Archive for January 2014

Home Archive for January 2014

I know it's January, so this isn't really a first impression, since I've had it a month now, but I wanted to post about one of my Christmas gifts, which was one of the Sleek i-Divine mineral based eyeshadow palettes. The one I chose was 'Vintage Romance 141'.

The palette is a good size; not too big to consider using for travel, nor too small that it's not worth having. It's easy enough to hold in your one hand while using the other to apply the shadows, which is a definite plus. The clasp that keeps the lid closed is (almost too) secure too.

It comes in the usual Sleek packaging: in a stylish box, whilst the outside of the palette itself is matte black, with the shiny black Sleek logo. One of the reasons I'm such a fan of Sleek products is because they look so high end, but retail at high street prices - always a bonus for me! Inside the lid is a nice big mirror which is always handy. It contains twelve 1.1g eyeshadows, and they do indeed have a vintage feel; definitely an aptly named palette. The palette also comes with a sheet of acetate that lays over the eyeshadows, both as a way of protecting the mirror, but it also has the names of the eyeshadows printed on it. I guess you could throw it, but I chose to keep it because the names are adorable, and fit the palette and colours so well.

The top row is as follows:

'Pretty in Paris' (light silver), 'Meet in Madrid' (light gold), 'Court in Cannes' (slightly darker, more antique gold), 'Lust in L.A.' (earthy gold), 'Romance in Rome' (navy blurple) and 'Propose in Prague' (red-brown).

The bottom row goes:
'A Vow in Venice' (purple with a brown undertone), 'Marry in Monte Carlo' (pink-purple), 'Honeymoon in Hollywood' (deep pink-purple), 'Bliss in Barcelona' (deep, true purple), 'Forever in Florence' (dark purple) and 'Love in London' (black).

It's incredibly hard to capture the colours accurately, and I'm scared my measly photographs don't do the eyeshadows any justice, but I assure you they're stunning. All of the eyeshadows, except 'Propose in Prague', 'Forever in Florence' and 'Love in London' - which are matte - are shimmer eyeshadows. That said, the latter two have very small specks of glitter in them, giving them a slight metallic quality. The only truly matte shade is 'Propose in Prague'.

I've actually already used the palette a few times. Swatches will be posted sometime, and probably an EOTD (Eyeshadow of the Day) or two.

The Sleek i-Divine Vintage Romance palette is no longer on the Sleek website, but is still available in Superdrug, priced at £7.99.

Right now, matte/velvet lips are hot hot hot! They're bang on trend, and not to mention super cute. Everyone seemed to be clamouring to get their hands on Lime Crime's Velveteens - available here for £13.50 each - since they've had mostly rave reviews. Personally, I begrudge spending that much on a lip product, especially because I wasn't sure how I'd get along with the matte finish of them (embarrassingly, I only outgrew lip gloss a short while ago so not having super shiny lips is a whole new territory). I still really wanted to try a matte lip look out, though.

Imagine how happy I was when I saw that MUA had released their own matte lip lacquer. Then imagine the squeal of joy I did when I saw the price - £3! I knew I had to get my hands on these babies! Available in 5colours, I agonised for a while, before deciding on two of the colours from the range; 'Atomic', a vibrant, orange-coral, and 'Reckless', a bright, but not in-your-face red.

Now, I've only recently started experimenting with lip colours, so this was a very bold choice for me (for the longest time, my staple lip products were Barry M's lip paint in '101', and Rimmel's Apocalips in 'Nude Eclipse 600') but a girls gotta change her image up from time to time, so I couldn't wait to try them out!

MUA's Luxe range packaging is exceptionally stylish, and exceedingly deceptive. No way does it look like it only costs £3. The lip lacquers come separate, obviously, in the black and gold packaging - very classy, if you ask me.

The tube itself, is plastic, but it doesn't feel cheap, and the frosted glass effect really adds to the luxurious appearance.

The doe foot applicator loads easily, so there's no need to pump, plus it makes applying the product pretty easy, although I found I had to be very careful and precise. The pigmentation is immense, and both colours I have definitely only need one coat, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's probably the same across the range. The only downside with this is that they're quite a staining product, meaning if you go outside your natural lip outline and don't correct it virtually straight away, you're gonna have a nice stain where you messed up. Unless it's just me who sucks at putting lip products on and that doesn't happen to other people.. I don't know.

Other than that, it does go on very smoothly, and, yes, feels quite velvety even when wet. It doesn't take long to dry to the matte finish either - a minute, maybe a minute and a half maximum. The only thing I've found is that unless I keep my mouth open while it's drying (which is oh so attractive), that in the corners of my mouth it stays quite tacky for quite a long time which is pretty irritating.

In terms of staying power, it definitely lasts. Drinking doesn't really seem to effect it, though eating and smoking does slightly. Without disturbing it too much, it lasts a good couple of hours. However, herein lies it's two major downsides: firstly, where it's been disturbed, it doesn't fade so much as crumbles which can start to feel quite horrible, and secondly, once it's started to disappear, you can't apply any more without the crumbling places being noticeable, so it's a case of removing it entirely and reapplying.

One other thing to bear in mind, is that it's advisable to put some of your favourite lipbalm on prior to application, because as with any matte lip products, it can leave your lips feeling a little dry and neglected, but not to the point that it's problematic, and it's nothing some lipbalm or Vaseline can't fix once you've taken it off.

Despite it's downsides, the MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer is a great product. I can't compare it to the Velveteen lip products, because I've never used them, but I'd like to bet it gives them at least a slight run for their money. It's a fraction of the price of the other alternatives on the market, and comes in a decent range of colours to suit any tastes (except a nude one, which would actually be quite nice to see!). I'd definitely repurchase the two colours I already have, and I'm wholeheartedly considering in investing in the other 4 colours in the range.

If, like me, you're looking to branch out into the realm of matte lips, but don't feel like reapplying a lipstick every time you have a drink, then you should definitely check these out. Or even if you just want to try these bad boys out, they're worth the price for the quality you get - an all round great buy!

MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquers are available to buy from MUA or Superdrug (online and in certain stores), priced at £3.

What are your views on the MUA lip lacquers?

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

bubz von chubsss

Naked 2 Alternative? | W7 In The Buff Natural Nudes Palette.

Feeling A Little Romantic | Sleek i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette 141.

Mmm Matte... | MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquers.