Top 5 Autumn Lipsticks

Most bloggers start this post with either saying how sad they are that summer is coming to an end or how excited they are that fall is near. I however do not know which side to pick. I was always the girl who counted down until it was summer, I was sad when I had to pack away my shorts and my summer dresses, I always loved summer a lot more than fall and winter. However, this year my summer was very hectic and I had to deal with loads of things so it didn't go as planned. I'm pretty sure at the end of this month everything will fall into place more and I will be able to breathe again. 

All that rambling was supposed to be the introduction paragraph for my autumn lipstick picks... I realise it doesn't seem like it yet but bear with me. I love wearing lipsticks during summer and the good thing about a tan is that I don't need any base products or blusher, I just put on my lipstick and do a liner and I'm done. I do think lipsticks look so much better on paler skin tones though. That is why I can't wait until my tan wears off so I can wear my Top 5 Autumn Lipsticks!

  

Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte by Kate Moss 107

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss 20

MAC Satin Finish in Rebel

Maybelline Color Sensational in Glamorous Red

Nars Pure Matte Lipstick in Mascate

I love wearing a bold lipstick when it's colder and these five lipsticks are my go-to lipsticks for many reasons. They all have very great pigmentation, all of them are opaque, very good colour pay off. The formulas are not drying for me. There are 3 shiny/non-matte lipsticks which are Kate Moss 20, MAC Rebel and Maybelline. All of them stay very well on the lips for a long time and especially MAC leaves a stain on your lips even after you take off the lipstick which is pretty amazing in my opinion. The matte ones are obviously a lot more stronger when it comes to the staying power. I love the shape of the Nars lipstick since it makes it so much easier to apply without needing a lip pencil(which is something i never use.). Mascate and 107 are pretty a like when it comes to their shade but Mascate is a few shades lighter. I know people mostly go for darker colours during winter times but I love the dark pink colour of Rimmel's 20. I already wrote a review of MAC Rebel which you can read here. Another different shade is the Maybelline one. As others are more red and pink shades, this one stands out to me. It has red in its name but instead of red it has more of a dark brown feel to it. Kind of like a similar version of what Kylie Jenner wears... tad bit darker than that though. 

Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte by Kate Moss 107

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss 20

MAC Satin Finish in Rebel

Maybelline Color Sensational in Glamorous Red

Nars Pure Matte Lipstick in Mascate

These are my go-to lipsticks during autumn. What are your fall staple lipsticks? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to know and maybe try them out :)

MAC | Rebel

I'm usually the kind of person who thinks for ages before purchasing something from a high end brand. This includes MAC. I love their lipsticks but my lipsticks are mostly from the drugstore so I rarely go in to get a lipstick. A few days ago, whilst I was out with my friend we decided to go into MAC 10 minutes before closing time. She was looking through some blushers and I took my place in the lipsticks stand. I was stuck between Heroine and Rebel and when she told me that we had several minutes left I instantly thought "Rebel is more wearable" and went to the checkout. I don't regret it one bit.

I don't have loads to say about the packaging as it is the usual bullet shaped packaging of MAC. I do love the look of it though. It just looks so sleek and chic. I even feel satisfied when I see others MAC lipstick collections where they have 20+ of these little bad boys all lined up. So simple and beautiful.

It is a gorgeous dark purple pink colour with a satin finish. It goes on like a dream and lasts for hours until you have to reapply or touch up. I think you can work this colour in both winter and summer times. It looks great with a tan and it looks more toned down. During colder times though, especially if you're pale, I think it will look perfect. I love it when people with fair skin wear darker colours on their lips. It looks so beautiful. I honestly can't wait until my tan wears off so I can wear this every single day. I love the colour that much! 

Overall, this lipstick easily made its way into my favourite lipsticks. Next time you're in MAC I'd definitely suggest you have a look. The colour might seem scary to some but I can assure you it's not as bad as it seems.

What is your favourite MAC lipstick? 

British Drugstore Beauty Haul Pt. 3; Hair

I was working on this post earlier and i thought i saved it as a draft but turns out i didn't so when i opened it i was greeted with an empty page which was greeted by a very grumpy me... As much as i hate starting from scratch, here it goes;

In London i also treated myself to some hair products which were the Tangle Teaser and the Batiste Dry Shampoo's. I've had quite some time to give both of them a whirl so now i can write mini reviews on both of them.

