Swatches: Barry M Lip Paints (Part 3)

lp146- Dolly pink
lp62- Vibrant Pink
lp121- Pillar Box Red
lp54- Peach

Lime Crime Airborne Unicorn Lipstick

For a long time I have debated about whether or not I should try this lipstick/brand. It would be fair to say that there has been very mixed reviews about the lipsticks and that brand as a whole; I did not buy from the Lime Crime site, so I cannot say whether or not the service is good, bad or indifferent and in light of this I feel that it would be unfair to go into it or the controveries surrounding the brand or its owner. I bought from Cocktail Cosmetics (also available from love-makeup) and it arrived in 2 days and cost £14 (cheaper than Space NK, much dearer than the equivalent cost from Lime Crime where it would amount to less than £10, but the UK is a rip off for everything). It is slightly dearer than a MAC lipstick and it as it is not sold in any stores near me, it could not swatched or tested before hand, which made me more cautious about purchasing.

The packaging is one of the most obvious features of the product being a bright purple-y pink with a holographic unicorn. It looks similar to the shape of a MAC lipstick until you see them together and it is apparent that the MAC is narrower and the top is more tapered (although the actual lipstick it not any narrower) and the plastic of the MAC is thicker and feels sturdier. Whilst I quite like the packaging, it is much more dressing table pretty than handbag friendly; as I am going to be working in quite a serious environment and I am 25, not 15, I would look and feel a bit ridiculous if I pulled this out in front of people I know through work/uni and I don't think the casing could stand up to being in my handbag on a regular basis. That said it does look nice in my collection, especially when it is sunny.

As to the actual product itself there are a few things I can say about it, both positive and negative. The colour is a nice medium purple in the tube (looks a bit like Up the Amp by MAC), which applies quite smoothly and evenly on me and it is quite opaque, I haven't tried wearing it in one coat, unblotted straight from the tube as I very rarely do that anyway and it was long lasting and survived 2 cups of coffee without fading too much, it did seem to stain my hand a little but when I removed it with an oily remover it wasn't a problem . The main criticisms people seem to have is that it is drying and that it settles in to the lines of their lips. My experience has been that neither of these hold true from me although it is definitely advisable to exfoliate well before use as it does show up imperfections really clearly. Some of the problem with other reviews could be that the lipsticks when they were first released needed some adjustment to the formula. Some of the earlier swatches I have seen did not inspire me to part with my cash (this is in both positive and negative reviews), in fact some of them looked horrific and deeply unflattering. The lip swatch I have taken is fairly true to life and is an accurate representation of how it looked on me. This leads me to my biggest criticism of all and the one I have difficulty overlooking: the swatch on the Lime Crime website is quite different from the real life colour and texture. The LC swatch makes it looks really thick and luxurious and it looks bolder than it is IRL, of course I do recognise and expect a certain amount of photoshopping but it may prove to be a bit counter productive as there is intially a degree of disappointment when first using it. I have gotten over this but I think by using these swatches and for those expecting that (or at least close to that) effect and boldness it could be really disappointing and could put people off buying another lipstick from LC.

On the whole I do like the lipstick and will buy more LC lipsticks; it is a certainty that I will not be buying the eyeshadows due both the repackaging allegations, which appear to be valid due to the comparisons between LC and TKB colours in that they look identical, plus I really am not a fan of loose shadows, with the exception of Sugarpill Chromalusts (which I absolutely LOVE).

Since the cost of the lipsticks in the UK is so high it might be beneficial to order 3 from the US (approx. £30) instead of 2 from the UK (£30 from Space NK), if you can wait and want to take your chances with the taxman (I have heard everything from £17 to £27).

EDIT: The photos are not showing up as the usually do so I have had to upload the separately.

Swatches: Illamasqua Atomic and Flare Lipsticks

Brand: Illamasqua

Atomic (Pink)

Flare (Orange)

Collection: Toxic Nature S/S 2011

Price: £15.50 each

100th Post and Meadowhall Haul

I'm back after quite a long absence brought about due to excessive coursework, which will be over soon as the exams are next week and then it will all be over and done with (hopefully).

