New Revlon Lip Butters - Wild Watermelon & Juicy Papaya

I was really excited to hear that Revlon are releasing 4 new shades of Lip Butters in their Spring collection, and that 3 of the shades from the original line up in the US will be added to the permanent range here (Red Velvet, Brown Sugar and Sugar Plum). 

I'm not sure whether the new shades of lip butters have officially been released yet, but when The Sunday Girl had some swatches of the spring range on her blog and said she had found them in her local Boots I knew I had to have them. But after a week of stalking Boots and Superdrug obsessively I gave up and ordered 2 of the spring shades on Boots.com, they were on offer for buy one get one half price, they cost £7.99 each, (current offer in Boots is 3 for 2 on all makeup). I bought Wild Watermelon and Juicy Papaya.

(L-R) Juicy Papaya & Wild Watermelon

I absolutely love these lip butters. 

Juicy papaya is a lovely coral shade that is very easy to wear, it looks quite orange in the swatch but the orange tone is actually quite subtle on your lips. Wild watermelon is a really vibrant red shade, it's quite a unique colour it's red with a hint of purple/pink, which will be a gorgeous bright spring/summer shade.

They are the same formula as the original lip butters so they are very easy to wear.

Other shades available in the spring launch are Pink Lemonade and Sorbet, they are available on Boots here.

Elaine

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation Review

There is quite a lot of hype around this foundation, mainly as US bloggers were raving about it before it was launched in the UK, when it was released I have to admit I jumped on the bandwagon and bought it straightaway, mainly due to the fact it was reduced to around £6, I normally like to research products before I buy them.

I know there have been hundreds of reviews of this foundation but I wanted to write a post as I have had mixed impressions on this foundation. 

The foundation has a lovely consistency almost gel like which reminds me of YSL's touche eclait foundation or Bourjois Healthy Mix, and it gives a really good light coverage I find on days I don't have blemishes I don't need to apply concealer, even on the redness around my nose.

After I have applied the foundation it gives a nice healthy skin glow, and the shade matches my skin tone well, the shades seem very neutral - not too yellow, not too pink.

But despite these positives I have really struggled with this foundation and I have mainly been trying to persevere with it as I am sick of buying foundation after foundation that don't work for my skin type, so I am determined to make this foundation work!

It's a struggle from the start, I have applied this foundation with my fingers, Real Techniques expert face brush and buffing brush and still find that I get streaks in the foundation (especially with the expert face brush) so I do need to spend extra time ensuring that all of the foundation is blended in properly, on a recent #bbloggers chat another blogger mentioned she also had this problem and found a damp sponge helped the foundation apply much better, so I am definitely going to give this a try.

Even when I do blend the foundation in well I wouldn't agree with Revlon's description that the foundation is 'unbelievably light with an undetectable finish', I can definitely still feel this foundation on my skin, I mean it's not heavy but it's also not unbelievably light either.

Hmm... and as for undetectable finish... the first day I wore this I was shocked at the state of the foundation by lunchtime, as it was the first application I only used a small amount with a light dusting of powder, and by lunchtime my skin was shockingly shiny around my T-Zone I actually gasped when I looked in the mirror, I could even see around my nose and cheeks where the foundation was shifting, it was not reacting with my oily skin well at all.

Since then I make sure I only wear the foundation when I am able to use my L'oreal studio secrets primer (mentioned here) and Rimmel stay matte powder along with it, these products have made this foundation a lot easier to wear, the shine is kept under control (and by that I mean my skin is shiny by lunchtime but no where near looking like I have smeared my nose in vaseline!) and the foundation has a nice finish throughout the day.

On a positive where I don't have issues with oily skin the foundation wears really well and lasts all day at work, I think this foundation would be amazing for people with normal or dry skin. Overall I don't hate it, I actually quite like it now I know the best ways to apply it but it's definitely not the holy grail product people claim it to be, well not for me anyway.

Have you tried it yet? What are your thoughts?

Elaine

What's in my Handbag? My everyday lipsticks

My handbag is jammed packed full of everything, as an outreach worker it doubles up as my mobile office too, so it's a struggle to find anything in a rush and every time I went to grab a pen I seemed to find a lipstick, so I had a good sort through of my bag at the weekend and found 5 lipsticks in there, not including lip balms!

