Archive for the Lips Category

Current Favourites..

Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion

I thought I’d do a post displaying my absolute three fave beauty products at the moment. These three items are definitely the most loved in my make-up kit right now and I typically always have them in my everyday make-up bag; two out of three are ‘repeat purchases’ which says a lot for someone who has tried practically everything out there!

GOSH Waterproof Eye Shadow Stick in Love That Copper
I’ve done various posts mentioning this product and have been using it religiously for the last six months. It is an amazing product, unbeatable lasting power, brilliant pigment and so easy to apply. Every time I wear it someone without fail comments asking what it is.. They’re so surprised when I tell them it’s a high street brand from Superdrug and only cost a fiver!

You can build up the colour beautifully (and what a great colour it is; a copper-ish, rustic orange), and once it’s almost ‘set’ a little blending out with your finger is all that is needed. And once it’s fully set, it won’t budge! If you find it in your local Superdrug, snap it up as I have a sneaking suspicion it might be discontinued soon as it took me THREE Superdrug stores to find it, and in the end I had to buy an opened one as that was all there was and I desperately needed a new one. :(

YSL Rouge Pur Corial Poetique
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Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick in Corail Poetique (No23)
Oh, how I LOVE this lipstick. It’s got nothing really to do with the texture or formulation, it’s not the longest lasting or glossiest lipstick in the world (although by no means the worst either; it is YSL, after all!). It is just simply a gorgeous colour. This is actually the third lipstick I’ve owned of this shade now, after the first two were lost. It’s not cheap, but I couldn’t be without it in my make-up kit. A gorgeous bright coral that is striking without being statement, a perfect warmer alternative for pale pink. You can wear it subtly or strongly depending on the look. Keep it cool though, as it becomes too greasy if it melts a little and that ruins how it wears – in ideal conditions it’s a creamy semi-matte.

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Modelling all three products..

Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion Mascara
This is the only product that isn’t a repeat purchase, and if I’m perfectly honest it’s possibly the least loved of the three in the sense that I wouldn’t be devastated if I lost it (maybe something to do with the scarcity effect?). However, there is no denying that it beats all my current mascaras and the compliments over my lashes when worn never ends!

Max Factor False Lash Effect Fusion 1

It’s called Fusion because it combines the effects of two prior best selling Max Factor mascaras, to create volume and length. And it does. My lashes have never looked so long and they really do resemble falsies. Perfect separation and has yet to ever clumps on me, despite sometimes re-applying a minute or two after initial application which usually means The Layer of Death with other mascaras. I find it works better a month or so after opening, once the product has dried a little, but it was really effective from the beginning as well. Very stubborn to remove, mind. But that’s better than it running and smudging all over the place, right?

A vid of me talking ‘bout the same stuff, kinda..

Lx

DISCLAIMER: All three were PR samps originally, however the YSL Lipstick and GOSH Eye Shadow Stick were re-purchased by myself.

Lord & Berry Vogue Lipstick in Mandarino

Every now and again I get sent a PR sample that is right on the money! Surprisingly, I probably don’t wear these products near enough and the boys generally tend to not favour them (boys are so predicatabubble with their ‘I like smokey eyes’.. zzzz) but my absolute fave product is.. Lipstick! Statement lipstick, to be more precise. Specifically orange statement lipstick. Yep, not chatting the washed out coral kind that most can get a grip with, I like my orange lippy loud, borderline flouro, and preferably not glossy. So when I was sent this lipstick by Lord & Berry (my first, might I add, introduction to the brand; some kinda beauty blogger I am!), I looked at the colour and squealed with delight, emailed the PR immediately exclaiming how happy I was and put it on straight away.  I already have a wicked orange from OCC Lip Tars (Safety Orange), but I’ve discovered lip tars drrrryyyy your lips out something chronic and have been looking for a good replacement for a while (lest not forget the leaking problem I currently have with mine). So I put this on with high hopes, and.. wow.

