Beauty Pie Shine Up Lip Colour Balm

I have been a member of Beauty Pie for quite some time now, I wrote a post about what and who it is, the benefits of joining and why I joined, plus there is also an offer available to anyone who wants to try Beauty Pie for a few months, giving you your first month free.  As part of my membership, I did quite a big haul a few months ago of a few products I had my eye on, the Beauty Pie Shine Up Lip Colour Balm being one of them.

I am a big of lip products right now, the joy of not having to wear a mask as often as I did, means I can start wearing lipsticks and lip colours again without the fear of removing my mask and having them smudged around my face.

In a race for the ultimate ‘always in your pocket’ lip product. 

These are top of the grid for gorgeous luscious lips in a minute. One-stop do-it-all dream lip balm sticks, with moisturizing, high-cushion, sheer, brilliant colour that simultaneously softens and soothes.

That was essentially what sold this product to me, the one-stop-do-it-all lip balm stick which is as moisturising as it is pigmented, the only problem I had was choosing between the five available shades because they are all absolutely stunning and they are:

• Berry Jane - a deep berry
• Love.Love.Love - a light nude
• Baby Bare - a sexy nude
• Super Juicy - a bright coral
• Sexy Berry - a Rose Pink

I opted for Sexy Berry which is described as being a Rose Pink shade and definitely the shade of lipstick I would usually choose to wear on a daily basis because it works with absolutely everything.

Described as being a 3-in-1 balm, this colour and conditioning shine lipstick and on the lips, as you can see from the swatch, which is unedited, it gives a really good wash of colour and it definitely has that balm feel to it as it is applied. It is formulated without the use of talc but does have three main ingredients which consist of a Plant-Oil Jelly Formula which is incredibly soft and soothing, Phytosqualane whose job it is to help to support the lip barrier and then finally Myrrh-Resin Extract which helps to visibly plump the lips.

I have become such a huge fan of this Shine Up Lip Colour Balm and wear it most days because I love the colour pay-off and that it feels much more like a lip balm than it does a lipstick.  The best part is that as a member of Beauty Pie, it cost me just £5.10 instead of the typical price of £20, which is what you would pay for this product if you wanted to purchase it without signing up to Beauty Pie as a member.

If you are thinking about becoming a Beauty Pie member, then I have a referral code that gives you your first month free, starting from when you place your first order and it gives me, should you use the code, a top up on my spending limit.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Generation Next - The Spring Collection from KIKO

One brand of make-up I haven't ever used or played with is KIKO, a brand I know a lot of my blogging friends adored, so imagine how excited I was when this little lot dropped through my door!

KIKO Milano Generation Next Colletion is new for the spring and it is full of all kinds of amazing shiny packaging that every magpie would love, not to mention lots of colour with the main theme being celebrating the future.  The dynamic geomatric packaging has been inspired by the famous italian Murano glassware, using those designed to capture the playful multicolours used throughout his work. 

Starting with the KIKO Mosaic Highlighter in 01 Future Light.  Everything about this highlighter is stunning, from the outer box, to the silver casing within which the highlighter sits.  Once opened, as you can see, in front of you is a mixture of matte and shimmery shades which help to create a perfect glow. Enriched with multi-reflective pearls the soft powder makes it easy to blend, highlight, illuminate, enhance and brighten any skin tone.  As you can see from the swatch below, it is a very delicate shimmer and that is just one swipe of my finger across the top of the mosaic pattern, you can of course build it up.

What I also love is that there is also a mirror which is always handy to have. This highlighter has an RRP £14.90

KIKO Cool Touch Eyeshadow in 01 Original Cream is one of eight creamy intense eyeshadows.  Once applied it gives a long-lasting metallic and glossy finish. Again it is packaged inside a truly stunning case which compliments the highlighter and the shade I have is absolutely stunning, it works with any shade and highlights the eye area.  There is an RRP £8.90

KIKO Frosted Look Lipstick in shade 01 of 6 shades.  To look at, as you can see, it is a creamy chubby pencil lipstick which makes the application quick and easy, especially if are on the go.  Given that it is called a frosted lipstick it gives you a satin finish with colour that holds for a good 4-5 hours after application.  I applied this when I went to see Slipnot at Wembley as I left work at 5pm, when we got home at midnight, there was still a hint of the colour on my lips, which considering I had eaten some chilli beef nachos and had a few bottles of desperado beer, is quite impressive! you easy and quick application on-the-go. There is an RRP £7.50

