REVIEW: DB Cosmetics Lipsticks...

As a result of my lipstick collection refresh, I've discovered a new lipstick brand love - DB Cosmetics. I've used their eye shadows in the past and at that time, tagged them with a "cheap and cheerful" label, but nothing to really rave about. Well now, according to my local stockist (Price Attack), they've recently revamped their range, and I'm superduper-impressed with their lipsticks, both with the colour selections, and the formulas. There are two - Long Wear and Moisturising. I bought one initially (Bronze), and adored it so much I added six more to my kit within a few weeks!...

The packaging is stylish and sturdy, and the lid gives an indication of the hue inside. The texture of both ranges is smooth and creamy, the colour payoff is excellent, and they leave my lips feeling soft and moist. The Longwear formula isn't quite so hydrating, though I find that goes for most lipsticks that are designed to last, but it isn't drying in any way, and none of them have any taste or smell that I can detect. Moisturising lipsticks are $8.99 and the Longwear ones are a dollar more - absolute bargains for the quality...

So here are the colours I chose - I swatched all these over bare lips during my early morning rush to get ready, so the application is far from perfect, but the shades are pretty darn close to true, well as true as they can be under a white makeup light ♥

This is 666 Bronze, a magnificent autumn tone, with a slightly pearlised finish...

And if you love hot pink, you'll need to pick up 661 Vivid Mauve - of all my magenta-ish lippies, this has the most blue content, it's just plain gorgeous...

Ahh yes, 678 Perfect Plum - one of my personal favourites. It's a Longwear one (the lid is opaque whereas the standard formula is clear), and another divine cooler season hue, this plum is...perfect ♥

662 Perfect Pink has a plain moist finish - a little pale for me for this time of year, but come Spring/Summer, I'll be trotting this out because it's so pretty and feminine...

The most beloved red of all I own - 665 Currant Kiss. This is deep and rich, supremely classy, and doesn't scream for attention like some of my other reds. A stunning spiced rouge that I'm constantly trying to work into my looks at least once a week simply because I love it so much ♥

Another of the Longwear range - 676 Classic Mauve. Nude lovers rejoice - this is halfway between a pink and a beige, flattering for most skintones, and it's one of those my-lips-but-better kind of hues. Subtle and sexy...

And here's 663 Cherry Love - I call it Cheery Love because it's such a happy hue, verging on a juicy ripe raspberry. This and Vivid Mauve leave the most stain on my lips...

They standard formula needs to be reapplied after a few hours (depending on how many lattes you drink), but the Longwear ones usually take me through to lunchtime...

In summary, this was possibly my greatest find throughout my lipstick refresh, and I highly recommend checking them out. There are 24 shades in the ranges (12 in each), and I'll be back for more. In fact I bought 677 Teak Rose (Longwear) yesterday, but I'm saving that for my next DB Cosmetics post - I have a strong feeling there'll be more ♥

Take care of you,

kats xxx

P.S. Have a look at Ingrid's Monday Makeup Madness link up party - lots of great articles contributed by some very talented bloggers ♥

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 ♥