The most underrated MAC lipstick.. ever?

I have got to the stage of my makeup collection obsession where I think I have covered all bases, lipstick wise. I have my safe everyday (MAC Angel), night-out showstopper (MAC Candy Yum Yum) and lipstick that I'm bloody terrified of (MAC Saint Germain). So, instead of planning what lipstick I would buy next, me and my friend decided that we'd just go into MAC and start picking up random lipsticks that caught our eye. That is how I found myself this little beauty...

Her name is Creme De La Femme, and she is the new love of my life.

I was attracted to the lilacy-pink shimmeryness instantly. It is a frost, which other than Angel I own none of. My one gripe with this lipstick? When it is wearing off it does leave a little bit of glitteryness in the middle of your lips, however I think for such a unique colour and pretty finish it is a small price to pay. 

The strangest thing about all of this? I have NEVER heard of this lipstick before! It's permanent and all, so it's readily available- I've just never ever heard of anyone mention it in the past few years that I have been obsessed with beauty blogs/youtube.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid NC42 / MAC Select Moisturecover NC42 /  MAC Studio Careblend  'Medium Plus' / NARS Laguna bronzer / NARS Mata Hari blush / Benefit Creaseless Cream Sippin & Dippin / UD NP Half Baked, Virgin, Buck, Naked (brows) / L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara / Collection 2000 Extreme felt tip liner / Benefit Bad Gal Liner / MAC Creme De La Femme lipstick

 Please tell me, have you heard of this lipstick before?

And what do you think of it?

xxxx

btw... I am not going to be so self indulgent to apologise for my lack of blogging lately. Suffice to say September was a rough month for me but it's all over and I am back! Thank you to all 750 of you for sticking around. Mwah to you all xxxx 

Lipstick Lover Review: Maybelline 'Summer Pink'

I bought this lippie quite a long time ago and as it sometimes happens, it got put in my collection and lost in my  lipstick drawer. However I was so happy to find this the other day when I was looking for something new!

Colour/Scent: It's a bright pink with silver toned shimmer, I couldn't detect any scent.

Consistency: Nice! Glides on and is very moisturising. It is almost a frost finish, however it isn't in the slightest bit drying. In  fact it has the most gorgeous pearlescent finish!

Pigmentation: Fantastic! The colour looks so rich in the bullet and it has fab colour payoff!

Packaging: Really nice pink and silver casing. Very pretty in a sea of dull black bullets!

Price? A bargainous £7.19!

Other shades available? There was loads in Superdrug when I was there, however I could only find this one on the Superdrug website.

Available from? Any drugstore that stocks Maybelline.

The Verdict... I am honestly pleasantly surprised with this! It has the most gorgeous multi-dimensional colour and some of the smoothest application that I have come across in lipstick. Honestly, I think this is nicer than the Benefit lipstick that I reviewed last time. When you look at the price difference, it may be definitely worth looking at some of the Maybelline offerings before shelling out on high end lipsticks. I definitely will be in the future now too! Also, I think this lipstick is cool/silver toned- something I never go for usually. However I think I suit them and I will be looking into more of the same in the future!

Have you tried any Maybelline lipsticks? Which are your favourites?

Lipstick Lover Review: Benefit 'Pinking of You'

Today in the Lipstick hot-seat (ha!) is a Benefit Full Finish in 'Pinking Of You'!

Colour/Scent? Benefit describes this as a 'pop of pink' however I would describe this as a pinky-coral, with silver shimmer. I'm pretty sure this is unscented, however it might just be because I have a cold and all sense of smell is out of the window for me! (ok.. you didn't need to know that!).

Consistency? Ok so this is the strange bit. When this lipstick is applied, you can actually feel the glitter when you rub your lips together. It doesn't particularly bother me, but I know it may do for some people! Other than that, it glides on nicely.

Longevity? Pretty good, but constantly rubbing my lips together because of the glittery chunks made it wear off more quickly.

Pigmentation? It is mildly sheer in texture, but a very buildable colour.

Packaging? Sleek and black, just the way I like it!

Price? £14 or €21 - dearer than MAC fyi.