All of the lipsticks I found are my everyday lip colours that I reach for the majority of the time.

L'Oreal Rouge Caresse - Tempting Lilac

This lipstick is a mix of dusky pink and mauve lilac, I wasn't sure if this shade really suited me when I first got this, but I find it gives your lips a nice perk of colour.

L'Oreal Rouge Caresse - Dating Coral

This is one of my all time favourite lipsticks, if I am looking a bit tired or a bit blah I love wearing this lipstick as it really brightens up my make up, I've been wearing it quite a lot recently as me and the dark mornings aren't mixing well.

I'm really loving the L'Oreal Rouge Caresse lipsticks they are so nice and easy to wear, they give a nice glossy sheer swipe of colour. I think they are great value for money for £8.19 and easier to wear than the Revlon lip butters, you can find them here.

17 Mirror Shine - Beehive

17 recently changed their packaging from a blue bullet to black square packaging with an in built mirror, the consistency of the lipstick have also changed and they aren't as soft. I think the colour used to have a hint of pink but now it's more of a beige neutral colour, it's a shame as I loved the original but this version is good to wear for everyday. You can find them here.

Revlon Lip Butter - Macaroon

This is a really lovely berry colour with a hint of gold shimmer, it's not too dark so I wear but you can build up the colour for a more dramatic look. You an find the Lip Butters here.

Rimmel Apocalips - Celestial

Every beauty blogger has mentioned the Apocalips from Rimmel, when I saw all the swatches on blogs I knew I had to get this shade when it was released, and so did quite a few people, I had to go to a few Boots to get one. It's a really pretty pigmented dusky pink shade. You can find them here.

(L-R) Celestial, Dating Coral, Tempting Lilac, Beehive and Macaroon

Have you counted to see how many lipsticks are in your handbag??

Elaine

2012 Favourites... Makeup

When I was thinking about the different makeup products that I wanted to include in my 2012 favourites that list was getting very long and I was getting a bit concerned this post would turn into a bit of an essay, so I cut the list down and decided to only include the products that I turn to all the time without thinking and that list was easy to make. So here are my 2012 favourites...

L'Oreal Million Lashes Mascara
This is my all time favourite mascara, I love it!! I talk about it in this post.

Garnier BB Cream
I love this BB cream it is perfect for my combination/skin, it's really easy to wear and BB cream has lasted ages I bought this back in May (i think) and I still have loads left and I wear it everyday! You can read my post here.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Light Foundation
I really like this foundation, it is medium coverage and really does last all day, I know a lot of people compare this foundation to Revlon's Colour Stay foundation, which I have, but I think that the double wear gives a much better finish compared to the colour stay, you can find the foundation here, I will do a post soon!

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder
This powder is brilliant, there is not much I can say about a powder but it keeps my skin nice and matte all day and for only £3.99 it's a bargain, although since I have been using the Garnier BB cream I haven't been using it as much. You can find it here.

Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer
I recently did a post on this, which you can see here, but I am obsessed with concealer and use it everyday!

Collection 2000 Extreme Liner
This range of eyeliners are really great felt tip liners which can rival other brands such as L'Oreal and Rimmel for only £2.99. It's mentioned in a post here and here.

Avon Super Shock Gel Liner
I use this liner on my waterline and it is such a great true black I love it, I bought it from Ebay but you can find it here.

Benefit Blushers
I've included the Hervana blusher in my favourites, but I could easily wear any of my Benefit blushers any time. (You can see my post here and here)

I love all 3 of these lipsticks, they are so easy to wear, I have a LOT of lipsticks but I reach for these the most.
Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti (You can see my post here)
Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stain Balm in Crush (You can see my post here)
L'Oreal Rouge Caress in Dating Coral (You can see my post here)

MUA Heaven and Earth Eye Shadow Palette
I know everyone raves about the undressed palette, which I also have, but the Heaven and Earth palette is always the range of eye shadows that I reach for most often for daytime and evening makeup looks. I just realised I haven't done a post on this so I will get some swatches done soon, in the mean time you can find it here. 

