Fashionista Double Take Lipsticks: Coral and Ultra Pink

Fashionista are a brand that I don't have that much knowledge of but, a good few months ago now, it seems they became a part of MUA's collection and all products got seriously discounted. I've had these two lipsticks for a while now and bought them for £1.50 instead of the original price of £7.00 from MUA's website.

The colours I bought were Coral and Ultra Pink and are from the Double Take range which claim to be creamy, fully pigmented, matte, hydrating and leave a velvety smooth finish. They have more shades within the range and also another lipstick range called Maxi-Moisture which also sell for £1.50.

Both of these lipsticks smell absolutely amazing and are really similar to Mac with that vanilla cupcake candle sort of scent but with the smell lingering for a good while longer. The shape of the lipstick is quite slanted which makes application a whole lot easier and I have a tend to basically smoosh lipsticks into some unknown shape so this handy for me as I can't do that. Hey y'all let us rejoice. The lipsticks feel so smooth on the lips, like they claim to be, and so are really comfortable to wear but also manage to be long lasting, how you do dat?! I would say when first applied the finish is quite glossy and feels somewhat like a lip balm but as wear time goes on they become more matte.

Coral Shade 7 is a coral (I feel like a moron for pointing out the obvious) that leans more orange in colour and is fairly bright. This would be classed as more of a Summer shade by most people but could be worn during any time of the year and still look noiiiice.

Ultra Pink Shade 10 takes a bit longer to build up on the lips in my opinion but then becomes fully pigmented after a few swipes. It's a bright pink shade but because of the initial glossiness it takes off the edge of the colour and so may be a good option if you want to try brighter lipsticks but don't want the full on intensity.

From left to right: Coral, Ultra Pink

I love having these lipsticks in my collection because of their texture and the fact that they are so affordable making it even better. Have you tried anything from Fashionista?

MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquers

I recently bought three of the brand new MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquers as these lip products are the only newly released items that have made me excited recently. I couldn't wait to grab a few shades after having seen swatches online and I couldn't stop thinking about them, yes, this is the life I lead. Superdrug had a three for two offer and so I bought three different shades and spent £6 as opposed to £9.

I really like the packaging of these as the frosted plastic makes it look high end; MUA have come so far from when they first started, I love seeing a brand develop and improve on their products. I've noticed some people commented on the wasteful cardboard outer packaging which I suppose can seem unnecessary but I find it a nice touch giving a little description of the product.

The colours I chose were Atomic, a seriously bright orange toned coral, Funk, a dark, fuchsia pink and Criminal, a bright pink. The two colours I left behind were Reckless, a red shade, and Kooky a true purple shade which I really wanted but wasn't sure how I'd get on with it so thought I'd stick to safer shades first and see how I get on.

I love the pigmentation of these lacquers and it takes only one application for complete coverage so are perfect for adding an intense, bold colour and give a striking look. The doe foot applicator makes it so easy to keep the lip line precise and even but if you make a mistake it can be pretty difficult to correct as they dry and set really quickly. Due to the matte finish of these I do find that my lips look slightly like prunes when wearing them, particularly Atomic, in that the lines on my lips are magnified a lot and, sadly, I don't aim to achieve a fruit lip look. I trialled out Atomic on a trip to the opticians (could my life be any more exciting? Thought not.) and found when I was sitting there that the product was flaking off into my mouth, apologies for the hideous imagery, so I sat in the chair not knowing whether my teeth were flecked orange or not. I find this really off-putting as, for me, there is nothing worse than lipstick getting onto your teeth and think think it is, again, due to the matte, dry finish.

I've seen reviews saying that these do not budge even when eating or drinking but I have to disagree with this unfortunately as I've found the colour to really badly wear off on the center of my lips. I don't usually have a problem with any other lip product wearing off on me so I was pretty gutted that these did. For me this makes me not want to wear the lacquers out in public because, as the colours are pretty bold, it's really obvious if parts have faded. Although they come off easily when eating or drinking if I rub my lip it doesn't smudge or smear, it just stays put and the only way to get the remainder off is with an eye makeup remover.

From left to right: Atomic, Funk, Criminal

I'm quite undecided on these products and I really thought that they would be amazing but for some reason I can't get on with them. I was thinking of using my finger to rub it into my lips to see if it'll help the colour last longer as maybe using the applicator makes the product too thick on my lips. To be honest I am rather disappointed as the fact they flake off makes them unwearable as touching the colour up frequently would begin to irritate me. Although saying that I generally don't get on with lip lacquers anyway and don't share the love people seem to have for the Rimmel Apocalips and so it might just be that my lips don't take well to liquid products that need to dry and set.

Have you tried these? Do you love them or are you unsure like me?

Affordable Eyebrows

I've been into eyebrows for about a year I'd say and, since then, I've been through phases that I just can't think about because it makes me cringe so much i.e. filling them in waaay too dark with an eyebrow pencil to completely messing up the shape of them. I still love having defined eyebrows and feel that they are a really important part of my makeup routine and have found certain products that work really well for me and I wouldn't change. All of the items are use are so cheap and I personally don't see the need in buying an expensive matte Mac eyeshadow or Benefit's Brow Zing kit.

The first item I use is Rimmel's Professional Eyebrow Pencil in the shade Dark Brown; I don't use this pencil to fill in my eyebrows anymore as I prefer the look of powder but use the brush on the lid to sort my eyebrows out in the morning. If I could only use this eyebrow pencil however I would be able to make it work by using the pencil lightly and brushing through them to give a less harsh look. For £2.99 this item is so handy and lasts forever and is something I have repurchased several times.

