Model's Prefer Sweet Shadows Eyeshadow Tin

I have honestly had the greatest luck in the world in the past two months, winning three giveaways! One of them was Amanda's from Thai Tales  where I won the Model's Prefer Sweet Shadows Eyeshadow Tin. I was ridiculously excited about winning this because just look at those gorgeous eyeshadow shades and the incredible packaging they come in! 

As far as I am aware, the Model's Prefer tins are a direct imitation of some eyeshadow tins from Too Faced. I personally love that I can have the opportunity to play around with a more affordable alternative, however I'm not sure Too Faced would be all that thrilled!

When it first arrived and I opened the package up, I literally had to pry it from my mother's hands as she declared that it was "the most beautiful makeup packaging in the entire world." I am inclined to agree with her, because I can't think of anything more adorable than the little tin. I think it is most appealing to younger girls, and I think for someone starting out with makeup this would be a perfect (and cute) array of beginner's shadows. 

I immediately spotted the shades that I new would be my favourites and crossed my fingers that those were the ones that were pigmented. I had read some reviews and was aware that it was a little hit and miss with these shadows, with some being incredibly pigmented and others completely sheer. 

The shades included are as follows: 

Top Row

Innocent: Grey toned lilac shade. Pigmentation: Poor

Lovely: Deep toned true purple. Pigmentation: Good

Sweetened: Mid toned brown with cooler undertones and silver shimmer. Pigmentation: Fair

Graceful: Very, very dark brown (almost black) with a matte finish. Pigmentation: Good

Middle Row

Kisses: Shimmery, champagne white with slight pink undertones. Pigmentation: Excellent (it is SO buttery!)

Cute: Rosy brown/pink shade. Pigmentation: Excellent

Sugared: Light baby pink. Pigmentation: Excellent

Luscious: Warm medium brown. Pigmentation: Excellent

Bottom Row

Adorable: Light brown/grey shade. Pigmentation: Terrible

Angelic: Pure shimmery white. Pigmentation: Excellent

Precious: Coppery orange gold. Pigmentation: Excellent

Enchanting: Matte black. Pigmentation: Fair (very chalky)

As you can see, there was quite a variety of quality between each of the shades. Adorable was completely hopeless and that swatch (which you can barely see) was three built up attempts! Other shades, like Precious and Kisses were incredibly buttery and pigmented. Luckily for me, my most favourite shades were the best pigmentation!

I created an eyeshadow look using five of the shadows and was absolutely thrilled with the outcome.

1. 'Kisses' was applied over the entire lid.
2. 'Precious' was applied over the centre third of the eyelid.
3. 'Luscious' was used in the outer corner and crease
4. 'Angelic' was applied as an inner corner highlight
5. 'Lovely' was used as a lower lashline eyeliner for a hint of colour

I think the blend of white, gold and purple looks stunning and shows just how pigmented those particular shades are!

I do notice fallout with some of the shades, particularly the darker shadows, which is easily removed by brushing it away.

Not only were eyeshadows included in the tin, but an eye primer and clear brow gel too. I have had very little experience with eye primers (by that I mean no experience) and therefore don't feel as though I can make any real judgement about it. I found it to be a strange texture, quite tacky at first but then rather velvety once it had settled. It evened out the skin tone but I'm not sure I would bother using it regularly.

I feel indifferent about the brow gel - I will get use out of it but I wouldn't buy it on its own. It works but it is nothing terribly special.

All up, I am so pleased with this palette and can see myself experimenting a lot with it in the future. I've decided that Precious is just the most beautiful shade ever and I think that will be the one I hit pan on first!

I give this 6 out of 10 (because even though there are some shades I love, others are hopeless and you have no guarantee of the quality!)

MUA Sheer Finish lipglosses - Just in case & Too much fun

Lipglosses aren't really my thing. I think I've only ever come across one gloss that I actually really enjoy using (naturally one that is discontinued)...the rest are just a pain to use.

I was however, really excited to try these out when I won them in Dawn's giveaway from over at See it, Swatch it, Love it (at the beginning of this year...yes I am a little late with this review!) MUA is a brand I don't think you can access easily here in Australia and so it was an exciting opportunity to see what all the raving was about! I had also tried their High Intensity Gloss and thought it was absolutely brilliant, so I had high hopes.

