A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

After suffering for the past 4 months with flaky, dry lips… I’ve finally found my cure.  Let me tell you a bit about it…

Lanolips is an Australian brand that proudly produces one of the most natural cosmetic products on earth.

The Lanolips lineup currently includes 2 core products:

~ Lanolips Lip Ointment with Colour 12.5ml  (AUD13.95/£8.40)

~ Lanolips 101 Ointment 17.5ml (AUD17.95/£11)

I was sent the range for review consideration over a month ago now and I tell you now without a scrap of embarrassment despite the risk of sounding like I’m gushing…. this stuff has made a big difference to my life.

I could tell you all about how pure and natural the ointments are, I could share the anecdotes about how it’s so safe it can be used on the mouths of new-born babies… but to be honest, you can find all that out by visiting their website.  I wanna tell you why from this day forward, I’m never going to be without a tube of this in my handbag.

But let me first concentrate on the Lanolips Ointment with Colour.

These are fabulous lip gloss alternatives.  They’re sheer, but the colour is build-able.  Thanks to a completely non-sticky formula, you can also apply without fear of errant breezes gluing your hairdo to your face.

The shades:

Rose is a milky-toned soft pink, perfect for paler skin-tones and also works fabulously to tone down bright lipsticks a touch.  I feel it may be a little too pale for darker skintones and WOC unless you apply with a light hand or like the super pale look.

Dark Honey is a true dark nude shade, I would imagine this is flattering to all skin-tones – very easy to wear.  It’s a “your lips but better” shade for me.

Sunshine is a warm, summery coral.  It’s beautiful.. and on paper, is probably my favourite.  But unfortunately, it doesn’t flatter my cool skin-tone quite as well as the others.

Apples is described byLanolips as “the colour of babies lips” and I totally get that decription, it’s a rosebud red.  I’m afraid it looks a touch warmer in my swatch than in real life though, sorry about that!

There’s also another, newly released shade called Rhubarb which has been described as a deep, vibrant pink, but I don’t have that one to show you.

Scent-less and taste-less, I’ll be using these daily in the Summer when I want something a little lighter, a little more natural and glowy.

The main point to remember with the entire Lanolips range is the core ingredient, the fundamental base upon which all this colour frivolity has been added – the ultra-moisturising Lanolin.  It keeps my lips supple and so far is improving tone and texture unlike anything else I’ve tried.

Having sad that, there are still a couple of things that I’d change.

I’d personally prefer a slanted plastic applicator so that I could use the tube to applythe product instead of my finger.  I’d also like to see the packaging include the word ‘tint’ somewhere for clarification.  The colours look SO bright in the tube, I’d be surprised if there weren’t at least a few consumers who were expecting more colour payoff upon application.

That aside, onto my favourite product!

Lanolips 101 Ointment is the DADDY.  It’s the no-nonsense “what you see is what you get” multi-purpose cure-all.

The stand-alone tube, slightly bigger than the rest at 17.5ml, contains nothing but pure ultra medical-grade lanolin.  To be (un)fair, it’s kinda boring… it’s unscented, unflavoured, uncoloured, un…inspiring… yeah, it’s a whole lot of ‘uns’.

But it’s this little marvel that I’m marking up as my lip saviour today.

I’m not new to lanolin.  I was a big fan of Lansinoh throughout the months I breastfed my baby.  Lansinoh saved my poor nips (tmi?) on many occasions whilst me and the babs were still both figuring out what the hell we were supposed to be doing.  I’ve even tried to use Lansinoh on my lips before… but it’s too damn sticky.  I used to be able to bear it for about 15 minutes before having to grab a tissue and wipe it off.  I’ve been told by Lansinoh PR that it’s not as sticky as it used to be, but I only have the experience of my year-old tube to compare to.

Lanolips advise you to use the Lanolips 101 Ointment generously but I haven’t found that I’ve needed to apply it very thickly at all.  Which is just aswell, ‘cos I hate that feeling where you’ve got about 8″ of product built up on your lips.

I use the Lanolips 101 Ointment in a number of ways:

1. On my lips before bed as a moisturiser
2. A thin layer underneath lipstick to moisturise and stop matte lipsticks looking like crap
3. A thin layer above lipstick to add shine
4. On Leila’s eczema
5. On my cuticles at night as an intensive moisturiser.

I think out of all those uses, the one that stands out to me… the one reason that I’ll be repurchasing this product for as long as I can get my grubby little hands on it is #2.

