Beak & Claws: New Year, New Lipstick

I shan’t be venturing out on NYE, but if I was I would be wearing either, or both, of these purse friendly gorgeous lip products. The are both made by Essence cosmetics and are under £3 each.

The Colour Boost Mad About Matte liquid lipstick is £2.80 at Wilkos and £2.54 at Parfumdreams.co.uk. I got mine in shade 5 Dangerously Yours which is dark pink with purplish undertones. It has a doe foot applicator which hugs the contours of the lips, leaving a crisp finish. This liquid lipstick dries down quite quickly to a powdery matte finish. The colour is vibrant and not at all patchy. It doesn’t feel drying and didn’t give me “butt hole” lips.  It feels very lightweight and didn’t crack as it dries. It didn’t transfer and It remained a vibrant pink throughout the day. I only needed one layer for an opaque finish.

The Melted Chrome Liquid Lipstick is also £2.80 at Wilkos.  This liquid lipstick has a foil like, metallic matte finish. I chose shade 04 Iron Heart which is a vibrant red  shade as I though it complimented the liquid lipstick. It is water and transfer proof. I didn’t find this liquid lipstick to be as light weight as the traditional one that I tried. I was more aware that it was on my lips and it didn’t feel particularly lightweight. I like the colour as it is more of a foil than a full on traditional metallic shade so didn’t cling and highlight the cracks in my lips. It has a doe foot applicator which fits nicely in to the contours of the lips, sling the Cupid’s bow easy to define.  It was long wearing and didn’t fade. It applied smoothly, no patchiness and one swipe gave an opaque finish.

I combined the two lipsticks for this look. I thought that it gave my lips more dimension and made them look fuller. I used Dangerously as the base lipstick and applied it all over my lips, waited until it was fully dry and then applied Iron Heart to the centre of the lips.





I purchased these items myself and the views expressed in this blog are my own.

Essence Cosmetics: Wood You Love Me?

Essence Cosmetics create cruelty free, great quality, purse friendly, innovative cosmetics and they do not t st on animals.  They release Trend Editions, collections which are limited edition and seasonally appropriate, several times a year.  Their valentines edition is based around the theme "wood you love me?" featuring lots of adorable in love woodland creatures with a backdrop of romantic woodland.  The Trend Editions are not available in the UK but Kosmetik4less ship here and the prices for the items themselves and the P&P are reasonable. Postage for my wood you love me order was €8.80 and I had it within a week  (Kosmetik4less also stock lots of cosmetic brands which are difficult to get in the UK).  

The focal point of the collection, for me anyway, is the eyeshadow and highlighting palette.   The lid of the palette features two bunnies hugging each other in romantic woodland. The palette is called "from the forest with love" and has a flip image of the rabbits - they move when wiggled.  I love the aesthetics of the palette but some of the lighter shades within the palette where slightly disappointing.   The green and white (highlighter shades) seemed very powderery and lacked both staying power and pigmentation in comparison to the browns and darker colours which last and provide a good colour.  The palette costs €3.45. 

 The lip palette called "you are my absolute favourite" also costs €3.45 and contains 5 lip shades.  They are all in the pink-fushia-red colour scheme, are high coverage and have a metallic, shimmering or matte finish. I love this palette. I can use these colours as they are or mix my own custom colour.  They smell fruity and are well worth the price. 

   





There are three nail polishes  in the collection and they cost €1.95 each. Crazy in love is a metallic rose gold, soulmate is a lime green and sweet kisses is a light pink.  I have crazy in love and sweet kisses and I enjoy wearing them both.  I always use the same base coat - nail hq all in one- and I found that these are one of the few brands that don't peel off my nails within hours of applying (I have very greasy nails due to long term medication). I found one coat gave opaque coverage and they dried within 15 minutes. They are quite a runny consistency so it is better to apply to little and have to back than put to much on and end up with a runny mess.

The smokey eyes "love at first sight" brush is €2.25 and is a double ended synthetic bristle brush.  One side has a round soft brush which is perfect for buffing whilst the other is square so that you can stamp the perfect base for a smokey eye in the outer corner of your eye. I have to get someone to do my eye make up for me as I cannot reach my eyes but my mum did say it was quite easy to use on me.

The nail file set,  love me twice, hydrating sheet mask, be happy, be a bunny, Energising eye sheet mask, foxever in love and make up sponges, Mr and Mrs Cute all cost €1.95 each and are pocket money friendly, well thought out and adorable.  The sponges are washable, the nail files feel really great quality and the sheet masks are single use. 

The items I didn't get are the duo eye pencils, false lashes and highlighter and blush palette (sadly out of stock)

I purchased these items myself. 

Information about the items can be found here

Items can be purchased here