Went to Meadowhall in Sheffield to get a break from the revision yesterday; didn't spend as much as I thought I would but picked up a few nice things while I was there. Unfortunately, I also ended up eating a quarter of a seriously undercooked burger (a combination of low lighting and thinking it was just a bit pink until it started to ooze pink liquid and my Dad and I had to send our stuff back although my brothers chicken was fine) and I haven't felt right since, in fairness as soon as they were told everything was replaced and we were give two more massive bowls of chips, onion rings and drinks for free (more than we could manage- very depressing for my Dad who loves free stuff)

Too Faced Lash Injection

Too Faced Glitter Glue

Too Faced Glitter Pigment in Glampire (These were part of a 3 for 2 offer in Boots)

Sleek Lipsticks in Mystic, Amped Fuchsia and Cherry (2 for £6 in Superdrug).

Barry M nail paint in Indigo

Barry M Nail effects in pink, white and blue

MAC lipstick in Faux

Admittedly, I have done some more shopping online and have stuff due in the next day or so including one of the Lime Crime lipsticks which I have debated over buying since they came out; I have heard mixed reviews over the quality and the alleged practices of the Xenia, the owner have made me think twice, so I bought it from Cocktail Cosmetics and I hope it was worth the £14 I spent there but will review it when I have it.

EOTD: La Fee Vert

TFSI

Nyx Jumbo e/s pencil- Rocky Mountain Green (lid)

Sugarpill chromalust- Absinthe (inner 1/3)

MAC e/s-Wondergrass (middle 2/3)

Sugarpill e/s- Midori (outer 3/3)

UD e/s- Vert (outer 1/2 above crease)

MAC e/s- Bio Green (inner 1/2 above crease)

MAC e/s- Juxt (inner 1/3 lower lashline)

UD e/s- Vert (middle 2/3 lower l/l)

Medusa's Makeup e/s- Electro Green (outer 3/3 lower l/l)

Sugarpill e/s- Tako (highlight)

UD 24/7 liner- Covet (waterline)

Too Faced glitterliner- Obsessed Fan (upper l/l)

Bourjois clubbing mascara black

Morgana Cryptoria Vegan l/s- Absinthe♥

Have edited the swatches for the Stargazer Turquoise l/s and the Medusa's Purple Rain, which are now a truer representation of what they look like.

Swatches: Stargazer Metallic Blue Lipstick

Swatches: Stargazer Turquoise Lipstick

Stargazer lipstick over un-conditioned or primed lips.

Swatches: Orange and Purple Lipstcks

L-R: Barry M 117, MAC Meltdown, Morange And Neon Orange
L-R: Barry M 129, 143, MAC Purple Rite, Up the Amp, Illamasqua Fetish, MAC Violetta and Style Curve.

Violetta (Perm, PRO) and Style Curve (LE) are both very similar, SC is slightly more red toned and is a cremesheen rather than an Amplified Creme.

Morange (Perm) and Neon Orange (LE and Perm PRO) are also similar both are AC but NO is slightly more red toned.

If you have Violetta, you probably won't need to get SC. If you have Morange or NO you won't really need the other.

Swatches: Barry M Lip Paints Part 2

lp152: Vintage Rose

lp129: Palest Lavender

althought not a lip paint an Barry M lip lacquer in llc1: Scarlet Red

Swatches: Barry M Lip Paints Part 1

All lip paints are available from barrym.com for £4.49

lp37: Black

lp149: Green

lp148: Robot Blue

lp145: Punky Pink (not a brilliant likeness- much brighter IRL)

Classic eyes and Glittery lips

TFSI

MAC Lucky Tom quad gold and the brown

MAC Blacktrack f/l

Benefit bad gal mascara and e/l

Nyx l/l hot pink coloured

OCC lip tar pageant

Miners glitter

The lips sparkle like crazy-sadly my camera didn't pick it up

Swatch: RMK Lipstick Holographic Red Cherry

This is a nice pinky-red colour, with subtle violet-blue glitter through it (does not look glittery). Has good coverage but feels like one of MAC's lustre lipsticks. Costs £15 from lookfantastic.com (order on Monday afternoon arrived Tuesday morning)

Review: MAC Ruby Woo lipstick

Ruby Woo Lipstick by MAC (£12.50- the joys of UK pricing means it has gone up again)

(the other swatches weren't very good and did not represent the colour well.)

