Review: Maybelline Color Sensational Vivid Lipsticks in Fuchsia Flash, Shocking Coral and Neon Red + Potential MAC Dupes?!

A couple of weeks ago I was casually swatching everything in Superdrug with a little "new" sticker (as you do) and came across these lipsticks. Honestly, it was love at first swatch. Sadly I had no money (why do I this to myself?) but the next week my absolutely gorgeous, perfect, wonderful, shopping-addiction-enabling boyfriend gave me some money to treat myself! The first thing that popped into my mind was these beauties and before I knew it I was heading home with three new lipsticks. 

The Maybelline Color Sensational Vivid Lipsticks are a capsule collection of bright, highly pigmented lipsticks within the Color Sensational line of lip products. Sadly there are only 5 shades currently available in the UK but I really hope they extend it to the full 10! I'm dying to try Vivid Rose, Vibrant Mandarin and Brazen Berry. The colours that I picked up on this occasion were Fuchsia Flash, Shocking Coral and Neon Red.

Fuchsia Flash

I have never in my life worn a colour like this but I regret not doing it sooner! I've seen a whole bunch of comparisons and this looks like a very good dupe of MAC's much loved Candy Yum-Yum but with a shinier finish. It's a beautifully opaque neon pink with blue undertones.

 

Shocking Coral

I personally think of coral as a bit more peach/orange than this but I was pleasantly surprised with how wearable this yellow based pink is. This looks so beautiful worn with pared down eye makeup and soft peach blush. For potential dupes I've seen it compared to MAC's Impassioned and Party Parrot.

Neon Red

An orange based red. The colour in the bullet for some reason looks a lot darker than the colour when applied. It's a little difficult to tell from this image but I assure you, it's very orange based! From what I've seen online the colour looks extremely similar to MAC's Lady Danger which is one of the shades I've been lusting after for a long, long time. At least I know now it'll suit me!

First things first, big thumbs up for the cute neon/bright inspired names and packaging. The only thing I'll have a slight moan about is that because the colour of the packaging is identical they're a smidge difficult to differentiate. If you store your lipsticks upside down in an orderly fashion this obviously won't be an issue, but for my woefully disorganised basket of products I do have to check each one. Saying that, they really stand out amongst my other products so at least I only have 3 tubes to check! There is a slight, sweet scent too but nothing overpowering and it doesn't last when applied.

Most importantly, these are without a doubt the best lipsticks that I've ever tried. I know that doesn't mean a ton since I don't have that many actual lipsticks but regardless, I thought you should know! The colours are beautiful. Soft, shiny, opaque, super pigmented, long lasting, non-drying, creamy, non-feathering and I could go on like this all night. One of the massive pluses for me was the truly outstanding staying power. I can wear these all day and only have to top up after heavy meals. I've eaten sandwiches and drank from glasses and it doesn't really go anywhere (I was surprised too.) Admittedly, I do apply, blot, reapply for that level of staying power but still, pretty impressive. I also find them quite versatile too; a light blotting will create a matte effect and applying with some balm will create a sheer, pretty tint. I swear these will not leave my face for Summer 2013, I'm in love! I really think that this is evidence of the high street upping their game when it comes to lipsticks and I'm overjoyed to see it happening.

£7.19 from Boots or Superdrug.

Final Verdict: I adore them. Pigmented, creamy and long lasting, Please try one!

Have you tried any lipsticks from this line? What are your favourite drug store lipsticks?

Lauren

Review: Clinique Chubby Stick in Chunky Cherry

I'm enormously pleased to tell you that the amazing prize that I won from Danniella was a Clinique Chubby Stick! If you were following me around December/January time on Twitter you probably would have seen my forlorn moans about being unable to find the Clinique Whole Lotta Colour set. I've been wanting to try the Chubby Sticks forever but I just couldn't justify the cost. Danniella took pity on me and let me choose a Chubby Stick for my prize! I was absolutely shocked and amazed and I can't even express how grateful I am. I decided to pick Chunky Cherry because I don't wear a lot of red on my lips (don't let the profile picture fool you, it was a special occasion!) and I thought this would be a great way to introduce it subtly. Plus, Danniella is a huge red lip fan and I thought I should honour her!

