First Impressions|Revlon Colorburst Matte & Lacquer Balms

So I’ve been dying to try these out for weeks. Finally I have two. There wasn’t a massive selection at my local store only 4 Lacquer and 4 Matte shades, which is fine because I chose very similar colours in each.

I am a pink kind-of-girl I just love it, it suits my pale skin unlike other bright colours, like orange or purple which were all in this new collection. I decided on sticking to what works for me and chose two colours which were both suitable for day and night wear.

I am a huge fan of these chubby pencils! They’re big enough that you won’t lose them in your bag, but not so big that they won’t fit in a pocket should you need to. And you never have to sharpen them. Just twist the base.

I bought these two pinky shades: Elusive (MATTE – left) and Demure (LACQUER – right)

Demure is a pretty pale pink that suits an everyday look down to a T. A definite winner for me, and I’m sure for many others as it’s just so lovely and easy to wear! Whilst they are said to contain large particles of shimmer, I wouldn’t say this was obvious in the slightest, especially with this shade.

Elusive is a cool-toned light to medium pink that if you want a pop of colour also suits an everyday look. Really easy to wear and it has that nude feel to it, even if it is bright. With all matte formulas you should prep your lips with a scrub before applying, but the moisturising complex means you don’t need to prep with a lip balm as well.

And here are the swatches, which are important, because these colours look very different on.

For a product that costs less than eight pounds, I am extremely impressed. Fans of the Kissable Balm Stains will recognise the slightly pepperminty smell however it is definitely not as strongly scented as the older formula. (I wasn’t a fan of the Kissable Balms, I found them rather drying on the lips and when you have relatively dry lips all the time this is not good – however these are fab!)

I love both the formulas of these balms. The colour goes on smoothly and richly, and feels very soft and comfortable on the lips. That is pretty amazing, and sadly quite rare, for matte finishes. But I’m sure this won’t be the last we see of these matte/lacquer combos.

I know I picked similar colours but both really suit me and its great to find products with a similar beautiful effect for different purposes, I can see myself using these over and over – and possibly going back to find more shades.

What do you think of the colours I have chosen? Have I missed one of your favourites?

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First Impressions| Bourjois Color Boost Lip Crayon

I went out for a little makeup shop today and look what I brought… Bourjois Color Boost Lip Crayons £7.99 

Lip crayon balms are absolutely everywhere at the moment. Clinique were first with the Chubby Stick, then came Revlon swiftly being followed by a number of other make up brands promoting their take on the new craze.

I like the Revlon’s ‘Just Bitten Kissable Balm’ minty scent and texture but found them to be too drying on my lips and a little too heavy sometimes.

After seeing a lot of love online for Bourjois’ lip crayons and having a number of their products by them already I decided to get a couple to try out, I got them on Buy 2 and get 1 half price. Out of the four shades I chose; 04 Peach on the Beach and 01 Red Sunrise.

Red Sunrise is a pinky red shade that is very pigmented considering it’s just a balm stain and Peach On The Beach is a beautiful peachy pink shade that gives a tint of colour to the lips and is perfect for everyday.

Peach on the Beach 04

Red Sunrise 01

The Bourjois lip crayons come in 4 different shades: Peach On The Beach, Orange Punch, Fuschia Libre and Red Sunrise. All of these shades are perfect for the summer and are great for adding a hint of colour to a makeup look.

 

 

The formula is light, creamy and a lot more moisturising on the lips than other brands I’ve tried. They aren’t matte, but give a glossy pop of colour. It’s between a lipstick, lip stain and lipgloss all in one. I also love the fact that that these have SPF15 in them, making them ideal for holidays adding an extra something to your look this summer.

The colour also claims to be waterproof, and I have to admit I’ve only had the Peach on the Beach colour on for a few hours now but so far it has withstood eating and drinking a lot more than any other of my lipsticks.

It’s only just started to fade but in a great way, unlike the Revlon balm stains which I find cling to the outline of my lips for a long time – not a good look, these have left an even colour over my lips, I just need to reapply to get the POP back. So for me they have lasted about three to four hours before I needed a full re-application.

Overall I am so impressed with these lip crayons! In fact, I’ve been rather impressed with a lot of recent my Bourjois’ products and I would also love to try their chocolate looking bronzer – it looks amazing!

I would highly recommend you trying out the Color Boost Lip Crayons, especially if you’re after a wearable product for the summer.

Have you tried the Bourjois Color Boost Lip Crayons?
Which is your favourite shade?

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Manicure 3| Grape Ice

Today’s nail polish is Clinique’s A Different Nail Enamel in no. 20 GRAPE ICE.

This is a lovely pinky purple colour perfect for summer.

This polish has been made for people with sensitive skins and I haven’t reacted to the polish and I’ve found it doesn’t have that strong nail polish smell like other brands which is nice for the nose ha ha.

