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Hot and Iconic

Hey there,

Charlotte Tilbury is a super talented and incredible makeup artist. I first heard of her makeup brand in Dublin, 2 years ago, because we don't get Charlotte Tilbury in France. I immediately fell in love with it and was obsessed with the makeup, the makeup looks she creates and the brand identity. I just love how her products can turn someone into a true icon. Although a little bit overpriced, the makeup is of great quality. The palettes are super pigmented and the lipsticks are just amazing. My first experience with Charlotte Tilbury was actually after Christmas, when my boyfriend got me the Vintage Vamp palette, and that was the beginning of a huge obsession. 


A few months later, for my birthday, I ordered two lipsticks on the website: Love Liberty and Bond Girl. The package arrived on time and it was so pretty, I didn't have the strength to toss it. Again, a few months after that, I was surprised to see that Charlotte Tilbury was available in Amsterdam. There was no way I was taking my flight back home without a little shopping session there. I must admit, I went a little bit overtop, but I just got paid for my internship and I mean... it's Charlotte Tilbury... So I left Amsterdam with another palette, the Dolce Vita, and two other lipsticks, Walk of Shame and Secret Salma. 

Hot Lips - Secret Salma 
I've already done a review on the Vintage Vamp palette, and another review on the Dolce Vita will be on its way too. However, the name of this blog being Lipstick Road, I couldn't possibly not review the different lipsticks, even though they are from different collection. In fact, Love Liberty, Bond Girl and Walk of Shame are from the Matte Revolution collection, while Secret Salma is from the Hot Lips collection. 

Hot Lips - Secret Salma
Love Liberty is a deep berry shade, Bond Girl is a nude pink/coral shade, Walk of Shame is a light red with coral undertones, and Secret Salma, inspired by Salma Hayek, is a baby pink shade. 

Matte Revolution - Bond Girl
How do they look? The lipsticks look quite luxurious when your first pick them up. It's rose girl, very precious and high end. There are only the initials CT on the top of the cap. Beside, I was pretty surprised with the form of the actual lipstick when I first open them up. They are not your regular round lipstick, they are actually angled, which I first found funny, but is actually not that bad. In fact, I find it even easier to apply the lipsticks. 

Matte Revolution - Bond Girl
How are they ? The lipsticks are pretty amazing, the colors are beautiful, and they feel very nice on the lips. They are all matte lipsticks, although they don't feel matte at all, they are very comfortable to wear, they don't dry out the lips, they settle very nicely on the lips. I would even say that they have a creamy outcome. For the most part, they must be comfort matte, because they do transfer a little bit. However, they are long wear, and the formula is just amazing.  They are so easy to wear on a daily basis, and could easily be worn day to night. I tend to stay away from non matte lipstick during summer time, but this summer I sworn by those lipsticks, not only because of the colors that could be easily worn in spring, summer, fall or winter; but also because of the formula. 

Matte Revolution - Love Liberty
Final thoughts ? Overall, Charlotte Tilbury is a great brandy with high quality products. Obviously, it is quite pricy, and I would not spend €30 on lipsticks every day. However, with the quality of the products and the whole service behind every purchase, I wouldn't mind treat myself once and awhile because the quality is just amazing, and it's not debatable. Talking about the service, when you order online, the package is not only nicely packed, and delivered on time, but you can get a few samples so you can try out skincare products, lipsticks, foundations etc. 

Matte Revolution - Walk of Shame 
I hope you liked this post, let me know what you think about the lipstick. Have you ever tried Charlotte Tilbury products ? 

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I'll see you soon,

Love,

Elsa. 

Sexy and Creamy

Hey there,

Unless you're not into makeup or you've been living under a rock, you'll know that Urban Decay has launched it's Vice Lipstick Collection over the summer. And while well-known beauty bloggers were receiving the box with the complete collection, 100 lipsticks that is, I was at Sephora, on a budget, picking what colors I was going to get. To be honest, this purchase was kind of unreasonable, since according to my boyfriend 'I own enough lipsticks and don't need more'. Yes my boyfriend is hilarious, and all the makeup addicts and shopaholics out there will understand my struggle. It's the new Urban Decay collection! I need at least one lipstick! 


I wanted a color that I didn't own already, and that I could easily wear on a daily basis, and after much consideration, I went for, surprisingly, two creamy lipsticks. I'm usually a matte girl, so you'll understand my surprise when I found myself reaching for creamy lipsticks. I don't really like how cream lipsticks feel on the lips. I feel like they do not last as long as matte lipsticks, and tend to transfer easily. Well that's not the case for the Urban Decay ones. 