First up, let me tell you about the scent...it's incredible. Think dentist-appointment-inducing sugar scent mixed with an extra shot of red frogs and lollipops. So okay, that may not be for everyone but it sure beats a scent-less product.

The packaging is fairly stock standard for a squeezy tube lipgloss, although it does leak a little. It has a slanted applicator that allows for easier use. I'm not a huge fan of these types of glosses, I much prefer those with a wand and doe foot applicator. Nevertheless, as for style and packaging of these, it's fairly similar to every other gloss out there.

Next comes the gloss. Well, it's everything a gloss is renowned for and meant to be...juicy, supremely shiny, sticks to your hair and glues your lips together. Which is exactly why these glosses and I aren't really friends.

These glosses, as the name suggests, are quite sheer. You can tell that there is slight colour, however on the lips (despite that one is pink and one is red) they look very much the same. They are glitter and shimmer free and have quite a thick consistency.

I don't like these because I just don't like glosses in general. However, if you do get along with the good old gloss then I am sure that you will like this just fine.

I give this 6 out of 10.

Revlon Lip Butter in Brown Sugar

Revlon Lip Butters are absolute staples in so many makeup collections. The only problem? They're not cheap. Sure, you can buy them for a dismal price in comparison to YSL lipsticks, but $21.95 isn't exactly affordable...especially when you want one of every colour in the range.

Imagine how excited I was when I was on holidays, stumbled into Target and saw this little beauty marked down to only $4 (along with its sibling in Gumdrop)! Although the shade Brown Sugar wouldn't be my first preference in the Lip Butter range, I thought a sheer brown couldn't be all that bad. Perhaps it could be the loveliest nude.

Well, much like Gumdrop, this wasn't exactly like I was expecting. For a start, Brown Sugar was pigmented. In fact, it was probably the most pigmented all of the ones I owned. It was also quite a dark brown...think melted chocolate. Hmmm…

I have quite pigmented red toned lips naturally, so the combination of red and dark brown, is, uh, interesting. Don't get me wrong, it's not ghastly in the same fashion that I found Gumdrop to be, and it's certainly not completely unwearable, it just feels a little old fashioned. I feel like I've aged about 50 years when I wear this (which is something I really don't love!). I think it also doesn't really help that I have super pale skin - I'm literally as white as a ghost - and therefore it is just so dark. I expect on darker skin this could be quite a lovely 'my lips but better' kind of colour.

As is the case with all lip butters, this is lovely and moisturising. It has a very slight shimmer to it which does show up on the lips. It lasts an acceptable amount of time but does fade when eating and drinking. Sadly it has no scent (none of the lip butters do, but how amazing would it be if they did?!) but at least it doesn't smell bad.

All in all, this is actually a really lovely lip product if I had the skin tone and the lips to match it! If you've got darker skin and more brown toned lips then I really think this could be a wonderful product.

I give this 6/10.

Revlon Lip Butter in Gumdrop

It's pretty difficult to escape the hype that breaks out in the beauty world when a new product comes onto the scene. The Revlon Lip Butters caught my attention as soon as they came out, but their arrival in Australia proved a disappointment when 22 dollar price tags were slapped across their pretty quilted packaging. I vowed to pick at least one up, after all I wasn't going to be the only one who didn't have one. Sweet Tart on sale for $15, then Berry Smoothie for $10 seemed like good deals at the time but it got even better when I spotted Gumdrop and Brown Sugar for a measly $4 at Target. Yes please!

Despite that the shade Gumdrop had never caught my attention previously, for $4 I figured I couldn't really go wrong. I've since changed my mind.

If I'm really honest, it's not a horrendous shade. It's not like it's bright blue or tennis ball yellow, but purple lipsticks never have been and probably never will be my favourite, even if they are super sheer.

Gumdrop really is a light lilac shad, glossy and rather sheer but noticeable all the same. It has some tiny, tiny shimmer but it's considerably more noticeable in the bullet than on the lips.

When I apply it on my pigmented lips, it just looks plain ridiculous. It appears as though there is a white/purple cast over my pink lips and it's a little ghostly.  Though I appreciate that the purple aspect of this lip butter is just my personal taste, I don't think anyone finds a corpse lip pretty. It's not an extreme look, in fact, those who are more daring than me in this department would probably scoff at my hesitance with this lip butter because in reality, it's a lot more subtle than it is bold. Still, I know I am not the only one out there who doesn't like to venture into purple lip territory.

