A small but passionate love affair with Topshop makeup

I think it's safe to say that I've raved about Topshop's makeup range on my blog a fair bit. While I don't own loads of the products, I've got a few items from each product type (nail varnish, lipstick etc) and I pretty much love them all.

I don't often do these kinds of posts, because, as you know, I'm embarrassingly crap when it comes to taking product photos and it ends up taking me forever just to get a few useable snaps. However, the products are all so pretty and I really wanted to share my collection so I bit the bullet and, armed with my camera, plenty of natural light and a floral duvet cover (these seem to be the requirements for successful product photos), I got snap happy...

From left to right: Stolen Sapphires, Milkshake, Mannequin, Grunge

Every time I go into Topshop and drool over the makeup stand, I get a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of nail colours. They're so beautious! As you can see, I've only got a handful (I've actually got five, but Waterlily isn't pictured here as I'd left it at Joe's) but I fully intend to change that. The consistency of these polishes is fab, they're lovely and creamy and I love the colour pay off you get from them. Milkshake and Mannequin are two of my faves, as I'm really enjoying pastels and pale colours at the moment. I bought Stolen Sapphires ages ago and I do like the colour - it reminds me of blue biro - but I just don't wear it very often (along with about 90% of the other colours in my nail varnish box...). Grunge is probably the only one I'm not a big fan of; it looks gorgeous in the bottle, a sort of shimmery khaki-gold, but one coat of it is too thin and two coats of it make it too dark and the shimmer doesn't show up very well, so I don't really bother with it. It was a part of the Heavy Duty collection, which I've just realised came out in 2010 (that was ages ago!) so you wouldn't be able to get your hands on it now anyway, but to be honest, you're not missing much.

Blush in Pop (powder) and Neon Rose (cream)

The blushes have been one of the standout products since the collection launched in 2010, and with good reason. The cream blushes in particular have been a big hit, with bloggers raving about Neon Rose and Flush, which I also had, but used it all up and decided to give Neon Rose a go instead. I think I actually prefer Flush as it's a little paler and a little pinker, but Neon Rose is also lovely. Pop is  a very similar shade, but in powder form, so occasionally I layer the two to make my blush last even longer. Both are incredibly pigmented and blend really well, so you only need to use a little bit, which means they'll last for ages.

Left to right: Lips in Whimsical, Brighton Rock, Vamp and Confession, Lipstick in Flame

I've only recently really gotten into the lip products as I wasn't much of a lipstick wearer until this year. Whimsical is the newest addition to my collection; it photographed a bit more nude than it actually is; it's more of a pale pinky coral in real life, with a matte finish. All of the lipsticks are really pigmented and apply beautifully. Unlike other lipsticks I've tried, these are a lot less drying on the lips and while others tend to go a bit patchy as the day wears on, these just fade really nicely, making touching up your lipstick a lot easier. Confession, the lovely bright coral is one that I reach for a lot (you know I love my coral shades!) but Brighton Rock is also a great one for Summer.

Eyes in Mercury

The eyeshadow is probably the only makeup product I've been seriously unimpressed with. I bought this as I thought it'd be a good one to use for evening makeup but the colour pay off isn't great and it doesn't blend as easily as other shadows I've used so I've probably only used it once or twice. Disappointing! Maybe it's just this colour though? Has anybody else tried the eyeshadows and had a better experience than me?

Crayon in Sun Shower

While the eyeshadow isn't very good, the eye Crayon is absolutely brilliant! This was actually the first product I bought when Topshop Makeup first launched and I've still got a bit left even though this is something I've used time and time again. The pigmentation is amazing, it's super sparkly and you can either draw it straight onto the eye to get a really intense gold colour, or blend it out for a more subtle look. This was part of the 2010 Trend collection, so it's no longer available, but last time I was in the store I saw that they're doing Crayons in the normal black and white packaging and I'm sure there's one similar to this. Wahey!

So that's my collection - not small but not quite as massive as I'd like - believe me, I'd buy a lot more if I could justify it to myself. (which I most definitely can't!)

Do you use Topshop Makeup? What are your favourite products?