Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain - Lovesick

With the success of the Lip Butters, Revlon have delved deeper into the lipstick world with this new offering, a lip stain that also acts as a balm. Lip Stains have been around a long time, however many of them tend to come in a liquid form that ends up drying the lips and making them look flaky - not a good look! 

I'm sure those of you that know of this balm stain have also heard the words 'Clinique' and 'Chubby Sticks' thrown around. Unfortunately, I've never tried the Chubby Sticks myself so cannot put in my two cents about the similarity other than the packaging is relatively the same. Both come in crayon form with a silver tip for twisting more lippie out and the colour of the stick is corressponding to that of the product inside.

Lovesick is the colour Emma Stone is wearing in all the promos for this product. It is a pretty, deep pink colour that helps add a pop of colour as well as having a plumping effect. It actually has a subtle minty smell which leads me to believe there may be some plumping properties sneaking in there as well. As this is a balm, it does have a lovely moisturising feel as well as a gorgeous sheen. When it comes to application, the crayon allows ease of use and is very precise, meaning the perfect cupids bow can be created. 

It is very long wearing and I've tested it thoroughly! The colour transfers when the sheen is still noticeable, however this tends to break down after an hour. When lips are stained with colour, they are virtually untouchable. After eating, drinking, kissing and lots of pouting (what an evening!), I found the colour had faded slightly towards the middle of the lips yet the outside outline was still perfect. Don't worry if you can't grab the balm stain for a touch up right away, it doesn't look like a classic lip liner failure. 

Lovesick on the left

 Overall, I think I have fallen in love. Lipsticks are my downfall, unfortunately. I tend to play with my lips quite a lot and end up with colourless lips after an hour! The Revlon Just Bitten Stains have the same quality as a lipstick from application to colour payoff and I cannot wait to get more!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains are available in 7 different shades and you can find them in Boots & Superdrug for an RRP of £7.99. Be quick, however! An introductory offer is still in effect with £2 off!

FOTD - a rather late one

Hello to you lovely bloggers and readers! Just a quick thankyou to everyone that has been supporting this blog recently. I've been very on and off with it since the beginning of the year, trying to find that balance, but it has been the last month that my pageviews have suddenly improved! It's great to know someone out there is actually reading what I have written passionatly about. But let's not get soppy here and move onto the point of this post...a Face Of The Day! Or shall I say yesterday, as this is actually Thursday's face.

Excuse the hair, I had literally just woken up and done my make-up. Bed hair, what a bitch.

 

Lemme break it down for you.

Prep

L'occitane Angelica Hydration Cream

Stila One Step Correct

Revlon Photoready Primer

Face

Bobby Brown Corrector (Bisque)

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer (Light)

MeMeMe Flawless Finish Cream Foundation (Beige Blush) 

Urban Decay Razor Sharp Ultra Definition Finishing Powder

The Body Shop Bronzer (Golden Bronze)

No. 7 Vital Enlightening Highlighting Powder

Benefit Hervana

Eyes

Accessorize Lovely Day Palette 

MUA Heaven & Earth Palette

Barry M Waterproof Eyeliner (Bold Gold)

L'oreal Paris Telescopic Mascara (Carbon Black)

Mac Eyebrow Pencil (Spiked)

Lips

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain (Crush)

Really loving the Accessorize Lovely Day Palette, maybe I will do a night out look with it soon? Reviews to come on the Revlon lip stains but here's a little sneak peek...I LOVE THEM!

Thanks for reading and see you in the next post!

 

Accessorize Lovely Day Palette

I'm going to be honest with you. After years of loving cheap, highstreet makeup and keeping an eye out for the best deals, this palette is my first dabble with Accessorize cosmetics. Although, they have been available for a few years now, it is only recently that the collection has caught my eye due to a massive re brand. The packaging is still cute and sweet, yet doesn't allow a woman to feel embarrassed when picking it out of their bag for a touch up. 

