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

REVIEW: Makeup Revolution Mermaids Vs Unicorns Palette...

A couple of weeks ago I reviewed a fantabulous palette from Makeup Revolution - Give Them Nightmares. This UK company was recommended to me by my goddess friend (and regular enabler) IndieAna, and I'll be eternally grateful to her for putting me onto them - their eye shadows are amazing, and this is the second palette I purchased in the same order, Mermaids Vs Unicorns. Quite a contrast to the dark and broody Nightmare (which I adore), this collection of lighter and brighter hues will also be featuring in heaps of my EOTD's in the future ♥

Like Nightmare, the pans in this palette are also amazingly pigmented, deliciously creamy and super easy to blend. Most of them are shimmers, but there's a couple of mattes, and four contain the prettiest light-catching sparkles (the red, pinky purple, dark blue/purple and black). They're well compacted with barely any fallout, and the clear lid (love that I can see the shades!) closes with a very firm click. From what I can gather, the first six are the Mermaids, and the second half are the Unicorns, but don't quote me on that ha ha...

I'm probably the blogging world's worst swatcher, but above is a reasonably accurate portrayal of the colours and finishes. And below is the first look I've created...

To bring out the intensity of the hues, I used a base of essence White Kajal, blended the third green and second blue together to create a shimmery aqua, and then patted the matte indigo (third from right) into the crease. Waterliner was Chi Chi Waterproof Gel Eyeliner in Caribbean Queen...

Sadly the colours of the pans vary from slightly from one of my pictures to the next (it's a lighting thing) but the hues in the photo below are probably the closest to actual...

Love it! You can probably imagine I'll be ordering more from Makeup Revolution, just as soon as I get through some of the other palettes I've scored in recent weeks (whoops!) ♥

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: Illamasqua Stalk and bhcosmetics Pink...

Absolutely dee-lighted to introduce you to Illamasqua Stalk, the most fabulously stunning matte green shadow that was gifted to me by my dear (and ever so generous) friend Hissycat Krissy, who is acutely aware of my passion for green eye makeup ♥ This arrived on my doorstep bundled in with a whole heap of goodies (a couple you've already seen, and others are yet to be revealed), and I'm ecstatic - while I have a multitude of green pigments rattling around in my drawers, I have nothing that's as pure and bold and intense as this hue ♥

I'm COMPLETELY sold on Illamasqua shadows now. They are such a pleasure to use - so finely milled like compressed silk, zero fallout, stunningly packaged, holey cow I could rave for days about how wonderful they are, but I'd better get on with the details of this particularly colourful look...

I used essence White Kajal under the Stalk, and Chi Chi Waterproof Gel Eyeliner in Hopelessly Devoted under the bhcosmetics pink from the Take Me To Brazil palette. The purple appeared magically when I blended the two together - love it when that happens ha ha! Waterline is...yes, you guessed it, Chi Chi Caribbean Queen - undoubtedly my most used waterline product of late ♥

On my face I used L'Oreal Infallible 24Hr foundation, cheeks were a base of Maybelline Master Glaze Blush Stick in Pink Fever, and I brushed a wee bit of the bright pink from the BYS On the Brightside blush trio for some extra oomph. Lips were Rubi Shoes (yes they make lipsticks as well as shoes!) Raspberry...

Thank you again darling Kris for this beautiful addition to my collection ♥

Take care of you,
kats xxx

SPOTLIGHT: Rediscovering Powder Blushes (Part 5)

If you're following my Instagram account, you'll be aware that I'm in the middle of refreshing my lipstick collection. It's progressing well (I'm almost out of space lol!), and while I'm having an absolute ball, I started to feel somewhat neglectful of my blush array. So I picked up these two gorgeous BYS palettes from Kmart yesterday morning...

They have a similar look to the Sleek Blush-By-Three series (or maybe Sleek is copying BYS?), and while the pigmentation isn't as potent, I'm somewhat relieved as I have to be very VERY careful with the Sleek ones or else I look a bit overcooked. The beauty of these blushes is that they are silky smooth, readily available in Australia, and only cost $5.75. I already have a vivid pink trio in this range called On The Bright Side that I blogged about last May, so I knew the quality was exceptional for the price...

So this is Endless Summer - a stunning orange and 2 corals.  The first and third pans are almost identical, the last one has a wee bit more red in it (more obvious in the swatches below), and they are both mattes. For some reason my camera makes them look like they have an ombre shading, but the colour is actually the same throughout. The middle orange has a teeny bit of sparkle to it, and I'm particularly thrilled as I have nothing even vaguely like this in my kit ♥ 

Here are the swatches over bare skin. There's minimal fallout, and they blend beautifully!

And this is my personal favourite - Heart Skipped a Beat. What caught my eye in the store was that third pan, a divine lilac pink, but having swatched them all, I'm in love with every single one. They are all sparkly, but not enough to cause a problem on my mature skin with too much disco glare ha ha...

I just adore these shades - these will all be fabulous with my plum and purple outfits, and will team beautifully with greys and blues too...

All up I'm thrilled to bits to have so many more shade choices on my bench, and you can bet I'll be giving every pan a major workout, starting with one of the pinks tomorrow ♥ 

Have you tried BYS blushes before? Which of the two palettes would suit you best?

Take care of  you,
kats xxx

P.S. I've just added this post to Ingrid's Monday Makeup Madness #13 Link Up Party - always a beaut source for new blogs to follow ♥