Review | Manhattan Soft Mat Lipcreams

Hey lovelies!
A while ago I did a little shop from frangrancedirect.com a fantastic discounted makeup and perfumes online store. They stock well known brands such as Maybelline, Revlon and Essie to name but a few and they also have cosmetic brands that aren’t so well known. I picked up a few things, including these Manhattan ‘Soft Mat’ lip creams. They were 99p each and because the NYX lip creams are so inaccessible in the UK (or ridiculously overpriced) I’ve been on the look out for similar products.




Manhattan is a German cosmetics company and there’s not much else to say about it I'm afraid, other than the fact that I’ve never seen them anywhere else before other than fragrance direct. The packaging for all matte lip creams I have seen so far seem to look awfully similar – is that just me or is this the case?? The link for these on the fragrancedirect website is here.



In any case, these contain 6.5ml of product. Unfortunately the two colours I got are not named but they are numbered; the red one is 45H and the coral colour is 31S. The packaging is nice and simple -nothing fancy or special, just the colour of the product on the outside and a rubber lid with an ‘M’ as their logo on the top. It has a pretty standard doe-foot applicator which makes the product really easy to apply.




I picked the colours on a whim, mainly because it was pretty unclear what they would look like anyway from the online swatches (as always ._,) but I’m over the moon about the red one! It’s most noticeable in the second picture, and slightly too bright in the first (British lighting issues..) but its a blue toned red that looks simply amazing. I don’t own Mac’s Ruby Woo but it looks similar to that – ever so glamorous!

I loved everything about this when I first tried it on (for lip swatches head over to my instagram @theblushinggiraffe) It is the smoothest matte product I have ever tried and on the packaging it states in German ‘Ein wunderbar softes..’ and I have to agree with them, it is so very soft! The thing I was most pleasantly surprised about was how non-patchy the application was and and none of the lines or roughness on my lips were accentuated at all. Shade wise it is a really stunning red colour and although I don’t often have occasions to go to where red is the colour of lippie choice, whenever I get the chance to be this will be on my lips!

When first applied for a few minutes it doesn’t quite look matte, but after a short while it does dry down and it lasts for a very decent amount of time (I'm terrible with timing the exact lasting power of lip products when I’m in the house!) but I’m sure it would exceed your average lipstick due to it’s texture.

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The lighter coral colour is also the same with consistency but I felt like it was slightly patchy when applying. It also looks pretty odd alone with my medium skin tone, however it looks lovely with some gloss/ a cocktail of other products.

Overall I’m really impressed with these and next time I make an order from there I will be ordering the other colours for sure. They beat my experience with the Collection one hands down both in pigmentation, lasting power and colour payoff/consistency and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for accessible and reasonable matte lip creams!

Final Verdict:

Product rating: 9

Pros: The red colour is gorgeous! The consistency is lovely, SUPER AFFORDABLE, long lasting colour and not overly drying on the lips.

Cons: There isn’t a huge colour selection.

Repurchase? Without a doubt! I have so many products to review and try out and more importantly USE that I’m not planning on makeup shopping for a while, but in a few months these will be jumping straight into my cart :)

Do you enjoy using matte lip creams?

Review | Manhattan Soft Mat Lipcreams

Updates, 7 weeks of ‘the blushing giraffe’ and apologies!

Hey Guys!

This is a bit of a different post for me and although this isn’t a lifestyle blog I felt like I owed you all an explanation as to why I’ve been off the blog-rader the past two weeks. Essentially life has caught up with me! I have been off from education since the 18th of June and so I’ve been a lady of leisure aside from the 3 shifts of work a week and don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed it just as much as the next person! But the thought of routine again is quite an exciting prospect.

The last two weeks have been really hectic, I’m preparing for my first year of university and there has been such a lot to sort out – travel passes, student ID, documentation, purchasing books etc; I have also started the lengthily process of learning to drive and it’s been going really well so far! There is a lot to remember though, in the right order, all in a short amount of time! But they say it’s like riding a bike, once you get the knack of it it’s like second nature.

