primark p.s love lipstick- review and swatches

  

Hello again lovelies. I've got another budget beauty post for you today, and it's back to my trusty and ever pleasing Primark beauty range, P.S Love, and two more of their lipsticks. The first is just a quid, and it is pretty lovely. 

     There doesn't appear to be shade name for this one, but I'd describe it as a browny-pinky-nude. Of the same colour category as mac Whirl,  I guess. It's a perfect 'my lips but better' shade on me, and is great for reaching for in a hurry because it will polish off your look and will go with whatever makeup/outfit you're wearing. You can't really go wrong with a shade like this, and I think it would suit every skin tone. 

     The texture of this lipstick is great too. It's a satin finish that keeps lips smooth and moist, and gives medium coverage. It lasts a decent while and doesn't bleed. As a happy bonus, it smells delicious! Like love heart sweets. I could eat it.

primark p.s love lipstick

      Moving swiftly on to lippy number 2. This one is called 'hot pink', because it's hot pink. Ha. It's described as 'deep colour ultra shine' lipstick, which sounded pretty promising. This one was £1.50.

    Well, I can totally agree with the deep colour bit. You get fully opaque, intense coverage with this one, which means you get an impressive bang for your buck. As for the ultra shine bit.... well, I'd say it's more of a soft sheen. It's pretty much a satin finish, but that's a-okay in my book. It lasts very well thanks to its pigmentation and slightly waxy texture, and it doesn't dry the lips out. Another general thumbs up, but this one does have an unfortunate caveat: a really unpleasantly strong rose perfume. It's a bit sickening. 

Thanks for dropping by, you babe xox

avon ultra colour indulgence lipstick- review and swatches

Oh my Gosh. Guys. I have a bloody brilliant lippy to share with you guys today. Introducing Avon's brand new ultra colour indulgence lipstick...behold!

       There she is. It's the typical Avon glossy black with a silver band affair, though taller and cylindrical rather than square-ish. It's sleek and sturdy- no complaints. The bullet shape is rather flat and wide though, as you can see. I found this to be no problem. In fact, I quite liked that it distributed a good sweep of colour to easily coat my fuller lips. However, if you have thinner lips, or a more defined cupid's bow, you may find it a bit fiddly to get a precise edge. Perhaps. 

       I have the shade 'spring lilac', which is indeed an appropriate pop of girly colour for the arrival or the more lively season, It's not a true lilal though- more of a pinkish plum. Very pretty, though, and I found it brightened my overall complexion and made me feel like an utter doll.

       All well and good so far, but what makes it so special? Well, the texture is MINDBLOWINGLY FABULOUS. The description on the site said the formula was gel-based (as opposed to wax-based), and I kind of wrote it off as irrelevant and a bit gimmicky. But it is really quite amazing. Now, when I first tried it on, I swept it on over dry lips. I had a cold and they were in an unusually grim state. Did the colour catch on dry bits? Did it emphasise the chappiness? Did it go on patchy? Did it fudgecake. It positively glided over and completely erased all the dryness with it. It was like a super good emollient lip balm, with none of the sticky heaviness. The water based formula meant it felt lightweight despite being hydrating, and it had the perfect amount of slip to comfortable but not slip-right-off-your-face slippery. 

       The thing is, there are other hydrating lightweight lipsticks about. But this goes one up. First of, it has good colour payoff. Usually, hydrating tends to translate as 'sheer'. Not here. One coat gives a good medium flush of colour, and this can be built up with layering without getting a greasy gooey mess. Secondly, it doesn't bleed. Lastly, and most fabulously, it lasts well! How rare is that for a lipstick of this texture? It's usually easy come easy go, innit. This lisptick, though, seems to stain a little, so even when the glossy sheen wears off, a good tint of colour remains. It's not super long wearing per se, but it definitely lasts beyond the average mark, and I wasn't expecting that at all.

        The swatch below is from my first time trying it, so it's over my dry cold-mardy lips. Hopefully you can see how well it looked despite the manky canvass. This is one coat. 

avon ultra colour indulgence lipstick- spring lilac

Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised by this unassuming offering, and obviously recommend trying it out, particularly for those of you prone to dry lips. It's priced at a very reasonable £7.50, and often on offer. Let me know if you try it!

mua luxe whipped velvet lip cream: review and swatches

      MUA have churned out a lot of new releases lately, one of which is this little offering: The whipped velvet lip cream. Now, as a fan of the original velvet lip lacquers (review here), I was curious to see how these would fare in comparison. I went for the shade 'spry', an easy to wear warm pink-beige nude. 

mua luxe whipped velvet lip cream- spry

         Sorry about the dodgy blanket- I took it camping with me! Right. So this applies with a standard doe-foot which does the job of applying the colour smoothly and precisely. The formula itself was a surprise- I was expecting a lacquer-like liquid lipstick. Instead, I got a feather light lip cream that was comfortable to wear and didn't set, but somehow still looked pretty matte. For those of you who hate 'feeling' lip products on your lips, give this a shot. You'll forget you have anything on.

