Recent Purchases: Makeup Revolution

Yes, I know, I know, I'm very late to the party with my very first purchase from the Makeup Revolution range. I have been tempted ever since this range first launched because the Naked dupes looked fantastic. However, I already have all 3 Naked palettes plus the MUA dupes for 1 and 2 so I resisted. Then they released some more products and resistance was futile!

As soon as I saw the Girls On Film palette I knew I HAD to buy it for my best friend. Back in the 80's she was a massive Duran Duran fan, a Durannie as they were known. I knew she would love this palette purely based on the name of it and love it she does. She says when she opened it she bored her hubby by singing the lyrics the shades are named after! 

Now being a virgin to Makeup Revolution, I couldn't make an order without trying out the brand for myself, I mean it would be rude to give a gift before I knew if the quality was any good, wouldn't it?! So into my basket I popped another Girls On Film palette for moi along with a Cover & Conceal palette, a Blush & Contour palette, a baked eyeshadow palette, an eye primer and a lipstick! Well if you spend over £30 delivery is free, so it would be silly not to...

I've not had chance to have a proper play with them all yet, but first impressions are good and I think I will definitely be going back for more. 
Why did they not sell decent, affordable make up like this when I was a teen? *Shudders at the thought of my Constance Carroll days!* (anyone, not young enough to be my child, remember that brand?!).

I will be doing a full review of each product in due course. 
Have you succumbed to Makeup Revolution yet? 
What did you buy?
You can purchase the range from Superdrug or online here. 

Thanks for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care.
CJ xx

*all items purchased with my own money*

Review & Swatches: New CID Lip and Cheek Tints

This months Cosmopolitan has a great freebie from the brand New CID. I've not tried anything from this brand before so decided to buy all 3 shades to try. (I gave the mascara a miss because I have lots of others on my stash).

The 3 shades are (from left to right): Strawberry Soufflé, Rose Tint and Plum Cordial.

Here they are blended:

I think they need blending a tad more, but I ran out of hand! I would say less is definitely more if using these as a cheek tint!

Strawberry Soufflé is a red colour. I never wear red lip colour because I don't think it really suits me, but I thought for £3.70 it was worth a try. 
Here it is applied to my lips:

Rose Tint is the most natural colour of the three. It is a pinky, coral colour and I do like it.

Finally, is the shade Plum Cordial which is quite a vibrant pink.

This is the shade I decided to try out for longevity and give a full review. Above is a photo of it first applied.

This is after 4 hours, I had a couple of drinks and a snack but not a full meal.

As you can see, it has faded a little in the middle of the lips but I think it held up pretty well.

This is after 11 hours, 2 meals, several drinks and no touch ups:

There isn't much left and my bottom lip looks pretty dry but there is some staining left on my lips. However, my lips weren't dry the next day but perhaps when I use these tints for any length of time I shall apply a little balm over the top.

I used the Rose Tint shade for a blush but the camera couldn't pick up the colour, hence no photo. I was impressed with how long the colour lasted on the cheeks, though.

The lip and cheek tints come in a crayon formula and they do smell and taste quite waxy. The smell reminds me of how cosmetics smelled years ago but I don't find it unpleasant.
You don't need to sharpen these crayons because the bottom of the crayon twists to push up more lip product when needed.

Overall I am pleased with these lip and cheek tints and I am looking forward to trying the other 2 colours on my cheeks. I have not been able to find them online to suggest a RRP but at £3.70 with the magazine I think they are well worth the money. I think the 3 shades are all very different too. Grab them whilst you can!

Have you tried these tints? Did you like them?
Thanks for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care,
CJ xx

Review & Swatches: L'Oreal L'Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick

The past few days I have been using L'Oreal L'Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick which I purchased several weeks ago from Boots for £8.99.
I chose shade 500 Molto Mauve. 

Don't let the name deceive you, to me it isn't mauve at all, more of a "my lips but better" colour. Here it is swatched:

Instead of the usual doe foot applicator, this liquid lipstick applicator is tear dropped shaped.

