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~

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! 

Eyeliner collection!

Hello everyone!

I'm going to be sharing my current eyeliner collection so far.

Here is all I currently have

I'll start off with the E.L.F eyeliners.

From Top: E.L.F Mineral Eyeliner in Coffee. E.L.F Brightening eyeliner in Black. E.L.F Shimmer eyeliner pencil in Gunmetal. E.L.F Shimmer eyeliner pencil in Black.

 

 

From Left: Shimmer Black. Shimmer Gunmetal. Brightening Black. Mineral Coffee

The shimmer eyeliners look really pretty, the other two are just quite plain and normal. I don't use these at all because they smudge really easily! Not good.

From Left: Shimmer Black. Shimmer Gunmetal. Brightening Black. Mineral Coffee.

It's a shame really since I really do like the shimmer liners, but hey, what can I expect from a budget makeup brand hmm?

Will definitely not purchase these again. I can't deal with smudging makeup...




Next up is BarryM   

Kohl pencil by BarryM in shade 18

 

I really don't like this pencil. I've actually had this for MANY years now... I have no idea how old it is. I'm not sure if it dried up because it's really old, but its really hard to apply and it's scratchy. I had to draw over and over to get it to show up like this on my arm, and it made the area sore from all the scratching...

Also because it is a purple eyeliner which is a colour I don't opt to line my eyes with on a daily basis. AND, it smudges too.

Onto the Rimmel liners.

Top: Exaggerate waterproof eye definer. Bottom: Soft Kohl kajal eyeliner pencil.

 I use the Exaggerate waterproof liner currently to line my water line as i find this soft and easy to apply without having to keep scratching/scraping it on my waterline. It is a retractable pencil where you just twist the top to let the product come out, it also comes with a spongy smudger on the other end of the pencil to help create a smokey eye look, and a sharpener if you pull the sponge end of the pencil out.

Left: Exaggerate waterproof eyeliner. Right: Soft Kohl kajal eyeliner.

Left: Exaggerate waterproof eyeliner. Right: Soft Kohl kajal eyeliner.

Both pencils also smudge. Which is why I only use to line my waterline.



Miss Sporty Mini-me eyeliner.

050 Snow

It was actually hard for me to focus on this swatch because it was quite faint.

Then when I did a smudge test it almost nearly disappeared.

I bought this years ago to do the whole 'highlight the inner corner of your eyes to brighten and widen them' but when I did it on myself, I didn't like it at all. I'll maybe use this for occasions such as Halloween.


Maybelline Gel liner

Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner 01 Black

I think my gel liner is getting a bit dry now hence why the application isn't as smooth as it used to be. I used to use this gel liner a lot because it would stay put on my eyelids.

It does smudge so you have to be careful, which is why I stopped using it and drifted onto liquid liners!



Liquid liners

From Top: Eyeko Skinny liquid eyeliner Navy. Eyeko Skinny liquid eyeliner Black. Eyeko eye do liner. Make Up For Ever Aqua Liner 15. Rimmel Exaggerate eyeliner 001

From Left: Eyeko Skinny Navy. Eyeko Skinny Black. Eyeko Eye Do. Make Up For Ever 15. Rimmel 001.

From Left: Eyeko Skinny Navy. Eyeko Skinny Black. Eyeko Eye Do. Make Up For Ever 15. Rimmel 001.

Liquid liners are currently my favourite right now, I'm always reaching for them. The one i'm using on a regular basis right now is the Make Up For Ever Aqua Liner in shade 15. I forgot the name of the shade... I originally wanted a black colour but they had sold out so I went for the next darkest shade which was this shimmery grey one. Quite happy with it!

As you can see above, only the Rimmel liner smudges, the others do not budge one bit!

I prefer the 'pot' style liners such as the Make up for ever and rimmel liquid liners, as the applicator will always have an even coat of product on it. As for the Eyeko liners, they are a felt tip applicator, and my eye do one has slightly dried out so when I attempt to draw a cat eye, it comes out really rough and uneven, rather than the straight sharp line I am trying to achieve. I find the 'pot' liners much easier to achieve a straight sharp line. Though I must say, I really did like the Eyeko liners when I first got it them (before they started to dry up). I store the Eyeko ones upside down (tip down) to help keep the product near the tip to keep it moist and ready for use, but it's still quite rough.

All in all, liquid liners are my go to right now!

I hope this post was interesting to you...

Until next time~~~!

New Lip Balms!

Today I went out to the high street to pick up some stuff to bring with me to uni in a few weeks.

Then I came across these new lip balms by Maybelline - BABY LIPS

 

I got these from Boots, as they were also on offer for 3 for 2, priced at £2.99.

I picked up all three as the Blue Hydrate one has SPF 20 and is a clear lip balm.

The Orange one is Cherry Me, and is a red colour, the scent is a gorgeous sweet cherry!

The Pink one is Pink Punch that looks like a florescent pink, and smells like strawberry bubble gum, not the overly strong scent! 

Here are swatches of Pink Punch (left) and Cherry Me (right)

As you can see, it gives a very light tint of colour, perfect for a more natural look.

 

I have applied the Blue Hydrate one to my lips, and I already feel that it is moisturizing. More than Carmex, which I feel dries my lips after a while. 

 

I actually really like these lip balms, and since I have three, they will last me quite a while before I need to repurchase them :)

 

Product rating:

★★★★★