Let's just take a second to bask in it's beauty... ooh, ahh. Needless to say I love the packaging. The cute, floral, pastel box is to die for and I will never throw it away! The tube itself is very familiar since Revlon's Balm Stains are near enough identical (reviews here.) It's a perfect, sleek way to house the product and I love that you don't have to sharpen them. The cap stays on securely and it's very comfortable to hold and use. The colour selection in the range is fantastic and I adore the curvalicious names. Also noteworthy is that these do not have any kind of scent.

I adore the colour. It's soft, glossy and so flattering. It's easy to build up into a deeper colour too so I find it quite versatile. The lasting power also surprised me. The glossy finish doesn't last more than a couple of hours but contrary to everything I've read, I do feel that this gives me a slight pink stain. I love how evenly it fades. When you eat a meal it disappears naturally rather than leaving a tide line. The moisturising claims it comes with are completely justified. It just glides on and is so comfortable and hydrating. I wear this everywhere! Despite the price, I'm totally hooked. I know I'm going to buy one of these myself before the Summer. Perhaps a cheeky Boots points purchase? (£16)

Final Verdict: I absolutely adore it. If you can get hold of one, you should!

Have you tried these? Are you raving like a loony just as much as me?

Lauren

Review: Illamasqua Powder Eye Shadow in Angst/How To Wear Red Eyeshadow

Red eye shadow is one of those products that can be extremely intimidating. Matte colours in particular can be difficult to work with in brights but with a few tricks all kinds of red can be very easy to wear and they really make eye colours "pop". I've always enjoyed using orange and rust coloured eye shadows but I'd never really tried to use bright red. It's always something that's been on my "must find" list so I was ecstatic when I found Angst in the Illamasqua sale for just £5! I know it's a bit 2010/11 trend-wise but I think there's always a place for red.

Angst is a bright, matte, red shadow packaged in Illamasqua's signature plastic container. If I'm absolutely honest it was a little less pigmented than what I was hoping. On clean skin it appeared quite pink. It is however, very soft and has minimal fall out. Wear time can't be faulted either. It was pretty much perfect until I removed it. I found that it was best used over a white base such as the NYX Milk pencil to get a true colour. I personally used the e.l.f Sheer Eye Primer and MUA eyeliner in Snow White respectively for my looks.

 Block Colour

"Peeking" Liner

(please excuse brows in above looks. Oops)

I personally find that when it comes to using red like this, trying to create anything hazy or smoky will result in making you look a bit tired/self medicated (not great.) Obviously combining red with browns/blacks will combat this and there are some great tutorials out there for red smoky eyes but for mattes it's best to go for clean, simple looks. The best and most wearable, in my opinion, are block colours and using it as a liner. Obviously mine aren't perfect and I'm no make up artist but these are both looks that I'd be happy to wear out of the house.

Block Colour:
Think about the shape that you want to create. Pick something that will be flattering for your eye and face shape. I personally have a round face so I always like to wing my liner and shadows upwards to elongate my face. Gently sketch out your shape using the shadow until your happy with it. It's then just a case of filling in your design and adding any liner or mascara you wish! A super simple and fast way to a wearable high-fashion look.

"Peeking" Liner:Even faster is this fun, easy look. Usually I would always use black liquid against my lash line but since I had the Illamasqua Havoc liner to hand I thought I'd try it out! It's simply a case of applying any dark liquid or pencil to your lash line and then, using a small brush, follow the line just above using your shadow. I was unsatisfied with the pigmentation the first time I tried this so I went back and applied a white pencil liner under the red. This improved the colour 100 fold and I'm very happy with the result! This technique can make any bright colour very easy to wear. I often do this using black liquid and neon orange pencil and always get complimented.

