A KIKO Haul

Can it be a haul if all you buy is four things?

How many constitute a haul?

Whilst I think about that, you guys have a look at what I got from KIKO two weeks ago.

It was another trip to Westfield, somewhere that I feel I am spending far too much time these days.. But then, thinking logically about it, I don't have time to shop for makeup during my lunchbreaks so I get my fix on the weekends..and I've had to make these many trips for returns and the like.

Anyway! Here is what I picked up..

Everything here was on sale, the lipsticks were £2.50 each and I believe the mascaras were about £3.90 each.  I spent about £12.00 in total which is not bad for four products..

The lipstick is in a shade that a certain person I know refers to as "shit lips".  She said the same about Revlon's Mink which is my current HG lipstick for those days when you want to look polished but not done up.  It works fantastically on darker skintones but will make you pale ladies look like you've been salad tossing with a less than desirable bloke.

I can only apologise for this out of focus shot.  I took about five and somehow deleted all bar the one that was out of focus.

This differs from Revlon's Mink in that it is totally matte and does give me a slight corpse lip look.  However, that is easily rectified with some clear (non sticky!) gloss.  I like the Rimmel Stay Vinyl ones.

The mascaras, one is a cheap and cheerful version of Clinique's Bottom Lash mascara.  It was marketed as being for false lashes, but me being unable to apply those yet (must really get onto it..) has not been able to try it for that.  I can't see it not working well for lower lashes as the brush is practically the same as the Clinique one.  The other mascara is for massive lashes and I'm yet to crack it open.

I had a look at the other items on offer but nothing really grabbed my attention as the shop was quite busy and I wasn't in the mood the stick around and wait my turn...we all have those days!

Since being in store, I have looked at Naz's blog and seen this pencil, which looks gorgeous..but I don't really seeing it in-store?   I did see some cream blushes but I think I'm kinda over them now so I left them alone too.

I will be doing a full review on all the items when I've used them enough.

In the mean time, what are your opinions in KIKO? Is it cheap and cheerful? Or cheap for a reason?

FOTD: Bright lip city gonna set my soul on fire!

I've been going through a bright lip phase at the moment which is something that I never thought I'd be doing.  These colours aren't fantastically bright but they're bright enough to allow me to strike the balance between bright and work appropriate.

My lips are pigmented and the top lip is darker than the bottom.  All three of these products mask that problem and apply uniformly to both lips.  The Korres tub is standard lipbalm size, the ELF tub really is that big. 

Revlon A/W 2010 Suede Rhapsody: Mink, Smoked Peach and Stormy Pink lipsticks

I've never been a great lipstick expert so I've never really paid much attention to their different finishes.  When I was of makeup wearing age, the in thing was lipgloss so that's all we wore.  It's only now that I'm a bit older and that the major crush on lipgloss has gone that people are turning back to lipsticks.

This post has been a long, long time in the making as the weather changed before I was able to swatch Mink but I've finally managed a decent shot..

Anyway, rambles aside, the three I have from the Suede Rhapsody collection are Mink, Smoked Peach and Stormy Pink.  The former is creme and the latter two are mattes.

When I first saw these colours I was adamant they wouldn't work for me.  Mink really looks that dark in real life.  Then I saw Mink in a different light (ba dam tshhh) and it looked like it would suit my lips pretty well.  I still had reservations about the other two.

Then we went pink..

I really really like this.  It is one a very few pink lipsticks in my collection and it works very well with my skintone.  I find a lot of pink lipsticks make me look like I've stolen them from someone else with far paler skin than mine but this works well with my skintone.  I think(!) it is called a pink with blue undertones because I can see a bit of lilacy blueness in it when I have it on.  If that's the case, I know my shading at long last!  As you can see, it is a little drying but nothing some lipbalm underneath it and some lipgloss on top of it wouldn't fix.

Then things took a more orangey turn:

Words cannot express how terrible this looked on me.  It looks cringeworthly bad.  It looked even worse in the full face pic before I edited it down.  It is also a lot drier than Stormy Pink as you can see.  I'm not sure which skintone this lipstick would look good on.

Then came my favourite one, Mr Mink to you, Minky Minkerson to me..

This has been my go to worksafe colour ever since I got it.  It has the right amount of pigment, glides very nicely on the lips and the colour lasts a fair while.  It's a very easy colour to wear, I've managed to master putting it on without the aid of a mirror!

