Matte Liquid Lipsticks

I'm jumping on the bandwagon a bit here. I've wanted to do a post about matte liquid lipsticks for a while, but I wanted to wait until I had a decent range of them that are easily accessible to UK shoppers, because like many I'm a bit unsure when it comes to purchasing from outside the UK. I've ended up with 6 in my collection so far, each from different brands, but I expect I'll be getting my hands on more soon because I have to say I'm a big fan of matte lips, particularly nudes, and I love the feel of the liquid ones.

Tranquility, MUA LUXE - £3
This is a slightly brown nude shade, which is the shade Tranquility by MUA LUXE, from their Velvet lip lacquer range. The packaging kind of reminds me of the Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte lipsticks, with the frosted glass and gold lid. It's a very pretty nude shade. I did find the formula was a teeny bit thin, but still opaque when applied to the lips. As you'd expect with budget liquid lipsticks, I did find this a little drying after an hour or so of wearing, but nothing a little bit of lip balm can't fix. Although I do prep my lips with a scrub and some balm I always find my lips to be a little dry anyway, so I can't blame the lipstick entirely. In terms of longevity, this did need touching up quite a bit, and if you wanted to keep it perfect you might have to remove it and reapply it completely after a few hours, especially after drinking, but for the price you really can't complain.

Tranquility

Stockholm, NYX - £5.50

The next shade is a slightly more peachy toned nude, Stockholm by NYX from their Soft Matte Lip Creams. The colour is beautiful, and I didn't expect one so light to suit me, but I actually find myself reaching for it quite a lot. The little doe foot applicator allows it to be applied precisely and quickly, and I didn't find this one too drying. After maybe 4 hours I wanted to apply some lip balm but it was manageable. Again, it did wear a little once I'd eaten and drank, but as I said before, for the price I'm not complaining. This is one of my favourites, and I'm desperate to get some more of these!

Stockholm 

Birthday Suit, Sleek - £4.99
It wouldn't be a matte liquid lipstick post if I didn't include this bad boy now would it? Every blogger and their dog raves about these and I can see why. They're long lasting, non-drying, and come in beautiful shades. Birthday suit is a pinky nude shade, and it looks beautiful on the lips. It doesn't settle into the lines on your lips, but glides over and ah I love it, and the Matte Me range is less than £5, so it's definitely worth buying! My only niggle with these are the shape of the applicator, which I find makes it a little more difficult to apply, but I can live with that seeing as the product itself is so nice!

You can see from the swatch of Birthday Suit that I struggled to get an even layer due to the really thin applicator but it's slightly easier on the lips.

Nude Flush, Maybelline - £6.99
Now, I have to say this isn't one of my favourites. The shade is amazing, I love the colour and the pigmentation. I didn't think it dried well enough down to a matte on the lips however, and it certainly isn't transfer proof, which means it isn't long lasting. That being said, I've seen quite a few reviews from people who said they absolutely loved this, so maybe I'm just doing it wrong? I'm swatching them all as I go along, and by the time I've looked back at each shade so I can remind myself of the colour etc, they've all been at least partially matte, whereas this one just isn't doing it for me. Sorry Maybelline, I still love you.

Nude Flush - Maybelline.
 I waited to see if this would dry matte to take another photo of the swatch but it still hadn't dried.

Just in Love 335, Max Factor - £10.99
Slightly pricier than the others I've mentioned but the Max Factor Lipfinity Longwear Lipsticks are well worth the money. I started a shift at work not long ago and swatched one of these just to see what they're like, and that evening the swatch was still pristine, despite me working, washing my hands, and even rubbing off other swatches with makeup wipes! Longlasting doesn't even cover it, but while it means they take a while to remove, you can apply it and not have to worry about it all day long. They even give you a lip balm in the set to apply throughout the day to alleviate dryness should it occur but I don't find this one to be too drying either. The shade I have is a kind of bright pink shade but I actually really like it on the lips. Also, as weird as it sounds, the doe foot applicator is really soft, so I really enjoy applying it!

Just in Love - Max Factor

Hot Brownie, Essence - £2.30
Last but not least, The Velvet Matte liquid lipstick from Essence in Wilkinsons. I picked this up on a bit of a whim, because not only did I love the look of the deep plum/red shade, the scent is beyond delicious. Some people aren't a fan of that fake vanilla kind of scent but I love it, although the scent doesn't transfer to the lips, so if that would put you off, don't let it worry you. Again, it doesn't dry completely matte so it isn't transfer proof, nor is it long lasting, but for £2.30 it's a nice lipstick, I just wouldn't say it was a matte one.

Hot Brownie - Essence
You can see where it smudged a little because it doesn't dry down completely matte.

I'm hoping to try more high end ones soon, maybe some of the popular US offerings like Jeffree Star, Colourpop and Kat Von D, so look out for those in the future. Also apologies for the swatches, I'm still figuring out the best way to do those. Hope you enjoyed this. I've got some nice little posts on the way so I'll see you again soon.

Paige.

Shoutout to Adam for fixing my laptop by taking it apart and putting toilet paper and sellotape inside it, lets hope it doesn't set me on fire. xo

How To Use: Sleek Cream Contour Kit

After I posted the Sleek cream contour palette review, people requested that I do a little 'how to' post, with pictures of me applying it. Now, I'm definitely not a pro when it comes to applying my makeup. Neither am I 100% confident in my skills. However I thought I'd be brave and give it a go! 

