MAKE-UP REVIEW: Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream Swatches

I posted recently about some long-wear matte lip creams I bought from Nyx, I bought a few soft matte lip creams which I've been wanting to try for a while. They're quite reasonably priced on the official website, but I managed to find them a little cheaper from a seller on eBay from America, although the postage did add to the costs!

I love that these come in a large range of colours, and that they're all named after major cities in the world - it makes a nice difference from the usual names for lipsticks and made them sound really fun. I picked a bunch of colours, some nudes, some reds, some pinks and some corals, and also a dark purple that looked interesting - they all had a good variety of colour so that they didn't look the same as each other too much.

(I'll apologise in advance for the quality of the pictures with my lip swatches, I tried to use my DSLR camera to take the pictures but couldn't get a decent angle without being able to to see! I ended up using my mobile phone camera for most of them, but made sure the lighting was clear so that the colours came out as close as possible to how they actually looked!)

San Paulo
This was a lovely pink on me, slightly deeper than I thought it would be but still very pretty because it was such a fun, bright pink without being too vivid or neon like a lot of other liquid lipsticks I've used. For some reason the colour looks a little patchy in my picture, but it was a fairly flattering colour in a mid-pink shade.

Antwerp
This was a really pretty coral shade, a little bright but very summery, being a nice balance of coral and peach.. It looks a little brighter than the tube suggests, but is also a light shade which looks a little warm and suited my skin pretty well.

Cannes
This was a really pretty pale pink which had slightly nude tones to it. On me, it looked more pink with a blue undertone, but it's a very easy colour to wear and looked almost light lilac without dulling my skin. I got a few compliments from this lip shade, it's quite versatile and would suit a lot of skin shades.

Transylvania
This was a little dark for me, it was a deep, rich purple which looked amazing in colour, but not so amazing on my lips because it didn't really suit me at all, and it was really difficult to get a good picture of the colour without it looking black. Having said that, I loved the rich shade of it, I'm not sure I'd wear it on a night out, but it was lovely to try it. I think a lighter version of this colour, Copenhagen, would be a lot more wearable (I tried to get that shade but it was sold out in most places!)

Ibiza
This was another really pretty coral colour that I really loved, less brighter than Antwerp was but very soft and corally. This was one of my favourite shades, perfect for summer (and spring) and very easy to wear, although I needed a decent nude lipliner underneath to get the true colour of the lip cream on my lips.

Morocco
I quite liked this colour, it was a bright shade of red which was almost orange, and very flattering on the lips, surprisingly making them look fuller. I don't often wear post-box reds like this so it was great fun to try this one out, and it pretty much lasted right until lunch without fading at all.

Zurich
This was another one of my favourite shades out of all of the ones I bought, it was a really pretty nude that was lighter and less mauve-y than Cannes. This was another lip cream that got compliments, and also was perfect for an everyday nude which lasted quite a while.

Amsterdam

I ended up trying this shade twice, because of the versatility of this colour. From the tube I assumed this would be a deep dull red, but it ended up being a a pinky shade, due to the light coloured lipliner underneath. I loved the shade, but it made me wonder whether I could get a deeper colour by wearing a deeper lipliner under it.

So I tried this lip colour again, and ended up with a pinky-red - it's what I imagine a neon red would look like, without being

I've worn a few of these colours again, because of how ideal they are for every day, and the colours are pretty flattering. While they were pretty long-wearing and quite pigmented, they didn't last the whole day - usually it would wear off during lunch and I'd have to re-apply (I think the only exception to this was Morocco, but even this was half-worn off!)

I'd definitely recommend these lip creams, they're amazing value for their price and they come in a big enough range of colours that they would suit a lot of skin types and preferences. I'm already thinking of ordering a few more colours (although not yet, probably on pay day!) and have been recommending the colours to my sisters for them to try.

What do you think of these colours? Have you tried any of the Nyx lips creams?

MAKE-UP REVIEW: The Matte Liquid Lipsticks

I've never been a real fan of lip glosses when wearing make-up because they usually leave my lips feeling sticky, or the colours don't feel very visible (not to mention getting flyaway hair stuck to my lips!) - I haven't really worn lip glosses since I was a teenager.

Recently though, I've become crazy about matte liquid lipsticks, which look like lip gloss but wear like lipsticks - they're long-lasting, they're matte and they are highly pigmented. I've built up a small collection of liquid liquids over the last few months, especially as these tend to what I reach for when I go to work, when out with friends and even to a few dos - it's convenient that they last all day and I don't have to re-apply or worry about it coming off when I eat (which is a problem with some of my usual lipsticks).

