Colourpop Perks of Being A Wildflower

As any of my readers know by now, I'm a bit Colourpop obsessed. I've always been a purple toned lipstick kind of a gal, but since I first got my mitts on their lipsticks I've gone wild and want every colour. Like Pokemon, but with lipstick, gotta have 'em all! I'd never been one for the more natural and nude tones, but now I really am. So I had to pick up the Sonya Esman lippie stix collab 'Perks of Being a Wildflower'.

This is a set of what Colourpop call their 'on the go' lippie stix, they are a mini size, at .55g per lippie instead of the usual 1.0g. Slightly over half the weight, but definitely half the size in terms of the packing, making them really handy to throw in your handbag. They'd fit in even the smallest of bags for a night out, or even a coin purse!

Left to right - 

California Lovers, Empire State of Mind, Toronto Terrace and St. Petersburg.

The set also includes a clear primer lippie stix, but that isn't visible in swatches so I didn't bother. I find it adds a good moisturising layer underneath them and stops any feathering at the edge of your lips.

California Lovers is a classic fawny tone, maybe a little pale for me as I have incredibly pale lips naturally and need a bit more pigmentation for my personal tastes. Empire State of Mind is a slightly coral toned peach, this is one I'll more than likely end up giving to my Mum as I'm not a fan of coral tones on my skin. Toronto Terrace is lush, a more brown toned shade, I love the cool tones in it. And St. Petersburg is a fantastic house brick sort of red. I love this one and I know it'll be a shade I reach for a lot, especially in autumn.

I'm a big fan of these mini sets because they encourage me to try out colours I wouldn't otherwise give a go, and sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised!

Much love,
Kitty xxx

Persuede Me : What Happened To My Face?

Colourpop Lips

I love me some Colourpop, but their products have to be my absolute stand out product. They're always releasing new products and one of their newest products has quickly become an absolute favourite of mine.

I had already tried out the blotted lips here, but the ultra blotted lips were new to me. Much like their ultra matte lips, these come in a clear tube with a doe foot applicator. Colourpop were known for their holographic fonts but they wore off the tubes very quickly, so they've switched to silver which doesn't wear off. I picked out Split and Cherry on Top as they seemed to be perfect summer colours!

I've also gotten really into brown toned nude lip colours lately, so I grabbed Boys Town and Bonus Points in the creme formula of the lippie stix. The creme formula is a lovely creamy finish, but not too glossy.

Left to right - 

Split, Cherry on Top, Boys Town, Bonus Points.

I'm wearing Split in both of these photos, which is the more pink toned ultra blotted lips. I am absolutely in love with this product! They've somewhere between a lip stain and a diluted matte liquid lipstick. It dries down completely and is smudge proof, but isn't as heavy duty or solid as a traditional liquid lipstick. These are so perfect for summer and I can't stop wearing them. They only budge when you eat oily foods and are really comfortable on the lips.

I am definitely going to be picking more of these up!

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

Kinderwhore OOTD : Millenial Pink OOTD

Colourpop Eyes

When I first fell in love with Colourpop I was all about their lip products, but my more recent obsession is their eye makeup products. They've got some fantastic and bright colours and I can't resist them. I picked some of these shades up a while ago, and some more recently, but thought I'd share them together.

Both of these super shock shadow shades are no longer available, and were part of their really fun Hello Kitty collaboration. The white shade is 'Rainbow', and the grey is 'Bento Box'. Rainbow is a pretty odd choice for the white shade, but it's memorable for sure!

I always do my swatches with one swipe so you can see the colour pay off, and you can see that Rainbow is incredibly sheer. It's pearlescent and pretty and would make a good blending shade, but to get a really solid colour you'd have to build it up with layers. Bento Box on the other hand is solid and has great opacity right away. I love the slate tone of it, grey eye shadow is a fave of mine and I think this will be one I reach for a lot.

I also picked up three of the creme gel liners. I've had some of the creme gel colour pots before but found them a bit harder to apply, so I prefer the liners. I love makeup but I'm not the best at it, so the eye liners are the easier option.

Left to right - Teaspoon, Punch and Kicker.

