Lip Balms Review 2015

If you've read my previous post (or follow me on social media) about my ongoing search for the perfect lip balm that works for me, then you'll know how painstaking it is!

These are the lip balms I have purchased and tried over the last 2 years (2014 and 2015).

Just as a back story, my lips have always been prone to getting really dry, flaky and cracking, which always results in me biting and pulling the skin off my lips. Bad habit to that because I always make my lips sore and bloody, but I just can't stand the dry flakiness so I rip it off. Hence why I have been searching for an effective lip balm to help reduce all of this.

I'll start with the ones that didn't work for me.

From top to bottom: Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream, Carmex in strawberry, Burts Bees in pomegranate, and Salvatore Ferragamo lip balm.

Starting with the Elizabeth Arden 8 hour lip repair cream, I had heard from friends and other bloggers that it was an amazing product and that they loved it. So I then decided to try it out for myself. Unfortunately, it did not work well with me.

First off, I think I should have gotten the stick version rather than the pot, because I do find it difficult to get out onto my finger, due to having long nails all the time. I dislike dipping fingers in pots in general to be honest. The consistency of the product is quite hard, like the ones you get in stick form, and the smell is not bad either, not a strong smell.

Secondly, I applied it every night before I went to bed for 2 weeks. When I woke up, my lips were still dry, and cracked, and I still had to pull it off because it was annoying! Did not make a difference at all. For the price of this product, I was very disappointed that it did not work for me. I'll probably still try to use it though, since it is the most expensive lip balm I have purchased, would feel like such a waste to just not use it...

Next is the Carmex lip balm. I had also previously had the cherry flavour Carmex, which I didn't finish, there was still some left but I put the last remaining into a homemade lip scrub I made.

The Carmex I felt didn't work for me either. The purchase of the strawberry one was random because I just saw and thought, why not. Lips were still dry after using it and I didn't like the feel of it on my lips either. The smell is quite strong and very artificial smelling, the kind that I dislike. The cherry flavour was bearable, but the strawberry one is repulsive to me. The consistency of the product is slightly thick when you squeeze it out, once applied to the lips it just melts out.

The next product is Burts Bees in pomegranate. This also left my lips dry and peeling afterwards so it did not help my lips condition. The product smells okay though. This lip balm works for other friends of mine, but not for me.

And the last of them is the lip balm by Salvatore Ferragamo. The consistency of the product is a little watered down, and it makes my lips feel a little weird. It also has a smell that I am not a fan of.

I have to admit, that this lip balm is not the worst out of all of them, because it did actually help my lips a little, but due to the smell and the feel of it on my lips, I don't like using it.

Final verdict: Will not repurchase any of these products.

Top to bottom, left to right: Vaseline Aloe Vera, Vaseline Rose and Almond oil Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach kiss, Pink punch, and Cherry me, Clinque Chubby Stick 06 Whoppin' Watermelon.

So the Vaselines are the standard that everybody will have, the aloe vera one was the first one I got years ago, now it contains my homemade lip scrub that I made (reusing the tin). I moved onto the Rose and almond oil Vaseline because I wanted something a a little tint. Although I only use them at home anyway, any form of pot/tin that requires me to dip a finger in I will never take out with me to use on the go. Even at home I have to use a Q-tip to dip it in to get the product out, just because I have a cleanliness ocd ahaha. I used to apply the Vaseline before I go to bed, and by morning my lips felt great! Soft and smooth, no dryness. But then throughout the day if i don't reapply then my lips will slowly dry out again. I did recently purchase the stick form of Vaseline though! Just haven't used it yet because I still have so many lip balms to go through so I don't wanna open up another one.

Out of the Maybelline Baby Lips range, I think the 'Hydrate' one (the stick is blue) was the best. I finished that in no time, it smelt nice and felt okay on my lips. It is not pictured because I threw it out ages ago because I finished it. It was a great handbag lipbalm. Now the tinted ones pictured above are hardly used by me, just because they only look nice on my lips when there aren't any dry patches and flaking on my lips. Because these are coloured, it does highlight the dryness on my lips. They all smell very nice and the tints come off in nice colours, but just due to the fact that I'm trying to treat my lips at the moment, they are not used as often as I would like to use them.

