New Liquid Highlighers on the Block – Worth the Hype?

You all know by now that I’m a sucker when it comes to a good highlighter, and despite having a collection of them that I love, I’ll never be able to stop buying the next one that catches my eye.

Two of the newest products to have hit the high-street are the Barry M Liquid Chrome highlighter drops, and the Makeup Revolution Liquid Highlighter range, and because I couldn’t decide between the two, I decided to put both to the test! In the interest of fairness, I bought the most similar shades – Moon Potion from Barry M, and Unicorn Elixir from MUR, and here’s how they got on..

From the swatches, you can kinda see that the Barry M formula is a touch smoother, and has a brighter, more pearly finish than its Makeup Revolution rival, which has a more glittery finish. Both shades are a bright white with cooler blue and purple undertones, although Barry M has a total of 5 shades in the collection and Makeup Revolution have 7, so if these don’t take your fancy then there’s bound to be one that does! I personally wouldn’t use these shades on a regular basis as they’re actually a bit too cool for me, but they would be perfect for festivals or a night out,

Despite both being a lot more pigmented than other liquid highlighters that I use, I was a little disappointed when it actually came to using both of these products. While they look great in swatches, for which I used my finger to spread the product, I actually found both quite difficult to blend using brushes, although I think again the Barry M formula came out slightly on top. I wish that the bottles had built in brushes, like others on the market, but instead they had a sort of dropper system which didn’t make application any easier!

The products are actually only 99p apart in price, with BM Liquid Chrome selling at £6.99 and MUR Liquid Highlighter priced at £6, but as you might be able to tell, I personally would lean towards the Barry M ones in future, just because I thought the formula was nicer, and I preferred the packaging too. Shockingly, however, I don’t think I’d be in any rush to buy either of these again, just because they didn’t overly wow me, and I have plenty of highlighters that do already in my stash.

Have you tried either of these before? I’d love to hear what you thought, especially if you’ve tried different shades!

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October 23, 2017Lottie 4 Comments

How I Highlight

I know I say this every time I write a beauty post, but I really do not consider myself to be anywhere near expert level when it comes to makeup. I’ve never claimed to be a beauty blogger, I’m merely a girl with a stash of makeup and a love of putting it on my face.

I can’t contour or create the perfect winged eyeliner, but one thing I do pride myself in is my ability to highlight. Highlighter is probably my biggest weakness when it comes to beauty product, and I’m not ashamed to say if I could only wear one product for the rest of my life it would be highlighter.

A few people have asked me recently how I achieve my glow, so I thought I’d write a post on my routine and what products go into my shininess! For me, its all about layers and building..

Once I’ve done my foundation, the next product I reach for is Benefit’s Dandelion Shy Beam, which is a soft pinky liquid highlighter. Using the built in brush, I make a stripe of product across my cheekbones, and then blend using my Spectrum B01 brush. This creates the perfect base for building upon, while remaining quite subtle!
Next, I use Makeup Revolution Baked Highligher in Matte Lights, but rather than using a normal sized brush, I use the biggest brush in my collection, which is the Lottie London kabuki brush, and go to town up my cheekbones with it. Being a matte highlighter, this is also fairly subtle but generally brightens the whole area without bringing all the sparkle of a normal highlighter.
For good fortune, I top this with a light layer of Benefit’s newest highlighter, Dandelion Sparkle, and I just use the brush that comes with it. This again is a very soft pink highlighter but starts to bring the shine!
To top things off, I tend to reach for my ABH x Nicole Guerriero glow kit, along with my Spectrum A10 fan brush. My go-to shades are Daydream or Kitty Kat, but if I want to be seen from space then its Forever Lit.

I just love being shiny!

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September 22, 2017Lottie 2 Comments

The £5 Clinique Highlighter Dupe

I never have and never will claim to be a real beauty blogger. When I do write about makeup, I write as a girl who just likes wearing it (and buying way too much of it), so while I might not have the expertise of most, I still like to give it a good go every now and then. The discovery of today’s dupe was purely accidental, and I actually owned and used the dupe before I came across the high-end equivalent.

I’m the first to admit that I have a problem when it comes to highlighters. I’d say they’re my weakness when it comes to makeup but I have many other weaknesses too so I’m not sure if it counts, but it was due to this weakness that I made this discovery. You see, when I wracked up enough points on my Sephora card back in February to claim some free gifts, when I was offered a free Clinique chubby stick highlighter, I snapped that badboy up without a second thought, but with so many highlighters in my collection, it was only recently that I actually thought I’d give it a go.

