REVLON COLORBURST BALM STAINS

Since my early days of blogging, the Revlon Colorburst Balm Stains (previously known as the Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains) were a firm favourite of mine, with Honey even reaching a holy grail status at one point. I treated myself to a trio on my flight home from Madrid for £16 (bargain)  and so thought I would revisit them for a full review.

I have three shades; Sweetheart, Rendezvous and Honey, all of which have become staple colours for me. Sweetheart is a bright pink, one I will be getting a ton of use out of in the summer months, and Rendezvous is a classic orange colour that actually suits me really well and fulfills my wants of an orange lip colour. Honey is a classic neutral mauve pink colour, that if applied too generously can look a bit ancient but with experience you get the right balance.

The formula is what I love, they apply so easily to the lips, and I never have any trouble with bleeding or uneven fading. These really do stain, so when that slight glossiness (which can be blotted down if you aren't feeling the sheen) has faded, you are still left with the strong colour - even my holy grail eye makeup remover struggles to get this off my lips sometimes.

I am looking to get my mitts on the rest of the collection, as well as trying out the Matte and Lacquer offerings which I am leaving too late to purchase (note: must go to Boots), so that I can compare the formulas...

A LOVE FOR LIP PRODUCTS BY L'OREAL

L'Oreal was a brand that I never really delved into until a recent lucky moment at a clearance bin in my local Tesco. I managed to stock up on their lip products which came in at £2 each and I can't get enough of them.

The first is probably the one product I am most excited about, in the form of the Caresse Glam Shine Stain Splash in Romy. Looking at the packaging, this seemed really glittery, but once I put it on there was a barely noticeable shimmer among the gorgeous muted pink colour. What I like about this is the texture - think of a buildable jelly formula, which is slightly sticky but it makes me want to apply it every 2 minutes because it is divine.

The other three products are the Caresse Rouge Lipsticks, in the shades Lovely Rose - which is a pretty pale pink, Aphrodite Scarlet - a sightly coral toned medium pink, and Impulsive Fuchsia - which is a brighter blue-pink colour, all of which are lovely. They come out sheerer than a lipstick, so can either be worn that way, or built up to give something more eye-catching.

I think one of the things that makes me love these is the packaging -  a luxe gold colour and  matching coloured lids to the colour in the bullet (although mine are missing out on this feature, which may be why they were in the clearance to begin with), but nonetheless, it feels really luxurious.

I feel like I may have to go back to Tesco to revisit the clearance section to see if I can snap up any more colours, because I really am obsessed...

BEST 5 OF 2013: LIPS

Once again, I am sitting at the laptop screen, typing up the (last) installment of the 'best of 2013' series going on here on my blog, and many others too. Today we are talking lips, and I have nudes, brights and some moisture going on in this post.

The first one is MAC Faux Lipstick which isn't one that gets a whole lot of fame in the blogging world, but I blimmin' love it, just the perfect your lips but better shade. Being a satin finish, it isn't too glossy, neither is it so matte it totally deprives your lips of either. Just a nice in between semi-matte. Lovely.

Second on the menu is the Revlon Lip Butter in Sweet Tart which was the lip colour that I guess took me through that transition into wearing brights in the past few months. This is balmy, slightly sheerer that other lipsticks, and the formulation is perfecto. I seriously love this one, and just writing this gives me the urge to go and purchase the entire range.

The Maybelline Baby Lips made their way onto the shelves this year in the UK and although we have limited shades, I have all 3 tinted ones and also one of the hydrating ones (the other two are on my wishlist, I promise), and although for moisture they don't do all good for me, the shade Cherry Me has has a good lot of wear this past half a year.

Then, the GOSH Soft n' Shine Lip Balm in Scarlet. How long am I going to ramble on and on about this one? This is one of the first neutral lip products I really became loyal too, and I still love it now. Basically, a glossy, balmy, sweet smelling, pink/plummy nude which is my go-to on an everyday basis. I would compare the formula to the Revlon Lip Butters just not as thick, and perhaps the colour doesn't stick around for as long, but I adore this nonetheless.

Finally, another one I bang on about, and wear on probably a weekly basis. Yes, it is the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey the perfect pink colour which is toned down so I feel like I can wear this everyday. To show how much I love it, the bullet now resembles some kind of stump, lacking in its pointed crayon-like tip. And yes, I have definitely gone a little cray-cray. 

Oh how I love lip products, and I expect I will be trying a lot more in the upcoming year.

 

THE BEST OF THE NEUTRAL LIP COLOURS

Every since I got into beauty, I have always been drawn to neutrals, (except from the blue eyeshadow phase I'm sure we all had when we were too young to know that golds and browns existed). It's time to take a tour of the best neutral lip colours I have in my collection - varying in price and formula. 

First on the menu is the Gosh Soft and Shine Lip Balm in Scarlet - nowhere near anything scarlet, but a neutral worth getting if you can locate these anywhere, I found mine a long time ago in a clearance. This gives just the right amount of nude, with a hint of pinkish plum, all in a balmy, comfortable formula, still giving good pigmentation. Love.

Up next is the Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach Kiss which is just a lipbalm with a hint of tint, of a peachy, shimmery, nude, which is my go to, when I am just slathering something on without a mirror, as you can't really go wrong. 

The Natural Collection Autumn Sunset Sheer Natural Lip Colour and being the cheapest of the bunch, is actually pretty darn good. It is a perfect nude, and I don't look washed out at all, as it is slightly pinky, and is sheer too, as the name suggests, and so gives a slightly glossy, nude wash to the lips. 

Opposite to the above, this is the most pricey. MAC Faux, which isn't one I hear about all that often if I am honest, but I'm not one of the bloggers who gets a product because everyone else has it. This is high end, an investment, so I make it suited to me, not everyone else. For me, this is the your lips but better shade, and I just blimming love it. 

Back to the high street, we have the Rimmel Kate Matte Lipstick in 101 which is a pale pinky pink, but this is slightly too baby pink for me, because those types of colours don't suit me, but I know what lots people love this (as do I with the rest of the Kate Lipsticks), and so I included it anyway. 

Finally, a lip liner. This is the Too Faced Perfect Nude Perfect Lip Liner which is an incredible lip liner. It is 100% matte, and does not budge, and I love this paired with any of the above lip colours, and it literally lasts hours. It needs a sharpen, and I can imagine that in the future there will be a stump left of this...

Lip products are my weakness, and so are neutrals. Put them together, and I go a little cray cray.