NYX Round Lipstick Review, Photo, Swatches and FOTD

I recently ordered some lip stuff on the NYX website and a couple of days ago I finally got my goodies!! This first review is for the two Round Lipstick I purchased, Power and Tea Rose.

L-R: Tea Rose, Power

Tea Rose is a gorgeous rosy pink with a touch of coral.Power is a cool-toned pale pink with strong purple undertones.
They are both very pigmented, opaque and creamy, in fact they are so creamy that applying straight from the tube will likely result in a hot bleedy mess. I find that their beauty is maximized when using a lip brush and working the colour in layers. Also, I think that with this kind of formula using a lipliner as a base is a must. NYX make some excellent inexpensive lip liners that I will review soon. They both have a creamy, luminous finish and feel very hydrating.

Swatches on the inside of my arm: 

L-R: Power, Tea Rose

The packaging is very simple but it scores a big plus for me since the actual colour of the lipstick is reproduced on the bottom of the tube, which makes finding them extremely easy!
The only thing I really dislike about them is their smell! I'm not easily bothered by smells in cosmetics, but these have a very strong fragrance that is still detectable half an hour after the application. I'm no good at describing fragrances, but this one I really do not like. I was really put off by this one detail because it makes wearing these lipsticks definitely less pleasant than I expected.
As for the duration, I wouldn't classify them as "long wearing" but they definitely last 3 to 4 hours without budging. I would use a lip primer underneath for best results though! My MAC Prep+Prime Lip extends their wear and brightness of a good hour/hour and a half.
They are really good value for your money, since they cost £4.95 on the NYX UK website, though you can easily get them for less on Lovemakeup or Cocktailcosmetics.
 RECAP! PROs:- beautiful shades (and many more in the whole range)
- pigmented and creamy- moisturizing feel - inexpensive- practical packaging
CONs:- the smell! (although this really depends on you)- tendency to bleed

To finish off this post, here's me wearing Power! 

Product breakdown
FACE
MUFE HD Foundation 117 + MAC Face&Body C3
MAC Pro Longwear Concealer NC15
MAC Blush in Dame
Ben Nye Neutral Set Powder

EYES
MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot
Estee Lauder Double Wear eyeliner in Onyx
NYX Black e/s (smudged on top of eyeliner)
Inglot e/s DS501 (lid), Matte348 (crease, lower lashline), Pearl453 (browbone&tearduct)
Max Factor 2000 Calories Mascara

LIPS
NYX Slim Lip Liner in Dolly Pink
NYX Round l/s in Power

Stars Makeup Haven eyeshadow Review, Photo, Swatches and EOTD!

I've had these eyeshadows for a couple of months now and I can honestly say that they're GREAT! I reach for them as often as my MAC shadows. I purchased them along with a few other things on love-makeup.co.uk. They are £4 each, so I figured I might as well trust the hype and buy a fair amount! I'm so glad I did!

Karlasugar has a very comprehensive post about these, including high-quality swatches. Check her review here.

They are sold in pan form, so I organized them in a MAC palette:

Onto the swatches (and my attempt at shade description):

Left to right:
- Over the Moon: dirty yellow gold (shimmery)
- Mimosa: pale yellow gold (shimmery)
- Pink Opal: white/pink duochrome (frosty)
- Creme d'Nude: flesh colour (which is why you probably can't see that on my arm... but it makes for a great transition colour on me, or a natural highlight on dark skintones. I use this one a lot) (matte)
- The White Shadow: plain white, MAC Gesso dupe (matte)

Left to right:
- Calypso: muted grey with strong blue undertones (very shimmery)
- 1492: electric blue with blue shimmer (shimmery)
- Evergreen: medium bluish-green (matte)
- Fresh: emerald green with light green/gold shimmer (shimmery)
- Fireflies: neon yellow (matte)

Left to right:
- Primal: dark brown with a metallic cool sheen (shimmery)
- Charade: chocolate brown (matte)
- Showstopper: medium reddish brown with purple undertones (matte)
- Breathless: taupe with purple undertones (shimmery)
- Chic: purple with subtle silver shimmer (shimmery)

PROs:
- great pigmentation
- soft, buttery, long-lasting eyeshadows
- wide range of colours, interesting shades
- shades have names (did you hear that, Inglot?)
- great value for money

CONs:
- can only buy online and therefore cannot see shades in person
- some shades have a little fallout (but I just tap the excess off my brush or foil them)

Finally, this is an eye look I realized a few days ago with one of the craziest shades I got, Fireflies:

Apparently, some yellows can work on fair skintones too!