I first picked out Shame, which is a deep purple shade. I first thought that it will be hard to pull off such a strong shade, but it isn't that bad actually. I ended up wearing it two days in a row to go shopping, in full summer weather. However, I feel like this shade will be perfect for fall and winter time. The second one I picked out is Hitch Hike, a nude but with pink and coral undertones. This one gives a way more natural look and is perfect for spring and summer, or even if you're looking for a natural look. I've been wearing Hitch Hike literally all summer. 

I realized I tend to be attracted to the same shades. For example, I'm always attracted to either deep red/burgundy, deep purple or really nude shades, and always matte lipsticks. Since I tend to do something rather natural looking on my eyes, I usually go full out with the lips. 




So how do they look? The lipsticks are really pretty. The packaging is pretty simple but true to Urban Decay's style. It's a metallic purple and gold round package and it has Urban Decay written on it, and the UD initials on the actual lipstick. Although the packaging is original and quite unique, it's not the most practicable lipstick. It is quite hard to open actually because there's nothing you can hold on to that can make a click noise, and make it easier to open. 

How are they? As I said the lipsticks are creamy lipsticks but I feel like they have a matte finished feel on the lips, but not on the outside, if you know what I mean. They don't feel heavy or sticky on the lips. They feel nice and light. The colors are really nice as well, they are pigmented and so pretty. They stay on really well, but they will transfer like crazy if you eat or kiss someone, especially the Shame Lipstick, which is a shame... Overall, they are quite long wear, because you still have some on the lips when you're done eating, drinking, kissing and whatever. Moreover, the mixture is quite nice on the lips, because it doesn't dehydrated or hurt the lips. 


Final thoughts? I'm really happy with the two lipsticks. The colors are incredible, I'm quite amazed by the creamy texture because it's light, comfortable and nice. It is long-wear, so it's always a good thing. The only thing that bothers me is the packaging, although you get used to it after awhile. This purchase really comforted me in the idea that Urban Decay is truly a great brand, its products are amazing and have a great quality. The lipsticks are also not that expensive, they cost €19, which I don't think is that bad, it's cheaper than Mac, Nars etc. Overall, they are great quality and quite affordable lipsticks that I would highly recommend. 

I hope you liked this post. Did you get any Vice lipsticks ? 

Also don't forget that you can subscribe to my Newsletter to receive the blog posts directly into your inbox! You can also follow me on BlogLovin for notifications when I post something. 

Finally for daily updates, follow me on Twitter and Instagram

I'll see you soon,

Love,

Elsa. 

Transitioning into Fall

Hey there,

I'm a Fall girl, not spring, not summer, not winter, autumn! Always have, always will. There's something about this season that just gets me. I'll spare you from the basic clichés that everybody talks about when confessing a love for Fall. Sure, colors outside are amazingly pretty, sure it's halloween, and Black Friday, and Pumpkin Spice Latte seasons etc. No I love Fall because it's the season I feel most confortable with. Fall allows me to be myself, because I tend to be attracted to darker colors, like burgundy, black, camel, military green etc. and darker looks when it comes to makeup. I just feel like Autumn is the most representative season of my actual style.


I took me some time to realize that, because you know the weather kind of sucks in Fall, the humidity, the rain, the colder days etc. I don't mind cold weathers, humidity though... still not my cup of tea. Let me remind you that I have natural curly hair, humidity and fake straight hair don't get along...


You can't imagine how bumped I was when I realized that it was still 30°C degrees outside in the middle of September, like what?! September is supposed to be the month of transition! Going from Summer to Fall... So when you step outside in a tank top in the beginning of September, when you should be wearing a leather jacket, it just gets confusing and frustrating.


I might have talked about this before, but living in the area I live in, I don't like to wear shorts, skirts or dresses when I have to go somewhere by myself. One word: catcalling. Being the sensitive person that I am, getting catcalled, while taking the train, subway or simply stepping outside, just wrecks me. So I'm sure you can understand why I'm not a big fan of Summer while going back to school... However, Fall is officially here, and Summer is slowly leaving France and I couldn't be happier about it because it means that the funniest time of the season is here: transition into Fall.


I went a little overboard while doing shopping the other day, and I came up with the best transition outfit I have ever worn. Quite different for me but I'm changing one step at a time, and my style is part of the change. So yes my latest acquisition consist of dresses, surprisingly, and lots of prints, not so surprising. I'm a big fan of prints. Anyway, I found this mid length dress at Pull and Bear, I loved the flowers with birds and trees print, and I found the colors were perfect for transitioning into Fall. I paired it with a white T-shirt underneath to make it perfect for Fall, plus layering is the must of the season. 


