Sunday, August 25

Revlon Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon

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Heavily swatched

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After about an hours wear

I love Revlon's lip butters, they are well pigmented while slightly sheer and buttery soft. It might surprise you then to know that until a few days ago I only had one in my collection.

Revlon launched their Lip Butters well over a year ago now and they immediately because a cult beauty favourite. While the formula was fantastic, the shade range was slightly lacking (in the UK anyway). There was a wide choice but many of the colours had a slight shimmer which put me off them.

Earlier this year Revlon launched four new shades in the UK. And there isn't a hint of shimmer in sight, just beautiful balmy lipsticks.

I picked up the shade Wild Watermelon which in the bullet looks like a bright orange toned red but looks a lot pinker on the lips, especially once worn for a while.

Like the other lip butters the texture is lovely, buttery soft, glossy but balmy not sticky. The pigmentation is good, easily buildable until it's opaque but you could also wear a sheer wash of colour. I found that the wear time was quite good. If you swatch the colour heavily it dies down quite quickly but it takes a long time to completely fade away leaving you with a slight stain. The lip butters are really easy to apply on the go anyway so isn't too much of a problem if you find that it wears quickly.

The only quibble I have with the Lip Butters is that they don't contain much product, just 2.55g. Most lip sticks have about 4g of product so that's a little disappointing.

You can buy Revlon Lip Butters for £7.99 in most chemists including Boots and Superdrug

Tuesday, August 13

Eco Tools Fresh & Flawless Set

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Wandering the isles of Boots recently I began browsing the Brush section - always a dangerous pursuit. I spotted a cute little box containing a set of five of Eco Tools face brushes. The box promised a 'Smooth Airbrushed Finish' and 'Beautifully Soft Brushes' and was under £15 so I popped it in my basket and left Boots a happy girl.

Firstly, I think that these brushes look really cute. They're travel size so perfect for popping in your handbag or taking on holiday. The ferrules are also different colours, unlike the usual Eco Tools brushes, and have pretty leafy and floral designs on. The ferrules are also made out of recycled aluminium, and the bristles are cruelty-free so you can feel good about yourself for being eco too!

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The set includes five different face brushes which I could easily use for ever step in my makeup routine. All of the brushes are of a lovely quality, I love the bamboo handles and the bristles are nice and soft. They aren't quite up to the softness standards of a Real Techniques set but they are cheaper and perfect if you're just delving into the world of beauty and want a nice set of make up brushes to start out.

Firstly the Precision Foundation brush, this is very similar to the Foundation Brush in the Real Techniques Core Collection. It's a small flat foundation brush perhaps a little petit for applying foundation but it is perfect for blending out under eye concealer.

The Buffing Concealer brush is a bit like a tiny buffing brush, it's quite densely packed with a slightly rounded top. I like to use it to blend out concealer. I did find this a little bit more scratchy than the other brushes but works fine used with a soft hand.

The Flat Concealer brush is a reasonably dense flat brush with a rounded tip. It's fairly small so great for applying concealer precisely over spots and blemishes.

The Complexion Blending brush reminds me of the Real Techniques Buffing Brush but a lot smaller, it's also slightly flat and nor completely round. I reach for it instead of my Buffing Brush to blend out foundation, concealer or blusher if I'm travelling as it's so tiny. I've also found it to be a great shape for contouring.

Finally the Full Powder brush is a nice soft fluffy brush, less densely packed than the Complexion Blending brush. I use it to apply my face powder or a powder highlighter.

I love this little set and use many of the brushes daily, especially when I'm travelling as they're just so handy and small. I would definitely recommend this, it would make a perfect gift for somebody new to make up or a handy travel set if you just want to expand your collection.

I picked up my set in Boots but for some reason these aren't on the Boots website. If you can't find any in store you can buy these from Feel Unique for £11.99 which equates to about £2.40 per brush - bargain!

Friday, August 2

Max Factor Masterpiece Max Mascara

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I picked up this Max Factor mascara in a free gift box with a purchase a few weeks ago. I'd not heard anything about it online so didn't have high expectations but when I reached for it on a whim one morning I was pleasantly surprised with it.

First up the brush, which plastic with soft plastic bristles, does a great job of getting in-between each lash and gliding through. With a little brushing back and forwards it's easy to create thick, fluttery lashes.

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The formula works well, it gives my lashes good length, great curl and wonderful volume. It's also a very black formula and doesn't give me any clumps. I really like the effect it gives, my lashes look full and almost have a false effect while still looking quite natural. It's buildable too so you could easily opt for a subtle natural look with one coat or build it up a lot for something quite dramatic.

They also hold a curl very well. I'm very lucky and have quite naturally curly lashes so I don't have trouble with the curl falling throughout the day but I have noticed with this mascara that they still look very curly eight hours on.

The staying power of this mascara is really commendable. I'm wearing it now and after about 9/10 hours wear and it looks almost exactly the same as when I applied it this morning. I have the tiniest amount of smudging underneath my lower lash line but I think I can blame that on hay fever and itchy eyes.

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Overall this is a great mascara, since I started using it I haven't been tempted to pick up my previous favourite Benefit's They're Real mascara which is nearly twice the price. I will definitely repurchase this when I run out of my travel size tube.

Max Factors Masterpiece Max mascara is £9.99 and available in Boots, Superdrug and many other pharmacies. It's also currently on offer for £7.99 in Boots and comes in blue and brown as well as black.