BEAUTY || The Cluttered Lip Product Post.

If you're following me on Instagram or caught my latest Sunday Post then you'll have seen that I indulged in yet another Whistles bag over the weekend. Reduced from £85 to £30, there was no way I was going to be able to resist that kind of saving. And all the shades of pink! It wasn't a question of wanting, I needed this bag.
Whenever I'm feeling uninspired these days, I look no further than the blogging community for fresh exciting content. There are so many wonderful beauty, fashion, and lifestyle bloggers who produce such original content on a near daily basis. It's mind boggling and means I can easily spend all day scrolling through Bloglovin'. A post that caught my eye about a week or so ago was 'The Lip Products Collecting at the Bottom of my Bag' on one of my favourite blogs, The Only Ones. It's nice to know that I'm not the only girl out there who carries round a ridiculous number of lip balms, glosses, and lipsticks (usually of all more or less the same shade). Although I've downsized from my Mulberry Alexa, just going through my new bag - which I've only had for two days! - I've already accumulated an excessive number of products.

First up is a a handbag regular - I can't remember when I last had this sitting on my chest of drawers at home - the & Other Stories Lip Balm. I've had this beauty staple for about three years now, let's just say the packaging is all worn away and I can't even tell you the shade's name. I love this cute little pot, it's very portable and has spent it's life being chucked from handbag to handbag. Although & Other Stories is fairly upmarket, the beauty range is far more accessible in terms of price and such great quality. However, this definitely isn't a lip balm - it's a dusty pink gloss that gives your lips a nice sheen without being too greasy. From what I can tell from their website, this colour has been discontinued but there are plenty of other - perhaps more on-trend - shades to choose from. But for now, this oldie will take pride of place in my handbag.
Then there's the Benefit 'Dandelion' Lip Gloss. A soft pink pearly lip gloss, it's more or less identical to its & Other Stories counterpart. I have about three tubes of the stuff, where I've lost one and repurchased it only to find the original a couple of days later - it's one of life's cruelties! I very rarely go out without any kind of product on my lips - Dandelion is for days when I want to look natural but also like I've made an effort... if that makes any sense at all.
I raved about EOS lip balms in my Lazy Sunday Face post a couple months back. I can't count how many of these I have lying around, they're such great little products. I love the circular packaging which means you can glide the balm straight onto your lips instead of dipping your finger into the product - not always the most hygienic option. Once you've found a great lip balm, it's hard not to buy them all - the one I carry round with me from day to day is the 'Passionfruit' but I have my eye on the 'Coconut Milk' swirls. Maybe when I'm in New York, eh?
Next, I have my token lipstick of the moment - MAC's 'Mehr' of course. Again, I wrote a post entitled 'The Throwback 90s Lip' which pretty much encapsulates this lipstick. It's a dusty pink/brown shade that goes perfectly with the lipliner, 'Soar'. I love this lipstick because even though it's a matte formula, it doesn't dry out the lips and is pretty long lasting - it doesn't surpass my love of the NARS lip pencil wonders but 'Mehr' does hold its own against a cup of coffee. For a more everyday look, I put one coat of this on just to make me look more 'put together'.
And last but not least, it was always going to be Dr. PAWPAW* - I wrote a rave review of this multi-tasking wonder product just last week. It's been travelling around with me everywhere ever since. If you want a more in detail analysis of this product, then feel free to delve into the archives, but all I can really say about Dr. PAWPAW is that it's a real beauty game-changer. It's works wonderfully as a lip balm and I always make a point of applying it as a primer before my favourite matte lipsticks - 'Mehr' works dreamily with this product. But it's also great as a hand cream and it's completely transformed the dry skin on my knuckles while also providing my cuticles with some much needed nourishment. To be honest, if I had to narrow down my handbag lip products then Dr. PAWPAW would trump them all. But until that day comes, I'll happily continue carting round unnecessary and practically identical shades of lip gloss, because... well... it's just what I do.