Sleek Pout Paints

 

From L-R: Cloud 9, Lava, Pin-Up, Port, Peek-A-Bloo

Each tube contains 8ml of product which goes a very long way. Thanks to how highly pigmented these are, you probably only need about half as much as you'd think, and even less when you start mixing them. The packaging itself is cute and I appreciate the clear tubes. They have a very sweet almost bubblegum scent straight out of the tube but this doesn't last after application.The Pout Paints are £4.99 each and available at the Sleek website or in most Superdrug stores. 

Cloud 9

Cloud 9 is a pure white highly-pigmented gloss. I wouldn't recommend wearing this alone for fairly obvious reasons. My main issue with both this shade and Pin-Up is that they had a much thinner consistency and the product had a tendency to separate into pigment and clear gloss. I tried shaking and squeezing the tube which seemed to help a little but not as much as I'd have liked. I'm not entirely sure if it's just mine or if the whole line has this issue but it's definitely something to be aware of. Cloud 9 is primarily there to act as a lightener for other shades when mixing and in this respect it does a great job. You may have to use quite a bit to get your desired colours though so this is probably one to stock up on if you're big on mixing your own shades.

Lava

 A really beautiful pure orange shade. Lava had great coverage, stunning pigmentation and didn't settle into lines. Definitely a stand-out shade and ideal for Summer days and nights.

Pin-Up

 A blue-based red with a few technical issues. This is a pretty colour and decent enough for mixing with others but I probably wouldn't wear it alone. It almost immediately settles into lip-lines and bleeds. I have a feeling that it has just separated over time because I've seen some perfect swatches on other sites. Boo! Luckily this isn't a super unique shade and I have lots of other reds in my collection.

Port

 A blue-toned deep raspberry pink. Reminds me a lot of Raspberry Pie in Revlon Lip Butters and Apocaliptic in the Rimmel Apocalips but not a dupe by any means. I always gravitate towards these beautiful berry shades and I'm really glad I got this one! It's easily one of the best for application and looks gorgeous mixed with anything.

Peek-A-Bloo

The dark horse of the bunch, this mid-toned blue is ideal for alien role-play and darkening your unique Pout Paint mixes. Smooth and pigmented, this surprised me in the best ways. Peek-A-Bloo is less glossy than some of the others which makes it ideal for mixing. Also gives your teeth the Ross-from-Friends-nuclear-white glow. Bonus if you're feeling brave.

Here are a few of my own blends, including a perfect home made nude!

Ooh, so peachy.

The biggest problem overall with these products is that they're just a straight up pain in the arse to apply and keep topped-up through out the day. Much like the Apocalips but even more difficult to reapply thanks to the lack of applicator. I applied all of my shades with a lip brush (disposable doe foot applicators would work well too) and used a plastic tray as a palette. Not exactly a bathroom-at-the-pub friendly kit. The best thing I can recommend for these is buying a little pill tray/organiser (you can usually pick them up at Poundland or any chemists) and storing your mixes in there. This should keep them fairly air-tight (not that they dry out, I left my palette out overnight to check) and safe. Then you can keep a retractable lip brush in your make-up bag to reapply on the go. It's still a lot of effort but that's the trade-off for custom lip colours I suppose!
Wear time is nothing to write home about. They matte down a little over time but still transfer on most things. Eating will definitely require a top up afterwards. Saying that, if you apply very thinly to well-conditioned lips you'll be left with a very pretty stain that will last much longer.

Final Verdict: Inexpensive, fun to play with and a great range of shades with infinite possibilities. Awkward to apply and the wear time isn't great.

Bonus: My mess post swatch session!

Lauren

Review and Swatches: Technic Electric Beauty Electric Eyes Eyeshadow Palette

As promised, today I'm bringing you the swatches from my gorgeous bargain palette that I bought in my recent haul from Love The Make-Up! I didn't really know what to expect from this because the colours are just so vibrant. I know it's difficult sometimes to get that to translate outside of the pan and I imagine even more difficult for £1.99. So did it wow me?

The packaging is exactly the same as the Ultra Violet Palette, sleek, black and easy to open and close. It has a large mirror that runs the length of the packaging and includes a double ended sponge applicator. It's essentially exactly the same layout you would see in a Sleek i-Divine Palette. The shadows themselves are all shimmer finishes and come in a wide range of colours. I have to admit that what really drew me to this palette was the dark magenta pink and golden olive/lime colours in the top centre of the palette. They are just indescribably beautiful! It was difficult to really catch the vibrancy of these shades on camera but I can assure you that they have a serious wow-factor!

Bizarrely the colours inside run backwards to the photo shown on the palette itself. Very strange but I'll let it slide considering the price.

The first group of six is all warm pinks and oranges. The only swatch that I had a little bit of trouble with was the first pale yellow. It came out a little bit patchy but still works as a nice highlight. I really love the peach/copper shade (5) too. I use colours like this all the time and it really didn't seem very exciting in the pan but it's gorgeous! Perfect for a day look with an added touch of glam. The magenta didn't disappoint me either, it shines slightly blue which you can see a little of in the photo.