Is that shallow?  Surely I should choose the fact that it’s a fabulous lip conditioner?  Or um… wait, maybe I should have chosen the fact that it diminishes my daughter’s eczema patches… but um… I can wear my OCC Lip Tars without looking like I’ve been mummified!

I can wear my Revlon and MAC mattes lipsticks again – the joy!  I’ve spent months trying different lip balms underneath with no success.  On the rare occasion that a lip balm has succeeded at keeping my lips smooth, the lippie has inevitably slid off my face after 20 minutes.  If anything, as long as I keep my layer of Lanolips nice and thin, it’s almost as if it gives my lipstick something to adhere to!

The cheapest online stockist I can find offering international delivery is MakeUWell who charge 10AUD (about £6) for postage.

Lanolips 101 Ointment *is* my solution.  Now I just need someone to come along and stock it in the UK so I don’t have to pay international postage charges.  Is that really too much to ask?

Whilst up in London for IMATS, I had lots of trouble dragging myself away from Inglot in Westfield.  I was in there searching through the lipsticks for AGES!  Such a variety, but despite this… nothing was really catching my eye.  And then I spotted a small group of maybe 12 lipsticks off to one side, and immediately, 2 shades popped out at me.

I asked the SA to tell me about these taller, thinner lipsticks that bear more than a passing resemblance to the MAC Slimshines.  The SA explained that these were their new Slim Gel Lipsticks which have a lighter, more moisturising feel to them whilst still retaining a good colour payoff.

Sold to the lady with the mega dry lips!

I purchased #61 (left) which I would describe as a mauve pink… it’s a medium toned pinky nude on my skin, proper nude… not concealer nude.  I also purchased #41 which is a brighter, more vivid shade bordering on the coral *eek!*

I love both of them, they are moisturising… they’re also a teeny bit sticky, which does wonders for their longevity.  One application of these happily lasts me through to lunch time.  They have a glossy, shiny finish and I love the hardwearing metal packaging that houses all of Inglot’s lipsticks.

I do have one concern though… they don’t seem that steady in the tube.  If you do buy one of these, make sure you don’t wind the product up too high when applying.  I really think that unless you take considerable care, these would be prone to snapping.

Left: #61, Right: #41

I’ve also noticed that I seem to be going through the tubes at a rate of knots!  You only get 1.8g of product per tube, compared to 2.3g in a MAC Slimshine or 3g in a standard MAC Lipstick.  I threw away the receipt but I think I paid around £9 each for these.  So quite expensive gram for gram I think.

I shall forgive Inglot this time , these are beautifully easy to wear lipsticks and I’m very pleased I made the purchase.

Can’t. stop. buying. these. lipsticks.

Seriously, at under £2 a pop you can afford to experiment, and although the Cherry Culture swatches are pretty naff… Google is your friend.

I bought 3 more with my last haul.  Actually, I think I bought 5… but 2 were Ronald McDonald reds so I gave them to someone who would look less like a serial killer in them.

These are the 3 I kept:

And here’s what they look like swatched “ON MAH FACE!”:

NYX Paris is my favourite, it’s a perfect pink for me… not too warm, not too cool.  Love it!  It’s glossy and smooth and doesn’t highlight my sore bits.

NYX B52 is a touch warm for me, but it’s not too bad.  Doesn’t look much like I expected it to, it’s a little darker on my skintone than I thought it would be.  Texture is great though.

I don’t understand this pout… is it even a pout?  What AM I doing?  Anyway… ignoring the stupid expression, NYX Power is akin to Revlon’s Pink Pout but without the dryness.  It’s not a total dupe, but it’s the nearest I’ve found for my skintone (yes, I know MAC Angel is a well-known dupe, but not on me).

From L-R: Doll Pink, Ballerina Pink & Whipped

I’m love the NYX Round Lip Glosses, they’re fairly pigmented, non-sticky (can’t abide sticky glosses), pleasant smelling and affordable!  My only criticism is that they’re not particularly long-lasting… but most non-sticky glosses can’t last through lunch anyway.

Swatched: L-R: Doll Pink, Ballerina Pink & Whipped.

Do you like the NYX Round Lip Glosses?  What shades are your favourites?

I bought these from Cherry Culture.com and paid $2 a piece, at that price… you can’t go wrong.

I found another Stellar Showlights Lipstick lurking in my local T.K. Maxx… this time in the shade Ra Ra Red.