Am I the only one completely in love with this lipstick? So yes, it is almost exactly the same shade as my OCC lip tar but the added benefits are it smooths on beautifully, nourishes the lips and is jam packed with caring ingredients – it even has anti-aging properties (obviously I can’t vouch for how effective they are in my one week trial thus far, but still!)!

What I mostly love about this lipstick is that it is a creamy matte, and not a horrible matte that looks great on your lips the moment you apply it but dries out nastily an hour later. This nourishes your lips really nicely without looking all gloopy and glossy.  I love it! Of course, it’s not the same as sticking a slick of vaseline on but for a matte lipstick the consistency is divine and an extremely comfortable wear.

And whilst it is a strong, vibrant colour and it would be a shame to not wear it that way, you could easily blot this down and achieve a far subtler look with it that is probably more universally flattering. You can see it slightly washed out because of the crappy film quality in the last YouTube vid I made (about Filofaxes) here, so you can get an idea of how it appears in action too.

A great product, admittedly predominantly for the shade but the texture, wear and formula is actually also the best out of all the oranges I have. I didn’t have any of that pesky bleeding either, and that was sans lipliner so another pro for this gem!

You can pick up Lord & Berry Vogue Lipstick in Mandarino for £11 from ASOS and I’m sure other retailers too.

Lx

A/W trend: Dark, dark vamp lips…

First off, apologies for the lack of posts this week. My sister is getting married in a couple of weeks and I have had soo much to do in help with prep for the big day (anyone feel like writing 400 wedding invitations??), and also it’s been Ramadan so my energy has been pretty low. But anyway, whilst in in my Ramadan seclusion (I hardly go out at all during this holy month) I’ve managed to keep an eye on the trends for Autumn/Winter this year, and something I’ve noticed cropping up in every A/W make-up collection and on all the hippest of celebs is dark, vampish lips. This can vary from a deep red to an almost black purple, and can be glossy or matte. I personally am all over the dark purples right now, although admittedly it is quite hard to wear. Here are two [new] lipsticks, Nars Pure Matte in Volga and Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Perle in Mesmerizing Purple, that have launched recently which are BANG on trend to recreate this look.

I think it’s really important that if you are going to rock this trend to accompany it with a few other major make-up trends for fall or else you could risk looking overdone and contradicting the look entirely.

These other trends are:

  • No mascara (I know, it’s a toughie)
  • Natural/bare eyelids
  • Strong, full, defined eyebrows
  • Lipliner for perfect lipstick (lipliner is FINALLY back!!)

Your base should ideally be matte, but not cakey or too heavy (sorry, I can’t do matte so I’ve got semi matte here), and cheeks should remain colour free other than some honey or caramel sheen/shimmer. The entire face, bar lips, should pretty much be tones of nude and not heavy/caked in texture and finish. You basically should aim to look like you have a polished, verging on neutral/bare subtly sculpted face.

This YSL lipstick I have here is part of their new Rock & Baroque Autumn collection. It is actually the limited edition Autumn colour of a completely brand new lipstick range they’ve just launched, Rouge Volupte Perle. As the shade name suggests, Mesmerizing Purple is a deep, intense purple.

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It’s a strange consistency, almost more greasy than glossy, but I love it. Especially in this particular shade. As the colour is such a deep, rich colour in a high pigmented sheer formula, you really need a lipliner to ‘keep’ the lipstick in place as without (damn, even with) it’s prone to smearing and spreading, but because it’s soooo beautiful on I think you can live with it being quite high maintenance.

I love the little pieces of glitter delicately speckled throughout it; it is an amazing evening lippie and looks great in evening light – the light really catches the shimmer and glitter!  

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Didn’t get round to doing my brows (or anything else for that matter!) in this pic as was getting ready to leave the house quickly and it was early daytime; the pics for Nars further below display more ‘statement’ brows, caramel shimmer cheeks, full Autumn trends, etc, in them.