There are several brands which have launched their own collections of matte liquid lipsticks, some which are better than others. I've tried out a few brands which I'll write about below, although there's still a few other brands which I'd like to try.

Lime Crime have a popular range of matte liquid lipsticks, a collection call Velvetines, which started off just with two collections, and which has now grown 7 colours in the collection. I have been hankering after a Velvetine lipstick for a while, and finally put myself out of my misery to buy some. Because this is an American brand, it wasn't easy to find, but for those who are interested, I bought mine from here. I bought two shades,  Red Velvet and Suedeberry, both which looked really good on the swatches I saw online.

The Red Velvet shade was surprisingly not as deep as I thought it would be - it has a slightly coral base to it which made it brighter. When I wore it, it looked a lot like it did on this beauty blogger - although on me it wasn't as neat! Suedeberry on the other hand, was a very bright, orangey-coral colour, which took me a while to get used to. It's also a slightly chalky orange, so I needed some base underneath to make the colour 'sit' properly on my lips and also give a little moisture. The closest colour I can show for the orange shade is probably this (for some reason, on the beauty bloggers I followed online it looked slightly redder). Out of the two, I preferred the Red Velvet shade, it's really easy to wear and suits my skin tone a lot - and it's also a very pretty colour too.

A brand I have been using a lot lately is Sleek, whose liquid lipsticks - Matte Me - I'm really in love with. The colours look exactly the same as they do in the tube, they're easy to apply and very pigmented, and I eventually ended up buying all the colours they had because they're reasonably priced and I found the colours so flattering. The pinkier and purple shades have been a lot more flattering on my lips than the lighter shades though, which I need a base or a lipliner with in order to make the colours pop.

I've also gotten my sisters and sister-in-law to try these, and they've all had various preferences over which shade they like, but my favourite by far has been the purple shade, Fandango Purple. This is how the purple lipstick looks on me, it's a very pretty purple-pink shade which has gotten me compliments everytime I wear it. It also lasts the whole day on me, although it slowly fades away a little in the middle of my lip to a more hot pink shade unless I re-apply at the end of the day or if I have oily food.

I've also discovered a few matte liquid lipsticks by Bourjois, who also jumped on the bandwagon recently with their new Rouge Edition Velvet collection. I found these a little creamier than the Sleek lipsticks, although colour-wise, there were a few similarities. I bought a few hot pink and cranberry colours in this brand, and was also glad to see a dark red shade which I've been wanting to try in a liquid lipstick, especially as most that I have seen so far are the brighter shades of red.

The shade Pink Pong was the most flattering on me, it's a pretty hot pink colour with a slightly blue base which I really liked. I think this is a shade which would suit almost anyone, and it's a very easy colour to wear - the colour on me was similar to this beauty blogger. The other two pinks are a little less bright and vibrants, but are still very pretty, easy colours to wear, both perfect for everyday wear as well as a day out. I only bought the dark red shade Grand Cru recently (you can see the sticker marks on it!) but I imagine it will look very rich and red, something I'm looking forward to trying. The finish of these lipsticks are all pretty good, they feel light without being drying or looking flaky - I've been eyeing up the other colours to see what they're like too.

MUA has also got a collection of lipsticks called MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquers, which are the cheapest of the bunch at £3. Like the other brands, there are some very bright colours available, although these may not suit everyone's tastes. I bought one of these in Reckless, which is a red shade that I thought was wearable, but not amazing. I think that for what they cost, they're not bad, but the quality isn't as great as the Lime Crime or Bourjois lipsticks, especially as this lipstick peels lightly as the day goes on.

Revlon has had long-lasting liquid lipstick for a while, their ColorStay collection is a little more sober in colours though. My mum has used some of their nude and pink shades for a long time, and even I have a tomato coloured liquid lipstick in this collection that I use every now and then (I forgot to take pictures of mine though!)

TopShop make-up is another that I've been hearing good things about - I have a highlighter by them which I love because it is surprisingly one of the better ones I have. So naturally, I wanted to check out their liquid lipsticks, which they had a range of, one called Lip Paint (which is creamier) and another called Lip Varnish (which is more of a shiny lacquer). Both are in very bright shades and long-lasting, although I didn't end up buying any because I didn't think any of the shades below would suit me, and the colours that would I already had shades of in other brands. Topshop also does Velvet Lipstick but as far as I can see, it's only in a black shade. I did end up buying a Gloss Ink in a pretty cranberry shade called Smitten which is like a pigmented, glossy lipstain.

