When I was at uni, I struggled with money a lot. 

My maintenance loan from Student Finance England covered my rent and left me with £15 for feeding myself, paying bills, buying course supplies and travelling home and to see Magro.

It's the same for a lot of students but out of my friends, I always seemed to be the one with the least money. Luckily, these friends are awesome. For my 21st birthday, they took me out to get my hair cut at Tony & Guy and to have gel colours put on my nails. This year, being in different countries and all that, they sent me some money so I could treat myself to something nice. After a year of lusting after their perfectly coloured Laura Mercier lipsticks, I decided to get myself a luxe lippy.



I remember seeing a magazine feature about Tom Ford's lipstick range when it first came out and wishing I could buy every single colour. This meant I didn't have a clear favourite when I went to the make-up counter in La Rinascente so I asked the sales girl to help me out. She picked out Violet Fatale, a rich berry colour. I wouldn't normally have gone for the warm fuchsia but it looked amazing and lasted all day (and the next!) I went back a few weeks later and got it.

Along with some lovely samples...



Ok admittedly I used it before remembering to take photos...




The freebies definitely aren't bad! This mini lipstick will last me a month or so at least and I'm always happy for a top-up of my favourite perfume, Black Orchid.

I haven't taken any photos of myself wearing it yet (apart from some dodgy ones of me in the swimming pool changing rooms post 3km swim with the colour STILL intact) but they're sure to pop up over the next few months - if it looks remotely purply, it's this bad boy!

I do however have a pic of me wearing the sample...


I'm seriously tempted to go back and get another so I can try a new colour and get more samples... does anyone else have any favourite brands?