Lip Inventory 5: Mauves, Berry & Wine

I am slowly getting through my lipstick collection!! I wish I had posted brand by brand but I've almost finished it so there's no point in starting again. Also as I have bought many new lip products since I've started some aren't included in the older ones. And I'm planning to buy many more in a few months time ;)
 I also timed this badly as Autumn is just about finished here in the Southern Hemisphere, but hope it will be helpful to others later in the year!

Firstly, the colours I'm describing can get a bit too confusing between each other so I hope this helps a bit to those who are wondering about the differences.
 Mauve is a pale lavender-lilac colour. I think of it as a very My Lips But Better (MLBB) colour as it is fairly close to my natural lip colour.
Berry colours are closer to claret, burgundy or deep purple tones, as obviously berries come in a lot of different colours, these are the hues I am referring to.
Wine is a dark shade of red,as I'm sure you would probably be aware of.
These are just my views on these colours, I hope it makes sense! The deeper colours are very suited to Autumn & Winter, but the lighter ones can be used all year around because they go with lighter eye looks as well.

Mauve

 L-R: Nyx round lipstick in Tea Rose, Bloom Honeysuckle, Australis Colour Inject lipstick in Samba, Boogie Woogie

Wow, these are all almost identical! If I had to downsize I would probably keep Honeysuckle (I decided I need to wear it more now!) & maybe Samba, I can't choose between the two Australis colours.

 

Tea Rose has a very creamy, satin finish, and is a mid toned pinky mauve. It is not very long lasting but easy to apply. Honeysuckle is a soft pink leaning towards mauve and has a non-drying matte finish. It smells similar to MAC's lipsticks. Samba is another muted pink colour with mauve undertones & has a moisturizing satin finish, Boogie Woogie is almost the same as Samba except slightly darker on my lips.
I'm thinking maybe the pigment in my lips (although I don't have much) brings out the mauve tones of all of these lipsticks. Anyway, if you love understated, neutral lips I'm sure any of these colours would be suited to you!

Berry & Wines 

 L-R BYS Longwear lipstick Lip Service, Maybelline Color Sensational Party Pink , Milani Berry Rich, Kate by Rimmel 09, Bite Beauty Rhone, MAC Rebel.

Lip Service is a purple toned wine colour, similar to Party Pink (pink but, seriously?) which is a darker berry colour with a magenta tinge.  Berry Rich is a richer red wine colour, Kate '09' is deeper & darker than Berry Rich & with both wine & berry tones, Rhone is very similar to Kate 09 except slightly more coloured & Rebel is a slightly aubergine, very dark berry colour which can come off a bit magenta some times.

 I'm sure I could easily downsize as a few of these are very similar, I'd probably keep Party Pink, Berry Rich, Rhone & Rebel although I do like the other two colours they are just too similar.


Let me know what your favourite deeper colours are!
I'm going to move onto another part of my collection soon so please stay tuned to find out what that will be!
xx

Check out the previous posts here: Pinks | Reds | Oranges & Coral | Nudes

Sleek Ink Pot Gel Eyeliner // Review

I had been on the lookout for a new gel eyeliner for a while, I've only tried what I believe is more of a cream eyeliner by BYS which did not make me think much of gel eyeliners except they smudged easily and didn't last long, until I came to the realization that I needed to set it with a shadow.

Here are the gel liners that were contending for my attention:

• Essence gel eyeliner in Midnight in Paris; with no Essence near me and it never being available on the Priceline website, not to mention they are apparently being discontinued was a bit of a challenge for me.
• Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Gel Eyeliner; I had heard it took a while to set which I aint got no time for that.... except maybe if I had only used it as a waterline eyeliner...
• Coastal Scents/ Makeup Geek eyeliner (Immortal); looks extremely pigmented but I had tried another gel eyeliner before like this that had dried out really fast.
• Maybelline & L'oreal: I have heard a lot of good things about these.... but I do not want to pay the exuberant taxed-up prices and didn't feel like buying them online because I was going to buy from Sleek anyway.