Other shades available? The UK Benefit website has 10 shades in stock.

Available from? Benefits website or any Benefit counter.

The Verdict... I like it! I don't have any shades like this, so I do like that. If it weren't for the chunky glitter, I would love this loads. I am willing to oversee that though, for the nice colour. To be a little picky, this lipstick falls into my category of mean euro price conversions. 

Have any of you tried Benefit lipsticks? What do you think? 

H xoxo

Lipstick Lover Review: ELF Luscious Liquid Lipstick 'Strawberry'

You might not consider this to be a lipstick, but since the word "lipstick" is included in the product name, it is worthy of a Lipstick Lover review! :o)

Colour/Scent? You will know my opinion on the colour of this if you check out the post in which this was hauled, you will see the ridiculous swatch of this on the ELF website. I didn't think I was getting a red lip colour in the slightest! ELF says that the scent is 'Vanilla Mint', I suppose that could be correct. The scent is just pleasant but not of anything in particular.

Consistency? That of a lipgloss, no more, no less. 

Longevity? Again, that of a lipgloss!

Pigmentation? As you can see in the above photo, which is of around three layers of this I still couldn't get it to even slight opacity. I took about four photos of this and this was the best of the lot. 

Packaging? Cute! Just like the ELF glosses, or the Stila twist-up ones, but with a type of 'pad' applicator which you twist up for the product to appear.

Price? This has to be the best thing about this! These retail at £1.50 or €1.70, an absolute bargain.

Other shades available? 11 altogether! (before ordering online though, I would recommend that you research swatches on other blogs before ordering!! Do not trust the website swatches!)

Available from? ELF's website

The verdict... Maybe I was incorrect in considering this to be a lip stick, in liquid form, although as far as I am concerned this is what the name and website description suggests. Although in saying that I do have more pigmented glosses. I would never give this a bad review due to the price, nice packaging etc, but I think I am just left bitter about this because of the terrible online swatch and the average pigmentation. 

Have you tried these? I would really love to know what you think!

H xoxo

PS. Just realized I have posted two Lipstick Lover reviews in a row, I hope this is OK! :o) 

Lipstick Lover Review: Dior Addict 'Basic'

There has been so much hype surrounding the new Dior Addict lipsticks, and the gorgeous Kate Moss advertisements. Most reviews that I have seen of this have been the 'Kate Moss shade', which I may have chosen myself. My mum bought this for me on her recent holiday to Grand Canaria (hauled here) and I am so glad as I absolutely love it! :o)

Colour/Scent? This shade is the most subtle of the collection a soft rose pink with silver shimmer. I cannot detect any scent whatsoever!

Consistency? Sheer, almost comparable to that of a highly pigmented balm. According to Dior, they have a new 'mirror jelly' formula, designed to 'bring shine, volume and hydration to the lips'

Longevity? Due to the light feel of these, you would think it wouldn't last long at all, however they definitely last 1hr+.

Pigmentation? Not huge, however in one swipe (see above swatch) you can see the shimmer. In the lips shot below, I have layered this lipstick twice, maybe three times.

Packaging? Stunning! This is without a doubt the most luxe looking lippie I own/have ever seen! The casing looks clear to begin with, but in daylight as above it has this gorgeous rainbow effect.

Price? £22 / €28

Other shades available? 44 in all! This even shocked me :o)

Available from? Debenhams, with 10% off at the moment!

The Verdict... I love it! To be honest, I am not going to reach this for a colour pop. However I think this is the closest to a 'nude' that I will be comfortable wearing so it is ideal for when I decide to wear striking eye make up. It may be the photo, however I think this looks totally comparable to MAC Angel, what do you think? I would love to say that I will be buying more of the gorgeous shades available, but they are too pricey to collect them all!

Let me know your thoughts, I would love to hear them! <3

Love H xoxo

Lipstick Lover Review: MAC 'Angel'

This was my very first MAC lipstick, so much research went into the purchase of this. Many people describe this as the MAC lippie that everyone needs to have in their collection. This shade was made famous by Kim Kardashian, let's face it, who doesn't want to look like her!

Colour/Scent? a soft, mid tone pink. The scent is the signature delicious vanilla scent, as with all MAC lip sticks.

