The Chubby sticks of the poor: just bitten, just landed …

and just swatched.


For months now, the American have been teasing us with the Revlon 'Just Bitten' Kissable lipbalm stains. The wait is over and those of us living in the UK, can have finally have our grubby mitts on them now.




What are the Just Bitten kissable balm stains (again)?
They say: A pampering balm fused with a lightweight lipstain that gives you softer, smoother lips with a flush of shiny color that lasts hour after hour. The smooth and moisturizing gel formula glides on beautifully with a light peppermint fragrance for truly kissable lips – no sharpener is required!

The shades have all been named around the theme of love. My own ‘personal’ Superdrug received 7 shades, but I am not sure how many shades in total the UK will receive. Here are some quick swatches for you:







Just Bitten lip balm stains are usually sold at £7.99, but there is a special introductory offer. Boots being Boots, you need to purchase 3 to be able to use the offer (3 for 2 on selected Boots products) while good old superdrug lets you buy only one if you want at £5.99.

   

Will you be checking them out? Which is your favourite shade?

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Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Quad in Addictive (500)

I am always on the lookout for a small self sufficient 'everyday' eyeshadow palette, with a selection of matte shades so good that I don't feel the need to use any additional colours to achieve a eye makeup look I am happy with. My search led me to buy a eyeshadow quad from Revlon from their 'Colorstay 16 hour eyeshadow' range. The range contains a whopping selection of 14 shades but it's shade 'Addictive 500' which I came home with. I am a big fan of colorstay products you see. I've lost count on how many times I have repurchased the colorstay foundation and some of the colorstay eyepencils so I was very eager to try this palette.








It is very unlikely that I'm going to find this palette 'addictive'. While the shades are very pretty, the bottom line is that this palette is cruelly lacking in pigmentation for me. I've had no desire to wear it on my eyes after this swatch. I am sure the colours could show better with a small layer of a white base underneath, like my nyx jumbo pencil for example but for now I am disappointed.










Addictive: meet my box of doom, where you will spending the rest of your life, until I can finally find you a new home.



The hunt for a 'self sufficient' decent pigmentation everyday neutral *and* matte eyeshadow trio/quad palette goes on...



what: Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Quad, in shade Addictive (500)
how much: £7.99 (Ouch!)
where: the usual suspects: Superdrug & Boots nationwide

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Smoky, Stormy and ... Scenty from Revlon {notds}

When Revlon released its first scented polishes, I couldn't help but feeling very unimpressed. The concept of 'scented polish' make some people feel a big uneasy and uncomfortable. I was very much welcoming the idea but the concept didn't quite work out for me. I was faced with a huge dilemma: It had to be a compromise between the shade of the polish (which is essentially why you buy a nail polish for, right?) and the scent.


If I wanted the orange polish, I had to contend with the smell of papaya, which is by no means my favourite smell. I blame my mother for that and a childhood growing up surrounded by nauseatingly smelly overripe papayas. Then you had this gorgeous blue polish but which smelt of loo freshener. To add insult to the injury, they had my favourite scent in there (coconut) but Revlon decided to make a shade of silvery streaky shimmery off white mess. Since when coconut are shimmery? What a waste of potential good polish.









Revlon is back in 2012 with a new collection of scented polishes.This time round, all the polishes all have a jelly glittery finish and are based from fizzy fruity drinks to explain the existence of glitter rather than the fruit itself. Will 'Orange Fizz' smell of Fanta rather than a delicious fresh orange is only one's guess but I am disappointed again. Maybe scented polishes and me are not meant to be. If they are your thing and you want to try them out, they are on offer at Boots and Superdrug whereby you can get 2 polishes for £10 and make a little saving (Usual RRP is £6.49)







To make your time a bit more worthwhile, I wanted to show you some very quick 'swatches' of the two other 2 Revlon polishes I bought last year. I didn't think I would ever write about them: Smoky Canvas and Stormy leave me as cold as the thought of eating a lettuce leaf. But I'd figure I might as well show them you, as there is a special promotion on Revlon products at the moment.


