Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains

L-R 010 Darling, 040 Rendezvous, 015 Cherish

Firstly, I have to say that this is my first post in TWENTY THREE DAYS. This month has been super hectic for me - I've been working a lot, I started college this week, I moved into a new flat and I've also been crazy ill this week. But I'm feeling heaps better now, and I'm so excited to be writing a new blog post! I've missed blogging and the entire community so much in the past month, and I'm ecstatic to say that you lovely people have still been leaving me comments, following my blog and tweeting me - thank you so much.

On to more pressing issues (!) - Revlon's new Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains. Not the catchiest name for a lip product, but there you go. I think these launched a good while ago now, and the blogging community has been going wild for them. I'm a little late to the party, but I have to say I'm in love.

So far I have 3 of the 7 shades available here in the UK. I believe there a few more shades which were released in the US (Charm being one of them, which I'm gutted they haven't released here!). I bought all of these whilst they were on an introductory offer of £5.99 (usual RRP is £7.99) at Boots and Superdrug. I think the offer is still on, but please don't quote me on that.

The first shade I have is Rendezvous, which I can only describe as orange. It looks more red in my photos, but on the lips it comes across as quite a bright tangerine when applied heavily, or it can also be applied as a sheer wash of coral if you apply it lightly. I think that might be what I love the most about these - they're so versatile. I'm not a bright lip girl, so I love the fact that I can build up the colour to something I'm comfortable with. The second shade I got was Darling, which is a lilac-y, blue-toned pink. Very different to everything else in my lip product collection! My most recent shade purchase was Cherish, which is more of a bubblegum pink to me.

I find the formula quite moisturizing, definitely more than most lipsticks but I do still apply a little touch of lip balm before I use these (sort-of defeats the purpose of a 2-1 product, whoops...). I've also heard of people complaining about the smell/taste. They do have a slight minty scent but I find it really refreshing and it doesn't linger too long for me. The pigmentation is really good considering these are essentially glorified lip balms, and the staying power is just amazing. I always forget that I'm wearing it, then I check my face hours later and the colour is still going strong!

So to summarize, I definitely approve. If you haven't already tried one of these balm stains, or if you're looking for a cheaper alternative to the infamous Clinique Chubby Sticks, you've found it. I wanted to try a Chubby Stick but since finding these, I seriously begrudge paying £16 for something which I can get for less than half the price which does a great job.

Have you tried the Revlon balm stains? Are they worth the hype?

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter

This is yet another product that I've heard so much about, and something I've been dying to try since I heard about it! As I've mentioned, I'm not a lipstick fan at all. I'm always too conscious that it's there, it feels awkward to eat or drink with and I somehow end up with lipstick all over my teeth and god knows where else. So when I heard about this lip butter, I thought it sounded great - basically a moisturizing lip balm with colour!

I intended to purchase the shade Peach Parfait but I couldn't find it anywhere, so I settled for Tutti Frutti which is more orange than I anticipated. Revlon claims that these lip butters will make your lips softer, more hydrated and and smoother as they are enriched with mango, shea and coconut butter.

Firstly, how gorgeous is this packaging?! I love it. You can see how bright it looks in the applicator, but it actually applies quite sheer so there's still a pop of colour but it's not so in-your-face. These retail at £7.99, but Superdrug is currently selling them on offer at £5.99.

Swatched on hand

It applies really smoothly and has a very creamy, buttery (as the name suggests) consistency. I love the fact that you can apply it really easily as it's more like a lip balm than a lipstick, so you don't have to be as precise as you do with lipstick. Great to chuck in your handbag for touch-ups during the day! And - bonus! - this hasn't transferred on to my teeth at all yet!

I'll be making sure I pick up a few more shades of this on my next trip to the shops, it's so easy to apply, made my lips feel super-soft and gives a lovely shine without the stickiness of a gloss.

Have you tried Revlon's lip butters yet? What's your favourite shade?

Superdrug/Boots haul!

Today I finally landed myself a job after 4 months of trying. So I decided that was reason enough for me to have a little shopping spree! I've been lusting after SO many products for months now, so I finally got my hands on certain bits and bobs that I've been wanting.

First up is the Sleek i-Divine Au Naturel Palette. Sleek is a brand I had never really heard of until I started reading beauty blogs, and I've been dying to try one of their eye palettes ever since! I bought this from Superdrug and it cost £6.99, which I think is very reasonable considering there are 12 shadows inside. I opted for the natural palette as I'm not a huge eyeshadow wearer anyway and when I do wear it, I prefer neutral, understated colours. There are 8 matte colours and 4 shimmer colours, so I think there's something for everyone! Really excited to use this, it might even convert me to the "dark side" and I'll be going eyeshadow crazy!