The second group contains cool tones of green, aqua and purple. By some glorious twist of fate it seems that my favourite colour from the palette is the smoothest and most pigmented of them all! Can I get an Hallelujah?! It's just stunning. A little disappointing is the fact that the middle three colours are nearly identical. I would have much rather they include another green or a cobalt.

Being the excitable lass I am I immediately started experimenting and threw together these two looks. These were done extremely fast, I mean like 60 seconds fast. I just gave my eyes a quick wipe with a makeup wipe to remove any oils and applied the shadows with my fingers. 

This is the pink on the bottom row all over the lid, magenta in the crease and under the eye using the sponge applicator and orange blended up towards the brow. I then applied my Maybelline Master Smoky Pencil in Smoky Violet (review here) to the water line and close to the upper lash line and added mascara. I look like a holiday cocktail and I don't care who knows it.

And of course I had to showcase this! It definitely reads more lime on the eyes but I don't have the slightest problem with that! I simply blended it all over the lid with my finger and added a thick line of Collection Felt Liner in Teal (review here) and an extra line of Rimmel's Exaggerate Liquid Liner in Black underneath. Topped with mascara. People will have to put up with seeing me wearing this all through Spring and Summer. It's so Mother Earth.

I don't know if you'd noticed but I actually wore these at the same time on each eye! Naturally I didn't leave the house but it's definitely an attention grabbing look...
I'm happy to announce that the wear time of these is just as good as the Ultra Violet Palette. There was zero creasing but they did fade a little around the 6 hour mark. Two colourful thumbs up from me!

Final Verdict: Well worth £1.99 and a must for any colour-lovers on a budget.

Lauren

Haul: Technic from Love Thy Make-Up

Ahh my first haul of February. Feels good. I won a couple of Technic products in a recent giveaway and discovered that they were of surprisingly good quality for a very low price. This led me to Love Thy Make-Up which is a stockist of quite a few low-priced brands. I'll be honest, I hadn't heard of any of the brands or of Love The Make-Up before but I'm definitely more inclined to take the plunge and try something new now that I know it's a stockist I can trust. I actually picked this lot up during a free delivery week so it was a super bargain! Believe it or not I got everything in the picture below for £16.45 which is just jawdroppingly cheap! And even better, delivery only took 2 days which is fantastic since I'm notoriously impatient for internet orders!

Palettes: 

Electric Beauty Eyeshadows in Ultra Violet £1.99 (Review and swatches here)

Electric Beauty Eyeshadows in Electric Eyes £1.99

Eyeshadow Quartet in Set 1 £1.49

Cream Blush:

Whipped Blusher Mousse in Candy Pink 01 £2.99

Whipper Blusher Mousse in Peaches N Cream 07 £2.99

Nail Varnishes:

Party Brights Nail Varnish in Ayia Napa (Green) £1.25

Party Brights Nail Varnish in Koh Phangan (Blue) £1.25

Party Brights Nail Varnish in South Beach Miami (Yellow) £1.25

Nail Varnish in Celebration £1.25

The Ultra Violet Palette isn't actually for me, it's for the lovely Katie from Katie Alyse who is an amazing blogger from across the pond. She loved the colours so I suggested we do a swap since she didn't have access to it, so I have that to look forward to around my birthday! Since I was so blown away by my own Technic Palette, I decided to try another one and see if I could repeat my good luck, here's hoping.

So many gorgeous colours! I love green eye shadow and cream blushes are a current obsession so I really hope these live up to my expectations. I'm hoping I can get some swatches up from the Electric Eyes Palette today or tomorrow so I can showcase it! Also worth noting is that the Nail Varnish Celebration looks like a dupe for Illamasqua's famed Creator. With a saving of over £12 I don't need to tell you which one I'd rather have. I'm looking forward to wearing this so I can compare to some photos online!

What do you think of my picks? Have you ever ordered from Love Thy Make-Up before?

Lauren

December Eye Make-Up Challenge: Day 3 "Bright and Colourful"

I hope you're still enjoying this series!

With bright and colourful there was a few ways I could go. I decided to go back to basics with primary colours, taking my inspiration from circuses and children's classrooms.

I'm not ecstatic about the outcome of this! I really needed a nice fluffy blending brush to take away the harshness of the lines. I also really wanted a white liner for my waterlines to make my eyes look really big and have the colours "pop" even more, but I'm trying to work with what I have! This is also the most mascara I have ever worn and it took me a little while to get used to it as I swear it feels heavier than usual? Maybe I'm just paranoid. 

The shadows themselves are really beautiful. The blue has an iridescence to it that I couldn't capture in the picture!

The above are my Sleek Palette in Glory and Sunset. The red's in the glory palette weren't usable for this because one was too pink and the other was a matte and I was worried about blending it with shimmers.

Day 1/Day 2

What do you think of this look?

Lauren