It has a good consistency I have only needed to apply one coat to get the full coverage I needed.

I like the floral packaging and simplicity of the nail polish bottle nice and simple.

I will update this when I have wore the colour longer to see how long it lasts.

Have any of you tried out this Nail Polish? What do you think? What colour do you own?

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First Impressions| Benefit Erase Paste

I have dark circles under my eyes genetically, I get these off my mum who got them off her Dad, we call them the “Hook’s” after their last name, it is quite fitting I think. Anyway recently working long hours these Hook’s have become darker and more pronounced and I’ve been trying get a routine down to fix my even darker dark circles.

I knew this product came in a teeny tiny pot  which is quite alarming if you don’t know, considering the price of this product is £19.50. Which is why I’ve waited so long to purchase this product – I saw it ages ago and immediately wanted it but couldn’t justify the cost, but putting into consideration the amount of hours I’ve been doing at work, why not treat myself to a little something?

On first impressions, I loved the packaging. The box this product comes in, is so beautiful and quirky like all Benefit products and the fact it came with a lesson book and spatula was a nice added touch.

I was excited to try it and set about popping it under my eyes. The instructions on the box direct that it should be applied with the spatula included but I have to say it is a silly invention you’re supposed to use to get the product out, but I found that kind of pointless and a waste of plastic, so I just put it to one side. It’s completely useless you get too much product on it and it’s much better to use your fingers instead.

I dab my finger lightly on the surface and then apply it in dots under my eyes, mainly concentrating on the inner corners.

The first thing I noticed upon application was the salmon toned colour and creamy consistency. As you can see from the application on my own eye, there is an evident salmon tone to this product which is known to cancel out dark circles.

As for the texture, it is amazingly smooth and blends into the skin like a dream. But as well as being very creamy, it is relatively thick so although the tiniest bit goes a long way  I found that it caked under my eyes slightly – as well as under eye circles I have one eye crease that goes across this area where foundation/concealer anything creases unfortunately for me.

I have enjoyed use out of it though only time will tell if it continues to be helpful in my fight against dark circles.

 

BEFORE

 

AFTER: WITH BENEFIT ERASE PASTE

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First Impressions| bareMinerals Perfect Nude

So another new purchase the bareMinerals Perfect Nude Lip Trio.

I do like the bareMinerals products I have their make-up base and mineral foundation and when I saw this I just wanted it. I’ve started to wear lip liners and lip sticks etc together for work but I can never find good products to go together and I’m never any good at swatching lipsticks etc in the store. So when I saw this trio I thought the work was done all for me. In the box you get a lip liner, lipstick and lip gloss all in the shade ‘nude’. You could also get the box set in the shade bronze but I figured that my skin would be too pale for a bronze lip look.

When swatching the products on my hand, I felt they were a lot darker than I had initially thought they would be, expecting more pinky than the red I got. But putting the products on I rather liked the colours. I don’t think the lip liner matches the lip stick perfectly – at all- but if you blend the liner first before applying the lip colour they work much better.

The lip liner even has a built in sharper so you don’t have to worry about doing it yourself, I don’t quite know how that works yet but clever idea. One thing I don’t like about the packaging (and this is just a aesthetic thing) the lid off the top of the liner doesn’t fit onto the bottom so you can’t attach it – its no big deal its just something I like.

Moving onto the lipstick. Like the colour, HATE the texture, its so dry, normally putting on a lipstick it glides onto the lips – this is quite hard going. I’ve found wetting my lips and a bit of the product helps it on but it’s still not great. I like the lipstick I just wish it wasn’t so hard. I was a bit disappointed with it honestly – but great colour.

Now moving onto the lip gloss, great colour, great texture, I LOVE this, and I think even just the lip liner and the lip gloss would be a great combination. On top of the lipstick makes the look even more natural – I know glossy lips isn’t natural but the colour is fantastic. It’s not too sticky or heavy – it glides, but like all lip glosses re-application is required as it does come off but this doesn’t bother me, with the lip colour underneath it’s no big deal.

I like the kit just wish the lipstick was more glide-y lol and moisturising maybe this would help it. For the price which I thought was quite expensive £22.79 (this was the cheapest on all sites I looked on) – I’m a bargain hunter – if you look at the prices of the products singularly its good. However I will tell you, that you can’t find these ‘nude’ shade singularly I think they may have different names but the pack says they are all in the shades nude and none of the lip liners, lipsticks or lip glosses (sold separately) are named ‘nude’ – thats one of the reasons I brought the pack.

What do you think of the Look?

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First Impressions| Mavala Mini Trio (Nude)

I’m very much into natural colours and make-up looks atm. So I’ve been looking and buying many products associated with this. As many of my followers know I usually do a post on my Manicure of the week on a Monday, but with my busy work schedule over the bank holiday I wasn’t able to. Plus I was waiting for the products to arrive so I could do a post for you.

