Review, Swatch + Dupes | Wet’n’Wild Mega Last Matte Lipstick Collection Part 1 - Brights and Bolds

Hello everyone! Today I am going to share with you the first part of my wet’n’wild lipstick collection - the brights and the bold shades. I order all of my American cosmetics from the site ‘beautyjoint.com’ and this line costs $2.75 per lipstick which translates to roughly £1.85 a lipstick - very budget friendly!

The finishes aren’t all matte, I would say they’re a mix with some of them being more on the satin side but each of them very pigmented which is one the best things about them! The packaging is what you would expect for such an affordable line and its kind of annoying how the lipstick gets in the lid no matter how careful you are as you can’t wind them all down. Irritating but I can excuse it for the price! The shape of the bullet isn’t perfect as its pretty much a slanted circle so with bright shades a lip brush can be handy, although I usually just apply a little at a time to avoid messy application.
I also like how they have the name on the bottom of the lipstick and that you can see the shade at the top unlike lipsticks in opaque packaging. In general they last about 3-4 hours before I have to reapply. Pretty standard for a lipstick of this finish but much better than those super creamy formulas which don’t stay put for more than an hour.If you want an even longer application then apply it, blot and then apply again which will prolong the wear time.
I’m going to run through the shades, any dupes I have found courtesy of the internet to more expensive lipsticks and the finish of each lipstick too ^_^ It’s always handy to pick of a dupe of a £15+ lipstick to see if you really like the shade on your own skintone before splashing the cash, especially in the UK as you can’t return cosmetics!

L-R:  Purty Persimmon, Smokin’ Hot Pink, Stoplight Red, Sugar Plum Fairy and Cherry Bomb in natural lighting, ONE swipe

L-R:  Purty Persimmon, Smokin’ Hot Pink, Stoplight Red, Sugar Plum Fairy and Cherry Bomb the shades with Flash

1.Purty Persimmon / 970
The most flattering orange/red shade I have tried and a must have for anyone with tanned skin because this colour compliments the warmth in our skins so well! For someone who loves the neutral shades this is just on the verge of being a bit TOO bright - but for those of you who enjoy bright shades pick this beauty up. It applies smoothly without dragging on the lips and its most definitely a satin finish and very much non-drying. I would only really wear this in the summer time as it is rather loud and vibrant but I’m glad I finally found an orange shade which really pops and sits well with my skintone. Oh and a word of warning - this shade transfers quite a bit so carry it around when wearing it.

DUPE FOR: Almost exact for MAC’s Lady Danger - swatch and credit here,  slightly brighter than Tom Ford lipstick in Wild Ginger - swatch and credit here and NARS Heatwave - swatch and credit
Overall Rating: 4 Stars

2. Smokin’ Hot Pink / 905D
This is a medium/hot pink shade which actually leans on the very red side in certain lights. I have a pretty love/hate relationship with it because sometimes I feel like it sits well with my warm skintone and other times it looks a little tacky?? The formula of this shade is more matte and therefore a little drying on the lips but it does last longer on the lips, around 5 hours. It’s essential to prep by exfoliating and putting on lipbalm a while before hand. Again this is another summer funtime shade for me, I couldn’t get away with wearing it to work nor would I feel that comfortable wearing it to uni. My personal favourite way of wearing this is layered with a deeper lipstick and because of that I don’t think I will be repurchasing this as it just hasn’t ticked enough boxes for me.
no supposed dupes, but do search swatches for an idea of the shade
Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

3. Stoplight Red / 911D
The most beautiful medium red shade I have come across or otherwise known as ‘hollywood red’. Its a red shade that isn’t blue-toned or orange. Personally I find that deeper reds suit my medium skintone more but I can still pull off this shade. The formula is less matte than smokin hot pink and so I do recommend using a lip liner to properly define the lips so it doesn’t smudge around the edges as its such a vibrant colour. It has a touch of pink in it when swatched but it comes across as a true red on the lips. I think this is one of the most universal shades of the line and it will really suit all skintones.