Consistency? Smooth in application, yet the colour applies quite thickly leaving a good coating in one swipe.

Longevity? Very good, 2 + hours at least. 

Pigmentation? Amazing! Although this is supposed to be of a frost finish, no metallic/shimmer is evident in this lipstick. 

 Packaging? The usual sleek black MAC bullet.

Price? £13.50 or €17.50

Other shades available? Right now there are 30 'frost' lipsticks available on maccosmetics.com

The verdict... As much as I love this lipstick, I do feel that when I am quite heavily tanned it looks far too pale on me. However days like today when I am 'normal', I think this is such a flattering lipcolour. I love the way Kim Kardashian makes this look much more nude with NARS Turkish Delight gloss. I think she looks fabulous!

Image source

Do any of you own this lipstick? What do you think?

H xxx

Lipstick Lover Review: 17 Mirror Shine 'Flirtini' & 'Peace'

I picked these lippies up absolutely ages ago (hauled here). I think it was the sheeny-shiny packaging that was my initial attraction, plus the fact that I hadn't tried any 17 products in years!

17 Mirror Shine: L-R Flirtini, Peace

as you can see, Flirtini has got slightly mushed.

Colour/Scent? Flirtini is Berry pink with subtle silver shimmer through it, Peace is an orangey peach colour with no shimmer.

Longevity? Maybe an hour? Not a long lasting product in the slightest.

Consistency? Just as you can see with Flirtini, the product is just the same as a normal stick lip balm as in if you stuck your finger in it, it would squish right down. (I am having trouble describing this, but hopefully you get the gist!) I used flirtini for one weekend and it just got destroyed. To put it in perceptive, I carry many lipsticks in my handbag for weeks on end, and I would use them a lot when going through a phase, and this has never happened before.

Pigmentation? Not bad, considering the consistensy. However it is not the type of lipstick you would use to build colour and put a gloss over, say. It is comparable to a pigmented lip gloss, in stick form.

Packaging? Nice metallic blue bullet with the 17 logo in hot pink.

Price? a very reasonable £4.59

Other shades available? 10 shades altogether, check them out here.

The verdict... I like these! I bought them thinking they would be more opaque, hell I even bought a lipgloss that day to go over Peace! Maybe they are aimed towards a younger crowd? I do think these would be brilliant for the summer though, on days where a full face of make up and lip colour aren't needed. Overall, they give a good wash of colour and are moisturising. Not bad for the bargainous price! NOTE: Don't use these with a heavy hand (like I did!).

What do you think? Have you tried these? 

H xoxo

Lipstick Lover Review: NARS 'Roman Holiday'

I was feeling a little disheartened today, as payday is Thursday I won't be able to go on a shopping trip (even a little one) this week. So, I am going to take this opportunity to review some different lipsticks that I haven't got round to blogging about! I am considering making this a mini series called 'Lipstick Lover' because as you all know, lip stick is my guilty pleasure!

NARS Sheer Lipstick 'Roman Holiday'

 Colour/Scent? A muted rose colour. No scent.

Longevity? As it is sheer, 1-2 hours (if you are lucky)

Consistency? Almost that of a balm, very moisturizing and it glides on lips nicely.

Pigmentation? Very pigmented, especially for this type of consistency! It is a very build-able colour too, one swipe gives a pinkish glow but it can be built up to become completely opaque (3 swipes).

 Packaging? Matte black box. The bullet itself is comparable to that of a Barry M lipstick, you know, with the almost velvet feel to it?

Price? £17.50 or €22.96 for 3.4g of product = £5.15/€6.75 per gram.

Other shades? ASOS currently stocks 19 other shades of lipstick in this finish. Plenty of choice!

The Verdict... Yes, I love this! It is my first dabble into NARS, and I am impressed. They are very pricey, even more expensive than MAC. However, I think this price is justified as it is an iconic lip product and a nice addition to my collection. The only problem with this is that it is super wearable and because of this I find myself reaching for it almost every day. This is bad because it is so expensive and I don't want to use it all up! 

Available from ASOS and NARS counters worldwide.