The 5 Travelling Lipsticks

Yesterday I got back from visiting one of my best friend's who's at uni in Lincoln, I went from Friday through to Wednesday and had the best time everrrr so much so I stayed two days longer than planned, okay three if you include the breakdown I had the night at 11pm when realising my ticket wouldn't allow me to come home on the Sunday. When I was unpacking my makeup bag I decided I'm going to post about the makeup I brought with me but am doing the lipsticks separately. Five lipsticks doesn't seem like much but when you consider I was packing with the thought in mind I was only going to be there from Friday afternoon to Sunday mid-morning...it's excessive.

I wanted to bring a variety of colours to make sure I wouldn't be doing my makeup and think 'dang I wish I brought _____' as well. Starting from the left is Barry M's 52 Shocking Pink, Barry M's 151 Sunset, Rimmel's 107, a lipstick by Louise Gray for Topshop called Mexican Wave and then Mac's Impassioned.

Yes, I brought two Barry M lipsticks with me, big up big up Barry. 52 Shocking Pink is pretty much how I imagine a pink highlighter would be in lipstick form, it is so shockingly (shocking ha) pink and is a shade I would wear every single day if I could. I wore this on our first night out on the Friday but in photos it doesn't really pick up that well.

151 Sunset I brought with me as I wanted a corally colour if I felt like I didn't want to wear a full on orange, I can't remember if I actually wore this shade or not, I feel like I did through out the day though I could have done without it.

I brought Rimmel's 107 with me for if I wanted to wear a dark lip and I ended up wearing this on our last night out although it faded pretty badly throughout the night and I wasn't functioning well enough to reapply it.

Mexican Wave by Louise Gray at Tophshop I bought a few years ago in the New Year sales as it was heavily reduced, I think this line has been discontinued as I can't find it online anymore but a lipstick similar to this shade is Mac's Morange or Topshop's Infrared but this one is more noticeably different. I wore this lipstick on our second night out and prefer it to a standard red going out shade as I feel like red doesn't do much for my face, or at least all of the reds I own don't!

Lastly, surprise surprise I couldn't leave my little Impassioned baby at home, needless to say I wore this travelling to and from Lincoln and it was never a question in my mind that it would accompany me on my travels.

From left to right: Barry M's 52, Barry M's 151, Rimmel's 107, Louise Gray's Mexican Wave and Mac's Impassioned

I think it's quite surprising how easy it was to whittle my hugeeeee lipstick collection down into these five and feel I made pretty good choices. Note how I didn't bring any nudes, I never see the point in me bringing quite toned-down shades as I don't wear them.

What shades would you bring with you if you went away? Any of the ones I talked about above?

Autumn Berry Lips: Cheap, Cheaper, Cheapest

For me there is something so terrifying about dark lipstick, from the application to the overall look of it, it scares me. It's something I want to wear so badly but, as I have thin lips, dark colours can instantly make them look thinner and, if you make a mistake when applying, it is so obvious as well as the fact if you knock your lips you'll have a beautiful smudge mark. In a bid to be more confident with wearing dark lipsticks I've chosen 3 of my dark, berry lipsticks that are really cheap so, even if you don't end up wearing them daily, you haven't made a huge investment. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about the lipsticks just a brief overview (I'm so wordy and annoying I need to tone it down damn it).

When I was taking pictures of these lipsticks I was planning on doing a post to compare the 3 but then, when looking at the swatches, I realised the colours are honestly nearly identical so bare with me through my last minute journey of a cheap, cheaper and cheapest transformation and also ignore the fact that the most expensive lipstick is in the middle. Cry.

The cheapest lipstick I have chosen is Collection's 1 Seduction from their new range Gothic Glam retailing for £2.99. This lipstick leaves a really nice stain and, like with all Collection lipsticks, I'm really impressed and would recommend for people to try this out for themselves or the other two shades from the Gothic Glam collection as all shades are aimed towards Halloween and the colder months.

Next is Rimmel Kate Moss' Matte Lipstick in 107 which I can only assume the whole universe has heard about. This is the lipstick the majority of people probably think of when they hear the term 'Autumn lips' and, at £5.49, it is the most expensive lipstick from the 3 but still entirely affordable. As this is a matte finish I find it less scary to wear because once it's on it's harder to accidentally knock whereas the Collection and Barry M one I find I'm more aware of when wearing them. However, this lipstick does tend to leave my lips quite shrivelled and unattractive looking so I wouldn't wear this for a whole day, maybe just for popping out or going out for a bit in the evening.

Lastly is Barry M's Lip Paint in 160, also shown as Black Cherry online, and retails at £4.49 so is the middle ground lipstick. This lipstick is part of Barry M's Ultra Moisturising range, however, I feel like this lipstick drags the most on my lips which I personally don't find to be a problem because it makes me think the colour is grabbing my lips more (or is this just me?) but is worth noting if you don't want that in a lipstick.

From left to right: Collection's Seduction, Rimmel's 107, Barry M's 160

Each of these lipsticks are worth giving a try for this season as every blogger seems to be talking about berry, Autumn lip shades and I feel these shades are wearable without making you look extremely pale and ill. The shades lean more towards dark reds and purples with hints of pink as well rather than a straight up black/brown.

Does anyone have anymore suggestions for cheap, affordable berry toned lipsticks? I have Beguiled from Topshop, that used to terrify me but not so much anymore, that is also similar in colour to the above 3 but is more expensive at £8 and so I didn't feel was worth mentioning.