LIP BALM SEASON

It's the time of year where I pull out my collection of lip balms and distribute them among the rooms in my home and into my make up bags. I'm a self confessed lip balm addict and I have quite a collection of them!

For a hint of colour I reach for either Soap & Glory a great kisser lip balm in juicy peach or Korres lip butter in Quince, both add a subtle sheen of colour whilst keeping your lips feeling soft and moisturised. I use the Maybelline baby lips lip balms quite sparingly as although they contain shea butter and honey, they also contain petrolatum. I find that Maybelline baby lips give me plumper lips and a burst of moisture (that lasts around 2 hours) and they are really good for easy application on the go.

Figs & Rouge 100% natural balm tin in Vanilla Cherry and The Body Shop Honeymania lip balm both smell delicious. The tin packaging of the Figs & Rouge balm is so pretty and they are both petrolatum free. I've just moved the honeymania lip balm onto my desk for the colder months as it uses beeswax instead of shea butter which helps moisture to be retained for a longer period of time.

And heres three of my absolute favourites:

Nuxe Rev De Miel: If I could only choose one lip balm to use then this would be it. Dab a small amount of this sweet citrus and honey scented lip balm on your lips before bed and wake up with plump, soft hydrated lips. It contains honey, sweet almond oil, calendula and shea butter that leave your lips looking and feeling deeply moisturised. I've written a full review of Nuxe rev de miel here.

Smith's Rosebud lip salve: I use this lip balm when I'm out during the day if my lips are feeling sore and dry. It soothes and moisturises your lips and has a subtle rose scent, pretty packaging and leaves a glossy sheen. This has a petrolatum base but the rose oils in it are great for healing and moisturising your lips.

EOS Lip Balms: Another great everyday day lip balm, EOS lip balms contains vitamin E, jojoba oil and shea butter and are 95% organic, 100% natural and petrolatum free. These are great to pop in your bag and for easy application and leave my lips feeling soft and smooth.

What are your favourite lip balms?

FIVE THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT IN AUTUMN

1. Autumn Walks: Layering up in cosy knits and wooly scarves to go for a long walk on a crisp autumnnal morning. Crunching through falling colourful leaves and conker collecting along the way!

2. The Produce & Markets: Ginger and butternut squash warming soups. Apples, pears and parsnips fresh from the farmers market. Pumpkin spiced hot drinks, cinnamon infused apple pies and warming blackberry crumbles with cream.

3. Halloween: Creative make up and nail art everywhere, the spooky decor and recipes floating around and carving pumpkins - theres something so enjoyable about carving pumpkins, picking the best pumpkin, choosing it's features and watching the tealight flickering inside, illuminating it's fiendish face.

4. Beauty: Changing up your skincare and make up for the cold autumn days. Adding moisturising oils, thick creams and breaking out Nuxe rev de miel to save your lips. Braving vampy lips/Mac Rebel, wearing berry nails and sweeping shimmery golden browns on your lids.

5. The build up to Christmas: Festive songs slowly creeping into the shops, along with Nordic style home decor and warm spiced scented candles. Fairylights twinkling in the streets and getting excited about Christmas beauty advent calendars.

What do you love most about Autumn?

AUTUMN NAIL POLISH

When I think of autumnal colours I think of golds, plums and deep orange hues so I'm drawn to these when picking autumn nail polish shades. These are my favourites this year:

Ciate Encore: A pretty, muted burnt orange/terracotta that's perfect for autumn. It's opaque in just one coat and something about this colour reminds me of fallen leaves, bonfires and Thanksgiving (I wish we celebrated it in the UK!).

Essie Bahama Mama: One of my all time favourite nail polishes, Essie's Bahama Mama is the perfect autumn berry shade. It looks great on fingers and toes, with midi rings and lasts well on my nails. The only downside is that it takes 3 coats to look opaque on my nails and so I use it up so quickly! 

Orly Rage Nail Polish: This pretty, golden nail polish is opaque in just one swipe and looks so pretty on the nails. It has particles of shimmery rose gold and is perfect for the cold autumn months and the run up to December without being too sparkly and Christmassy.

What are your favourite Nail polishes for Autumn?

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK #5

Monday: Hot honey spiced porridge for breakfast on a cold foggy morning.

Tuesday: Planning a possible week full of spooky halloween posts (Halloweek?!), it's making me pretty excited for Halloween now!

Wednesday: October - Getting ready to wear cosy tartan scarves, vampy lipstick, champagne/gold eyes and a hint of Topshop glitter polish on my nails. And GBBO, I'm still dreaming about those doughnuts from last week!

Thursday: Secretly planning Alex's Birthday (which is on Sunday) wrapping gifts and purchasing helium balloons and birthday cake! 

Friday/the weekend: Taking a long weekend off to celebrate Alex's birthday. Our/His plans include having freshly baked croissants and orange juice for breakfast, watching the F1, eating a lot of celebratory cake and visiting our families.

What has made you happy this week?