Apart from that my outfit is pretty basic, a leather jacket, black booties and some necklaces. I've been really into choker lately, so I thought a choker with this perfect was a perfect way to make it extra 90's.

I hope you liked this post, let me know if you liked the outfit.

Don't forget that you can subscribe to my Newsletter to receive the blogpost directly into your inbox! You can also follow me on BlogLovin for notifications when I post something. 

Finally for daily updates, follow me on Twitter and Instagram

I'll see you soon,

Love,

Elsa.

WHAT I'M WEARING:
DRESS: PULL AND BEAR
TSHIRT: BRANDY MELVILLE
JACKET: ALL SAINT
SHOES: GEMO SHOES
NECKLACE: ASOS
RINGS: AND OTHER STORIES
LIPSTICK: NARS - CHARLOTTE 

Matte Lips and Contour, Latest Acquisitions and Obsessions

Hey there,

It's no news that I have an obsession with makeup. I was never that much into makeup until three years ago, when I started to really get into makeup and beauty products. It started to get out of hands two years ago, not that it bothers me, but it does bother the balance on my bank account. Being the makeup addict and shopaholic that I am, I won't stop buying makeup, although I'm trying to be reasonable, kind of... I only buy things that I actually need (maybe not) and have been loving from afar. Since I'm on a beauty blog roll, I thought I'll stay on this vibe, and write about my latest beauty obsessions, and the latest things that I acquired over the past 3 months. 

Step by Step Contour Kit - Smashbox 
I had my eyes on this palette from awhile now, I've heard so many good things about Smashbox, I was urging to give it a try. I bought this at the Duty Free shop at the Amsterdam Aiport, since it was way cheaper than it is at Sephora, and I couldn't be happier. I has one contour shade, to define and sculpt the face, a bronzer shade for definition, and an highlighter. It's so pigmented and easy to blend and build. It also comes with a small brush for application, which I only use to apply the contour shade. The shades are amazing, they really define the face, and it gives you the contour on fleek vibe! I was seriously so proud of the contour the first time I used it, I couldn't stop taking selfie... Absolutely no shame! 


Orgasm Blush - Nars 
I never truly understand all the fuss around this blush, but when I first tried Nars' blushes from the Narsissist Cheek Studio Palette, I was so amazed by the quality and the pigmentation, I thought I had to try the Orgasm blush. Being the little reasonable person that I am, I didn't want to be a makeup addict and buy it since I found a great dupe from the Balm Cosmetics. I thought 'I'm gonna stick to my dupe, it's amazing and I'm good with it'. However, Sephora was nice enough to give me a sample for the Nars blush, and after 3 days of rubbing my brush into the small paper that held the blush, the obsession began and I needed the blush. I finally bought it, and couldn't be happier, it's a pink/coral shimmery color. It's pretty, pigmented, shimmery and gives a shiny and bright effects to the face. 


Whatt's Up Cream-to-Powder Highlighter - Benefit
I was looking for a new highlighter since I'm almost running out of my highlighter from Mac. I tried the Benefit Highlighter two years ago when I got my brows done at Benefit, so when the time came for me to try a new highlighter, I immediately thought of this one. It has a champaign tone that I love that immediately bright up the face and attract the light. It's shimmery and it makes you look like a fairy. However, I'm not a big fan of the sponge that comes with it on the other side, I feel like it doesn't blend the highlight well.

Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer - Urban Decay 
I fell in love with the Naked Skin Weightless Foundation, so weightless, smooths and light on the face. I needed a new concealer, so I made the most out of a promo code at Sephora. The coverage is sick! It feels light on the skin, it's easy to build and blend, and it highlights the face so much you look like an angel. Just kidding, but it is amazing. However, good things come with a price, and this concealer has silicones in it... My face couldn't really take it anymore, so now I just use it under my eyes... 


Goof Proof Brow Pencil - Benefit 
I've seen vlogs of people talking about the new Benefit brow collection, I've seen the craziness, the amazingness, the fuss etc. And from the moment I saw the collection in Sephora, there were no need to debate on whether or not I was going to buy something because it was well settled. I spent a good 30 minutes in front of the shelfs, looking at the products and wondering what was the best option for my brows. I already had the Gimme Brow (older version) in my makeup bag, and I really wanted a brow pencil to really define and fill in my brows. I decided to give the Precisely My Brow pencil a go. It's really cool, it has a pencil on one side and a brush on the other side. I will say, my brows have never been that much on fleek. It really helps fill in the brows and defines the shape, without giving a fake crazy effect to the brows. When I add the gimme brow gel, my brows look natural and on point.