DUPE FOR: MAC’s Ruby Woo swatch and credit here, YSL Rouge Pur Couture swatch and credit here, NARS Carthage swatch and credit here.
Overall Rating: 4 Stars

4. Sugar Plum Fairy / 908C
I ADORE this shade, a beautiful and flattering purple with a slight pink tone. Its a fun shade to wear and I imagine it suits many skintones, I know it looks stunning of light/medium skin especially! Again the pigmentation is fabulous, one swipe is all you need to get a lovely even application and it fades beautifully too. It is matte but not drying and very comfortable to wear on the lips. I don’t need a lipliner to wear it and it lasts at least 5 hours on the lips which is impressive (even with eating).  When it does fade it leaves a lovely lighter stainFor the price I seriously recommend everyone pick this beauty up, you can’t get much better than this beauty.
DUPE FOR: Exact dupe for MAC’s Rebel Swatch and Credit here ethical and so much cheaper!
Overall Rating: 5 Stars

5. Cherry Bomb / 918D
One of the darkest lipsticks in my collection and surprisingly its really flattering too. It makes my lips look fuller and on me the shade comes off as a deep burgundy shade. It has a slight blue undertone which makes my lips look whiter -always a good thing and it has just the right amount of vampyness to it. I love mixing this with Sugar Plum Fairy but both shades are beautiful alone. It’s pretty matte so be sure to prep the lips before application! I also like tapping this gently against the lips to sheer out the deep colour making it a little more wearable for normal situations. Also this one really does stain the lips properly which I don’t mind as its quite a flattering colour, just apply some balm on top and you’re good to go.
DUPE FOR: An exact dupe for MAC’s Diva swatch and credit here.
Overall Rating: 4 Stars

In my experience I have found that none of these shades bleed or fade unevenly (unless you haven’t prepped your lips for the drier ones of course) and for the price the quality is outstanding! Why spend £20 on a bright lipstick you’ll hardly wear when you have the opportunity to pick one from this range which will deliver the same if not better pigmentation, without burning a hole in your bank account...seriously if you’re looking for a bright or everyday lipstick for a decent price - look no further!
Part 2 will be the lighter and neutral shades, some of my absolute favourite in my whole collection and that will probably be up in a week or so. Also I will have more swatches on my IG @theblushinggiraffe in a couple of days so you can see how they look on my skintone ^_^
Have you tried any of the wet’n’wild lipsticks?

Thank-you for reading ♥
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Review, Swatch + Dupes | Wet’n’Wild Mega Last Matte Lipstick Collection Part 1 - Brights and Bolds

Hello everyone! Today I am going to share with you the first part of my wet’n’wild lipstick collection - the brights and the bold shades. I order all of my American cosmetics from the site ‘beautyjoint.com’ and this line costs $2.75 per lipstick which translates to roughly £1.85 a lipstick - very budget friendly!

Review | Rimmel Provocalips 16hr kiss proof lip colour - 730 Make Your Move

I am SO excited to writing this review! In fact I don’t think I’ve been this excited to review a lip product ever, because quite honestly Rimmel have blown me away! First things first the Rimmel Provocalips lip colours are available 8 shades and cost £6.99 each,which is a complete bargain for how well they deliver.

The Provocalips are essentially a matte liquid lipstick on one end with a balm type of sealer product on the other end. I picked up the shade ‘Make Your Move’ and I honestly don’t think there could be a more ME shade out there! The colour is PERFECT, it’s a brown toned rose mixed with mauve. A darker MLBB, and it looks so effortless and classy. It also had the ability to some how pull my whole face together at 7:30am on a Tuesday morning when I’m on the train and I want nothing more than to be back in bed!

I don’t know what it is about these somewhat 90’s lip shades, but they are floating my boat like no tomorrow, and I have not used any other lip product since I bought this!

If you’ve been a reader for a while you will be aware that I have a large collection of lipsticks, glosses, balms etc. which don’t get used because to be quite honest with you I cannot be bother to keep up with them! I hate retouching makeup, it’s a pain and time consuming and so I’d much rather just apply a clear balm then deal with feathering and fading and moving about etc;.

The provocalips are the perfect solution to my problem, I apply it at 7:30am and by 4-5 they are still intact, if a little faded in the middle of the lips. I normally have a hot drink in the morning, fish and chips on a Friday afternoon and I’m continuously drinking water, snacking and talking throughout the day. So the fact that I can apply the provocalips and forget about them, because they’re so darn comfortable, yet glance in a mirror and see they are perfectly set and haven’t budged.... it is mindblowing! Whenever you hear about a long-lasting product you imagine it to be dry and crusty on the lips, but these apply very smoothly and the balm side goes a long way in giving it the moisturising/comfortable touch.

