My first impressions of the MakeUp Monsters cosmetics Matte Liquid Lipsticks.
First Impressions & Swatches of the MakeUp Monsters Liquid Lipsticks – Video
MakeUp Revolution Matte Lipsticks Review & Swatch – Fusion, Dare, Beloved, Divine & Nude
As part of MakeUp Revolutions extensive £1 lipstick range, they also have a set of five matte lipstick shades.
They all look impressive colours in the bullet but as with every matte lipstick of this price range, they come out more sheer than opaque.
- Fusion – Looks a deep maroon in the bullet but comes out far lighter in person ending up with a very sheer crimson stained lip look.
- Dare – Looks bright red in the bullet and on the lips it is also bright red. It does have the best coverage but is still very sheer.
- Beloved – Looks a pretty pink colour in the bullet but comes out an old rose colour on my lips. In fact, it’s almost the same shade as my natural lip colour.
- Divine – Looks Salmon in colour in the bullet but comes out more peach on the lips.
- Nude – Looks beige in the tube and on the lips but again is very sheer, making next to no difference to my lip colour.
The reason I do like these is they can make small changes to the colour of your lips if you’re going for the no makeup look or if you just want to look like you’ve got lip stains. They’re £1, so nice and cheap.
The reasons I don’t like these is they’re dry and hard to work with. You can’t get a smooth edge out of the bullet, you’d need a lip brush. They’re also far too sheer for my liking although you may find that an advantage.
For me they’re no winners, for those of my readers that prefer a less bold lip, you might just love these.
Revolution The Vamp Collection Review & Swatches – Black heart, 100% Vamp, Rebel with a cause
The vamp collection is a set of three lipsticks by MakeUp Revolution. While they’re no longer available as a set they’re all still available separately for the same cost. That cost? £3. Yes just £3 for all of these three lovely lipsticks.
The three shades are Black Heart, 100% Vamp and Rebel with a Cause.
- Black Heart is a near black lipstick. It’s a deep deep purple. Really good for people who can’t wear black but want a very dark shade.
- 100% Vamp is a dark damson purple. Much more red toned than blue.
- Rebel with a Cause is lovely crimson shade.
They’re quite opaque and nice and buttery. They’ve got good coverage but look better with the help of a liner in a similar colour. They also don’t have great staying power, a good liner will help with that. Given the cost though that’s not really an issue for me.
My only other issue is the fact that Black Heart and 100% Vamp look so similar in the tube. Despite the pot of colour at the top it’s quite hard to tell them apart. It’s just a little thing though.
I do really like these lipsticks. For £1 you really can’t go wrong.
Hot Pink Avon Lipstick Review and Swatch
Hot Pink is the name of this unsurprisingly hot pink colour lipstick from AVON. It’s from the Ultra Colour Lipstick range and costs £7.50.
It’s described as a stay true colour that makes lips feel smooth, moisturised and soft. I’d certainly agree with all of that.
The colour in the bullet is slightly different than in the AVON book. It’s darker but it’s also not a truly opaque lipstick. So on me and people of a lighter skin tone it’ll brighten right up when applied to the lips. If you’re darker it’s going to look different on.
It lasts well. Up to four hours with little fading as long as nothing is eaten or drunk in that time. It does also make my lips feel super soft. Another bonus is it a good match for Lime Crime’s Centrifuscha lipstick.
The packaging also has a little window in the top, so you can see what colour you’re picking up. I really like that.
I like this lipstick. I want to love it. I’d like it to be a little more opaque. It’s the only thing wrong with it.
Revolution Mermaids vs Unicorn Palette Review & Swatch
Mermaids vs Unicorns is probably one of the prettiest palettes I’ve seen in a while. It’s packed full of shimmery shades for us shimmer shadow lovers. It costs only £4 online or instore at Superdrug. Yes just £4 for all of this shimmer. Bargain!
The Mermaid side works it’s way across from a very light green shade, into some gorgeous bright blues. The lightest green isn’t as pigmented as the other but it makes it a brilliant highlight shade. The blues and greens are wonderful for creating lovely under the sea type looks.
The other side is the Unicorn side. I works it’s way from a dark damson purple through to blues and finishes with a sparkly black.They’re all nicely pigmented and don’t need a lot of work to get great colour on your lids.
The palette comes with a sponge applicator which is not my favourite applicator. However it’s a £4 palette so I wasn’t really expecting a brush. The shadows are amazing for the price. So strong, so pigmented, so creamy in texture but they do leave a little fall out, so just be prepared for that. It’s just £4 though (did I mention that before?). That’s superb!
So which one are you? Mermaid or Unicorn?
Clone Wars – Lime Crime Pansy Dupes from LA Splash
Quick Swatch time. This time it’s LaSplash Cosmetics vs Lime Crime.
Pansy from Lime Crime is liquid based and can be a little patchy when applied with the doe foot applicator. It will need a second layer to stop that or alternatively use a brush for an even application. Fair warning here the more layers you use the more drying it is.