The second item I bought was from Boots, and it's the Clean & Clear Blackhead Clearing Daily Scrub. I have never been a huge fan of Clean&Clear, Clearasil, etc etc, as when I was younger I used a lot of their products to try and battle spots, but they ended up making everything worse. However, I have read some great reviews on this and I've noticed that my nose is full of blackheads which refuse to budge despite numerous attempts using pore strips and various other scrubs! It cost £3.99, but I think Boots have a 3 for 2 offer on at the moment!

The next thing I picked up was the TRESemme Liquid Gold Restorative Complex which cost £6.99 from Superdrug. I received a sample of Berber Oil in a Glossybox and I've loved it, but it is a little pricey for the full-size bottle so I thought I'd try this more affordable version! My hair is flat, fine and very dry at the ends due to years of bleach abuse, so I need all the extra moisture I can get.

I also picked up a Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti from Superdrug, which cost £5.99 as it was on offer. I think they're usually £7.99. I was really after the Peach Parfait shade, but both Boots and Superdrug were sold out of it so I went for Tutti Frutti instead. I've only recently gotten into lip products, I've always been a lipbalm-and-go kinda girl, but now I'm venturing into lip colour! I'll still be keeping my eye out for Peach Parfait, as I think it looks right up my street colour-wise.

The next item I bought was the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade Fair - 1. I'm worried this may be a little too pale for me as even though I'm quite fair, this looked reeeeally pale when I swatched it. Again, I've heard amazing reviews about this product and I'm really excited to see if it lives up to the hype! It cost £4.19 from Boots.

Next up is the Topshop Lip Stick in Powder Room. I fell in love with the shade Coy after seeing Kate wearing it on her blog, and I just knew that I HAD to have it. So off I went to Topshop today, desperately scouring their make-up stand and Coy was nowhere to be found. :( But I found Powder Room and thought it looked gorge, so I purchased that instead and I'm very glad I did! Not going to say too much as I want to do a full product review on this. It cost £7 from Topshop.

The rest of my purchases were a variety of nail polishes! Again, I've never been into nail polish really. My nails have always been short, bitten and naked, but after seeing so many pretty nails on beauty blogs, I've decided that I need to start prettifying mine! First up is the Barry M Nail Paint in shade 317 Blue Moon. I thought this would be a gorgeous pastel baby blue, perfect for summer. I also bought Barry M Nail Paint in shade 318 Peach Melba again a lovely pastel shade (I adore pastels right now!) of coral. I also threw in my basket a Barry M All in One Basecoat, Topcoat & Nail Hardener because I don't even own a topcoat polish! Each of these polishes cost £2.99 and can be found in Boots and Superdrug.

Another product which was brought to my attention by beauty blogs is the nail polish brand Essie. I'm aware that they have only recently launched in the UK, so I bounced into Superdrug today like an excited little puppy to see if I could find my most coveted shades (I wanted Mint Candy Apple, Tart Deco and Fiji). Much to my disappointment, my local Superdrug had no Essie stand at all! So I gave up and went to Boots, but I was very pleased to see a brightly lit, gorgeously inviting Essie stand in there. I spied Fiji straight away and as it was the very last bottle, I snapped it up. I decided against buying Mint Candy Apple, as I had already purchased the Barry M blue moon and felt that the shades were quite similar. Tart Deco was sold out, sniff sniff. :( The Essie polishes retail at £7.99. I also quickly popped into TK Maxx and found a little trio of Essie polishes for only £7! Bargain. Although I have no idea what shades they are. After intensive googling, I think the brown is Little Brown Dress, the pearly topcoat is Kisses & Bises, and the amber clear coat I'm still not totally sure on.. But hey, a bargain's a bargain!

Finally, I picked up a Models Own Nail Polish in shade Golden Peach. The golden shimmer of this coral polish caught my eye instantly, and I beelined for it. This cost £5 from Boots, and I'm very excited to try this. I think it'll look ace with a tan!

So, that's my haul and first blog spot conquered in one! I'm very excited to use all of my new products, I think I'll be painting my nails 3 times a day just to use all of my polishes! I'm planning on writing full product reviews for these once I've given them a good trial run.

Have you tried any of these products? What do you think? And most importantly, WHAT SHADE is that clear amber Essie nail polish?! Seriously, I don't even know what it's for!