Browsing Tag

lipstick

Make-up

Sleek MakeUP True Colour Lipstick in “Vixen” Review

June 3, 2014

sleek-lipstick

I am a terrible person, a terrible person indeed. So terrible in fact, that this lovely lipstick has been sat unopened in my “to review” pile since I bought it about three month’s ago. I was so eager and excited to try the Sleek Lipsticks out and when I finally relented and picked up “Vixen” in a 3 for 2 haul at Superdrug, the least I could have done was give this the time and attention it deserved instead of leaving it alone in a box!

Having said that, there was absolutely no way I could have worn this, without first photographing it whilst it remained pristine in all it’s glory – before the end became smudged and coated with all the best bits that get left behind in the bottom of my bag.

Despite already having a vast collection of red lipsticks, I really do get sucked in to an eye catching red and beautiful packaging, which is exactly how this purchase came about. At £4.99 this was slightly more justifiable to purchase because I picked up a few other products on the way, reaping the 3 for 2 benefits and I’m glad I was unable to resist temptation because I love it. The case has a very appealing matte black texture, giving it the feel of something far more luxurious than it should be. Not the typical square or cylinder style for a lipstick, but more of an oval shape and slightly smaller than other brands – however still packed with the same amount of lip smacking colour than any of it’s other counterparts. The colour is a classy bright pillar-box red and it glides on beautifully. This contains Vitamin E which seems to be a pretty standard feature across a range of lipsticks these days, which is fine by me as I welcome a product that hydrates my lips, meaning I get more wear for my buck.

I love absolutely everything about this lipstick – I love holding it, I love applying it, I love taking the lid off, I love twisting it in and out and watching the beautiful red pop into view but most of all, I love that it is now mine. I’ve already got my eye on some of the other shades, especially the (yup you guessed it) Coral shades which you can check out here.

Once again Sleek have delivered exactly what it says in their name – a beautifully “Sleek”, yet classy product with a touch of luxury that doesn’t break the bank balance.

Do you have any Sleek favourites at the moment?

Totally hellbent for popping some cheerful luxury into my handbag and lusting over packaging

-Pants

Make-up

Makeup Revolution – Vamp Lipstick Collection Review

May 27, 2014

revolution-lipsticks

Everyone has been raving about Makeup Revolution and some of their more ‘quirkier’ products. After reading so many great reviews, I couldn’t help but pick a few things out for myself. One of the first things I threw into my virtual basket was the “Vamp Collection” lipsticks, a limited edition set of 3 colours which were £1 each or £2 when you bought the set. I also picked up two others, “Twist” and “Dare” which were only £1.

revolution-lipsticks-2

From Left to Right: Black Heart,  100%Vamp, Rebel With Cause, Dare and Twist

I couldn’t resist the lure of these reds and although the two dark shades are probably destined to live on my dressing table for the rest of eternity, rather than escorting me to gigs via my handbag I really wanted them.

The packaging was pretty generic for most of the cheaper high street brands, although I was pleased that each lipstick had a label with the shade on it, as sometimes you are left with either a number or nothing at all.

revolution-lipstick-swatchesThe swatches were actually more pigmented than I had thought. Both Black Heart and 100% Vamp both appeared much darker, but when swatched, were a lot brighter than I imagined. One of the more surprising shades was “Rebel With Cause” which turned out to be more of a dark Fuchsia colour rather than the blood red I had hoped for. My favourite by a long shot is “Twist”, the one I thought I would like least as it looked more on the orange side, but actually it’s a beautiful bright shimmery red and probably going to be one of my new “go to” red lipsticks. They all applied without issue and with some Micellar water, I finally managed to wipe away the colour, which gives me high hopes for wearing these on stage.

The verdict? I think Makeup Revolution is fast taking over the well loved MUA, with it’s quirky variety of colours and beautiful palettes. So keep your eyes peeled for my other upcoming Makeup Revolution Reviews. These shades are all available individually from the Makeup Revolution here for just £1 each.

Have you tried any products from Makeup Revolution? If so, we’d love to know your thoughts in the comments below.