Moving on past the shade to the formulation...as is with the case with all their lip butters, they are smooth, creamy and darn easy to work with. They can be applied quickly with no fuss and last a couple of hours (without eating and drinking).

Gumdrop is not nearly as pigmented as Berry Smoothie and Sweet Tart, due to the nature of the colour of course.

The quilted packaging has proven to be a hit with many. I personally don't love it but it's by no means awful either. I love that the colour of the tube changes in accordance with the lip butter shade because it means it is easily identifiable when you are sifting through your lipsticks for the shade you want. The silver tube and black base is classy and stable.

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with Gumdrop. It's unlikely that I will warm to it and it certainly won't be one of my most used shades, but I feel a bit bad having it sit there completely ignored in my collection. Perhaps I can combine it with another shade that doesn't work either...who knows, but this was a bit of a silly purchase.

Well, for only $4 it's no great loss but I wouldn't bother with Gumdrop if I saw it again. I would love to hear your thoughts about this if you have tried it because I think many ladies out there might get on well with it, but for me it just didn't work.

Sadly I can only give this 6 out of 10.

Essence Me and my Ice cream Cream blush - Ice Bomb

It's a well known fact that Essence have the best limited edition collections. Admittedly, there aren't all that many products from their permanently line that capture my interest (especially after they discontinued many of their highly raved about stand-out products) but when it comes to their limited edition collections I am always sure to hunt them down.

It was such a lovely surprise when I managed to get my hands on a a display that hadn't been interrupted and every single product was in pristine condition (a miracle considering Essence products have no seals). Surprisingly it was only the blush in Ice Bomb that I found appealing so I picked that one up for $4.95.

This makes me think a little of the Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blushes (or whatever they are called), not that I have actually tried them. I feel like the concept is quite similar, and certainly the packaging seems to reflect that.

The packaging, as is with most Essence products, does look cheap and is quite flimsy, but it is perfectly acceptable considering all of their products cost almost nothing. This is quite a small blush but the product is shaped like a dome so I feel like you would get many uses from it. The minty green print with the bright pink doesn't work magnificently, but it's not the worst packaging I've ever seen.

The product is a really strange texture, certainly not mousse like or creamy, but not really a powder either. On the skin it glides quite effortlessly although I really struggled to get it to blend when using my fingers. Using a stippling brush was a little easier but not perfect.

This blush is a very unique colour, seemingly cool toned in the pan but a warmer peach shade on the skin with almost a silver shimmer running through it. I struggled to make this work and found that it looked a little garish on my skintone which is more suited to warm pinks or gold toned shimmers.

The lasting power on this is wonderful. It seems as though once it is on the skin it really 'sets', hence why it is a bit of a struggle to blend.

I do like the concept of this blush but unfortunately the formula and shade wasn't a real stand out for me this time. I am glad I purchased it and I will use it but I wouldn't get any more.

I give this 6/10.

Palmer's Cocoa Body Butter Ultra Moisturising Cream

Palmer's iconic cocoa butter products are everywhere, yet naturally I have never tried any of them. Of course.

A friend of my recently passed this on to me to try out and I thought it was about time that I gave one of their products a shot!

Technically I have only ever tried one body butter, The Body Shop Strawberry Body Butter which I am in love with. It would take a lot for another body butter to impress me

This body butter comes in a 170g tub. I love the style of the packaging, and though it doesn't look terribly 'flashy' it's not ugly either. This claims to be made with natural cocoa butter, an 'ultra moisturising cream' and contains vitamin E. It says "the extra rich, moistursing formula melts into skin leaving it silky soft and smooth with an even, radiant tone. Perfect for dry to very dry skin."

Though the skin on my face is forever changing and cannot decide whether it wants to be dry or oily or somewhere in between, the skin on my legs is consistently dry, primarily due to neglect - I can never, ever be bothered to moisturise and look after my legs!

Since having acquired this product I have used it regularly to be able to write a decent review. I can say that it does do an excellent job locking in moisture, because my skin has been so smooth and moisturised of late.

I don't love this scent, in fact I would probably go as far to say that I don't like it. I don't really know how to describe it - there is an element of chocolate there - but it is kind of a little earthy and certainly not at all sweet. I'm not really a fan. Having said that, it is tolerable. My Mum and brother however, think it smells revolting. I would suggest discovering whether you like the scent or not before you buy this one because there is no guarantee.

