Outfit of the Day ~ spring awakening.

{And all shall fade
The flowers of spring
The world and all the sorrows
At the heart of everything

but still it stays
the butterfly sings
and opens purple summer
with a flutter of its wings}
~ Purple Summer, Spring Awakening

Blouse & top: Primark.

Dip-hem skirt: Peacocks.

Dragonfly necklace: a gift.

Brogues: New Look.

Crochet tights: New Look.

Eyes: 

Liner ~ Illamasqua in Allure.

Shadow ~ from a random pallete (by the name of Saffron).

Lips: 

Rimmel in Asia with 

Bourjois Effet 3D in Rose Arctic on top.

I went through a brief obsession with mustard a couple of months ago (don't get me wrong, I still love mustard, but back then I loved it), as well as dip hem skirts so it was pretty much perfect when Peacocks (of all shops) was selling this gorgeous thing in a lovely, satin material. I spent a lot of time deciding whether I should I get it, since I wasn't sure if it suited me and actually, I'm still not sure (the boyfriend on the other hand is very decided since he really doesn't like mustard). But I feel a bit regal when I walk in it, so it doesn't matter! But in all seriousness this is all part of finding the limits to my style and what does and doesn't suit me, like in this instance, I think the front part of this skirt cuts off at an unflattering level on my leg and heels might have helped alleviate this problem a bit. And I also think that there might be a bit too much floaty going on with this outfit. All good lessons learnt!

We took the photos at a place in Dorset called Kingston Lacey which is another National Trust place - our passes always come in useful! The boyfriend goes there pretty much every year to see the snow drops. They were so beautiful and absolutely everywhere! Not only that but the weather was perfect (if not a little chilly near the end). I should really do a series, I've been making a habit of outfits in National Trust places!

Lipstick Review ~ Blackest of Black (part 1)

I've been getting into the gothic look a lot recently so I started looking for a good quality black lipstick (not that £1 crap you get at halloween) and realised that there aren't that many obvious options. So I searched pretty much everywhere and here I'm going to try out the various brands of black lipstick I found on the high street and on the internet and compare them (which means that now I am stuck with 6 black lipsticks - the things I do for you guys!). I'm not a professional makeup artist (obviously), so I will apply each lipstick the same, straight from the bullet to my lips and blot once, without primer or sealant or anything fancy. Things I'll be looking for are: high pigmentation and lasting colour. I don't really care about presentation, if the lipstick is good, it doesn't matter what the outside looks like and I'm also not too miffed about staining (although I will mention it).


Barry M - Black

Price: £4.49 (can be found in Superdrug and Boots)
I wasn't too surprised that Barry M does a black lipstick since they generally pride themselves on having unusual colours but I've never tried any of their lip paints so I wasn't sure what to expect.
Thoughts: The application was smooth and even, the colour was pretty concentrate and I didn't notice any smell. I also found this didn't really dry my lips out at all. I didn't find any feathering, however I did find that there was a lot of migration further into my lip, meaning fading happened pretty quickly (just from talking) and it got on my teeth. There was a tiny bit of staining but it came off with makeup remover.

Pros:

• pretty cheap
• good initial pigmentation  
• non-drying

Cons: 

• migration 
• fading happened fairly quickly

Portland Black Lipstick Co. - Black

Sample was provided. Obviously opinion is unbiased.

Price: £8.43 from their Etsy store (or £10.57 from their website, both prices included P&P in to the UK.)
This one came to me all the way from America. This US-based company had 'black lipstick' in the name so that was a pretty promising start. 
Thoughts: I cannot tell you how impressed I am with this lipstick. I got smooth, even coverage, no feathering and only a small amount of fading, even after eating and drinking. I also found that my lips didn't feel dried out. Less importantly (but still cool) it smelt lightly like peppermint which was nice and there was no staining of such afterwards.

Pros:

• super pigmented 
• long-lasting and durable
• no feathering or migrating
• didn't dry out lips

Cons: 

• comes from America (so naturally a bit more expensive if you're ordering from the UK, if not this doesn't really apply)
• applying straight from this shape bullet can be awkward 

Manic Panic - Raven

Sample was provided. Obviously opinion is unbiased. 

 

Price: £6.95 - cheapest found. (Some others, P&P included: Dream Gate, £8.94, Rowdydow, £8.80)
If you've heard of Manic Panic at all then it'll be in relation to their hair dye, but they also do loads of other stuff, including an alternative cosmetic line.
Thoughts: Initally I found that you needed to build the colour up a bit to get an opaque look but once it was layered enough the pigmentation was okay. I'd say as a general this lipstick is comparable to the Barry M one, especially in terms of fade, which it did pretty quickly, even though all I did whilst testing this was talk. However it didn't migrate (unlike Barry M) or feather, nor was it drying.

Pros:

• not drying
• didn't feather or migrate 
• no obvious staining

Cons:

• faded pretty quickly 
• not exceptionally pigmented

So that's it for part 1. Next I'll be looking at Manic Panic's Lethal (from their vegan Creature of the Night range), Miss Sporty's Black and Stargazer's Black, a nice diverse mix! I'll also have a comparison swatch and tell you what my personal favourite is.
Part 2 can be found here.

Outfit of the Day ~ blue shoes, grey day.

