Curly Fry's Shopping Therapy! My Lipstick / Highlighter Haul

If you know me, then you'll know I'm a huge lipstick freak when it comes to makeup, followed closely second by highlighters, which are also an obsession - and my primary love these days are liquid lipsticks. As I was describing to my friend yesterday, I'm so used to wearing lipstick lipsticks, that when I wear 'normal' lipsticks, I keep thinking that it will come off my lips too easily!

I've been pretty good with buying make-up for a few months, so decided to treat myself to a few things a couple of weeks ago. There's a good mix of brands here, and I wanted to wait til I tried them all before I posted (I wore one each day for work!) so here's a quick review about each. My sister also  gave me a pretty highlighter brush in a fish-shape, which I've seen online but wasn't sure where to get from, which adds to my brush collection nicely!

This is my haul - there's a good mix of American and UK brands, some of which were new brands that I hadn't tried before.

As you can see I got mostly liquid lipliners, some highlighters from Makeup Revolution, and some things from Model's Own (which has opened up a store in Westfield near me, which is where I bought these from).

Here are all the lipsticks from left to right - Faryal Makhdoom Cosmetics, Colorpop Ultra Matte Lip, Drayon, Dose of Colors and Model's Own Lip Crayon.

Firstly, the Colorpop lipsticks - I've tried a few lip crayons from this brand so had high hopes for the liquid lipsticks, and wasn't disappointed. I've loved the shades these came in (there were quite a lot to choose from), they smell great and really pigmented. They mostly last the whole day but do come off a little when eating, so not completely long lasting, but very good value for money.
Top to bottom: Beeper (soft pink/nude). Trap (cool mauvey-pink), Tulle (red-toned dusty dark plum)

Next is Dose of Colors which I have been eyeing up for ages on Beauty Bay - I bought two of these when there was a 20% flash sale on so got lucky there.
Top is Pinky Promise, which is an almost neon pink shade, and bottom is Stone, an almost lilac-pink shade which is pretty for every day wear. These are pretty long-wearing and took me a while to get off my arm, so be warned!

Faryal Makhdoom Cosmetics matte liquid lipstick in Latte - I was lucky enough to get this sent to me via the company's Instagram page for free, and love this shade. It's a really lovely nude shade which would suit a lot of skin tones, and feels pretty creamy on. It's not as long-wearing as some higher-end brands but pretty decent in pigmentation and coverage.

Next up is the Model's Own jumbo matte lip crayon in shade Cute Candy, which is a rich brown shade, and has a nice matte look but a creamy feel. I've worn this a few times already to the office because it's a pretty easy colour to wear, pretty flattering on Asian skin and makes a good everyday brown.
I bought the Drayon lipstick from eBay after seeing a Youtube video by Dyna, who compared these to Kylie Jenner liquid lipsticks, and looked like a pretty good dupe. They don't have names, but come in shades, and this is a shade 8. This was surprisingly very pigmented and very long-lasting, although it is another one which takes a while to take off.
Top to bottom: Faryal Makhdoom lipstick in Latte, Model's Own Cute Candy, Drayon shade 8

Lastly are the two strobe highlighters from Makeup Revolution - I'm a big fan of this brand's highlighters and blushes because of how good value they are, and the excellent colour range. I have two or three blushes and highlighters which are my makeup-staple because they are so flattering on me, so I was excited to try these.
As you can see, both of these are decently rich shades, the gold highlighter is pretty gold, although I did expect a bronze undertone which it doesn't really have. The silvery highlighter is actually a holographic one, although the other colours in them are very subtle, but it still makes a nice warm highlighter.
I also did try to use the fish brush with these, but unfortunately, while it picked up the product, it was a little hard so didn't blend on my skin well!
Left highlighter is Flash, right is Gold Addict.

I'm quite pleased with this haul, if you keep an eye out on my Instagram stories, I post my new stuff every now and then, so let me know what you think :)

MAKE-UP REVIEW: L.A Girl Matte Lipsticks

I recently bought a few shades of L.A. Girl USA Matte Pigment Gloss, an American brand which I'm loving the range of, and which are amazingly priced for a liquid lipstick. These were released in America about six months ago, and I've been hankering after a few darker shades of lipsticks recently (probably because its the winter season and our inner vamps come out then) so these were pretty ideal.

I couldn't help buying at least a few shades, as they were so reasonably priced, at around £5 each (or round about, you can find them cheapest on eBay here and here, but I have also seen them for sale on Instagram as well!)

The lipsticks I chose were mainly purple shades, although I did also get one neutral, nude-brown as well; Timeless, Fleur, Backstage and Rebel, below.

I've already worn the darker two colours, and I love how long they last and the beautiful pigment - here are the swatches I've done below. I think the picture is a little brighter than the shades show, which are slightly deeper, but the colours look great on and are pretty close to the picture below.

I think my favourites so far are Rebel and Fleur, they're both beautifully creamy and very flattering shades, Timeless is a little lighter than Rebel but still very pinky, and Backstage is probably the darkest but it comes on a little sheerer than the others so needs more layering.

I'm loving this latest addition to my liquid lipstick collection, and will definitely be getting more because they're such good value for money. The feel of liquid and the actual brushes are pretty on par with a lot of more pricey liquid lipsticks I have like Lime Crime and Kat von D and definitely have the staying power as well.

I've got my eye on a few more shades (although I think I'll get them after pay day!) but I'm really happy with my choices. Have you tried these? Which colours do you like?