When you apply this buttery yellow cream, the texture is very thick and takes a bit of effort to rub in however soaks into the skin quite quickly (more so than The Body Shop ones), though can feel a little sticky for the first two or so minutes. You only need a very small amount as a little goes a long way - I can tell that this product is going to last forever! I apply this before bed, both because I don't like the possibility of having slippery skin during the day as well as wanting to avoid the scent factor as much as possible.

I don't have a clue how much this costs but I wouldn't imagine it being more than about $15 dollars, considerably cheaper than The Body Shop's body butters.

I am pleased that I had the opportunity to try this out, and I certainly don't hate it or anything but it is nothing to rave about either. If you don't want to splash out on the gorgeous range of butters from The Body Shop then this is an excellent alternative in terms of formula and moisture, however the scent just isn't anything like my Strawberry favourite!

I give this 6 out of 10.

B.liv Got me Covered Foundation

I was contacted by B.liv to test a number of their skincare products out. Being a beauty blogger, I was initially most interested in their foundation, Got me covered and promptly replied with a 'yes!'. I have been trialing their products (see a review on their incredible blackhead clearing gel here)and I have fallen in love - they are so good.

This foundation comes in a simple yet effective pump bottle. The labelling is simple and appealing and claims to contain both suncreen and foundation, targeting blackheads and oil control. Sounds like my kind of product!

In terms of the shade range, I may be mistaken but I am under the impression that there is only one shade. I absolutely hate it when brands do that so I am quite disappointed, considering that this costs $32. If it had not matched my skin tone and I had paid for it I would have been really annoyed.

An entire pump of this product is enough to cover my face adequately, though the coverage is at best as much as a tinted moisturiser offers. At first I thought this was intended as a full on foundation but now I am more inclined to think that perhaps they meant to market it as a tinted sunscreen, especially as upon further research I discovered that it has SPF 35! I don't think I've seen a foundation with such a high SPF before, so that is really wonderful!

This product is slightly greasy at first (due to the sunscreen in it, I imagine), and can be quite difficult to work with as it is thick and resistant to settle into the skin. In time it eventually does though, until it can't be felt at all. I could have gotten away with not applying a powder on top but I added just a touch to my T-zone to ensure I didn't get too shiny throughout the day. It has a nice fragrance that is fresh and almost a little fruity, though certainly not noticeable after application.

It was difficult to determine the lasting power of this product due to the fact that it was so light and had such little coverage, but I don't think that it lasted the duration of the entire day. Having said that, it was pretty good and nothing to really complain about.

This is definitely a product that I liked using however I will keep it for the days where my skin is looking pretty much perfect, and only a bit of this and a hint of concealer is required. It is ideal for summer when you don't want to load on the makeup but still want to look fresh and presentable and you can use this in place of sunscreen due to the high SPF factor.

This foundation, as mentioned, is $32 and can be bought from B.liv's website, here.

I give this product 6 out of 10.

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream

My skin can never make up its mind. Some days it wants to be super oily, other days painfully dry, though the majority of the time I would classify it as combination.

Recently I went through a dry patch, and by that I mean flaking, painful to touch, I will never be able to put enough moisturiser on my face kind of dry.

The worst spot was my eyelids, so much so that I was convinced it had to be an allergic reaction to something though that is not possible because I have been using the same products for months.

Anyhow, when my regular moisturiser wasn't at all enough I turned to this little sample tub of the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream in the hopes that it would be better.

Though this is marketed as a 24 hour light moisturising cream, I personally found it to be a lot thicker than other ones I have tried, and certainly a lot more moisturising. When I tried it months ago during a 'combination skin' phase, it made my skin way too greasy and was horrible to work with. Trying it with dry skin was a different story and was exactly what I needed to put back some moisture but also prevent moisture loss further.

I found that this didn't soak into the skin, which in this case was a good thing but certainly not a property I would usually find appealing. It felt thick and heavy and if I ran my hands over my skin it could easily be felt.

If I was to use this consistently for a long time I think it would be too much for my skin and would lead to breakouts. The only people I would recommend this to is those who are struggling with super dry skin, but even then I think there would be more effective moisturisers out there.

