ELF Pouty Petal and Voodoo Lipsticks

I finally made an ELF order and got two lipsticks, a nail polish, cuticle oil pen and brush cleaner spray.

Here are the two lipsticks, Pouty Petal and Voodoo, one from each lipstick range.

The Voodoo as you can see above is the cheaper version (£1.50). The packaging is not great but atleast there is a centre window to identify the colour. The colour is beigey berry. I like it because it's a muted red and I find it easy to wear for any occasion. Quality wise, it's very good. Smooth and creamy and lasts for quite a few hours. Bargain for the price.

The Pouty Petal is a good dupe for Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Boy. This lipstick is from the Mineral line (£3.50). It's pink, nude and sheer. The texture is fine. I could'nt tell how long this lipstick lasts since it camouflages to my natural lip colour. Those with pale lips will notice a lovely pink tint.

Is it worth more than double the price of the basic lipstick? Yes but for the packaging only. The lipstick quality is just the same. In fact I noticed with both that the first swipes had little colour payoff because they had the same firm texture.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Lipstick - Fétiche

I got suckered into the pretty advertisement for the the Rouge Coco Shine lipsticks. The colours are amazing but don't let the lipsticks fool you, they are actually sheer and shiny. Like Clinique's Black Honey, you get a smidgen of the tube colour as in the below pic.

It was a toss up between the lipstick modelled in the ad, Boy or Fetiche. Both similar except Fetiche is more mauve with no shimmer. I have naturally dark pigmented lips so Boy was a useless colour. It looked like I was wearing nothing but Vaseline.

It feels creamy and moisturing but it lasts four hours, tops. The Chanel consultant reakons that the colours change after application and if anything, it does look pinker but it's a subtle effect.

This is my type of lipstick because it just glides on and I hate bold lipstick because it's too high maintenance.

Fetiche is a gorgeous colour. For pale lips, Boy would be perfect as a pretty nude. I would recommend this range if you like wearing lipstick but don't want the hassle of smudges and precise application.

Lip Fusion Dupe-Lip Filler Express Gloss & Elegant Touch Nail Fortifying Spa

I had a Savers haul to stock up for my trip to Egypt.

Among the necessities were two impulse items. The first was Lip Filler Express Gloss, a Lip Fusion dupe. I have too many glosses but who cares for £1?

The packaging is similar to Lip Fusion and it's manufactured by Deborah Milano cosmetics. The gloss contains "hyaluronic filling spheres" which dilate by pushing towards the lip surface, hydrating and smoothes out the lips. It promises voluminous lips in 15 minutes.

The texture is similar Lip Fusion, thick and slightly sticky with a faint candy scent. As you can see in the pic, there is not much difference to size although my lips are shiner with less wrinkles. The gloss is shimmery which adds to the effect of plumper lips. There is a cooling tingle but it goes away after 15 mins. While it's ingredients differ to Lip Fusion, in my experience the results are exactly the same with a bargain price.

The second impulse buy is the Elegant Touch Fortifying Nail Spa for £2. My nails were ravaged when I had my gels removed. It was a shocking job. The manicurist did'nt leave the acetone on long enough and harshly scraped my nails. She wasn't even watching when she scratched my finger with the stick. Traces of gel remained but I was too scared to complain. Not going back to that Nails Inc (Debenhams Oxford St)!

The nail polish is a water based treatment with bamboo extract, avocado oil and sunflower seed oil. It's to regenerate weak and damaged nails with improved results in 3 days, so the packaging says. Leaves a translucent shiny finish and my nails feels stronger after two coats. I love it!

MAC Gaga Viva Glam Lipstick

I finally bought the coveted Lady Gaga lipstick which was sold out for ages. This colour is bang on trend from the Viva Glam range. Every cent of it's selling price is donated in support of people living with HIV and AIDS.

The pale pink is gorgeous and it doesn't look lavender on me. When I first put it on though, it looked ridiculous. Pastey pink lipsticks look strange on pigmented lips. (Try saying that as a tongue twister!)

However if you apply with a light hand, you can wear it as an everyday lipstick. It also balances out heavy eye makeup. The colour intensity is buildable because the lipstick is sheer.

The texture is creamy and softly vanilla scented. But as with most pale colours, it's unforgiving on chapped lips. Make sure t0 exfoliate and apply lipbalm first.

I wear Gaga as a staple now. Go get it girls before it goes out of stock again!

MAC Hello Kitty - Stray'in Lipstick

I bought this ages ago when the MAC Hello Kitty range came out. How adorable is the packaging? Can you see the imprint of HK?

This lipstick quickly dropped out of my makeup rotation because Stray'in is a neon glittery pink. Don't let the swatches from the internet confuse you, it's BARBIE PINK. Oh and did I mention it has glitter too?