Totally hellbent for makeup shades that are as grym and blackened as their name suggests

-Pants

 

Make-up

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in Striking

April 27, 2014
Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in Striking

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in Striking

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in StrikingRevlon Colourburst Matte Balm in StrikingAfter discovering my love for matte lip finishes with the MUA Matte Lipsticks  I was eager to have a look around and see what other shine-free offerings are about. The Revlon Colourburst Matte Balms have been all over the blogosphere recently, and with all the good reviews I’ve seen it was only a matter of time  before one accidentally fell into my shopping basket.

I chose Striking,  a orange-red (of course it was going to be a red!). The balm is very buttery and has a nice minty scent that makes it feel more like a traditional balm than a lipstick, the finish however is far more pigmented than I expected. It applies very smoothly and you do get a slight sheen at first, but after a few minutes the gloss fades and you are left with a lovely bright velvet finish that surprisingly last for hours.

I wouldn’t choose this for an evening or stage look, as I think some of the brightness fades away, even if the colour remains, but for daytime wear this is absolutely perfect for a pop of colour without being too in-your-face.

Unfortunately for my bank balance I’m a real fan of this product and definitely have my eye on a few other shades (especially the much coveted Shameless!)

Available from Superdrug.com for only £5.99 at the moment! (Normal price £7.99)

Totally hellbent for this whole matte look thing after all!

– Gem

 

 

 

Make-up

MUA Matte Lipsticks Review and Swatches

April 21, 2014

MUA Matte Lipsticks Review and Swatches

 

I actually picked these up a while ago, but they’ve sat in my “to be reviewed” pile for far too long so I thought it was finally time to break them out and give them some wear! I picked up all five shades available (l-R) Peachy Keen, Pouty Pink, Totally Nude, Wild Berry & Scarlet Siren, though I’ve seen that there are two more shades floating around now (which of course I will need to find and add to complete the collection!)

 

MUA Matte Lipstick Review

 

The packaging is identical to the usual £1 MUA lipsticks, only the plastic tube is white instead of black which I think I strangely actually prefer. This is my first real foray into matte lipsticks as I’m usually a fan of glossy bold shades, but I have to say I really like them. All five apply really well and give good coverage for a budget brand, however I wouldn’t say they are absolutely true colours on the lips, especially Wild Berry which is unfortunately no-where near as dark on the lips.

All five have a nice creamy consistency and though I was worried they might dry my lips out, they actually made them feel quite moisturised which is a nice perk!

The MUA Matte Lipsticks are a great way to try out the matte finish without splurging on more expensive brands, but I do think they fall down massively in one place and that’s longevity. Without Lipcote (which I almost always use) they barely last an hour without fading, though I do expect a lot from my lipsticks when they have to survive me puffing on my E-Cig and chugging down water constantly.  Lipcote however does extend their wear to a good few hours, so if you don’t mind adding another product into the mix you can get a lot more wear out of all the shades.

MUA matte lipgloss swatches

Overall I think it’s a good range of colours and I’ll likely get wear out of them all except for Totally Nude which I think is a bit “concealer lips” (is that in fashion again?).

At only £1 each you can’t really make too many complaints, and I will be seeking out the two new shades added to the range once they go on sale.

Available from Superdrug.com

 Totally hellbent for a purse-friendly fun range of colours!

– Gem

 

Make-up, News

MUA LUXE Velvet Lip Lacquer Review

March 12, 2014

mua-luxe-lip-lacquer

I’ve seen a host of reviews on this product all talking about how amazing it is and with the temptation of the shade “Atomic” (you’ve guessed it, a bright red) being too much for me to resist, I ended up buying this a few weeks ago. Usually not being a fan of wand style lip applications, I was sceptical to begin with.

mua-luxe-lip-lacquer-2

I tried it out the day I bought it and slapped it on quickly, whilst running late for a meal with friends. Wondering if I’d made the right decision to indulge in a red lip shortly before stuffing my face I can safely say it was probably -the- best choice I could have made. During application, I ended up with a rich, yet bright full bodied red with a matte finish. This dried in less than a minute and didn’t rub off onto my wine glass during the evening. I also remembered when getting home, that I had swatched this on my hand with a tester in Superdrug and it remained there even after scrubbing it in the shower – however this seemed to come off pretty easily at the end of the night with my trusty micellar water.