Roller Lash Curling and Lifting Mascara - Benefit 
The craziness around this mascara occurred last year, and since I was happy with my mascara by then, I didn't really care about this mascara. This mascara is supposed to lift and curl the lashes, without the need of an eyelash curler. I bought it because I ran out of my Nars mascara, and the Roller Lash Mascara was way cheaper than the Nars one, plus it came with a sample version that came handy because I was just leaving for Amsterdam and I didn't want to carry a full makeup bag. I will say that this mascara lives up from my expectations, it makes my lashes lifted, curled and longer. I love the brush because it's so thin it really catches the lash and makes the application easier and cleaner. Also it's waterproof, and when you're wearing contact, it's always a good thing!


Long-wear Crème Liquid Lipstick - Jouer 
We don't get Jouer Cosmetics in France, but my friend told me about Cult Beauty an amazing British website that has an incredible range of brand and actually ships to France. I immediately went for the Long-wear Crème Liquid Lipstick from Jouer, in the colors Cassis and Brique (Fall Collection). The colors are amazing, and the lipsticks smell like crème brulée or vanilla, really nice. Cassis is a light pink with purple undertones lipstick, not what I would normally go-to but really pretty. Brique, on the other hand, is my go-to color, it's a deep red/burgundy lipstick. I don't really understand the Crème Liquid Lipstick name, because those are matte lipsticks. They feel creamy when you apply them, but when they're dry they are matte and dry... Although the colors are incredible, and they are long-wear, and do not transfer at all, they do not really feel nice on the lips after a while because it's so matte. But gotta suffer to look good, right? 


Lip Contour - Huda Beauty 
Same story as the Jouer lipsticks. On the order I placed from Cult Beauty, I also got two lip pencils from Huda Beauty. I only own one real lip pencil that I use to actually contour my lips before applying lipstick, and it's pink... Pretty limited. So I got the shade Icon and Cheerleader from Huda Beauty. I was really struggling to choose the colors I wanted because, even though they have quite a small range of colors, they all look amazing.  Cheerleader is a deep red/burgundy shade, that matches perfectly with the Brique lipstick from Jouer. Icon is a deep pink with burgundy undertones. They are now a full part of my makeup routine, using those everyday, I'm obsessed. They feel nice on the lips, pigmented and the colors are gorgeous.


I hope you liked this post, have you ever tried any of this products ?

Don't forget that you can subscribe to my Newsletter to receive the blogpost directly into your inbox! You can also follow me on BlogLovin for notifications when I post something. 

Finally for daily updates, follow me on Twitter and Instagram

I'll see you soon,

Love,

Elsa. 

Let's Talk About Sulfates and Silicones

Hey there,

For about two years now, I've been very careful with what I use on my body. It all started back in Ireland, where I learnt everything about Sulfates and Silicones, and their effects. Back then, I was really trying hard to take care of my hair, and I was doing a lot of research to understand what products were good and what products were not for already damaged hair. Now, I'm sure there's a million reasons why sulfates, parabens, silicones and all that jazz are bad for you, your skin, body hair etc. However, I decided to focus on their effects on hair and skin, to
highlight my personal experience with those substances. 



First of all, what are sulfates and silicones ? Don't worry, I'll spare you from the so complicated scientific definition you can find on Wikipedia. 

Sulfates are basically very strong and not organic cleansers. They give the foaming effects to shampoo, which seem not so bad until you realize that sulfates is also present in detergents you use to clean your house with. If sulfate is a great cleanser, it gives the effect of a soft cleansing when in fact it's a very agressive one. Indeed, sulfate is well known for drying out hair, as well as damaging and being an allergen.  

When used with Silicones, Sulfate is even worst. Silicones are non biodegradable materials used in shampoo, conditioner and other hair products, as well as makeup. They provide shine and help when you try to straighten your hair or have a smooth effect. When used in makeup it also gives a shiny, smooth and fluid effects. However, Silicones are not natural substances and they are similar to plastic. They may give the illusion of shine, but in reality they are simply damaging and slowly killing your hair. It's like you're rubbing plastic around your hair. They make your hair and skin suffocate. 

Real shine comes with hydratation. Silicones and Sulfates provide everything but hydratation, and when I say everything, I mean nothing. They have a dryer effect, especially on curly hair! Silicones and Sulfates build layers and layers to the hair strands, preventing from good substances, like nutrients, to penetrate in the hair. Making it even more difficult to clean the hair, and get rid of the bad substances. Silicones and sulfates also enable an endless damage cycle. When you use those substances, your hair feels heavy and greasy, not shiny, and when your hair feels gross, you tend to use more products on it, and spend more time styling it, leaving your hair even more damaged and gross, so you'll wash them again with sulfates and silicones, repeating the cycle. 

