BYS Sassy Salmon and Coral Kiss Lipsticks

Sassy Salmon

I have two BYS lipsticks to review today, in the shades Sassy Salmon and Coral Kiss.

If you read my last post you would be aware that I have been looking for these lipsticks for a while, particularly Sassy Salmon, since spotting them on Lilit's blog Makeup and Macaroons.

The brand BYS isn't too hard to find but I have had so much trouble finding these particular shades. It seems that they are relatively popular!

I usually stick to the safest, nude, natural coloured lipsticks and Sassy Salmon is a lipstick that is definitely within my comfort zone! Still, I decided that a bright lippie whilst a little more daring is still wearable, so I went for Coral Kiss too.


Coral Kiss

I tried out Sassy Salmon first because it is the one I am most comfortable with. The lipstick itself is quite creamy and easy to apply. It is nicely pigmented and the colour I just love. The packaging is okay, but I found that the lid gets a little stick on, and then when you pull it off it clips the side of the lipstick and takes a chunk out.

It lasts a reasonable amount of time, but the thing that I don't like is that when it wears off it is a little patchy. It doesn't matter too much with this colour because it is light and close to my lip colour, but if this was a bright red I would be annoyed.

I was able to eat a small snack and drink a glass of water and it didn't rub off too much. I am really pleased with this lipstick, because despite these few annoyances it cost three dollars! Some of the lipsticks at Priceline cost up to 40 dollars, with the average being between 15 and 25! You can't complain with three dollars!

Sassy Salmon

Coral Kiss was very, very bright in my opinion. Still, a good friend of mine would consider it to be tame, she is the queen of bright lippies!  This colour was more pink that coral I think, but in the photo it looks less pink.

Coral Kiss was less drying out of the two lipsticks, but it wasn't that glossy overall. This one stayed on for longer and didn't go as patchy when it wore off. Overall it is a better formula, which is a shame because I like the colour of the other one better.

I wouldn't wear the colour Coral Kiss everyday but I guess it is just my opinion and what I am comfortable with. If you love brights then I am sure you would be able to pull this off!


L-R: Coral Kiss, Sassy Salmon

 So, overall what are my thoughts on the BYS lipsticks? I am so glad that I tried them! They may not be the best quality lipstick in the world, but they certainly are the cheapest and the quality is very good when you take the price into consideration.

I would recommend buying one to see what you think, because I know people differ in opinions. A friend of mine hates these lipsticks, purely because she is used to the highest quality, super expensive lipsticks. I like them and suggest you give one a shot, after all it's not like you would lose a whole heap of cash by doing so!

I give these lipsticks 6.5 out of 10.


Coral Kiss- in real life it is 
more pink in colour

Cheap as Chips - The new Priceline!!!

Okay, maybe Cheap as Chips hasn't taken away my love for Priceline, but god is it good! For those Australians that are forever looking over Cheap as Chips because at first glance it looks as though it is only full of two dollar party hats, please do that no more!

I admit, I am guilty of never ever going into Cheap as Chips because to be honest, it's pretty dodgy. But recently I found myself in the biggest Cheap as Chips ever - it was the size of a warehouse!!! I discovered that it was where Priceline would give all of its less popular, mislabeled, slightly unusual products to be sold at 1/100th of the original price! I was in heaven.

You see, there was absolutely nothing wrong with any of the products dumped in the huge plastic tubs, it's just that there might have been a scratch on the golden lipstick tube, or the bronzer might have been labelled as eyeshadow, or the black eyeliner may have had "A gorgeous shimmery pink lip liner" written on the side, but apart from that they were all perfectly fine.

I think I spent about thirty minutes digging my way through the endless makeup, separating the brown lipstick and dark green and red lipgloss (yes, there was a dark green and red lipgloss) from the gorgeous pink lipsticks and shimmery eyeshadows. It required patience and effort but I enjoyed it so much, and you have no idea how worth it it was! I had to limit myself to six things, but I honestly could have bought about twenty!

So, after all this rambling I suppose you are curious to see what I actually bought! Let me show you!

The first item I spotted was a Loreal Paris golden eyeshadow. I snapped it up straight away but unfortunately I discovered it had a huge crack in it and all the shadow was falling out. Oh dear. It was okay though because I instantly replaced it with a Maybelline dream mousse eyeshadow in Suede Sensation (which I later found out was totally discontinued). I have never had a cream/mousse eyeshadow before, so I am really looking forward to seeing how it differs from other eyeshadows.

Another Maybelline product that I purchased was an Expert Wear Bronzer in the shade Forever Warm. I don't have a huge collection of bronzers so I figured it would be a good bronzer to get.

I also got a Maybelline Shadow Stylist Loose powder eyeshadow in Rich Violet. I have very few loose eyeshadows so this will be good to try out. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this product but I am hoping for good things!