I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t the same glitter-bomb affair as the last one… but it still has glamour running through it’s veins.

Love the heavyweight packaging of the old style HR lippies.

These lippies are beautifully sheer yet buildable and I also find them quite moisturising… most of all, I love the shimmer left on the lips.  They give a fantastic illusion of fullness.

More, more… must find more!

I was eavesdropping on Twitter (as you do) and overheardread VexintheCity tell Cosmetic-Candy that Revlon Pink Pout was a reasonable dupe for MAC Angel.

“No it isn’t!” thinks I… “They’re completely different!”

So off I rush immediately to test out this theory! (as you do)

Left-Right: Pink Pout, Angel

I’m serving up my humble pie at this point….

They are simillar aren’t they?

So I swatch…

*sigh* I don’t like being wrong…

Dupe Alert!

but then… I apply…

L-R: Pink Pout, Angel

Woah there Nelly!  Pink Pout is… well… pink.  MAC Angel is distinctly beige-toned on my lips.

How on earth?

So there ya go.  Revlon’s Pink Pout is a definite dupe for MAC Angel (albeit a matte one) on everybody in the entire universe…

…except for me.

Now, what I want is a Revlon Pink Pout dupe that isn’t a moisture sucking matte… um… don’t say MAC Angel 😉

Well alright, just budge up a bit – I’m sure I can make room for both of you in my heart…

Helena Rubinstein Wanted Stellars Lipstick is available in 12 shades, whilst the gloss is available in 6.  The website sucks, so I can’t view the others..  RRP on these is €28 for the lippies and €26 for the gloss.

But now I’ve seen, I’m smitten… the red would be fabulous for Christmas, even if I only looked at it and sighed wistfully.  I’d love a true pink with sparkle too *le grand sigh*

So anyway, not only are these Wanted Stellars flippin’ gorgeous but get this info from Premium Beauty News…

The Solev company presents an innovative finishing technology called “sparkling effect” which consists in spreading on the material to decorate, in a dense and perfectly homogeneous way, colored and metallic particles to render a smooth and shiny effect.

This effect is enhanced by applying a transparent covering film, with a high gloss effect to amplify depth and light.

In order to achieve this result, Solev formulates its own special effect varnishes and to apply the particles in a dense and homogeneous way, the company has invented and developed a process (about to be patented).

A new technology implemented on Helena Rubinstein’s latest lipstick, Wanted Stellars.

Yeah, yeah… whatever you had me at “sparkling effect”.

It looks as though my nearest HR counter is in Cherbourg… ok, so as the crow flies that’s not bad… a couple of hours.  Shame about that pesky ENGLISH CHANNEL blocking the way!  Harrumph.

Anything you’re craving at the moment?

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?

After a few requests, here’s a boring FOTD, but I am wearing my new Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited lippie in shade BG907.

On my lips, this comes out a lovely creamy pale pink nude.

Considering it’s paleness it still manages to look soft, rather than stark.  It’s not statement lip at all like Lingerie Pink or BarryM 101, it’s more subtle than GOSH Darling… I really like it’s neutrality – it’s the Switzerland of lipsticks

It feels nice on my lips and isn’t at all drying despite having a semi-matte appearance.  It’s smooth to apply although no-where near as creamy as the YSL Rouge Voluptes.

Longevity is average.  Lasted easily through a couple of drinks – defeated by a pastry.  The colour isn’t hugely pigmented, I did need to apply a few layers to build up the shade but nothing ridiculous like some balmy products.  Despite a few layers I was really pleased to discover that it doesn’t *feel* like I have lippie on… it’s very light and not at all waxy.

Honestly, I do love it… but (being the skinflint I am) I wouldn’t spend this much money on it (£17.50) if it weren’t the perfect nude shade for my pale complexion.

[starreview tpl=14]

My final Urban Decay review now I’ve had a good while to play with the items I was sent.

I received two shades, and my initial reactions to them couldn’t have been more different.

1. Naked

This is a beautiful soft rose shade, that on many complexions would pass as a pinky-nude.  The (vanilla) scent is lovely, although it may be a little overpowering for some.  Application is smooth with a glossy creamy finish.  It’s supposed to be full coverage but I find it a little sheer.  I would put it on a par with MAC’s Lustre formula in terms of pigmentation.

This isn’t the best swatch… it looks more cool toned here than it is in reality.  But it’s a good example of the lovely glossy finish.  I’ve cropped my lips out of a FOTD image below to show a truer representation of the colour.

