbled in Depravity!

Depravity is a Revolution Salvation Velvet Lip Laquer, a matte finish, highly pigmented, long lasting lipstick. I picked Depravity because of the unusual shade - a vibrant purple somewhere between lilac and violet. It's a beautiful, noticeable shade that's still wearable and fun. Because of the budget nature of this entire brand, these lip laquers in particular, it's affording me the luxury of trying out wacky lip colors.

The applicator for this lip laquer is a standard doe-foot which I haven't found to be difficult or messy. It's long wearing, comfortable on the lips and it doesn't seem to settle in the fine lines. It's a little dry, but applied over my MAC Fix+ Lip Primer or a thin layer of lip-balm, it is absolutely flawless.

When you apply the product, its got a minute or so of play time before it dries down to a perfectly matte finish. The best way to apply it is to start from the middle and work out, then allow to dry without pressing your lips together. There is no need for lip liner, because when this sets, that's it, no smudging, no moving. I found that if you apply this, you will absolutely need to remove it with something oily - this stuff doesn't budge!  

                                       

Find the Revolution Salvation Velvet Lip Laquers HERE for £3 each. For the price point, and the longevity, as well as the shade range, Depravity is just a gateway shade to my owning the entire collection!! 

xo

Amy 

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#SBBC Filler Post Day 23: It's Finally Autumn!!

Today I wasn't really feeling either topic for the September Beauty Blog challenge, so I decided to use a filler post I had sitting around! Hopefully nobody decides to lynch me for my choice!

How many of you would say your favorite time of year is Spring/Summer? My guess is a lot. I however, fall into that minority of people who love Autumn and Winter. I adore this time of year. While I don't care terribly for Hallowe'en or Christmas, I cant get enough of the weather, the atmosphere in the run up to Christmas, the weather and the wardrobe.

Before I get into this, it's important to mention that bold lip colours look better on smooth lips, so I recommend you invest in a lip scrub, like my Bubblegum Lip Scrub from Lush (€6/7.99) and a good lip balm, like Carmx or Blistex Daily Lip Conditioner. These will give you the best base possible for your bold Autumn shades!

I have been stocking up on Autumn lip products in the last few weeks, so I'm going to give you a run down of what I will be rocking until at least next January!!



Revlon:

Crush

Revlons Kissable Balm Stains are perfect for Autumn and Winter wear as they are hydrating and have a decent wear time. I would recommend them to anyone who wants to rock an Autumnal lip but would also like the options of going sheer or building up the color intensity.

• Crush 005 has been a faithful companion of mine during the last year, and it's so fall appropriate!
  
  
  It's a beautiful reddish-purple berry color that can be worn sheer, or built up to a more opaque, full coverage.
  

  

  Romantic

• Romantic 045 is a very new purchase, but I bought it because its a sheer red tone that makes your lips look as though you have just bitten them! Again you can build the intensity up to suit your needs, be it for daytime or nighttime wear.
  
  This one will easily be a Festive Favorite come December!
  
• Colorburst Lip Butter in Red Velvet 040. I am in love with this Lip Butter.

  

  Red Velvet

  
  
  It couldn't be more Autumnal but it is also festive so will see me through to Christmas with ease! As with the Kissable Balm Stains, the Colorburst Lip Butters are pigmented and hydrating, providing beautiful color with ultimate comfort.

€11.20 in Boots, currently Buy One Get One Half Price

Maybelline:

24hr Absolute Plum

• Super Stay 24hr Lip Colors are my "Go To" for when I'm visiting Chris, because they do exactly what they say on the tube. The staying power on these babies is in-credible!! I don't know why I don't have more of these guys knocking about in my lipstick basket, to be quite honest! My Autumn shade is 340 Absolute Plum. It's a gorgeous purple with a red undertone. It pretty much looks like the inside of a ripe plum. Yummy! 

€13.99 (approx) in Boots, currently Buy One Get One Half Price

Midnight Plum

• Color Sensational in 338 Midnight Plum is a gorgeous shimmering purple shade, that goes on quite sheer. This would be good if you were nervous about rocking an opaque purple lip as you ease yourself into Autumn and Winter. I like!

 €9.99 (approx) in Boots, currently Buy One Get One Half Price

Catrice:

Love's Di-Wine

• Ultimate Shine Gel Lip Colour in 010 Love's Di-Wine is a beautiful, high gloss lipstick in a sheer red berry shade.
  
   If you were trying to rock a Lily Collins-esque, glam red carpet look, then look no further! Catrice Lipsticks have fabulous staying power and this is no exception! This particular shade is heralded as a dupe for Nars Flamenco, if that tickles your pickle!

• Ultimate Colour in 160 Tell Me A Berry-Tale (discontinued).
  
  I feel like a right tease for including this but I picked this up at the end of spring, before The Great Gatsby was released, and I think its a perfect Autumnal, deep purple berry colour. I can't get over it. It's so bold but somehow muted, suiting a glam, understated night look perfectly. 

