bubz von chubsss

I love love loveee MAC lipstick collection videos, because I'm so damned nosey, haha! So, now that I finally feel I'm getting somewhere with my collection, I wanted to make a video showing the ones I currently own. Featuring lip swatches. The burn was so beyond real, lemme tell ya! 

I know my collection is nothing compared to some out there on YouTube, but I'm incredibly proud of it and in love with each and every lipstick I own. Hopefully you guys enjoy it!

Recently, my most often purchased makeup item has got to be lipstick. I have so, so many, and wear them all. That's gotta be a good thing, right? At least they're not just lingering, unused. Up until recently, I was all about nudes/light lips, and all I owned was Barry M Lip Paint 101. 

I used to stare longingly at women with bold, statement, colorful lips, and long for the courage to wear something so daring myself. Then, one afternoon last year, I realized the only person stopping me from wearing something brighter was myself, so the next time I was in Superdrug, I picked up three vibrant - by contrast - shades. It was strange at first, seeing the new lipsticks on my face, and I convinced myself they didn't suit me. They were left in the bottom of my makeup bag, until my husband asked why I didn't wear them anymore, because he liked them on me, and I realized I was just being hypercritical of myself (something of which I'm very guilty). 

Since then, my lipstick collection has flourished, and I'm starting to be bolder and braver, and I'm loving it!

Pictured above is MAC Rebel, MAC Nicki Minaj Viva Glam 2, an unbranded lipstick, shade name Sherbet that I recieved as a gift, Barry M Lip Paint 153, Rimmel Moisture Renew Coral Queen, Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss 110, Barry M Lip Paints in 100 and 101, and Maybelline Moisture Extreme Passion Red. 

My newest, most daring (for me) additions is the MUA Luxe Velvet lip lacquers, pictured above (L-R: Atomic, Criminal, Funk, Reckless, and Kooky). A few months ago, I never would have dreamed about purchasing one of these, let alone the whole collection! Now I find myself wearing these bad boys a lot more than I ever thought I would. 

Do you have a favourite lipstick? Do you prefer bold lips, or pale/nude lips? What's your lip style?

My swatch sticks came, so, as promised, here are the swatches I promised you guys of the Models Own Hypergel collection! After all, I always keeps the promises I makes. 

Confession time: I've never really swatched nail polishes (or anything!) before, so I apologise if they aren't the greatest swatches in the Universe. Still, I've done my best to show the colours as true as I can. And the shine too. Oh, the shine... So pretty! Nothing beats a nice shiny, glossy, gorgeous manicure.

All swatches have two coats. The majority could have covered in one coat, but I like to even them out with a second. I don't know, I just have a thing where I don't like having just a single coat of polish. 

I have to admit, I was pretty blown away by the shine. While I was applying the polishes, I couldn't help but think that they didn't really have that gel-like sheen - it seemed to be nothing more than the shine you can achieve with a good topcoat. Once they were dry, however, and in the natural light... WOW! 

I've worn some of the shades on my own natural nails over the past few days, and noticed there are a couple of things to bear in mind about these Hypergels.  One is that drying time is a little slow. They stay in that awful smudge-prone stage for absolutely ages. I have yet to apply one of these to my nails without them smudging at some point. Another thing is they chip terribly. Well, more peel. In great big pieces. I was so disappointed! Personally I change my polish most everyday so it doesn't really effect me, but I was genuinely hoping to get more than 12 hours out of these. 

On the plus side, most of these are one coat polishes. The only exceptions, I found, were Lilac Sheen, Naked Glow, and Pink Veneer, although this is to be expected with pastel shades as they do tend to be more sheer.

Another thing I couldn't help but notice was that a couple of the shades seemed very similar to some of the Hi Shine Gelly shades that Barry M released in 2013, notably Cornflower Gleam, Naked Glow and Lilac Sheen. I don't own Blueberry, so I can't compare, but I'd hesitate a guess that it's pretty close to Cornflower Gleam. As for Naked Glow and Lilac Sheen, I can compare.

Although both comparisons are quite close, I wouldn't go so far as to call them dupes. Both Barry M shades are slightly darker, plus I found the formula to be very slightly thicker on the Barry M Hi Shine Gelly's. Not to mention Prickly Pear needs about twelve coats to be opaque, and Lilac Sheen is opaque in two. 

Overall, I'm excessively impressed with the Hypergels, their shine, and colour range.

What do you guys think of the swatches? Which colour is your favourite? 

*PLEASE BE WARNED - THIS POST IS QUITE PIC HEAVY!*

Gel nails have gained popularity over the past couple of years, due to their longevity, and their glossy shine that cannot be achieved with regular polish. The downside, however, is the time they take to do (Base coat; cure. Colour,;cure. Top coat; cure. Yawn) and they can become expensive, especially if you like to regularly change your manicure. Cue the rise of the gel-like polishes; the same shine, but a lot cheaper, and no UV curing!

Barry M released their Gelly collection last year, and now Models Own have upped their game, and are set to release their Hypergel collection. Retailing at £5 each, the range of ten shades, from pastels to vibrant colours, are set to hit Models Own Bottleshops from mid February, and will be available in Superdrug and Boots from March. Luckily, their Facebook page hit 250,000 likes, so as a mark of gratitude to their fans, they ran a half price sale for 7 days... including presale of the Hypergel collection.. and I was fortunate enough to grab the whole collection before presale stock ran out. One happy Lilyy!

There was a bit of a kerfuffle with problems placing orders when the sale went live, but with the sheer volume of people taking advantage of the 50% off, it's no surprise. It took a good while, but my order went through finally (after a lot of me whinging to my husband that by the time my order was accepted, they'd be sold out), and within a few days, a wonderful package landed on my doorstep.