Real Techniques Brushes
This year I have become really interested in using makeup brushes, I never quite understood the need for them before I became a blogger but now I am obsessed, especially with Real Techniques brushes, I first bought the Stippling Brush which I love, I got the core collection for Christmas so I can't wait to try them.

What have been your favourite makeup products this year?

Elaine

Winter Favourite: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Stain in Crush

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I am really struggling to get good photo's due to the dark nights, so I'm relying on having enough time at the weekends and the weather being good enough to take decent photo's! 

I'm trying to create some sort of light box/background out of a shoe box to help with photo's, I'll post a picture on twitter to show how I got on, it sort of looks like I've attacked a shoe box with scissors and sellotape at the minute... might end up a disaster but worth a go!

I have managed to get a few photos taken on Saturday. So I'm finally back to blogging as usual...

Now that the autumn/winter has arrived I decided it was time to change up my make up look, and for me the easiest way to do this is to experiment with my lip colour. I'm not normally one to try bold makeup or follow makeup trends that closely, but this changed when I became obessed with reading beauty blogs and  I have been really inspired by other bloggers so I try to be a bit bolder with my lip colours, and buying one lipstick (or two...three...ok sometimes four) is the easiest way to keep up with trends/seasons.

 I've had my eye on the Revlon Just Bitten stain in 'Crush' ever since they were released in the summer, it is the perfect berry autumnal shade (swatch below). 

I already have 2 other stains in Honey and Rendezvous, I have to admit that when I first bought them I wasn't overwhelmed and thought they were nice but very so-so, but after a few months wear I have really changed my mind as they are such easy to wear lip products and would probably have more if there was a wider colour range, at £7.99 they are a bargain too. You can see the swatches for Honey and Rendezvous here.

So back to crush... 

I absolutely love this colour, and would encourage anyone who wants to try a berry lipstick/stain to buy it. The colour itself is quite purple which is unique compared to the huge selection of autumnal reds on the high street, the colour does oxidise slightly darker on your lips, but you can build up the colour which is great if you are starting to experiment with lip colours. 

The colour lasts for about 2-3 hours max before you need to reapply, the longevity is pretty much the same as the other stains I have. 

Crush is exactly the same as the other stains I have from the range in that the balm feeling on your lips doesn't last very long about 20 minutes, but it is moisturising compared to liquid (felt tip like) stains that can be quite drying. 

The only negative is when the colour wears off it does leave a purple stain behind which is slightly more vibrant than the berry colour, I personally don't mind it all but some people might, if you aren't sure you could test it on your hand and see how it wears.

I have recommended this to friends and would definitely repurchase. 

What is your favourite autumn/winter product?

Elaine

NOTD Revlon Cloud

I bought this Revlon nail polish 'Cloud' from a cheap makeup stall, I've seen a few people post that they bought this colour from Poundland and was on the look out for it for awhile so I was chuffed to see it for £1.99! 

For some reason I found it really hard to photograph as I couldn't get the colour to show true, I would say its slightly more lilac than it appears. The formula was a bit thick and difficult to work with but it dried super fast and I love the colour so it doesn't bother me. This is the first Top Speed Revlon nail varnish I've tried but I'm really impressed that it is truly a quick drying polish.

What do you think of this polish? Have you found any must have Revlon colours in Poundland?

Rachel

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain Review

You would need to be hiding under a pretty large rock if you haven't heard the buzz from beauty bloggers raving about Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable balm stains, so I was really excited when they were launched in the UK and even happier to hear that both Boots and Superdrug were offering them at an introductory price of £5.99 (normally £7.99), so I had to try them out.

(I wasn't overwhelmed by the shade choices to be honest, but I have heard that more shade options are available in America, so maybe they will be released here at a later date...)

I picked up Honey first as I wanted a berry colour to wear everyday as an alternative to pinky/nude lip shades and this matched what I was after quite well. I hadn't planned on buying another one as they hadn't wowed me as much as I thought they would, but I thought I may as well take advantage of the introductory offer so I picked up Rendezvous, I did already have my eye on this but I was worried it would be too similar to my Tutti Frutti Lip Butter but I found that it had more of an orange tone compared to Tutti Frutti, although this does oxidise to a darker shade.

