TheBalm Girls Lipstick Imma Good Kisser

It was actually a surprise to me to hear that TheBalm has proper lipsticks too. All I heard about are their Meet Matt(e) Hughes, which I actually have one shade and I can confirm they are amazing, but you don't hear much about their Girls lipsticks. Granted they only have six shades to choose from, but it's something. This was a sort of a gift, so I didn't get to pick the colour and I loved the first look of it, when I opened it because it's my type of peachy-pink shade, but…it's frosty. Love the name, though.

Colour: The base colour is beautiful, a lovely peachy-pink that doesn't turn orange on me. And then the frost. I'll admit it makes the lips look fuller, but it's so 90's Pamela Anderson like. I gave it to a few people to try and the frost was a turn off to all. But if you're into such shades, now you know where to find one. I just doubt there are many of you. I haven't swatched the rest of the shades, so I don't know how many are frosty, but you can see swatches on their official website.

Texture: If I ignore the colour, the formula is excellent. These are those plumping lipsticks, so they so tingle a few minutes after application, but to me it feels mild (if your lips are sensitive, I don't know if you'll like it). It's super creamy and very comfortable to wear, but not smudgy or messy, just a great creamy lipstick. It also lasted surprisingly well for a light shade.

Scent: It's got a minty scent, similar to Revlon's Matte Balms.

Packaging: A simple Mac-like silver bullet. I would expect something more retro looking from TheBalm and I don't know why they decided to make it so boring.

Price and availability: theBalm is sold in Müllers (LJ Supernova, Celje and Maribor). These cost 16.99 €.

The formula of these is lovely and I say that as a person who is more of a fan of matte lipsticks. The problem at this shade is the frost, I'm sorry, but I can't get over it. If it were a different shade I'd probably like this one a lot. 

Have a great day!

*I got this product as a gift from the PR's, but not as a product that I need to post about.

Wet n Wild MegaLast Lip Color

I've known about Megalast lipsticks almost since I discovered the online beauty community. These have been popular for so many years and I've come close to ordering on many occasions, but stopped short every time. I finally had the chance to try these myself and I got six shades, which are a mix of the original selection and the updated one. 

Texture: I've heard good and bad things about these, but I did not expect them to be so good. They very, very thick, but still creamy enough and particularly the light shades apply evenly in one swipe. I keep them in a fairly warm room, so that might be the reason for their good performance and I've experienced no problems with any tugging or chalky-dry texture, so these work great for me. However, I finally had a chance to give it my friend to try, who is more sensitive to dry textures and she says these are so drying to her (it still applied smoothly. Shade Just Peachy by the way), so I can definitely see why some people describe them as dry. They are thick and don't have such a smooth feeling texture like Jordana's Matte lipsticks for example, so they end up being on the heavy side and slightly sticky on the lips. My lips are never dry and these are fine to me, but if you're concerned these will dry your lips, I suggest reading more reviews and then decide based on all different opinions. I should probably just stop assessing the dryness factor at lipsticks, since I started considering myself as a very wrong person to do it. The finish varies between the shades, but it's mostly satin or satin-matte with a slight creamy sheen. Purty Persimmon has the shiniest finish.

A lot of the shades are frequently compared to Mac colours and described as dupes. I have a very high standard of what constitutes a dupe, mainly because I am so pale that minor differences show up more on me and I don't think these are quite there, but they are very, very close. I have pictures with each shade on one half of the lips under individual reviews of the shades, but here are side by side swatches on my arm, which is approximately NC/W10.

 BARE IT ALL

Bare it All is a beige nude shade that is a alleged dupe for Mac's Velvet Teddy. I was concerned this will look brown on me, but it's very wearable and I think can pull it off just fine. It's not chalky-looking despite the fact it's light and it's creamy, so I can apply it in one swipe. Not mine comparison swatch with Velvet Teddy here.

JUST PEACHY

Just Peachy is a beautiful light peachy-pink shade. I was very worried about this one looking white-based orange, but it's seriously so pretty on the lips. It has just the right amount of pink and that is very rare when it comes to peachy-pinks. I assume that it will look more pink on medium skin tones, also more white-base-looking. I've worn this one most out of all and it wears off ok. It's doesn't leave a stain, but since it's a light shade, you can't really see that it fades uneven. 

