EOTD: Mermaids Vs Unicorns Berry & Eggplant...

Well I'm sure having a ball with my Makeup Revolution Mermaids Vs Unicorns palette! And loving pinky reds and purples as I do, this particular combo just had to be next. These hues are stunners for any season, but particularly lush and lustworthy for the cooler months - just looking at the colours makes my mouth water, and I can almost taste ripe blackberries, plump red currants and juicy raspberries ♥

As you know I often use coloured gels or creams as my bases to bring out the best in my shadows, and I did that here to add some extra warmth, not that they needed much help - these pigments are potent enough to lay down over white, but I'm saving that lighter, fresher more vivid kind of look for Spring. Under the red I used pink Chi Chi Waterproof Gel Eye Liner (Hopelessly Devoted) and under the purple went Beauty School Drop Out from the same range, as well as on my waterline...

In this photo I'm wearing my latest makeup discovery - Mirenesse Liquid Silk. It's a brilliant long-wear, non-transfer, almost-matte, full-coverage foundation, perfect for my combination skin as it doesn't need blotting, and although it only comes in 4 shades, I'm most fortunate that Vienna matches my skin tone perfectly ♥ It also just happened to be on special (half price - $29.75)) On the cheeks went bhcosmetics Iris, and lips were made berry-licious with MBA Cosmetics Fire Island Petite Lipstick with a slick of Mirenesse Velvet Lip Lift Moisture Shine #19...

Hope you're keeping warm and toasty away from the freezing winds, or enjoying some brilliant runs in the your ski-clobber ♥

Take care of you,

kats xxx

SPOTLIGHT: Lipstick Collection Refresh...

Back in May I made an executive decision to refresh my lip product collection - I'm almost embarrassed to say I had lipsticks and glosses in my kit that were anything up to 4 or 5 years old, and when I posted an LOTD on Instagram, it was often all pretty pointless as the products weren't even available any more! I was also inspired by my gorgeous pals Lovethatlippie and IndieAna who were whetting my appetite with all their fabulous purchases, some from companies I'd never even heard of. So off I went into Lip-Land with a very modest budget to see what I could find - holey moley I was staggered by the range of products available in the bargain category, and I've only just barely scratched the surface of the drugstore variety. Anyways I figured I'd better start reviewing some of these before the companies stop making them ha ha. So here are some of my Instagram pics of what I purchased, spending anything from $2 to $20 (I'll be doing a study of the more expensive ones once I've given these a good workout, and my bank balance recovers)...

The above collage doesn't include all the varieties I bought from Aldi (I've already reviewed the lipsticks here and the lip lacquers here). All up I've added 64 new lip products to my kit in a wide range of colours, textures and finishes (and tossed out about half that many to make some room). From a quality and performance perspective, some of them have been a delightful surprise, while others just didn't cut it at all. Soooo....over the next few months I'll be reviewing all these items individually (with swatches), and will let you know which ones I would repurchase, and which ones are far better left on the shelf ♥

Here are the brands whose products I purchased for this little (well not quite so little) exercise, in alphabetical order:

bhcosmetics, Boe Professional, BYS, Chi Chi Cosmetics, Covergirl, DB Cosmetics, Fifth Avenue (Kmart), lol Cosmetics, Makeup Revolution, Max Factor, Maybelline, MBA Cosmetics, nude by nature, NYX Cosmetics, Revlon, Rimmel, Rubi Shoes, Starlet (Coles).

I was going to choose a random one to start with, but hey gals, which lippie brand review would you like to see first?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: L'Oreal Color Riche Disco Smoking...

Another neglected palette, which is a crime because it's such a beauty ♥ - the colours are just so striking, and the powders are creamy and well pigmented. I created a look using it last June after struggling to get it to work - I can't remember for the life of me what the problem was, and it really doesn't matter now as this particular look came together as easy as pie...

On this day I was wearing basic black with leopard print accents, so I wanted the red shadow to lean more towards brown - Chi Chi Waterproof Gel Eye Liner in Lo Cal Chocolate was my base of choice, and it worked a treat, plus laying down another of Chi Chi's liners in gold (Midas Touch) brought the yellow to life, and even gave it a bit of a glisten. To create the sunset orange, I gently blended the red towards the yellow...

I then smudged a very small quantity of the black into my crease, and for the waterline, I used essence Kajal in the shade Teddy...

Foundation was Lancôme Teint Visionnaire, blush was the middle pan from the BYS Endless Summer trio, and lips were Revlon Super Lustrous Bronze Beauty...

Take care of you,
kats xxx

P.S. Don't miss Ingrid's Monday Makeup Madness link up party - it's a great place to find new blogs to follow, and there's a new collection every week ♥

REVIEW: Lacura (Aldi) Volume Lip Lacquer...

I've always been reasonably interested in a few of the Aldi makeup products - the ones they stock on a regular basis, usually found along the back wall on the right-hand side. I have the entire set of their lipsticks (recently reviewed here) in my kit, and a couple of their blushes. But it's the ones that have been appearing lately on the middle tables that have got me all excited ♥ They seem to be churning out a whole bunch of new ranges, and this Lacura Volume Lip Lacquer is one of them...

There are four shades in the set - Peach, Red Carpet, Flamingo and Berry. They tend to be a bit on the sheer side, and in my opinion, that makes them more usable as gloss toppers rather than standalone lacquers. But with such gorgeous colours, a luscious boost of moisture, and a price tag of $4.99, they'll be getting quite a workout on my pucker, one way or another...

They all come boxed and sealed, and here's the blurb that's on the back...

And here are some swatches over bare skin. I layered them thickly so you could see just how intense you can make them. The gloss factor is off the scale...

L to R: Peach, Red Carpet, Flamingo, Berry

The does foot applicator is nice and soft, reasonably large, but not too unwieldy when it comes to creating a neat outline. The swatches below are over bare lips - mine are heavily freckled, which is why I probably won't wear these lacquers alone. The only one that leaves a bit to be desired is the peach - it's the sheerest of them all, and consequently tends to go a bit patchy when trying to apply a thick layer...

Red Carpet and Flamingo are my favourites, and the ones that are the easiest to build up. They all have a slight perfumey taste, but it's not unpleasant and doesn't last long, and they smell like caramels ♥ 

Of course the problem with Aldi "specials" is that they're not always there when you want them, so as a precaution, I've stocked up on the hues I love most. The only annoyance with most of their makeup lines is that they rarely label them with the colour name - occasionally there's a number, but most times there's zilch, and that can be a pain when you want to repurchase and can't quite remember which shade you're after...

But, overall I think they're great value, and there's a whole bunch of their other new products I've been trying of late, and you'll be seeing them here on my blog over the next month or so ♥

Take care of you,

kats xxx