SEPTEMBER BROWN FAVOURITES

I thought brown would be quite fitting for this months favourites as the leaves are slowly starting to change and shiny brown conkers are dropping everywhere! Here are my September brown favourites:

Maybelline 24hr color tattoo in On and On Bronze: A cool metallic bronze that is great as an eyeshadow base or blended out all over the lids as a pretty wash of colour over the eyes. These last all day on me and are so great for quick and easy application.

Urban Decay Naked palette: This palette has so many pigmented, pretty colours that are perfect for almost every occasion. I love the warm shimmery browns and matte browns in the naked palette as they are great for blending, running under the lower lash line and creating a brown smokey eye.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Haute Chocolate: I'm not normally drawn to brown nail polishes but this rich, conker shade is so pretty on the nails. It has a hint of ruby red and coppery brown running through it and as it's part of the complete manicure range theres no need for a base or topcoat (although I still use Sally Hansen Insta Dri on top for a glossy finish and for quick drying!)

MAC Woodwinked: This is one of my favourite MAC eyeshadows and my go to eyeshadow for that 'Victorias Secret' look. I love wearing this bronze gold MAC eyeshadow either swept over my lids and blended out or under my lower lashes to really make my eyes stand out. 

Rimmel professional eyebrow pencil in dark brown: This is a constant repurchase for me. It's affordable at only £2.99, lasts all day and has just the right natural brown tone thats perfect for my brows. It's pretty versatile as you can sharpen it and add individual brow hairs for a more defined look or I like to have it quite blunt and soft to shape my brows and then blend in with the little brush provided with it. 

AUGUST FUCHSIA FAVOURITES/JULYS CORAL FAVOURITES/JUNES GREEN FAVOURITES/MAYS GOLD FAVOURITES/APRILS BLUE FAVOURITES/MARCH MINT FAVOURITES/FEBRUARYS ORANGE FAVOURITES/JANUARYS PINK FAVOURITES

AUTUMN BLUSHERS

I'm drifting away from bright summer blushers and adding warmer, richer autumnal tones into my make up routine. I'm really missing a subtle plum blusher from my collection, I would love any suggestions for pretty plum shades please!

MAC Warm Soul - When you need to add a warm glow to dull skin on a gloomy day, this blusher really delivers. It is a pretty, beige pink blusher with golden shimmer running through it. It really brightens and adds a glow to your skin.

Bourjois Healthy Mix - This orange toned blusher can be built up to a slightly burnt orange colour that really warms the complexion and looks pretty autumnal. It works really well with MAC woodwinked on the eyes and Topshop infrared lipstick dabbed lightly on the lips. You can see it swatched and worn here.

Nars Orgasm - Although this golden peachy pink blusher is also well suited for the summer months, It shows up as a pigmented, deep warm pink on my skin tone. I love wearing this to give me a flush of colour to my cheeks and have been wearing it together with the sleek storm palette in this autumn make up look.

Sleek Suede - The perfect blush to wear with a strong autumnal berry lip. This matte blush is a neutral peach brown that is similar to MAC gingerly. It works well with strong lips or eyes as it sculpts the face and brings warmth and colour whilst staying neutral.

Benefit Benetint - For a natural, wind bitten flush of colour to your cheeks Benefit Benetint is great for autumn and winter. It gives a subtle but buildable rosy glow to your cheeks. You have to work quite quickly with this to blend it in with your fingers in an upwards circular motion, I follow just under my cheekbones to get the right place for me.

What are your favourite autumn blushers?

AUTUMN WISHLIST

I love reading wishlist posts and so I thought that it was about time that I finally made one! There's so many great things in stores at the moment and I've got quite a lot of things on my wish list for autumn and for my birthday in November! These are a few of my favourites:

Nars blusher in Douceur:  I've had my eye on this blusher for a while now. It looks like such a pretty, natural blusher that will work well with an autumn berry lip.

Essie Sole Mate: This looks like the perfect autumnal plum colour and I've got a feeling that it will be a great colour for the run up to halloween!

Topshop Bobble hat: I'm a little bit obsessed with Topshop hats, I bought these two last year and I have my eye on this green knit hat (and the burgundy one too!).

River Island Cami: I've seen different colours of this strappy cami circling the blogosphere for a while now and i've fallen in love with this dark red version. It's such an autumnal colour and I can imagine wearing it with my black topshop leigh jeans and my detailed zara flats.

Pomme Frites Candle: I've got my eye on the Amber Moss or the Pumpkin spice candle, they both sound lovely and I'm so in love with the packaging!.

Happy Plugs: In rose gold, need I say more?!

The Night Circus: I've recently joined goodreads and this book keeps popping up in my recommendations, it has amazing reviews and sounds magical, ethereal and captivating. Perfect to read on cold autumn nights. 

Estee Lauder Eyeshadow Trio in Beach Metals: This looks like the perfect subtle autumnal palette and perfect to recreate my autumn make up look with a smaller, more compact palette. 

What's currently on your wishlist?