I bought this lipstick a few years ago and if I'm honest, I wasn't very impressed. However, I have been wearing it quite a lot recently and I now really like it and can't imagine NOT having it. I suspect that the problem was the texture which, if my memory is correct, is described as Retro Matte (on its box- the site now calls it matte). I found that it was quite dry and difficult to wear, in order to combat that I would try to wear it with lip balm which would inevitably cause it to feather. I think the problem was that I wasn't 'old enough' to pull it off in the sense that it could look a little bit harsh on a 20 year old but an extra few years made a difference (that's not to say that others can't pull it off at that age or even younger), as has the way I now apply it.

The colour is a bright bluish red and would suit most colourings and is quite similar to Russian Red. Ruby Woo has just this year made it into the Instyle Hall of Fame (has been voted best in its category for 3 consecutive years) and reasons cited included the whitening effect the blue tones have on teeth and that it does not feather. I agree with these points (the problem I had with feathering was due to the lip balm being applied just before and not blotted) and I have found that the colour is quite dense and long lasting. This is not a forgiving lipstick if you have very dry, unexfoliated lips.

I mentioned application earlier; basically I have found that it is easier to apply lip balm just after applying foundation and powder, blotting it before applying prep and prime, lipliner (MAC's Cherry goes well), filling the lips in with a brush, blotting lightly, re-applying it and going round the outside with concealer.

LOTD: Amped Up Poodle

MAC Cranapple l/l

MAC Up The Amp l/s

MAC Pink Poodle l/g

Swatch: Barry M Lipstick 117 (orange)

Barry M lipstick 117 (orange) £4.25



(Left: 117, Right: MAC's Morange, which has much more red in it)

Update

Another update, since I have not done or bought much recently but it will be the start of term in the next few weeks and hopefully I will be able to buy some of the amazing stuff I've had my eye on recently.

Seen a lot of posts about the new Illamasqua collection (Dystopia). I'd like almost all of  the products in the collection, which is in contrast to Sirens where I was fairly indifferent to much of it. Urban Decay has also got quite a few things that caught my attention, the new primers look good and I would kill for the new Book of Shadows, which I missed out on last year due to the delay in my funding. From looking at the official US website there are a number of great products due out but, sadly, it does not always follow that what is released in the USA will be released in the UK but fingers crossed. The same goes for the Too Faced site, they are advertising the Teddy Bear hair bristles on a variety of brushes aside from the kabuki and flatbuki both of which I have and love. I wish that even if these products weren't sold in UK stores or on a UK based site, you could buy them off the US site and pay for the shipping to the UK.

I have also noticed that Lime Crime are bringing out a range of lipsticks on the 1st October.  I have fallen in love. I have wanted to try the eye dusts but felt that $12 + shipping was a bit steep for 0.07 oz of product but for a gorgeous bright lipstick ($16)  I think it would be worth it and I could buy a dust to try it and not feel as bad about it. The range of bright and bold colours is quite impressive, it has pinks, purples, oranges and red, as well as a black and a blue lipstick,which for a collection of 10 colours is quite good, as not even MAC carries black or blue as permanent colours and Illamasqua doesn't carry a blue (I wouldn't be surprised if this changed one day).   The other thing that stands out is the packaging:  a bright pink tube with a holographic unicorn, what isn't to love about that?  I only hope that it is as good as it seems otherwise I am going to be very disappointed...

I am keen to try the OCC lip tars especially Anime, Pageant and Katricia.  I recently did the makeup for one of my friends and her two sisters for her wedding, which got me thinking about freelancing.  I do have a lot of good makeup and brushes and as lipstick and eyeshadow etc go, I could do some nice looks  for people of different races and skin tones but when it comes down foundation and powders etc,  I only have NC and NW 15 and 20's. Clearly, that is not very helpful, in the town I grew up I suspect it would have been perfectly possible to work with such a limited range but where I live now, it would be difficult to do much with just those. Foundation costs a lot when you have to buy several different colours, so when I was on OCC's site I noticed that they have small sizes but that was for the airbrush system. I have been wondering if it is possible to use these without an airbrush machine and just apply with brushes. But don't want to waste money to find out if it looks okay or not.

