Finally Finding a Red Lipstick with L'Oreal Collection Exclusive Pure Reds.

I'm not brave when it comes to make-up, but with a view to upping my game I've been pottering around trying to find the perfect shade of red lipstick to suit my pale skin tone. It's a difficult thing to do, especially when you're used to fairly neutral shades, it almost feels like the lipstick is wearing you and nothing seems quite right. Some reds are too bold, some make you look like a ghost, others are too orange in tone, and some too brown.

NIGHTMARE.

I was pretty excited when I read about the new L'Oreal Collection Exclusive Pure Red line, a selection of 4 matte red lipsticks, each with a different celebrity behind it. You of course have Eva, Blake, Liya and Julianne with their own shade of red perfectly suited to compliment their hair and skin tone. The idea behind the range is that everyone should be able to find their perfect red! Challenge Accepted.

As you can see, I opted to try Julianne at home, given my pale complexion, I thought this might suit me best. First things first, lets take a moment to appreciate the packaging, it's sleek, feels pretty luxe and has a gorgeous contrast between the black matt textured casing and gold banding.

Then there's some subtle detailing  hidden away on the lid. All this, for a snip at only £6.99, I thought to myself, what have you got to lose? (I got this on offer for £5.99 in Superdrug but it's not available online just yet!)

In the bullet, the colour seems a little coral in tone, I realise in the picture it looks quite orange but trust me, on the lips it's far from orange and actually leans more towards the pink side of things.

Being a matte red, the colour is pretty long lasting, I gulped my way through several drinks, a pizza and some chicken and there was still a notable amount of colour on my lips. It was obviously more prominent towards the edges with some fading on the centre of my lips. Sure it needed a little reapplication post grub to even out the colour, but what was left on my lips at this stage was pretty akin to a stain. 

As I don't own a lip brush I applied the Pure Red Lipstick straight from the bullet. You can see from both the swatch and the pictures above that the level of pigment in the lipstick and the colour pay-off is pretty sweet! I've taken a photo in different lights so you can get more of a feel for the colour.

I'm a total newbie on the matte lipstick front and I can say that these actually felt pretty comfortable on the lip. My lips certainly didn't feel as juicy as when I'm wearing a gloss or balm based product, but by no means drying thanks to the Jojoba.

I think the Julianne shade works really well with my complexion, it's not overly intrusive and I reckon it looks great with a more pared down make-up look.

Have you tried any of the L'Oreal Collection Exclusive Pure Reds yet? What do you think of the Julianne Shade? Did I pick the right shade for my complexion?

Ideal Shades for Autumnal Nails

Normally, I'm fairly loyal to my nail varnish brands - O.P.I, Nails Inc. and the occasional Sally Hansen polish are the only brands which frequent my incredibly cluttered nail varnish drawer.

The pigments are true to form, the formulations are long lasting (which is ideal if you're heavy handed like me and particularly careful) and they don't dry out my nails.

Now the colder weather is setting in, I'll be switching my nail varnish to more autumnal shades of deep reds, plums and dark neutrals.  Recently, I received a bottle of No.13 Reverence De Bastien in my September Birchbox and the sight of the colour alone was enough to get me a little excited.

I had heard of Bastien before, his reputation lies in the manicures and pedicures conducted at his spas worldwide which have received critical acclaim.  Magazines such as Instyle and Harper's Bazaar had often listed his treatments as a must have, awarding the same numerous awards in the process.  Naturally, the 'nail lacquers' as he calls them peaked my interest at around £16 a pop.

As you can see, the colour itself it is a deep dark red - almost akin to a Claret wine colour (I've taken photos in two different light settings so you get an idea of how the colour can change depending on the light).  The product promised to be 3 Free which is something I have noted brings it in line with other key players in the industry.

For those who aren't sure - 3 Free means free from Toluene, Formaldehyde and DBP.  These are often added to nail varnishes as a result of their ability to make a polish more flexible and give the dried varnish that shiny smooth finish which you so often see.  As you'd expect, these sorts of formulations can damage your nails, not to mention the fact that they're toxic to your body and so should be avoided if possible!

I found the varnish easy to apply - only two coats gives the depth of colour which you can see above.  I followed my usual technique of base coat, two layers of varnish and a top coat to help the varnish last a little longer.  I've had the varnish on for a few days now and the varnish has not chipped at all so in terms of durability this is definitely one to consider if you're heavy handed like me.

My only criticism of the product would be that it seems to 'bruise' quite easily.  I applied the varnish at around 8 in the morning and it looked wonderful all day.  However, after having gone to bed and woken up the following day my nails have imprints from whatever fidgeting I've done during the night - these imprints are what I've affectionately termed bruising.  Normally, I only find that this happens if I've done my nails about an hour before heading to bed so I was a little surprised to find the same had happened despite having done my nails so long beforehand.

All in all a vibrant colour which is true to form and long lasting with a slight tendency to bruise.

I'd love to know what colours you look forward to using as the weather takes a cooler turn.