To work alongside lipsticks is a lip gloss and the KIKO Glassy Lipgloss which I have in shade 02 is again beautiful, from the outer casing which again looks stunning alongside the Highlighter and eyeshadow compacts with the silvery finish, is one of six shades.  This liquid lipgloss provides intense pigmentation with a really glossy wet-look finish.  It is described as being a hybrid of a lipstick and lipgloss and has a water-based formula which coats the lips whilst moisturizing them at the same time, but it is not at all sticky or tacky when applied. When you first come to use it, there is a really subtle vanillery scent which soon disappears. There is an RRP £7.90 

The final item in my little bundle of joy is two KIKO Crystal Eyeliner in shades (5) which is a stunning bright blue and shade (6) which is an almost black shade.  As these are pencil eyeliners, they are really smooth on the eye area, given they are formulated with a combination of waxes and filmogens, it gives the feel of a liquid liner and once it has been applied, nothing budges it, not even a day in front of a computer screen, even with a hand swatch, it is really hard to remove. There are six shades available and they have an RRP £6.90

As someone who has just been introduced to the world of KIKO, I am really impressed with these products and love everything about them from the amazing packaging to the long-lasting formulas, it is an exciting collection to have and it doesn't stop there.  The collection also includes a Generation Next Face Brush, CC Cream Cushion, Masterpiece Bronzer, Mosaic Blush and Crystal Fusion Super Moisture Face Serum which sounds amazing. The Generation Next collection launches in March.

What do you think to this collection? Are you a KIKO fan?

Wantable Make-up Box for February

I don't know whether you have heard of Wantable and that they now ship to the UK?  Well I was offered the chance to try and test out of their boxes** for review purposes.  The choice of boxes with Wantable are:

• Make-up - within your box you will get 4-5 full sized products
• Fashion Accessories - 3-4 boutique accessories
• Intimate - 4-5 premium essentials

All the products you get within your box come from your profile which you set-up and then complete a series of questions answering how much you like/dislike things, it is quite a comprehensive form and the idea is that it is used to select products for you box, so for example, if you don't like mascara, you can say so and you should not get any within your box.

I opted for the make-up box to try and test, completed my questionnaire and firstly, I was quite impressed with how sturdy the box is and how really nice packaged the contents were as to avoid them getting broken, dented or smashed during its shipment.

Now to the contents in a bit more detail:

ncLA Nail Lacquer - retails for $16

In shade Drop Dead Gorgeous which is deep royal blue shade with added sparkle, I am yet to try this, but it is the kind of shade I would wear on my toes.

LAQA & Co - Fat lip pencil in Wolfman - retails for $18

This isn't a product I have come across before, though I do love how pretty the shade is and it is really lovely once applied.

DEX New York Lipgloss - retails for $18

The shade of this is called Christopher Street Orchid and as you can see from the picture above it is a lovely shade of pink and once on the lips it is slightly tacky, but not so much that I want to rub it off.  It looks great on its own or over some lipstick

Sorme Shimmer Glow - retails for $24.5

This is a sparkling mineral face and body bronzer in Bronzed 85 and it is like nothing I have used before.  You simply shake the powder down into the brush by turning it upside down and then brush it over your face and body as you deem appropriate.  Inside the wand, the shade does look quite dark, but once applied it is quite light and there is a lot of sparkle.

Sorme Anti-aging Trial Size - retails for $0

It says on the packet that this is a silky perfecting primer which smoothes skins surface, fills in wrinkles and diminishes discolourations for flawless long lasting make-up.  It then goes on to say "cliniqually proven Dermaxyl helps reduce the depth of lines, wrinkles and crows feet as Vitamins A, C and E plus nourishing Grape Seed Oil hydrate the skin and help prevent free radical damage".  So quite a lot of claims for this little sachet to live up too and I am looking forward to putting it to the test. 

Wantable boxes cost $36 per box, which is roughly £21-£22 per month, my box is worth a whopping $76.5 or £46 which is amazing really and I have been introduced to some new brands and some products I have never used before. 

If this is something you think you might like to try, simply click HERE and choose your box.