Sleek Graphite Palette Review & Swatches

Posted by Lipglossiping On November - 2 - 2009

graphitepaletteoverview

This is Sleek’s latest addition to their highly popular palette family.

It’s basically an all-in-one smokey eye kit.  Two highlight shades and variations of blacks/greys with a purple (or 2) thrown in.

Texture wise, they’re the same creamy, slightly crumbly but highly pigmented shadows that we’ve come to know and love from Sleek.

graphitepalette

I wish, wish, wish that the shades between the highlights and the first grey were more graduated.  There seems to be an awfully big jump from those first two shades into what (for me) is crease colour territory.

As I don’t generally wear dark shades on my lids, this palette ultimately consists of 10 crease colours.

sleekgraphitepaletteswatches

If you count, left-right… top-bottom… 4 & 5 are too simillar as are 7 & 8 and even 11 & 12 which is such a shame, because this is a wonderful palette idea from a company that produce great shadows for a great price but honestly, I think it’s a “could have done better”.

I’ll get lots use out of it, and for less than £5 it’s definitely not something I’d ever regret buying, I’m just sad thinking about how good it could have been.

It’s Limited Edition, and from experience these palettes sell out quicker than a Bon Jovi concert, so get down Superdrug quick!


Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol II (Swatches)

Posted by Lipglossiping On November - 1 - 2009

Further to my previous post, I’ve had a couple of requests for swatches… so here they are (in all their glory!)

bookofshadows1

bookofshadows2

urbandecaybosIIswatches1

bookofshadows3

bookofshadows4

urbandecaybosIIswatches2

Hope that’s useful!

Revlon Fantasy Lengths – Review

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 31 - 2009

As a total false lash virgin, I was excited but cautious when approached to test out some lashes from the Revlon Fantasy Lengths range.  What’s in a name huh?  When the parcel arrived, husband thought I’d been making one of *those* orders… and was relieved to discover nothing but false lashes as far as the eye could see.

I considered turning down the offer, wondering if perhaps I wasn’t really false lash material… I mean, I could rock the ooh la la lashes whilst walking down to the post office but it’s not like I go anywhere that calls for such lash fluttery.

But then I realised, as a total novice… I was infact perfect to test out how these babies perform (and apply).

falselashesbox

I got sent 2 types… the self-adhesive variety and scary glue-on ones.

Let me start with the scary glue ons… well, my first attempt was an unmitigated train wreck.  I may aswell have just saved myself half an hour of tedious positioning and glued one to my forehead and the other to my chin.  Shu model I ain’t.

I’d also managed to coat the lashes in so much of the glue that was included, my only option was to bin them.  Girls, don’t be all cavalier and think that you can apply the glue directly from the tube.  You can’t.  Get over it and find a q-tip to snap in half.

2nd attempt was a little better.. still wonky, but at least I didn’t glue my own lashes to my lid this time.

To be honest, I was pissed, grumpy and slightly fearful that 3rd time lucky would mean 3rd time glue your eyes shut… so I gave up with those ones.

The lashes themselves are lovely, I thankfully didn’t need to trim them and the thing I noticed most was just how lightweight they were.  I thought I’d really notice them on, but they felt like a natural extension to my own eyelashes.

falselashbox

See? *flutter flutter*

I moved on to the self-adhesives…

E.A.S.Y

How can there be so much difference?  Was it practice?… or are self-adhesives that much kinder to adjusting little mistakes?  Either way, this application looked halfway decent and I even left the house in them.

I asked my husband if he liked my eyelashes.  He looked totally confused.

After a couple of misunderstandings later he elaborated on his puzzlement by saying that he didn’t realise I had falsies on.  Yes, ladies and gentl ladies… my natural eyelashes are that amazing.

Oh ok, ok, I’ll grudgingly admit that it might be because Revlon Fantasy Lengths are pretty darn natural looking…  or of course, it could be option 3… my husband is a bloke who just doesn’t notice anything.

Anyway you wanna see?

Please do bear in mind, that this is genuinely my third ever attempt at applying false eyelashes.  Regardless, just try to stifle your guffaws ’till you’ve moved on to someone else’s blog and I can’t hear you anymore.

falselashes

Now, my left eye (your right) – I think I got pretty darn perfect?  Other one, not so much… I placed them a little too high.

The band was very easy to cover over with a slick of liquid liner and the lashes themselves stuck steadily for around 6 hours before I noticed a teeny amount of lift on an outer corner (but that could easily be my fault).

I would say that these self-adhesives are marketed more towards novices like me.  I’m not scared of them anymore and would deinitely purchase them for special occasions.

The glue-on ones?  Not unless I had someone else to apply them for me.  Or hands that don’t pretend to be bananas.

Do you wear false lashes?  Any application tips for me?

NOTD – OPI – Sit Under The Apple Tree (matte)

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 31 - 2009

opiappletreematte

Yeah, it’s green… I don’t “do” green, but when I was getting my hair cut I saw the salon were offering two bottles for £10 and I didn’t want any more reds/pinks.

After 4 coats (yes, 4) I surveyed my new fungal fingers and sighed.  I don’t “do” green.  It was time for bed, so I resigned myself to the fact that I’d be wearing it the next day (of which I spent the majority hiding my nails).

It’s a very yellow green, like a muted chartreuse…it applies nicely and dries fairly quickly.  As I noted, it takes 4 coats to achieve opacity and dries with a glossy semi-sparkly finish.