Pros

• The Just Bitten stain does leave your lips feeling softer and smoother, however personally I find that I still need to use a lip balm before applying but I have quite dry lips.
• The packaging is really great and I like the retractable crayon design, I know the design/product is very similar to Clinque's Chubby Sticks but I have never used a Chubby Stick so I couldn't compare.
• They are great everyday lip products, I have been wearing Rendezvous and Honey to work everyday, they are very wearable shades that are still highly pigmented.
• They contain a nice minty scent, which I quite like, it isn't strong so it's not irritating or overpowering, although I know Rachel wasn't keen on this.

Cons

• They tend to only last on your lips for 2 hours max, and even then it's the brighter more highly pigmented colours (Rendezvous) that have that longevity, which isn't what I expect for a product that claims to be a stain (I know Revlon say it is a lightweight stain... but it is still a stain), especially when Revlon claim it will last 'hour after hour'.
• I found that after application both Honey and Rendezvous oxidised to a slightly darker shade, I didn't mind the darker colour, but sometimes the swatch doesn't always match the shade when it is applied.
• The balmy feeling on your lips doesn't last long, I would say about 20 mins, so if you like to have that moisturising feeling on your lips you would need to keep reapplying.

Will I repurchase?

Maybe... I do like the Just Bitten stains as they are great everyday/easy to wear lipsticks and I'm happy with the colours that I have, but they really haven't wowed me, maybe I was expecting a wonder product from all of the hype. I would only purchase them again if they had a shade that I was looking for at that time and even then I wouldn't go out of my way to buy that shade in this product in particular.

Rachel has swatched the Just Bitten stains and she was quite underwhelmed too but she did say she would be tempted to try Romantic or Crush which are darker shades in the Autumn.

Have you tried the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable lip stains yet?

Elaine

Recent Purchases - mini haul

Just a quick post to share with you some of my recent purchases. While Superdrug had the 3 for 2 on I had a HUGE list of products I wanted to get, unfortunately they never had stock of anything I wanted (sort it out Superdrug) so this mini haul is a lot smaller than I expected.

Sleek Blush BY3 - Lace £9.99 (bought in Superdrug 3 for 2) -  I have been looking for this for so long in Superdrug, I'd given up on finding it so I went in for a different blush but when I asked to see if they had the other blush in stock the sales assistant found the palette and tons of others in the drawer (why don't they have them out!) I've already used this loads and love it, review to follow soon - although I'm not sure anyone really needs to read another review on it.

Revlon Colourstay Foundation - Buff £12.49 (bought in Superdrug 3 for 2) - I used this foundation years ago but stopped wearing it when I wanted a lighter coverage, I bought this as although I don't wear medium to full coverage foundation daily its always handy to have for really bad skin days. Although I wish that I'd waited and got the new SoftFlex ColourStay.

L'oreal Lumi Magique - £8.49 (bought in Superdrug 3 for 2) - I've wanted to try the Lumi range for awhile but the foundation colours really don't work for me and I'm not in need of another primer so I went for this instead. I love the packaging but if I'm honest I'm not sure its really working for me.

nspa Nourishing Eye & Lip Treatment - £2.50 (Usually £3.00) ASDA - I was in need of a new eye cream and as this was only £2.50 it was a bit of a impulse purchase. I haven't used it yet but the smell is delicious!

BM Beauty Finishing Powder - £8.00 EthicalSuperstore.com  - I loved the samples I received from BM Beauty and I absolutely adore their brushes so I have high hopes for this powder. I've played about with it and its seems lovely and light, not at all cakey. I will of course review it fully asap.

Revlon Lip Butter - Tutti Fruitti  - £5.99 Boots (Usually £7.99) - Elaine LOVES this lipstick and I've had my eye on it for awhile, I've got quite dark lips so the lip butters don't do too much for me but its a easy and light alternative to my Topshop Infrared lipstick - I also love using a bit of it on my cheeks when I don't have any blusher with me.

Do you use any of these products?

