L'Oreal Paris Color Riche L'Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick Review in 601 Nude Ballet

601 Nude Ballet

As an avid watcher of Youtube videos, I'd seen Itsjudytime swatch the whole range of these products and as soon as I saw them in Boots, I had to get my paws on them. 

I tend to gravitate towards nude lips because my Mum reckons anything bright looks horrible on me (thanks Mum, love you too...) and I wear a nude lip most often because it's easy to pull off and appropriate for any occasion. I purchased the shade 601 Nude Ballet because it's a gorgeous nude colour that I thought would flatter my skin tone.

I love the packaging, gold is always a winner in my eyes, I think it instantly makes a product look luxurious. I also love how you can see the shade on the outside as well as on the top and bottom of the product!

 

The wand applicator is a good shape, I imagine it would work well with all lip shapes, and it's great if you have a prominent cupid's bow like me to ensure any sharp edges don't get missed!

 The applicator also has like a little well of product that ensures a good amount of product is dispensed.
From watching Itsjudytime's video, I actually remember thinking this shade looked the worst out of all the ones she swatched, but I couldn't remember what shade it was in store and unluckily, I ended up with the shade I disliked most. 

L'Oreal claim this has the "colour intensity of a lipstick, magnifying shine of a gloss, and softness of a balm."
I agree with the "magnifying shine of a gloss" but that's about it. I don't see how a gloss can be considered 'soft' when it's slippery, and the colour payoff wasn't great for me. Now I'm sure a more vibrant colour would've had better colour payoff and I probably would've had a whole different experience if I'd picked a different shade, but this fails miserably for a nude 'liquid lipstick'. To me, it's just a lipgloss in lovely packaging.

I should mention that I had a nude lipstick on underneath this "liquid lipstick", so without it would be much more sheer!

I don't like the smell at all, to me it has a sickly floral smell. Oddly enough my friend Georgia (check out her blog here!) has the exact same product in the exact same shade and hates it just as much as I do, but loves the smell! 

I can't comment on the longevity as I only left it on long enough to take pictures for and then removed it straight away. I hate the feeling of glosses, although this was smooth and not sticky, but the scent just sealed the deal for me, I really don't like this product unfortunately! The scent is enough to put me off not buying another one in a brighter shade, I'd rather buy a L'Oreal lipstick or something that I know I'm going to get use out of.

I believe I'm in the minority that didn't like this product, rightfully so as I've only tried one out of the full range! I sound like such a negative nancy in this post haha but by all means, try out this product, it's somewhat affordable at £8.99... although I think it's overpriced for what is essentially a lipgloss, and there are a load of cheaper drugstore ones that do a better job and smell nicer. I also wouldn't recommend it in this shade if colour payoff is a preference of yours.

Overall rating : 2/5

Simply because of the packaging. and I think 1/5 is a lil' harsh :P

It's far from a brilliant product, but it's not downright awful either.
Who knows, maybe I'll resort to applying this over a matte nude lip one day!

Thanks for reading! :)

Rimmel Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation Review

I've been wearing this foundation for the past fortnight so I think I've worn it long enough to write an honest review on it. 

 I got this on offer from Tesco for £3.99!! Now that my friends is a bargain.

30ml of product for so cheap is a great deal!

The squeezy tube is ideal as it's easy to squeeze the product out, and the tube is easy enough to cut open when it's done if you're one of those people who like to get out every last possible bit of their makeup. I know I am!

This foundation comes in 5 shades, which realistically, is going to make it hard to find your ideal match. I chose the shade 200 which was about a shade too dark for me, but it looks fine once I apply a powder. I know, powder over matte, are you crazy?! It definitely dries matte, but I don't think this is the best for oily skin because an hour without powder and my nose and forehead look like an oil slick. 

Rimmel claims: "A feather-light, liquid mousse that blends flawlessly for natural-looking and an all day shine control
Silky smooth formula for a perfectly matte, baby-soft finish
Lightweight texture won't feel heavy or greasy
Minimises the appearance of pores.