This Nars lipstick is also part of a new lipstick collection recently launched called Pure Matte. I was lucky enough to be invited to visit their concession in Selfridges two days ago to have a lipstick matched for me out of the six shades forming this range. In all honesty, I probably could have taken all six of the shades home as they were all so gorgeous, but decided, despite how besotted I was with the ruby red, that this shade called Volga was definitely the one as it is perfect for the season (I might go back for the red).

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It’s an interesting colour, a mixture of maroon and purple. VERY dark on, but can also be worn more subtly if you don’t want to go too vamp. It’s a matte texture, and your lips seriously need to be in good condition to work this; any hint of a flake and it is amplified tenfold. Again, a lipliner to line the lips and also to deepen the colour on the centre of the lip (where the lipstick is harder to apply as it is water resistant) is required.

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Here I have ‘statement’ full, groomed brows, no mascara, bare eyelids, caramel shimmer cheeks (actually a bit too much caramel shimmer here!), [semi] matte base to contrast with the dark lips.

It’s a real matte, strong, heavy statement lip. Classic but edgy.

I love both of these lipsticks, even though they are technically part of the same trend they are completely different in my eyes as one is glossy and sheer whilst the other is super matte and heavy. At the moment I am probably leaning towards the YSL Mesmerizing Purple as I love the decadence of the gloss and glitter, so perfect for evenings out and teamed with the blackish purple shade it is divine. However the matte maroon/berry shade from Nars (Volga) is also beautiful and very striking.. Eek, don’t make me choose! One thing I do know is that I’m am definitely going to get lots of wear out of both of them.

YSL Rouge Volupte Perle No106 Mesmerizing Purple is priced at £24 and is limited edition, Nars Pure Matte in Volga is priced at £18 and is currently exclusive to Selfridges, both are available to purchase now.

What do you think?

Lx

Max Factor Vibrant Curve Effect Lip Gloss in 03 Trend Setter

I love getting review samples waaay ahead of their release date as it gives me time to play around with them before committing to an informed opinion on here. However, today I was sent this lovely looking lipgloss and despite only wearing it since this morning I think I’ve already got the 411 to offer you an accurate review! Sometimes you can just tell a product has given you all it’s got – but not necessarily in a bad way. Btw, sorry about the ‘411’ Americanism, 118 118 just didn’t have the same ring to it!

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What Max Factor say:

“A stunning new collection of high shine lip glosses which combine a unique applicator and glossy, vibrant shades to leave your lips looking more curvaceous and fuller.”

From description alone, one could be forgiven for thinking yet another super gloopy, un-fun wearing, sticky hair stuck in your gloss affair, but one would then be wrong! It is actually really light and pleasant to apply, more moisturising than sticky, and provides a pretty, lightly pigmented soft shine to your lips. So possibly the description Max Factor gave was a little misleading.. but in my opinion for the better!

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It’s always interesting to see how all these new inventions regarding applicators and brushes and so on apparently revolutionise a product. The vibrant curve effect lip gloss claims to have a unique applicator that fits the lip perfectly, including the corners (where the wand tapers in). It is curved, and as I mentioned tapered, and yes it does cleverly apply easily without ever going over my lipline, but essentially it is just a slightly more sophisticated doe foot applicator.

There are ten shades in total, each chosen by co-creative designer director Pat McGrath, and they do seem all lovely and highly wearable. However, regarding the one I was sent, ‘Trend Setter’, this product really wasn’t highly pigmented or ‘vibrant’ as the description suggests! There is a slight pink hue to the lips, but possibly because my lips are suuuper pale (like, WHITE) the colour was really nothing and in future I will probably use this on top of a light stain or colour smudged in. However, to its credit there is some vivacity and body due to all the pretty flecks of shimmer the gloss contains, but this is unfortunately only noticable in the evening and is ever so subtle. No biggie though, it is still pretty on its own in its quiet way.

