Well here is something a little familiar, a Clinique lipstick. You've probably seen 100 review already and most people will already know that this was a freebie when purchased with Glamour mag which had the lovely Tanya Burr on the cover. In true Honeypot style, I was a little late to the party and bought this magazine very late when I was just about to fly out to Italy.
Of course it's nude, it always nude but ya know, I like it. I must admit, I never ever think of Clinique when I think of make up, always skincare, not that I ever buy much but never make up. I tend to think that some brand don't quite get it right when they venture into other areas, for example if they are a skincare brand then the make up isn't always that great or vice versa. I must admit, I did really like this little freebie, it's cute but a fair sizes little thing to at least try out. This one is the Nude Pop though I know you could get it in another colour, I noticed that is a little dark for me based on the outer case but it's always worth a go.
Went I first tried it I must admit I wasn't that thrilled, when I applied it I noticed it had slight orange undertones which don't actually work that well with my complexion, if this had pink undertones I think I would like it a lot better. This being said I know that you can also use this colour as a primer which I think would work much better for me. As a lipstick it doesn't wear very well and just found it really did nothing to my lips, if I used it underneath one of my favourite nudes I think it could be much better. However I still don't know how I feel about primers, like I get them, I often use them on my face, but on my lips I'm not so sure, sometimes I just use a bit of lip balms just to have the moisturised barrier between my lips and the lipstick and it leaves a finish on my lips that I prefer but I don't know if i would actively go out an buy a coloured lip primer like this for a nude shade anyway. I can understand a red lip primer, I imagine that would work really well, but this nude one just isn't for me.
What are your favourite Clinique Makeup products?
My goodness, 2015 has just been totally mental hasn't it? There almost aren't any words I can use that would be good enough to explain just how surreal this year has been, but I'll try and get something down.
In January 2015, I went to New York with work for just 11 days, which at the time was mind blowing to think, I was sent to New York to work, how amazing was that? I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Now it just feels so long ago that it doesn't even feel like it ever happened. I think 2015 was a real turning point in my life, I really started to work out where I wanted to be and what I wanted to be doing in terms of work and life. I completely changed my lifestyle, I lost a bunch of weight and I felt amazing, I really wanted to be able to be someone I was proud of and I definitely know that I made the right positive changes in my life. These were things I could control though, I could control my diet, I could control my exercise regime a created a whole new routine and thrived on it.
However there is always something completely unexpected that happens, like getting an offer to work in a country you've never even visited for the brand of your dreams...I mean, really? Does that shit (first swear?) really happen? Yes it bloody does. I can't get my head around the fact I am sitting in a new country the I currently call home, if you had told me in September of last year that I would be living in another country I would have laughed and yet here I am. So many people have told me I'm brave for just up and leaving without even knowing the language but for me, I never even felt scared. Through out the whole move and the lead up to it I remained completely calm, a part of me thinks it's because It never quite felt real and the other part was, it just felt right, the timing felt right.
I came to realise that 2015 was my year to just make it happen, I wanted to lose weight, I did it, I wanted to eat less processed foods, I did it, I wanted to progress my career, I did it. I didn't go into 2015 thinking that I have all these goals that I must achieve, instead I went into the year with an open mind to think roughly where I'd like to go and what I'd like to do but nothing was ever set in stone, because sometimes when you focus on that one specific goal you miss a thousand other opportunities that are standing right next to you. I can't even begin to think about what 2016 has in store for me the one thing I will be learning is a new language, Italian of course, but still no better way than to actually live in the country at learn it. Other than that, I have no idea, I'm not too fussed either. My little blog will carry on as it did last year with just more variety of posts which I'm really happy about because it'll keep things interesting.
Enough with the new year, new me crap. How about a new year, the same me, just slightly better or different which ever way you want to be.
Have you made any New Year's resolutions or are you even gonna bother?
Turns out I don't actually need to go all the way to Florence to get yummy Italian food, I'll come back immediately! I'm joking of course, but I did want to say that this food at Jamie's Italian was delicious.
