Good news! Matte Lipsticks are on trend this Autumn/Winter and SEVENTEEN have got loads of fabulous and super affordable shades to try....well twelve to be precise.

I was sent three shades that work best with my skintone and I must admit, they really do!



The three shades of Mega Matte above are from L-R

Orange You Gorgeous
Nude News
The Coral Of The Story

For my favourite beauty/makeup products of 2015 I went for the products I reached out for the most in my makeup bag...and unsurprisingly the products took in my eyes, cheeks and lips!



You would have had to have lived under a shell not to notice the trend for contouring (made really famous by Kim Kardashian) and not being blessed with lovely cheekbones this has been one trend that I have been embracing in a small way.

I love to accentuate/fake my cheekbones with the extremely affordable SEVENTEEN Define & Conquer Contour Kit which costs just £5.99 from Boots. It is a really simple way of defining and illuminating the face contours and comes with a handy instruction sheet to help you.

I simply adore a good nude lippie, lord knows I have plenty in varying shades but as you can see by how much the one above has been used,  this is my favourite everyday shade and formula - Max Factor Colour Elixir in shade Simply Nude and coming in at £7.99 is the perfect price for everyday use. My lips but better.

Finally, readers of BeautySwot will know that I don't use fake lashes or inserts so I am always on the look out for mascaras and products that enhance my natural lashes... Estee Lauder's Little Black Primer was an absolute essential last year with its multi uses. Promising to tint, amplify and set it does it all. Use alone for pretty and natural lashes, use as a primer under your mascara to give the 'wow factor' to your mascara. It thickens lashes, lifts and lengthens. My favourite use is to set the mascara you are wearing with a final coat of the LBP. It makes the mascara waterproof which is absolutely essential for me in the Summer as I suffer from Hay Fever. I also used it at my sister's wedding and there were many tears of joy but my mascara stayed firmly in place. A brilliant, brilliant product. It costs £20 but is worth every penny.

So there you have it, my favourite products of 2015. What were yours?

A bit earlier in the month I shared my Holiday Makeup For Day with SEVENTEEN post, I was extremely impressed with the products that I used. This post is no different, the makeup I used for evening was a real eye opener and really showed me that budget products can really perform well.


So for evenings I used the SEVENTEEN CC Cream £6.99 which as mentioned previously was a great base and it lasts.

I used the SEVENTEEN Define & Conquer Kit £5.99 which I have reviewed before & absolutely love. It is such an easy & quick way to create/define cheekbones..

To add warmth in my face I used the beautiful golden toned SEVENTEEN Instant Glow SKINWOW Tan (liquid formula) £5.99 which is warm toned highlighter and adds a beautiful sheen/glow to skin, perfect for Summer evenings. I used it a couple of ways, all over mixed with the CC Cream and just on my cheek bones.

Now this is where I get seriously impressed.... On my eyes I used the SEVENTEEN Falsifeye HD Mascara £6.99 which once again I have reviewed before on BeautySwot. At just £6.99 it is an absolute bargain for stand out, long lashes. I really like this mascara, and later on you will see just how flutter worthy my lashes are using this mascara.

Now for my absolute favourite of this bundle of beauty products.... SEVENTEEN Wet Look Lacquer Eyeliner £3.99. I am always concerned about using liquid liners that are slightly brush like as I tend to make a right mess of my eye makeup using them, I much prefer a pen BUT although this had a scary tiny brush it was just perfect. It was stiff enough to draw a perfect and rich black line AND it didn't transfer to my upper lid or budge once dried all evening. BEST product in my view.

And finally my lips were adorned with SEVENTEEN Berry Crush Lip Stain £4.99 this colouring pen type product puts colour on your lips & it stays there for the evening. I am not sure what shade I was using but it was a really pretty & flattering pink shade.

Here are some pics using the products




Stay tuned for your chance to win some fabulous SEVENTEEN makeup products... coming soon!!

*Sponsored post 

I recently spent a fabulous week holidaying in Ibiza, the week consisted mainly of lounging by the pool, the waterpark and a few brilliant day trips out and of course visits to the beach. I know it is known as the party capital of the world but seriously there is so much more to Ibiza than just the club scene. If you haven't been I highly recommend making a visit.