Esmeralda from LaSplash is more creme based and can also come out patchy is care is not taken. Be careful not to over apply as this can cause it to crack. It’s also drying but no where near as bad as LC. It’s also got tiny particles of glitter in it which means instead of a flat matte colour you get a lot more depth with this one.
Criminal is almost exactly the same shade as Pansy. Again more creme based and needs a little care taken when applying. Over application can cause cracking. The La Splash ones also have a horrible paint fragrance when being applied but that does go when it dries.
These are all considered long wearing and smudge proof. LaSplash lives up to this. Repeated servings of oily food/drinks can cause it to start to come off as can poor preparation but they’re pretty indestructible. Lime Crime on the other hand is not smudge proof and at the first sign of any oil tends to whimper and slide off. I don’t know what happened to Lime Crime but this formulation is vastly inferior to the original Velvetines.
Cost? Lime Crime Velvetines are $20 (roughly £14) and LaSplash are $13.98 (roughly $9.50).
La Splash for me wins hands down.
April 2015 Favourites
My April Favourite video! Featuring Too Faced, Collection Cosmetics, Max Factor and Hysteria Machine.
Revolution Ultra Blush & Contour Palettes Review & Swatch – Hot Spice, Sugar & Spice
I have two rather lovely blush palettes in my possession. They are the Hot Spice and Sugar & Spice Ultra blush and Contour palettes from MakeUp Revolution. They cost £6 each online or from your local stockist.
The Hot Spice palette contains six highly pigmented blushers and two lovely highlighters. The highlighters are quite pigmented too and if you’re like me will show up a lot of colour on your skin. If you’re darker than me they’ll be lovely for creating a glow. I’m not really sure it’s great for contouring on my skin because they’re all on the orange end of the spectrum. They’re all warm-toned terracotta and peachy colours better for when you’re creating a sun-kissed look.
The Sugar & Spice palette contains six highly pigmented blushers and two bright highlighters. The highlighters are again very pigmented and the pink one is far too bright for me to use as a highlighter on a daily basis. The white one however is great for an ethereal glow!
Again there’s not really any contour shades in here, they’re all too pink. They’re cool toned, except for the top two at the left. They’ll be really good for creating that just out of the sun look.
One thing to say is they’re all really pigmented which means you need very little of them. These will last you for ages because you need so little. I love these palettes. Which one will you be trying out?
MakeUp Academy Natural Days Polish Review & Swatch
This is MUA’s nail polish in Natural Days. It’s a light pink polish with a shiny finish.
It’s quite hard to make this opaque. Even after four layers, it wasn’t quite a solid colour. I must admit the older brush in this old style bottle really didn’t help with that but even with the newer brush in the redesigned bottles, it’s not going to be great.
It costs only £1 from the MUA website or Superdrug. Do I think it’s worth it? As a base colour for other things, It’d be okay but it’s really not something I’d recommend even at such a low cost.
That Protein World advert and why the backlash caused me to buy the product.
Protein World is not a brand I’d ever heard of. I don’t read fitness magazines, I don’t go to the gym. I run and walk my dog. Fitness blog or magazines are not my thing. Getting ripped is not for me with my current work regime. It’s only when the backlash happened I learnt about the advert.
Here’s the advert
It’s pretty standard advert fare. There’s nothing new or unusual about it. It’s the standard skinny white girl in a bikini. Nothing to get upset over or so I thought. Some Feminists thought otherwise.
Here’s Buzzfeed’s thought on the advert and for balance here’s the other side. There are lots of other sites with other opinions out there. Also here’s the models response.
I personally feel this advert is about as standard as you get. It’s boring. Had I seen this I’d have ignored it totally. It would have been daily wallpaper. It’s the backlash that’s brought this to mine and many other people’s attention. So I had to question why I ignore it and why I might agree or disagree with the backlash.
I ignore it because it’s not aimed at me. It’s really not. It’s aimed at people who go to the gym, who lift, who want that shape. I ignore it because I see it daily. I can’t tell you how much I just don’t care about adverts like this.
Why I don’t agree with the backlash is because it’s ridiculous. This advert is not telling anyone they’re fat. It asks if you’re beach body ready and gives an example of what they think is their version of it. That doesn’t mean it’s the only example. Yes, this example is seen more often than others but use your common sense. An advert is going to use the thing that is seen by the people they’re selling to as the ideal (whether or not it’s actually ideal is up for debate), is that wrong? No.
Is the backlash funny? Yes. Does the backlash have a point in our overall society? Yes. Does that mean the backlash is wrong? No. Does that mean the advert is wrong? No. Should it be removed? No.
Yes, it’s an overused trope but no it’s not offensive in my opinion.
Of course, there are trolls on both sides of the argument of this. Abuse is being sprouted on both sides of the argument. Some of the not so great response are coming from the company themselves. Neither side looks good at this point but this all happened as I was looking for a way to get myself back on track. As part of looking at all of this, I looked at the website. I looked at the reviews of the product being advertised and while it’s expensive, it seems to have in general a good reception. So I’ve bought the Weight Loss Collection. All because of the backlash.
If what you were doing was trying to get me enraged about another boring advert you’re doing it wrong. You made them interesting. You focused my attention on them and what they’re selling is far more attractive to me.