I bought it online so I only saw it in real life when it arrived. The only way I could redeem this lipstick is to wear a light layer and top it with a pale lip gloss. Otherwise on it's own, it's too bright pink and mismatches against my yellow skintone.

Consistency wise, it's not as creamy as MAC's lustre lipsticks. The glitter's so tiny that its not grainy but somehow it manages to stick onto my hands or face.

I'll keep it for my daughter one day and she can use it as play-makeup. I'm sure she'll love HK just as much as I do!

Boots Natural Collection Rosebud Fig Leaf Caramel Shortcake

At Boots, the Natural Collection cosmetics range is 3 for £5. I've been looking for some nude lipsticks and was happy to find the perfect colours.

Natural Collection is a home brand of Boots. All products are less than £2 each. They have a wide product and colour range but I suspect the quality is not great. Did'nt test their eyeshadows because none of the colours appealed to me. Packaging is simple and cheap. The coverage consistency of their liquid foundations were terrible. But the lipsticks are good!

If you can overlook the plain packaging, the lipsticks are lovely pick-me-ups. They are called Moisture Shine Lipstick and are fragrance free. Texture is creamy and pigmentation is decent. Lasting power is good.

Rosebud is a soft nude pink. It's the perfect Your Lips But Better nude.

Fig Leaf is a pale brown nude. It's a little sheerer than Rosebud.

I also bought a Juicy Lips lipgloss in Caramel Shortcake. The applicator is a bit annoying because it never picks up enough product so I need to dip a few times. The colour is pinkish brown. It smells delightfully fruity but I can tell that overtime, it will smell mediciney.

Swatches: Rosebud, Fig Tree and Caramel Shortcake. Top right: Caramel Shortcake. Bottom left: Fig Tree. Bottom right: Rose Bud.

Overall the lipsticks are the only products which I recommend but only buy these on sale. NYX is still better value by far!

Vaseline Lip Therapy - Rose and Almond Oil Rosy Lips

Since I arrived in London, I felt extremely homesick. I missed my family, my room, the sunshine and the warmth of home.

Now the skies are grey, the ground is soggy and it's so cold my cheeks go numb when I'm outdoors!

On the plus side of London, most things are cheaper than in Australia. I got a nice haircut for £9 and just about anything you buy from the Boots or Superdrug here is cheap.

Yesterday I discovered a discount pharmacy called Savers. I bought Tresemme Heat Defence Spray for $£3.69. While I don't normally use a hairdryer, I have to now because everything takes longer to dry in UK. Wet hair is not pleasant when you're freezing! I'll do a review on this product soon.

Saw this cute pink tin of Vaseline at Boots for £2 and I had to get it. It smells like candied rose petals and imparts a faint tint on your lips. Very moisturising although I find the scent a bit sickly if I use it all the time. It contains rose and almond oil so it does'nt have the same lasting power as plain Vaseline. I keep this tin handy in the house. It's so cute!

On the way back home, I walked over the Camden bridge and a smile spread across my face. It's so pretty surrounded by the glow of fairy lights.

That's when my homesickness went away.

Modelco Wonderfull Lip Plumper and BYS Eyeshadows

The weather has'nt been great for the Christmas long weekend so I found mild amusement in David Jones and Kmart.

Check out the token shiny new things I got on sale! I bought Modelco's Wonderfull lip plumper for $18.20 AUD and two BYS metallic eyeshadows for $2.25 AUD.

It turns out the Modelco lip plumper works but not fantastically well. I took before-and-after pictures and the size of my lips looked exactly the same. I felt the tingling reaction straight away and it lasts for 10 minutes. My lips were softer and plumper but no different to using normal lip gloss. The only thing I noticed was that there were less fine lines and my lips were redder than normal. Atleast it smells nice and was'nt sticky. Lipfusion gives better results without the tingling.

The BYS eyeshadows were marked down to $1.50 each and even the checkout chick was surprised when they rang up as $2.25 for the both of them. Bargain!

NYX Round Lipstick - Power #629

Bought another NYX Round Lipstick since I'm on a roll. So far I have five of these cheap thrills and will be collecting more.

I have a thing about finding the perfect "smear it on anytime, anywhere" nude lipstick. Otherwise I would'nt wear lipstick at all because bold colours are too high maintenance!

At first I thought Thalia was too pale and now Strawberry Milk is the new "too pale". I was hoping that Power would be the medium.

It applies as velvety and creamy as Thalia. More wearable than Strawberry Milk as it is a touch darker although not the perfect nude since it's overtly pink lilac. Word of warning: if Power was anymore blue toned, you could look like you have hypothermia!

NYX Round Lipstick - Strawberry Milk #595

Was feeling depressed on the weekend so I bought a little something to pick me up.

Remember my post on Ulta3 Allure 2 nail polish? If you wanted a lipstick that looked like the one Wendy James was wearing in I Want Your Love, or one to match the nail colour, then NYX Strawberry Milk is for you.

