Rimmel Kate Lipsticks – lipswatched

How do you passionately write about something you're not passionate about. You don't! I wouldn't blame you if you decided to skip straight to the swatches. Instead of just modelling for Rimmel Makeup, this time round, Kate Moss took the designing seat and created 7 shades of lipsticks. I wouldn't describe myself a lipstick kind of person but there has been so much hype about the Kate Moss range that I've been dying to see the lipsticks in the flesh and have a little play with the testers from the shop.






Isn't one of the perks of the job to be able to invent names for your creations? I can't hide the fact that I am disappointed that the shades only have numbers. Why didn't they give Kate one more zero to her pay cheque and give her more 'inspiration' to come up with names. Never mind. The shades which interested me the most were the 2 nudes (shades 3 and 8) and the goth purple (shade 4)







You can't really form an opinion of a lipstick before it's applied on your lips, right? Still from testers (I would not recommend anyone to do this) I went ahead and tried 4 lipsticks on my lips. First impression was the lovely fruity scent. The scent is quite strong, I love fruity smells but it might not be to the taste of everyone. Please make sure to have a good sniff and a hand swatch at least.

First lipstick I tried was the shade no.3 nude. I didn't notice much colour to be honest on my lips so I didn't bother taking a photo.

This is shade 8. The shade is much more my type of lipstick but it doesn't scream 'buy me, buy me' at all costs.









Shade 4 (goth purple) surprised me. I quite liked the dark colour on my lips. I think this would be a perfect shade for Halloween but I found the application to be a bit patchy. I can't help but starting to worry instantly about the lasting power and the upkeep of this lipstick, having had a bad experience with Barry M black lipstick. All that this lipstick is doing is making me wish that Sleek Makeup did a pout paint in black so that I could have created my own shade and be confident to wear something truly long lasting.









And last but not least this is shade 2, a lovely bright pink. This is, without a doubt the most flattering colour on my complexion. Application was easier, more satisfying than the nude, and much more creamy than the goth purple. Would I buy this? No. All this is doing is reminding how much I prefer the sleek pout paints in pinkini and rosette.







These lipsticks are all priced at £5.49 and there couldn't be a better moment to indulge if they take your fancy, as they are included in the 'autumn' 3 for 2 offer at Boots. I can't say anything negative about these lipsticks, the packaging is very cute and the colours are very nice but they don't excite me. I hope you have enjoyed the swatches.

I feel a bit bad, I bet a bloke could write more passionately about these lipsticks than me. On a normal basis, I wouldn’t bother posting at all, but the photographing and swatching was a such an adventure, I didn’t want it to go to waste.

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Lady’s Choice by Benefit

Once upon a time, a in beauty blog sale, I found this tiny little lipstick abandoned and without a home. I am not a lipstick girl at all, and I would only buy lipsticks on recommendations or when I have seen them on people but there was a bargain to be made (£2) and the lipstick was looking at me with its big puppy eyes and I just had to go ahead with it. You know what it's like :P







This is the ever so cute, gorgeous and pocket size Lady's Choice from Benefit. I really didn't know what to expect other than a slightly darker than nude colour. Smell/Taste in lip product is something I am very sensitive to but I was pleasantly surprised: It doesn't smell much of anything which suits me to the ground.







The colour reminds me of my favourite lipstick from Mac, Velvet Teddy but has a very shiny finish and doesn't need, in my opinion, a lipgloss on top. In very few instances and depending on the light, I find the lipstick a little bit too frosty but on the whole I really like it. I find it very creamy and light to wear, and not more uncomfortable than others. {I am one of these girls who can't find a lipstick comfortable to wear}.






I really like this lipstick, it's ultra wearable and it goes with anything. The format means I can carry it everywhere but the downside is that I can lose it just as quickly. If only this lipstick didn't have the name of sanitary towel...

Click HERE if you want to see this lipstick part of a whole face makeup look.


Have you got lipsticks in your collection with embarrassing or not very fortunate names?

