A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Despite the ill-thought out blog name… I’m not actually a big fan of lip gloss.  There, I’ve said it.

For one… is there anything more irritating in life than battling the sticky gloss/errant flyaway hair pairing from hell when you’re doing your utmost to look nonchalant and breezy?

No.

What about when you see a hawt lipgloss shade and apply it only to see ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER.

So it was with curiosity that I accepted this Jemma Kidd Lip Gloss Trio from their PR recently.  I mean, not everything I get sent ends up on here… I like to have an opinion about a product one way or another if I’m going to feature it on Lipglossiping.  We all know that there are many, many ‘meh’ products out there…. and if something is so utterly ‘meh’ that I can barely bring myself to photograph it… then I don’t.

And in my world… lipgloss is kinda ‘meh’.

But wait!  This Jemma Kidd Air Kiss Gloss Trio is kinda caaaa-ute!  It’s a trio of mini lipglosses that snap into a handbag-sized holder.  I’m not sure why you’d need to carry 3 lipglosses around with you… but shush, I don’t like to be caught up in practical details when I’m presented with cute cosmetic presentation.

You slide the chosen gloss up and out of the holder…. no wait, I’m gonna call it a ‘holster’.  Like a gun… it sounds wayyyy cooler now right?

So, you slide the gloss up and out of the holster and it’s primed and ready for action!

Jemma Kidd have chosen three of their best-selling shades to include in the Air Kiss Gloss Trio and I like 2 of ’em.  I think the 3rd should have been a red… but that’s personal preference.  Do you like the colour combination?

The shades are sheer… not so sheer as to be un-noticeable, but they’re more for layering than wearing alone unless you’re going for a natural, simply polished look.  Which actually, is probably pretty apt for the Summer season no?

I’m wearing Rendezvous (on bare lips) in the above photo.  Once applied, the name makes sense… these glosses feel very lightweight on the lips.  They’re not gloopy and they’re not sticky, they’re just shiny with a hint of colour.  Oh and they smell ah-mazing too.

I’m also pretty impressed with the price too!  Ever since the Jemma Kidd line left the shelves of Boots many moons ago, it’s been a brand that has steadily risen in price.  So £9 for a trio of lip glosses makes pretty good financial sense.  Alsooooooo… they’re $19 in the US, so let’s celebrate in a very rare occurence.  Something’s cheaper over here! Woohoo!

Jemma Kidd Air Kiss Gloss Trio is priced at £9 and available from ASOS.

…another cheeky Fyrinnae haul, mostly lip lustres… wanna see?  Don’t say no… ‘cos you don’t actually have a choice.

I said I was going back for some more and I did!

The formula is great for me… not so opaque that I feel like a clown in bright colours but with more than enough coverage to make it worthwhile.  A couple of these are slightly gritty in texture which I didn’t notice with my first order, but this doesn’t bother me… Infact, I don’t even notice it after a couple of minutes, I’m not sure if the warmth of my lips dissolves the grittiness.

I ordered sample sizes of: Pink Guitar, Mege-Hold, Glitter Kittiez, Ryo-Pinko, Meloncholy, Trickster and Devil Horns and full size versions of: Shangri-La and Visual Kei

I’ve hand swatched because I’ve not long lip-swatched the new Revlon Colorburst Lipstick collection and to be honest, I was kinda bored of swatching!

If there’s any of these shades that you did want to see a lip swatch for though, please tell me ‘cos I’ll be happy to make sure I include it in a FOTD.

Fyrinnae Lip Lustres are available from the Fyrinnae website and are priced from $2.50 each.

Which of the shades above are your favourites?

I’m smitten.  My heart is won.

Move over, make room… I’ve finally discovered Fyrinnae Lip Lustres.

I only own 4… I’ve already remedied that little problem and have another 10 winging their way to me as I type.

Wanna see what I’m going so crazy for this week?

4 mini tubes, each one sample sized and priced at a ridiculously cheap $2.50.

A standard little doe foot wand with an unassuming looking substance…

…produces the most beautiful hybrid between a lip stain, lipstick and gloss that I’ve ever encountered.  The colour is pigmented and glossy yet it feels like I’m wearing nothing more irritating than a slick of water on my lips.

As the day progresses and the initial burst of colour fades, I’m left with a beautiful stain that remains even and true despite drinking and snacking.  Not only that, but I’m not finding these at all drying and I was almost positive that I would need to combine them with lip balm.

I just wasn’t expecting to be bowled over by these little lip lustres quite as much as I have been.

Here’s some swatches of the shades I own, I prefer to do full face shots simply because when searching for lipstick swatches I feel that I personally get a truer impression of the colour if it’s put into context of skintone etc rather than just a pair of lips on the screen!

~ Visual-Kei is my perfect pink….

~ Romantique is a stunning golden peach nude…

~ Lollipop-Pop is a punkier pink with blue flashes….

~ Type A is an almost metallic garnet that cries out for some heavy lashes and winged eyeliner.

.

They’re perfect.  Oh and they smell ah-mazing too.

Ok, I need to think of something I don’t like about them… this is so gushy, I’m gonna make myself vom.

