Gem and Jo's Valentine's Lips Picks

Ah Valentine's Day, the smell of roses, the cute romantic couples proposing to each other everywhere and then there's us. We will be celebrating the occasion with some frozen pizza and a tub of Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough. Exciting, we know. However, if you have managed to bag yourself someone special, we are here to help with the toughest decision of the day: What lipstick should you wear?

In this particular situation you have a couple of things to consider:

• How much kissing will you be doing? Cheek or otherwise. 
• What's your outfit like, would a little lipstick push you towards hoochie mama? (You don't want that.. or maybe some do, no judgement!)
• Are you going to a meal? (P.s. don't pick ribs.)

If there will be kissing or eating a dark, hard to maintain lipstick is out of the question. There is nothing worse than passing by your reflection and realizing all that kissing has smudged your lip colour all over your face. The actual horror. However a light, subtle colour wouldn't be as noticeable or leave your date with red-face! If you want lips that are sure not to budge keep reading:

Lip Stains
This has to be the best way to go. You get the coloured lips you want and you won't leave said colour all over your dates face. That's gotta be a plus in our opinion! However keep in mind, stains may dry out your lips, so keep a little translucent lip balm with you to keep those puckers kissable.

Maybelline 10hr Stain Gloss

(adds a little shine when first applied but fades to a unmovable stain)

Primark P.S. Love lip Stain Pen. 

Lip Balm
You could always go the route of no lip colour and let your natural lip shade shine! Just bring along a little lip balm! You could bring scented, unscented, etc! Plus if it's scented your date will probably get a whiff and be more inclined to smooch! A lightly tinted lip balm is a safe enough area too, just try to steer clear of intensely pigmented balms though, the same principal applies: dates face = lipstick-ified *shudder*.

Here's some lip balms that would work perfectly:

Nivea Essential Care Lip Balm

Vaseline Aloe Vera Lip Therapy 

(Pretty sure everyone has a billion of these in their house!)

Nivea Fruity Shine lip balm in Peach. 

(a soft tint and this stuff smells amazing!)

Lipstick
If you're gonna go the route of lipstick (you are brave and we salute you!), here are some of our top Lipstick picks for this Valentine's Day:

Elizabeth Arden: Red Door Red 

Elizabeth Arden: Breathless

Natural Collection: Sweet Pea. 

Ladies, we do have one thing to ask of you. Please, please for the love of that's holy and sacred: don't wear lipgloss! Lads do not like it! To them you have the lips of a two year old: sticky and unappealing. We asked around and they confirm this, for some reason most boys don't understand the wonderous-ness of lipgloss. Weirdos. 

Don't forget to check out our DIY Lip Scrub to prepare your pout!

What are you planning this Valentines? What's your lip pick gonna be? 

Until next time,

Gem and Jo's Makeup Academy (MUA) Haul

Oh yeah! What better feeling is there than receiving new makeup on a day like today?
We're in the midst of our final year university exams and we are feeling a little sorry for ourselves therefore new makeup was purchased. At sale price we may add! Makeup Academy had a 35% off winter sale during the end of 2014 and into January and we took full advantage of it!

Take a look at what we got below and don't forget to keep an eye out for our reviews of each product coming soon!

FACE: 
Matte Perfect Primer (€3.32) and Loose Translucent Powder (€1.92)

Matte Foundation - Soft Sand (€1.28)

Blusher - Shade 2 (€0.83)

EYES:
Undress Me Too Palette (€3.32)

All Matte Palette (€3.32)

Pearl and Matte Eyeshadow - Champagne and Fudge (€0.83)

False Lashes - Flair (€1.28)

LIPS:
Matte Lipstick - Pouty Pink (€0.83)

Kissalicious Lip Stain (€2.49)

MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer - Dare and Serene (€2.49)

Dare is dark and Serene is light! 

Lipstick - Shade 5 (€0.83)

Lipstick - Shade 12 (€0.83)

There ya have it, a good ole fashioned haul! Don't forget to stick around for reviews on these products, we're debating which ones we'll do first, why don't you help us choose! Let us know what product reviews you want to see in the comments below!

 Have you tried Makeup Academy products? Which is your favourite? 

Until next time,

*all prices supplied are prices we paid at time of purchase, these are subject to change.

Gem and Jo's DIY Lip Scub

Lately we have been loving the dark lip trend, anything from reds to purples, we have been loving it all. Unfortunately though our lips have not been loving this transition into the cold weather, and trust us dark lipstick on super dry and flaky lips is not a good look. That's where our  DIY lip scrub comes into play. Massage a little bit of this stuff into your lips every night and your pout will be feeling super moisturized and smooth by morning, all ready for the lip product of your choosing.  So how do you make this marvelous stuff? Well here we go:
What you'll need:

4 teaspoons of coconut oil

3 teaspoons of brown sugar

2 teaspoons of honey

A few drops of vanilla essence

A tiny weeny jar to put the finished product in. 

What to do:

Put the honey in a mixing bowl. This stuff has great healing properties and works to bind the scrub together. 

Next add the coconut oil. This will make the scrub really moisturizing.  

Add the brown sugar to the mixture and give it a good stir until it's all combined. Finally add the vanilla essence to add a bit of flavour, this stuff is gonna be on your lips so it's got to taste nice (if vanilla isn't your thing go for something else like orange or almond extract). 

Finally,  put this wondrous stuff into a cute little jar to use later. It's as simple as that! Rub the mixture into your lips for about two minutes, wipe it off and apply some lip balm and voila, beautiful soft and smooth lips! Keep this stuff handy in the fridge for the next use and pop it out for about 10  minutes before applying to warm it up.

So there you have it, our secret to super soft, lipstick ready lips!

What's your favourite go to lipstick for this fall? 

Until next time, 

Click this ribbon to see

why we've gone pink! >