The application is great, standard doe-foot which are the perfect size for applying the liquid lipstick exactly where you need it. I’d recommend wiping a bit off when you open it because sometimes a little too much product can be applied. The pigmentation is also phenomenal, you just need one swipe! Once put on the lips, give it around 40 seconds to set and then go in with the white side, which is a slightly gooey balm. This stops the liquid lipstick for drying up and feeling tight on the lips, it adds moisture and sets it in place. Personally I like it to be less glossy, and I am just in love with how easy these are to get on with! The fact that they stay and stay and stay, with no rubbing off on teeth, no peeling, flaking is just incredible. It exceeded all my expectations, well done Rimmel!

 

If you’re looking for a long-lasting lip product, which isn’t horribly drying and which will not be disrupted by your food and drink, then check these beauties out! There are a range of shades, however I don’t think I’ll personally find anything that I get on better with than Make Your Move for every day! Researching swatches, I think the shade ‘Play with fire’ would make an amazing red lip for special occasions, especially because you don’t have to worry about it budging from where you placed it! ‘I’ll call you’ also looks like a pretty more natural alternative for an everyday lip colour ^_^

 

Final Verdict:

Product rating: 10
Pros: It is long lasting. This shade is gorgeous, a stunning brown toned nude which looks extremely classy. It isn’t drying like most long lasting products, you can wear it and forget about it, it’s just THAT comfortable! There are 8 shades to choose from, it lasts all day and stays defined without any lipliner.
Cons: It doesn’t quite last 16hours, but long enough for me to get through a day of Uni without worrying about it!
Repurchase? 100% These have totally exceeded my expectations and I know I’ll be repurchasing Make Your Move as soon as I start running out!

Have you tried these beauties yet?

Thanks for reading!

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Review | Rimmel Provocalips 16hr kiss proof lip colour - 730 Make Your Move

I am SO excited to writing this review! In fact I don’t think I’ve been this excited to review a lip product ever, because quite honestly Rimmel have blown me away! First things first the Rimmel Provocalips lip colours are available 8 shades and cost £6.99 each,which is a complete bargain for how well they deliver.

E.L.F Hits & Misses

Hello everybody! Now when it comes to makeup, e.l.f (eyes, lips, face.com) were the first drugstore brand that I saw talked about ALL over YouTube a couple of years ago and I became very intrigued! It seemed like a cheap but good quality makeup brand, perfect for beginners to makeup and students! I think some of their products are fantastic and fast forward to now, with a good few hauls later I want to share with you the products that ticked my boxes, and the ones that left me feeling disappointed.

I only ever buy e.l.f products during their 50% off sale, and when I do I always share it on instagram because there are some real bargains to be had! Generally each product from the studio line costs around £3.75, but with 50% off you can work out that you’re paying less than £2 for things that are worth more! I would just like to point out that some of these products that HAVE worked out well for me, but may not do so for you, and vica versa!

I’m going to mix this up, starting with a few HITS

 

1. E.L.F Make-up Mist and Set

I absolutely love this spray, and for a long time I had the MAC fix+ but kept using this one over MAC! Not only is it a refreshing mist to the face, it gets rid of any powdery-ness too. I don’t normally set my makeup with powder, but I always set my under-eyes with my favourite Ben Nye banana powder, and the mist and set helps to smooth it out. It also keeps my face looking dewy, and feeling refreshed. As for a ‘setting spray’ I wouldn’t quite label it as one as I don’t notice a significant lasting effect when I wear this, but the promising ingredients (green tea, cucumber, aloe and vitamins A,C &E) as well as the finishing effect of the spray make it worth using!

 

2. Matte Lip Colors

I have this in three shades; Rich Red, Coral and Natural. Firstly the packaging – easy and convenient for travelling with the twist up function so no need for a sharpener, and the matte black exterior makes it look sleek. I also like how the colours are at the end of the pencil, making it a bit easier to pick up the correct shade straight away! Now moving on to the product, these are in-between matte and cream, and blotting after application is important. The red shade is gorgeous, a true red in my eyes and I also like using this as a lipliner (and base) for other red shades. The coral shade is lovely for this time of the year, especially with a gloss on top and overall for under £2 these are a steal!