Rachel

Revlon Lip Butter Fail

So as you will probably know from my past favourites posts that I love my Tutti Frutti Revlon Lip Butter, so I thought that it was only right that I went and tried a different shade as they are reduced in Boots. £5.99 instead of £7.99.. it would be rude not to!

I quite fancied a brighter pink shade but nothing too in your face, I really liked Strawberry Shortcake and it seemed perfect when I swatched it on my hand...

But it really wasn't me, it was much more of a pale/pastel pink than I was expecting, as I think the swatch and the lipstick itself looks like a brighter pink. Although I am pale this just didn't look right on me and I didn't feel comfortable in it at all. It almost seemed to disappear on my lips in half the time (after an hour or so) it takes Tutti Frutti, maybe I notice Tutti Frutti lasting longer as it's brighter...

I ending up giving this to my mam and she loves it, so it's probably just me not being used to that type of pale pink.

I would still like to try more of the Lip Butter shades, but I must admit I'm not in a rush to get another one.

What Lip Butter shades do you love?

Elaine

My Wish List!

Here are a few things that I'm lusting after this month, they aren't really expensive things but I'm trying to cut back on my spending!

Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti, I really want to try an orange lipstick and I think this would be a great way to try the colour out as it's a sheer lipstick. I went to go buy this the other day but this shade wasn't there, so I bought L'Oreal Caress in Dazzling Coral instead which is more of a pink shade than orange (I will do a review post soon), I really like the L'Oreal lipstick and have heard mixed things about the lip butters, but in my head I'm dying to try the lip butters out but there is no way I can justify buying another lipstick until I get paid again.

I love this River Island dress (£30) I always look at it when I go into town, hopefully I will have enough extra money to get it next month, or there might be a cheaper dupe out there...

Babyliss Big Hair, I love the idea of this hot air brush, I ummed and ahhed about whether to ask for this for my birthday last year but asked for the Babyliss Root Boost instead (which I love) but I keep looking at this and reading/watching reviews, so I might end up getting this too the next time it's on offer, I am obsessed with getting some volume in my hair.

I love the look of the Model's Own Beetlejuice collection, I don't own a Model's Own nail varnish and I'm not sure why as they seem pretty reasonable at £5, I like the look of the coppery brown varnish in the pictures above.

Bit of a random one, but after seeing a post by the Pixiwoo sisters about blue eyeshadow for brown eyes I would love to get the perfect blue eyeshadow, I love the looks in these pictures! I have seen in a recent post by Raspberry Kiss that Vivo has a blue smokey moods eye kit for £4, so I might give that a go, I've never tried any Vivo products before but I have heard good things!

Elaine

Rainbow Nails!

This is a post to show you all the different nail varnishes we used to make our new header!

(L - R)

Miss Sporty - Black

No7 - Night Silver 62

Topshop Nails - Starlight

No7 - Betty Blues 280

Barry M - 312 Indigo

No7 - Totally Teal 330 (one of our all time favorites)

Barry M - 291

(L - R)

Barry M - 299 Racing Green

Misguided - Misstique

Topshop Nails - Green Room

Barry M - 304 Mint Green

H&M Nails - Wanna Pepperoni (WTF?)

Barry M - Acid Yellow 300

Collection 2000 Hot Looks - 30 Sherbet Lemons (Awful! see Need for Neon post)

17 Fast Finish - Go Go 

(L - R)

Xtras - Phox 11

Nails Inc - Tate 

Barry M - Raspberry 273

No7 - Hot Pink 40

Topshop Nails - Painted on 002

Revlon - 990 One Perfect Coral

17 Fast Finish - Pink Grapefruit

Ruby & Millie - Orange 300C

Misguided - Misstaken

(L - R)

MAC - Dark Angel

Miss Sporty Clubbing Colours - 344

17 Lasting Fix - Parma Violet

17 Lasting Fix - Woo Me

Nails Inc- Jermyn Street

Topshop Nails - Mannequin 002

Topshop Nails - Hyperreal

Missguided - Missellaneaous

Rimmel Lycra Pro - 365 Beige Style

Nails Inc - Elizabeth Street