Lovely, isn’t it!  As you can see, it’s a little too dark on my complexion for me to consider it a nude.

2. Confession

The second lippie up for review is a far vampier affair!

Confession is a deep, dark claret shade that scared the heck out of me when I twisted the tube up!

I looked at it for many minutes wondering what the hell I was gonna look like with such a statement shade.

I needn’t have worried thanks to the semi-sheer formula:

I was surprised to find this quite flattering and wearable, but being the scaredy-cat that I am, ended up pairing it with a nude gloss anyway and I really like the result!

Confession was a bit more fiddly application-wise than Naked.  I found that it had a tendency to appear a little darker in the creases on my lips and more sheer on the smoother surfaces.  This may be visible in the above image (top lip of 1st photo).  I *think* I may have been applying a little too much wondering if I could amp up the pigmentation… but as it’s something that bothered me at the time, into the review it goes!

I was satisfied with the staying-power of both lipsticks and wear was nice and even on the darker shade (no dark rings here!)

Urban Decay Iconic Lipsticks available from Boots and Debenhams, priced at £12

Now, despite fears that I may sound like your Mum… I HAVE to talk to you about sanitary wear, are you sitting comfortably?  Not fidgeting?  Good.  Now listen up.

Exciting news!

Bodyform are launching a new “Campaign for Confidence” and are very understanding of the fact that when us ladies look good, we feel good.  In light of that, they’re treating us to the latest lip gloss in two gorgeous, autumn shades.

Yes, you read that right!

From the 12th October you can snap up a Limited Edition Jemma Kidd Lip Gloss absolutely free with special packs of Bodyform!

The lip glosses come in 2 shades (Orchid & Rose) and are worth £10 each from the Jemma Kidd Makeup School range.

The limited edition packs will be available from the 12th October in all good supermarkets and pharmacies and will no doubt be in high demand so make sure you don’t delay!

Also featuring on these LE packs is some useful information on symptom awareness from The Eve Appeal, a charity working hard to raise funds into research for gynaecological cancers.  Ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer death in women in the UK, so greater awareness of all gynaecological cancers should be of interest to every woman.

As if that wasn’t enough… I have a little “bodyform inspired” giveaway coming up, further details of that in the next few days!  Too exciting!

Bounce with me xx

Before being gifted some of these Color Sensational lippies at the recent Maybelline event, I’d heard about this range from other bloggers on t’internet and had rushed out to purchase #112 Ambre Rose.

My experiences with this “lippie du jour” had been really good. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did (I thought the same about GOSH Darling too). Aside from the simple prettiness of the shade, I found it to be non-drying, easy to apply, nicely pigmented and carrying a gorgeous vanilla scent. Longevity is average for a high-street brand and I’m not ashamed to reapply in public thanks to the pretty case.

Now onto some swatches of just a few of the 26 available shades.

Out of the 7:

#730 (Golden Brown) and #420 (Coral Pop) are not flattering to my cool skintone.

#125 (Shimmer Pink) is beautiful, but a little too shimmery for me.

#148 (Summer Pink) is a little too bright for me to wear comfortably.

which leaves…

#112 (Ambre Rose), #165 (Pink Hurricane) & #240 (Galactic Mauve) as stand out shades for me.  These would really compliment any cool toned ladies out there.

I do wanna say though, #420 (Coral Pop) is a stonking shade for warmer skintones… I’m particularly grumpy about the fact that it doesn’t suit me very well.

Application and formula-wise, they’re consistently good.  If you want a lippie on a budget that you can tote around in your handbag for touch ups on the go, I recommend this line with complete conviction.

I haven’t tried any of the ‘stronger’ shades like #530 (Fatal Red) or #315 (Rich Plum) so I can’t comment on things like bleeding into the lip line, but if these 7 are indicative of the rest of the lineup, I can happily state that wear seems to be nice and even.

I’ll be hunting down a few more shades (especially whilst the 3for2 is still on at Boots) – #108 Pink Pearl (can’t find it and it isn’t even in stock on Boots.com), #132 Sweet Pink, #245 Magic Mauve (possibly) & #605 Precious Beige. 

There’s also a few US only shades that I’m scouring eBay for.

I wasn’t a massive fan of Maybelline’s other new release Pulse Perfection Mascara (although if you are, grab a £1.50 off coupon here) so I’m delighted to be able to enthuse about these!

Available from Boots, Superdrug et al and currently priced at £6.84ea.