I love a super bright cat eye and all of these are so pretty. Green is my go-to colour so teaspoon was an easy choice, it's one I reach to several times a week. Punch is so unusual that I couldn't resist, whoever has seen a bright yellow eye liner before?! I think it'll look great on it's own, or paired with a black for a double flick that makes you stare. Kicker is a true silver that I had to have. Ideally I'd have liked it to be a bit darker because on my skin it's not the best tone, but again it'll work for a double cat eye or layered with another colour.

I absolutely plan on getting more more of the gel liners, they last all day and do not budge!

Much love,

Kitty xxx

Bell Sleeves & Stripes : My Two Favourite Bloggers Right Now

Purple Colourpop Super Shock Shadows

When I placed my recent order from Colourpop one of the things I really wanted to pick up was more of their purple super shock shadows. I love purple eye shadow with my green eyes but hadn't bought any from them, so this time around I grabbed four!

I love the formula of the super shock shadows, I know it's not for everyone because people struggle with the creamy texture of it, but I love it. I find they have great staying power and feel really comfortable to wear. The colour payoff is always good, and they are super build-able too. 

If you do struggle with applying these, I recommend a more solid brush rather than something too fluffy. When I bought these Colourpop were offering free brushes with every two shadows so I picked up some that I think will work well with these shadows. Colourpop's brushes are all cruelty free too!

This is 'Dare' which is a metallic. It's a very bright purple with a lovely pinky shimmer to it.

This is 'Lace'. which has a satin finish. It's a deep eggplant purple.

This is 'Envy' and it's an ultra glitter, part of their holographic range. It's a black filled with stunning violet glitter that really catches the light.

'Stereo' is described as a blackened purple with gold and pink and is again from the ultra glitter range. The combination of colours in this shadow give it more of a bronze feel than purple, and it was the least true to the website description in my opinion.

Left to right - Dare, Lace, Stereo and Envy. 

All of these swatches are done with my fingers, and are one swipe. You can really see how good the colour pay off is! Dare is an absolute delight, it is so neon and I cannot wait to wear this. Lace is a colour I think I'll get a lot of wear out of, I often use the super shock shadows as eye liner and this will definitely be a shade I use for that. You can see that Stereo is that bit more bronze, but the pink glitter really shines through. Envy is something I've never seen before, I love it! The glitter is really striking and I think you could use this in a really dramatic smokey eye.

Colourpop have had a few sales lately, so expect a few more blogs of their products coming soon!

Much love,

Kitty xxx

Deaf Awareness Week : Pink Linen

Colourpop Blotted Lips

I'm a big fan of Colourpop, so when they launched their new blotted lip range I was really curious. They reminded me of lip stains but in a lipstick format and I just had to try them. They recently had a sale on so me and my Mum placed an order and I grabbed a couple of shades I thought looked like my sort of colours because I was intrigued.

The packaging is pretty standard for Colourpop, matte white with silver font and a good 'click' when you put the lid on that means I never worry about them floating about in my handbag without the lid on.

 I picked up Lolly and Ice Cube, the names of the whole collection are adorable. These are designed to look like you've just eaten a lolipop, or have lip stain on, and the names are totally appropriate for the range.

The applicator is quite big compared to the Colourpop lippie stix, but it actually works really well. The shape of the product means that the centre of your lips gets a bit more product that the edges which really adds to the blotted look. 

L-R

One swipe of Ice Cube, layers of Ice Cube, one swipe of Lolly and several swipes of Lolly.

Depending on how you want these to look, you can apply these in a single swipe or build up the colour more. I like how they look both ways but when I wear these out I tend to build the colour up more so as they wear they end up looking like the single swipe later on.

 L-R

Single swipe of Ice Cube and several layers of Ice Cube.

L-R

Single layer of Lolly and several layers of Lolly.

I wore Lolly out on a hen do I went on recently that involved a 3 course meal and quite a few drinks, and while it faded, it didn't need reapplying once. It faded beautifully and I was really impressed with the staying power, especially considered I had soup, pasta and ice cream and am not a tidy eater. These are only $5 each and feel so creamy and comfy on my lips, not drying at all. They aren't transfer proof but I wouldn't expect them to be.