I don't really understand it when products are described as a liquid mousse, a liquid is runny and a mousse is spongy, is it a runny bouncy cross breed? It's definitely more on the mousse side anyway. 

The product is quite thick but it blends in nicely with my skin, a little goes a long way. It has great coverage too, not cakey looking and not heavy on your face which is always a major plus.

For me, I'm all about the full coverage, and this foundation is great in the sense that you don't look like you've dunked your face in foundation. 

Basically, you can tell there's still a face underneath that foundation, always a good thing. Natural is the word I'm looking for! Lovely and natural. 

Great coverage and it definitely lives up to its claim of being lightweight.

However, I don't get it's claims of minimising pores. If anything, it enhances my pores on my cheeks! Once I've done the rest of my face makeup it's not so obvious, but if you were talking to me up close you'd probably be like 'damn she's got big pores!'

It definitely lives up to its claim of being silky smooth, the first time I wore this I stroked my face with admiration for a good few minutes because it felt so soft! I'm completely normal.

This lasts me about 8 hours with a good coverage still in tact. I stupidly fell asleep with it on last night (don't hit me) and when I woke up the only remnants of it on my face were it clinging for dear life onto my dry patches around the sides of my nose and mouth. It was disgusting, do not do this!

Full face of makeup applied with the rimmel matte foundation, it photographs very very well!

Overall I'd rate this 4/5

Affordable, lasts me most of the day, photographs well, great coverage

Not so great shade range, doesn't minimise pores

Still a great foundation overall for super cheap!

Thanks for reading! :)

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Complex, Elusive and Sultry Swatches & Review

I bought into the hype, and boy am I glad I did! These matte balms are a gift from the gods, they really are matte, and not the drying kind!! I hate products that claim to be matte but have a sheen to them, and on top of that, dry your lips out! Luckily for us these little babies are super hydrating! Can you tell I'm excited?!?! 

I was hesitant to purchase these in case they were anything like the original Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains that I reviewed here, but these are definitely far superior and for £7.99 it's the exact same price as the stains, but 10x better!! The range of shades is brilliant with a total of 10 matte (excluding lacquer finish) colours to choose from, so there's definitely a shade to suit all tastes, skintones, eye colour, hair colour, etc etc etc!! 

Good 'ole Boots was doing a 3 for 2 offer on all Revlon products and I figured it would be rude not to.. so I picked up 3 of these in Sultry, Elusive and Complex.

Across the board these products are definitely moisturizing, and they still have that peppermint fragrance to them, just like the original, which is great if you like it! I don't, although, I'm not sure if it's my mind playing tricks on me, but I don't find the smell as strong as in the original Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains! I can wear these without any complaints in terms of fragrance! Yay!

I think the darker the shade, the nicer they apply. As I made my way through these three, lightest to darkest, I noticed they got progressively better!

Complex:

Bottom right picture is with flash, the other two in natural light.

I'm not actually sure why I picked this shade up.. I concluded from reading other reviews that it would be too pale from my skintone.. I even made a note to myself in my phone not to get this shade.. but stubborn me was determined to make it work! I don't think it makes me look like a corpse.. maybe borderline.. 

The colour is fine after initial application when it's had a chance to settle in, but it originally goes on quite sheer and patchy, yet feels moisturizing... odd. It looks great with a gloss over the top though!

It lasted me about 3 hours before most of it had faded, and any residue had settled into the lines on my lips (yuck).

My least favourite of the bunch, but still not a bad product all in all!

Rating: 3/5

Elusive:

This is a lovely muted pink, actually not far off 'Please Me' by MAC! I'm not sure if pinks compliment my skintone, but I shall continue to wear them until someone outright tells me it looks fugly haha.
The balm glides on smoothly and doesn't cling to any dry patches, it's a perfect everyday pink that would flatter all skin tones. I like how the colour is not something you'd need to have bags of confidence to wear out in public, like you may need (I know I do!) with a bright or deep colour!
I do my makeup at around 6am and don't get home until 8:30pm some days, and this lasted me the full day with only one reapplication!! What the fudge that's amazing! It didn't accentuate any dry patches on my lips which is always a bonus, what a fab little thing!

