Flipping Beautiful!

As if Fire Fantasy was not exciting enough, Mac Factor has expanded their  Colour Effect range with a line of new lipsticks called 'Flipsticks'. Colour  Effect Flipsticks are double ended lipsticks: One end features a rich and  creamy colour, the other a lighter lipstick shade.






You can wear each colour alone, blended together, one on each lip, or apply  the lighter/brighter shade just to the centre of your lip to give a highlight  effect to your lip.








Max Factor says:
To add a new dimension to lip colour, you can sweep one shade over your upper  lip and "flip it" to apply the second shade to your lower lip. Another way to customise lip colour is by outlining lips in one colour, then  "flip it" and apply the second shade to the centre, giving a graphic texturised lip.


I don't think I will ever wear the upper lip with one colour and the lower lip  with the other colour but I absolutely love the 'highlight' effect with the  brighter/lighter in the centre of the lips or 'graffiti' effect as Max Factor  calls it. The model wears Gipsy Red all over the lips and then flipped the  lipstick over and dabbed the gold colour in the centre area of the lips.

Let's have a look at some swatches, shall we? From what I can gather from the  website, there are 6 (double) shades available. My local Superdrug is only  storing 5 shades and I missing 'Salsa Red'.




Bloomy and Swingy leave me indifferent but Folky, Boreal amd Gipsy are to die  for! I don't know if I could pull off gipsy with my yellow teeth but I totally  understand why they chose that shade on the promotion picture. It is simply stunning and most of all, so much fun and has so much more depth than just a lipstick with a bit of gloss on.








The Flipsticks are sold exclusively in Superdrug and are on special offer at  the moment. Buy them before by 10th April and you get them at £2 off: £6.49 instead  of £8.49

Will you be flipping it?

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The power of pictures

The power of pictures. We see them everywhere: on billboards, in magazines, on bus placards. Pretty makeup pictures makes us to buy everything in sight, others will make us want to forget that the makeup collection promoted ever existed. What is seen cannot been unseen.     


Have you ever been in a dodgy toilet, where, at some point, an unfortunate person might have found themselves running short of loo paper? I have and the walls and every surface around are not a pretty sight. Now have a look at this beautiful picture promoting the 'By Request Collection'...






Anyway, if you’re not put off, you can find out about the By Request Collection and Concept on here.
I think I might just give it a miss…

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My heart is beating for ... an Illamasquian Cleopatra

It's gorgeous, it's breath taking, it's a celebration of colour at its most magnificent and it's a new collection from Illamasqua unveiled yesterday in London. I wasn't present at the blogging event, nor was my presence solicited but it doesn't matter. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you will have noticed that not getting press releases doesn't stop me from expressing myself and talk about beauty products which excite me. And boy, this is an exciting collection.




The colour themes and the looks created for promotional pictures (The modern Cleopatra one is my favourite!) are absolutely divine. I'm itching to recreate the stunning jade and purple cut crease and play with my face paint in an attempt to create the arty white eyeliner.

“Human Fundamentalism is an explosion of your alter ego. It’s becoming who you are and not who you’re told to be. Beauty isn’t conformity, but the fundamental human desire to express your inner self on the outside. To rise above mainstream limitations and exist in a world where individuality is received with celebration not derision, and breaking the mould is a sign of strength not instability.  

We stand for freedom of expression, embracing our glorious imperfections and showing the world we’re not ordinary but extraordinary, even if society refuses to accept it. We’re beyond conformity. Beyond control. Beyond hiding who we really are. We are not a religion, but the singular opposite. We are Illamasqua.
Get ready for a startling celebration of humanity’s connection with colour. Introducing the Human Fundamentalism collection, where blinding flashes of pigment provide a sharp contrast to neutral tones, creating a saturated palette that catapults your alter ego to new levels of self-expression. Mix contrasting textures to express your true self, spiraling from rich metallic to pale matt shades. This is nonconformity at its most fundamental. At its unpredictable best.”

  



 



Products wise, if money flowed a little bit easily these days, and if could select my favourites, I would have loved to indulge in pivot, the stunning lime green eyeshadow (£15.50), the white eyeliner of course (Precision Ink in Scribe, £15.50) and the sealing gel (£10.50) to go with it.





Anything from the collection which makes your heart beat?
Do you think Katy Perry has her eyes on 'Apocalips'?
If you were creating an eyeshadow called 'sex' would you make it white?

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Cosmetic Candies

The teasing is finally over and MUA Cosmetics has announced the release of their latest makeup collection. Just in time for St Valentine's Day, MUA Cosmetics have inspired their latest collection on the theme of the famous sweeties 'Love Hearts'.



     

     


The adorable collection comprises 6 pastel polishes and 5 lip balms. The prices couldn't be any cuter: Each item is £2.

    
    






    

No need also to wait for the items to arrive in your local Superdrug as they are already available on the MUA website, with a low shipping cost as usual (£2.95) and possibility to pay via PayPal. Don't want to fork out on postage? The brand has announced that they will be doing free postage offers :)


MUA Cosmetics didn't make their job easy with this collection. Good pastel polishes are notoriously hard to find. Have they cracked the formula? Will they be patchy? Time will tell :) I am very tempted to try 'You and I', the lovely yellow polish. But most of all, I am very much looking forward to try their upcoming BB cream which they will sell at £4.







Now, if the free postage offer coincided with the release of the BB cream, it would make my heart and purse very happy :)
  

     

Will you be getting some love hearts?

