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?

Sleek Blush in Rose Gold

 

I finally got my hands on Sleek Rose Gold blush! Every time I went to Superdrug, I had my eyes peeled for this and it was always sold out. I managed to get this in Zoe's blog sale, so thank you Zoe!

I've read about this being a dupe for NARS Orgasm, however I don't own Orgasm so I can't compare the two. This blush costs £4.30 for 8g of product from Superdrug or their online store, and if it is a dupe for Orgasm then I know I'd much rather spend £4 than £21!

It's super-pigmented, a gorgeous rose colour with lots of gold shimmer. I don't need to use anymore more than one light swipe of this on my cheeks, and I'm good to go. It seems to completely warm up my face and gives a lovely glow which I love. And of course the packaging is great, as I've said before with Sleek products they come in matte black packaging with the Sleek writing. There's a decent sized mirror in the lid which is handy for on-the-go (especially when you forget your compact mirror on the train like I did yesterday).

I'm so glad I finally managed to find this and it's definitely my go-to blush at the moment.

What's your most used blush at the moment? Have you tried any of Sleek's blushers? 

Topshop Lip Stick: Powder Room

Topshop Lip Stick in Powder Room

Continuing my foray into the realm of lip colour, I decided to purchase a Topshop Lip Stick in shade Powder Room. I actually really wanted shade Coy, but my local store was out of stock so I settled for Powder Room. I'd also like to apologize for the picture quality, my digital camera is broken so I'm having to make the best of my resources - Blackberry camera and a webcam! It's really hard to get the true colour to show up, but I've tried to catch it in the best light I can.

Topshop Lip Stick in Powder Room

The packaging is gorgeous, as expected from Topshop. It looks really cute in my make-up bag and I just love it.

Topshop Lip Stick in Powder Room

I thought the colour would be a dusky sort of rose pink, but when applied it's actually brighter and more of a baby pink. Very summery and easy to wear!

Swatched on back of hand

 Application wise, I love the fact that it's a chunky crayon because I find regular lipsticks to be quite fiddly to apply. You basically colour in your lips and I also like that the colour can be built up from quite a natural flush of pink, to a brighter colour. The formula is matte, so it is a little drying and I found that I had to give my lips a really good scrub before I used this, or my lips would look really dry and horrible.

In terms of longevity, I found this to be amazing. I applied it at 12pm yesterday, went for lunch, got caught in the rain, smoked, ate and drank and the colour still looked freshly applied at around 7-8pm. This really surprised me because every other time I've used a lipstick, I've had to retouch every hour or two because it just wiped off. I think because this is a matte formula it's much better at holding the colour to the lips.

I can safely say that I love this product! I'm still on the hunt for Coy, but I'm really glad that I bought Powder Room because it's going to be a staple in my make-up bag. Topshop Lip Sticks retail at £7.

Have you tried the Topshop make-up range? Do you have a favourite product?