I think these are going to be a go to look for me over the summer, especially in the day time, and I may have already ordered more to try out. What do you think of these?

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

Sugar & Vice SS17 : Disconnect from the Blogging World

Photoshop and Bloggers

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I took all my blog photos on my mobile phone. It was the quick and easy way to get photos on the go and be able to upload them to my blog almost immediately. These days I've been using my Canon camera, as a semi-pro photographer I decided that I could step up the quality of my photos by combining my two loves together. I set up the photos, and just get someone else to click the camera for me as I don't have a remote trigger. I then run the photos through Photoshop or any other editing programme for a quick bit of colour correction, occasionally to edit out anything that's creeped into the back of the photo that shouldn't have, or to make sure the exposure of the photo is just right. Then they are ready for my blog! One thing I never do, is retouch my skin or edit myself. 

I leave in all the bumps, the stretch marks, the folds of my skin, the hyper-pigmentation, the scars, the eczema. One of the reasons I started blogging is because I think representation is important, and if one person can see my body and see themselves and feel less alone, or even start to realise that their body deserves love too, then I've done everything I could ever have wanted. It's hugely important to me to be real and to share my body as it is. With a higher quality camera, all those little blemishes become much more visible, your iPhone selfie might show your skin in a much more flattering light than a professional camera does, so when bloggers are taking photos with these high quality pieces of technology, in comes the Photoshop pressure.

When you blog, there is so much pressure for everything to be perfect, from your immaculately ironed clothes, to your highly stylised images, everything has to be perfect. If it's not, will a brand want to work with you? Will your readers still love you? There's so much pressure, and I totally get bowing to it, Photoshop is the standard in the media, seeing a published imaged that hasn't spent time being edited and touched up is almost unheard of. It can be hard as a blogger to fight that pressure, particularly when you have a larger audience, because with a larger audience, comes trolls.

I'm not perfect, and that's OK. And seeing other bloggers who look like me share themselves has really helped me realise that all those things that I consider imperfections are actually just fine the way they are. As someone who is body positive, I think not retouching my photos is important. It would feel false to me personally if I retouched my skin and made myself look perfect, when I'm not. To me, taking away the scar on my face would be like shrinking my waist, I'm here to show reality, and my reality is what society deems to be flaws. 

The only time I've ever shared photos of myself that have been potentially retouched is recently, and that is with the photos from my shoot with Shannon Swift. Shannon's work is high fashion and conceptual, it is glossy and perfect, and everyone's highlight is blinding. I'm not wearing any more makeup than usual in the photo above, just my usual eyes and lips, and I asked Shannon to make sure if she did retouch my skin that she left my scar in. I wasn't sure how much I would be retouched, and zooming in, it's clear that Shannon totally got that I'm not into super smooth skin. All my little freckles are still visible, the creases in my eye lids, even the super faint scar on my forehead and the weird white patches on my two front teeth. This made me so happy. I actually don't think she's really touched my skin! When you see professional photographers work it is often so heavily retouched, but that isn't what Shannon has done and it made me so happy! I'm me, just a really awesome well lit version of me.

I'd love to see more transparency from bloggers about the level of retouching in their blog photos. I adore that George of Fuller Figure Fuller Bust shares her shape wear and how she creates the foundations for her vintage looks, I love that Amanda Apparel shares her before and after makeup photos with her psoriasis. I'd love to see bloggers stating that they've been retouched in their photos so people know that they are seeing the perfect version of them, not the reality. Much like I'm glad to see advertisers being forced to declare that a model is wearing false eyelashes in their mascara advert, I want to see bloggers admitting that they've smoothed out their skin. That way their readers know that's not what their foundation really looks like, or that in this high fashion set of photos they've had their skin evened out to make the photos as immaculate as possible. I think this is particularly an issue in beauty blogging, because edited images can make a product seem far better than it is and be very misleading. I've seen bloggers edit out the creases in their lips and make their eyelashes longer, and if you are sharing makeup reviews, that isn't right or fair for your reader.