Anyways so the point is yesterday in Sainsbury's I picked up some brilliant bargains (a tiny haul will be up tomorrow) and along with those was a whiteboard, perfect for a weekly timetable. I’ve scheduled in time for taking photos, time for blog reading and time for blog writing as well for working out (or starting too!). So basically I’m pledging to get back on track. I’ve loved blogging so much so far! It’s been a brilliant short journey so far, and if I stick to my little timetable hopefully I’ll keep the motivation to keep blogging even as term starts and routine gets going again.

So here are a few adorable kittens all the way from the streets of Istanbul until I start posting actual beauty blogger posts tomorrow ^.^




Aren’t they simply adorable?! I want a kitten so badly D:

Anyways how have you guys been getting on with your September changes? ^.^

Updates, 7 weeks of ‘the blushing giraffe’ and apologies!

Review | Blistex Relief Cream (HG STATUS)

This is a simple but very essential review of a lip balm…infact not just any lip balm, but the best you can buy for any lip woes you have and YES it IS at a purse friendly price too.

As the colder months are approaching I thought now would be the perfect time to talk about the Blistex Relief Cream (link) available from a number of pharmacies and drugstores. It is priced at around £2.25 and you get 5g of the good stuff. For me, using a decent lip balm throughout the year is a must because I’m always suffering from dry, peeling, rough lips! (sounds AND feels horrid ._.)

I picked this up a few months ago during a 3for2 and honestly since using this, nothing can compare. It is described by the company as ‘A soothing cream with a conditioning blend of ingredients to bring medicated relief to sore, sorry-looking lips’  So it’s suitable for bigger lip woes such as cold sores too but it works wonders on your average chapped and sore lips. I love to apply this before bed and a few minutes before I’m going to put any sort of product on my lips.

The packaging is in a simple tube, small enough to fit into pockets and I quite like that it’s not ‘girly’ in any sense, because men could easily carry this around without feeling self conscious. The tube itself isn’t made out of plastic exactly, but that metal which stays in the shape you’ve bent it and is always cold (I know you know what I'm on about!). The little nozzle makes it easier for enough product to come out without wastage so thumbs up from me! Simple, functional and portable.

Because it is medicinal it does have that medicinish smell which doesn’t bother me too much as it fades away shortly after applied. The main 'issue' is it's white colour, it is fine for at home before bed or before applying makeup but because it IS coloured white it's a difficult balm to carry around in your handbag for touch ups on the go. That being said, since using this regularly I haven't needed to remoisturise my lips as often as before, but for those with extremly dry lips it could be worth having a clear balm too! It contains two main ingredients ammonia and phenol which help to relieve pain and kill germs and when applied, straight away I feel a bit of a tingling/cooling sensation and within minutes my lips are soft, smooth and the perfect canvas for even the mattest of matte lipsticks. Honestly this is a HG for me because I’ve never found a lip balm/treatment as effective as this.

I haven’t been lured into purchasing any other sort of chapsticks since then because once you find a product that ticks all the boxes, why look elsewhere? But that still won’t stop me from asking you guys – what is your favourite lip balm/chapstick? ^_^

p.s I've wanted to take a lot more photo swatches but I'm having a little trouble with my SD card atm :( please bear with me until another one comes through!

Review | Blistex Relief Cream (HG STATUS)

Review | Fashionista eyeshadows #2 [Nude Glimmer, Private Fitting, Sweet Kiss and Radiant]

Hello lovlies!

I have finally got round to swatching part 2 of my fashionista series. Part one (which you can check out here) was a h-i-t with the most viewed post on my whole blog! proving that numerous attempts at taking pictures of swatches in 50 different light settings were all worth it because people found it useful – yay ^.^

I won’t be uber repetitive in this post so if you want to read about Fashionista, MUA, prices etc; then HERE ya go. I must say I was less enthusiastic about this bunch than the first (maybe because generally the colours of lighter/sheer and have different finishes) But after playing around with them for a few days I’m still loving fashionista and I’m convinced that with the amount of product (2.5g) you get these babies will last me ages – yaaaay -

left-right: Private Fitting, Nude Glamour, Radiant and Sweet Kiss

Starting with Nude Glimmer it’s a shade that reminds me a little of The Balms highlighter (Mary-Lou) which I absolutely adore and will never need another highlighter ever (or perhaps I should blame that product for my adoration of the art of highlighting??)