PURTY PERSIMMON

Purty Persimmon is an orange red and a very similar shade to Mac's Lady Danger. I have the side by side comparison below. The formula is different than at others, but this is one of the shades that was added to the line later. It's sheerer and it has a more shiny finish, but it's easy to get a fully opaque coat of colour with a couple of layers. 

Eyes: Kiko Eyeshadow Stick 38 Golden Taupe, TheBalm Nude'Dude palette (Flirty and Friendly). Cheeks: Max Factor Creme Puff blush in Lavish Mauve.

Purty Persimmon on the left and Lady Danger on the right. Purty Persimmon is sheerer, less pigmented and less matte, but they are close enough.

SUGAR PLUM FAIRY

Sugar Plum Fairy is a dark purple pink. It's probably the most known shade in the Megalast range, mostly due to being dubbed as "The" dupe for MAC's Rebel. I have a side by side comparison of both below. It's again very pigmented with a satin-matte finish and I don't find it drying, but I was once advised not to get this shade because it's super thick. While that is indeed the case, I don't find it hard to work with on me, but the application isn't as smooth as at other shades. This one leaves a very strong stain behind, which is the best I've seen in any product ever, as it's very even and fades nicely. This shade tends to look very different of various skin tones. On me it leans more strongly to purple, but I've seen it looking more pink on a lot of other people.  

Sugar Plum Fairy on the left and Rebel on the right. Sugar Plum Fairy is more purple and matte.

RAVIN' RAISIN

Ravin' Rasin is a medium cool greyish purple shade. I'm not feeling this one on me, it's simply too purple and draining grey, but I've seen swatches of some people on who this shade looked a lot more mauve-pink. 

 BLACK CHERRY

Cherry Bomb is a dark vampy burgundy red and very similar to Mac's Diva, only even a bit darker. If you're looking for a cheap vampy shade, look no further. 

Black Cherry on the left and Diva on the right. Black Cherry is darker, less red. 

Staying power: At the lightest two shades you can't really see that well how they wear off, but it's slightly patchy. No biggie, though. Dark shades leave an intense stain. Sugar Plum Fairy leaves a very intense and even stain, which looks very beautiful, but pretty much all such shades leave a stain, just like Rebel and its other supposed dupes.

Scent: These have not definitive scent. It looks like they just kept the original scent, which varies from shade to shade and not try to cover it up.

Packaging: If I thought the packaging of Jordana lipsticks was terrible, this is even worse. The cheap plastic that scratches very easily, the tightly closed cap that requires a lot of force for it to open, which in turn dents the lipstick since it doesn't go all the way into a tube. These are messy in no time. You'd think that after so many years on the market, they'd change them. 

Price and availability: Mine are from Click2Chic where they cost 2.99 € (I got them to swatch for their website). I think price is about the same at other places. Some Croatian DM's have these, but because the packaging of these lipsticks is so bad, the testers are very messy. For international readers, online I know of nonpareilboutique.com and Beautyjoint.com. 

Have a great day!

Essence Wake Up, Spring! TE

Like every year Essence designed a spring inspired collection with mostly pastel shades, pinks and peaches. I got a few bits to try out before it reached our shops and I've had these for about a month, but I hear this collection just launched here (ni še na Click2Chic, ampak kolikor vem bo) and it should be available though March and April. I got the peachy blush in 01 hello sunshine!, white eyeliner pen in 02 let's the spring begin and a lipstick pen 02 bye-bye winter! You can see all the products that will be available below and you see an overview of the collection with some swatches here (video is in German). By the way, the nude eyeliner looks very similar to the recently discontinued Big Bright Eyes pencil, so if you missed it, here is a chance to get a similar one.

Swatches of all three products: blush 01 hello sunshine!, Eyeliner pen 02 let's the spring begin and lipstick pen 02 bye-bye winter!

