A makeup artist once told me that straight men don’t like bold lips. They can feel intimidated by a statement colour and don’t consider these women as “kissable” as their smoky-eyed/nude-lipped counterparts.

Just as well I don’t give a shit then, isn’t it?

Here are five of my most retina-searingly, beautiful pink lipsticks and you’ll be delighted (or at least, you should be, I engineered it this way!) to hear that they’re all under £20.  As much as I do love my Tom Ford Pure Pink, you can get some raging pigment for much, much less moneh.

01: Boots Seventeen Lasting Fix Lipstick in Pink Power

This is my latest pink acquisition and I’ve been reliably informed that it’s a dupe for MAC’s legendary Girl About town.  I won’t “review” it because I’m posting a FOTD with it later… suffice to say, for under a fiver… it’s a bit of a bargain bright! (£4.29, boots.com)

02: Wet n’ Wild Mega Last Lipstick in Don’t Blink Pink

An eBay purchase from last year, this staggeringly intense pink is almost neon and definitely leans a little warmer than the rest, making it quite an unusual shade.  Most of these bright pinks can often be mistaken for fuchsia, so it’s nice to see one that’s a little bit different.  You can see it in a FOTD, here. (£2.80 not inc. shipping, ebay.co.uk)

03: BarryM Lip Paint in #145 Punky Pink

This is another apparent Girl About Town dupe (what is it with that shade!) though I think it’s a wee bit more cherry-toned, slightly deeper than the MAC offering.  A hair more expensive than the Seventeen lipstick but still under a fiver, you can’t go wrong! (£4.49, barrym.com)

04: BarryM Lip Paint in #146 Dolly Pink

Now, I have to admit… I don’t wear this one a huge amount, mostly because it’s one of those lipsticks that like to wear you.  Dolly Pink is a candy-fest that just about has enough depth to keep it a little more classy (haters gonna hate) than the Nicki Minaj, Gaga, shitty pinks that look like you’ve ground a piece of chalk into your lips.  This is as blue-pink as I can go without looking like a revolting caricature of myself.  I’ve even binned MAC Snob. (£4.49, barrym.com)

05. Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense #36 Satin Fuchsia

The most expensive of the bunch but a truly pretty fuchsia that lasts and lasts.  This MUFE offering is part of a huge range that of lipsticks that make me wish I lived closer to a stockist for some serious swatching.  It’s a very clean, bright pink that whitens the teeth and makes the eyes sparkle.  Not a bad makeover for less than twenty quid. (£16.95, gurumakeupemporium.com)

What do you think of my “do not adjust your set” selection of pink lipsticks?  Am I missing any of your favourites?  Let me know in the comments!

What I lack in eyeshadow bravery, I like to think I make up for when it comes to choosing lip colours.  Not one to shy away from a bright lip, I first saw Don’t Blink Pink featured on the lovely Clumps of Mascara blog and within five minutes, I had checked out my eBay basket on Paypal containing the luridly bright pink and another, lesser-spotted (on my lips) shade, orange – in the guise of Purty Persimmon.

First things first, these lippies are cheap.  Cheep cheap!  I paid around £6 including shipping from the U.S. for both – they also feel cheap.  They wobble about in their housing like brightly-coloured mini Pisa replicas and you’ll struggle to get a neat edge without the help of a lip brush because the formula is so, so hard.  They do warm up a little on the lips but overall, there is no luxury or even any attempts at luxury in these bullets.  What you will find though, is colour.  And plenty of it.

They’re practically neon on the lips, albeit a wearable neon.  They scream summer and make me feel supremely happy when I catch sight of my lips in the mirror.  Honestly? They make me wanna do a duckface.  Living up to their name, they offer great longevity and although they’re somewhat drying, I didn’t suffer any real problems or discomfort on well-prepped lips.

I’ll admit that I haven’t quite mastered the courage to wear the orange outside of the house just yet but I did get compliments on the pink last week.  If nothing else, this is a really good jump into the deep end for those of you who want to get to grips with some bright shades but don’t want to be spending all of your pennies on something you may not get much wear from.  I bought these from seller: senoritadelsol.

What do you think?  Are you going to be rocking some bright lip shades this year?

Palettes are a busy girl’s best friend.  They require no effort when it comes to colour-matching, you just pull it out and get applying, safe in the knowledge that you’re not gonna look hideously “wrong” afterward.

I thought I’d quickly share my current three favourite neutral palettes.  Well, seeing as I mostly just wear neutrals, they’re probably my three favourite palettes full stop.

1.  Clarins Ombre Minerale 4 Couleurs Eye Quartet in Rosewood – review and swatches here

2.  Elizabeth Arden Color Intrigue Eyeshadow Quad in Velvet Plumtones – review and swatches here

3.  Wet n’ Wild Color Icon Trio Eyeshadows in Silent Treatment – review and swatches here

Told you it was a quick one!  Do you have a current favourite neutral palette or are you more of a singles girl?

…and the winner of the FIVE lovely Wet n’ Wild palettes is….

Nargis!