Recently, Accessorize took a big step up in the world of cosmetics and beauty by releasing their very own 32 shade palettes. Such a thing is unheard of in the high street with many palettes accommodating anything between 3 and 15 shades, whilst coastal scents offers their legendary 88 palette. But what if you want a good colour selection without the hefty price tag? That's where Accessorize step in. They've created two 32 palettes boasting gorgeous shimmer and matte shades. The first one, 'You are my everything', has just that, a bit of everything. Shades that are warm, cool, bright and nude, however out of the two it is the bolder palette. The rightly named 'Lovely Day' is the one I picked up from Superdrug and has a gorgeous array of muted colours from a shimmery black to a matte cream.  

For a palette that has such a choice of colours, it is actually a reasonable size and small enough to take on the go. The pans that house the eyeshadows are slightly smaller than your run-of-the-mill eyeshadow, yet easy enough to get the standard eyeshadow brush in. The packaging is wrapped up in an olive-green leopard print along with bright pink roses, something that is fitting with the name of said item. A thin mirror is encased inside that is the perfect size for observing the eye area and a piece of elasticated material holds this palette together. 

The colours are neatly arranged in eight rows, each row of shades complimenting each other. From your darks, to your nudes, to your greens, to your purples and your golds, many different looks can be made. I find the shimmery shades to be incredibly pigmented and very easy to blend, they have a slightly frosty undertone which I dig as well! The matte shades are slightly hit and miss. I did find some of them to be slightly chalky and needed some extra TLC to apply correctly.  

  

But how can I complain when this palette is under a tenner!? I haven't suffered from any fall out from the shadows when applied and, with the use of an eye primer, feel confident the colours will last most of the day. 

Accessorize Lovely Day palette is available at selected Superdrug and Accessorize shops at the price of...wait for it...£8.95! A perfect palette for those on the go!

Summer Lips: Will you go Nude or Colourful?

Summer is (supposedly) here! Whilst I'm sure many of you are changing up your everyday make-up routine to include tinted moisturisers instead of foundations and brightly coloured eyes in favour of dreary nudes, there's a question that I would love to debate. What colour shall I wear on my lips?

Shy Girl by Mac

Whilst I tend to favour a gorgeous nude shade for everyday looks, I feel that they may not necessarily uplift my face and bring out the radiance. However, for those of you that are starting to experiment with colour on the eyes and cheeks, a nude lip will be your best friend in this aspect as it will balance your face and not overdo it. My go to nude is Shy Girl by Mac. A gorgeous peachy beige that shines with moisture and gives my lips some serious sex appeal. I wear it constantly, even when I'm not wearing make-up, it will be a staple on my face. 

 

Poppy by Stila

But Summer is about colour! The flowers have bloomed and the sun is out, up the radiance and add colour to your face! A flash of colour is brilliant for that awake feel and gives you that girly festival-esque look. Some people may think that nothing can beat just adding a pop of colour to the lips, no matter what you are wearing elsewhere on your face, however what if you are going bright on the eyelids? A contrasting lip colour could make or break a look and do you trust yourself that much to be the judge of that? I know I certainly don't have the confidence when it comes to colour sometimes and would just go with the safe option and balance my face with neutral eyes if I felt like a flashy lip.  I tend to wear bright lipsticks on nights out more often, however my favourite day time colour would have to be Stila's Convertible Colour in Poppy.  A creamy product that is great for both lips and cheeks and brilliant to just add that hint of red.

 

So whilst I'm still arguing with myself over what lip colour to choose today (it's 7pm now and I still can't make up my mind), I ask you guys what you think is best? Have a play around with colour this Summer, or just stick to what you know nude? 

Nails: Nude meets glitter

Excuse the messy nail work!

I've got a week off of work! Nails at the ready! Here's something I put together today after seeing a similar offering on Essiebutton's instagram. Who would've thought to put together nude and glitter?  Luckily I already had a nude nail polish and plenty of glitters in my collection, leaving me with Topshop's Sandy Lane and Models Own's Ibiza Mix. I am really loving this look, it's casual meets glam- superb!