mua-luxe-lip-lacquer-swatch

The next test was during our last gig – with more time to apply this evenly and with two coats – this remained absolutely perfect after a half hour set on a very hot stage and even survived further on into the night after Gem and I ditched the venue for a slightly stranger environment – a 90’s esque bar, for our friends birthday.

asylum-gig

Here’s me rocking the new MUA Luxe Lip Lacquer in “Atomic” on stage last week. Photo Copyright our lovely live photographer Tony Gaskin at Stagedive Photography. (Sporting the mouth wide open and sweating like a mofo look)

I am absolutely over the moon with this purchase, I really hope MUA release some more neutral “everyday” shades since this red is going to be reserved for less ordinary days and I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it. And if the product itself wasn’t enough – it comes with a purse friendly price tag of only £3.00 and you can find it here at Superdrug. My next purchase is definitely going to be “reckless” which is a much darker red.

Have you tried this out yet? What were your thoughts?

Totally hellbent for lipstick that stays put until the end of a very sweaty night!

-Pants

Make-up

Avon Colourtrend Lipsticks – Purple Roses, Heartbeat Red & Shimmer.

January 4, 2014

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I’ll admit to being somewhat of a snob when it comes to Avon. I’ve a whole assortment of their standard lipsticks, but till now I’ve avoided the Colortrend range. Seeing as it strikes me as a sort of “things-you-might-buy-for-a-teenager” deal with it’s cheap white packaging and colour selections I’ve just never been tempted…till now!

I bought these for one reason. They were -cheap-. I can’t resist a bargain and  a £1.25 lipstick is just too good an offer to turn down.

Avon colourtrend lipstick

I picked up (L-R) Shimmer, Purple Roses and Heartbeat Red not expecting much, but all three are gorgeous! Such pretty colours with a lovely shimmer for the price-point, they all went on well – even with my winter chapped lips, and had great lasting power.

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It’s not all wonderful though, all three have an unpleasant synthetic scent but luckily it’s only detectable from the tube when applying and isn’t noticeable once on the lips.

Really at such a bargain price you can’t complain at all, however it’s worth bearing in mind that these are from the last collection, so they’re not available in the current brochures or from the website.

Your best bet would be to look on ebay, or to wait for a sale/clearance Avon brochure and snap a bunch of them up at a ridiculously low price!

Totally hellbent for a bargain that exceeds expectation.

– Gem

Make-up

New Avon Lipsticks – Lava Love & Perfect Red

July 22, 2013

Avon lipsticks 2

This month Avon are relaunching their entire make-up line, and from what I’ve seen of it so far it looks -very- exciting!

The new lipstick shades were all very tempting, but I settled on Perfect Red and Lava Love.

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The first thing to note is the new packaging which is much more stylish than the old curved tubes. The Lipsticks are now squared with the same thin silver band, and rather handily have a clear end so you can quite easily see the shade.

The formula is very creamy and easy to apply, and has a lovely glossy finish, my only complaint as a whole is that Perfect Red is not really very red!

 

Avon lipsticks swatch

 

Lava Love is a gorgeous orangey red, perfect with a simple winged liner for every occasion. I wore this at the Dakesis photo-shoot yesterday and it looked great in the test pictures – I think this might be my new go-to on-stage red!

Perfect Red is far too brown to be considered a red at all in my book, it is still a lovely shade but not one I think I will be digging out very often.

 

Avon Lips 3

 

These lipsticks will be launching on the next Avon campaign where they will be available online or from your local Avon lady!

 

Totally hellbent for…er lipstick duh!

– Gem

 

 

Make-up

Elf haul part 1 – Pants

July 22, 2013

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Following Gemma’s haul, I thought it only fair to show off my half of our glorious “accidental” but perfectly justified retail therapy purchases.

I jumped at the chance of slinging the mineral primer into the basket, as with the Kabuki (I’ve been lusting after these for so long now). The others I had absolutely no need for (except maybe the brush Shampoo) I just simply wanted them, and will be looking forward to trying them all out!

I am especially looking forward to the lipsticks and blusher which are complete newbies to me from Elf!