Eyeliner pen 02 let's the spring begin

There are three colours in the spring collection, aside from this white one also a pastel violet and mint green. Simona posted swatches and her first impressions of all three here. These are felt tip eyeliners with the same design of the nib as their waterproof version, which is a decent shape, but it doesn't make it easy to draw super thin lines. When I first swatched this one on the back of my hand, I was very pleasantly surprised by the staying power as it lasted all day on the skin, it also was intense enough, but on the eyes I had to layer it to get the colour going. It's not an intense, completely white liquid colour on the eyes, it's more of a chalk like effect. It tends to transfer to the crease despite using powder under it. I would suggest using a white eyeshadow over it to set it.

2.19 €

Blush 01 hello sunshine!

01 hello sunshine! is a classic peach blush with a highlighter-y finish. It has finely milled pink shimmer that gives it the cutest glow. It's on the sheer side, but with layering you can build up the colour just fine and it blends well, which isn't always the case at Essence blushes. The packaging is versatile and it mimics the design of Physicians Formula powder products, since it similarly has an additional compartment underneath and a mirror. There is also a cute sign saying blush up & smile.

 3.59 €

lipstick pen 02 bye-bye winter!

 02 bye-bye winter! is a basic light neutral pink, very wearable and classically pretty. The quality is surprisingly good. It's opaque with a creamy finish and it contains a lot of wax to make it stick on better, but you don't feel that weird waxy layer on the lips. Due to such formula it completely survived meals and drinking several times, which is very impressive. It's a classic crayon pencil that needs to be sharpened and not a twist-up, which is shame, but for the price, it's fine. I think this is the stand out in this collection and worth picking up if you like such products

2.49 €

Have a great day!

Jordana Matte Lipstick 47 Nude

A couple of months ago I reviewed a bunch of Jordana's Matte lipsticks and recently I got another shade called Nude. I already raved about the formula of these, they were even a part of my Best Buys under 5 €, though the packaging might deceive you into thinking these aren't that good, but they are honestly not that far off from some shades among the Mac Matte finish line. I expected Nude to be completely different based on swatches online and that's the reason I didn't pick it initially, but I was so wrong because this is one of the prettiest nude shades I've tried. 

Texture: I talked about the formula of these in my previous review, but let's go again - these are thicker lipsticks, as is usual for matte finishes, but still creamy enough for a nice, even application. The colour is fully opaque and this one has a more creamy-satin finish than matte, which when it comes to nude shades is a plus if you don't want the lip colour to look chalky. I don't find these actively drying, but they are not moisturising, however, on my lips this does not present itself as a problem. I find these comfortable on the lips and as far as I read reviews on Makeup Alley, an overwhelming majority feels the same way, but as I always say, it also depends on in what condition your lips are.

Colour: Nude is a beautiful neutral nude with an equal amount of pink and peachy tones. I compared it to my nude shades and the closest shades would be Mac's Patisserie (a bit peachier) and Mac's Peach Blossom (a bit pinker, also similar to Mac's Hue). It's actually more like a perfect mix of those two shades. As I said it's not chalky or dry looking on the lips, but if your lips tend to be dry a lot, play it safe with a layer of lip balm under it.

Staying Power is comparable to Mac's matte formula, so good, even this light one lasts some decent amount of time, but I didn't check in hours.

Scent: As at the rest a simple fruity-vanilla scent that isn't strong. 

Packaging is the only thing that isn't impressive at these lipsticks. The packaging is seriously cheap. It's very fragile, so don't plan on carrying these in your bags. However, it's the product inside that matters and that one wins hand down. I'd rather have a cheap packaging and a great product inside than vice versa. 

Price and availability: All of mine are from Click2Chic where they cost 2.60 € (I got them to swatch for their website). International readers can get them on official Jordana websites (US and EU), Beauty Joint and eBay. 

For the last three or so years, you don't really see me with a proper nude lipstick often. I'm so pale such shades usually wash me out, but I'm really digging this one. It's a simple colour, not too light, nor too peachy or too cool pink and isn't chalky. If I decided to wear a nude shade in the past, I always grabbed Mac's Peach Blossom, but I think this one might replace it or it will at least receive an equal amount of wear.

Have a great day!