I know that there are other brands which do liquid lipsticks as well, although I haven't tried them myself - there are a few higher-end brands like Hourglass and Guerlain; Illamasqua also have a popular liquid lipstick and Stila are also another, and NYX have a big collection which I've been wanting to try out. Lastly, Lush are another brand I've been eyeing up, their products are natural and come in pretty shades, but the down-side is that there is an expiry date of a year, which I'm still trying to decide whether I want to buy or not.

Overall I can see liquid lipsticks becoming more popular, they're not as fussy as normal lipsticks, they look beautifully elegant and they're very flattering. Who knew something which looks like a lip gloss would look as good as it does!

What do you think of matte liquid lipsticks - passing trend or here to stay? Which ones have you tried?

MAKE-UP REVIEW: Pretty Lip Pots

I do like pretty pieces of make-up, like these lip-pots I picked up which had been sculpted into flowers, by cosmetics company Chic Flowers. Perfect for everyday wear, although I'm not sure I'd wear the deep-red one all of the time!

QUIRKY FASHION: Hand-Bag Shaped Lip Glosses

I bought these for my niece recently, as I thought they were quite cute and was sure she'd love them (she did!). I'm sure we've all seen the latest tend of lipbalms and lipglosses in cupcakes-shapes, mini shoes, handbags and goodness know what else, so I thought I'd join the tween craze and buy a couple of these prettily-made lovelies. These were perfect for a young girl, pinky, shimmery and not too thick or shiny, and of course easy to apply! I'm not sure I'm in favour of buying every novelty make-up or jewellery out there but it's nice to buy something cute every now and then : )

Come on, I know you like them!

MAKE-UP REVIEW: Sleek's Pout Paints

I've recently discovered lip paints by drugstore brand Sleek, usually found in Superdrugs, which does a whole range of colours in these 'Pout Paints'. Some of them were a bit too adventurous for me (blue or lilac just wouldn't suit me I suppose!), but I was interested in the pinkier shades, which looked quite pretty.

Here's the colours I ended up buying, a mid pinky-brown shade, and a deeper, fuchsia pink which appealed to me because it looked like a flattering colour, which would suit Asian skin pretty well. Although the tubes are not very big, there's not much that is needed per application (the tube says that you only need one or two drops on your lip brush).

I tested out both colours, they were fairly easy to apply and came out quite rich in colour and fluid to apply. What I also liked, incidentally, was the yummy smell that came with it, which reminded me of sweets. But that's less to do with how practical the lip paints actually are! Here's how the colours came out, they both looked pretty much the same as they do in the tube. I really don't like how some make-up products can be a bit misleading in colour, especially since I'm the type to test out colours at make-up counters or in the stores, and sometimes packaging for makeup doesn't always reflect it's true colour.

The Pout Paints pretty much only needed a couple of drops on a lip brush to apply to the whole lip area, and it's fairly even when applied. I mainly bought these because they are long-lasting, and don't come off easily, which is practical for me as I don't always have time to keep re-applying lipsticks during the day. Also, because I tend to drink a lot of water during the day, this is quite useful as it doesn't come off easily once applied.

I also love the fact that this is, after all, paint - meaning you can mix the colours to make different shades. I've seen in a few reviews of this product how some bloggers have used the cooler colours like blue or white to neutralise the pinkier shades to suit their skin tone, and it seemed to work for them! Here's one shade I managed to mix up with the light and darker pink I have, not sure I'd wear it as it's slightly too 'bubble-gum pink' for me, but I do love the concept of making new colours!

 Overall, I think this is a useful product because of the long-lasting factor of it, it seems to withstand wear from food and water, and it's very easy to apply. The price is pretty good, and although it's not a big tube, there's a lot of lip paint in the tube, so gives a lot of wear. I've heard good things about it overall, although I don't know anyone personally who has tried it, as I'm not sure it's their kind of thing. What I would say is that the colours are not all entirely practical, and some of them may be too bright or dramatic for some people - certainly I wouldn't wear the darker pink shade every day as it's too dark for my liking, and I tend to stick to natural, pinky colours. My verdict: a nice product to try, and great if you're looking for something bright and funky that lasts all day, although maybe not for a glamorous look!