The following evening I didn’t have time for a full mani, so in the hope of toning it down a little, I applied a coat of Nail Tek Foundation II to give it a matte finish.  The photo shows the mani after mattifying.

Nail Tek Foundation II works really well as a matte top coat, although I find that it definitely needs a squirt of quick-dry spray ontop as I had difficulty keeping it smudge free.

Do you wear greens?  What are your favourites? And do you say “ohpee” or O.P.I? (I’m sure I’ve asked that before)

M.I.A

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 29 - 2009

Hello!

No posts yesterday, none today!  What’s going on?

Well… we currently have some house guests who are camping out in my makeup spare room, as soon as they’re gone, normal service will resume!

Hope you’re all well and happy!

NOTD – Ciate – Starlet

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 27 - 2009

Continuing with the nail theme today…

My first Ciate!

ciatestarletbottle

I (like many others) am in love with the packaging…

Look at that gorgeous little bow, such a simple but instantly recognisable addition.  Whoever came up with that idea at Ciate deserves to be on far more money than everyone else.

However, one of my bows on another bottle has come undone and I CAN’T DO IT UP AGAIN!  This shouldn’t frustrate me.  At the age of 28, wife of 1, mother to 1 and regular tax filer I should be able to rise above this… BUT I CAN’T!

Someone with more dexterity than me come round my house and do my bow up for me please, it’s making the bottle look sad and ugly.

Anyway… look at this shade, a lovely metallic purple-blue combination – stunning!

ciatestarletnotd

Application was ok… not the best as it’s quite a thick formula and dries very quickly (both a blessing and a curse – are all Ciate’s like that?)

Once applied though (2 coats) – this stuff just lasts and lasts… I’m on day 5 now with minimal tip wear.  Very good!

Do you have any favourite Ciate shades?

Mavala City Grey Collection

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 27 - 2009

Now that I have discovered a complete adoration for grey nail polishes, I’ve got my beady eye on Mavala’s upcoming release.

The City Greys Collection is a great trio of no-fuss cool toned greys.

mavalagreys

From L-R: Berlin, New York and Minsk

I’m thinking edgy, I’m thinking sophisticated… I’m thinking possible first attempt at Ombre Nails.

Hope they’re lovely and glossy and not semi-matte like the last collection.

After a bit of googling, I came up with this image – pretty no?

They’re due to be released early November so not long to wait!  Any upcoming polish collections setting your heart a-flutter?

FOTD – NYX

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 26 - 2009

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Eyes:

NYX Single Eyeshadow in Rust
NYX Single Eyeshadow in Charcoal
Ruby & Millie I-Writer in Black
Maybelline  The Colossal Volum’ Express Mascara in Black

Face:

Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid Foundation
Silk Naturals Mineral Blush in Climax

Lips:

NYX Round Lipstick in Indian Pink

Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol II

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 25 - 2009

I know this is no lady-like way to start a post but… I think I might have done a little wee when this unexpected treat landed on my doormat.

I’d been waiting for a new-style UDPP tube from the PR agency to hack to pieces and over analyse for you all, but none of you would believe me if I said that I was disappointed to find this inside the parcel instead.  Mainly ‘cos I’d be lying.

If you haven’t bought yours yet… why not?  Let’s have a little group unveiling…

B-E-A-UTIFUL.

bookofshadowsbox

bookofshadowsinterior

whatsinside

bookofshaowsbook

bookofshadowsswatches

bookofshadows1

bookofshadows2

bookofshadows4

bookofshadows3

I am going to get so many different looks out of this one palette, the shadows are smooth like buttah (bar the ‘orrible MCRA) and heavily pigmented.

The wand in the mini UDPP is one of the new-fangled angled (I’m a poet) ones.  So it’ll be interesting to see how it gets into the nooks and crannies of the (still) rather daftly shaped bottle (stick it in a squeezy tube already!)

I love that they’ve included a brown liner pencil as some of the shades in the palette are crying out to be paired up with a softer line than black would give.  I know a lot of you are huge fans of these Urban Decay 24/7 pencils… but I’ll be honest and say that for the difference in price, I still prefer my GOSH Velvet Touch ones which seem to last equally as long on my eyes before admitting defeat and morphing into eye bogies.

The substantial mirror in the lid is very useful and ensures that these will be the only shadows I take along with me when I visit the in-laws over Christmas.  The “book of looks” is a slightly superfluous but glamourous addition that gives a nice focus for the shadows.  It’s more of a “look what we can do” rather than “look what we can help you do” affair, but it does link to a URL which claims to help you learn how to create the looks featured in the book.

I’ll be doing some individual swatches but I wanted to get my initial thoughts on this palette “out there” before it became impossible to find.  My local Boots only had 3 left in stock on Saturday.

I have another one coming (which my friend has already decided will now be her Xmas present from me) as I already had one on order from Debenhams when this showed up (it’s like waiting for a bus eh?)… I paid £24.30 inc. p&p, if you want to know how I got it for that price let me know and I’ll post the codes I used in the comment area, otherwise I’m a bit too lazy to re-find them.

Buying NYX in the US vs. the UK

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 24 - 2009

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:

cherryculturecheckout

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!

smartbeautyshop

Um..

£56.95?

*double checks*

Um…

Are you freakin’ kidding me?

smartbeautyshopcheckout

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?

NYX Eye Shadows – Swatches

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 24 - 2009

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!

nyxshadows

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):

nyxshadowswatches

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…

nyxmilk

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?

NOTD – Nails Inc. – Victoria

Posted by Lipglossiping On October - 23 - 2009

nailsincvictoria

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.

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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