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.

Collection Lasting Colour Lipsticks

Seeing as my post on my Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick collection was so popular I thought I'd do another one of my lipstick collections this time by the brand Collection (collection...Collection..hawhaw). The 4 lipsticks I have are from the Lasting Colour range but I did previously own 2 more shades from the same range, Bubblegum and Passionfruit. Bubblegum is a cool-toned, powder pink that looked truly awful on me as it completely washed me out so I ended up throwing it while Passionfruit has shimmer/glitter that I couldn't get on with so gave to my mum.

These retail for £2.99 here with a total of 11 shades ranging from nudes to deeper tones and also contain an SPF 15. The packaging is pretty simple and is in a basic black case but I much prefer the recently launched Deluxe lipsticks which I did a review of here.

From left to right: 2 Pink Shock, 8 Sweet Tart, 11 Orange Punch, 14 Mango Tango

2 Pink Shock- This is a really bright, verging on fluorescent pink that I absolutely love but has quite a powdery texture that shows dry patches so isn't a shade that you can throw on in a rush. It might not be suited to people who suffer from dry lips because of this and I find it can make my lip line disappear if I'm not careful. Regardless of these things I still wear it regularly and find it wears well but can do with a reapplication throughout the day to maintain the brightness.

8 Sweet Tart- This is the shade that most people would deem as an everyday shade and is a really nice, quite subtle pink that feels really moisturising and light compared to Pink Shock. I would recommend this to people who want a hint of colour without anything too dramatic.

11 Orange Punch- Arggggh my absolute favourite Collection lipstick and orange lipstick in general is this and it's been discontinued! I actually found this in a Morrisons makeup sale box for 50p which is unbelievable but I am so upset that they've discontinued it! Every lipstick collection needs an orange :( I love this shade of orange as it's bright but darker than some oranges so I find it to be more flattering. It lasts literally all day on me and is just amazingggg. I've had a look on discounted makeup sites but can't find this shade but if you know where I could get it please let me know.

14 Mango Tango- This is one of the first brighter lipsticks I bought when I was getting into makeup and I wore it for weeks on end throughout Year 12 at school. However, since I've tried other lipsticks, I don't find this that great anymore, I love the colour but it seems to apply much more sheer and with more of a gloss finish and so doesn't last long on me. I find this annoying because I don't want to reapply my makeup throughout the day but I love the coral colour so I wear it when I know I'm going out quickly and won't be eating or drinking. I am a camel, I need not stay hydrated for the sake of lipstick. I joke I actually carry a bottle of water everywhere with me when I'm out and about.

From left to right: 2 Pink Shock, 8 Sweet Tart, 11 Orange Punch, 14 Mango Tango

I think these lipsticks can be a bit hit and miss in terms of the formulation but nothing too drastic and it wouldn't stop me repurchasing them if I ever run out, which I highly doubt.

Beauty UK Lipsticks: Pink My Ride and Passion

Beauty UK are one of those brands which people tend to overlook and class as low quality because they are a budget brand, however, they seem to have recently upped their game and have released several new lipsticks and also Posh Pouts which look really nice. I love the majority of the new lipstick colours released and so ended up buying two. They have also released a range of Posh Palettes and, as there was a 3 for 2 offer, I bought the Festival Palette which I'm planning on reviewing in the future.

The lipsticks I chose were shade 16 Pink My Ride and shade 10 Passion both of which retail for an affordable price of £3.49. The packaging is simple and sturdy with the coloured end coming off and storing a sheerer version of the lipstick itself which is all well and good until someone accidentally pulls the end of and gets a load of the product stuck under their nail (that someone being me).

These lipsticks have a really nice minty scent which I think makes them feel incredibly refreshing and soothing however, if you are not a fan of scents, this can be overlooked as, once on the lips or swatched, the power of the scent is basically undetectable.

Pink My Ride is a bright, fuchsia toned pink which is incredibly vibrant and pigmented within one application to the lips. Even though I've only owned it for about two days I would honestly say it's one of my favourite pink shades within my crazily huge collection.

Passion is another pink shade but is a lot deeper in tone than Pink My Ride and so making it a more wearable and everyday shade. It reminds me a lot of Mac's Impassioned, which I talked about here, but is a bit darker but I would say it is a close dupe if you cannot afford the likes of Mac (damn you Mac, please lower your prices, they make me sad).

I love the formula of these lipsticks and think Beauty UK have done an amazing job and made them really good competitors for more expensive brands within Boots and Superdrug. They are really creamy and soft but this does not in turn compromise the longevity and lasting power of the product which I find is often the case with moisturising lipsticks! The lasting power is amazing, even after eating and drinking the pigmentation looks as strong and bright as when first applied which I believe to be such an important factor because there is nothing worse than wearing a bright, statement lipstick to then find the colour has weakened after a short amount of time.

On the left is Pink My Ride and on the right is Passion

I would really recommend these lipsticks and I have also tried two other shades within this range, shade 8 Naughty, an orange toned red, and shade 15 Son of a Peach, a peach based nude and both of these lipsticks shade the same amazing formula and scent as Pink My Ride and Passion showing consistency within the range.

While looking on Beauty UK's website I noticed a range of Baked Blushers which my Superdrug doesn't stock so I'm going to have a look for some reviews and swatches and order one to try for myself because they look so pretty! Do you have any recommendations of products that I should try from Beauty UK?

My Mac Lipsticks: Morange and Impassioned

I own so many different lipsticks with prices ranging from a Collection lipstick which was in the sale for 50p (and is one of my most go-to lip colours) to these £15 Mac lipsticks. I think it's nice to splurge every now and then on higher end makeup items and, with lipsticks, I know I will get my use out of them. Both of the lipsticks I own from Mac are amplified creme finishes which I love and am most drawn to because it seems to have bright and vibrant colours in the collection, however, I haven't tried any other finish so I can't compare them. I love the sweet scent Mac lipsticks have and I also love how creamy these lipsticks are but not so much so that they slide around and off the lips.

First is Morange which is a really bright and true orange which I love with all of my heart. I only bought this lipstick today but can tell I will get so much wear out of it because I wear bright lipsticks constantly. I have quite a few bright orange shades from brands like Collection, Gosh and Topshop but I thought it would be really worthwhile investing in an orange that I know will last all day and of really high quality.

(Please ignore the hideous shape of this lipstick, I don't know why all my lipsticks end up like this haha)

Impassioned was the first Mac lipstick I bought, and since buying it around December time, have loved it ever since. I chose really carefully as I wanted to get my money's worth and literally left the shop with my hand covered in swatches of different finishes and shades. I'm really happy I chose Impassioned as I use it frequently for both day and night as I find it to be the perfect shade of pink in that it's very bright and noticeable but isn't a Barbie shade of pink making it incredibly wearable. Every time I go to a Mac counter I always pick this lipstick up and then realise that I already own it, I think my eyes are just so attracted to it (in a non-creepy way).

Above are swatches of the lipsticks and I would definitely say they make it into my list of favourite lipsticks. These colours add a splash of colour to your face and can make a plain outfit appear really different and much more interesting when wearing either shade. I also think these two colours just make my face appear much more healthy and alive and give a focal point to the face.

These are the only Mac products I own but I want to try more products from them! I'm thinking of getting a concealer because I really want one which doesn't crease and that completely masks my blue veins under my eyes and also a Mineralize Skinfinish. I have to be realistic though because being on an 8 hour work contract can hardly fund a life of makeup luxury, so, if you know of any cheaper alternatives, please let me know!