I also found two BYS lipsticks that I have had my eye on since seeing them on Lilit's blog Makeup and Macaroons. I have been looking for these for a while but was struggling to get them in the shades I wanted. Finally I found the shades Sassy Salmon and Coral Kiss. I really love the shade Sassy Salmon, I'm so glad I found it!

Last but not least is the BYS Nail Polish in the shade 'Salmon' (More Salmon!) which is a polish that changes colour according to your mood (well, that's what the packet says anyway - haha!) I am looking forward to seeing whether it changes colour enough to notice, or whether it is just like every other regular polish.

Do you want to know the best bit? Everything but the polish was $3, and the polish was $3.50. Bargain!

NOTD - Marble Nails



Left Hand

 Today I finally got around to trying out marble nails! I had seen someone else try it out on their blog, and I thought that it was  something I would have to have a shot at. They used four different colours, however I kept it simple for my first time and only used two.

I was aware that it used up quite a bit of polish, so I used my cheap Ulta Nail polishes which are only three dollars each. It worked really well. The colours I used were Lily White and Plum Violet. The colours worked brilliantly together!

For those of you who haven't heard of marble nails, or who haven't given it a shot, I'll tell you how I did mine.
I had a paper towel lay out on the table, with a plastic cup placed on top. The cup was filled 3/4 full of warm water. I had a plastic knife and a couple of wooden skewers handy.

This isn't a necessary step but I seriously recommend it - using common household sticky tape, tape all around your nails about 2 centimetres down your finger from the base of your nail. It it so worth it, because it makes cleaning your fingers so much easier later on. Do it and it will save you so much time and effort!

I simply began by getting one of my polishes and holding the brush out above the water until a drop of polish fell into the water. As soon as it hit the water it spread out to the edges of the cup. I then dropped a drop of the other colour polish into the middle of the cup once again, and that polish spread out too. I did this a couple more times until I had about five rings of polish. It resembled the targets used for archery (or Target's logo!).

Using the pointy end of the skewer, gently swirl it around in the polish, creating the desired pattern. Play around with the different patterns you can create, but be careful because too much swirling leads to a muddied mess!

I then dipped my finger in, trying my best to get the specific part of the pattern onto my nail, and held my finger in the water. Using the plastic knife, I dipped the handle into the cup and gathered up the rest of the polish surrounding my finger. Don't worry too much about getting all of it, but try your best. Then gently lift your finger out of the water and blow any water droplets off the nail.

Carefully peel the sticky tape off of the finger, revealing a beautifully patterned nail.

Repeat the whole process once again.

I did have a couple of dilemmas that occurred whilst doing this. The main problem was that when I dropped the polish into the water, it just stayed there in a blob. I found that the most common reason this occurred was because my water was too dirty. I just changed the water (or, if too much polish had gathered around the edges I got a new cup) and then found it to be okay.

Another problem was that the polish wouldn't spread out, even with new water. My Rimmel London 60 second polishes would not respond to the water whatsoever - I think it might have something to do with the formula. You will quickly find which polishes work and which don't.

When I went to create a pattern with the skewer, sometimes it would all just curl up into a ball and stick to the end of the skewer. This occurred when I had taken too long to get around to making the pattern. You must be relatively quick or else the polish 'sets' on the water and won't work.

I really enjoyed doing this, and whilst it took a very long time for me to do, it wasn't actually that difficult.

So, I suppose after all that talking you would like to see some more photos! Here they are!



Left hand. You can see the areas that weren't covered with tape!
The polish on the skin was removed by nail polish remover
I'm sure it's not good for my skin!

Had to include the left thumb because it's my favourite nail!



Right Hand



Right hand.



Right thumb - you can see there is a water bubble



Maybelline Colour Sensational Pearl Lipsticks

Whilst Christmas shopping the other day, I came across some Maybelline lipstick samples. Being the lip product lover that I am, I snapped them up!

The colours that I got were Pearly Pink and Coral Gleam. Pearly pink, as the name suggests, is a light pink colour that has a pearly sheen to it. I personally found that it was much too frosty for me. I wouldn't buy this colour for myself because it just made me look like a corpse. Coral Gleam was much better. It was a lot less frosty and contained more colour than sparkle. I thought it was going to be too orange in colour, however I found it to be quite easy to wear.



Coral Gleam



 On the left is Coral Gleam. The colour in real life is slightly different - a little more orange coloured, but still completely wearable. Below is Pearly Pink and it actually looks quite nice in the picture. It was a lot more shimmery and white in colour in real life, of course resulting in me looking rather washed out. It wasn't too awful but I definititely would not purchase the Pearly pink lipstick.

 

Pearly Pink

I looked up the lipsticks on the Maybelline website to see the different shades. It is funny because these two colours are the exact colours that I would generally choose, however this time Pearly Pink didn't work out.