Essential Tips to Make it Wearable:
1. Always use some kind of primer. Not only will it improve the pigmentation and staying power but it will prevent the staining that is very common with colours like this
2. Try to remove as much redness from your face as possible. Any blemishes or red pigmentation will clash with the look. This includes particularly blood shot eyes - red shadow doesn't go great with a hangover. Brightening eye drops can help.
3. Simplify the rest of your make up by using nudes or products in the same colour range. Red eyes and nude lips look great.

Obviously you don't have to use red like this, it's just a suggestion!

So what do you think to these looks? I hope you liked my tips and I'd love to see any red looks that you've created.

Lauren

Review: Illamasqua Precision Ink in Havoc

Another lovely bargain that I picked up in the sales is the Illamasqua Precision Ink in Havoc. I love liquid liner and almost always would choose liquid over pencils (I haven't tried gel though!) because I just love the effect it gives. I've only ever worn black before and I thought that this would be a nice change. The colour is described as aubergine but it definitely leans more red than what I was imagining.

I really like the packaging. It's neat, sleek and the applicator has a nice long handle which makes it easy to manoeuvre. I love the simple, black packaging that Illamsqua use but it's a bit nondescript and I'm not sure if I'll be able to find this in my collection very quickly!

The nib is my favourite kind of liquid liner applicator. I find that brushes separate and I can't control them, but felt nibs are too hard and it takes me ages to do my eyes. This nib picks up a nice amount of product and it's flexible enough to do whatever shape you fancy.

Believe it or not this is actually dry! It dries to a high shine finish which I find rather strange. I've never seen a liquid liner dry to anything other than a matte finish. I'm not sure how I feel about it! It's certainly unique. As I said the colour is much more red than I thought it would be but I actually love the colour. It's a very safe way to wear red which can be extremely intimidating. Reds look absolutely amazing against green eyes (if in doubt, the opposite colour on the colour wheel will make your eyes pop the most. I might do a post on this in the future after some more colour research) It was really easy to use and it does live up to it's waterproof label. It stayed on all day and I didn't notice any smudging, flaking or transferral. It will require some proper make up remover to get it off. I used my No7 eye makeup remover and it came off quickly, but I used a make up wipe on my hand and it required a good scrubbing to peel it away from my skin. Just thought of doing that to my eyes made me cringe! For £5 I'm very happy with my purchase. Would I pay £17 for it? Probably not. The wet look is going to take some getting used to and it's not a colour I've ever seen before so if this looks like something you'd be interested in snap it up on the website! The sale ends at 12pm on 29th January.

Final Verdict: A truly unique look that's not for every one. Try it while it's in the sale!

What do you think to this product? Do you know of any high street brands with a wide range of liquid liner colours?

Lauren

Review: e.l.f Studio Matte Lip Colour in Rich Red

I know that I'm absolutely bombarding you with reviews at the minute but I have so much mounting up in my "Can't use until photographed" box! I hope I'm not driving you all insane. Today I have another item from my elf haul which I cannot believe was a whole month ago! Time is just flying by. I kind of picked this up on a whim because although I love red lipsticks, it's not a colour I wear very often. I really liked the way that this one was presented and I don't have many matte lip colours so this is something a bit new to me.

It's shaped like a lip pencil which makes for really precise application. I love how neat and sleek the packaging is, it's going to look right at home amongst all my pencils! It has a base in a colour matching the product (which is always a plus) and twists up from top section.

Isn't it gorgeous?! It looks almost neon bright here but I'd describe it as a true post box red. It does dry almost completely matte, I took the photo towards the end of the day and the light was quite blue. It's picking up a sheen for some reason. It was a dream to apply, really creamy and smooth and it doesn't settle into my lines at all (although I have read some reviews where people found that it did, so bear that in mind.) The shape of it made it so easy to get a really precise line. I applied this without any kind of lip balm underneath and I didn't find it drying in the slightest. It lasts absolutely ages and once dry I found it doesn't transfer onto glasses which is fantastic! The only niggle I have is that the product itself was a little "wiggly" in the packaging, it wasn't flush to the sides so I wouldn't dare extend it any more than I absolutely had to. I'm certain it would snap off! For £3.75 this is a must have product for me. I only wish they had a better selection of shades, all of the others are quite pale and I'd be terrified of the concealer lips effect, especially with a matte formula. This would be amazing if it were available in some berry and plum shades. Or even some really exciting brights for Summer! I'd be snapping them up in a second.