Totally hellbent for new shinies – always –

-Pants

 

 

Make-up, Nails

Elf haul part 1 – Gemma

July 17, 2013

Elf haul 1

 

I accidentally talked Amie into ordering a massive Elf haul with me on one of their frequent 50% off days recently and here’s what I chose!

 

Elf haul - primer

 

Mineral Infused Face Primer – Clear

This has been on my wishlist for a very long time! I love a good primer and I’ve heard nothing but good things about this one! I’m also tempted by the green toned one at some point to deal with my awful red cheeks.

 

Elf clarifying pressed powder

 

Clarifying Pressed Powder – Ivory

Can’t ever have too many pressed powders, right? This photographed quite dark, but at first look it should be okay for summer. Definitely not Ivory enough for my pasty winter skin though!

 

Elf haul - concealer stick

 

All over cover stick – Ivory

Despite having a long term love affair with the much hyped Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer I figured I could use something with a little more coverage for stage wear.

 

Elf haul eye primers

 

Eyelid Primer – Sheer & Pearl

I’ve been a huge fan of the sheer eyelid primer for a long time, in fact I think this is my third or fourth repurchase, so I figured I’d give the pearl finish a try too.

 

Elf haul - lip crayon

 

Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick – Movie Star

Lip crayons have been big news for absolutely ages and I can’t believe this is the first one in my make-up collection! When I try out a new lip product I absolutely always for a bright red because it’s my most worn colour.

 

Elf haul - lip stain

 

Lip Stain – Crimson Crush

This has been out of stock for every ELF order I’ve placed since they released the line about a year ago, so I’m very pleased to finally get my hands on it! I love lipstains for day wear as they are so long lasting. Note also bright red!

 

Elf haul lipstick

 

Lipstick – Fearless & Nostalgic

Last time I bought Fearless I managed to fall in love with it and swiftly break it in half a few hours later, again this has been out of stock for a while so I grabbed one whilst I could. I love the ELF lipstick formulas so I could have gone mad and happily ordered all the ones I don’t own if Mr. credit card hadn’t frowned at me so sternly.

Nostalgic looks a lot more cream than nude and I’m crossing my fingers that it doesn’t give me “concealer lips”…

 

Elf haul - brushes

 

Bamboo flat brush & smudge brush

Like discount eco tools – bamboo handles and synthetic soft bristles. I already have a few brushes from this line and they are lovely.

 

elf haul - nails

 

Nail Polish – Metal Madness, Glitter Glam, Chocolate, Fire Coral, Smokey Brown & Innocent. 

I have such terrible issues with my nail varnish collection that I didn’t even realise till the order arrived that I already own two of these…oops! Elf nail polishes aren’t my favourite, but are far from terrible and were only 50p each…I just couldn’t help myself!

Also I have a feeling that I will be very good friends with Metal Madness for a very long time!

 

So there you have it, now do excuse me whilst I go dive into my big box of make up! Swatches and reviews coming soon as well as Amie’s ELF spoils!

All products can be found at http://eyeslipsface.co.uk/

Totally hellbent for another ELF bargain haul!

– Gem

 

Beauty Boxes, Make-up, Skincare

Pants’ June 2013 Spoils

July 11, 2013

I thought I would share some of my favorite spoils with you for this month.

june13spoils

From left to right:

MUA blushers in “Bubble Gum”, “Candyfloss” and “Marshmallow” (check out Gem’s review of these)

Glossybox: Sarah Chapman Skin Tone Perfecting Booster

Beauty UK lipsticks in “naughty” and “vampire”

NYPM lipstick

Glossybox: Me Me Me Long Lasting Gloss in “Indulgent”

Glossybox: Helen E Eyeliner Pencil in “Electric Blue”

Model Co Black Eyeliner and Nude Lip Liner

Model Co Fibre Lashextend Mascara

Collection 2000 Skylash Mascara (a lovely Gem spoil after I helped her in her quest of “operation dressing table” look out for more about that in her blog)

Glossybox: Figs & Rouge Lip balm in Coco-rose

Glossybox: Boss “Jour pour femme” tester

 

I am most definitely looking forward to trying all of these out!

Totally hellbent for gifts and spoils

-Pants