I really quite liked the texture and feel of these lipsticks - they were smooth and creamy, although I did find Pearly Pink to contain a couple of gritty bits. I'm not sure whether this was because it came in a tiny sample though.

I'm not sure that this lipstick range would be anything that I would check out. I already have a pearly/frosty kind of lipstick and I don't wear it all that often.

I would give Pearly Pink 3 out of 10, and Coral Gleam 6 out of 10.



L - Pearly Pink, Coral Gleam

DB 48 colour Eyeshadow Palette

Hey guys, I haven't posted for a couple of days. You see, I unexpectedly ended up in hospital for a little bit, but everything is okay now and I'm hoping that the recovery will be pretty quick. Let's get into the interesting part - the review!

I was lucky enough to get this eyeshadow palette in a magazine (a magazine that I got for free - wooo!). Anyway, there are (apparently) two types of palettes- shimmer or matte. I happened to get the shimmer one, which is what I was hoping for.

There are 48 different colours in this palette, and the range is pretty good. It's not amazing, but it could be worse. I like how almost half the palette is neutral/natural shades of brown, cream, white and gold because those are the colours I feel most comfortable wearing. There is also a big range of black which I love too. Some of the colours are very similar to one another, which is annoying because I feel as though they could have been replaced with other colours that are lacking (like blue). Still, I consider it to be pretty good for a freebie!

The packaging is a sturdy case with a mirror. I love it, except that the shiny black plastic shows up finger prints and therefore always, always looks grotty!

The pigmentation of each of the shades varies greatly. Some are incredibly pigmented, yet others aren't pigmented AT ALL. Some of them slide easily onto the eyelid, others it seems as though you need to rub and rub and rub until anything goes on. It's a bit frustrating, especially when your favourite colour is grainy and dry and then your most hated colour has the perfect texture!

The applicators that come with it are pretty useless, but at a push could be used if need be.

I'm not sure how much they cost individually (without the magazine) but if it was reasonably cheap I would probably purchase it. The colours aren't amazingly long lasting but they are pretty good. I have had a little bit of a problem with creasing, but I haven't tried it with a primer so it might be better.

I am able to create many looks with this, and it is so much better than the eyeshadow I had before - only four colours, all so similar! (Maybelline Eyeshadow palette). I'm really looking forward to creating some interesting looks!

I give this eyeshadow palette 7 out of 10. The reason for this is because the quality and texture of the shadow is so inconsistent between every colour!

I found a dupe

 I've never done a dupe post, but I think I may do them more often because I seem to be doubling up in shades within my makeup collection - especially with my lip products!

Top - Maybelline, Rhinestone Pink
Bottom - Girlforce, Pearl



Remember when I did that post on the mysterious glosses I found that had no name? Well, read it here if you have no idea what I am talking about. Anyway....

I found a dupe for my Girlforce lipgloss in the shade I named Pearl! It is....

Maybelline's Superstay Powergloss in ... a shade that is not written on the lipgloss. For goodness sake!



L- Girlforce, Pearl
R - Maybelline, Rhinestone Pink



I had to go to the shop and try and find a match for this lipgloss, and I eventually found out that it is called Rhinestone Pink. Why on earth did they only write the shade colour on the packaging that you tear off?

It is almost the exact same colour as my Girlforce lipgloss in Pearl, except that it applies evenly and stays on a little longer. It is less 'white' as well. That might sound stupid, but with the Girlforce lipgloss, when it gathered in the creases of my lips it went a little white in colour, however the Maybelline gloss really doesn't.

With the swatches on my hand they look exactly the same, whereas in the tube the Maybelline one looks to be a little sparklier.




Girlforce, Pearl

  However, on the lips they look a little different. Here you can see on the left that Pearl appears to have a little more colour than Rhinestone, however I think that may be because it is a little more in focus. You can also see that it became a little white gathered in the crease between the two lips whereas Rhinestone most definitely did not do that. In the tube it looks as though rhinestone has large bits of glitter, however on the lips you can't see that as much. The side photo shows the sparkles as little.




Maybelline, Rhinestone

 



Maybelline, Rhinestone

I'm hoping to have a review on Maybelline Rhinestone either tomorrow or Thursday, I just have to upload the photos.

Impulse - Goddess

I think it is time for a body spay review - we haven't had one of them for a long time. Goddess was one that I found instantly appealing. I'm not sure why, apart from the fact that it looked gorgeous (don't they all?) there was something that just pulled me towards it.

The can is a pale yellow colour and is covered in orange and yellow hearts, circular jewels, ribbons and stars. It's really lovely. I think it might even be one of my favourite looking cans yet (do I say that every time?)