So how do you know there're sulfates or silicones in your product ? Well it's hard to know... Unless you're patient enough to study very clearly and methodically the list of ingredients of your products. Because of course, you'll never find the name silicones in the list, it would be too easy! Silicones take its form in Dimethicone and any other name that ends with -cone or -xane. Sulfates on the other hand are much easier to identify, because it keeps its name on the list. 


As I said I started using sulfates and silicones-free products almost two years ago. I first started with Lush hair care products, until I realized that some of their products actually contained a very small amount of silicones. Even though they can assure you that it's not harmful for the hair or skin, I simply decided to stop using Lush hair care products. I now use Alterna, and Leonor Grey, which are very expensive but really effective. However, they are a few brand that offer a range of sulfates-free and silicones-free product such as Klorane, Living Proof, Kielh's, Bumble and Bumble, Macadamia etc. 

Since I stopped using products that contain sulfates and silicones, I've noticed some changes in my hair. First of all, my hair was very dry when I first started using those products, because it took a lot of time to get rid of the sulfates and silicones in my hair. It felt dry under water, dry when it was drying, hard to comb etc. That was just temporary. After a month my hair was feeling a lot better, very smooth, shiny, and a lot less greasy. 

When it comes to my skin, I recently found out that my brand new loving concealer (Urban Decay Naked concealer) had silicones in it. Of course, I noticed it after using it for a month, and after the breakouts were well set-up on my face. Now I'm in the process of cleaning my face, and washing the silicones off of it, so I can get rid of the blemishes. Turns out a lot of makeup actually contain silicones, especially concealer, and makeup base, so if you want a life free of silicones, be careful, and look out for all those -cone and -xane.

I hope you found this post useful, let me know if you did.  

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I'll see you soon,

Love, 

Elsa. 





Travel Diary: Last days in Gloomy Amsterdam

Hey there,

Our last 2 days in Amsterdam were not too sunny unfortunately, but we still had a great and tiring time. My father and I are not your typical tourists, we are wanderer. And even though we like our touristic adventures in museums, we love to walk around a city, even if it means we're not going to be able to walk for the next week after our return. Just kidding. 


Because the weather was not very clement to us on our third day, we spent most of our morning in museums. We went to the Mocco Museum, which was hosting a Bansky and Andy Warhol exhibitions.  The museum is not the biggest in the world, and it's actually in a huge mansion, but it definitely has a good collection of amazing art from two amazing artists. 


I didn't take any pictures inside, nor did my father. However, I did film inside and you can have a peek at the exhibition in my latest video! Our third day was basically Museum day, we nourished our brain with some culture and art, as I like to say. When we were done with the Mocco Museum, we headed to the Rijksmuseum, across the street. It felt weird to be inside such a massive empty master piece. Well not empty, but I was expecting so much craziness inside with lots of people taking pictures everywhere. 


We found our way through the museum and managed to see almost everything. We got to see some Rembrandt and Van Gogh pieces. They were truly amazing artist, the details, the light, the art, it's perfection. As I mentioned, the weather on the last two days were pretty awful... The most annoying thin rain hit us the whole day, and without realizing we were soaking wet. It didn't stop us from keeping on exploring the city. We walked through our favorite neighborhood, Jordann, again, and found our way back to the city centre for some shopping. Jordann is a very peaceful area of Amsterdam, away from the craziness of the city centre, it's a nice residential area, and it feels good to walk around. 


We walked so much around Jordann, we eventually got lost, and walked pass two photoshoot and film sets. Unexpected and fun. We managed to find our way back to the hotel, where we called it a day. The last day was pretty calm, we woke up, had breakfast, walked to the city centre for a last shopping for souvenirs session. It was so cold and rainy on that day, we quickly decided, after only an hour of walking around, that we needed a coffee break. When we got out of the coffee house it was sunny and almost warm! Unfortunately after a quick lunch, it was time to go back to the hotel to take our suitcases and leave. Overall, Amsterdam was a lovely city, and it was an amazing 4 days stay there. I would highly recommend Amsterdam, it's so pretty. And as I said on Twitter, I could definitely move there! 


That was my last post from Amsterdam, if you want to see more of Amsterdam, you can take a look at the Vlog I made. I hope you enjoyed this post and liked the photos of Amsterdam, let me know if you did.

Also don't forget that you can subscribe to my Newsletter to receive the blogpost directly into your inbox! You can also follow me on BlogLovin for notifications when I post something. 

Finally for daily updates, follow me on Twitter and Instagram

I'll see you soon,

Love,

Elsa.