So here are my thoughts on the Sleek Gel liner!

 The shade is called Dominatrix and it is a really nice, pigmented jet black liner. The swatch below was done with one swipe using the little brush that it came with, which is, of course useless as most mini-sized brushes are. It is creamy and sets fairly quickly, so if you wish to smudge it out, do one eye at a time so it doesn't set completely before you have a chance to.

As this sets so well, I find this waterproof and long lasting on the lash line, but it is not the same for the waterline. Setting it with a black eyeshadow prolongs the wear for a bit longer, and although I may not have much left at the end of the night the remnants are still hard to remove as it smudges into the lower lash line. I can remove most of it with a makeup wipe but I also need to use Extra Virgin Olive Oil to get the rest of it, which can go into the eye & sting. I then cleanse & lightly go over my eyes to take the oil off.

Comparison to BYS
 As this is the only other "gel" eyeliner I have tried, I will compare it to the BYS Black Magic Eyeliner, which definitely needs to be set to avoid smudging/ fading almost instantly.

 The picture on the left is applied and smudged not long after, the right picture is after going over with a makeup wipe. This is where the EVOO comes in handy. Although the BYS one has left a stain it is nowhere near like Sleek, and it also doesn't last as long on the eye on it's own.

I have worn the Sleek Gel eyeliner for about 5 hours here, and although you can see some wear, and the wing wasn't applied heavily so it looks faded to begin with, but the majority of it is still there. This is without setting it.
I have also tried tight-lining only, letting it set, wiping the waterline to remove any oils & moisture & applying a nude eyeliner. It stayed clear for a little bit but then I noticed some transfer from the top waterline so I wouldn't tightline only with this.

Overall I do like the Sleek Ink Pot gel eyeliner for it's long lasting (*on the lash line) & fast setting qualities. I'm still in search of the perfect waterline eyeliner, though! I would rate this 8/10 because of that.

What's your favourite gel eyeliner?
xx

Lip Inventory 4: Nudes

This post has been the longest time coming! But here we are for the 4th installment of my lipstick collection, nude lipsticks. As this has been a while in the making I may have bought a few new ones since I've put together these pictures. I think my lip colour will be forever growing so it would be impossible to keep this properly updated.

Here are all my current nude lipsticks. Most of them look very similar and some are varying shades of nude that probably push the boundaries, but what the hey.

L-R. MAC Hue, MAC Myth, Nyx Black Label Lipstick in Nude, Revlon Lip Butter in Creamsicle, Revlon Matte Lipstick in Smoked Peach, Revlon Matte Lipstick in Nude Attitude, MUG Shy, BYS Champagne Rain, Nyx Round Lipstick Summer Rain, Nyx Round Lipstick Iris

Hue is a pink based nude, very creamy and can go on quite sheer if you prefer that look.

A light beige colour that is also extremely creamy, can you see the digs on the side of the bullet? It happens a lot to heaps of my lipsticks it is so frustrating. I find it sits on top of my lips so I have to use my fingers otherwise it settles in the lines but sits on top elsewhere, does that make sense? I also need to use a slightly darker blended lip liner otherwise it makes my lips look too stark or something.

This lipstick is so similar to Myth, however it is probably a bit more peachy, but it could still be a dupe. Still very creamy & opaque, but I find it doesn't last too long.

 A sheer & moisturizing formula, this is a milky-pink nude.

 This is not a typical nude but it is a matte formula and as the name suggests is peach toned & perfect for smoky eyes. I haven't noticed this being extremely drying.

 A matte true nude lip colour that is extremely opaque & perfect if you're after a muted lip colour.

 A MLBB with mauve undertones, nice with a light pink lipgloss over the top.

 This is the first nude lip colour I have ever bought (that is the end of the bullet right there) and I even bought a backup ages ago but took that out and lost it (typically it had to be the new one -.-). But I always thought this was similar to Hue, it is a pinky nude that is so creamy so I should swatch them side by side to have a closer look.

