Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This - Sleek Distorted Dreams Holographic Highlighting Palette

Make-up is one of my big loves, and recently I couldn't resist picking up the Sleek Distorted Dreams palette which is the stuff of holographic dreams. People, myself included often band around the word "amazing" all too freely, but I literally waved my arm around catching the light for a good five minutes, just staring with heart eyes at the eye catching swatches. If you're looking for a subtle glow, look away - this palette is here to fulfil all of your mermaid, unicorn, ethereal otherworldly dreams.

Paint The Town Red - Sleek Pout Paint Lip Stain in Pin Up

It really doesn't matter that I have a drawer filled with approximately 100 million variants of red lipstick - show me a blue based red which I haven't tried before, and I will be all over it like nutella on a pancake stack.

That was my exact reaction when I came across the Pin Up shade of Pout Paint from Sleek Make-up. It kept coming up in conversation as a fantastic dupe for the Lime Crime Velveteens and OCC Lip Tar, but at a fraction of the price. Plus I loved the idea behind the Pout Paints and their excellent concept of mixing the range together to create your own personalised shade.

When used alone, Pin Up is a fantastic cherry red shade. The texture is thick without being gloopy, and dries to a lovely satin finish without making your lips feel cracked. It's not one to put on in a hurry though. Coming in a literal paint tube, the mixture needs to be applied with care, a lip brush and a steady hand. The formula applies semi-sheer and can be built up to a strong, solid colour for the perfect pout. Whilst you'll need to be careful when eating and drinking, the stain is generally long lasting but it is best to apply over lip primer and lip pencil for the most resilient finish.

My favourite feature of the Pout Paints is that they are designed to be used with other shades in their range. In addition to a variety of pinks and peaches, an orange, blue and white are available to mix things up. The orange warms your shade, the blue will darken and take your retro red to a dark plum with the white allowing you to lighten up your chosen mix. You simply apply basic colour theory to a paint palette, and create your own stunning lip shade to suit your mood. And with the tubes coming in at under £5, you don't have to melt your credit card to build up a collection of shades.

Having fallen in love with the pigment packed paint tubes, I am now absolutely desperate to get my hands on the rest of the range - especially the blue shade for that film noir finish. Whilst they're not the sort of product you can slap on and go, they are something which any make-up lover should have in their cosmetics arsenal as they are incredibly adaptable and lots of fun to play with.

Until next time,

Diana xx

Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Bloglovin and Facebook.
www.fashionlovesphotos.com

(All photos (c) Diana Thompson / Fashion Loves Photos unless otherwise stated. Please do not reproduce without written permission.)

Paint The Town Red - Sleek Pout Paint Lip Stain in Pin Up

It really doesn't matter that I have a drawer filled with approximately 100 million variants of red lipstick - show me a blue based red which I haven't tried before, and I will be all over it like nutella on a pancake stack.

That was my exact reaction when I came across the Pin Up shade of Pout Paint from Sleek Make-up. It kept coming up in conversation as a fantastic dupe for the Lime Crime Velveteens and OCC Lip Tar, but at a fraction of the price. Plus I loved the idea behind the Pout Paints and their excellent concept of mixing the range together to create your own personalised shade.

When used alone, Pin Up is a fantastic cherry red shade. The texture is thick without being gloopy, and dries to a lovely satin finish without making your lips feel cracked. It's not one to put on in a hurry though. Coming in a literal paint tube, the mixture needs to be applied with care, a lip brush and a steady hand. The formula applies semi-sheer and can be built up to a strong, solid colour for the perfect pout. Whilst you'll need to be careful when eating and drinking, the stain is generally long lasting but it is best to apply over lip primer and lip pencil for the most resilient finish.

My favourite feature of the Pout Paints is that they are designed to be used with other shades in their range. In addition to a variety of pinks and peaches, an orange, blue and white are available to mix things up. The orange warms your shade, the blue will darken and take your retro red to a dark plum with the white allowing you to lighten up your chosen mix. You simply apply basic colour theory to a paint palette, and create your own stunning lip shade to suit your mood. And with the tubes coming in at under £5, you don't have to melt your credit card to build up a collection of shades.

Having fallen in love with the pigment packed paint tubes, I am now absolutely desperate to get my hands on the rest of the range - especially the blue shade for that film noir finish. Whilst they're not the sort of product you can slap on and go, they are something which any make-up lover should have in their cosmetics arsenal as they are incredibly adaptable and lots of fun to play with.

Until next time,

Diana xx

Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Bloglovin and Facebook.
www.fashionlovesphotos.com

(All photos (c) Diana Thompson / Fashion Loves Photos unless otherwise stated. Please do not reproduce without written permission.)

Make Me Up Before You Go Go.

Recently I did a short interview for Board of Beauty where one of the questions asked was "What's in your make-up bag today?" It really got me thinking as I have two make-up bags - one which is filled with my favourite and regularly used items, and a smaller hand-bag sized one which has what is currently being used on that day.

The contents of my smaller one rotates quite frequently. Sometimes this is due to seasonal trends, sometimes how my skin is behaving and sometimes just because I'm really loving a particular item.

Currently, the list goes as follows:

- No 7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream in fair for dry / very dry skin

- Benefit High Beam

- Bourjois Cream Blush in Rose Tender

- MAC Wonder Woman Eye Palette in Defiance

- Bourjois Java Rice Powder

- Sleek Brow Kit in Dark

- ELF Stipple Brush, Eye Contour Brush and Fan Brush

- Revlon Lash Curler

- Barry M Blink Liquid Liner Pen

- Eyeko Skinny Mini Liquid Eyeliner Pen

- Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in 540 / Hollywood Red

- Bourjois Effect 3D Lipgloss in 06 / Rouge

- Bourjois Color Boost Lip Crayon in Plum Russian

- Maybelline Big Eyes Volume Express Mascara

- No7 Beautiful Brows Pencil in Black / Brown

- Ilamasqua Eye Colouring Pencil in Elate (white)

This is my make-up for a more "off-duty" look, with a few products thrown in to amp up the drama if needed. BB Cream really changed my outlook on make-up as it's great for when I want to even out my skin tone but don't feel like wearing a heavy foundation with full coverage. I found that using this for a daytime look and keeping my Mac Studio Sculpt Foundation purely for evenings and events has sped up my morning routine AND improved my skin! Benefit's High Beam and Bourjois Cream Blush add definition and highlights.

I'm a huge fan of lip crayons and am really loving Bourjois Color Boost Lip Crayon in Plum Russian at the moment. It's sheer and glossy without being sticky and offers a strong colour without being overpowering. My favourite item in the bag though is without a doubt my Ilamasqua Eye Colouring Pencil in Elate. I use it on my waterline to make me look more wide-eyed and awake, as well as under my brows as a highlighter. It also works great across my top lip to catch the light and draw in an even shape and I've even used across my cheekbones as a highlighter when in a bit of a cosmetics bind. It's such a versatile, multi-use product!

It's got me thinking, what are your favourite products in your make-up bag?

Until next time,

Diana xx

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www.fashionlovesphotos.com

(All photos (c) Diana Thompson / Fashion Loves Photos. Please do not reproduce without written permission.)