Batiste Dry Shampoo

As you can see I'm pretty much stocked in Batiste now. The reason for this is not because we don't have Batiste here but because we only have them in Sephora's and they are triple the price! It's insane considering in UK it's £2.99 for the 200 ml and £4.99 for 400 ml. I love dry shampoos and I've tried the Lee Stafford one a while back and even though it did the job i wasn't blown away by it and wanted to try Batiste so badly. I've grown to love the smell of coconuts these past few weeks even though i realised i've completely hate the taste of coconut milk i absolutely love the smell of coconuts and Batiste's Coconut & Exotic smells so amazing! It smells like sugar and coconut and makes your hair smell as if you sprayed a Victoria's Secret Body Spray in it. The Floral and Flirty one as the name suggests has a more floral smell(noticed how bad i am at describing scents yet?). I much prefer the coconut one and i also wish I'd also gotten the one they do for dark brown hair. All the Batiste formulas are the same in basic. You spray it in your roots(in the areas where they are the oiliest) and wait for a minute or two, then either blow dry your hair or run your fingers through your hair and get rid of the grandma hair. 

Tangle Teaser

I was actually planning on getting this in Boots but i saw it on the counter while i was buying my Topshop purchases and I went a little too excited(the lady at the counter shared my excitement and was lovely) and bought it then and there. It was £10.99 which I thought was a little too much for a brush but after hearing all the incredible reviews on it i thought it's definitely a bargain. It's not a bad product at all but after all the hype I must say i was expecting something a little more... I don't know what i was expecting but it's not a miracle product in my opinion. Yes the product itself looks ADORABLE! especially the purple one as i'm mad over the color purple and yes it does brush your hair but i have brushes that do the job faster than the tangle teaser. It's great on dry straight hair but when my hair is its natural self(curly/wavy) it is just such a chore trying to get rid of the tangles. The fact that the bristles look so fragile doesn't help. I feel like i'm going to damage the shape so i try to be very gentle which doesn't help the knots and tangles. I like to use it when my hair is straight or curled with a straightener but i wouldn't recommend it for wet hair and curly/heavily wavy hair. 

What are your thoughts on these products? Have you tried the Tangle Teaser? Are you blown away by it as everyone else? Please tell me I'm not the only one who isn't...

Faux Nails

Be warned; you will be seeing my tiny, bitten, ugly natural nails in this post. But at the same time you will be seeing long and pretty nails as well!

  I was never fond of my nails because i'm a picker. I cant help myself. Whenever my nails or the skin around my nails have a part sticking out(even the tiniest bit) i scratch and scratch until my entire manicure is ruined and i feel very insecure about showing my hands to people because i feel like their response to seeing my hands will be "ew".

   A few weeks ago i was i was in the local drugstore and i came across the nails isle! I never checked that part of the store because i just wasn't interested in nails that much to invest in anything nails-related. Mostly i just check out the nail varnishes and go my own way. This time the fake nails cought my attention. I joked to my friend about this and we had a few giggles and then she went on her way. But when i actually thought about it i decided it wasn't a bad idea at all. I quickly grabbed the best looking packaging and got it. I didnt buy it secretly but apparently i was in such a rush that my friend had no idea i got it until after we were home.
I put them on and at first they looked horrid! After my tiny nails, my hands looked like they jumped out of a witch movie. I decided that just filing them wouldn't he enough so i trimmed them a little using both scissors and nail clippers. I gave them a round shape and then filed them.

Voilà! There you have strong, good looking nails. Then all i had to do was to put on a nail varnish and i was good to go. I opted for Essie's Sexy Divide which is a gorgeous dark purple with shimmers in it which gives your nails dept.

They last for a very long time in my opinion. I took them off and reaplied them for 4 times and they are still reappliable. I never tried to take off the nail varnish though because i'm scared it will damage the nail. This box has 40 nails in it but some of the nails are too big for me so i mix them with other nails. It comes with its own glue and the glue holds the nails for up to 24 hours and then the nails sometimes breaks off but you can easily reapply the nail that came off. I think it's such a practical and easy way to get good and healthy looking nails. Definitely worth checking them out. They're really cheap as well! 

Have any of you tried fake nails? What are your thoughts on them? Are you as impressed with them as i am?  

Be More Like Carrie Hope Fletcher

Well this is an odd post...

However the title explains it all; I want to be more like Carrie Hope Fletcher. Whenever i watch one of her videos or listen to a song she sings i get that feeling. I discovered her not too long ago. It probably hasn't even been 2 months. Funny story actually; I was on Youtube and before the actual video i was going to watch there was an Alex Day "commercial". I thought it was a pretty fun channel and subscribed but didn't watch any of the videos. Few months later i was going through my subscriptions box and noticed that he hasn't posted anything since i subscribed to him. I decided to watch his old videos and then i came across Carrie. After wondering why he hasn't posted anything i googled it and felt terrible about the entire chain of events that occurred. 