This is Boring Concrete, Smoky Canvas














Both polishes applied easily enough despite a very runny formula. Opacity was achieved in 2 coats which is a good thing as I didn't enjoy applying them. Bottom line the design of the bottle puts me off: There is something so 80s retro about the gold ring on the cap of the bottle.









I mean it's a decent grey but nothing special about it.





I am not doing a good job at writing about products which leave me unimpressed, am I? Let's end the carnage here, shall we?


Let me know if you have purchased some of the new (or old) Revlon polishes. I’d love to hear your thoughts and see your pictures xx

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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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Ruby Ribbon Nails, from Revlon & some Rainbow too. NOTD

I know, I know. I just posted a red manicure yesterday and here I am with another red manicure. For my defence, this one is ruby, it's not red :P Plus, You'll see how gorgeous it is and you understand immediately why I just had to post it as soon as I finished playing with it.

I was very fortunate to win 'Revlon Ruby Ribbon' at Perfectly Polished Nails blog giveaway but never got round playing with it until today.  I was not going to post pictures of it tonight. I was not even going to do both my hands it. I was only wanting to swatch it quickly tonight and wear it another time but before you know it I had both my hands done. The following pictures show 2 sloppy coats on all the fingers, and 3 coats on the thumb and index finger.






I had seen previous pictures of Ruby Ribbon before (for some reason, I keep on calling it 'velvet ribbon) but was really curious about trying it out for myself, and was very suspicious about whether or not I would like it on me. I am not a 'matte finish' type of person, have never experimented with matte polishes before and for me the first duty of a nail polish is to be glossy. It's a bit a like a shampoo I guess. It's meant to do lots of foam on your head, otherwise something is not quite right. So in my head, I was not going to like ruby ribbon on my nails. Well, reality turned out to be totally the opposite. I love it and I have never experienced a nail polish like it.





And what an experience it was. First impressions were not overwhelming. The bottle looked and felt quite big in the hand (but admittedly less heavy than an opi bottle) and I was not a fan of the gold lettering on the cap. It looks a bit too classic and 80's for me. Opening the bottle and I began to ask myself why on earth they could call this a matte polish, as it looks just like a regular polish with some sort of silver shimmer running through it.







Now, I was expecting a very troublesome application. I was expecting not to have the time to place it properly on the nail bed and seeing a streaky mess drying it too fast before my eyes. Oh my, this polish totally proved me wrong. The formula was just a dream and so easy apply. It applied very smoothly and started to dry out glossy. I was still asking myself why this was called a matte finish. And then it happened, the polish started to go dull at first, it felt like the light had been switched off from it. Seconds later, the dull had gone and was taken place by this beautiful finish. I am not sure how to describe it but it's gorgeous: semi matte muted glazed finish with a lovely sparkle and definitely not dull.






To say that this polish messed with my head and emotions (I know, I probably need to get out more) is an understatement: I went from massive doubts, to liking it, to not liking it and then to love it again. I still can't believe how easy this was to apply: this was not supposed to happen. I probably will end up not liking it, as I believe that the longevity of matte polishes is much shorter than a traditional polish, but for now, after my first play with it, I am in love. For a first flirt with matte polishes, I think I definitely cheated here as I would not call this a true matte but I feel this is just enough matte for me and would not like it any matter.


Would I choose this red polish over a traditional glossy red for a special night out? I am divided. I will always prefer a glossy finish (and I think the world - aka your typical average man - are not yet ready for semi matte polishes yet) but this polish is so quick drying, it really impresses me and is perfect for last minute manicures to match last minute changes of outfit. So yeah, one could say I am in love with this ruby ribbon of gorgeousness…


More experimentation below. This is ruby ribbon with a top coat of  my latest acquisition (landed today, thank you Rosalyn from Primps and Preen!! ) and much lusted after Gosh Rainbow. Not convinced this is the best combination, and I think I’ve ruined the red a little bit but I thought I would share the pics anyway. I will review Gosh Rainbow in more depth in another post.

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