The Clinque chubby stick is good, its a nice soft subtle tint to the lips and hydrating. I keep this in my handbag for when I want to add a little pink to my lips while I'm out.

Final Verdict: Will repurchase.

L'Occitane Baume Levres and DHC lip cream

Finally, onto the ones that have made a big difference to my lips, my holy grails!!

The L'Occitane baume levres is the first out of the two that I got my hands on, and oh my gosh I fell in love with the product! It really helped my lips stop drying out and flaking all together. No more biting and pulling at peeled skin on the lips! It's also great that its a stick form so I could carry it around with me as well. The smell is very faint but nice, and the feel on the lips is like you aren't wearing anything. There's no shine or tint so it's even suitable for men.

The DHC lip cream I had to get from abroad as it isn't available to purchase here in the UK. This one was from Hong Kong (Thanks Sophie <3). This is my current lip balm right now since I finished the L'Occitane one, I carry the DHC with me everywhere. It is hydrating, has a creamy feel when applied, there is a slight shine to lips, and there is also a slight scent but it isn't strong at all. The packaging is cute and dainty as it is a slim stick, pink and simple.

Thanks to both of these products, my lips have stopped peeling and I have no urge to bite and pull at my lips anymore! Hooray

Final Verdict: Will  definitely repurchase!!!

I'm more likely to repurchase the L'Occitane lip balm though, just because it is more accessible to me. The DHC will have to wait until I myself, or any friends/family goes to Asia and can pick me up another one!

Until next time~

What's in my everyday handbag!

Everyday Skincare Routine

HAUL: Collective Makeup Haul Winter/Spring 2015

I'm back on Youtube!

With a no mirror makeup challenge! Check the video below and subscribe!

Macaron Trinket box

I've been wanting one of these for ages since I first saw them, about 2 years ago. I saw that they had them in Urban Outfitters, but in the US. NOT UK! I was so sad. But this year one of my friends went to New York, and I was lucky enough for her to pick one up for me <3 

The quality of it isn't what I expected for the price of it. The paint chips off pretty easily.. I think I might end up painting over it in a similar colour, then putting clear nail polish/top coat over it. Maybe that will help stop it from chipping so easily!

It's a pretty little handy trinket box, which I'm gonna use to keep my small jewelry in when traveling or staying over places (so I don't lose earrings/rings). The company that makes these is called 'Two's Company", search Macaron trinket box.

Cute cup = makeup brush holder

 

Decided to use this cup that I've had for years now (Thanks Sab <3) to hold/store my makeup brushes. It has two cute faces and arm handles! It comes with a lid and spoon straw too (not pictured). My friend got this from Malaysia as a souvenir when she went~ Asia always has all the best cute stuff. 

REVIEW: Eyebrow products

Over the years I have tried a couple of different eyebrow products, I didn't get into the routine or obsession with filling my brows in until about 3 years ago when I was 20! Now it is a must to fill in my brows.

Here are my bare brows. My hair looks extra ginger in here..

I'll start in ascending order of products I have used so far.

Rimmel professional brow pencil

Excuse the scruffy brush, I haven't washed it for ages since I don't even use it..

Being a makeup newbie at the time, I purchased this Rimmel brow pencil in shade 002 Hazel, as my hair is brown. But even then, I didn't really use it much! The pencil lid has a little brow brush for you to brush out and blend any harsh drawn lines in your brows. Over time the brush will gunk up with product so make sure you clean the brush every so often.

The colour of the pencil is really off of the colour that I want it to be (to complement my dyed hair colour, which is always a shade of brown). It comes out ORANGE on application and just looks really wrong. I just don't like the finish and look of my brows after I use this product. I also wasn't really a fan of the brush design, I'm a spoolie girl.

Wearing Rimmel brow pencil in 002 Hazel

As you can see... the outcome is really unflattering on me. It just looks weird and very unnatural because it stands out so much.

As I got more and more educated about makeup products and techniques, I can now confidently say that I will not go back to this product.


Maybelline master shape brow pencil

As my Rimmel brow pencil was nearing it's end, I opted for Maybelline brow pencil in soft brown, just to try another brand. I find that this product is way too wasteful, I have to sharpen it after each use, as it is quite sheer and I have to layer it on, but even then I'm not really satisfied. The life span of this pencil is very short due to this. I also find that this product is way too waxy, and it leaves my brows looking like I've rubbed Vaseline on them... so greasy. Of course it is better after I use the brush to brush it out, but in the end it is still quite sheer. Coverage is very minimal for the amount of layering I've done.