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So what do I think about Max Factors Vibrant Curve Effect Lip Gloss? Well, there was no vibrant-ness and it wasn’t massively volumising, but it did enhance your lips in a much more prettier natural way (hence the ‘curvaceous and fuller’ claims) and I am actually really grateful it does so so subtly. It is verging on perfect consistency for a gloss (I detest thick, super sticky, yucky glosses!) and I find it really comfortable to wear. It lasts well, and possibly because there is hardly much pigment to transfer it doesn’t transfer much when eating, drinking, etc. Overall, a truly lovely lipgloss but if you’re expecting some full on liquid lipstick POW pigment with glass like shine, you won’t get it here. Although you may instead get a gorgeous gloss that delicately enhances and looks heaps better.

Max Factor Vibrant Curve Lip Gloss will be in store from April 2010, priced at £7.99.

Lx

Cosmetics ála Carte Lip Gloss in Bubblegum and Peach

After an event a few weeks back where I gushed over the Cosmetics ála Carte display, I was thoughtfully sent some goodies of the products I tried at the time. As soon as I opened this package I was incredibly excited as straight away I could see an array of brights and colours in perfect hues of pinks ands oranges – so me!

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This post is going to focus mainly on the lipglosses but I have also quickly swatched the blushers so you can check them out for yourself before I get round to reviewing them. Both lipglosses and blushers are the newly released neon shades; the blushers are ‘Flush Blush’ and come in Peach (the orange) and Bubblegum (the pink!), and the lipglosses are simply called ‘Lip Gloss’ and come in shades of the same name.

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(L-R) Bubblegum and Peach; lip gloss above, flush blushes below.

Initially I was really excited about the Flush Blushes but on closer inspection I noticed they were mousse blushers, not cream like I had expected. I was really hoping they’d be dewy finish (as I thought they were cream) but I’ve since briefly tried them out and they’re not that matte so I guess there is still a possibility that I will get on really well with them – plus, the shade choice alone makes them a partial winner in my eyes! Perfect for summer!

Now onto the glosses..

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Interestingly, Cosmetics ála Carte Lipglosses state on their tubes that they are ‘Sheer colour and shine. Apply liberally’. I guess if you applied one coat it could be a pretty wash of shiney colour, but I chose to use about two to three coats and managed to achieve an outstanding amount of pigment! I was so impressed. I fell immediately in love with them, they had just the right amount of colour pay off without being too gloopy or sticky with their superior gloss formulation.

Cosmetics ála Carte Lip Gloss in Peach

I’m wearing the Flush Blush in Bubblegum in these pics, too!

Cosmetics ála Carte Lip Gloss in Bubblegum

I’m not sure if the camera picks up how ‘wow’ these are, but they seriously come out bright and strongly pigmented!

I’ve been wearing the Peach all day (and all day yesterday!) and I genuinely think I have possibly found my holy grail lipgloss! The lasting power is brilliant, a good 4 hours, possibly more without eating or drinking (or smoking, etc, not that I smoke), and once it does wear off, it doesn’t do that horrible thing where your lips are left feeling bitty with pigment still stained on some parts and then completely bare on others. It faded beautifully leaving a pink, even, nourished stain.

I reapplied in total 3 times for a full days/nights wear, and I guess if you were out and about and wanted the colour to appear fresher and stronger you’d apply it more often, but for me this was fine. Out of the two, Peach is probably my favourite as Bubblegum is a little too neon and the tone is a little harder to wear – it is definitely more a statement lip and I will be still wearing it, especially for Summer.

As I mentioned above, I do believe these are my ‘Holy Grail’ lipglosses – Yes, a massive statement, I know! Considering I don’t really even like lipglosses anymore because they are often so gross and tacky on the lips and tooo sticky, Cosmetic ála Carte ones have proved to be without a doubt the exception! Pigment – outstanding. Comfort – outstanding. Formula – perfect. However, I must add that at £18 a pop these are definitely verging on the pricier side of glosses, you’re paying for the good quality, and in all honesty I’m not sure how long a tube of this is gonna last me. However if you’ve got the cash and like the shades, I would definitely make the investment. Especially in these gorgeous neon colours!