The colour resembles strawberry milkshake. It is paler than my skintone and when I first tried it, I was disappointed. The lipstick was very pale. Looked like I painted my lips with white zinc! Oh well, nevermind since it was only $2 AUD.

I've seen pics of girls who can pull the colour off but I looked like a freaky clown! The lipstick was streaky which only emphasised my dry lips.

After reading reviews in Makeupalley, I learned that the trick was to apply on primed lips with a light hand.

So after I applied Vaseline on my lips, I softly dabbed the lipstick on and indeed it made a pleasing difference. My lips were a pretty pale pink and looked fuller than normal.

A smidge of Strawberry Milk is all that was needed. It lasts well and there was no problems with streaking when applied this way. Love the fun nude pink colour. This is definitely a lipstick which I can wear everyday!

Catwalk Lip Gloss Swirl (Limited Edition)

My friend bought this lipgloss from Catwalk Cosmetics and I lemming-ed. The compact packaging was appealing but I was sold by the adorable candy swirls!

The gloss itself is long lasting, non-sticky and moisturising. Smells delicious with a sherbet scent. Gives a plump, wet shimmer. Colourwise, it's an innocent sheer pearly pink. This will change when the applicator mixes the swirls together.

The swirl lipglosses from Catwalk are $5.95 AUD and is available from selected chemists. Comes in four colour combinations. I've used this quite a few times now and the swirls are still intact. So pretty, it's like a handbag accessory!

More NYX Round Lipsticks - Cocoa #558 and Watermelon #616

I could'nt fight the urge to buy these since I was walking past the local cheapo store. Had my heart set on the "perfect" nude lipstick from my Nonpareil Boutique order, but Thalia was too pale without dark eye makeup. I found two perfect nudes from a messy pile of NYX lipsticks and best of all, they were only $2AUD each!

My ideal lipstick colour is Your Lips But Better (YLBB) and now I realise there are two types: creme and frost or Cocoa and Watermelon. 

Cocoa is a pinkish brown which darkens but not enough to make it look like I've got chocolate smeared on my lips. It has the delish creamy texture similar to Thalia. 

Watermelon was an unexpected YLBB. It is a frosty cocktail pink which indeed reminds me of the fruit and has a subtle gold highlight. It's pink enough to be seen and sheer so I don't need to meticulously apply with precision. The texture's not as creamy as the other NYX lipsticks but I'm guessing that all frosts are matte. Helps when I apply clear gloss on beforehand.

Both have a faint cheap scent but it goes away shortly after it's applied. 

Not bad for quality since they are as cheap as chips!

NYX Round Lipstick - Thalia #529

I remember madly reading reviews and searching for swatches of NYX lipsticks so I can choose one for mail order. There are too many colours to choose from! This lipstick is $1.90 USD but if you are lucky enough to find a colour you like in Australia, it's only $2 AUD in cheapo Asian stores. I chose Thalia because I wanted a nude lipstick. When I have dark eyeshadow on, I used to only apply clear gloss for my lips. Nude lipstick gives a face with dramatic eyes a more refined, finished touch.

This is my first NYX lipstick and its excellent for the price. Packaging is better than expected. It clicks securely shut so there are no mishaps in your handbag. The casing is shiny black with a coloured base that contains a sample of the lipstick so you can see at a glance the colours you are selecting.

The lipstick is mauve brown in the tube but candy pink on me. A touch paler than my natural lips. The formulation is deliciously creamy, glides on easily and is moisturising. Some Makeup Alley reviewers complained that it was matte but not for me. There is a faint cheap scent but it was no bother. Colour is well saturated. Not a Your-Lips-But-Better look because it's a little too light but still a gorgeous colour. It even matches with the NYX Poppy nail polish which I've previously reviewed!

Taken in natural light. This is Lip Fusion gloss in Summer and Thalia on top.

Excellent formulation and value for money. Long lasting, creamy and easy to apply. Lips stayed moisturised for atleast 4 hours and the colour is so pretty, I could wear it everyday.

My First NYX Haul

I got my NYX products within a week from Nonpareil Boutique. Here's what I ordered, in USD:

NYX Pearl Mania - Turquoise $1.25 
NYX Trio Eyeshadow - White-Grey-Black $5.25
NYX Girl Nail Polish - Baby Doll $1.50
NYX Doll Eye Mascara - Volume Extreme Black $7.00
NYX Girl Nail Polish - Amazonia $1.50
NYX Pearl Mania - Walnut $1.25
NYX Round Lipstick - Thalia $1.90
NYX Doll Eye Mascara - Long Lash Extreme Black $7.00

The colours are gorgeous and the packaging is cute. Good quality for cheap items. 

The total including shipping was $57 AUD. The shipping killed the thrift value but atleast I have all the products I want (for now).

Will do reviews on each item eventually.