Pictures sourced from Mua Cosmetics Facebook Page.
Top picture was also sourced from Mua’s page and lil montage done by me x

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The foundation I've been looking for?

What time is it? It's time for another 'ghetto' press release. Brace yourselves. I don't know about you but I haven't found my holy grail foundation. I'm a bit bored of Revlon Colorstay, Mac Studio Fix is not helping my dry skin and the 3 latest foundations from Max Factor left me very unimpressed. What I need is full coverage and suited for dry skin. This new foundation from Revlon popped under my eyes today, as I was paying a short visit to Superdrug and I wanted to share it with you.


This is the latest from Revlon and it is called 'Age Defying with DNA Advantage' foundation.

NEW Revlon Age Defying with DNA Advantage Cream Makeup combines makeup + powerful anti-aging skincare to help protect skin's DNA to fight the signs of aging. 96% of women saw flawless, younger-looking skin in two weeks. Lines and wrinkles are visibly diminished while skin is refreshed, hydrated, revitalized. SPF 20

There's some more blabla information on the website here, but I'll skip to the bit which got me more interested:

provides flawless, moisturizing, complete coverage to even out skin tone and hide imperfections.

Complete coverage did you say? This sounds like music to my ears.


Yes, the DNA bit sounds very fancy and they made an effort to replicate the shape of the dna in the design of the bottle but what I am most bothered about is how it looks on my skin really. Having a quick play with it in the shop, I found the lid to be a little bit on the tacky side but there was something which caught my attention: the non smell of the foundation. I would need to double check that, as I still can't believe it myself, but I *think* this has a virtually non detectable smell.

As you can see from my 'professional official photo' the foundation is on special offer and I am really tempted. Ageless Elixir from Mac Factor left me with too much glow on my face. Is the DNA age from Revlon going to be the same? I am scared.


I am scared and annoyed. There are only 4 shades. I am sure I can find one which will suit me, but is it too much hard work to stick to the same shades, Revlon? *grumpy face*

Have you tried Revlon DNA thingy bob foundation yet?

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Bourjois Bronzing Powder in a can: First impressions

There couldn't be a better time to discover the new range of Bronzers at Bourjois. They have a 3 for 2 offer on all Bourjois products at Boots (not just the bronzers range like in Superdrug) and you get a free pair of sunglasses when you buy 3 products. The range looks and smells absolutely di-vi-ne. A lovely delicate fragrant mix of chocolate and orange. You must have a little snif if you walk past the Bourjois stand.






Couldn’t the packaging look any more gorgeous? How luscious is that line of lime green out of a milk chocolate background!





One product which has caught my attention is the 'Bronzing Powder, for face and body in a spray can. I am inexplicably drawn to try this product, like I have been hypnotised to try it.
They say:

There’s nothing easier than a bronzing powder spray for the perfect tan!
In one quick and simple step, the powder mist delicately melts onto the skin for a perfect, natural and even tan.  No need to rub! This ultra-fine powder dries instantly so you can get dressed straight away!

I am drawn to try it but I am absolutely petrified at the same time by it.
What if I go all oompah loompah from it?
At least if I could rub, I could buff it in if it sprays too dark.


Anyway, today I went to the shop again to test it on my skin, in the shop. Instructions explicitly said to spray at least 30 cm away from your skin (that's the equivalent of the length of 2 CDs put together, British imperial system fans). I tried to bear that in mind but nothing came out. And then I sprayed too close (you know a bit like you try to get some ketchup out of the bottle and then *splouf* your whole plate is filled with ketchup. I didn't even spray for long. One minute there was nothing, and the next, this appeared:





They have 2 colours: the light (shade 12) and the dark one (shade 14). I sprayed on the dark one. Can you imagine if my face ends up like that? I'd die with embarrassment. I am even more scared to try it now. The fact that I need to spray so far away (30cm seem to be such a long distance) makes me scared that I am going to get some on my clothes, hair, or the wall/environment/kids  around it.


First impressions: I am more scared than ever and I am too much of a chicken to take the plunge to buy one. It smells ab-so-lu-te-ly lovely though. If you do decide to try it, have a go on a newspaper first, until you’re happy with how much product comes out and remember to keep your distance. I shall be on the look out on more reviews on this product before taking the plunge. For now I need reassurance.

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Accessorize Makeup Range: The Nail Polishes Collections: This is where it's at!

This is it. From about a month now, I've been waiting impatiently for the launch of the Accessorize Makeup Range, and the moment has finally arrived. Was it worth the wait? YES!!! Even though I have not been able to swatch the products, hold and see for myself (range is only available online and has yet to be released in Superdrug yet) I'd say, definitely, it was worth the wait. The range is huuuuge and boasts more than 150 items. It is so big in fact, it is rather overwhelming.







I was trying to make a shortlist of products to have a look out for (especially eyeshadows and nail polishes) for when I have the chance to see the products for myself but I've found it too challenging: too. much. stuff. everywhere. The range is fabulous, prices are even more so (the polishes for example are priced at just £4 each) but not possibility to narrow the whole makeup range by collection, by type of product etc...

I wanted to understand more the nail polishes collections, and I did a little montage which I wanted to share with you. Might just as well hey? Based myself entirely from the website, the range comprises 5 nail polishes collections:

My first impressions? Literally spoiled for choice. My eyes don’t know where to look. I want everything, even though I am mainly drawn by polishes from the Je t’aime and the Illusion collections. What about you? Have you have had a chance to browse the range online? Have you bought anything yet?

 
















What do you think? I don’t know about you, but a 3 for 2 introductory offer would be more than welcome…

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