Essence Lip Liners | Review & Swatches

If you love a good lip liner, and especially if you're on a budget, look no further.

These are the £1 (yes one English pound) each, and I have four here to show you.

Here's a lovely close up of my dry lips. From top left we have Satin Mauve, In The Nude, Honey Berry & Soft Berry.

Satin Mauve has quickly become an every day staple for me, it's just a really mauvey (hence the name, duh), soft pink, and works really nicely alone, over a lip balm or with a lipstick over top.

In The Nude is quite an orange - based nude, which I don't think is particularly flattering by itself on my skin as I have quite yellow undertones.

Honey Berry is a bright, blue-based pink/berry. I love this colour, and I think it will be so lovely in the Spring/Summer

Soft Berry is more of a brown based pinky/berry, which I love, and is really nice for this time of year.

I know the photos aren't the best, as I did them this morning, in my onesie with no other make up on, and dry, horrible lips.

But, I absolutely promise you that they are totally lovely, longwearing and obviously, very cheap.

Would definitely recommend :)

Thanks for reading!

Lou x



2 Budget Gloss options

I am having a real lip gloss moment at the moment, which is inconvenient, because most of the world seems obsessed with the matte-est of matte lips. 

I just find gloss really easy to wack on and trust that it won't crack or crumble off in a really really unattractive way, which is my main fear with anything matte.

I also don't really have it in me to buy a high-end lipgloss (except the Clarins Lip Perfecters which are the bomb.com), so I set about finding a couple of bargain-ous highstreet options. These are the two I have been using over the last few weeks, both with a ridiculous price tag, so I thought Id share them with you.

First of all, this is the XXL nude (??) Lipgloss from Essence in the shade Soft Almond. This was something amazing like £1.90 from Wilko's, and I really like the formula, which is more wet gel rather than sticky? If ya know what I mean. Lovely stuff. Lasting power isn't great, but its lipgloss, what do you expect? It's not pigmented either, just adding a gloss of nude to the lips, really easy for every day. I personally think this a great find, and such a bargain. I do remember looking at the other colours and seeing a lot of glitter, so I'm not sure if I'll be going back for seconds, but it depends on the shades.

Lip Boss from Barry M. First of all, I think I love the name? I started off thinking it was a bit stupid, but I think I've warmed to the idea. I also think the packaging is really quite nice, its pretty solid and hefty. The colour looks neon- bright in the tube but it really isn't all that bad.

As you can see here, its more a wash of warm peach. Pretty inoffensive and pretty, probably more suited for summer but oh well. I remember this being £3.50, which is a pretty good deal. The downside to this product is the smell- which is something like really cheap oranges. I really hate it.

Between the two, I would say the Essence one is my favourite, colour and formula wise, and for the price you really cant complain.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

3 Budget Lip Balm Reviews

Admittedly, lip balms aren't a super exciting beauty product, and certainly something I don't get incredibly excited about. However, finding a good one, or two, ensures your lips stay moisturised and plump looking- meaning your lipstick will go on a lot smoother (priorities). I currently have three hanging around in my room so I thought I'd do mini reviews to let you know which ones are worth grabbing.

Carmex. Where the hell was I before I had Carmex? Kidding myself with pots of Vaseline, probably. Carmex is the bomb, simply because it works. The smell of the original one is very recognisable, and I would recommend going for the mint version if you've a sensitive nose. Love it, and the SPF makes it perfect for day time wear.

Ah, the Body Shop Vitamin E Lip Balm. This is the most expensive of the three, I think, and my least favourite. It's quite a thin, waxy consistency which I don't particularly like, and it also has a very strange smell/ taste. I don't reach for this at all anymore, but it's going to stick around in case I ever run out of the other options.

This is my favourite night- time lip balm- the Nivea Essential Care. It's smooth, quite thick, and definitely nourishing- probably my favourite of the three. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, especially as it's only a couple of pounds.

So, this may have been a very boring post, but a good lip balm is just one of those things you always need.
Thanks for reading!
Lou x

Revolution 'I Heart my Lips' Collection/ Review

I love Make Up Revolution. Normally.

Unfortunately, this collection of I Love my Lips lipsticks which came as free gift ( so I can't really complain) with my order, are quite disappointing. 

I haven't actually tried anything else lips-wise from Revolution, and so I was pretty excited to get a whole free set of these. 

On arrival, I actually got five out of six, and a two of 'Irregular Heartbeat' which is a shame, so I don't have the red shade which is called Heart Attack.

The packaging is obviously a copy of MAC's bullet shaped lipsticks, but it has a shiny, rather than matte finish, and feels a lot lighter and, well, pretty cheap. The purple shade, Racing Heart, was actually broken when it arrived, and is really hard to twist up. 

This is 'Heart is Pumping' and it is probably my favourite one of the bunch. It's very sheer (as they all all are) and is basically a very subtle pink. Very little to complain about here, but nothing to get excited about. You can't build up this colour as it is so sheer, but it's a very quick easy option if you want something balmy and tinted. This lipstick actually broke when I did the arm swatch which is SO annoying.

This is 'Beating Heart' and actually this one is not so bad. It is a nice medium pink which applies pretty evenly, and actually stayed in place quite well which is good. You can build this one up to a certain extent but the finish gets a little patchy after a while.

This is a coral shade, which is Irregular Heartbeat. It looks nice when just patted onto the lips, for a really subtle corally- lip. HOWEVER, you can build it up, but please don't. It sinks into all the lines on my lips, goes patchy, and suddenly becomes quite neon- and not in a nice way. Again, as a subtle shade applied carefully, this one is okay, but nothing amazing.

This is the nude shade, which is Rising Pulse, and is actually really pretty. Sheer, like the rest of them, but a nice medium- nude with peachy brown undertones. Very nice, I like this one.

Lastly, this is Racing Heart, and I don't think it gives credit to how awfully  it applied. On the website it looks like a rich purple, but it's more like a berry-red which is pretty patchy, and just generally quite horrible. Sorry make up Revolution!

Out of the collection I would recommend Rising Pulse as a really nice nude sheer lipstick. The two pinks are alright, but nothing special, but I would say steer clear of the coral and purple- not good. 

I'm a bit disappointed because Revolution haven't let me down before, but I will definitely be thinking twice before purchasing any other lip products from them.

HOWEVER, the rest of my order was absolutely amazing, and I will include a few top items in a full review or a collective review.

Hope this was helpful, thank you for reading!

Lou x