      As for pigmentation, I found it to apply with medium coverage that could be sheered out with blotting or a light touch or built up a little for greater intensity. I can't really comment on how long it lasted because it's quite hard to tell with a nude this natural-looking, but top ups are definitely easy and fool-proof. 

    As you can see from the pictures below, it's a true nude against my Asian skintone. I like to wear it paired with a wine/burgundy smokey eye and flushed cheeks. On fairer skin tones, I think it'd look a little warmer and deeper, and I think it could work with darker skintones too. Of course, there are also brighter, more colourful options available, and MUA have also released whipped velvet blushers in corresponding shades! 

mua luxe whipped velvet lips- spry

mua luxe whipped velvet lips- spry

    Overall, I think that at a mere £3 a pop, these are a great, easy to wear lip product to have in your stash. Will you be trying a shade or two?

x

avon colourtrend limited edition kiss n go spring shades lipstick review

Ok, so I know it's not quite spring yet, but I couldn't wait to pop out my new spring themed lipstick. For those who don't know, Colortrend is an Avon brand that tends to be more budget friendly than their other products, and are usually pretty colourful, and tend to be appeal to teens. My experiences with have been a mixed bag- the eyeliners are great, the eyeshadows are dire, and lipsticks are the best things on the entire planet. 

    No, seriously. I'll explain why in a minute. But first, let's have a look at one. The 'Kiss n go' line has been around for a long while, and has undergone a few transformations in that time. When I first became acquainted with them, they came in cheap black bullets with clear black caps (they looked cheap- very cheap) and felt waxy on lips, often having overly frosty finishes. In a word, cheap. Then, BOOM. They went and revamped the line. The packaging became more sturdy and less flimsy and more colourful. Not sleek by any means, but cheap and cheerful in a perfectly acceptable way, and a huge improvement.

     While the usual lipsticks are white, these spring-themed babies are all pinkified and floral, which is pretty and fitting, I think. Again, not particularly grown up, but pretty. And as an added extra pretty touch, there's a floral design engraved on the bullet! It's the little things, ain't it?

     And the formula? well it was revamped too. The new Kiss n go lipsticks turned out to be richly pigmented, hydrating, smooth, and very long lasting thanks to a grippy-not-slippy formula. The shape of the bullet was also changed: a wider, slanted surface that defined contours while depositing a generous amount of colour in one wide sweep. Feather-proof. No foul taste or smell. And on top of all that- they boast spf15. All this for a lippy at (and often under) £3.75? ALL OF THE WOW. There are high end lipsticks that don't deliver like these do. 

    Anyway, this particular shade is called 'racy raspberry', and is, as you might have guessed, a raspberry shade. It's the deepest in the spring collection, alongside other shades of pink. I found it to have a satin finish that wore to almost matte as I munched and sipped tea throughout the day, and it lasted well over five hours with its vibrancy still intact, though the juiciness had worn away. It does have a subtle shimmer to it, but it's nothing tacky- it just gives a radiant, luminous finish.

colortrend kiss n go lipstick- racy raspberry

     I was genuinely blown away with how brilliant they were, and kept going back for more. They have an impressive range of colours, and I now own an indecent number of them, as well as some from various limited edition collections. I'm a hoarder. So sue me.

    (Un)lucky for you guys, that means I'll have a mega swatchy review post of a jillion of these beauties on the way soon. In the mean time, GO BUY A WHOLE TRUCKLOAD. You will love them. 

xx

clinique long last soft matte lipstick- review and swatches

Hey there guys. It's been a while, but I'm back with another post of another lippy that I just luuurve. It's the Clinique Long Last Soft Matte Lipstick, and I've got one in the shade 'matte crimson' to share with you today.

 

     First things first- ain't she pretty? Shiny and heavy and different to the usual gold or black casing higher end lipsticks tend to sport. 

