Rimmel 'Kate' Lipstick

Recently I've been attempting to feed my insatiable makeup addiction in a less costly way, and have been trying out more and more inexpensive 'drugstore' products. Rimmel is by far one of my favourite affordable brands, weirdly though I've never actually tried any of their lipsticks. So last month I picked up a few lipsticks from the much raved about Rimmel 'Kate' collections and have been testing each of them out ever since. Here's what I thought...

From L to R: 45, 03, 107, 08, 48

First things first, each of these lipsticks has a sweet fruity scent, nothing too overpowering, which I absolutely love!

The Nudes: (cream casing)
45 A delicate rose nude which comes off as very sheer on my lips, almost balm like though sadly not quite as moisturising. Perhaps it is formulated in such a way to make it more universally flattering. Due to its balmy consistency it only lasted an hour or two on the lips. 

48 A deep dark chocolatey burgundy nude, I think this is probably aimed at darker skintones than mine but I love it all the same. Once applied it is not completely opaque but more so than 45, giving it a longer staying power of around three to four hours.

Lasting finish: (Black casing)
03  A soft pink nude which very much an everyday lippy for me and my skintone. Rimmel promises 8 hours of wear with this collection but if I'm honest its more like 4.

08 My personal favourite out of all the lippies I picked up. A soft dusty rose shade with a hint of mauve the perfect nude for my skintone, for me its a gorgeous your lips but better shade. (Also its a great dupe for MAC Faux, at just a fraction of the price!) When applied it has a demi-matte almost frosty finish. 

Matte Collection: (Red casing)
107 A sophisticated red mulberry wine colour. I have never been one to wear a red lipstick as I don't think they suit me very much. This however isn't a bright bright red and doesn't look too harsh with pale skin as some reds seem to. It's incredibly pigmented once applied with as the name of the collection suggests a Matte finish. This lipstick wears quite heavily, and if your lips are dry clings to the dry patches, this however can easily be avoided by prepping and priming your lips. For me this lipstick is definitely a new favourite for the festive period!

Swatches From L to R: 45, 03, 107, 08, 48

These lovely lipsticks are priced at a very reasonable £5.49, I think at this price they really can't be faulted! You can find them online here. For anyone else trying to save a bit of money, when I bought these they were on a 3 for 2 offer in Boots (they're pretty much always on offer in either Boots or Superdrug.) Amazing!

Have you tried any of the Rimmel Kate lippies? If so what did you think? Let me know!

Love,
Katie x

H&M Eye Shadow Sticks

After seeing the recent hype concerning H&Ms newly revamped beauty section I just KNEW I had to give at least one of their products a try. I thought I'd just try out something small as being a student and it being close to the end of term, I'm sadly running on quite a low budget. Sigh. 

Eventually, after ohhing and ahhing over their vast selection of products for quite a while I decided on two of their Eyeshadow pencils in the shades 'Chantilly' and 'Sun on sand.' 'Chantilly' being a delicate shimmering white , perfect for the inner corners of the eye and 'Sun on sand' a gorgeous golden goddess-like shade, which I thought would be stunning for all over the lid. I went for these as I thought they looked like good dupes for the Charlotte Tilbury Colour Chameleon Eyeshadow Pencils which I have been dying to try for months. But at only £3.99 each the H&M versions are far more budget friendly. 

When I got them home and tested them out I loved how convenient and easy to use the pencil formulas were. The product itself was fairly creamy and glides onto the skin, however one negative that I found was, thanks to the oily formulation they were a tad sticky and quite hard to blend with a brush, I found fingers worked better as the heat from them helped to melt the product into the skin more. 

Although not the most pigmented shadows in the world, they add a subtle amount of shimmer perfect for a soft daytime eyeshadow look. It took a while to build up the product to my chosen pigmentation, totally frustrating when in a rush. 

Despite promising to be water resistant, by the end of a day at uni they had rubbed off quite a bit, despite my using a primer underneath. (see below pictures)

At £3.99 I'm in two minds about this product, on one hand they're a buttery, easy to apply to the eyelid (all you have to do is scribble) but on the other hand I found blending and building the colour up to be a bit tedious. 

They're a fun experimental product- having never tried out pencil eyeshadows, they're also inexpensive so you don't really need too much extra cash on hand. Especially perfect for beginners and people who aren't very confident with eyeshadow, those who just want a nice all over colour on the lid, as well as those who have a soft spot for all things shimmery. Available online here.

Have you tried any of the new H&M makeup products, if so what did you think?

Love Katie x