It's not too sticky and it smells lovely. I'm not very good at describing scents, but to me it smells "tropical", sort of like a tropical fruit drink. Told you I was rubbish at scent descriptions! It applies easily and smoothly and isn't at all gloopy. 
The "blurb" from L'Oreal describes it as a cross between a lipstick, lip gloss and lip balm. They say it has the colour intensity of a lipstick, the shine of a lip gloss and the softness of a balm.
Here it is applied:

And 4 hours, 1 lunch, 1 hot drink and 1 cold drink later...
Not a great deal left, but L'Oreal make no claims about its longevity.

Now I have read a lot of great reviews about this liquid lipstick so what are my own personal thoughts about it? It's okay. Yes, just okay. To me it isn't anything special. It is very soft on the lips so yes to the softness of a balm. Colour intensity of a lipstick? Again it is okay but doesn't blow me away. High shine of a gloss? Again it is okay but I wouldn't class it as high shine. It is nice enough but would I repurchase in a other colour? I'm afraid not. I seem to be going against the grain of all the other beauty bloggers who have reviewed this and seem to love it but I have to give my honest opinion. Yes I will continue to wear it and I do like the colour and softness of it but given the choice of buying one of these or 4 MUA lip glosses, I know where my money is going... And before you all shout "but they are glosses, they don't have the balm included!", yes I am aware of that, but a quick slick of one of my many lip balms first and then the gloss and I'm good to go.
Perhaps my thoughts would be different had I chosen a more vibrant colour, I really don't know.
Have you tried this liquid lipstick? Did you love it? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Thank you for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care,
CJ xx

* purchased with my own money.

Recent Purchases: YSL Eye Shadow Quad for just £5!! Plus other YSL purchases

I have lusted after YSL make up for a long time, and last weekend I finally succumbed!

My best friend told me to choose a lipstick from the YSL range for my birthday because they knew I really wanted one, so last Saturday I took a trip to town to the larger Boots to choose a colour. I told the YSL assistant that I wanted a lipstick from the Rouge Volupte Shine range because I loved the packaging and I also told her that I wanted a pinky shade not dissimilar to my natural lip colour. I wanted a shade that I would be able to wear lots. I also told her that I didn't have much time because my hubby was waiting. She picked out quite a pale pink shade but I thought perhaps it looked darker on the lip than in the bullet. She applied it to my lips (and also on my chin?!) with a lip brush and she made a right mess of it. It was way too light for me. She then chose a deeper red shade, but this time I chose to apply it myself. This time it was too dark. Then another customer came and she started serving her! To be honest I felt this was quite rude, especially because I had already stated I had limited time. Do you think this was rude, or was I overreacting? Anyway, I continued to look at the lipsticks on my own because she seemed totally uninterested. In the end I walked away feeling totally deflated and disappointed by my experience.

That said, I still lusted after the YSL lipstick, so that evening I looked on the YSL Website. I feel that the colour swatches on their website are incredibly poor so I decided to choose a colour with the help of swatches on beauty blogs and You Tube! I eventually settled on Pourpre Intouchable (number 2) which is a plum colour, slighter darker than I wanted initially but lovely nonetheless.  

Whilst browsing their website, I saw that they had a Mother's Day offer of an eyeshadow quad (worth £39) for just £5 when you spent £50. I didn't need much persuading! After perusing some more beauty blogs and You Tube videos I decided on a lip stain gloss, Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres, in Rouge Vintage (number 5). Just the colour I wanted, perfect!

For me, the eye shadow quad (number 7), has 3 wearable shades, the gold shade I'm not too sure about, but I may change my mind once I've experimented with it.

I shall do a full review, including swatches, of all 3 products soon, but I wanted to get this blog post written in case anyone is interested in purchasing the quad for just £5. I'm not sure when this offer ends, but Mother's Day is March 30th in the UK, so I am guessing it is prior to that.

Delivery is free at the moment in the UK and I ordered on Saturday night and it was delivered by DHL on Thursday (signed for). I also received 2 free samples - a vial of L'Homme Eau de toilette, which I shall give to my other half, and a 7ml sample of YSL Forever Youth Liberator serum.

I was so unhappy with the YSL sales assistant, but in the end she did me a favour because I now have 3 lovely new products for £50.

Once I've had a play with my new things, I shall report back.
I bought all these products with my own money, except for the lipstick which was a birthday present from my wonderful best friend. Love you lots!

Have you bought any YSL products? Do you have any recommendations?

I'd love to read your thoughts.

Thanks for reading.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Take care,

CJ xx