Final Verdict: if you're a lover of classic red lips, you'll love this. Definitely recommend.

What do you think to this look? Have you tried any of the other shades?

Lauren

Review: elf Lipstick in Flirtatious, Sociable and Posh

As you all know I recently placed a rather substantial order with elf during their 50% deal and I'm loving the products! This week I've been putting three of the lipsticks through their paces...

First up is Flirtatious. This is a lovely warm pink colour which I think is going to great for spring. I didn't 100% love this with my skin tone but I'm giving it a chance to grow on me. It's a bit paler than it appears in the bullet but I didn't mind at all. The formula was really creamy and pigmented. I applied straight from the bullet and in a couple of strokes it was opaque. As with all of the elf lipsticks I'm reviewing today, whilst lovely and moisturising in itself, it does cling to dryness, so make sure to properly exfoliate and moisturise your lips with these colours! I also noticed that it doesn't adhere very well to the lips if when I'm wearing a balm.

Sociable is bright pink shade with a small amount of silver shimmer. This looks really pretty on and I even wore it yesterday with my Challenge Look but it is the most dry lipstick of the three. I'm fairly certain this is down to the shimmers. Again the pigmentation is really nice.

Posh is my favourite of the three. It's a creamy, moisturising deep red shade that fades to a beautiful stain. I think this will be perfect for any Christmas parties!

All of the shades transfer really easily so be sure to blot and reapply a couple of times. Elf lipsticks retail at£1.50 each from the elf website and are fantastic value for money. I've found that they wear for around 3-4 hours before they need reapplying.

Which colour is your favourite? Which elf lipstick should I pick up next?

Lauren

December Eye Make-Up Challenge and Tutorial: Day 6, Warm Autumnal

Yet another apology is in order. This should of course have been up yesterday but sadly I received some seriously sh*tty news in that I was given my three weeks notice at work. Essentially, I've lost my job. Being the over dramatic sap I am I spent a good portion of yesterday crying and therefore didn't get to do this look. I'm really sorry it's late but I put some extra effort into this and made it into a tutorial! So you'll be able to recreate this look if you're that way inclined.

A quick disclaimer, I am in no way a make up artist, I probably do a million things wrong. This is just the way that I create this particular look.

This is one of my favourite looks. I've been a bit confused about the colour of my eyes for years but I honestly would really like them to be green and by using red shades for eye shadow I find that the green tones in my iris really "pop." This look is essentially a more intense version of a FOTD that I did recently.
I used my Body Shop Eyeshadow Brush and Eyeshadow Blender Brush with the Sleek Sunset Palette like this:

Step 1.
I start by packing in some of the highlighter in the corner of my eye, across the first section of my lid, onto my brow bone and along part of both lash lines.

This shimmery peach shade is one of my favourites from the Sunset Palette and I'm terrified that I'm about to hit pan!

Step 2.
Add the coppery red tone across the entire lid. I use my crease to create the initial shape and then work down towards my lash line. I can then assess how far to go up and blend it out slowly.

I would probably end it here if I wanted to go for a more subtle Summer "peachy" look. Simple blending out a finish with a brown mascara.

Step 3.
Define the lid shape by working the deep red into the crease and alone the edge of the shadows to create a fairly sharp wing. I also added a little under my lash line to carry the wing downwards.

Of course you can create any shape you like but I find this looks really cool and aggressive. Not for the faint hearted!

Step 4. 

Take a fluffy blending brush and gather up some more of the highlight shade and push it out from the corner of your eye into the rest of the design, blending away any harsh lines as you go. The eyeliner here is completely optional. I feel like without the liner you get a more "editorial" feel to the look but you know how I love my black liquid liner!