I am not going to lie, this isn't cheap. For a 50ml tub it costs you $34, more than I personally would fork out considering there are so many cheap moisturisers around the place these days. However, if my skin was permanently in such a horrible dry state then I think I would buy this as it was all that I could find that helped even in the slightest. It wasn't perfect but it did help.

For the first time in ages I have been able to get some use out of all the sample products that I seem to have building up in my drawer. I give this 6/10.

MAC lipglass - Kumquat

This is my first ever MAC product. Ever.

Call me crazy, but I've been drooling at my computer screen for so long now, devastated about the fact that I don't own a lipstick in Lovelorn or Creme Cup, or an eyeshadow in All that Glitters or Woodwinked or Naked Lunch. $36 dollars is just a painful amount to fork out for a lipstick when Essence has a gorgeous lipstick in All about Cupcake that I wear on a regular basis for $4. Still...

And then one day I found out that I had won Sophie's giveaway from Born to Buy and I just about had a heart attack when I realised that included in the prize was a product from MAC! Though my parents didn't appreciate how amazing this was, even they cracked a smile when they were blessed to witness my excitement regarding the news. MAC. I was going to own a product from MAC.

Just before we get into the review, I must say that I am not really a gloss person. I love my lipsticks and lip balms but glosses are just not something I wear on a regular basis, so I am kind of biased when I write the review in the sense that it takes a lot to impress me with a gloss!

The MAC lipglass in Kumquat is a gorgeous shimmery orange tangerine colour. In the tube it actually looks quite terrifying, and if it was an opaque lipstick I certainly wouldn't have the guts to wear it. However, as it is a lipgloss, when applied it is fairly sheer and instead of a full on orange look you get a gorgeous hint of orange with slight golden shimmer throughout. I like that this isn't too pigmented but it still has a decent amount of colour. I don't have any similar product like this in my collection so it has been fun playing around with a whole new lip shade. I like to combine it with other lipsticks to alter their colour, but even on its own I am able to pull this shade off.

I had difficulties with the ridiculously sticky nature of this gloss. It was so thick and tacky that even trying to open my mouth seemed a challenge as it stuck my lips together. When I applied only the tinest bit of it, it was a lot easier to manage, but of course the colour and shine was lost. My hair was in a ponytail yet I still found myself constantly pulling hair from my lips until my hair was just an awful orange gloopy mess. The only upside to this was that it meant that the gloss stayed on my lips for a very long time, but when it comes down to it I really just didn't get on with this aspect of the formula.

This gloss is super shiny, and though I'm not usually a fan of shimmer in this it is so subtle that I can deal with it. I really feel as though I've stepped out of some kind of advertisement when I wear this as my lips are stunningly glossy.

I really like the packaging of this gloss, especially that it has a doe foot applicator as opposed to a squeezy tube (I really, really don't like them!). The simplicity of it makes it look classy and put together, and I like that it is fairly small at only 4.8g as it is easy to slip into your makeup bag.

Here in Australia these cost a crazy $35, a price that I personally would not pay for a lipgloss no matter how incredible it is.

When it comes down to it, this product really hasn't blown my mind as I had hoped. In fact, the only reason I would wear this is for the gorgeous colour because the formula is pretty poor in comparison to my all time favourite Savvy gloss, or even the Essence stay with me or Australis glosses. This is quite disappointing considering it is my first ever MAC product, but even though I don't LOVE this it still holds a special spot in my collection and I will continue using this and won't be getting rid of it any time soon.

 I give this 6 out of 10.

Rimmel London 3 in 1 blush - Spring Flower

Getting creative at the beach!

It is not unusual for me to see a product on a blog, vow to purchase it and then put it off for months (even years sometimes) as I discover 'bigger and better' things to spend my money on. Every time I purchase one of those 'bigger and better' things, I love it for a while and then remember how much I really want this one product, as though the other purchases were simply temporary distractions along the way.

This Rimmel London 3 in 1 blush in the shade Spring Flower was one of those products that I wanted so badly for so long but just never got around to purchasing. I don't know why really, considering it's not terribly expensive and there was no real reason why I couldn't have just purchased it straight away, but it didn't make it into my collection until about a month ago, perhaps slightly longer.

As I spent so many months thinking about it but not ever using it, I talked myself into thinking that it was going to be the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel, and it basically earned HG status without me having even tried it. No matter how good it turned out to be, I guess I had built it up so much that it was only ever going to come as a disappointment.