So there I am, sat in front of my mirror with that new product buzz going on, when I was struck with deja vu – have I used this before? I was questioning my sanity when I realised where I’d seen the same results before: from my Barry M Strobe Cream, shade Frosty Pink, which I’d bought months before for a mere £4.49. Now I know my chubby stick was a free gift, but it retails for £19.50 so that’s quite a difference..

Wanna see?

Left: Barry M, Right: Clinique

Top: Clinique, Bottom: Barry M

As you can see from the swatches, there’s hardly any difference in shade between the two. The Clinique does have a creamier formula, and possibly gives a little more shine than Barry’s, but I actually prefer the lightweight feel of the BM strobe cream, and its just as long-lasting.

If a £15 difference in price isn’t enough of a selling point, let’s not forget that Barry M is cruelty free and vegan friendly, and if Frosty Pink isn’t your jam, this is just one of four shades that its available in!

I know which one I use more often..

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August 8, 2017Lottie 11 Comments

Get Sparkly For Summer

Who else is mega excited that the sun has finally started making an appearance?!

Sun means summer, and summer means beach days, festivals and pretty much every day is an excuse to be your best and sparkliest self – so get sparkly!

As a self-confessed highlighter addict, I make my love of all things sparkly pretty obvious, and here are a bunch of products that are perfect to get you shining away this summer:

Unicorn Heart highlighter from I Heart Makeup

I don’t reach for this highlighter nearly as much as I should do, but its multicoloured shine is perfect for music festivals and carnivals.

Barry M Dazzle Dust

I’ve loved Dazzle Dust since I was a teenager; its super pigmented and lasts really well, plus it feels so light! I have quite a few brighter shades, but at the moment I’m loving Aphrodite, which is a shell-pinky/nude which works amazing as a loose powder eyeshadow, but also when lightly dusted on your cheekbones as an extra shiny highlight.

Dandelion Twinkle from Benefit

I’m really a sucker for everything from Benefit’s Dandelion range, but I couldn’t help but pick up this new highlighter when I was last in Sephora and its so pretty!

Shimmy Shimmy Shimmer Bar from Lush

This just sorta fell into my basket when I was last in Lush.. Its a cocoa butter based bar which has the most beautiful vanilla scent, and is packed with environmentally friendly glitter! Its essentially a moisturiser which leaves you super sparkly, but you can also use it as a solid perfume and a highlighter. Rub it all over your arms and legs to sparkle away on a night out!

Illuminating Strobe Cream in Frosty Pink from Barry M

Not only is this a fab product for under £5, but this is also a highstreet dupe of Clinique’s Chubby Stick highligter which is £19.50!

Anastasia Beverly Hills x Nicole Guerriero Glow Kit

Remember when I bought this back in February and fell in love with it? Well I’m still in love with it and its going to be my best friend through the summer. Full review and swatches here!

What are your favourite summer beauty products?

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May 27, 2017Lottie 3 Comments

Anastasia Beverly Hills x Nicole Guerriero Glow Kit

If you caught my Sephora haul post a few weeks back, you’ll have seen that my favourite purchase was this beauty of a glow kit from Anastasia Beverly Hills. I knew I wanted one before I set off for my trip, having lusted over all of the glow kits for a long time, but holding off for a slightly better exchange rate!This is actually my first ABH purchase ever, so I was praying that they would live up to the hype, but after swatching the hell out of the sample palette, I knew I was gonna be happy as a clam.

So this is the Nicole Guerriero collab glow kit – a palette of six beautiful highlighters in gorgeous pinks, peaches, and copper/golden tones. It was, in fact, the only glow kit that Sephora had in stock, but it didn’t bother me because it seemed absolutely perfect. I fell in love with the packaging, the shades and the product instantly.

What sets these highlighters above any other powder highlighter I’ve ever tried before is how gloriously smooth and buttery they feel; it’s almost creamy to touch. The pigmentation is, as I’d expected, amazing, with all of these swatches done with a single stroke.

The shades are super diverse, with Forever Lit being the brightest and whitest highlight I’ve ever seen and 143 being ideal for a summer bronzed look. My absolute favourite is Daydream as I’m a real sucker for peach tones! Generally, I use my fan brush for application, but if I want a more strobed feel then I actually use my fingers to draw down my cheekbones and blend it out!

Needless to say, I 100% recommend this for anyone who’s thinking about it – I really can’t find fault, and as a self-confessed highlighter addict, I know I’m going to reaching for this so often that it justifies the price tag for me.