I've done some on the hand swatches for those who don't have pigmented lips like mine..

Although Smoked Peach and Stormy Pink are matte, I find they behave differently.  Stormy Pink isn't as drying as Smoked Peach.  You really need some extra moisture giver when applying Smoked Peach.  You need a little less if wearing Stormy Pink.

I have been alternating between Mink and Stormy Pink as I love how both of them look.  Mink is a brilliant "my lips but better shade" for us WOCs and Stormy Pink is the pink that I have been waiting for.  It works in perfect harmony with my skin.

Which of these three are your favourites? Do you like matte lipsticks or do you think they should have a bit of shine to them?

Perfect Nude Lip for Women of Colour

I have been trying to perfect this look for ages and I think I'm finally happy with it.  I never thought that I'd wear a nude lip to work as I feel that it tends to wash a face out if you haven't balanced it with a statement/dark eye.

I personally think that getting a nude lip for those of us with darker skins is one of the biggest makeup problems we have, alongside finding a decent concealer which doesn't cost the earth.  You want a nice nude lip, not one that looks like you've smeared someone's concealer all over your lips.

As my lips are not uniform in colour and are already quite pigmented, getting a natural (as possible) nude lip is made that little bit more difficult.

A long time ago now, I took the advice of this WOC beauty oracle and she told me that she had recently bought a lipstick which worked as a perfect nude.

I rushed to ebay and bought it.

It has been documented here before and I have used it for a few desi functions when the eye makeup has been heavy.

I have always wondered how people figured out which coloured lipglosses worked over certain lipsticks.  I came across this totally by accident.  I wanted to make my lips glossier but had no clear gloss and grabbed the lightest coloured gloss I could see.  I have never really layered coloured lipgloss over a lipstick before but I am so glad I decided to mix these two as I now have the perfect glossy nude lip.  The colours are strong enough to not vanish the second I put them on my lips.

I've got hand swatches and lip swatches so you can see the colours as they are and how they transform over to my lips.

The top left hand photograph of my lips is how it looks in reality, the rest are just there to show you how it looks when layered. 

Do you think this works as a nude? If you have any tips and tricks re. getting a good nude lip, leave a comment!

The Body Shop Delipscious Lipsticks and Lipbalms

I was given two of these at the Body Shop bloggers event..for some reason I've been really slow in getting stuff out of the goody bag and using it.

I used these the other day..and then again today..

In short, I don't like them.

I think the food grade angle is the problem.  When I first put them on, they don't taste like lipsticks..they taste nice.  I don't mean that I chew a chunk of them before applying.  It's the incidental taste you get when you put stuff on your lips.

After about 20 minutes, I got the most disgusting taste in my mouth, I can't say what it was of but it was really bitter.  I had to have a couple of big glasses of water and take the lipstick/balm off and still there were traces of bitternes.

They are moisturising..very moisturising but the taste really puts a downer on them.  

The tinted lip balm should, in my opinion just be called a lipbalm.

When I put it on my lips, you couldn't see it! However, my lips are quite pigmented so that could be why.  I forced Simon to let me swatch it on his lips and you could see a slight sparkle..for all the 4 seconds he kept it on.

They didn't stay on my lips long enough for me to swatch them..

PURE makeup

I went to the 99p shop the other day to get some cleaning bits but as per usual, was waylaid by other things they were selling.

I was looking for nose pore strips (my current ones have finished..I'm not a freak who hoards them) and I came across PURE makeup.  This used to be sold in Boots and Debenhams and it wasn't really a High Street brand..but then again, I don't think it was high end? Anyway, the lipsticks used to be £8.  Boots and Debenhams discontinued them.  I wish I had gotten to the 99p shop earlier because I really wanted their palettes but they only had lipsticks, lip glosses, powders and kajals when I got there.

I really like the packaging, very sleek and the print on it grabbed my eye too.  The bullet of the lipstick is kinda angular and reminded me of Kryten from Red Dwarf.

It was pretty difficult to choose a colour which I thought would suit my lips..the genius in me must have been dormant because I didn't realise that the colouring behind the shade was indicitative of the lipstick colour until a lady who was also choosing a lippy told me.  Anyway, I picked Rose Seduction and Iridescent Rose..the former is the one which features here.

It was quite hard to work the colour onto the lips, this is about three coats and as you can see..it looks ok.