 

3. E.L.F Angled Eyeliner Brush

I have raved about this brush so many times, and that’s because I used it every single day when I became obsessed with gel liner! It’s still my favourite eye liner brush, and the angled element to it, gives you a lot of control with the liner and I like the length and thickness of the brush too. I own two of these, and always recommend people to pick one up during the sales!

 

4. ELF Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick

Possibly the worst lip product I have ever purchased in my life, the gloss stick in coco loco, this jumbo stick type lip product, is full of glitter. Yes – GLITTER. I understand a bit of shimmer, but when applied to the lips this just looks bizarre. It has a pink/coral undertone but the insane amount of glitter/shimmer makes it unwearable for me. I also purchased this in another shade, which I ended up throwing away, so clearly I wasn’t impressed with the product as a whole not just this shade. I only kept this pencil for THIS very post!

5. ELF Studio Blush – Tickled Pink

When I first purchased ELF products, the blushers were what I was most excited about. However now I’ve tried other drugstore blushers, I think there are better alternatives for a decent price - aside from Mellow Mauve (reviewed here). So on to this shade, although it would probably work ok for fairer skin tones, I find this chalky and seriously lacking pigmentation. To get a decent amount of colour, I have to layer this up so many times, and it doesn’t even last long! I’d highly recommend looking at the pink shades available from MUA if you’re wanting to try an affordable shade, which actually has pigmentation!

Hit AND a Miss??

6. The Contouring Blush and Bronzers

The contouring blush and bronzers are some of the most spoken about products from the ELF line, and frequently compared to NAR’S laguna and Orgasm blusher. I now own that NARS duo VERY EXCITING! But anyways have owned the original and the darker version for over a year and reached for them both less than 5 times. I think that if you can’t easily access Sleek, then these are worth a try if you’re looking for a drugstore contour and highlight shade. The original…does the job. However what always puts me off is the shimmer in the bronzer (as this is a big contouring no-no). It doesn’t transfer that much on the skin but I still much prefer a truly matte bronzer and if you can get your hands on Sleek, then just go for that its faultless in my eyes and lasts for ages. 

Moving on to some more HITS…

7. ELF Warm Bronzer

I first saw this on The BeautyCrush’s channel years ago, and I should have listened to Sammie from the start! This is probably my favourite drugstore bronzer for warming up the face. It consists of 4 shades, and the only way I use this is by swirling my Real Technique’s powder brush in the middle and then doing the ‘3’ shape on both sides of my face. The shades with the mixes of brown tones, the warmth of the pink and the glow of the yellow gives the most beautiful glow and warmth! It also has a decent sized mirror which is useful for travelling ^_^ By themselves the shades aren’t the most pigmented, but that’s what makes them blend together nicely!

 

8. Mineral Lipsticks

These are only £2.50 with the 50% off and they are also some of my favourite lipsticks. Comfortable, pigmented and they also have a decent lasting time on the lips too. I like the sleek packaging, and the range of colours too. I featured Runway pink in my spring lips favourite, I ADORE party pink which has a subtle golden tone to it in a very classy way. ‘Rosy Raisin’ is a brilliant nude shade for my skin tone! The brighter/darker colours are lovely too and honestly two good quality lipsticks for a fiver?? YES PLEASE!

 

9. ELF Flawless Concealer Brush

Finally, this is one of my favourite brushes ever. I love this for gently buffing in concealer around the nose and right on top of a blemish as it doesn’t disturb the base underneath, the head of the brush is super fluffy and soft and the size means it can blend in product in awkward places that a larger brush can miss!

 

These HITS are products which I reach for often and if all my stash went missing (I’m getting nervous just thinking about that!) I would definitely pick all of these up again! I don’t have as many misses as most people, because most of the time I do review everything I buy, but sometimes products just don’t work for everyone!

I hope this post has been helpful to anyone wondering what my ELF favourites are!

Let me know what your hits and misses are down below ^_^

 

Thanks for reading!

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E.L.F Hits & Misses

Hello everybody! Now when it comes to makeup, e.l.f (eyes, lips, face.com) were the first drugstore brand that I saw talked about ALL over YouTube a couple of years ago and I became very intrigued! It seemed like a cheap but good quality makeup brand, perfect for beginners to makeup and students! I think some of their products are fantastic and fast forward to now, with a good few hauls later I want to share with you the products that ticked my boxes, and the ones that left me feeling disappointed.

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.

I

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