Which nail looks are you sporting?

Stila One Step Correct

Something that has been a favourite of mine for the last two/three months now has been Stila's One Step Correct Serum. I'm not going to lie, I originally bought it because IT LOOKED SO AWESOME! The triple-swirled helix of colour really brings this product to life and advertises what the product is truely about. 

                                          

Packaging wise, they couldn't have gone wrong. And yet it's so simple, using just a plastic bottle with a tough lid and a pump to distribute the product. Stila packaging has always been cute, but the factor that sets this apart from other serums is by making the bottle transparent, instantly opening up the consumers eyes to this triple-swirled helix. Another thing to note on the packaging is the use of a 'lift'. By this I mean, when the product rises to the top of the bottle as you use it so you can see how much is left. (Please feel free to let me know the technical name for this!) 

                                         

One Step Correct (OSC) consists of three different coloured serums, each one individually tailored to combat certain skin problems. The green helps to minimise redness, whilst the lavender counteracts sallow undertones and the peach brightens and illuminates tired skin. My skin has always been normal/combination and I am lucky to never have many problems. Saying this, my skin tone just won't settle on one colour! My eyes are pretty deep set, so I suffer from purple tones in that area and then I have some pink flushes around the cheeks. A generous pump of OSC covers my whole face and balances the tone of my skin before applying foundation. It has a very subtle scent to it that fades almost immediately and is also quite thirst-quenching on the skin. I tend to skip moisturiser now and just mix OSC with a bit of my Revlon Photoready Primer to ensure my make-up lasts all day.

Three months worth of everyday use - only half gone.

This serum doesn't just balance the colour of your skin, though. Amongst it's magical wonders, it also minimises pores, hydrates and balances, controls oil and diminishes the look of fine lines and wrinkles. What can it not do?! Besides making you a cuppa in the morning, now that's just asking for too much! I honestly cannot see why this product wouldn't work for those with dry, oily or older skin, it is my miracle product.

You can get Stila One Step Correct from selected Boots stores, Feel Unique, Space NK and Asos. RRP is £24.

L'oreal Paris Color Infallible Eyeshadow - Goldmine

Although this eyeshadow has been around for a few months now, I've only just gotten round to trying it out. I usually just go for eyeshadow palettes as they are better value for money and you get many shades that compliment each other already in one box, easy peasy! However this eyeshadow from L'oreal Paris caught my eye due to it's intense shimmer and array of colours.

 

Color Infallible Eyeshadow comes in a square transparent pot, helping you to spot the particular shade you would like in your make-up bag. As well as this, the tight cap also provides a sticker ontop the same colour as the shade encased. The testers in highstreet shops are a nightmare to use as you have to pull out a draw of different colours and pick out the shade you want without letting go, otherwise they'll retreat back into the stand. It sounds ridiculous, but that put me off them quite a few times as I couldn't be bothered faffing around with them! 

Onto the eyeshadow itself. As you can see from the pictures, this particular shade (Goldmine) has a gorgeous and intense shimmer to it. All of the shades in this range are shimmers and some are also two different colours mixed together, however I have found these hard to come by. Don't let the shimmer put you off though. Somehow L'oreal have formulated this so it is majorly shimmery, yet when coupled together with a contour shade, it can pass for a eye opening daytime look.

 

The eyeshadow scores high on pigmentation, with one sweep doing the job well. It also has a lovely velvety texture that I really appreciate when I get to dip my finger in there! (oo-er!) This isn't an eyeshadow for brushes though, ladies! Fingers work best in this case and I've found it blends and smudges nicely using this method. Synthetic brushes do pick up some of the colour for those that want to create a different look, but natural hair brushes are a no-no! L'oreal claims that Color Infallible eyeshadow lasts for up to 24 hours, however I did feel after 8 hours it had started to fade. 

There are currently 18 shades available in the UK and Color Infallible can be found in Boots, Superdrug and many online retail shops at an RRP of £6.99.