 

All in all, I'm glad I didn't buy the lipsticks at full price because they aren't worth it at all.  I wore this for a day and then wore the Iridescent Rose the day after.  They dried my lips out terribly so if you've got dry lips then give them a miss.  If you've got super moisturised lips then you will need to up your lip balm dosage after using these.  Iridescent Rose is a funny old lipstick too, it's far more drying than this one and it really gives your lips an iridescent look, you get pink with gold gliter over the top.  I'm trying to be helpful here and suggest where you could wear it but nothing is coming to mind..I suppose an Indian wedding but with gloss over it? Or you could mix it with another lipstick..put the IR on the centre part of your lower lip to highlight it and then blend in your other lipstick.

The Swatch Files: Revlon Colorburst Lipsticks

These babies were released yesterday in the good old UK and the ones featured here came to me directly from Revlon HQ.

I tried to get an artsy shot in here a la this lady but er..you can judge the effort for yourself.

I picked them up this morning and although this is a Swatch Files post, it comes with rambling..I haven't had a chance to trial them to my usual extent so here are my first thoughts about them:

• I love the packaging, it reminds me of packaging that the high end brands tend to favour, it's nice and sleek.
• I'm also suitably impressed with the embossing on the bullet, I'm sure that Chanel used to do this..I can't remember if they still do but anyway..it looks pretty bitchin'
• When you first put the lipstick on your lips, it follows the outline of your lower lip..smack your lips together and it transfers to the top lip..it's easy to fill in your lips and you get a natural looking lip coat.  It's like a lipstick for noobs which suits me perfectly.  I think this is BRILLIANT and if Revlon did it on purpose then they should deffo use this in their marketing because I'd snap up a lipstick that made application a doddle.  If it's totally by accident then they should stick with this bullet design
• My lips are not the same colour, one is darker than the other..which is something quite common for ladies of a darker skin tone..this lipstick manages to make both lips look the same colour which is something I always want from a lipstick
• They're nice and moisturising, I've had one colour on all morning and it hasn't dried my lips out.
• They last for a long time too..once again, I've had this colour on all morning and have eaten a fair bit and it's still going strong!

I'm quite glad I got the chance to swatch these as I find that there is a lack of swatches on Indian skin online, anyway..

Le swatches!

I've edited the pics so that they're as close to real life as possible which is why my skin is different colours in some of them. Also, I just noticed how the camera gets closer to my lips as the swatches diminish, as you can see, form and order aren't words I'm familiar with.

If you want some "on the skin" swatches, Charlotte's got all over them over on her blog.

Revlon Colorburst are on sale now in Boots, they're currently on full price but Boots do have a 3 for 2 dealy on.

My current workday lip

Is this:

I was going to do a full on review of it but then I changed my mind because I think that if I'm wearing it to work practically everyday, I must really like it.

Here's how it fares on the old lippage:

You can see why I love it, the colour is gorgeous!  It lasts a pretty long time and the pigmentation is really good as you can see.  My top lip is darker than my bottom lip but this beauty makes them look the same colour.

What lippies are you currently loving?

The Swatch Files: L'oreal Paris Star Secrets Kit Penélope Cruz

I use this one a lot, it's my day to night palette, I whack the shadows on in the morning and if I'm going out I whack the blush and lipstick on.

I've labelled the eyeshadows incorrectly, in the palette 1 is the colour at the bottom and 3 is the colour at the top.

Excuse me, where the hell have you been?!

Remember last year when you went out shopping and picked up a right peach of an item? I do.

Remember when you came back home, swatched it, wore it about and realised that this new item was your new best mate? I do.

Remember when you vowed that this would be your signature eyeshadow/eyeliner/lipstick/lipgloss/foundation/blusher? I do.

Remember when you put it in drawer after putting your makeup on? I do.

Remember the next morning when you decided to switch it up a bit and use something different? I do.

Remember when you vowed to wear it the next day? I do.

Remember the days and weeks which followed where you totally forgot about your new best mate? I do.

Remember last week when you were rooting around your makeup stash trying to find something and came across your (neglected) new best mate? I do.

How does this happen?! I swear it's happened to me more times than I care to remember.  Remember that post I had before about items I was going to use more of this year? Well, these were the items I remembered at the time..turns out I had more which I had totally forgotten about, despite being in love with them when I bought them.  It's happened to me with a L'oreal Star Secrets Palette, Maybelline's Lash Stiletto (which I'm chucking out because it make my eyes itch after a few hours), my No7 glosses and countless other items.