Wearing Maybelline brow pencil in soft brown

On the plus side, this pencil comes with a spoolie brush on the opposite end to brush and blend your brows. I don't use the pencil anymore, but I do use it's spoolie! Therefore I will not purchase this again.


Collection 2000 Work the Colour Eyebrow kit

The brow gel is not pictured, I used it up ages ago and discarded of the empty tube!

As you can see, I hit the pan in the brown shade. Shows how much I use it!

I was looking for a brow powder to try for the first time, so I opted with a drugstore one to see if I liked the results compared to previous pencils. I ended up with a collection 2000 one since I saw that it came with 3 colours and a brow gel, which gave me a chance to try two new things at once! My first brow powder and I love it. Ever since switching to powder, I haven't looked back to pencils. It gives me a much softer look, the perfect colour to compliment my hair, and is easily build-able to achieve the desired effect. The palette contains 3 different shades; black, brown and light, which gives me a great option to mix and blend to get the right colour brows I want. I use the brown shade the most to colour my brows, the black shade to fill in any sparse areas, and the light shade to contour my nose.

Wearing Collection 2000 work the colour eyebrow kit

It comes with a little double ended brow brush, one side angled flat, and the other is rounded edge. I have always gone for the angled side of the brush as it work best for me. There's also a mini brow gel for you to set your brows after filling and shaping them to your desire! This is also what got me into eyebrow mascara. I love this product, but once it runs out, I will try another brow palette, just because I like to try and test new products.

GOSH eyebrow mascara 

As my hair is dyed brown, I find that my black brows look too harsh on my face. Although the brow powder helps to lighten my brows, I was also looking to get a coloured brow mascara to kind of 'tint' my brows temporarily each time. Looking at drugstore products, I found these GOSH brow mascaras in two different shades of brown, 002 and 003. There were no testers (Do people just steal testers? Loads are also missing!) so I just went and bought both of them to try myself and give my verdict.

The result? They don't add colour to my brow hairs. But they do keep my brows in place. Which is okay but not what I was looking for. Would I purchase these again? No.

MUA clear brow gel

Not much to say about a clear brow gel. It was cheap and does the job! You get a lot of product too as the tube is long. This is value for money and I'd go back to it.

Soap & Glory Archery brow tint & precision shaping pencil

My first try of Soap & Glory cosmetics! I had heard good reviews about the Archery brow products, so I went and bought both of them. I got the shade 'Brownie Points'.

The Archery brow tint is a light liquid pen brush applicator, and the shaping pencil is retractable. It took me a few tries to get the perfect brow look with this pen, the first few times my brows kept ending up looking thicker than usual. So after I brushed just below my brow shape to keep it from going too thick, and in the end I got the hang of it!

Wearing Soap & Glory Archery brow tint & shaping pencil

This product is good, however I am still straying back to the good old Collection 200 brow kit, as I am just more comfortable using powder. I do use the shaping pencil after filling my brows in with the powder, as the pencil is a little waxy, it helps to shape my brows even more. Also, you can use the brow tint to draw a precise line under the brow if you want more definition, just make sure you don't use a heavy hand. This is a product that I would definitely go back to.



Soap & Glory Archery 2 in 1

I've heard other beauty bloggers compare the Soap & Glory Archery 2 in 1 brow filling pencil and brush to the Anastasia Brow Wiz, which made me want to get it and try it out myself. First look at the pencil, it is really thin. Like reaaaaalllyyy thin, it feels very delicate compared to other brow pencils/pens i've used or held.

Wearing Soap & Glory 2 in 1 brow filling pencil

I like the result, although it is a little slightly darker than the brow powder, it isn't much of a difference. Easy and precise, as the pencil is retractable and its thin, you can draw nice soft thin lines to fill and shape the brows. The brush spoolie is also small and thin which makes brushing more accurate. I think I have a thing for small products, it feels so dainty and I love it!

This is another product that I would definitely go back to. I'd recommend this Soap & Glory 2 in 1 brow pencil to those that want a good Anastasia brow wiz dupe because you don't want to break your bank!