I'd seen a couple of positive reviews on Rimmel blushes in the more recent months so it wasn't like I was completely weird to have thought this blush was going to be awesome, but I really, really wasn't impressed with this one.

The pigmentation is hopeless. As you can see in the pictures, when I attempted to swatch it using my fingers there was just no colour payoff whatsoever, let alone trying to use a brush for application. The lightest of the three shades appears to be all white shimmer and no colour - certainly not the kind of blush shade I was hoping for. The middle shade, a peachy pink, is also quite frosty/cool looking and a huge disappointment. The third, darkest shade, appears as a rosy pink and has the highest level of pigmentation. All mixed together they become a light pink, almost on the peachy side. 

I have seen glowing reviews regarding the pigmentation, so I am wondering if maybe I just got a dud. I've seen really heavy swatches for this, but no matter how hard I tried or how many times I went over and over my swatches, I just couldn't build up the colour to a good standard.

When I apply it to my face with a brush, you can see the blush. It is there, visible and all, but in comparison to some of my other favourite blushes this is just not even close. As it has a bit of shimmer in it, it becomes more noticeable when it catches the light but I also feel it becomes a little frosty too. 

The lasting power is pretty poor - it lasts about two hours before it fades and I am unsure as to whether it is still on. I think this is primarily because I am unable to get a decent amount of colour when I apply it initially and therefore the slightest fading makes it look like it is completely gone.

It is quite a chalky texture, more so the lightest shade than the others. I don't feel as though it applies well on the skin and I struggle to get it to blend nicely (a problem I never have with powder blushes).

In terms of the packaging, I really like the size and design, and I think the blush itself looks lovely. It comes with a pathetic little brush that I wouldn't dream of using. It still baffles me as to why companies include adding these useless brushes in.

When it comes down to it, had I not convinced myself that this was going to be the greatest blush ever created, I probably would have liked this a lot more. The pigmentation (or rather lack of) is my biggest problem with this, especially as I have seen other swatches that indicate otherwise.

Unfortunately I can only give this blush 6/10. A huge disappointment, although I will use this regularly as opposed to discarding it. 

Blistex Lip Conditioner

We've all heard the phrase 'Beauty is pain.' Well this fits that phrase perfectly, it is such a painful product.

Much like Carmex, which I struggle to get along with, this is one of those lipbalms that claims to 'tingle' when applied on the lips. What they mean by 'tingle' is actually burn, because I find that my lips are literally in pain as a result of this lip conditioner.

Blistex is a brand that I haven't heard much about or seen many reviews on but it has always taken my interest. I only have one other product from the brand, a strawberry lipbalm, but I do quite like it. This product, however, was not a favourite of mine.

The first thing I noticed when opening this was the incredibly strong smell of menthol mixed with sunscreen. It smells very...medical, if that makes sense. It is certainly not a nice scent. You can tell that this product is going to burn by just getting a whiff of it!

The product itself is quite waxy and gets very dry and hard in the pot. It is an off-yellow colour which is really not all that appealing. It takes a lot of swirling my fingers around in it to soften it enough for decent application. As always, I find pots a pain as I must get my fingers grubby.

There are however, some good points about this. On my lips it is very glossy and gives off a lovely sheen. Along with the tingling burning sensation, I find my lips go red in colour which, as it is achieved without tinted product, looks very natural (because it is!). The lip conditioner has an SPF 20 and is classified as 'High protection sunscreen' on the little tub.

I have been forcing myself to use it as I was interested in whether it really was more of a heavy duty lip balm and would give me lovely, moisturised lips. It turns out that yes, it is pretty good when it comes to doing what it is supposed to do.

Because this product works, I do use it even though I really, really don't like how 'tingly' it is. I apply it before bed so that I don't have that smell following me around during the day.

I would give this product 6 out of 10.

Australis Lip and Cheek Tint - Portrait Pink

I bought this for three dollars at Priceline the other day. I had never seen them before but figured for three dollars I may as well give it a shot.

It comes in a pen type mechanism with a brush on the end. You click the 'pen' and then the product seeps into the brush ready for application. I clicked it hesitantly once, expecting a whole heap of product to shoot out, but nothing happened.  I clicked again and once again it was bare, and in the end I had to to about 50 clicks before I saw the product - then it exploded. Honestly, it went from no product at all to an explosion of the stuff all over the brush - it was crazy!