Transparency is key for me. I don't mind if you feel the need to retouch your photos, I'd just love to know that you are! In this Photoshopped world I'd love to see more real skin and reality. As a kid I was convinced my skin was terrible because I had no idea that sebaceous filaments were perfectly normal, and that I wasn't totally covered in black heads. Actually, my skin is pretty good and I'm very lucky in that respect! I might have eczema but the dryness of my skin means spots are a once a month deal for me and have never been an issue. I've got a bit of a furry face to be honest, I'm covered in fine downy blonde hair, and that's OK too. 

I know sharing your real skin can be a terrifying prospect, especially in this time of Facetune and Photoshop, but think how liberating it would be for a teenager to see their favourite blogger has acne scarring just like them! There's an argument to be had about whether bloggers should be aspirational or not, and for me personally, that's not what I'm about. I'm much more the awkward nerd type than the sort of person someone wishes to be like, so for me, sharing the real me is everything.

It's OK if you feel you need to retouch your photos, but I hope as blogging progresses we can see more transparency in the industry about what has been done to photos. As we declare gifted items and sponsored posts, I'd love to see us all move to declaring Photoshopped images too. Photoshop can make a beauty product seem truly unbelievable, when the reality is that no foundation is ever going to erase your pores and give you the look of a beauty blogger's ring lit portrait.

What do you think?

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

Thanks for Nothing OOTD : My Third Bloggerversary

Colourpop Pressed Eyeshadows

I love Colourpop's super shock eyeshadows, so when they announced they were releasing pressed eyeshadows I had to order some. They sell them in individual pans and you can make your own palettes.

The palettes are classic Colourpop packaging. White with silver stars and font. They feel nice and sturdy in your hands and can be wiped clean if needed. It has a window so you can see the eye shadows inside without needing to open the actual palette which is really handy.

The inside of the palette is metallic, it has a silver base with room for 4 eye shadow pans.

The top of the palette is metallic purple with silver, the 'made you look' is a really cute touch! There isn't a mirror in the top of the palette which I would have liked, but because it's a make your own palette you need the space the mirror would normally be in for the window so you can see what is inside. 

The eye shadows are sold individually, and come in cardboard slips, and inside they are safely contained in plastic wallets that totally cover the eye shadow. 

Each eye shadow is inside a small metal pan which fits easily into the base of the palette. The base of the palette is magnetic so once the pan is inside the palette it is totally secure. They are easy to remove if you want to change the shadows, I used a kirby grip to just pop the shadow back out. The shadows have their name on the bottom of the pans, so you can know which one you are using.

Most beauty rules will tell you that if you have green eyes you shouldn't wear green eye shadow, however I absolutely adore the combination so screw the rules.

Left to right this is Team Captain, Checkmate, Sideline and Changer.

Left to right - Play by Play, Up and Up, Backseat and Goody Two-Shoes. This palette is a bit more of a random mix of colours but I couldn't resist. 

I love the idea of making my own mini palettes. Often palettes contain colours I won't use which seems a bit of a waste, but this way I know I'll use all the colours. The pans are $5 each, and when I bought these if you bought 4 pans you got a free palette to put them in too. You can get pre-made palettes that are $18 each but none have been my sort of colours so far. They are fairly inexpensive, so even with customs fees to get them into the UK I'm still happy to pay for them.

I'm excited to see what colours they do next!

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

Pin Haul : Things That Suck About Being Tall

Colourpop Haul III

By now it's fairly obvious that I'm a big fan of Colourpop, so when I got money for my birthday I knew what I was spending it on, as they happened to have a sale at the same time. Meant to be! Some of these products are discontinued but I couldn't resist sharing.

'

It wouldn't be a Colourpop order without some liquid lipstick!

I ordered Lychee in the classic ultra matte lip, and Bijou in the ultra satin lip. Lychee is in Colourpop's usual packaging, whereas Bijou was a limited edition winter colour hence the matte black packaging. I really like both the styles of packaging, they are sturdy and always full of product, and the applicators are nice and easy to use.

