My Lipstick Collection: Lavenders, Lilacs and Orchids

I have been an avid lipstick collector for some time now, and have what can only be described as a gargantuan collection. I have trouble remembering which exact shades I have, so I've decided to catalog them for both my pleasure, and hopefully yours! Lipstick lovers like myself love seeing swatches: it personally helps me decide on whether I actually need  or want a particular shade of lipstick. I hope you find this in some way useful!

Yesterday, I posted about Radiant Orchid being the 2014 Pantone Color of the Year, and I predicted that orchid and its neighboring shades would be big in the coming months. Well, in truth, orchid, lilac and lavender colored lipsticks have been pretty big in 2013. All of the lipsticks and lipglosses in this post have been released in this year alone. Take a look!

RiRi Hearts MAC Fall: Who's That Chick Lipstick

Following on from yesterday's review of Her Cocoa eyeshadow quad, I have one of the four RiRi lipsticks up for review today!

Who's That Chick is a brightened orange lipstick with a frost finish. When I first heard the words 'orange frost', I thought we had gone back in a timewarp to the 80's! However, I gave Who's That Chick a chance, and holy sheep, I LOVE IT. (I loved the 80's anyways!)

Who's That Chick 

I thought I was all oranged out this year, with MAC releasing the Hayley Williams and All About Orange collection within months of one another, but quite clearly I'm not. Who's That Chick is unique to my lipstick stash. 

I prepped my lips with Maybelline's Baby Lips, as I find the MAC frost finishes to be quite drying. (Not as drying as Retro Mattes however!) Who's That Chick lasted around 2-3 hours, with visible fading into the third hour. It does leave a faint sparkle on your lips once worn off!

I paired Who's That Chick with a brown smokey eye, using MAC Eclair Paint Pot, UD Naked eyeshadow, and MAC Damson Pressed Pigment- all the things that I'm wearing pretty much day in, day out! 

Who's That Chick is love. I'm so glad I had the good sense to back it up when MAC online did a collection restock! Did you decide to buy this lipstick, or did the frostiness put you off? Did you buy any of the other RiRi lipsticks? Let me know!

Maybelline Master Drama Chromatics Kohl Pencils

Hey guys, ready for some color?

Maybelline are seriously starting to make y wallet hurt this year! In recent times they've releases Color Tattoos, Vivid Sensational lipsticks, Baby Lips (FINALLY in the UK, YASS!), and Color Tattoo Pigments (not in the UK yet, boo.) However, these four pencils have not gathered as much interest and hype as these other products, and I'm here to change that, 'cos these pencils have jazzed up my makeup kit!

L-R clockwise: Purple Light, Magic Magenta, Vibrant Gold, Turquoise Vibe

These pencils are super creamy and insanely pigmented! The gold is the sheerest of the four, but all the other three are pretty much opaque in one sweep across my lids. With the look I created, I did build them up slightly, but if I was just wearing these as a simple line, one sweep would do!

I think these jewel colored eyeliners are perfect for creating sumptuous looks! Perfect for Fall, in my humble opinion. And for £4.49, these are a great, affordable way to update your makeup bag for the coming months. These pencils are available in both Boots and Superdrug. It doesn't say whether they are limited edition- if they are, I'm grabbing back ups!

Happy Weekend everyone! 

Les Jeans de Chanel: Swatches, Review and Comparisons

This is a collection that I have been looking forward to for ages! Les Jeans de Chanel is trio of varnishes in varying shades of blue to reflect different washes of denim. Check them out:-

Thumb and Index finger:- Coco Blue

Middle and Pinky finger:- Blue Boy

Ring finger:- Blue Rebel



I absolutely loved the manicure I did with the Jeans trio- hence the amount of pictures! I think that all three shades work really well together. My absolute favorite varnish out of the three is Coco Blue- check out the subtle silvery shimmer in the bottle and on my nail. The application on these varnishes was good. The formula was not too thick or too runny, and the brush was standard- long and thin bristles. I will say try not to rush with these varnishes, otherwise you will end up with air bubbles. I also used a good basecoat under these varnishes- they WILL stain your nails otherwise! I also used my topcoat to give these the glossy shine you see in the pictures- they tend to dull quite quickly otherwise.

When I removed this manicure, I had the intention to redo my whole hand in just Coco Blue. It was just as I was reaching for it when I realised that I had some other veeery similar varnishes in my collection. Check this out:-

Index finger:- No7 Minty Fresh

Middle finger:- Revlon Blue Lagoon

Ring finger:- Chanel Coco Blue

Pinky finger:- Maybelline Ceramic Blue

As you can see, the closest shade to the Chanel Coco Blue is the No7 Minty Fresh varnish. However, Minty Fresh is a block colour whith no shimmer or glitter particles. Revlon's Blue Lagoon has very fine silver glitter in it, not too unlike the shimmer in Coco Blue, but Blue Lagoon's shade is a lot lighter than Coco Blue. Maybelline's Ceramic Blue is an absolutely beautiful shade (with perfect application, I might add), but it learns toward being a very soft lavender shade. It has a very subtle blue shimmer to it that is obvious in the bottle, but very difficult to see on the nail. So, even there are no exact dupes for Coco Blue, there are cheaper alternatives that are just as pretty.

I took this next picture under the artificial light in my kitchen because you can see the shimmer in the nail varnishes better:-

So what do you think? Will you be buying any of the Jeans de Chanel collection? Or having seen the comparisons of Coco Blue next to cheaper alternatives will you be choosing them instead? I'd love to read your thoughts!



The Mascara Wars #2 Maybelline Volum' Express The Colossal Cat's Eyes

Hello and welcome to the second installment of Mascara Wars! This week I have tried Maybelline's The Colossal Cat's Eyes Mascara. I have always heard good things about Maybelline's mascaras, but have not tried one in absolutely YEARS. (Not since Great Lash, in fact.)

So, when I saw Cat's Eyes on offer on at Superdrug I thought, why not?

Nice bright packaging- easily spotted in a busy make up bag!

A curved spoon brush. I saw on the Maybelline stand that this is very similar to the curved brush on the Falsies mascara, just a bit thinner, and not so densely packed with bristles.

So, as in my previous and all subsequent Mascara Wars trials, here are my uncurled lashes.

And, with one coat of Cat's Eyes Mascara

Pretty nice, huh? And, toshow how well this mascara builds up, below is a pic of two coats.

I'd say this definately needs two coats to get the full lengthening qualities of the mascara.

Now, here is the same test, but on curled eyelashes. Here is a pic of my natural, curled eyelashes.

And, with one coat of Cat's Eyes Mascara

And here's two coats

Nicely separated, defined and lengthened lashes.

So what did you think judging by the pictures? I must admit, I really enjoyed using this mascara. The thin brush made it very easy to coat my lashes, and moreover, to comb through them without any clumping or excessive build up on the lashes. I'd say this mascara gave great length and definition to my lashes, but didn't any volume so much. I wonder how this mascara would work if I used it in conjunction with a thickening, volumizing mascara? Mmm. In addition, I'm pretty sure that this mascara did a better job on my uncurled lashes! Looking at the photos, what do you think?

The brush is definately the part I like the most about this mascara, and the bright packaging really stood out in my overflowing make up bag (which can resemble a black hole at times). There is nothing I that particularly disliked about this mascara, although I would say that if it's thickness or a 'false lash' effect that you're after, I'd maybe pass this one by and go for something like the Falsies instead. (Which I'm yet to try, but I hear is awesome. Will have to review it soon!)

Hope you've all had a fab weekend!