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My favourite go-to lipstick

Do you need confidence in buying certain items of makeup? I do. I could walk into a high street shop (I have yet to combat my fear of beauty counters) and buy every eyeshadow and nail polish in sight but when it comes to lipsticks, I need more help, I need personal recommendations from friends and I need to see it worn real people whom I trust, as opposed to magazines which I rarely identify myself to.





When I saw my best friend Jo, wearing this gorgeous darker than nude lipstick, I just had to find out what it was and give it a try. Little that I know that it was going to become then my favourite lipstick.






Introducing the gorgeous Velvet Teddy from Mac which I simply can't get enough of. Velvet Teddy belongs to the matte family of lipsticks and delivers a gorgeous darker than nude colour which will pretty much go with anything.


For going out at night, or on special occasions, makeup looks for the blog, I like to pair Velvet Teddy with Lip Inflation Extreme, in sheer bare from Sally Hansen, a £1.99 bargain I stumbled upon before my nearest TJ Hughes shop before its recent closure.





If you've never tried an lip plumper product before, boy, you're in for a shock. I knew I had to expect a stinging sensation but I didn't expect to be that intense. First time I wore it, I asked myself why on earth women would want to go through such a discomfort.






To add to the stinging sensation, Lip inflation has the most unusual spicy flavour/scent, reminiscent of Christmas spices. So all in all, the first I wore felt really felt I was wearing tabasco on my lips. As for the plumping effect, I think it's working but I feel the effect lasts as long as you can feel the light 'burn' on your lips. There is no way I could wear Lip Inflation on a day to day basis, too glossy, too intense, too much but at night time I really like to wear it. I've become really fond of the whole stinging spicy experience now and I wish I had picked more of these before the shop closed.


And this my beloved Mac Velvet Teddy and Sheer Bare worn together on the  lips






Where’s the rest of the head gone? Click here if you want to see as part of my ‘Safari Look’.


Off the top of your head, what is your favourite lipstick, which goes with anything?


top photo credit: lipstick (beautyflorist seller on ebay) and teddy bear.

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Pout Painting

I've never been a 'lip' kind of person really When I  play with makeup, I like to focus the drama on the  eyes and tend to go for a very neutral lip colour.  I'm not a fan of textures of lipsticks either: I  usually find them sticky, messy, and not very comfortable to wear all around. When I first heard  of lip pigments, I had been wanting to try them  hoping they might give me the colour I want but  perhaps without the stickiness and usual gripes I  have about lipsticks.


At £10 a small tube, even when you apparently need a tiny little droplet to cover your own  lip, there was no way I was going to indulge in the  OCC (Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics) lip tars,  probably the most talked about lip pigments to date.  But when Sleek Makeup decided to release their  version of lip tars at half the price, £4.99, I  thought it might be the time to try some.




They say:

'The best of lipgloss, lipstick and a little bit  extra'
'Be a shade braver and have fun mixing pout paint to  achieve your own unique shade.
Pout pain releases the makeup artist in you and is  available in 11 shades.
'No more irritating tackiness or having to worry  about coverage wearing off, just bags of colours and  long-staying power.

I say:

Umm, there goes my ‘I am only going to spend a fiver in this’ out of the window since the ultimate purpose of the pout paint  is buy a few shades, let your creativity run wild and create your own shades.

There are 11 shades on offer and these were officially released in selected Superdrug Stores today:






First Impressions: a huge massive disappointment not  to see a black pout paint in there. What a crying shame. Since  the pout paint is hailed as being long lasting, I  was hoping to wear one of them for Halloween,  perhaps some sort of vampirish lip with black in the  outer corners or just full black, and forget about it and party the night away.

I came home with 3 shades:


 


This is the moment where I confess not having a lip brush. So I used a eyeliner brush to apply my first Pout Paint, which was milkshake. As as result, my application was very uneven. I doubt nobody, apart from Nicky Minaj would want to wear this on its own.