*thinking*

Oh yeah, the lead time on the Fyrinnae website isn’t great for impatient types like me.  It took 3 weeks before I had them in my hot little hands and now I’ve got to cool my heels for the same time again to get my new order…

anything else, anything else?  Um… no, I really can’t think of anything I don’t like.

I feel like I need validation after such a sickening gush, if you have them… tell me I’m not a mental and that they really are this great?

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?

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.

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?

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

I’m a lazy girl.. I hate reapplying lipsticks, so I do have a fondness for long-lasting lip colours.

I picked these glosses up in Superdrug a few weeks ago after falling in love with the shades whilst noseying through the Sleek stand.

Purity (on the left) and Christobell (on the right)

Purity is a lovely creamy dusky nude shade on my lips, whilst Christobell is a pale silvery pink with lots of shimmer.

Sleek say:

…Wonderlast Duo Lipgloss will equip you with a long lasting high gloss pout, allowing you to face the battles of the day without the endless need for reapplication. A lustrous, hydrating and long-lasting lip gloss. Available in 8 shades…

The idea behind this gloss is not a new one… Revlon released a version earlier this year (Colorstay Liquid Lipstick – which I’m a fan of), Maybelline does one (Superstay Lip Color) and even GOSH had one called Everlasting Lips (not sure if that’s still available).

Anyway, how do these glosses stand up to their claims?

First up, we have “Purity”:

Purity, with and without the gloss topcoat.

Well, firstly.. the shade is true to the tube and it applied smoothly.  However, I could instantly feel my lips reacting to the drying lipcolour.  Even with the gloss attempting to disguise the furrows… the drying effects are still visible.

I LOVE the clear gloss topcoat though, it’s smooth almost creamy and completely non-sticky – great stuff!

Moving on to “Christobell”…

Sorry… Did someone just post a picture of a cat’s bumhole?

Erm… check that out!  Way to age my lips by about 30 years, thanks Sleek!  The gloss does do quite a good job of disguising this though.  I’ll just have to walk around with a constant smile on my face to stretch out that skin.

One problem though… one BIG problem…

WTF is that? 5 minutes later… I felt my lips becoming “gritty” and this is what greeted me in the mirror.  Attractive no?  Just gonna go see if my husband fancies a snog…

This shade has done this before for me, I’m not sure if it’s an application issue or if I’ve got an odd tube.  I *think* it’s when I apply more than one coat of the colour.  But you HAVE to if you want to achieve anything near the intensity it looks in the tube as this shade is quite sheer.

As for longevity, it’s not bad.. but it’s not the best.  Revlon Liquid Lipstick wins that one for me (although also drying).  I would say that these Wonderlast Duo Lipglosses last an average of 3 hours on me before fading.  They also fade a little unevenly, so you may find yourself scrubbing away at your lips with the back of your hand well before the 3hrs are up.

Removal can be tricky (as with all of these types of product) But I overcome this by using my fingertip with a slick of cleansing oil or some other dual-phase makeup remover.

I’m disappointed that I’m not happier with these lipglosses, at a price of £3.91 each they’re an absolute steal and I’ve already declared my adoration for the 2 shades above.

However cat bum lips simply won’t do and if we lived in the U.S. I’d demand my money back for Sleek being so cheeky as to claim they’re “hydrating”.

I *may* repurchase Purity for the shade and to use the gloss coat ontop of other lipsticks but Christobell is a total no-no for me.

[starreview tpl=14]

When I got up this morning, I was determined to brave this adventurous (for me) lipgloss, so here we go!

You can probably tell that this is a sheer application.  It’s applied over the top of Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Lily-Rose.

It’s consistency is sticky, but not as sticky as MAC’s lipglasses.  Longevity is good, it hasn’t faded much at all throughout the day so far.

Galactic is a really lovely item to have in your kit, glamour in a tube!

[starreview tpl=14]

I’m a consummate lip gloss addict (hence the title of the blog!) – they’re easy to apply, completely portable for quick touch ups and feel more moisturising on the lips than lipsticks.  I have a particular fondness for glosses which contain a little bit of sparkle.  Yes I am 4 years old.

Here’s one of my latest acquisitions!  Elizabeth Arden is one of those lines that I’m perpetually unsure of – it always feels so elegant and timeless but usually ends up disappointing me.  Not this time!

Elizabeth Arden’s High Shine Lip Gloss in #10 Pink Champagne is such a beautiful natural peachy colour with a hint of warm golden sparkle.  It’s your standard doe foot applicator in a classy little square tube.  Consistency is thick and a little gloopy to apply but not uncomfortably sticky… I’d give it a 6 out of 10 on the stickiness scale (where Lipglass is  a 7 and superglue is a 10!)

It has a beautifully soft sheer finish with a subtle plumping effect thanks to the multi dimensional high shine.  It doesn’t dry out my lips and is completely flavourless – something I always like!

My complaint (and unfortunately it’s not a inconsequential little one) is staying power.  You’ll need a touch up after eating or drinking, the shimmer survives – but the tint of colour sadly doesn’t.

All in all, a great buy for the summer!

[starreview tpl=14]