 Summer love is brown toned which in turn makes me look a little bit corpsy, similar to MAC's Honeylove which is another post. So not a fave, will probably swap away.

Iris is a frosty light peachy-nude colour that I am not a fan of on it's own but it is pretty over the top of a matte nude colour such as Nude Attitude.

My favourites out of all of these nude colours would probably be Revlon Lip Butter in Creamsicle, MAC Hue & Revlon Matte Nude Attitude for the perfect nude lips. However I don't think I have found my HG nude lipstick yet.

Stay tuned for my Berry/ Purple inventory coming up which will still probably be far away yet as I have to force myself to do lip swatch after lip swatch.
See Previous: Lip Inventory 3: Oranges & Coral
Thanks for looking!

What are your holy grail nude lip colours?

x

Way Overdue-- Empties, Products I'm Getting Rid Of.

Wow it has been forever since my last empties post especially as I am meant to be on "project empty" still.... but unlike some who have empties every month, it takes me forever to use up products, even if I try to use more than usual! Especially now that I have been using other newer products that have become my favourites, it has been harder to stick to it. But now I have saved up a collection that I probably could have done a few empties ago, anyway, I'll get this big lot out of the way and try to make it more regular. I will try to keep this as short & sweet as possible!

Empties

Mascara/ Eyeliner: Maybelline XXL Extensions, Covergirl Lash Blast Length, Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Curl, Essence I <3 Extreme Volume, Maybelline Master Precise eyeliner.

Most of these are all really old, and some I haven't used forever although they haven't even completely dried out, still! I just thought it was about time I got rid of them so I could use my newer ones. Ahh and when I finally opened my back up of the Master Precise eyeliner it felt so good to rediscover why I loved this eyeliner because the old one had almost dried up completely.

Eye Products

 Coastal Scents Gel Eyeliner in Gold & Plum: They have dried out and I can't be bothered trying to restore them as they were nothing special lol so I'm throwing them out. Might repurchase other colours one day.
Essence I <3 Stage eyeshadow base: Completely finished this, and would probably re-purchase but I have heard they are discontinuing it. I wont be able to get my hands on it before then! Never mind because I am using other primers that I like.

Face Products

Face of Australia Face Base Primer: As you can see I cut it open to get every last drop haha. I really need to repurchase as I have used this for ages and <3 it but using another primer at the moment. Really good as a hydrating base. I think they have changed the packaging to something purple now!
Models Prefer Anti Aging Undereye Concealer: In the end I used this as a concealer for blemishes. Not light reflecting at all so I thought it was better for this purpose. Would not repurchase simply as there are better under eye concealers out there. I did like it elsewhere but, and kinda wish I didn't run out so fast :S
Australis Fresh & Flawless Fdtn: Bought years ago, used as a mixer with other foundations. Wouldn't repurchase.
Avon True Luminous Oil Control Makeup Base: I swear this bottle was never ending lol but completely used it up, mixed in foundation, had a nice pinky glow. When I originally bought it I thought it was a primer which it definitely is not. Quite nice but probably wouldn't repurchase to try other ones.
Revlon Photoready Fdtn: I did like this foundation but since discovering Rimmel Wake Me Up I wouldn't buy it again.
Models Prefer Illuminizer: Much the same as the Avon one but a cream not a liquid. No repurchase.
Studio Direct Concealer: (light) Bought randomly on eBay, shade too light so I used it under foundation before discovering it as an under eye concealer. Might buy again one day but trying out other concealers for now.
Physicians Formula Mineral Glow Pearls in Beige Pearl: Hit pan majorly as you can see, but couldn't be bothered finishing it completely to start using my Bourjois bronzer. Be aware this isn't exactly a bronzer as it is very light & glowy, but nice on the cheeks. I used it under Nars Laguna. Probably wont repurchase.

