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: Casual Matt Rouge Lipstick by UNE Make-Up

My most recent make-up purchase (by recent, read yesterday!) is this Matt Rouge lipstick from Une. What I like about Une is their philosophy of using organic, natural materials, emphasising the benefits of natural, subtle beauty, and also cares about the planet. Admittedly, I'd never heard of them before seeing them in the cosmetic store, and they didn't seem like a well-known brand, yet I think this is something which makes it all the more unique and specialist. I've been looking for a matt, pink lipstick for a while, there's surprisingly very few of them in the market and it's hard to find one which also suits my colour. I ended up going for the lightest shade of pink in this series, as I liked the slightly nude pink shade of it and I also thought it seemed like a pretty and natural colour to go for.

I quite like just how matt this lipstick is, it comes off a lovely blush pink colour (the picture doesn't really show the true colour although it is as close as I could manage!), and what I also like is how the colour of the lipstick can be layered according to how pink you want it to be - so you can start of with slightly sheer shade with a hint of pink, to quite pinky indeed. The lipstick was also as matt as it promised, although it took me a while to get the hang of making it look attractive, as it started off looking slightly powdery. I've also found with some light pink lipsticks that I need a lip liner or foundation base to help the colour come out, and this was the case here too. I'm not too sure I'd recommend this to everyone, it may look a bit too dry for some, and the shade of colour may also look a little too light. Also, I've found in the past that the matt look on lips can also be achieved just as easily by using a pencil lip liner to colour your lips in.

Has anyone else heard of, or bought products from this brand? How did you find it? For everyone else, is this something you would try? The natural, organic philosophy is a good one, but is it as effective for you in terms of make-up quality?

MAKE-UP REVIEW: Max Factor Lipfinity Lasting Lip Tint Pen

I bought the Max Factor Lipfinity lip tint pen recently to try out whether it really is as good as it seems to be. The colour I bought was Shade #3 (or Pink Princess, its cute other name), a longlasting lip tint which can just be applied on its own. I bought the pink shade as I thought it would not be too dark or browny, and it would be nice to get a girly colour which would suit my skin.

This is the actual colour of the lip pen as it comes out, it is slightly more corally than the picture suggests, but overall it is quite a light pink shade It is applied fairly easily and pretty much does it what is meant to do - it's a lip pen which can just be 'drawn' on, although it does feel like using a felt tip pen on your face!

On the whole I did like the ease of application of this lip pen, it was nice and liquidy enough to be applied on, and didn't feel sticky like some lip pens or glosses can be. I also liked the fact that it did stay on for quite a long time, and had a very, very matt-look effect. The colour of the pen was also quite pink, although it came out a little darker on my lips (I usually wear lipliner or base with my lipsticks) which was probably due to the fact that I needed a light base colour under it to make it look like a lighter pink shade. The downsides to this pen however is that although the lip tint did last, it did come off a little in some places, making it look a little like my lips were coloured in some places and empty in other, abd having a streaked, worn effect after a few hours. This meant I had to keep reapplying to keep an even look after a while, which made the general colour also look a little darker.
I think this is a great everyday make-up for those gals who like hassle-free lips. The fact that it is not glossy or shiny like lipsticks of glosses tend to be was a bit of a turn-off for me, although some may like this non-shiny look. I also think that the actual colour of the lip pen was nice, but a little dark for my tastes, although this is more due to not wearing any kind of base underneath it as well.
A nice lip pen colour, although not amazing, and something to try out as it is different from the usual glosses and lip stains that you may come across, but I will leave the final verdict to you :)

MAKE-UP REVIEW: Nude Lipsticks - L'Oreal Linda Evangelista #716

One of my FAVOURITE nude lipsticks is this surprising find by L'Oreal, from their Star Secrets series. This is one that I use most, and is in the Linda Evangelista range, number 716. This is a really natural pink colour that would suit most brown skin tones, and what I love about it is that it gives you a great nude lips look which is perfect for smokey eyes, without looking too pale or a shocking contrast. The end result is a lovely, creamy colour, a lipstick that is easy to apply and looks beautiful when on.