Mavala say they are a world leader in nail care created in 1958 by MAdelaine VAn LAndeghem. A Swiss beauty brand that specialise in the maintenance of beautiful looking nails and offer a complete range of products to alleviate all nail concerns, from uneven nail surfaces, splitting and flaking due to lack of hydration or nail discolouration, and offer a vast array of over 150 nail colours in shades ranging from chic yet understated, nudes to the bold and vibrant.

I opted for the Mini Trio Box set that came in the colours:

Vanilla – smooth ivory with a pearl finish
Glacier – a rose pink with a creme finish
Moon Grey – a soft shimmering grey

All 5ml and cost £9.50 – so £3 for each one basically.

I like the packaging, they say that they’re a nail cream – which I don’t understand what that means, because the texture isn’t creamy but quite watery, especially on the first coat. The second coat goes on more creamier than the initial coat. The grey colour seems to have coped quite well with only 2 coats and looks like it needs no other – as the instruction read (2 coats) but the other 2 are rather light and I can still see the white tips of my own nail through the varnish – further coats are definitely needed. But I will put a third coat for all my swatches of these colours so you can see them fairly, against one another.

But considering the texture of the ‘nail cream’ is rather watery they dry extremely fast, so it’s not long before you can put another coat on. So far I’m really enjoying the colours they remind me of a neutral primary colours or even red, white and blue. They have a great shine to them even without a top coat. Out of all the colours I surprisingly LOVE the yellow, Vanilla colour – but they are all great colours and a great pick-me-up in this awful grey weather that we’re having.

So far impressions are good. I will do another Manicure/Review post for you with just one of the Mavala nail creams (I think the Vanilla) and see how well the colour holds up. So far though, so good.

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Pai Skincare Trial Pack

Today in the post I received the Pai Skincare Trial Pack, which I ordered a couple of days ago. I was so happy to find that they would send you samples of their products, lots of brands I would love to try out don’t seem to have samples they can send you, and I can’t go to any of their retailers because none of my local outlets sell these kinds of products.

I LOVE that fact Pai lets you do this, with sensitive skin its always good to trial a product first before buying it, especially if you end up reacting to it – your money’s been wasted – and you’ve got a product you can no longer use. Even more brilliant they sent a Organic Muslin Face Cloth for FREE, brilliant!

The products are all 5ml and I was given the:

Pai Skincare Samples

• Camellia & Rose
  gentle hydrating cleanser
• Macadamia & Rose
  dry skin cream
• Avocado & Jojoba
  hydrating day cream
• Kukui & Jojoba Bead
  skin brightening exfoliator
• Chamomile & Rosehip
  sensitive skin cream
• Geranium & Thistle
  combination skin cream

Now I won’t use some of the products because they aren’t for my skin type but I will be giving them away to my mum or friends to try.

So far I am loving the smell of all the products they smell so fresh and natural. And all the products don’t contain any of the following: detergents, parabens, artificial fragrance, alcohol, phenoxyethanol or petrochemicals. Great for sensitive skin.

They even have a section for products that they recommend for people with eczema, click here.

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First Haul Post

We all need some retail therapy and since I haven’t had the chance to do any lately, when me and my friend Liz finally met up we decided to go for lunch and spend some of our hard earned cash.

There are a lot of skin care products because of how sensitive my skin has been lately, I just wanted to try everything in there. 90% of the products purchased from Boots were on 3for2; products were also brought from Feel Unique.com, Beauty Bay.com, River Island and Dorothy Perkins. Let me know what you think of my first video –>

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First Impressions: Color Show

I purchased the Maybelline New York Color Show nail polish and I’ve swatched the 4 colours I myself brought. Latte (254); Moss (652); Brick Shimmer (465) and Candy Apple (15). They were £2.99 in Boots which was quite reasonable. The 40 new nail shades from Maybelline are meant to “take looks straight from the catwalk to the sidewalk”.

Candy Apple

Brick Shimmer

Moss

Latte

With all the colours you do need 2 coats, however I did find with Brick Shimmer that one coat was enough. I love the brush! It’s small and perfect for application because it makes it so easy to apply a nice even coat and it went on beautifully. One coat dries fast. Top it off with a top coat and you are good to go!

I’ve read other reviews from buyers of the product and they said they found the bottle too small, I never end up using the whole pot anyways, I’ve still got nail varnishes from years ago (which I should probably throw away). I’d rather be able to buy a bunch of different colours than be stuck with the same old expensive shade all year long.

I would say if your buying them to go in store and get them. The colour wheel on the UK website gives the impressions of slightly different colours. For example the Candy Red, although in reality is a very bright red on the site it looks almost burgundy – I’ll link site here for you to see for yourself click here.

My first impressions are good, I love the colours, they are beautifully toned and go on easily with a smooth application. What do you guys think ? ?

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