Face/Body Products

Skinstut Cream Cleanser: Swapped between this and my DMK Milky Cleanser which both have the same idea. It was good but not outstanding, & if I needed to I would repurchase.
 Lux Exfoliating Body Wash in Pomegranate & Palm: Love everything about this, I like the idea of an exfoliating body wash as it isn't too harsh to use everyday. The smell is amazing. I finally bought this again after a break.
St Ives Apricot Scrub in Invigorating: Would never use this on my face like I used to (way too harsh) but good for deeper exfoliation. Might re-buy but want to try others.
Cotton Body Wash: Used after finishing the Lux one, got in a set so I used it to get rid of it.
Wella Bio Touch Colour Protection Intensive Mask: Hard to tell if it really worked due to different factors, but was still nice. Wont buy again so I can try other colour saver masks.
Fiji Hydrating Body Lotion: Will keep bottle to reuse for traveling, got it as a gift & mixed it with other moisturizers.
Vintage Collection Rose Luxury Hand & Nail Cream: Another gift, perfect size for the handbag. Came in a set so I have a few other similar ones to use next.
Lush Lip Scrub in Bubblegum: Although not finished, chucking out as it is well and truly past expiration and has gone too hard to dig out... even though I found it go hard after the first couple of uses. Probably buy again but in another flavour. But I could just as easily make my own scrub lol.

I have also used up & replaced my Shampoo/ Conditioner & moisturizer/ mist many times since my last empties post....  hello obviously since that was in September haha.

Products I'm Getting Rid Of
I was going through makeup that I never wear, and that I had similar colours to already and preferred them over these... and I came up with a whole bag-full that I gave away to my brothers girlfriend (She wears only a little bit of makeup, maybe I should have told her to choose what she wanted, she was joking that I was giving her a makeup intervention :P)

 Face- Garnier Roll on, Nyx Taupe blush, Clinique Fresh Bloom in Peony sample, BYS Natural Shimmer brush, BYS Shimmer Pearls, Sportsgirl Lets Get Cheeky blushes, Face of Australia blusher in Outback Primrose, Dior Terra Bella bronzer sample, Australis blush in Rosy Cheeks.
There are a few products here from project empty, some that I haven't used in forever like Taupe blush (other alternatives, I can always buy again later down the track) & also some that didn't work for me... the garnier roll on is a good product, I just wanted something lighter for under the eyes.

 

Eyes: BYS eyeshadow palette in Black Steel, No name e/s duo, Ulta 3 e/s quad in purr like a kitten, Kate Reflect mirror eyes, BYS baked e/s, Bourjois Smoky eyes Rose Vintage, Face of Australia matte e/s primer, Mary-kate & Ashley all over shimmer in honey, BYS shimmer powder in Pink rose, Beauties Factory e/s in 453,  NYX e/s in nude, T'estimo e/s, 2 no name e/s, fake MAC e/s, NYX ultra pearl mania in Ocean Blue Pearl, Face of Australia e/s Jasper, Fake MAC mineralize e/s.
 Again I already had heaps of similar colours to these... or just forgot about them. Some I had bought and only used a handful of times.

Avon Glimmersticks e/l in Starry Night, Nude by Nature black e/l, Avon Super Shock liquid e/s, BYS liquid Silver Glitter e/l.

Lips: Mirenesse l/g, David Jones l/s in Sunburst, Covergirl l/s in Kiss, random lg, L'oreal Color Riche in electric fuchsia, Nyx l/s spellbound, L'oreal  Studio secrets in coral, Elizabeth Arden in Pink Punch,

Brushes: Essence of Beauty contour & highlight, Manicare Foundation, Manicare double ended, Model's prefer blending.

Nails: Orly in Sheer Peche, Essence in Cest La Vie, Rokk96 (price attack) in Toasted Almond.

Hallelujah, I'm happy I finally got this done, it's surely been a long time coming! And I promise I will post more regular, smaller empties. 

Have you ever gone through your stash and gotten rid of products (Read: given away. I couldn't bare to throw all of this out) you haven't used in a while or didn't like? It's very liberating, haha! I have certainly already filled the gaps that these left behind, however :P
xx