Magda in ‘Something about Mary’ called and said she wants her lipstick back…


 


Next, is a shade I had my mind set on trying from the very beginning. This is Rosetta:








and last but not least, the bright and majestuous Pinkini







My thoughts: I’ve got so many things I want to say about them. First things first, there is absolutely no way I would wear MILKSHAKE on its own, not even for fancy dress. I would not even consider bribery. ROSETTE and PINKINI by contrast are absolutely gorgeous and I feel that paired with a neutral eye makeup, they just add such a pop of colour to your complexion.


Application was, as to be expected, very laborious with a small eyeliner brush but I am reasonably happy about how it went, after a disastrous first go with MILKSHAKE. I can’t stress enough how little you need to cover a whole lip: a minuscule dot is all you need. Put too much and you’ll be left with a unpleasant wet feeling, as if you’re going to smear the whole room just by talking.


By the time, I applied ROSETTE and PINKINI, I felt so much more in control and applying less product made a massive difference. Non lipstick lovers will absolutely love this: As I was so desperately hoping, these sleek pout paint definitely deliver a great punch of colour without the stickiness of a lipstick. I am absolutely over the moon about that! This is precisely what I wanted from the Pout Paints.


I was afraid they would bleed and I am happy to report, that I didn’t experience any bleeding at all although I’m pretty sure some bleeding would have occurred after wearing Milshake for a while, as I definitely applied too much.



I wanted to test the bleeding and lasting power of Pinkini. I decided to venture out of my house (it was after 10pm) to Tesco and let me tell you that was a first for me. Apart from Halloween, I had never left the house with such a lurid shade of lipstick on my lips. What gave me confidence was the fact that it felt like I was wearing absolutely nothing: it felt liberating. I can’t promise you I will be wearing this, during the day as it takes some confidence to wear something so bright, when you don’t usually wear much colour on your lips.


A whole Cheese and Pickle sandwich later, this is what was left of Pinkini. It definitely took some battering but I am pretty impressed on how much colour I have been left with.


 


I am absolutely over the moon with the Pout Paints. The non-sticky lightweight feel of them is very liberating. What a shame they didn’t have it  in black…


What: Sleek Pout Paint
How much: £4.99
Where: Selected Superdrug stores and on Sleek Makeup Website

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Orange and Lime makeup look {fotd}

About time, I put more makeup looks in this blog, don't you think? This is, after all, what this blog is essentially about.


Once upon a time, there was a little girl who gifted another little girl, obsessed with the colour orange, a fabulous bright orange lipstick and a lip pencil to go with it. And obsessed with orange I am. I feel there is nothing like orange eyeshadow to bring my brown eyes to life and make them pretty. I buy oranges (the fruit) by the bucket, my favourite mobile phone network is orange and I can't see myself moving anytime soon. Favourite perfume of the moment is Hugo Boss orange and I could go on and on and on. I was born to wear, eat, smell and live orange.


Today, I would like to show you the most amazing shade of lipstick: It's called 'my beautiful rocket' from Lime Crime. I wanted to do a simple eye makeup look to incorporate the lipstick and I went for lime green eyes, inspired by Hot and Cold video from Katy Perry.





Essentially, for the main lid colour, I use 'acid lime' from accessorize and in the crease the darker green from L'oreal Hip Colour duo eyeshadow called 'riotous'. To line my lips, 'thrash' the perfect lip pencil from Illamasqua which is nothing trashy: just pure undiluted orange.








You don't want to know what i have on my skin, since as usual it's my magic camera and its very forgiving flash who does all the work.  Highlight colour (Mac vanilla) brows (gosh brown trio) white  pencil on the waterline (Revlon matte white) have been used as per usual.Zzzz





Did I wear this look out? Yes. I wore it to the park to take the picture of the products I used for this look. I stayed there about 1 hour, catching some sun while photographing other things for the blog. This guy stopped me (he looked homeless and sounded drunk to me) and told me I looked beautiful. I should have given him money for the compliment.