However, I was quite shocked when I found these two lurking in my makeup drawers as I LOVED them when I first had them and then I totally forgot about them so from now on I'm going to make an effort to use them until they finish!

I seriously can't believe I totally forgot about Dune, I even reviewed it! Yinka recommended it as the perfect nude for women of colour (WOC's) and I trust her when it comes to those kind of statements so I snapped it up from ebay.  I got the 17 one from Boots in Terminal 5 when my mum went on holiday and I started to cry.  I'm such a dick, 25 years old and cries when her mum leaves for 2 weeks, despite the fact that I've gone months without seeing her when I was at uni.

Do you guys do the same with products? I think this might be something that only I do.

Review: L'oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in shade 240: Dune

Yinka bought this and recommended that it would work for all WOC's so me being the sensible person I am rushed out and bought it on ebay, I got it for about £4 all in. For some reason I keep calling it Nude even though it's called Dune.

It arrived and I was a bit disappointed as I thought this colour would never suit my lips. I think I've got a bit of "see what you want rather than what is there" approach to my lips. I need to accept they're not pinky and they are more browny in colour and dress them accordingly. Anway, I digress...

I put the lipstick on and it smelt nice, smelt like something I had before but I couldn't remember what until today. It smells like a lipstick that Bourjois made about 8 years ago (I got it as a freebie in a mag I had to buy for Media Studies A Level). It looked really obvious and I was thinking it would never look decent on my lips.

So, here we go..

The lipstick:

The actual stick:
I had to take the photo with flash on to get the actual colour out, this is how it looks IRL. I'm having a mental block and can't think what colour that is but it is specked with glittery bits. Don't let that put you off as it's not OTT glitter, quite subtle...more like shimmer.

Swatched (daylight and no flash):

Swatched (flash):
On the lips (without flash):
On the lips (with flash):
Pardon the upper lip, I need to get it threaded *embarassed*.


Repurchase?
My general feelings about this lipstick are thus:

• It lasts a lonnnnnnnnnnnnng time, I ate quite a bit and it was still on
• The colour IRL makes my lips look like my lips but better
• It goes on really soft and creamy and doesn't dry your lips out
• In photos it makes your lips look really uniform and in "proper" pics (i.e. at a distance and of your whole face) it makes your lips look really natural
• It's well worth the money
  
• I would deffo repurchase this, in fact I think I may have to, I took these photos during the week and it's been used every day and I can see it getting smaller day by day.
  

Copycat

I saw Yinka's blog and Sara's blog about how many lipsticks/lipglosses they had so I've decided jump on the bandwagon.

I cannot stress enough what a noob to makeup I am and I thought I had quite a few lip products but laying them out and seeing how many I have I realised that I'm not really as bad on lip products as I thought I would be..oh, and I found my TWO HG lip colours, Rimmel's Lip Vinyl in Velocity mixed with clear gloss from 17 and a Smashbox berry shade which is in their palette only so semi yay!

Anywho..here's my collection of glosses/pencils/sticks:

Top Row: Rimmel Vinyl Lip in Velocity (a bit lighter IRL and much nicer on lips), Maybelline Watershine Diamonds in Chocolate Sparkles, Maybelline Fruity Jelly in Raspberry, Maybelline Fruity Jelly in Satsuma, Smashbox lippy in Encore, Smashbox lippy in Toffee, 17 lippy in Chocolate Suede, Natural Collection lipgloss in Strawberry

Row 2: Wet n Wild gloss in Tangerine, Opia lipgloss in clear, Maybelline Fruity Jelly (can't remember flavour), YSL gloss in 3, Boots No7 in Lollipop, Boots No7 in Sherbert

Row 3: Smashbox lipliner

Row 4: Smashbox lip palette 5, Stila Plumping Glaze in Melon Mint, Stila Lip Glaze in Mocha

Row 5: Natural Collection lipliner in Rose

Row 6: Wet n Wild gloss (I forget the flavour), Lancome Juicy Tube in a pinky shade, Boots No7 in Lollipop, Lancome Juicy Tube in Fraise, Natural Collection in Watermelon x 2.

And there we have my collection of lip paints.

The ones I use the most often are:

• Rimmel Vinyl Lip
• Opia clear gloss
• YSL gloss in shade 3 (must remember proper name)
• Smashbox palette in the plummy shade on the bottom left hand corner

Also, I'm looking to sell some of those glosses so if you see anything you like, do let me know and I will see what I can do :)