As a beauty lover I do tend to travel heavy when it comes to make up despite trying very hard to narrow down some faves, I just like to have options!  This time however, I was sent a few bits by the lovely team at SEVENTEEN to try, so I pretty much pushed aside/emptied out my usual faves and those tried and tested to take a leap of faith in these products....




During the day by the pool I like to keep things simple (I have a son aged 7 and we spend A LOT of time in the pool!) so I just went with my really high sun protection, a light coverage of the SEVENTEEN CC Cream which has SPF25 to just even out my skintone and hide those pesky blemishes.. I must say this CC Cream is a fantastic product, a little went a long way and it was the perfect shade for me (medium) but more on this in my next post - Holiday Makeup For Evening. 

I also opted for some highlighting magic from the SEVENTEEN Skin Wow Primer, this gave a beautiful dewy and super healthy appearance to my skin. Described as a 3 way HIGHLIGHTER GLOW & PRIMER, I used it all three ways and loved the way it lit up my skin, blended well so that its cool tone looked completely natural and just gave a wonderful glow and all round pick me up.

The biggest leap of faith by far was the SEVENTEEN Waterproof Mascara which promised the following - Both waterproof and smudge resistant this non clogging mascara lengthens lashes and lasts all day. As I mentioned, I spent a lot of time in the pool and we also had an adjacent water park that featured a HUGE bucket that tips its entire contents of water on to you if you stand under it. My son thought this was hilarious and made me stand directly under it, the cheeky thing!

So was the waterproof mascara up for the water challenge? I can confidently give this a massive thumbs up and resounding yes. It passed the water test with flying colours. Only the teeniest tiniest of smudging and no panda eyes in sight. I wore this mascara all day everyday. As a waterproof mascara this gave great definition and length to my lashes, was light and the formula wasn't thick or gloopy.


SEVENTEEN CC Cream £ 6.99
SEVENTEEN Waterproof Mascara £4.69
SEVENTEEN Skin Wow Primer £5.99

*Sponsored post 

Thanks (mostly) to Kim Kardashian contouring became a thing. Now what she does is pretty extreme face sculpting but I am not averse to a bit of contouring myself to give myself some well defined cheek bones.  I have found the SEVENTEEN Define & Conquer Contour Kit really rather excellent in this mission and use to daily.


SEVENTEEN say 



Face the world with Define & Conquer Contour Kit by SEVENTEEN. The darker powder defines the face, while the lighter powder illuminates.

Over the weekend I have been testing out SEVENTEEN's newest mascara - FALSIFeye HD in Blackest Black 

SEVENTEEN say 

Fake it with FALSIFeye HD!

Lash by lash separation, corner to corner volume and length for High Definition impact!



My thoughts 

I love the rubber wand, I find that it picks up my lashes beautifully, providing fantastic separation, volume and brilliant lengthening ability. With two coats I don't find that I get much thickening but this is balanced by the fact that you don't get any clumping. The formula is buildable so with another coat or so you can get thicker looking lashes if necessary.

However, I am happy with the results. Gorgeous, long lashes that are fanned out and blackest black lives up to its name, it is a nice rich shade.

I have used the mascara for a few days now and have noticed that there is no flaking/ fall out and mostly no smudging. Although, after a few hours on warmer days I did notice the mascara smudging if I used it on my lower lashes (this is only noticeable if you are not wearing eye liner).

Would I buy this mascara? Absolutely. It is a great price and gives a great result.

Check out the before and after pics

Before 




After 


Stand out lashes in photos 


SEVENTEEN FALSIFeye HD Mascara costs £6.99 but is currently on offer at £4.99!

*PR Sample

For me my base, whether it be a Tinted Moisturiser, BB Cream, CC Cream or Foundation is the most important part of my makeup look. If my base is right, everything else follows. Of course skincare is key, but some things cannot be helped and I like to enhance the great bits and hide the less so great things...

So what do I look for in a base -

Personally I tend to look for bases that hide pores, smooths lines, masks the redness of rosacea on the cheeks and a product that lasts a good 6+ hours without the need for a retouch. Naturally I want something that is not mask like and looks as natural as possible..

For various reasons which I am going to outline below, the BB Creams and Foundations pictured above were not right for me ...