I love this colour, definitely a very wearable colour for all skin types, and fantastic lasting power!

Rating: 5/5 oh yeahhhh!

Sultry:

This shade was the best formula wise, it glides on like a dream! This is the shade out of the three I'd recommend everyone should run out and buy right now haha.
It feels like you're applying a lipbalm, yet it doesn't have that slippery consistency that creamy products tend to have, meaning it stayed in tact, with no bleeding, for the full day! It doesn't settle into lines and it doesn't dry out your lips, because it's suuuuper moisturising!

The colour is opaque and a unique shade that I can't quite describe. It's not a berry colour, or a deep red, but a soft red that is perfect for when you want a pop of colour. 

This colour and cat winged eyeliner = simple, yet seductive. Ooooh.

This is another shade that will last you literally all day. Amaaaazing.

Rating: 5/5

Final Verdict

I totally should have gotten the purple shade Shameless, I was swithering between Shameless and Complex for 10 minutes, but I'll take this as an excuse to build my collection of these little beauties he he.

These aren't stains, and I did experience a fair bit of transfer when eating and drinking, but not any more so than with any of my other lipsticks.

They're highly moisturizing, such a rare quality in matte lip products, which is great for my dry lips and matte obsession!

For £7.99 I'd say these are affordable, totally worth the hype, and you'll most likely be able to get them on some kind of promotion throughout the year! (ps. Superdrug are currently selling them for £5.99 until sometime in March ;))

At least buy one to try, and then you'll understand the hype ;)

Thanks for reading & take care! :) 

x

Primark Haul [2014]

Aah Primark.. It's always either hit or miss for me in Primark, but I popped in recently and found some great bargains that I couldn't pass up on!

I love love love the colour and style of these shoes, plus they're so comfy! Now I just need to wait for the weather to perk up and stop raining so I can get some proper wear in them!

I am a complete sucker for tassels, they make these shoes look 10x nicer in my opinion

The best part.. these only cost me £6!!

They were inexpensive before, but now they are a total bargain! Kind of wish I'd picked them up in black too now..

As it's now spring, I'm transitioning into more light, pastel colours (sorry to be 

cliché, but i love spring fashion the most), and these were just too cute to pass up, plus they were only £4 each! Gold, floral and pastel.. my favourites all rolled into one! 

The pink one is my personal favourite out of the two, it's just so pretty and feminine! Something I kind of lack in my collection.

This super cosy cardigan was something I could see myself wearing with a white tank top tucked into shorts, some boots (or even my cute flats I posted above) and this cardigan just over the top. I deliberately got it in a larger size so that it gave a more slouchy look instead of it being too fitted, I just like prefer loose fitting things :).

aaaaaand it was a bargain £5! I do love a bargain..

That's all of my Primark bargain buys, or really more like fashion on a budget!

Thanks for reading! :)

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in 020 Lovesick Review

Revon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain - 020 Lovesick

I'm so late jumping onto this bandwagon I know.. but there was a 3 for 2 offer on Revlon in Boots and I couldn't resist..

Revlon is my favourite drugstore brand for lipsticks so I got 2 matte lipsticks and this stain. These never particularly interested me because I'd rather just buy a lipstick then a balm/stain, but seeing as it was on offer and I didn't see anything I liked, I thought lets just try one out.

I got mine in the shade 020 Lovesick because it looked like the easiest to pull off, some of the other shades were a bit 'meh', and probably wouldn't look so good on my olive complexion.

The packaging is plastic and twists up, this is how much product there is when it's fully twisted. I paid £7.99 I believe so it's a reasonable price for the amount of product you get. The fact that you can't sharpen the product kind of sucks because it will get thicker at the top as the product wears down which will make it harder to apply.

