Thursday 22 April 2010

Pink Lips... on a budget

I'm a bit weird when it comes to putting things on my lips. I sometimes feel a bit sick when using lipsticks/balms/glosses/creams. I don't know if it's the taste or the smell or what it is but there you have it! I also lick my lips a lot so I tend to go fairly nude on my lips to save reapplying etc. I love some of MAC lipsticks but as I'm a big licker [cough] I'm open to cheap options too.

Now I do love a lot of the pinks that are around at the minute. I prefer the solid colour that a lipstick gives so picked up a few bits in Superdrug to try out.

With Flash

Without Flash

1. NYC "Blue Rose" £1.99


The tube is kind of cute in a cheapo-chic-but-trying sort of way though has the potential to look very messy after a while. The lipstick itself looks quite iridescent in the tube and while it doesn't smell horrific, it does smell vaguely plastic. The colour is a vibrant pink with purple-ish (maybe blue?) undertones and goes on well for the price.

It doesn't last very long and the colour is a bit much for me for an every day look but for a night out I would say it gives a nice colour and coverage and is cheap enough to throw in your bag without worrying about losing it. The only downside I can see with this is that it does require frequent application so make sure you stay steady handed and attentive enough to do this - ESPECIALLY if there are cameras around! (Or bring something more subtle for later in the night!) It, like a lot of lower price lipsticks, can be quite drying so a touch of balm with it wouldn't do any harm at all.

2. Miss Sporty "Lovin' It" £2.49


The fairly bland tube looks worse for wear after peeling all the sealing tape off though it smells a bit nicer than the NYC lipstick. The colour is a nice shade but very subtle. The pink is a true pink in my opinion - not too peachy, not too red. It has a nice shimmer but again would require frequent application.

3. Sleek "Fuchsia" £2.89


The dearest of the bunch this comes in quite a cool little tube which makes it looks more expensive. The colour is very bright in the tube and I can't get any smell from it at all. It seems very pigmented going on and settles to a solid matte pink. The colour and texture make it look a bit... plastic on. But I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. The colour really "pops" and I think for a summer night out in a club it would look fantastic. It is one of those colours my husband and his friends would not be keen on but I think my female friends would love. It screams Barbie to me and I think if you have the confidence to pull it off it would be a great low cost addition to your collection!


4. NYC "Snowcone" £1.99


It loos like a subtle shimmery pink in the tube and smells the same as Blue Rose. Similar to "Lovin' It" in how coloured it looks on it does give a nice subtle touch to the lips but it is definitely more peach than the other colours (and more peach than it looked in the tube) so depending on your skin tone it could look really nice. It has quite a sheen to it which I always think is nice for summer.
All in all, not bad, especially for the price.
LoubouLush x

Hello and NOTD - Illamasqua "Glory"

Helloooo and welcome to my humble little blog. I hope to post new stuff as regularly as possible but to start with I might go a bit mad and post a bit of a backlog of things that have grabbed my interest in the last wee while so excuse the flooding of products old as well as more recent.

So to begin I thought I'd start with the nail polish I am wearing today.

Illamasqua - Glory



I have a bit of a love hate relationship with Illamasqua nail polish. I bought my first two last summer and although the colours were fantastic I struggled a little with the consistency and durability of them. With some perseverance and a top coat or two we reached something of a compromise which is just as well as I love Illamasqua's colour range!

For my latest purchase I went for "Snap" and "Glory". I wear a lot of greys/blacks so thought these would be good additions to my ever expanding nail polish collection. I haven't tried Snap yet but I have been wearing Glory for the past week and have been impressed! My main issue with "Obtuse" (my first ever purchase from Illamasqua) was that although the colour was AMAZING, the polish peeled like film without a top coat. And a high shine top coat took away from the muted sort of finish Obtuse gave. I was worried I would have a similar problem with Glory.

So Glory is described as "Molten silver, glossy finish" and I was pleasantly surprised! The polish is quite fluid and dried quickly. After a couple of coats I decided to leave my nails without adding a clear top coat and they have stood up well with only small signs of wear and tear (I added a quick top coat of Snap for the photo above to show the colour better). The colour is a nice metallic silver - quite like a matte finish/brushed stainless steel as opposed to a chrome if you know what I mean - have I been looking at kitchen accessories for too long?!. My faith has been restored quite a bit in the quality of Illamasqua polish with this which I am delighted about. The only thing that slightly annoys me (and this is a very small glitch) is that the lid comes away from the brush sometimes when I'm opening the bottle (albeit without disastrous messy polish outcomes so far).

Illamasqua - Glory


This nail varnish is currently priced at £13 and overall I would recommend it as a nice basic but versatile silver for your collection.

LoubouLush x