Then it's simply a case of adding your favourite mascara! It's easiest to wear this with a nude lip but where's the fun in that?

This is elf lipstick in Sociable and the bright red beanie than my boyfriend's Nan knitted for me!

Day 1/Day 2/Day 3/Day 4/Day 5

Well there we are! I really hoped you liked this look and I'd love to see your interpretation if you try it out! Tomorrow is Cool Winter and I can't wait to play with my elf 100 Palette.

Lauren

P.S. I didn't use any primer or base. Sleek is just that good.

P.P.S. I know I have weird wonky eyes and I need an eyebrow wax. Sorry.

Review: Nivea Extreme Resist Glossy in Pretty Berry

While perusing my local Poundland I came across a couple of interesting bits in the beauty section. One of which was a liquid lipstick stain with an accompanying gloss. What really caught my eye was that they claimed to last up to 10 hours and whiten your smile! I noticed a blue shimmer running through both sections so I'm assuming that this is the way they whiten.

I picked up two shades (at £1 each why not?!) in Radiant Plum and Pretty Berry. (Nails are MUA Plum Noir, NOTD review here.)
Today I'm reviewing Pretty Berry.

Both ends feature soft doe-foot applicators. They're really easy to use but the colour end sometimes picks up a little too much product so you have to be careful about it being messy.

 Colour only

Colour and gloss

There wasn't really any bleeding which I'm happy to report to you! The above photo was after about half an hour of wear and it was looking fine. (Not very well applied thanks to me.) It takes a couple of minutes to dry and whilst it's drying it is quite sticky. Also, the marks on my lips are quite pronounced but I haven't met a lip product yet that disguises that. It is a little drying on its own but nothing that I couldn't handle.

The big thing about this is that it is totally matte. More matte than I have ever seen a lip product be actually and I wouldn't mind wearing it as a matte colour in the evenings but I do love it with the gloss!  It's a clear shimmer gloss with blue teeth-whitening particles which could be used with lots of other products so I know that even if I don't use the stain I'll finish this up in no time at all.

Longevity was pretty astounding, it barely budged after 4 hours, a plate of spaghetti and three quality street but could have done with a top up of gloss. I also think that my teeth looked a little whiter. It's so nice to get a product that lives up to its claims. Mind you, I don't know if it would still be there after ten hours and more than one meal, but it'll definitely get you through the office party and the mini sandwiches at the buffet, which is all I could ask for. Overall I'm really pleased with this purchase and can't believe I got it for £1! What a steal.

What do you think of this product? Have you found any bargains in your local Poundland recently?

Lauren

NOTD: Nails Inc, St James

So sorry, I had this drafted yesterday but I just didn't have the time to post it. Such a busy Saturday. Luckily I have today to relax and maybe even get in a facial later!

Everyone and their mother picked up Glamour this month for the fantastic free nail varnish. I actually read Glamour regularly anyway, so I'm happy to say I didn't get it just for the freebie...but I might have.

There were four colours to choose from,

Elizabeth Street: A sheer pale pink/nude
Motcomb Street: A deep, dark navy
St. James: Blue toned red
Glamour Glitter: A golden glitter topcoat created exclusively for Glamour

It was such a difficult choice for me to choose between Motcomb Street and St. James! But I reasoned with myself that everyone needs a classic red, and it can be worn all year round. Red nails never really go out of fashion, just like red lips and black dresses.

So here it is on me!

This is the most expensive varnish I have ever used and I can honestly see why. St. James was so smooth and lovely and easy to apply. The colour was rich and bright. I even noticed a very, very light red shimmer running through which was just so beautiful and exciting to see. I've had a few people ask me what shade/brand this is and it's so great sharing it with them. This is a colour that I will be wearing all year round. I can't really fault it to be honest. Ordinarily you could expect be shelling out £11 for a Nails Inc varnish, so get one (four) right now!

Which shade did you get? What do you think of it?

Lauren