Anyway, that is a completely different subject and it's a subject i'd rather not talk about. So i subscribed to Carrie's channel and watched a couple dozen of her videos and fell in love with her personality. She seems so real, so full of sunshine, she just has the power to make you feel like a better person. My mind is doing that thing again where i have more than one thoughts going through my mind which stops me from forming a good sentence. She is just such an incredible person and even writing about her makes me feel the feels. 

Of course i don't mean to say i want to be her. I do believe everyone should be themselves and not impersonate others or act a certain way that doesn't show who they really are. I want to be like Carrie Hope Fletcher because of her outlook in life. She is probably the most uplifting, caring, optimistic person i've ever come across. I realise this post just turned into a praise for Carrie(I didn't mean to do that) but i had this thought for quite a while and i guess this is kind of a new years resolution for me.

 I want to be like Carrie Hope Fletcher. 

Be more optimistic

Be more caring

Be more ambitious

Work harder for my goals

Have a positive outlook on life

Be kind to others around me 

Help others as much as possible

Be more loving

Appreciate life

I believe Carrie is doing all of the above and more. I look up to her so much. The fact that she is an actress is just spot on. I thank Alex Day for introducing Carrie to me in a way. 

I actually met and fell more in love with Carrie when i was in London for vacation with my mother. During the entire week i was secretly on hunt to bump into Youtubers as i'm quite enjoying Youtube and Britist Youtubers. So whilst we were in London we wanted to watch a play and the play i suggested was Les Miserables. I heard great reviews of the play and the London cast in the first place and Carrie being in it as one of my favourite characters was just a bonus. I just wasn't expecting this; MAGIC! The entire play was magic on stage. It was so inspirational and extremely empowering for an aspiring actress like me. I loved every second of it. Our seats had limited view and during the entire play, instead of sitting at my seat normally, i stood at such a way that i almost fell off the balcony. I wanted to take in every single moment of it. It was indescribable. What happened after the play was even more magical for me. After i had all the emotions during the play while we were on our way out all i could think about was "Carrie meets fans at the stage door" "Where can i find the stage door?" "My mom won't even bother finding the stage door" and the second we got out of the door there was another door right next to it with the sign "STAGE DOOR" on it! I freaked! We waited for close to 5 minutes and i saw everyone had a brochure for the actors to sign. I had not. My mom asked if i even had anything for her to sign and a lightbulb appeared on my head. I had my theatre tickets and a pen with me! She was the first to get out the door and i was standing right in front of it and she didn't even wait for me to say something! She instantly went "Hi there how are you?" I think that's what surprised me the most. She was so warm and welcoming. I was stunned. We had a little chat i told her that i loved her and she was amazing at her performance which must've been a cliche for her. But i really meant it. What i forgot to tell her was all the things i'm writing right now and the fact that i came all the way from Turkey to see her perform. It was definitely worth it! I almost didn't want to ask her to sign my ticket and ask for a photo because she was actually having a genuine chat with me. But i did it anyways because it was a one time opportunity and she was lovely and of course said yes. She signed my ticket and my mom took our photo and then i thanked her for everything and said i didn't want to keep her for long because there was a little queue behind me waiting to talk to her so we parted. I was so happy that night that i couldn't sleep for hours. Even afterwards, for weeks out of no where i just went "I met Carrie Hope Fletcher!" 

She is one of the sweetest souls on this planet and i'm so blessed to have come across her, even though it was through the internet. I believe i am not the only one she had this effect on. So thank you Carrie for spreading your fairy dust of optimism and hope to everyone who comes across you. You are truly brilliant. A real life Disney princess. 

Carrie's Links

Twitter

Tumblr

Wikipedia

Youtube

Instagram

Lots of Love,

MissAnnaSparks

January Favorites

    I'm going to have to change the classic "this month went by so fast" saying because it honestly felt like at least 2 months! I kept wondering when it would be over. It wasn't like I just sat around because when i do that days just don't go by. But i was out almost everyday either spending the day with my friends or at least going to the gym. I was very productive but it just couldn't end. I hope this won't happen every month because if that's the case, 2014 is going to be very boring.
    With that being said, this month i got to try a lot of new products. I was able to test out so many new products and go back to some of my old favourite ones. I have so many things i would like to share with you all(see how i use all as if anyone is reading this blog?).

Tony&Guy Sea Salt Texturising Spray

    I've heard other youtubers and bloggers talk about this so many times but i never got around to buy it as it was slightly pricey and i wasn't sure if it was worth it. The main reason is that since i've got quite a lot of hair which is also long, texturising hair products don't work on me. There is little to no difference when i use a product and I'm always disappointed. I got this from a beauty box before christmas and i really loved it! When i spray it onto my hair and scrunch it there isn't a visible difference. It doesn't give my hair that cute Zoella look. 