{I had a dream
That made me move to New York City
Cause I wasn't about to
About to let this magic slip away

But he did anyway
He was kind of Illusive that way
Like clouds on a promising grey day.}

~ Vonda Shepard

I love this blazer so much! I know I've worn it once before in this outfit, but I felt it needed more love. We did this shoot in a place called Swanage (it's in Dorset) where the boyfriend's parents have a flat (it must be nice being so well off). The loaction was in a pretty hard to reach place, so imagine my joy in trying to get to it in 4 inch wedges. So much fun. But they're so gorgeous, I got them in an ASOS sale a while ago and haven't give them enough attention. They're actually pretty comfortable and in that photo, a bit wet.

Standing on this was the boyfriend's idea and I was pretty skeptical, so he walked me up and then left me on this tiny stretch of cement so he could take photos. Occasionally I got splashed by a particularly mean wave and made a massive fuss. It may not sound like, but it was actually pretty fun. Apart from people stopped to stare at us and I tried to act like I wasn't just being a massive pansy. I got a but self conscious since everyone else was dressed in sensible walking gear and then there was me, in heels. The things I do for a good outfit of the day!

As you can see, my hair is still fading, and due to an insane schedule that I've got at the moment I won't be able to dye it the beautiful turquoise I've chosen until the 1st of April. I don't even want to think how aweful it's going to look by then but at the moment I still quite like it, the boyfriend calls it the "psycadelic lion" which always makes me laugh.

Top: New Look

Velvet blazer: Found at a vintage fair

Necklace: Possibly Topshop, possibly Warehouse. Either way, old.

Cords: Fashion Union

Wedges: ASOS

Bowler hat: Random shop in Brighton 

As always all photos were taken by the boyfriend, check out his tumblr!

Lipstick Rainbow ♥

I'm getting so excited by lipsticks at the moment, and can you blame me!? When there are so many amazing, unusual colours starting to appear, now you don't have to wear just reds and pinks, there's a whole new world of colour. Because of my fondess for colourful lipsticks I have many favourites. Here are some (and by some, I mean lots) of my favourites! Obviously I couldn't include them all, so in some instances I've only shown one lipstick from a company that does a whole range of amazing colours, so if you have the time check them out (especially some of those indie companies, they deserve love.)
If I haven't included a source link, then it's just the same as the product link.

Orange 

Nyx ~ Citrine, (source), Ka'Oir ~ Ooh La La, Mac ~ Morange (source), Lime Crime ~ My Beautiful Rocket.

My Beauty Addiction ~ Spiced Pumpkin, Morgana Cryptoria ~ Shrieking Orange, OCC ~ Banjee, (source), Sweetpea & Fay ~ Heavens To Betsy.

Yellow

Lime Crime ~ New Yolk City, Ka'Oir ~ Banana Milkshade, Sweetpea & Fay ~ Crazy Cab, OCC ~ Traffic, (source).

Green

 Illamasqua ~ Violate, (source), Barry M ~ Green, (source), Evil Shades ~ Mage, (source), Lime Crime ~ Mint To Be.

Ka'Oir ~ Jamaica, Sweetpea & Fay ~ Scuba Gear.

Blue

 Illamasqua ~ Gender, (source), Ka'Oir ~ Pool Party, Evil Shades ~ Miscreant, (source), Stargazer ~ 104 (source).

 OCC ~ RX (source), Evil Shades ~ Cyanide (source), Ka'Oir ~ #Kaoirdoll, Illamasqua ~ Disciple (source).

 Lime Crime ~ No She Didn't, Sweetpea & Fay ~ Yeti, Kaoir ~ Baby Bleu, Sweetpea & Fay ~ Nordic.

Purple
(for a more comprehensive list, go here)

 Sweetpea & Fay ~ Musidora, Illamasqua ~ Fury (source), Illamasqua ~ Kontrol (source), Mac ~ Goes And Goes (source).

 Ka'Oir ~ Rude Girl, Evil Shades ~ Dark Princess (source), Stargazer ~ 103 (source), Lime Crime ~ Airbourne Unicorn.

 Ka'Oir ~ Racquel, Lime Crime ~ D'Lilac, Stargazer ~ 115 (source).

White

OCC ~ Feathered, (source), Ka'Oir ~ Virgin, Sweetpea & Fay (almost white) ~ Heliotrope. 

Other websites to check out if you're looking for a something unusual (I didn't include them in the photos because there weren't good enough swatches...I'm so obsessed with visuals):

8th Wonder Mineral Cosmetics (not so much lipsticks but some amazing lip glosses)

Portland Black Lipstick Co. (they have a lot of really unusual colours, inlcuding some lovely darker shades)
Sobe Botanicals (lots of unusual and interesting shades)
My Beauty Addiction (they have a really gorgeous looking pigmented lip glosses) 
Eccentric Cosmetics (they have some really nice, bright shades)
Providence and Grace (there are some pretty shimmery colours here)

Manic Panic (they have what looks to be a really nice dark green)

If you have a favourite wesbite or particular lipstick, let me know in the comments below!

Nail of the Day ~ Aztec

This polish is something I've been meaning to mention for a while. It's from Accessorize's fairly recent nail varnish range. I don't think it looks as good on it's own since the base is this pretty sheer green so here I've layered it on a black polish which really enhances the effect. This always reminds me of petrol, it goes through so many colours; purple, pink, yellow and green. It's so pretty and whenever I wear it I can't stop staring at it. Different light sources bring out the different colours and we (being me and the boyfriend) did our best to capture the different shades.
It is so beautiful, if you don't have it and you want a really pretty duochrome varnish, get it. And for £4, it's not about to break the bank.

 As a general update I've got a lot of planned posts coming up, I'll be putting up the first part of my mass review of black lipsticks in the next few weeks. In fact a fair few of up coming posts will be about lipstick (I'm going through an obssession) but don't worry, I'll be doing an outfit post next weekend!