Some of the products I used for this look, and a treat for editing!

I both cleansed and exfoliated my face, using the B. Men Charcoal Face Scrub from Superdrug, which is technically my boyfriend's but I wanted a nice deep cleanse and it was the best I had to hand. The product itself is branded as a man's face scrub but lets be honest, it's just a decent charcoal scrub, who cares who it's meant to be for. I then applied my Olay Hydration and Radiant Glow moisturiser, which is a nice light moisturiser for summer as it contains SPF 15 and adds some radiance to my skin. 

After I'd given time for that to sink into my skin, I applied my base products. I used the Primark Miracle primer (of course), and then my X-ceptional Wear Makeup Foundation from GOSH, which is good for a light, sheer base (even though you can build it up), and then applied the Maybelline Eraser Eye concealer on my blemishes. 

This is my face with only the base products applied

 I then went in with the contour kit, following the guide that they supply with each palette.

It says on the sheet to use an angled contour brush. I do own the Real Techniques contour brush but I find it a little too large as my face is quite small, so as I said in the last post I use a MAC angled flat foundation brush, which is MAC 193. 

Cream Contours when initially applied

As you can see, my lines and shames really aren't that neat at all, but once you've blended them it doesn't matter. You really don't have to be a pro to apply these! If I can, anyone can.

Cream Contour after blending

I blended all the shades using a damp beauty blender, starting with the light shades and working into the darker shades.

Here I've set the creams with powder

After this, I applied the GOSH Velvet Touch prime 'n' set loose powder over my highlighted areas, and applied a Makeup Revolution contour powder over the top of the cream to set it all in place. I then went ahead and did my eye makeup (taking photos of my eyebrows in the state they were in was almost traumatising). While I did this, the translucent powder worked to both set and lighten the cream highlight. Once the rest of my makeup was done, I brushed away the setting powder and 

applied some blush and my MAC mineralize skinfinish in Lightscapade as a highlight. 

The finished look

This was the finished look! I think it really slims my face, and I just like how it looks. It's a bit nerve wracking to post photos of me actually using the products and I was a little hesitant to post this one, but hopefully you all enjoy it! 

Would you try the cream contouring kit? Let me know if you have and how you found it. 

Paige x

Sleek cream contour kit review!

It wasn't that long ago that in my first ever post I said I wanted to try the Sleek cream contour kit, and now it's sitting in front of me. I just couldn't resist when I saw that they were on an incredible offer in Superdrug, as they are included in the 2 for £10 Sleek deal. That's an absolute steal considering the palette on it's own is £10.99! I bought two in the shades 'light' and 'medium' and gave the latter to a friend who I thought it would suit more - hope you're enjoying it Shannon! £5! Absolute bloody bargain.

Sleek Cream Countour Kit - Light

I wanted to try it a few times before blogging about it, which was apparently the right thing to do, and I'll explain why later on. The first time I tried the palette was on friday, before a night out when I knew I'd get away with a heavier makeup look. I primed my face using the Primark PS Pro Miracle primer (which I reviewed in a previous post and I'm still head over heels in love with it!). I then applied a very light layer of the MAC Studio Fix foundation to make sure that when I applied the contour it didn't cake up on my face. I skipped concealer because I believed the contour would give enough coverage.

Now, when I first took the palette out of the box I found it a little bit daunting. I've never dabbled in cream contouring before and had no idea how I was going to use all six shades. The wonderful people at Sleek know that we aren't all makeup artists though, so they've provided a nice little guide in each kit, and it's really easy to follow! To apply them, I used a little flat foundation brush by MAC, wiping it down with a makeup wipe in between shades. This wasn't ideal of course, but I don't really have loads of little flat foundation brushes hanging around and I doubt many people do, and it worked for me! I followed the guide step-by-step and then blended the shades using a damp beauty blender afterwards. I think for the price the pigmentation was really nice. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy they were to blend. My only little niggle was that I wasn't quite as happy with the coverage as I'd have liked, so the second time I used the palette I made sure to apply my concealer first and after that the coverage was much nicer, but both times I was pleased with the look.

Ultimate Contouring Guide by Sleek

I used my Makeup Revolution powder contour kit to set the contour and applied my GOSH setting powder on the highlight to 'bake'. I then did my eye makeup before brushing off the excess setting powder and brushing a little over the rest of my face to set it all. A nice little tip I've learned from reviews/tutorials is to do let your highlight 'bake' by leaving a loose translucent powder under your eyes over your highlight, because not only does it brighten your under eye even more but it means you can simply brush away any fallout from your eyeshadow with the excess setting powder! I applied my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade by spraying my Real Techniques fan brush with setting spray, allowing it to almost dry and then applying my highlight, as that way I get such a beautiful glow.

I was really pleased with the finished look. I wasn't used to looking so sculpted but I think I could get used to it! The palette is really very good value for money, even more so on the current offer at Superdrug! I wouldn't do it everyday but that's more personal preference, as it didn't take long at all. I'm a big fan of Sleek in general, their products are such good quality for money, and the packaging is always very chic and, well, sleek.

Are there any Sleek products you swear by?

Just as a little add on here, I'd like to thank everyone for reading, following, commenting etc, and just generally for all the support my blog has received. I'm so happy with it, and watching it grow makes me so proud! I'm so passionate about this, and it's great to see other people appreciating the work I'm putting into it, so yeah, thank you! I'm done being soppy now.

See you again very soon!

Paige x