    What i do is, i spray it onto my hair when it's damp and after my hair air dries it gives me the perfect beach hair. I love my hair during summer whenever i get out of the sea. I just get the most natural curls/waves ever! So this is the best product to replicate that look. I also use it when i want to braid my hair. I spray some on my hair before i braid it and afterwards i spray a little amount onto the braid. When i untie the braid a few hours later the waves last all day without getting frizzy (my biggest problem with my hair.)

Philip Martin's Infusion Cream

     This is amazing! This might be my most favourite item of the month! I bought it because my hairdresser recommended it to me and like i said hair products don't actually do much for my hair so i was very sceptical at first but what lured me in was the scent. I'm terrible at describing scents but i guess you could say this hair cream has a spicy smell, it's not floral and it is very strong. I just use it after i brush my hair when i get out of the shower and i evenly brush through my hair with my fingers with this product in my hand. I can't praise this enough. My hair always feels soft after i use this, it doesn't weigh my hair down like most products, it lessens frizzy and puffy hair, it makes your hair smell amazing for two full days... It's just the perfect hair treatment in my opinion!

MAC Lustre Lipstick - See Sheer

     I wanted a MAC lipstick for a long time. I literally dreamt of owning a MAC lipstick. I know it sounds slightly mental but a part of me always said paying that much for a lipstick is just insane whereas another part of me said "But it's MAAAAAC!" So i had a long internal conflict about this purchase but a few weeks ago i was out with my friends and we decided to go into MAC. We went in and i just ran to the lipstick counter. While my friends were asking about some eyeshadows and eyeliners i had my little moment with the lipsticks and when my friends were done with their purchase the guy asked if i wanted anything and i thought "I saved some money in the past few months... I think i deserve this one." So i told him that i wanted a new everyday lipstick and he first gave me a matte nude which looked almost white on my lips so i told him i wasn't feeling it. He then gave me See Sheer and i just loved how it looked. It has orange undertones and it's very creamy but also isn't completely sheer. I really don't like sheer lipsticks on me so i always go for very pigmented lipsticks. I was surprised when he said it was a Lustre because i always thought my first MAC lipstick was going to be a matte or satin. But i love using this and whenever i put it on i feel extremely uplifted and confident. That's the power of a MAC lipstick on me.

Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm

     Alright! I know this has been talked a lot in the past but i got this almost a year ago. The first time i bought it i loved it instantly. I loved the strong minty smell, how it wasn't greasy on my lips like other lip balms, how much it helped with my chapped, dry lips throughout winter time... I was almost finished with half of the stick when i suddenly lost it! I looked everywhere for it but i was never able to find it! Three months after i lost it i got a new one. I've been using it ever since. I use it after i cleanse my face in the evening and i use it before i apply my makeup. When i put on lipstick after i apply this on my lips, the lipstick looks much better in my opinion. 

 HATE IT! 

    So in this section i want to talk about a product that has disappointed me, something i wasn't very satisfied with.

    This months hate-it product is MAC Matchmaster foundation. I do so much research before i buy a foundation because i put that thing all over my face almost every day and i leave it there for at least 5-8 hours. It might break me out, make my skin oily, dry out my skin, look really bad on my skin... there are endless possibilities. I knew i was going to get a MAC foundation because i always read a lot of great reviews on them. I wasn't very sure about the Nars Sheer Glow Foundation which was a hit when i bought this foundation. I was supposed to get the Studio Sculpt one but when i was in the shop i decided to ask for help which is something i never do and after that i don't think i ever will. I told her the kind of foundation that i wanted and i told her that i had sensitive skin so a lot of the foundations irritated my skin after half an hour. She tried the matchmaster and the shade was perfect so i thought i'd buy it. That was the dumbest decision ever! Why did i even thought "if the shade matches it must me good"? That was a blonde moment for me. For a few months it didn't bother me but i never used it daily. I wasn't a huge foundation person then so i just used it occasionally when i was going on a night out with my friends. However when i started uni this september, i started going to the campus with a full face of makeup each day. Two weeks afterwards i started having massive breakouts on my face. My chin area felt very dry and i got patches of skin because of the dryness and it just looked very crappy. I can honesty say i looked much better without that foundation. While we were in MAC with my friends(when i bought the lipstick) i asked the guy who helped us about my foundation and he told me that whoever sold that to me was an idiot and had no idea what make up was because he only recommended that foundation to the elderly women. I really wanted to pour down the foundation on top of that womans head. She gave me an old lady foundation and it literally fucked up my skin. I never had any problems on my forehead but now because of her i have billions of tiny bumpy pimples. It's like i just hit puberty. Never buying a matte foundation ever again!

Wow! Very long blogpost! I wasn't expecting that! So these are my Loved and Hated products of January 2014. What are yours?