Fan di Fendi Eau de Toilette

In honor of Sephora's Friends and Family sale, I used my 20% discount on a certain perfume I've been lusting after for over a year, Fan di Fendi.

The perfume comes in a yellow box which I intend to keep. The perfume bottle design is sporty and simplistic. I chose the eau de toilette as opposed to the eau de parfum because it seemed less harsh, sharp, and it didn't have the same softness to it which drew me to it so much. 

This is the 1oz size which retails on Sephora for around $50 

I know a lot of people have trouble buying perfume online, but I'll tell you the best way to discover new perfumes, and perhaps even find that signature scent you've been wanting for ages but nothing seems quite right. 

When you try perfumes at Sephora or in department stores, it's SO hard to get a realistic impression of what the scent will be like in everyday wear. Other scents mingle together and it all clouds up, making the perfumes smell indistinguishable. Perfume ads in magazines have the same problem, we all know how a magazine smells, imagine mixing all the scents in one magazine together, the glossy paper, the ink, all of it together clouds the original scent. 

So, in favor, next time you place an order from a department store or Sephora, stock up on perfume samples! You'll get to try them at your own discretion, use them more than once, and this is how I have found some of my favorite scents. 

I know everyone claims to be bad at describing scents, and I'd say I'm not either. So instead I'm going to try to explain why I like this perfume so much. 

When I initially apply it, it smells sort of like an indescribable strong floral scent, which I'm not that fond of. But once this scent sinks into my skin and drys, it meshes with my body chemistry in such a lovely way. It smells soft, warm, and ever so slightly sweet and floral. If I had to put it into simpler words, it reminds me of the way my mother smelled when I was a little girl. I'm not saying she's ever owned this perfume, but it smells comforting in that sense. That might sound a little bizarre to some people, but I think every little girl remembers how her mother smelled, that comforting, beautiful smell of our favorite woman in the world, our idols when we were small. 

Next on my wish list is Donna Karan's Woman perfume, a sexy female version of a cologne. What perfumes are on your wish list?

Topshop Lipstick Review!

Oh myy was I excited to receive these. This will be a shorter first impression review rather than an in depth review.

I bought these lipsticks off of Topshop's website for $16 each, $1 more than a standard MAC lipstick. 

First things first, check out this cute packaging!

The shades I chose are Beguiled, Wicked, and Infrared 

The packaging does feel nice and sturdy, it's metal-y and has a good weight to it. I do think that the design on them could possibly chip off if carried in your purse for a long time. Another thing I find worth noting is that Topshop lipsticks come with 3.5g of product as opposed to MAC lipsticks which have 3g. Thumbs up! 

The lipsticks do have a slight scent to them, but I love it. It honestly smells like a light non offensive perfume, maybe even a little like shampoo too. They smell heavenly. 

Left to right: Beguiled, Wicked, Infrared

As you can see, those two deep colors swatch lighter when applied.

Top to bottom: Infrared, Wicked, Beguiled 

The swatch alongside the two deeper shades is MAC Rebel, which looks to be an almost spot on-dupe for Wicked! 

Wicked is a velvet finish

Infrared is a velvet finish 

Beguiled is a matte finish

I'd describe Infrared as a true vivid orange shade. I don't own an orange shade quite this ORANGE, most of my orange lippies are more on the coral side. I got Infrared because of Zoella on YouTube :)

Wicked looks like a deep red brown in the tube, but when swatched it turns into  a glossy fuchsia plum. If you're not a lipstick addict like me, you don't need both Rebel and Wicked. The only difference I would note is Wicked is slightly glossier and has a touch more red to it. 

Lastly, Beguiled is a matte cranberry red. I imagine it could be built up on the lips to make it deeper. There's slight shimmers to this shade in the tube and if I look closely at my hand I can see them in the swatch. I kind of hate when lipsticks have shimmer in them, I don't see the point. 

Nonetheless, MAJORLY pleased with these. Will be buying more ;) 

Barry M Lip Paints Review!

As my first blog post, I'm going to review Barry M's lip paints!

I saw these on Urban Outfitter's website as I was browsing for a new rug for my room, and seeing as Barry M is a British makeup line, I was very intrigued. 

Lately I've been a bit obsessed with everything England themed (who isn't) so a chance to try out some genuine British makeup excited me. 

I've heard of Barry M lip paints (they're really just lipsticks) on YouTube, the famed number 52 being an excellent dupe for MAC's Candy Yum Yum. 

What struck me immediately as odd was that Urban Outfitter's website did not list the shade numbers, just a brief color description. They only offered four lip paints on the website, I got all four for a very good deal that they had running. 

I basically bought these lipsticks completely blindly, but I didn't mind because I was very curious about British makeup and finally getting to own something I've seen British beauty gurus on YouTube talk about! The excellent deal didn't hurt either...

These lipsticks cost $8 each on Urban Outfitters website. I thought it'd benefit future purchasers of these Barry M lip paints to know just what shades Urban Outfitters means by "hot pink," "nude," "red," and "light pink".  

First up we have shade number 100. Barry M's website calls this Baby Pink. Urban Outfitters simply describe it as light pink, with no shade number.

This shade reminds me of MAC Saint Germaine, which I don't own. It's a milky pale baby pink that did not flatter my skin tone, but it would probably look better with a tan. I don't own any shades quite this blatant milky baby pink so I will take it. The lipstick was a bit chalky in texture on the lips, but not dry. 

Next is shade number 147. Barry M calls this Peachy Pink. Urban Outfitters describes it as nude with no shade number. 

This isn't exactly a typical nude, but I quite like it! It's definitely got an orangey peachy tone to it, much more akin to Barry M's description. This shade was more flattering on me, and I liked that it wasn't too pale. It was also creamy and not dry. Thumbs up! 

Next one I have is the famous Candy Yum Yum dupe, shade number 52. Barry M describes calls this Shocking Pink, while Urban Outfitters describes it as hot pink, with no shade number. 

I do own MAC Candy Yum Yum, but I don't have it with me to compare. But I can tell you that this lipstick is a good bold neon pink that is creamy and not too dry. I think a lot of girls would like this one, despite there already being a thousand and one Candy Yum Yum dupes. Candy Yum Yum is now permanent at MAC and you can get it any time. This shade might be a bit repetitive to some, and while I do agree, I'm choosing to look at this shade as independent from all the dupe hype and I can say it's quite pretty. 

Lastly is shade number 121. Barry M calls this Pillar Box Red, and Urban Outfitters describes this as red, with no shade number. 

It's a bright, bold red with a slight orangey undertone. It really does remind me of a pillar box! This shade was beautiful, a good red to toss on and head out the door. Again, creamy and not dry. I was quite impressed! 

All in all, the Barry M lipsticks are cool to own and also nice lipsticks in general for the price. They are a tad bit more expensive over here in America with conversion rates, if my calculations are correct. I'd try to get them on a deal, because $8 does seem a bit steep to me. The deal I used was $15 off $75 purchase, so I got these for roughly half the price. 

They have that slight crayon lipstick scent to them which is kind of a bummer, and the packaging also seems a bit cheap. The lipsticks almost feel unstable in their tubes and a bit wobbly. I'd advise to just not be rough with them because I don't know if they could break or not. 

All in all, I'm pleased. I got to try out authentic British makeup like I wanted and the shades are pretty. I can see myself using all of them at some point. 

Hope you enjoyed, and I hope this helps someone understand from Urban Outfitters website what shades they are offering!