Have you tried SMH eyeshadows yet? How do you feel about them? Say it in the comments!

STILA Backstage Palette: Review, Photo, Swatches

This review is for something I've had and played with for a few months already.

I got this tiny palette for a really good deal on eBay after reading the rave about it. I must say this product totally blew me away!

What you get is a tiny cardboard package that looks kind of like an organizer. It is very compact and I guess it would be ideal to just toss it in a pocket bag. It has a magnet that keeps it closed and no mirror inside, just an inspirational quote by a well-known make-up artist. You get six full-sized eyeshadows totalling 11 grams, which is not a bad amount for the money. 

Now, down to the product itself. The eyeshadows have amazing pigmentation and there’s a lovely balance between shimmery and satiny finishes (no matte shades though). What really gives full score for me however, is the colours that Stila decided to put inside this palette.

My attempt at describing the shades, left to right, top to bottom:

-       Chiffon: soft light peachy pink (shimmery)

-       Flamingo: medium fuchsia (satiny)

-       Pacific: medium blue (satiny)

-       Luster: golden mauvy brown (satiny)

-       Poetic: dusty pinkish taupe (shimmery)

-       Coal: deep teal (shimmery)

I really think that these colours are absolutely great all together in a palette. The ones on the bottom row are especially unique and in all likelihood my favourites. They are all very wearable in a variety of combinations.

This palette has the perfect balance between brights and neutrals, warm and cool colours, so I can see this working for either daytime and nighttime looks and on a variety of complexions. There is no complimentary accessory inside, no mirror or brush whatsoever, but what really counts is that this palette is truly adorable! Swatches below:

L-R: Chiffon, Flaming, Pacific, Luster, Poetic, Coal

Tried and tested, they do not crease (I do wear an eyeshadow primer though) and fallout is not a big deal either.

Have you tried this Stila palette yet? Are you loving it or leaving it? Say it in the comments!

NARS Habanera: EOTD, Review, Photo, Swatches

NARS Habanera e/s duo is amazing! Maybe a tiny little bit too glittery/shimmery for my liking, I have to take extra care when applying to avoid fallout. But it brings out ANY eye colour, believe me, not just blue eyes.  It comes in a nice sleek black packaging (NARS signature) with a mirror. Overall, the packaging is great, very sturdy and practical. Inside you have two shimmery eyeshadows: a light blue/mint with a silvery sheen and a deep aubergine colour. The latter is also rather glittery, as i mentioned.  

  They are super pigmented, soft and buttery and I would say the best feature of this duo is the blendability. They literally melt into each other with just a few brush swipes.  

  The price is in line with NARS products, therefore expensive. I purchased it at Selfridges for £23.50 for a self-treat! I'd love to try more of this duos but I don't see that happening in the near future since NARS is not available in Italy at the moment, and having it shipped would come out quite expensive.  This is my preferred way of wearing Habanera (by the way, don't you just love the name?)   

Product breakdown
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk
NARS e/s duo in Habanera
MAC e/s Blanc Type (browbone)
Clinique High Impact Mascara
Avon Supershock gel liner
MAC Brows in Fling (brows)
Ardell lashes 110

E.L.F. Hits and Misses

Today we're featuring a post on two E.L.F. products I have tested. One was a hit and the other one was a miss! Keep reading!

The HIT: E.L.F. EYEBROW KIT IN ASH

Seriously, this product is HG material for me, and for €4!
I don't have serious brow issues, mine are pretty full and decently defined, so I only need some filling and grooming. I've been trying several eyebrow pencils (read about it here) with varying results, and I like how they really help to get an ultra-full and defined brow, but they are often too reddish or too dark to suit my cool-toned medium blonde hairs, MAC Fling being an exception. So I heard of this product and decided to give it a try.
I bought this in Ash, which came out to be the perfect shade for my blonde eyebrows! Swatch in natural sunlight: 

The gel on the left is not too dark nor too light, has the perfect consistency and I love to apply it with and angled brow brush, although the mini applicator included is ok when I travel. You really can't tell the difference between my hairs and the gel when applied. The powder on the right helps setting everything and creating a natural overall shade. 
What is really interesting is that I also used this product to draw eyebrows on my grandma, who used to overpluck them and now is left with NO brows at all. This gel created a natural curved brow with an outstanding result.
The packaging is great. I love the black case and the fact they included a small mirror. It has good staying power: you can manage to get through an 8-hour workday with fabulously natural eyebrows.
Buy it!