• Ultimate Colour in 270 Matt-Erial Girl. I have received so many compliments on this shade that it makes my head spin.
  
  This is probably the brightest of all the lipsticks featured, but its beautiful and fun for the coming season. I've actually fallen so hard for this I've bought extra tubes for when Catrice inevitable discontinue it. 

• Ultimate Colour in 220 Step Red Up. Finally we have a red lip! Finally!!
  This lipstick is a very vampy red, so tread lightly. As with all of the Ultimate Colour range, it's seriously pigmented and opaque, so not for the faint of heart. This would be stunning at a Christmas party with a simple eye look and your classic LBD. 

All Catrice lipsticks are €4.49 in Penneys and Chemists nationwide.

My personal favorites of all of these picks, would have to be the Revlon Lip Butter in Red Velvet, and the Catrice Ultimate Colour in Matt-Erial Girl. With that said though, I adore the whole list from top to bottom!

What do you think? Have you any recommendations for other brands I've missed out on? Drop me a comment down below! 

xxx Amy

Red Hair is Unique, So Am I!

“It’s not about how others look at me, it’s about how I look at myself” - Neil Patrick Harris (Beastly)

When you read this, can you honestly agree?

I doubt there are many people out there can legitimately say they have always believed this. How many people do you know, that can say, with their hand on their heart that they are unaffected by the words of others? Is there anyone in the world who doesn't care about whats said about them? If there is, I would like to shake their hand. But I really don't think such a person exists, sadly. Everybody worries about the opinions of others, up to a certain point. That's just how it goes...

Then...

Most of us know how it feels to be belittled in some way, and usually, it's for nothing at all. People will judge you based on how you look, before you even open your mouth to introduce yourself. When we're sent off to school, at the age of 4, or 5, it starts. I have had the unfortunate experience of being bullied from Senior Infants, right up to the Junior Cert because of my hair. My hair!! It made me want to do anything to fit in. I briefly had blonde highlights as a teenager, wore make-up, tried to dress trendily. It didn't really suit me, if I'm honest... I didn't, and still don't suit that kind of thing.

When I got to 5th year, I decided to do things my way. I dyed my hair darker, almost maroon. It was awful, but it made me feel more like I blended in with my peers. To anyone on the outside, it must have been a drastic change, but to me, it felt necessary. Having been bullied for my red hair, it seemed like the right thing at the time. I wasn't doing it for others, it was all for me, and I continued to dye my hair, as well as dress the way I wanted to, for years to come.

I've noticed lately, a change in the way I see myself, as well as a change in the way I do things. What once was panicked, desperate attempts to blend in, has now become a calmer, more calculated desire to stand out. Thanks to a few of my favourite people, (and if they read this, they'll know exactly who they are) I grew out the dyed, damaged hair, and I embraced my Redhead status. In the past, when someone said "GINGER!!" I couldn't stand it. It upset me and made me angry. I did not want to be the ginger kid everyone used as the butt of some dusty, decrepit and frankly, backwards joke. Nowadays, though, its a different story.

Being a redhead is something I relish. Did you know, that 2% of the words population (at most) has natural red hair? That makes me unique, to some degree, and I wouldn't ever let the words of some stranger, someone who doesn't matter a damn to me make me feel small because of it. Ireland has the 2nd most intense concentration of gingers (yes, I know there's a joke in there somewhere!) in the world, with 10% (about 420,000) of us being lucky enough to say we're redheads!

When others made negative, bullying comments about my hair, I used to think they were right. I believed them. I thought, "You know what? They're the majority, maybe they speak the truth...", but I was so wrong. I saw myself as ugly because of my hair, because I was being told every day that red-heads were somehow lower than every other hair colour.

Now!! :D

I suppose it didn't help that somebody who claimed to love me told me, one day after I mentioned vaguely thinking of going back to my roots, "Having red hair wouldn't suit you, and I don't think you would be attractive if you decided to dye it back to your natural colour...". Stupid me, I listened. Eventually I decided to stick to my guns... I grew out the roots a few inches (which was awful but the ends justified the means) and headed for the chop. This time, I knew the change was drastic! 6 years after I started to cover up my uniqueness, I unveiled my newly short, red hair to my peers, and the response was wonderful. I can laugh along with the jokes now, because they don't hurt me.

How others see you, as much as we say it doesn't affect us, shapes us in ways we might not understand at the time... You might have believed the people who put you down at the time, but when you get away from those people, you'll gradually realise how wrong they were. In the end, when you believe in your heart and mind that you don't need to hide who you are, then you've done it. Personally, I went from hating my hair, to loving it more than ever! Its a part of who I am, it makes me unique.



How others look at you is unimportant. How you look at yourself matters more than anything.

Le Grá,
Amy,
xoxo