Congratulations!  Please get in touch with your postal details and I’ll get your prize out to you ASAP.

Thanks everyone for entering, I wish you better luck next time xx

The final Wet n’ Wild Color Icon Trio palette!  Don’t forget, I’ll be giving you an opportunity to win all of the ones featured.  For a quick reminder of the other palettes, read on…

I’m Feeling Retro
I Got Good Jeans
Silent Treatment
I’m Getting Sunburned

But today is the turn of a proper party-looking palette, Spoiled Brat.  I may have ‘eeked’ a bit when I saw this.  Silver, black and hot pink…

…really not a combination of colours I’d normally attempt.  Some of you ladies are like ‘pfff, what’s the big deal?’.  And quite rightly… I’m just an unimaginative wimp to be fair.

But what I lack in imagination, I try to make up for in ‘not afraid to put myself out there for guidance’.  So let me have it and give it to me straight.  Just don’t tell me you hate my site layout again.  We’re talking about the makeups today right? 😉

I think I would have preferred the flash of pink on my lids… just a peek when I looked down.  I fear I’ve gone a bit retro-futuristic weird with this one.  Still, truth be told, I’m not sure my application skills are up to the job of keeping a vibrant pop on my lid without muddying the crap out of it.

So… Wet n’ Wild Color Icon Trio Eyeshadow in Spoiled Brat… another win?  (not on me… just in general!)

I feel like a big fat cam whore with these FOTDs… I don’t think I’ve done as many FOTDs this entire year as I have this/last week.  I’m nearly through with all the trios now, I think there’s one more after this one… and then I’ve only got a bloomin’ awesome GIVEAWAY of all the ones I’ve featured so far.  Get in!

So today’s is the Wet n’ Wild Color Icon Trio Eyeshadow palette in I’m Feeling Retro.  On paper, it’s my least favourite… at least half of you will agree when you see the shades and the swatches.  Check it out.

Knowing that it was slightly sheerer than the rest, I did the usual thing of packing it on… if I’d had a trowel to hand, I would have happily used it.  The pink/purple needed more persuasion than the blue which went on surprising pigmented.  The highlight is very sheer and adds more of a luminescence than anything else.

Here’s the FOTD alongside Accessorize Merged Blush in Starlet and Lanolips Lip Ointment in Dark Honey.

For something that I was honestly expecting to hate… I, well…. don’t hate it!  Yeah, it’s a bit out of my comfort zone but it’s less clashy, clashy than I anticipated and certainly not too fancy dress.  At least, I hope not seeing as I did leave the house looking like this.  Application is a bit rubbish because I really thought I’d be scrubbing it from my face once I’d applied it!

So, come on… did you hate it then like it?  Like it and then hate it once you saw it on me?  Hate/Hate?  Like/Like?  I neeeeed to overanalyse the makeups!

In honour of the hottest day of the year which we ‘enjoyed’ on Monday… I wore the Wet n’ Wild Color Icon Trio Eyeshadow aptly called “I’m Getting Sunburned”.

I wasn’t sure WHAT THE HELL I was gonna do with a frosty pink browbone shade… infact, so far I’ve only worn the suggested browbone shades on the browbone once.  I only ever really wanna wear skintone shades in that area… it’s not Mardi Gras yano?

I ended up packing a little on in the inner corner… it doesn’t work badly.  This is a really nice combo for green eyes.

The crease colour in particular is stunning, it reminds me of MAC’s Teddy Kohl but in powder form… a rich, chocolate brown with copper flecks.  I’ll be wearing this as a liner for sure.

Sorry the photos aren’t so clear on the colours here… I couldn’t take standing around snapping pics in the window for too long, my smile was looking more forced by the second thanks to the greenhouse effect!

Do you like this one?  Next one up has a hawt pink in it – god knows what I’m gonna do with that!

* lipstick is MAC Creme Cup while I remember!

Continuing with my Wet n’ Wild palettes, today’s show is Silent Treatment.  I knew I’d like this one but well, this is just silly beautiful.

The browbone shade is gonna see a lot of use… it’s a lovely match for me to blend out harsh edges.  I applied the crease shade higher than I would normally and left my outer v lighter.

I think I like the effect… I’m not brilliant at applying eyeshadow but this seemed to open my eyes a little more though the overall effect was more dramatic than I’d usually wear during daylight hours!

Weird angles… but it shows the eyeshadow FAR better than my usual attempts!

These palettes are a little dusty with a degree of fall out but boy, am I loving them nonetheless.  We’re missing out on a trick here UK ladies.

My lovely friend Allyson sent me a selection of Wet n’ Wild palettes from across the pond and I’m working my way through them slowly.  Some of the colour combinations are frightening for a neutral-loving lady like me but they’re all pretty damn fantastic nonetheless and I’m enjoying breaking my safe boundaries!

Considering we can’t get these in the UK, I thought I’d work my way through the palettes and torture you a little with some photos of their goodness.

how hot is that blue?

Poor blue, I haven’t done it justice AT ALL!

Do you own any of these Wet n’ Wild Color Icon palettes?