I've had eyebrow kits in the past from MUA and a brand at Tesco but only ever used the darkest shade and so didn't get my use out of the lighter shades or the gel/wax and so that was when I decided to start looking at matte brown eyeshadows instead. The first one I bought was MUA's Matte Eyeshadow in Shade 19 and it literally is the most perfect shade for my eyebrows as I like to enhance the colour and go a bit darker. This eyeshadow costs £1 (oh my word it brings tears to my eyes) and has also lasted me so long. This eyeshadow doubles up well as an eyeshadow crease colour as well so you can get so much use out of it.

Another really good colour match I've found is Natural Collection's Eyeshadow in Crushed Walnut which is £1.79 so is a bit more expensive than MUA's option but Natural Collection often do a 3 for £5 offer so it'd be worth picking up then.

Finally, the brush I use to fill in my eyebrows is EcoTools Flat Eyeliner Brush (gosh I'm so wild using an eyeliner brush for my eyebrows) and I literally just wiggle it in either eyeshadow and then tap off the excess and brush it through my eyebrows following the direction the hairs grow. I used to use an angled eyeliner brush but it became slightly mangled so I bought this one and find I can create a better shape because it's sturdier and all one length. At £5.49 this is the most expensive product I use for my eyebrows but any sort of fairly dense angled or flat brush would work exactly the same.

From left to right: MUA's 19, Natural Collection's Crushed Walnut, Rimmel's Dark Brown

As an extra finishing touch I do use Maybelline's Brow Drama Sculpting Mascara in Dark Brown and find it really set my eyebrows and so have been reaching for it daily (even after my mixed review) but feel it isn't necessary unless your eyebrows are cray cray wild.

Do you use an eyeshadow or do you prefer using a kit for your eyebrows?

Laura Loves That Giveaway Win

A few weeks ago I got an email from Laura, of Laura Loves That, saying that I had won her recent 100 follower giveaway which was amazzzzzzing. Laura kindly sent me an MUA Undress Me Too palette, a Collection lipstick in the shade Valentine, a Soap and Glory A Great Kisser Lip Balm and a Soap and Glory Supercat Eyeliner. I literally couldn't believe my luck as I have wanted the MUA palette for aaaaggggessss but never got round to buying as well as the lipstick as I am such a fan of Collection lipsticks yet still lacked a red from them.

Valentine I would say is quite a true red and is so appropriate for Winter time and red is the colour I would say I'm lacking the most of in my lipstick collection so I'm always happy to have another!

The lip balm I received was the Sweet Coconut one which is great because I love coconut smelling products and matches my current shampoo haha. It has such a pretty, shimmery iridescent look to it which I love and I was also running out of my Nivea lip butter so have started using this one before bed instead.

 

Crazily, Soap and Glory's eyeliner is my favourite felt tip liner that I've tried and I actually recently bought a new one as I ran out of my first one and so am saving the one Laura sent me as a back up!

I own Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette but I can be a bit wary carrying it to and from college when doing makeup on others so this palette is perfect as the colours are pretty much identical but is much more replaceable in case I were to knock it or anything!

Winning Laura's giveaway was seriously perfect for me and each item I love and will get so much use out of so thank you to Laura and also well done for reaching such a great milestone with her blog!

Recent Lipstick Purchases

Good grief, I haven't blogged in nearly two weeks (gasps of horror fill the room)! When I broke up from college for half term I was planning on being Miss Blog'O'Mighty until I went into work one day, checked my shifts and saw I was working every day apart from one so my plans were foiled and, even on my day off, I was ill, curse you immune system x 5694503.

Recently I have managed to control my lipstick buying habit and have only bought three in the past few weeks with two being by Natural Collection and one from the Rimmel Kate Moss Matte range.

 Left: Pink Mallow    Right: Rose Petal

When on a work lunch break I was cruising the aisles of Boots and decided I wanted some nudey, plain lipsticks as I don't own many and so went to the Natural Collection stand as they only cost £1.99. The shades I bought were Pink Mallow, a mauvey, powdery sort of pink and Rose Petal, a peachy, coral nude. Unfortunately I hate the texture of these lipsticks and feel like the formula clumps on my lips and just looks really unattractive and so I haven't been reaching for them since purchasing them, but, the other shades I own apply well so I think the brand is a bit hit and miss in terms of quality. Rose Petal does not show up on my lips at all which is a shame as it looks like such a nice shade on my hand but I think the colour is just too light even though my lips aren't that pigmented anyway so heck knows what's going on there.

Aah I bought yet another Rimmel lipstick from the Kate Moss Matte range as I am already a fan of 107 and 110 but this time bought the shade 111 Kiss Of Life. I felt like I owned a lot of different reddy toned lipsticks (50 shades of red) but not a true, pin-up red and this lipstick instantly came to mind. I love this lipstick and, although I feel like a red lip makes me look a tad bit overdressed for day-to-day life, I wore it to work (wow true daredevil) and found it lasted well throughout the day but did need some touching up as it faded slightly in the centre. I don't know what took me so long to pick up this lipstick but am so glad I did as it's really suited for the Autumn and Winter months. I was originally thinking about buying a Mac red lipstick but have saved myself a fair bit of dollar with this lipstick only being £5.49 and a Mac lipstick being £15.

From left to right: Natural Collection Pink Mallow, Natural Collection Rose Petal, Rimmel 111

Have you bought any lipsticks recently or have you tried any of the above shades? Also, the photos in this post are awful and the lighting is so off but there is only so much a girl can do with a windowsill, sheets of A4 paper, an iPhone 4 and a grey, overcast sky! Could anyone please recommend a good but reasonably priced camera I could buy that would be good for focusing on products when with a busier background and maybe with some like auto-adjust colour settings or something?! I am not a technical kind of person and need guidance in my time of need plz plz plz.