My bare lips are quite dry which is something I've always had problems with, so I was hoping this product would be beneficial to me because it does claim to be a balm. Also please excuse the spots and sun spots, I didn't apply any face makeup when I reviewed this product because I'm trying to let my skin breathe from all the makeup I've been wearing recently.

Above is the product when applied in natural light (standing at a window), and below is with the camera flash on. The irritating thing about this is it's definitely one of those products that doesn't adhere to the inner part of my lips. I hate it when lipsticks wear away and show your natural lip colour while the rest of my lips remain intact, that's one of my pet peeves!

Due to the fact it's a balm, it feels quite slippery and is prone to bleeding outside of my lips. It also has a minty, peppermint smell and tingles my lips slightly, I don't mind the smell of mint, but I really didn't like the minty smell that this product has. Just imagining it makes me cringe >.<

The upside is the opacity, it's very opaque and I achieved the colour above, and in the picture on my lips, with just one swipe. The swatch on my lower hand is the stain the product left after about 3 hours, it's worn away quite a lot but it does still leave a stain.

This is my lips 3 hours after initially applying it. During that time period I'd drank Irn Bru and ate a salad with balsamic vinegar, not a lot of my lip products last through the balsamic vinegar but there is still a stain with this one.

It's very apparent in the bottom picture that the product has bled around my lips, and it has unfortunately settled into the lines on my lips. I didn't reapply after this because I didn't want to wear it any more, but I imagine your lips would look better if you applied another layer. 

Advantages

• Opaque colour with just one swipe
• Reasonably priced
• Good amount of product for your price

Disadvantages

• Minty smell is off-putting
• Not very moisturising
• Can cling to dry patches and settles into lip lines
• Bleeds outside of lips
• Not as long lasting as expected

On the upside, it's a highly pigmented balm, but I would not recommend this product.

 I was disappointed with how it actually dried out my lips as opposed to moisturising them as it does claim to be a balm, and I can buy a lip balm which will do the job for much cheaper. The smell is offputting and the product just slides off of my lips, leaving a barely visible stain. Considering this is one of the darker shades, I can only imagine how long the lighter shades would last, but I'm not willing to try it out haha. 

Thanks for reading! :)

Blog Problems

WOW long time no post, I had major problems with my blog.

One day I suddenly couldn't access my blog and I kept on getting an error message saying there was something suspicious bla bla.. I can't remember exactly, it was many moons ago.. anyway.. I've been trying to get into my blog for months now, until I logged out of my other google account, and lo and behold, my account was there, I entered my password and bam, now I'm back!
I'm so happy I didn't have to start over and make a new blog because I've worked hard on this one!

Yay for silver linings, 2014 has got off to a fantastic start now! 

I will definitely be posting blog posts on a regular basis now, I'm so thrilled I got my blog back ^.^ Unfortunately I've purchased a tonne of makeup and didn't photograph any of it because I didn't have a blog to put the pictures on >.> Maybe I shall review some of my favourite products since I've used them for a good while now..

Anyway, hope 2014 is getting off to a good start for everyone, lets make this a great fan frikkin' tabulous year!! :D

Thanks for reading :)

Kira Kira Violet Circle Lens *With Makeup* (Iszo Circle Lens)

I am SOOO pissed at myself. I'd worn these lenses about 5 times before I ripped the left lens, gaaah! I think it was my nails >.< I thought I'd be able to order just one new lens as the right one was fine, but it'd actually work out cheaper if I just bought a new pair.. However, as much as I love these lens, I think I may try them in another colour.

Here's some pictures of me wearing the lens with makeup, as my first post on these was bare faced (sincerest apologies for you having to witness me bare faced!)

WARNING: EXTREME CAMWHORING!

That was hella vain haha I'm so sorry, I'm just not used to taking pictures that I actually like and don't have to edit ^o^

My eye makeup on a different occasion, I can't get over how doll-eyed my eyes look, I love it! ^.^

I find even with only mascara, I can still wear these lenses out. 

There's been a few times now when people have said "are you wearing contacts? They're funky!" 

I'm 100% going to re-purchase these, maybe in blue?

Thanks for reading! ^.^