A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

One of the most talked about so-called ‘dupes’ is the infamous $5.99 Milani Luminous blush which many say is a dead ringer for the even more infamous $25 NARS Orgasm.

Here’s my take on that theory…

You can immediately see the similarities between them.  In the pan, Orgasm has a little more sparkle, but the shades are a very close match indeed.

On my skin…

I find Milani’s Luminous to be slightly pinker than NARS Orgasm on my skintone, it also swatches a little heavier which was a surprise to me, as I rank NARS blushes up there as among the most pigmented I’ve used.

The Milani only lasts for a couple of hours before fading compared to Orgasm (a.k.a – shit to a blanket).  Once applied to my cheeks, NARS Orgasm has that “Je Ne Sais Quoi”… a slightly ethereal quality that is lacking from the Milani.

Does that relegate the Milani to the dupe bin?  Not at all, I would happily take Luminous on a fortnight holiday with me.  I love it, it’s a fantastic dupe and I’m pleased to own it.  Would I be happy for it to completely replace Orgasm?

No.  On my skin, NARS Orgasm gives me that famed full on post coital flush that Milani Luminous only hints at.

My latest NYX eye shadow acquisitions for your viewing pleasure!

Sparkle Cedar is a weird one, it really is as ‘gritty’ as it appears in the photo.  It’s the only disappointment in the bunch though.

These are such great value for money, but I’m a bit NYX’ed out now and can’t decide if I want any more…  Have you made any NYX purchases recently?  Re-inspire me to buy some more!

This has been on my wishlist for a while (dunno why, I still haven’t used the one I have in Milk yet)…

Anyway… I’m gonna try this out along the waterline to brighten my eyes.  It doesn’t feel quite so creamy as the one I have in white (Milk) which can only be a good thing to increase staying power.

It’s still very pale but has a bit of irridescence and lacks the starkness of Milk.

Will let you know how I get on!

A few weeks ago, Cherry Culture tempted me with another 20% off sale (I think it was 20%, I can’t remember exactly)… anyway, my goodies arrived at the end of last week, packaged impeccably (as always).

Here’s what I got this time:

~ NYX Round Lip Glosses in: Ballerina Pink, Doll Pink and Whipped
~ NYX Round Lipsticks in: Electra, B52, Power, Paris and Snow White
~ Milani Blush in Luminous (supposed Orgasm dupe)
~ NYX Single Eyeshadow in: Dune, Herb, Sparkle Cedar and Golden Bronze
~ NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Cottage Cheese

Reviews, swatches etc coming up shortly but this little lot set me back £26 inc. postage (not bad huh?)

Have you been partaking in any hauls in the run up to Christmas or are you being good and spending your money on presents for other people?

For the girl who has everything, priced at £15 each.

Click the image to go to the Nails Inc Christmas Shop.

They Say:

For the girl who has everything. Collect all 3 of these irresistible new shades with gorgeously glitzy crystal caps. These are the perfect stocking fillers and are the ultimate accessory for your dressing table. Snap up all 3 and treat someone to an extra special gift this year.

The shades available are:

Warwick Avenue – Soft Pale Pink
Henrietta Street – Deep Pink Red
Bow – Dark Purpler Shimmer

Special note for Mr. L:

*The girl who has everything*

This week feels like it’s dragging… and it’s only Tuesday!!  Let’s have a quick Eye of the Day for a few minutes distraction…

Eyes:

Inner Corner: B Never Too Busy… – B Delight
Lid: BarryM – #88 Winter Berry
Crease: E.L.F Mineral Eyeshadow – Royal
Outer V: NYX Ultra Pearl Mania – Charcoal
Mascara: Rimmel Sexy Curves – Black
Eyeliner (1st Layer): MAC Fluidline – Silverstroke
Eyeliner (2nd Layer): eBay Infinity Liner – Black

Don’t know if it’s the ‘right’ thing to do, but I love layering my eyeliner like this.  I’m a total eyeliner fiend and have so many, it’s surely the only way I’ll ever get through them all!

Seriously, it’s a great way to wear a pop of bright colour along the lashline, without commiting yourself to making a statement with it.  I often wear gold and blue eyeliners in this way.

Ok, that distraction worked for about 40seconds… hurry up Hump Day!

I woke up to an email this morning announcing the arrival of Get Lashed lashes for sale on the Nails Inc. website (like that website isn’t tempting enough already right?)

Choose from 8 available styles:

L-R: Get Cute, Get Natural

L-R: Get Gorgeous, Get Kissable

L-R: Get Glam, Get Flirty

L-R: Get Funky, Get Playful

Prices vary from £7 up to £13 depending on style.  Personally, I’m loving the look of Get Kissable!

Which of these styles would be perfect for your Christmas parties this season?

UPDATE 13/11/2009

SmartBeautyShop have now revised their shipping prices to be based on weight.

Up to 100g will cost £1.78, over 400g: £2.64 and so on.

Good stuff SmartBeautyShop!

I’ve had a few emails and DMs on Twitter with regards to buying NYX Cosmetics in the US.  I’m aware that NYX is starting to be more readily available in the UK at sites such as SmartBeautyShop which is fantastic!  No more worries about import duty, long shipping times etc…

but…

Let me give you a little run down of the costs involved here…

SmartBeautyShop doesn’t have the Round Lipglosses in stock, so I’ll exclude that item from both baskets.