It was a completely different colour to what I was expecting, so much darker and plum coloured. The packaging had suggested that it would be a light, bubblgum kind of pink but it most certainly isn't!

I applied it to my lips and it did, surprisingly, look quite nice. I was relatively pleased with the initial outcome, and then just waited to see if it would last the test of time. As I was going about my daily business I must have licked my lips and holy moly - it tastes foul! Honestly, it has such a sour, chemical taste that is really quite awful. It's terribly strong and tastes bitter and disgusting. I find it strange because it is advertised as a lip and cheek stain, so why is it that it tastes so awful?

Despite the fact that I was a little put off by the horrific taste, I still wanted to get my money's worth (even if that was only three dollars!) so I tested it out as a cheek stain. I am pleased to say that it works remarkably well and it is actually quite attractive. It is super easy to blend and has the perfect amount of pigmentation. It is pretty long lasting and looks good with or without foundation. It looks so natural, it is most definitely a lovely cheek stain.

I really do like it as a lipstain but I can't handle the foul taste. It is much better when you apply a lipgloss over the top (the Australis one in Jazz looks gorgeous!) but you have to keep reapplying to ensure that the taste is masked by the gloss.
It has a faint smell of roses (which is most definitely not what it tastes like!) so it's alright to have on the cheeks. When I get the product all over the packaging, it appears to be full of shimmer, but on my skin the shimmer completely disappears.

All up I am pretty glad I purchased this for three dollars as I will use it often as a cheek stain, but if you are looking for a good lipstain then I wouldn't suggest this. I give this a 6 out of 10.

Also, does anyone know if this is discontinued? The priceline I went to had a whole bin full of these, hundreds of them, but I have never seen them before...

Swatched, blended

Maybelline Shine Sensational lipgloss - Tempting Toffee

The Maybelline Shine Sensational glosses have been around for a long time, and were one of those products that I always wanted but never actually got around to purchasing. You know those products - the first magazine ad that comes out catches your eye. You fall in love with the product, seeing how gorgeous the model looks and promise to pick one up on the weekend. By the time the weekend gets around you have other priorities like grocery shopping and other riveting activities and forget how much you desperately wanted it. When you are in priceline you remember how badly you need it, but when you get to the stand the colour you want is gone or the price is three dollars more than you remember. You tell yourself that you will pick it up next time but you never actually get around to buying it. Yes, that is what this product was like for me. I desperately wanted it, forgot about it, wanted it again when I remembered, repeat, repeat, repeat.

The reason I did end up picking this up was because in Target they were having a $5 off all Maybelline products sale (awesome!) making this a total of six dollars, the cheapest I had ever seen it. From the beginning I always wanted the Glamorous Guava one but for some unknown reason, I chose the Tempting Toffee one instead. I still do not know why. Perhaps it was because it had no shimmer or because the colour in real life did not at all look like what was on the model, but to be honest I am glad I went with the flavour that I did.

At first I was concerned this was going to be a bit of an old lady colour - brown and boring - but it is actually a lovely rosy pink colour that is pretty much perfect. I love how it has no shimmer or glitter (although other flavours in the range do if you are into those kinds of glosses) and that it's an in between colour - it's not red, pink, coral or nude, it's simply in between.

It comes in a tube with a slanted applicator so it is pretty easy to apply. The consistency is quite thick but not overly sticky. I do feel as though it can be quite heavy on the lips but that of course comes with a lipgloss with a thicker consistency. It's smooth and creamy which of course is what we all want in a lipgloss.

Perhaps the most popular aspects of this lipgloss is the scent and taste. It does smell sweet and has a slight taste to it which is quite a pleasant one. I had expected it to have a stronger taste but I am quite glad that it doesn't...I am able to refrain from licking my lips every few seconds.

The lasting power is pretty good, of course eating and drinking gets rid of it in a flash but general lasting power isn't bad.

I really like the packaging of these with the different pictures on each tube, coressponding with the flavour.



Overall it is a bit thicker than I usually go for but it is tolerable. It smells nice, tastes nice, feels nice and generally is nice. It could be more pigmented for my liking and I tend to go for the doe foot wand applicators but this tube is fine. I give it 6 out of 10. If I saw them on sale for $6 again I would probably buy them, but not at full price.