It is described as having 'a blend of exotic oriental scents and citrus notes.' At first spray, to be honest, it just smells like alcohol but soon it turns into this lovely fruity scent. It's quite subtle in comparison to some of the other impulses, so a lot is required if you wish to get a good whiff of this lovely scent.

It's really sweet - more orange smelling than lemon. It is also quite floral, but not too heavy, light floral. Does that make any sense?! It's a really light kind of scent and isn't very noticeable. It's quite a young kind of smell too.

I don't really think that the name for it is quite right. I would expect a fragrance called Goddess to smell of vanilla and musk and really rich, creamy kind of flavours. It would be better suited to a different name.

I like this lovely smell but it is just too subtle and not all that long lasting. I give it 7 out of 10.

What it smells like: Sweet citrus, light flowers and water
Where I would wear it: To a picnic in the garden
Who would wear it: Someone shy and girlie who is kind and sweet
Season and time to wear it: Spring during the day

Lacking inspiration and motivation

Okay, so lately I have been stuck in a bit of a blogging rut. I haven't been inspired or motivated to do any posts and I haven't been producing the most amazing posts ever, so my apologies to you all.

I've been stuck on 54 followers for what seems like years now, and comments haven't been coming in as often as they were. But then I stopped to think...

What on Earth am I thinking? I love blogging! I love messing around with makeup and having a good time. So what if I am not gaining any new followers -There are 54 people who actually like reading my blog! Can you believe that? And as for the comments, that's my own fault. If I don't write anything decent, then why should I expect thousands of comments?!

So, now that I've woken up to my own stupidity, I am going to try and write a post that is half decent. I think I'll write a review.

Thankyou dear followers for reading my blog and I hope that my posts will get a little better as time goes on!



Look what you can make with a couple of eyeliners and a lip liner!



New polishes

While Christmas shopping I saw that there was a polish sale on the Rimmel London 60 second nail polishes. Well, no, what I actually saw was a huge crowd of people with hands flying everywhere as they frantically grabbed at some product I couldn't quite see. The 60 second nail polishes were half price ($4 instead of $8), what a bargain! I wriggled my way through and joined the mess of crazy people, and came out (thankfully still in one piece!) with three new polishes.

So, I picked up three new shades making my whole 60 second collection a total of four. Yay!

I already had the shade 430 Coralicious (sorry about the terrible photos on the actual review, the colour looks awful!) and now I have the shades 810 Blue my mind,  230 Portobello Pink and 415 Instyle coral, too. I think Coralicious is still my favourite but Instyle Coral is pretty damn close!

I will be posting individual reviews for each of these polishes soon (you know, once I have actually worn them properly) but unfortunately I am unable to wear polish for a few weeks (my dress code does not permit!) but once I hit holidays, I'll get reviewing!

Here is a little taste of what you shall be seeing! I only applied one coat on each of my nails, so that is why they are not fully opaque.

 



L-R: Instyle Coral, Coralicious, Portobello Pink, Blue my mind



Summer's finally here!

Summer has finally arrived, and I almost forgot. How awful. The weather wasn't all that summer-y which was incredibly disappointing but I refuse to be disheartened. It's nearly Christmas and nearly my holidays and there is nothing more I could ask for.

So, how can I kick off my summer posting? I was totally stuck for ideas so I decided to consult Mr Google and he was of no use. I then turned to magazines for inspiration and they were of no use either.

So, what I have come up with isn't as interesting and exciting as I had hoped, but unfortunately my brain is a little frazzled from my busy, no chaotic lifestyle of late.
Summer Beauty must-haves
SPF - I have foundation with SPF and lipbalm with SPF that I get out especially for summer because I consider it to be incredibly important.
UV triplegard sunscreen - Sorry, so boring but can you think of anything else for 'U'! This is a sunscreen that is a little greasy but the one I have is water resistant and has never let me get sunburned!
Maybelline baby lips - These lipbalms I'm sure you've heard me raving about but they are amazing. They also contain SPF and heal my chapped lips like nothing else.
More natural - Summer is time to embrace the natural look, I think, so neutral shadow and neutral lips are my favourite looks. A golden glow is also gorgeous.  
Exfoliation - I think it is essential to exfoliate in summer - it gets rid of my sunscreen filled pores and buffs away all the sea salt stuck to my skin. Ahhh, it feels good just talking about it!
Rexona deodorant in 'Delicious' - I love this scented deodorant for summer. I find it works so well and smells just as the name suggests - delicious!

So, that was the best I could come up with. Now I shall leave you with some wonderful summer photos!

I have taken all of these pictures and they are not to be used without my permission.



This is actually a pool - the sand is fake and the water is chlorine

 

Sunbathing



By the pool...

One of the best sunsets I have ever seen

So tropical

I am so proud of this picture!

I am also proud of this one!

Another gorgeous Summer sunset

The beach