It is a ‘go-to’ highlighting shade’ with a hint of gold in it, which I find compliments medium skin tones in such a wonderful way. It the sheerest of the four, the perfect highlighter shade for inner corner and the brow bone. Although a matte highlight looks gorgeous for under the brow, this has just the right amount of shimmer in it to give the whole eye look a boost, whilst not making the brow bone area the centre of attention like some other sparkly shades.

Had the swatches been anywhere near good online, I probably wouldn't have picked this shade up, because in all honesty its very very dupable. I do like that it has a touch of gold about it and probably the best part about it is it’s versatility. Other than that Nude Glimmer isn’t anything too spectacular, just a safe highlighting/inner-corner shade. Overall rating :3.5/5

The first thing I think of when trying to describe Private Fitting is GLITTER GLITTER GLITTER. It literally is one of the most glittery eyeshadows I’ve come across. In the pictures I’ve already posted you can see a lot of white streaks throughout it and when sweeping your finger/brush through the shadow this really comes through. I found that the only way to use this colour to it’s full effectiveness is with a base (especially the Maybelline colour tattoo in Eternal Gold) Because it is so crazy glittery, it’s not the best shade to base an eye look around, but it looks gorgeous added onto a flatter (more matte) look. Due to it’s glitteryness I might as well add there is a ton of fallout, so tapping that brush before applying is essential! It also looks amazing with the colour tattoo in ‘on and on’ bronze (picture on my instagram if you’re interested ^_^) Overall rating: 3/5

Sweet Kiss is very similar to NG (much to my disappointment) however it is more silver toned. It has a slight hint of pink which the camera has not picked up. Again a lovely highlighter shade, I’d rather have NG on my cheekbones than this though, but it would also work perfectly fine as an all over face highlighter too. It is slightly more sheer than the above which gives it a pretty sheen-ish look (not over the top in-ya-face y’know?). I’m afraid I don’t have a head to say about this, I would have loved for this to be matte but, it is what it is and if you have a similar shade I probably would advise against getting it. Overall rating: 3

Radiant is the most beautiful shadow of the bunch. Its a double take shadow, essentially it is a baked shadow which is also limited edition. The two colours complement each other perfectly, purple and rustic/bronzy gold. The purple addition is only minor when swatched however, and it makes a gorgeous gold colour, especially for brown eyes! I prefer this shade to ‘exclusive collection’ and it’s safe to say from these four, this colour is my favourite. There are very small speckles of glitter in this shade too,  not as noticeable as private fitting, a lot more subtle than Private Fitting. It looks beautiful in the crease, adding some subtle glamour and I can imagine it would make an amazing base for a smoky eye (especially with a wet brush). Overall rating: 4

Again a bunch of glittery/shimmery shades (no mattes in my swatches thusfar!) Although I am a little disappointed at the similarity of SK and NG they’re both very versatile and I’m sure at least one of them will come in handy if I’m making a palette for travelling. Used with a base these shadows appears a lot more vivid and of course last longer. If you want further details on these shadows then do visit part one (linked above) as this was mainly just for swatches ^_^

What are you experiences with Fashionista shadows?

Review | Fashionista eyeshadows #2 [Nude Glimmer, Private Fitting, Sweet Kiss and Radiant]

Hello lovlies!

I have finally got round to swatching part 2 of my fashionista series. Part one (which you can check out here) was a h-i-t with the most viewed post on my whole blog! proving that numerous attempts at taking pictures of swatches in 50 different light settings were all worth it because people found it useful – yay ^.^