From L-R

Kiko Sunproof BB Cream SPF 30 in Light £9.90 for 30ml

Kiko say 

Radiant finish foundation-treatment with light coverage and SPF 30.

A perfect combination of make-up and skin protection. A veritable multibenefit treatment that guarantees even colour and protection from the sun. The light coverage colour takes on a natural second skin effect to perfectly match the tones of your complexion. Imperfections are covered and signs of fatigue are minimized.

The light, smoothing formula ensures an even, long lasting finish.
For natural flawless looking skin...

You are craving picture-perfect, flawless skin in a instant. Discover our Perfecting Beauty Balm: it moisturises, evens out skin tone, blurs imperfections & fine lines, and even protects your skin from UVA and UVB (SPF-15), all in one go!

Our unique blend of multi-vitamins, skin-loving ingredients with naturally derived minerals and illuminating particles instantly give you natural flawless looking skin. Perfect even for sensitive skin.
Simple goodness...
3 vitamins Pro-vitamins B3, Vitamin E, Vitamin A Palmitate,4 skin loving ingredients -
Flawless full coverage AND clearer skin in 4 weeks!

My all time favourite eye liner pen was the felt tip style Eyeko's one in brown which they no longer do. It was fool proof to use, gave a beautiful constant line and did not budge an inch.

Ever since then I have been looking for another perfect pen style liner to replace it, and in particular a fab brown would be ideal...

SEVENTEEN Make Your Mark Precision Eye Liner Pen in Blackest Black looked promising but sadly it was a disappointment and failed to live up to its promises.

Seventeen say 

Line and define or mix it up and go graphic. The pen style precision liner gives carbon intensity with waterproof and up to 25 hour staying power.

My thoughts 

I liked the felt tip style applicator a lot but it was hard to draw a smooth even line, it seemed to hard. The line that came out was not sharp, indeed you can see from the picture above that half in an intense black colour but then there is an additional light, watery line! The liquid is very slow to dry and I could still smudge it a good ten minutes after I had applied it. Soon after drawing the line the intense black shade fades. It most definitely was not waterproof and was easily removed with water.

Disappointing indeed.

SEVENTEEN Make Your Mark Precision Eye Liner Pen £3.99

*PR Sample

Seventeeen Back Lash Mascara is the newest mascara from the brand promising 100% more lash impact. Claiming you can have it all - volume, length, definition and lift.

Before 



After 



My thoughts 

Back Lash has a more traditional looking mascara brush/wand and this makes it really easy to use and handle. There is no doubting the definition and lengthening properties of the mascara, I think the results are very impressive. I would have liked to have seen thicker looking lashes personally, however I did like that there was no clumping and no flaking for the entire duration of wearing this mascara.

Seventeen Back Lash Mascara comes in two shades and costs £6.49

*PR Sample

Bargain of the week!

My Nails Of The Day come courtesy of Boots SEVENTEEN  - Quicker Slicker Nail Polish in Pink Glitter

This is insanely sparkly, like a sequin clutch bag. The photo really does not do it justice, this is fab, fab, fab!. I adore this shade. One coat achieves coverage and it dries in 50 seconds. Yes this would be perfect for party season but I reckon any day you  need some cheering up it would be ideal.

Boots SEVENTEEN Quicker Slicker Nail Polish in Pink Glitter costs just £2.99 but is currently on offer for £1.99!

*PR Sample

New for Spring from SEVENTEEN - Limited edition - Oh So Spring Cheek Stamps 

This is so cute and portable, make up on the go and no brushes needed! Mirror, Sponge applicator and Powder hidden in the lid - As it is on a spring (when you close the lid) the product is pre loaded onto the sponge so all you need to is stamp onto cheek and then blend with fingers for a subtle flush of colour. As it is light you may need to repeat. However, the very first time I used the Cheek Stamp for some reason it was really strong and I had to do a lot of blending! Now it seems to load on just the right amount to give a subtle glow.

Coral is the perfect shade for Spring loveliness and the shimmer in the powder gives a nice healthy looking glow to the cheeks.

Genius.

Swatch of Coral Cheek Stamp


SEVENTEEN Limited Edition Oh So Spring Cheek Stamps cost £4.99 and are available in Coral and Pink. You can purchase them from Boots or Boots.com from 20th March for 4 weeks.

*PR Sample