You can pick up Cosmetics ála Carte from www.cosmeticsalacarte.com.

Lx

 

Juicy Tubes is 10 years old! And to celebrate…

The worlds favourite lipgloss turns a decade old this year, and to celebrate they are bringing out these gorgeous limited edition Juicy Tubes designed by renowned Japanese Artist Yayoi Kusama. Lancôme have really upped their game with this collection; each lipgloss boasts eco-friendly packaging and a formula which is now 100% natural (Lancôme’s first ever). Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait till 1st April to officially get your hands on these, but I was lucky enough to get given a set earlier this week so here’s a sneaky peek..

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This beautifully designed set comprises of all six 100% natural limited edition Juicy Tubes, the pigment of which is created and inspired using natural origin ingredients alone for each unique shade. Sounds wonderful. I’ve tried them all and whilst none of them are massively pigmented (this isn’t the POP range, peeps) a couple of them really did stand out as adding a gorgeous hue to my lips.

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Although these days I tend to prefer a lipstick over a gloss, playing around with this collection has really invoked memories of when I first discovered Juicy Tubes and being amazed by their gorgeously sheer, shimmery finish, their moisturising properties and outstanding staying power. From this collection, nothing illustrates this better for me than Dot Apricot, my favourite of the set, a truly lovely instantly prettifying milky apricot.

It thought it worked really well with balancing a smokey eye…

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I’m sure you will all find your own unique favourite shade that you feel instantly prettifies you like Dot Apricot does for me, but the best thing about this collection is that you’ll definitely find at least one that fits the bill. On me, except for the really white shade of the six (Happy Honey), all of the others were very wearable as they’re so subtly pigmented.

These limited edition 10 year anniversary Juicy Tubes are exclusive to Debenhams for a very reasonable price of only £10! I’m sure they’ve gone down in price since I last bought one? 1st April, folks. 1st April.

Lx

 

Bourjois Sweet Kiss Shine Lipstick in Sweet Tangerine

I got a lot of positive feedback regarding my post on using hair extensions for a pretty sideways plait. However, most of the comments were on the lippy I was wearing rather than the plait itself(!) so I thought I’d do a quick post on it and put you all out of your curious misery!

The gorgeous coral lippy I was wearing is Bourjois Sweet Kiss Shine Lipstick in Sweet Tangerine, part of their new Spring collection for 2010. Yes, I know I said in the review of that collection that that was one of the few products I couldn’t get my greedy little mitts on, but that was at the time, they’ve since generously sent it to me so I now have it (and the healthy mix concealer!) – yay!

The lipstick is a satin finish lipstick, fairly strongly pigmented and very creamy; ‘tis definitely not a matte thing! When I apply it, I just apply it sans lipliner straight from the tube, and a couple of coats usually does the trick of giving me nice even coverage – it also looks pretty applied once and then smudged into the lips (the effect is similar to a stain).

The lasting power isn’t amazing, but not bad either. About 4 hours wear before it starts to get patchy; however if you keep your lips topped up with lipbalm (I’m using carmex at the mo) it does fade into a pretty soft coral stain. On the other end of the scale, if your lips are mega dry this lipstick wearing off is really not your friend!

Since getting it I’ve been wearing it constantly and I always get positive comments! I actually think it could possibly even be a teeny bit too bright on me but everyone says it’s isn’t so I’m gonna go by their opinion! It is really fun putting on a bright coral lippy, almost as if I’m willing the weather to brighten by make-up, clothes and pure optimism (possibly denial?) alone. As someone aptly commented previously on the picture above of me wearing this lipstick – I have the dress and lippy, all I need now is the weather! Damn straight!

Lx

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