Lychee is a super bright purple toned pink that will just be amazing in the summer, and Bijou is purple toned again (yes, I have a problem and treat purple lipstick like Pokemon), but more of an aubergine. I'd consider this a day to day colour for me and am really glad I snapped it up before it was discontinued. Colourpop do bring the odd colour back, so it's worth keeping an eye out!

From left to right, this is Flower Shop, Fizz and Patchwork in the super shock shadows. These were all being discontinued and I love green toned eye shadow, so I had to have them. I know people think you shouldn't wear green eye makeup with green eyes, but I absolutely love it.

When I ordered Colourpop were also celebrating hitting one million followers on instagram, which meant I got this limited edition pressed eye shadow 'Milli' for free. They have just released pressed eye shadow for the first time so I was excited to get it.

The pressed shadows are designed to be added to a palette, rather than being a stand alone product, so they come in a small round metal pan. They do sell palettes that fit their pressed eye shadow that I plan to invest in at some point.

I also decided to try out their creme gel eye liner. I suck at applying eye liner, liquid eye liner is basically my nemesis, so a pencil style is about as much as I can handle. I opted for it in the shade 'Bee Sting'.

The blue stripe at the bottom is the gel eye liner, it is so soft and doesn't drag at all on application. I wore it out to a gig that was very warm and it didn't budge at all. It's bright and beautiful and I will absolutely be buying more of them!

Top to bottom the shadows are Milli, Fizz, Flower Shop and Patchwork. Milli is a lovely orange toned bronze, Fizz is a bright acidic green that is just so fun, Flower Shop is a muted green and Patchwork is a very deep blue with hints of black and glitter.

In bright sun light you can really see how glittery and pearlescent the shades are. The super shock shadows are the creamiest eye shadows you could ever use. They are very different to your usual eye shadow, but I love them. Milli is a colour that is really build-able but also blend-able, I'm excited to try more of their new pressed eye shadows.

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

The Flower Year : Lace Dreams

Colourpop Hot to Trot Lippie to Go Set

By now it's reasonably obvious that I really love Colourpop's products, and as a little post-Christmas treat I ordered a few of their sale items and value sets, including this Hot to Trot Lippie To Go set. I'm not usually one for lip liner, but I know generally it's seen as a beauty must to really help keep your lippie where it should be, so when I saw this lippie stix/lip liner combo I had to give it a go.

The packaging is a purple cardboard box with white patterns on it and a pale pink inside which is a cute touch. It arrived a bit bashed but after a journey from the US and customs etc I can't complain about a bit of bent cardboard.

The packaging is the classic white design with holographic font, one end is the lip liner and the other is the lippie stix. They have a really firm and distinct 'click' into place which is something I really like, I hate losing lids in my handbag and these don't shift unless you want them to.

Some of these are colours I already had, but I couldn't resist the travel size/lip liner combo. The colours are listed on the back so you can see which colour is the liner and which colour is the lippie stix.

With every swatch I did of the lip liner, the very tip broke off, bar one. The ends were really hard and when I applied a bit of pressure to get them to work it just snapped off. I was a bit gutted but they still worked just fine and were much softer once the tip was gone.

The lippie stix end is the rounded, slightly angled applicator. I really like the shapes of the lippie stix and their small size, I actually think they are easier to apply than traditional lipstick shapes, they are much more precise.

And the ever important swatches! I've swatched the lip liner and their corresponding lippie stix next to each other, they aren't all exact matches which I like, it can make the application a bit more interesting. The pale fawn colours are a bit too light for me in the Skimpy/Cookie set on the far left, so I've given that to my Mum who it really suits. Bound/Cami is next and I can already tell you that this will be a firm favourite of mine for spring, it's a lovely mix of pink and purple. The middle one is LBB at both ends, so the only true match, I love a good purple and wear LBB a lot so I'm glad to have the liner too. Bossy/Trust Me is a fantastic true red with cool tones which is exactly what I like for my skin tones, and Dukes/Chateau is a fab browny purple, perfect for those days you want to be a bit more dramatic and goth.

I really like these as a set, and will certainly be keeping my eye out for more like this, at $18 for the full set, meaning $3.60 per lip liner/lippie stix you really can't go wrong.

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

What I Got For My Birthday Part II : What I Got For My Birthday Part I