Curly Fry's Shopping Therapy! Contour and Lipstick fun

I haven't been going too crazy with makeup purchases recently, mostly because I've been trying to use up the makeup and I'm also a makeup addict and end up spending waaaay too much money when I go shopping!

These are a few purchased from my weekend, hubster and I have been saving up for potential holidays/pretty dresses so I've been curbing my spending a little, but I couldn't resist these (mostly) drugstore buys.

I'm really pleased to see that Nyx has come to the UK via Boots and Selfridges, especially as I have a lot of their products which I previously ordered from America,

I'm also looking forward to using the two Makeup Revolution One Blush sticks below, which are really creamy and perfect as a blusher, liptint or contour stick. I've already used them both and love the colours.

Have you tried any of these?

Curly Fry's Shopping Therapy! My Nyx Lip Creams and Makeup Revolution Haul

I've been shopping less these days, but I still somehow managed to end up with a bunch of stuff this weekend to make my purse lighter!

I bought some new scarves this weekend from a stall in my local area, whic sells beautiful wool-mix scarves for a bargain. I'm always looking to update my wardrobe and thought these scarves were lovely - all probably will be worn to work this week!

I also received some Nyx matte lip creams which I ordered online, and which I'm looking forward to trying, as well as some Kiko lipliners, and a lip primer. I've been hearing about a new drugstore brand as well, called Make Up Revolution, which has beautiful colours for very cheap prices, and wanted to try this out so bought an eyeshadow palette, bronzer and lipstick from this brand, which I've used and quite liked. I've also put some print trousers (on the right) that I bought recently, which I loved because it can be worn with my Western clothes, but I can also imagine wearing it with a plain white kurta.

Have you tried any of these lately? Any new purchases?

Curly Fry's Shopping Therapy! My Inglot Haul

I went shopping in Westfield Stratford, and was delighted to see that a new Inglot store has opened up. I've heard a lot about this European brand and haven't had the chance to use much of their products, and have read a lot of positive reviews - so naturally I bought a few things from there to try out.

As you can see below, a "few things" turned out to be a little more, but I was quite pleased with the fact that prices for a lot of Inglot's product were quite reasonable, and there were a huge range of colours in lipsticks, eyeshadows and pencils to pick from. I've read more praise for Inglot's eye-makeup range so bought a few gel and liquid liners, pencil liners and eyeshadows to try, although they also have a wide range of lipstick, eyeshadow and concealer pans which can be mixed and matched in palettes, which I may try next time!

I'm most excited about this product below, which was a very pretty illuminator that I thought would look very glowy on my skin - it's liquid but doesn't feel heavy, and has a pretty rose tint to it. There were also a few other shades that I loved, but I thought I would try one first before coming back for more.

The second product I'm excited to try is this, which is called Duraline - a clear liquid that can be mixed with any make-up powder to make a waterproof eyeliner, which I think would be useful for trying out unusual colours!

I was also lucky enough to get a free liquid eyeliner from Inglot as I was leaving, to celebrate the opening of the store, I'm not sure if they're still giving away free stuff but have a look!

Have you tried Inglot before? What is your favourite product of theirs?

Curly Fry's Shopping Therapy! My Make-up Haul

Every now and then I go a little make-up crazy (after I've read reviews of make-up recommendations and beauty blogger's views) and buy a bunch of products to update my make-up bag. These are a few products which I bought recently (including some winter essentials like creams, lip-balms and skin serum!), plus a colourful scarf for my hijab collection (in the right-bottom corner).

Since I've bought these things I've used most of them, my favourites so far are the the Mac Beet lipliner (which is a lovely deep shade of raspberry red) and the Sleek blushes, which are beautifully pigmented and amazing value for what they cost. There's a few more products that I love here but I'll review them properly later!

Have you bought any new make-up items lately? What do you recommend?

Curly Fry's Shopping Therapy! My Summer Haul

I've been updating my wardrobe with summery items, seeing as the weather's getting warmer (yaayy summer!), so I thought I'd post about a few things I've bought lately, and what's out on the high street. I've been favouring more looser, flowy clothes and simple blocks of colour, which makes it easy to mix together and accessorise with my hijab.

So far, I've bought these skirts in light mint green, and a pinky-nude colour, which I'm happy with, particularly as I'm loving my nude and pinky-brown shades lately, and the mint green is something different for me (plus the cut of the green skirt is very flattering and feels great on!)

Skirts from River Island and New Look

I've also bought a few light, cotton summer dresses which I wear with my long cardigans, which are perfect for the summer. I loved this leafy-ish dress which is light and has fuller sleeves, so there's less layering, and the second dress (which I couldn't find an image of it on the site, so I took a picture of the pattern) which has a subtle, colourful print to it which looks pretty, and which I like because it'll be easy to pick the colours out.

 Dresses from H&M

I bought a few scarves too which I really liked, two of which were surprisingly from Dorothy Perkins, and I loved these because they're light, made of soft cotton, think and breathable. I don't tend to wear black and white very often, but these stood out to me because of the funky, almost retro prints which I think would jazz up an outfit.

Scarves from Dorothy Perkins

Lastly, an outfit is not perfect without shoes! To be honest, I haven't been going crazy over shoes this summer, particularly as I tend to stick to flats which are comfy and easy to walk in, which I do a lot of! I've also been looking for beach shoes too, which I want for when I go to the beach and to other sandy places,

Shoes from H&M and Office

I've been keeping an eye out for a few more summery must-haves, like loose dresses, cardigans and perhaps some sandals, but for now, I'm happy with these! Are there any summer items which you've had your eye on, and any you would recommend?