I am overjoyed that it is almost time for the Boots Christmas catalogue to be released. Every year I race down to my nearest Boots to grab one and look at all of the stuff they have got in.  It has been like this for years, the only decent places to buy anything in my hometown and the neighbouring towns was Boots and Superdrug (and even then the range was quite restricted), so when the catalogue came out I would give my parents a long list with just about everything from the 17 and Natural Collection ranges on it and hope that on Christmas morning I would have lots of bright and smelly goodies under the Christmas tree. They would sometimes buy a couple of the things on the list as well as "proper" presents, i.e. things I would be able to keep and wouldn't be used up by New Year.  It is much better now that I can buy my own things and don't have to wait until 25th December. Especially now that I'm a bit too old for lists and they would have no idea what to buy, what I've already got and my Dad would have a heart attack at the tills at the price of a singular lipstick, so best done myself.

I love autumn and winter more than summer and spring. You can really go for drama in your makeup and wear lovely deep spicy perfumes and wear gorgeous deep purples and other jewel colours.  It is also easier to wear foundation without it being too hot or humid and ruining the look.  Autumn and winter tend to (or at least they seem to) last quite a long time in the UK, so I suspect I'm in the right place in that respect.

Review: Illamasqua Fetish Lipstick

Illamasqua Lipstick 'Fetish' £14

Haven't been out much so I have not been wearing much makeup recently, so it has taken a while for me to roadtest it and then life turned a bit hectic, meaning I didn't have time to write it up.

Anyway, when the product  was applied the colour was gorgeous and vivid- exactly as I had hoped it would be. I found that it had quite a dry, matte texture (as I think most illamasqua lipsticks have) which coupled with the colour, meant that it really was not very forgiving on dry lips.  I think to get it to look decent you really need to exfoliate  and moisturise your lips better than with MAC (generally speaking).  It would probably be a good idea to use a good lip primer to help with this.

Otherwise there is not too much else to say except that this colour is amazing under the "Fierce" lipgloss. 

Update

Not updated for a while,but haven't done very much to write about.

My hair has settled down, I think it could have been made worse by the fact that she used hair straighteners, which I tended only to use before I had my hair cut thinner at the bottom and it used to look bushy, with it both cut thinner and straightened the effect was too much (I still prefer the way my usual hairdresser does it)  and whilst I'm not overly keen on my fringe it looks better than it did. All it need was to be washed and  for some of the Kerastase Volumaktiv (not sure how it's spelled) to be sprayed and blow dried. Although I should never be happier with what I can do with my hair than what a hairdresser can do, same goes with makeup, brows and nails (hence why I tend to do my own makeup and brows- I usually only get a polish on my nails and can do it well on my left hand but then other can be a bit messy, I wonder if they'd charge half price for one hand?).

Went on a massive depotting rampage last night and depotted everything but my style warriors stuff, I managed to do it without breaking any shadows and without ruining my straighteners or setting anything on fire so I call it a success.  That said I didn't have any magnets and need another 2 or 3 pallets to accommodate them (about 30 of them now live in  in CD cases so until I get the pallets and magnets I will be anxious for them, so a trip up to B&Q tomorrow for magnets and a rush order at mac.co.uk).  I also hope that they still do B2M and that my local counter will accept panless e/s pots and that they allow you to buy from limited edition stuff (Trimming Talk and Most Popular are crying out to me).

Considering putting an order in for some Illamasqua stuff, my main problem is that I can't see the stuff first (killing my plan for Rich Liquid Foundation- I have been told that anything from RF120 to RF145 is comparable to NW15 I don't want to spend £20 on foundation that is too dark or far too light nor can I afford or want one in each shade). The other problem is, it all looks so good to me, I am trying to constrain myself over the summer but would end up with 7 lipsticks, a dozen eyeshadows, most of the intense Lipglosses and medium pencils and a load of other stuff. I have been tempted to buy the lip pallet but sadly they don't seem to have Fetish or Perilous and those are the two I really want with Box and Ignite. So I'm trying to keep to a £50 limit for the time being (the day my student loan comes in I'm going to go crazy- roll on October. I will justify it as helping the economy by buying British- I may end up walking to Uni everyday- 6 miles and having no books except the crap out of date ones in the library, but I will have amazing makeup). I'm quite keen to see how pigmented they are and the range of colours, I think I may be 'forced' to buy Daemon and Vulgar as I don't really have any red or orange eyeshadows and obviously that is just plain wrong and upsets the karma of my collection (I hope that that works on my Mum if she gets to the post before me- I really doubt it will though).