THE MISS: E.L.F. STUDIO CREAM EYELINER IN MIDNIGHT BLUE

 
This was a HUGE disappointment!
The product is extremely dry, has poor pigmentation, it's impossible to apply it decently with ANY brush, and above all, the colour is hideous! I was expecting an intense midnight blue and I got a dull, muted black-ish crap. No trace of blue shades whatsoever!! I wrote to customer service to complain and they asked me to send a picture of the swatch. When I took the photo, the colour in the picture actually came out blue. But in reality, it wasn't. Trust me, I gave this 3 or 4 tries before realizing that it was just plain crap. The lady at the customer service didn't help me out and that also put me off quite a bit. I literally threw this out, which I never do unless a product is really horrible or my skin reacts badly to it. This is why I don't have direct swatches to show you!
Seriously, do yourself a favour and shed your €16 for MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack, you WON'T regret it.

Sigma Premium Brush Kit Review

A while ago I purchased this brush set for my kit. I needed a good brush set without spending the big bucks and since I already had some brushes from this brand I decided to give the Premium Brush Kit a try. This is how they packaged my stuff (quite cute I would say!):

They included a complimentary extra brush which looked like this:
Nice job!

The Kit contains an assortment of 15 brushes which come in a handy black brush roll. The roll has a magnetic lock to make sure the pieces stay in place.

Here's what you get when you open the roll (they actually all come with brush guards, in this pic I had already taken them off):

And here are the brushes in detail:

Left to right: F20 Large Powder, F25 Tapered Face, F10 Powder/Blush, F15 Duo Fibre Powder/Blush, F35 Tapered Highlighter, F65 Large Concealer

Left to right: E50 Large Fluff, F75 Concealer, E35 Tapered Blending, E45 Small Tapered Blending, E25 Blending, E20 Short Shader, E15 Flat Definer, E10 Small Eye Liner

Sigma is a company known for producing brushes that often look like copies of the MAC ones. They have recently changed the naming system, but until a while ago their products carried the same codes of MAC brushes. I wouldn't say that they are trying to copy MAC because there is a substantial difference in quality between the two brands, if you've ever owned any random MAC brush you know that! Also, they have some pieces that I've never seen in the MAC range, like the F65 (correct me if I'm wrong).
Rather, I think that they offer an affordable alternative to higher-end brushes, without sacrificing too much on the quality. Their prices are significanlty lower (we're talking US$30 for a MAC 227 vs $9 for a Sigma E50), but in my opinion they also target a different clientele.
Let's have a closer look at each piece first:

BRUSH KIT BREAKDOWN

- F20 Large Powder (MAC 134): good multi-purpose face brush. I use it for all-over dustings of powder and to blend bronzer/highlighter/cheek colour together.
- F25 Tapered Face (MAC 138): good for powder, but even more for bronzer and blush, given the tapered and very pointy shape. I don't reach for this one very often as I don't find it stiff enough for precise blending.
- F10 Powder/Blush (MAC 129): I use it mainly for very pigmented blushes, since it picks up just the right amount so I don't go overboard on the cheeks. Again, it's soft, not very stiff, but it does the job nicely. It sheds a bit.
- F15 Duo Fibre Powder/Blush (MAC 131): I wouldn't have included both this one and the F10 in the same kit, honestly. This is still ok for light dustings of powder, but I wouldn't say it's an essential piece.
- F35 Tapered Highlighter (MAC 165): this is a great brush, in theory! I love the pointy shape, it's basically a mini version of the F25 and it's made for application of highlighter on the cheekbones and sharp-cut contour work. However, this brush sadly does not hold its shape and as you can see, it's bent. The picture above was taken at the moment of unboxing and I have washed it 3 or 4 times since, and it NEVER retained the tapered shape, even when I used a specific brush guard for it. Huge disappointment and likely the worst of the bunch.
- F65 Large Concealer (no MAC equivalent): this is GREAT exactly for what it was meant to be: (undereye) concealer. It picks up creamy concealer beautifully and distributes it evenly and without streaks. No shedding whatsoever.
- E50 Large Fluff (MAC 227): I don't own the MAC one, but I certainly like the shape and functionality. Great for all-over applications of eyeshadow, browbone highlight, and even cheekbone highlight. I'm pretty sure that the MAC one is stiffer (read more precise) but this one works just fine. A big no-no is that it sheds like hell though, even during use, and it's a pain to remove all those black hairs from the client's face.
- F75 Concealer (MAC 195): a really sturdy brush made of synthetic bristles, it's amazing for concealer and creamy eye products. 
- E35 Tapered Blending (MAC 222): it's a great blending brush, however I do find I have to let it dry in a brush guard after washing, otherwise the bristles will all splay out and lose the original long and slim shape. I also LOVE this brush for buffing concealer under the eyes or on problem areas to cover redness/spots etc.
- E45 Small Tapered Blending (MAC 226): this one works beautifully for placing colour in the crease AND blending, it's definitely one of my favourite ones. Have to do the same brush guard thing though, because it won't retain the pointy shape. Also, it bleeds black dye after I've washed it.
- E25 Blending (MAC 217): I own the iconic 217 so I can really speak about the differences between these two. The MAC one is a brush I would NEVER go without. If I ever had to choose one single brush for eyeshadow application it would be this one, and the Sigma version is an excellent dupe! No shedding, great for placing colour on the lid, in the crease, for pro blending, etc. The only gripe I have is that the MAC one is soft AND firm, which allows for maximum control and precision. The Sigma one is very soft but not as firm and sturdy. Having said that, it's an excellent brush.
- E20 Short Shader (no MAC equivalent, afaik): I find only one use for this brush, that is smudging eyeliner or eyeshadow on the upper/bottom lashline. It's good for the purpose and quite precise.
- E15 Flat Definer (MAC 212): I would prefer this synthetic one to be less fat than it actually is, but it still serves the purpose of neatly placing gel liner on the upper/lower waterline. Occasionally I also use it for smudging on the lashline. Soft and sturdy.
- E10 Small Eye Liner (MAC 210): in my opinion this is not as pointy as it should be for actual precision. It's still a good, no-fuss eyeliner brush though.


I just realized I forgot to include the Lip L05 Brush in the pictures! Sorry about that. It's a regular lip brush with a silver cap, and there's not much to say about it except that it works just fine.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

Is it worth the money? The Sigma Premium Brush Kit is a good-value-for-money brush set, and it definitely carries some gems in it. I believe you can't find another 15-piece and good-quality set for the equivalent of €100* (we're talking around €7 per brush here). 
*On a general note: you should always buy from the US website even if you're based in Europe, as it allowed me to save as much as €50 on my total purchase! And do check for coupons online, I had 10% discount with just a little research.

Who is this Kit for? I'd say it would be perfect for someone who falls between the categories of "complete beginner" and "professional make-up artist". If you own a few MAC brushes you will feel the slight but noticeable difference in quality. I believe that this difference would not affect the overall finished application of products as such, but rather it would have an influence on the ease of use, the control you have when placing the colour, and the overall durability of the pieces.

Are the brushes soft? The brushes in the kit are all exceptionally soft, except for those of a certain shape/material that is not meant to be the softest like the E20. I wash mine with Johnson's Baby Shampoo and I find it keeps them clean and soft. They are definitely very pleasant to feel against your face/eyes. 


My top picks: F20, F65, F75, E35, E45, E25 (in general, the eye brushes are MUCH better than the face ones!)


You can skip: F25, F35, E10


I would have liked to see included: An angled eyebrow/eyeliner brush like the MAC 266, a regular foundation brush like the MAC 190, and an eyeshadow laydown brush like the MAC 239 (I'm just using MAC brushes as a reference for shapes here).


What I did like about it: Value for money, some excellent eye brushes, good customer service on the website.


What I didn't like about it: I don't like how Sigma tries to push their customers to become affiliates and "make money" with them. I purchased the brush kit myself, but it's widely known that many bloggers and YouTubers are paid by Sigma to push positive reviews about their products. In my opinion, this doesn't speak for honesty towards their customers and can be misleading for some people.


I hope this was helpful, please share your experience with Sigma in the comments below!