Let’s do Cherry Culture first:

That’s my shopping list (minus the lipgloss).  The exchange rate conversion is correct as of 24/10/2009 and I’ve actually rounded *up* the values to the nearest 5 pence. E.g. The Jumbo Eyeshadow was actually £1.82

I haven’t included it in the shopping list total, but I also used a 20% discount code… so my eventual bill was closer to £22.

Now whilst I’m happy to pay Import Duty… I object to paying Royal Mail an £8 handling fee ontop of this, so I endeavour to avoid crossing the Import Duty threshold which is £18.

My goods order (inc. lipgloss and discount code) came to: £16.10 so I had a clear margin for exchange rate fluctuation.  You don’t include the cost of shipping in the £18 calculation… however, HMRC will include the cost of shipping in calculating the duty to be paid by you if your order value exceeds £18.  Does that make sense?  It confuses the hell out of me!

Ok, now that we’re all completely confudgeulated… let’s take the simpler route and shop for NYX in the UK!

Hoorah!

Um..

£56.95?

*double checks*

Um…

Are you freakin’ kidding me?

No, no there it is… 4 lippies, 6 eyeshadows and a Jumbo Pencil… oh and shipping.

Wait a minute? £7.50 for Royal Mail Inland postage?

But that’s more expensive than Cherry Culture all the way from the US?  And I personally consider Cherry Culture to be a little pricey on shipping!

Now, I do understand that SmartBeautyShop et al have to mark prices up… of course they do!  They’re importing from the US, they’re the middle men… they have overheads that are much greater than Cherry Culture’s.

They can charge what they want… but you won’t see me buying NYX in the UK anytime soon that’s for sure.

Confusion over international shipping or not… there’s no way I’m gonna justify paying over double for the simplicity of shopping this side of the pond.

How about you?  Will you be buying NYX in the UK now that it’s becoming more available?  Or saving up your pennies for US orders?

You’ve already seen the lipsticks from my Cherry Culture NYX haul…

Now it’s time for the eye shadows!

I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I’d heard such good things that I didn’t think I’d be disappointed but I wasn’t prepared to be quite so delighted either!

I stuck to what I consider to be great Autumn/Winter shades for me… Purples, Plums, Golds and Greys.  I was tempted by some brighter more Spring-like shades… but I’ll save them for my next haul 😉

Here’s the swatches (applied dry over UDPP):

My favourites are Eggplant, Golden, Champage and Charcoal…

Rust is an amazingly pigmented shade… it’s a touch too red for my taste but I’ve got it coming up in my next FOTD so you’ll get a clearer idea of how it looks on the eye.

I read up on a few forums about Champagne, and it was often suggested as a nice highlight.  Damn my paleness ‘cos it’s too dark to use as a highlight for me… it will be a gorgeous shade for a quick wash of colour though – still pleased I bought it.

Red Bean Pie looked fantastic on the site and doesn’t disappoint in real life.  It’s basically Eggplant but with more plummy/red tones to it.

Eggplant is gorgeously metallic, it’s simillar to Red Bean Pie, but a little more purpley.

I never use black in the crease, it’s just too harsh for my skintone so I’m always on the lookout for nice greys and Charcoal is the loveliest crease colour for me.  I’m very happy I chose it.

Last but by no means least is Golden – stunning… proper metallic, highly pigmented.. just beautiful!

I’m not disappointed by a single shadow.

I also bought this little beauty…

The much talked about Jumbo Pencil in Milk which is the creamiest, brightest white ever!  I know that it’s most often used as a base… but with my creasey creasey eyelids I’m actually gonna attempt to put it to work as an under the brow highlighter!  I’ll let you know how it fares…

Can I get a little feedback on my swatches?  I’m not particularly confident with swatching… I think they’re pretty colour accurate…  Let me know if you ever want a particular shade of anything I swatch incorporated into a FOTD, sometimes things just look different in a swatch than when put into context on the face – or maybe that’s just me?

Victoria is a perfect Autumn/Winter deep claret shade.  Application was fine, the above shows 2 coats.

I have a problem with this polish though.  Can you see where it’s semi-sheer in places?  Mainly visible near the cuticles.  Very frustrating.

A third coat would probably have fixed this… but for such a deep shade I wouldn’t have expected to have to apply so many!

Lovely colour, but I bet this shade is available from other brands with a better formula.

A quick heads up. This has just landed in my inbox…

Click the image to be taken to the offer!

There’s some really nice colours included no?  I’m loving Savoy Court!

I took advantage of the last offer and am hoping to get my hands on some HQHair goodies today, so will be grudgingly resisting the latest Nails Inc. temptation!

How about you?

I bought 4 more NYX Round Lipsticks to add to my collection…

Tea Rose: Medium/Dark Rosey Pink

Strawberry Milk: As the name suggests, very pale milky pink

Thalia: Medium/Dark Nude

Indian Pink: Medium Pink with Gold flashes

Wear on these aren’t fantastic, they don’t last much after a cup of tea, but they’re so easy to  reapply and very well pigmented for the price.

And finally… Nyx Round Lipgloss in Sorbet. Non-sticky, fairly sheer with a subtle hint of sparkle.

I’m really pleased with the lip products… my favourite is Thalia or Tea Rose.  I adore Indian Pink, it’s so unusual but it’s a little warm toned against my skin.  Strawberry Milk is gorgeous too, but I need to find a way to wear it that doesn’t remind me of Magda from There’s Something About Mary.

What are your favourite NYX Round Lipsticks?