My old work pal was invited to check out the new restaurant at St Paul's which is just around the corner from my previous office, he thought it would be a great idea to turn it into a team lunch and well I'll use any excuse to have a glass of prosecco at lunch! I know there are a lot of mixed reviews about Jamie's Italian restaurant, like I get it, if you go to Italy the food will always be better, I get it but you know what I like food and I'm not pretentious, I'll always give it a go. I've never been to and Jamie's restaurants before but I will say that I was pleasantly surprised. I do have to say that the staff was amazing, our waiter was the sweetest little guy always make sure we were OK, offering his opinion on the food we picked out, very accommodating.
The choice on the menu was vast! Everything from burgers, to steak, to pasta to Italian nachos, which i think is really great.There was 7 of us so obviously people are going to want different things and I must admit as I was looking around what everyone else had I would have been happy to have any of those, apart from risotto, can't stand the stuff. But let's talk about what I chose, which was the Penne Carbonara. I love a carbonara, the creamier the better really and I do prefer penne pasta to tagliatelle or spaghetti just because it's less messy. I would say that portion size was a pretty good size perhaps fractionally too large for my lunch but I wouldn't have it any other way. When it came to the table I did look and think that there wasn't as much sauce as I expected. However, once I stuck my fork into it I realised that all the sauce and chunks of pancetta was underneath the first little layer of penne. The sauce was spiced perfectly, it had a peppery kick to it. The little flakes of bacon on the top was incredibly fine and crispy, very delicate. Overall, I think it was pretty damned tasty. We had a discount on the food but personally, I think even at full price it would have still been well worth it.
Have you been to a Jamies Italian restaurant?
It's a beauty isn't it? Now, what I'm going to say may shock you but it's ok because I assume you're sitting down when reading this and if you're not then you should because it's dangerous to walk and read at the same time, but I have never tried any Kiko products and never before have I even wanted to. I know, how dare I even call myself a beauty blogger.
Again, I was aimlessly wandering and stumbled across this massive Kiko store, it was so busy but I thought as I'm out I may as well have a look. It was beautiful, everything was laid out so clearly and considering there were so many people store wasn't a mess at all. As it looked so high end I thought, oh geez how much does this stuff cost...I was stunned to realise that some of these products we be considered budget make up. This Kiko Pencil Lip Gloss cost just €3.90, just €3.90 that is nothing considering the quality. I was a little overwhelmed but I though just focus on what I could do with instead of just purchasing everything within arms reach. So my readers will know that I love a nude (we're talking strictly makeup you pervs) Always nude on the lips, I will sometimes venture down the pinky red road but not very often, I like all the drama on my eyes not my lips. I saw this little gem and gave it a quick swatch, it doesn't have a name but it's number 08. As soon as a swatched it I noticed that it had a very soft buttery texture, but wasn't sticky like lipgloss. Me and lip gloss don't get on, my hair is often down and with even a slight breeze it's just chaos. But a Pencil Lip Gloss is something I can work with.
I'd say because it is nude you would have to reapply as often as you would with anything else, it's not matte so it wears quite easily but for me that isn't really a problem. I found it didn't leave my lips feeling too sticky and it almost reminded me a little of the NARS lip pencils because they also have the lipstick texture but in pencil form, however Kiko is a fraction of the cost. I have found myself reaching for this pencil literally everyday, it goes with everything and I'd say this particular shade is a perfect nude match for me. I'm definitely going to check out Kiko for foundation to see whether they have a nice pale shade for me.
What Kiko products do you love?
And then it was all over.
As you're reading this you're probably nursing a Christmas hangover, let's face it you've probably eaten too much, drank too much and never want to see tinsel again...that is until next year. This Christmas has been really different for me because I didn't go back home. Which meant that I stayed in the flat in Florence by myself, but you know it what, it was fine I celebrated in a very low key style and spoke with my family for the majority of the day. Of course, I would have loved to go home for Christmas but with a new job and everything I wouldn't have been able to stay for very long, not only that but my mother was actually working on Christmas day. Like so many hospital staff, they were working on Christmas day to make sure your loved ones were ok, we should be more grateful for that.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and spent it with all the people you love and if you couldn't spend it with them, I hope you at least managed to speak to them on the day as well.
xx