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The new pearls from Beautyuk and Giveaway

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Whilst it seems like the cost of everything has been going since the VAT increase at the beginning 2011 it is a sweet relief to know that there are still some makeup companies out there who release makeup products at really affordable prices: BeautyUK Cosmetics is on a roll at the moment and has released no less than 7 new lines of products. 


The Lipsticks (RRP £3.49 or £2.80 with Sugarscape Voucher)

Our brand new collection of lipsticks in a matte or gloss finish and a wide range of statement shades to tempt you away from a predictable palette.
Choose Matte for a nourishing, long lasting pop of colour or Gloss for a luxuriously moist formulation for that wet look with a strongly pigmented shine. All formulated with a fresh and tasty hint of mint flavour.

The lipsticks are priced at £3.49. They will be available from Superdrug from 13 April, or you can purchase them now online at 20% off, until 15 June. Reduction Voucher to pick up here or from http://bit.ly/vingtoff.





Or you can try your luck on twitter and win 5 shades of your choice.
That's right. To celebrate the release of their brand new lipsticks, Beautyuk Cosmetics are giving the chance to one lucky person to win 5 lipsticks of their choice.


To enter the twitter competition, it's very easy. All you need to do is follow @beautyuktweets & @sugarscape on twitter and tweet the following message:


RT & follow @beautyuktweets & @sugarscape to #win 5 of beautyuk’s new lipsticks. Prize: http://on.fb.me/fKkkv1 Closes 11 April, 10am



The Pearl Eyeliners (RRP £3.49 or £2.80 with Sugarscape Voucher )


Ever since I first saw a sneak preview of 3 shades of these shimmert eyeliners, I have been dying to try them, and see the whole collection. BeautyUK has finally released them, and here there are in their full glory. Isn't the packaging pretty? Aaaah! Now wait till you see the names!





My instant favourites are Sphinx (just love the name even if I already have a gold metallic eyeliner) Purple Haze and Rich Mahogany and it’s going to be real hard to resist them, especially with a 20% off!  


Do you live next to Wimbledon, London? The brand spanking new Superdrug is already selling the new range in advance of everyone else. If my Superdrug doesn’t come with a stand like this one, there’s going to be a riot. I am bit scared though. What if my tiny little Superdrug says 'Oh well, the beautyuk stand has gone too big now, we don't have room for it'? :S

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Statement lips and Beauty Blogging Blonde

When I saw Amanda from Beauty Blogging Blonde recreating a makeup look from the X Factor series 1 week ago, I jumped on the occasion and could not resist the temptation to ask to recreate a look from the series from last Saturday's show. The look which I fell in love was worn by X Factor contestant Rebecca Ferguson. I am not very keen on Rebecca to be honest, but her makeup is always flawless and this week it just blew me away.





How to achieve this look? Amanda recreated her look and posted a tutorial on her YouTube channel here. The video is also packed to the brim with tips & tricks and shows you what you could do to wear this lip on a night out, how to make it last etc..  Blondes will also love how she recreated her eyebrows and the shade of eyebrow is to die for. There is also never been a better time to discover her blog (Beauty Blogging Blonde) as she’s just launched a lovely blog giveaway, about 2 hours ago. Who knows, if you chat to her on twitter, @millmollmac she might do another X factor look next week? ;) *hint* *hint*

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Amethyst Lipstick from Sleek Makeup

I am definitely more of an eyeshadow person rather than a lips person but I must confess that when I chose the lipstick in Amethyst, from Sleek Makeup for my MUA Look #2, I really felt it was complementing the look. And the fact that it cost me only £3.69 was just the cherry on the cake. It’s a gorgeous shade of pink with blue-ish violet reflects in it.










Alas, I experienced some bleeding from applying the lipstick but this is most definitely because I have so much to learn about lipsticks and about what causes bleeding. I did put a heavy dollop of clear gloss everywhere on it, and no lipliner which surely didnt help. The colour is simply is divine (it reminded me of purple potion nail varnish by Sally Hansen) and I really want to try to make it work for me. You can see the rest of the look, in my previous post here, using MUA eyeshadows.

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