     The shade is, as the name suggests, crimson red with a soft matte finish. But what does soft matte mean? Well, for me, I found the 'soft' part came through in both texture and finish, making it different to the standard matte. In terms of texture, it was comfortable and actually kept my lips moist throughout wear without the need for a balm. How rare is that for a matte? And it terms of finish, I think the main difference is that it was free from shine but not that full-on powder-matte. Just little differences, but overall they made the experience of wearing a matte shade much more pleasant and hassle free, and I definitely prefer it to traditional mattes. 

      As far as application goes, there were no problems at all. It was soft enough to glide on without drag, and one coat gave full opacity. It does initially appear to have a slight sheen that's more akin to a satin finish, but give it a while to set and the matte reigns. Because of the finish and opacity, this lipstick does indeed last a long while. For such a bright shade, it didn't transfer as much as I expected it to and there were no problems with bleeding or that awful red ring. The fade was actually even and flattering, wearing down to a 'just bitten' stain. In fact, I prefer to wear it applied with a light touch and blotted slightly, for a less dramatic day look. See below, bro.

Clinique long last soft matte lipstick- matte crimson

Clinique long last soft matte lipstick- matte crimson

 

    Overall, I think this lippy is a winner and worth trying if your budget stretches that far (£18). Personally, while I do love it, it doesn't beat my other matte lipstick with equally comfortable formula- Daniel Sandler's luxury matte lipstick. It's also about half the price of this one, so do check that one out if you like the look of this but don't got the dolla. 

     In fact, I think I'll give that one a review of its own at some point. Until next time, thanks for checking in, babeface x

essence xxxl longlasting lipgloss (matt) lip cream- review & swatches

 Look guys, I'm finally reviewing a winter appropriate neutral shade *pats self on back*. It's a soft nude, and it is (very appropriately) called 'soft nude'. Introducing the Essence XXXL Longlasting matt lipgloss, which described as a 'silky lip cream' with long wearing colour.

essence xxxl matt lip cream- 06 soft nude

    There she is. Not bad for a budget brand, huh? Certainly not garish, and it's a generously sized tube. This lip cream comes with a flat paddle-like applicator which is actually quite easy to use and distributes the colour evenly. It's long and it's flexible, so I guess that lets it cover a lot of surface area in one pass. 

   And one pass is really all you need. In fact, you might even want to wipe off some excess product as you don't need much to get decent coverage, and overdoing it can result in impairing the formula's ability to set. Yep, it will set somewhat, though not entirely. The finish is perfect for me because the slight softness afforded prevents drying, yet it's not so wet that it gets all messy and won't stay put. On first application, be prepared for a slippery texture and a soft sheen. Worry not though, it will dry down a little in time. Here's what it looks like freshly applied:

essence xxxl matt longlasting lip cream- 06 soft nude

    I like the colour! It's a great nude that I can see suiting a whole range of skintones. It's somewhere between a dusty rose and caramel beige- lovely.

    All in all, I'm impressed, and at £2.30, it's a sure bargain.

topshop lip cream- review and swatches

  

I'm back with another blindingly bright lip cream. I know, it's winter, and I'm technically supposed to lay off the neons... but what can I say? I just love me some colour. Today, I've been wearing Topshop's lip cream in the shade 'pout'. Take a look!

   Aww, look at those pretty polkadots. And look at that colour! Pout is an orange. Not a coral. A proper, in yer face, super opaque, mega vivid ORANGE, baby. Even I was a bit intimidated by it, and kept wiping off the excess product from the doefoot in a bid to tone it down. It didn't do much. It goes on perfectly true to colour and makes no apologies about it.

    Now, this is a lip cream that applies and wears as the word 'cream' would suggest. Slightly thick, moistening, plenty of slip. It doesn't bleed or feather despite it's formula and pigmentation, though it does transfer, as it remains a 'cream' consistency and doesn't set to the touchproof, matte finish of similar products. Nope, it's very much a satin finish that stays sort of 'wet' if you know what I mean. 

  Initially, I was cautious about the finish as I suspected the high transfer would equate to rubbish wear time, but I'm pleased to report it doesn't affect longevity at all. I reckon it's because the lip cream is SO BLOODY PIGMENTED, that you could stamp your orange pout all over the place and there'd still be a punch of colour left on it. Also, the slip allows you to rub your lips together to easily redistribute the colour without needing to reapply all over.

   Oh, and it smells like yummy vanilla.

topshop lip cream- pout

topshop lip cream- pout

topshop lip cream- pout

topshop lip cream- pout

Have you tried any of these? I'm quite interesting in the nude shade, 'dust'. Share your thoughts with me, lovelies xox