Rimmel Apocalips: Big Bang

I'm still really really happy that ASOS exists and that they sell Apocalips in the US because I wouldn't be able to get it anywhere else.

I loved Nova so much I decided to get another color. I find this to be... the perfect red?!

I know I'm a redhead and blah blah blah "too harsh on us" or whatever but you know what? If I wanna wear red lipstick, I'm gonna, you know? I think this color looks good on everyone. I'm serious, I looked up blog posts before I ordered it just to see what to expect and lemme say... I was pleasantly surprised. If you have access to it, I highly suggest ordering it. It lasts a long time. It's not super glossy, but it's really creamy. Its like a lipgloss // lipstick hybrid.

$7.62 on ASOS

Rimmel Haul + Review

Why didn't I notice this was out of focus I hate myself.

Since my birthday is coming up I've been told by my parents not to buy anything because they don't want me to purchase anything that could be on my list (there was some make-up on there). Since I can't buy the expensive make-up that I want to, I've been purchasing some drugstore (high street) make-up, most of it being Rimmel. There are a few other items I'll review later when the time is right.

Some of these things were purchased out of the country because they aren't possible to find in the U.S. For some reason, Rimmel has a smaller market here, and you cannot find their blush in stores. It's very odd.

 From the left: 

Taken on a cloudy morning but in full light. 

This color is part of the Kate Moss Rimmel Matte Lipstick collection. I purchased #102. I already own #107 and #103, and you can see the review of those here. This is brighter than #103, it's a punchier pink than I expected. It's a very spring/ summer color, so it's perfect for the upcoming season. It's quite moisturizing for a matte lipstick but still a bit drying. It also has a strong scent, kind of fruity or floral, so if that makes you feel queasy or you have a sensitivity than be aware of that. 

Next up is a blush called Santa Rose (#010) It's been very popular in the affordable make-up market as it's (I suppose) a dupe for NARS' famous Orgasm blush. It is quite similar, though not as pink. It also doesn't last as long, but is still so gorgeous on, all it needs is a setting/ make-up lasting spray. 

 No foundation/ make-up on. 

This is so freaky close to my face, but this way you can see the bits of sparkle in the blush. They aren't visible unless up VERY close, they just create a beautiful glow. 

I purchased this blush from ASOS, where it's $6.63 currently. The link is here.

Another item I purchased was the Rimmel Apocalips Lipgloss. I saw this item ALL OVER the blogosphere. Well, from the UK blogs. It looked so gorgeous on and I don't own any lipglosses so pigmented. I even contacted Rimmel but they said they wouldn't be opening them to the US market. ASOS came to the rescue here, again! That website just keeps proving to be indispensable. When they perfect their shipping and/ or tracking they will be an unstoppable company.

 This is the lip color Nova. 

 This is quite a bold lip color... much bolder than I had anticipated, but still fun! It smells similar to their lipstick. The smell doesn't bother me because it doesn't last long (similar to the NYX Beige lip gloss). Things I found through using this lip gloss: it's not a high shine gloss, and the gloss doesn't last long but sort of fades in a lip stain that is still very bright and pretty. 

That is so much lip. Oh well, anyway, as you can see, bright and rather moisturizing! I also love how much gloss the wand holds. 

The last item is one more blush. This one is called Pink Rose (#120)

Still some remnants of the smeared lip gloss on. Wow I was so tired when I took these photos. Ah the dedication of a blogger. 

It's slightly pinker than Santa Rose, but has the same glow effect. 

Anyway, that's all! Overall I've had no real downsides to using Rimmel other than longevity, scent, and sometimes a slight drying effect. For a drugstore brand, they are pretty incredible. 

Beauty Haul from the Last Few Weeks

I know I have been waiting for a few items to come in the mail to review them, however one is shipping from the UK and I have no idea how much longer I'll be waiting, so I'll just lump it with the next haul, and focus on the items I've garnered over the past few weeks!

First up is two products that I fell in love with when I visited the Laura Mercier website. 

credit to Laura Mercier, lauramercier.com, and its affiliates
I thought her lips just looked so so gorgeous and springy. I went to the mall with some friends and purchased the lipstick (Arabesque) at Nordstrom's. They were sold out of the lip gloss (Bare Pink) so I tracked it down at Sephora. The colors looked a bit different on their website than they did on me, I'm not sure why (different skin tones, I guess) but the lipstick was much more peachy/ light coral than the baby pink I was expecting. The lip gloss was just what I expected though! 

 The lipstick and lipgloss side by side

 The lipstick with the lipgloss on top (left)

The lipstick by itself. My lips are pretty dry, so pardon the slight cracking!

The lipstick with the lipgloss over it

Overall, the colors were not exactly what I was hoping for, but I bought it knowing what the colors would look like on as I sampled them in the store. My friends agreed, however, that they liked how the color looked with my complexion. The lipstick is definitely a color I don't already own, and was quite matte. I'm not sure Laura Mercier has fully grasped hydrating matte-like lipsticks yet, but hopefully my lips won't be as dry in the summertime. That being said, I'm disappointed that it goes on so cakey. I kind of expected higher quality from LM, which is a company I've been going to for a decade now. 

Moving on, I also purchased the MAC make-up removing wipes (found in stores and on their website here or on amazon*) I use them every time I'm in the MAC store and I love the smell so much, I have no idea why. It's just fresh and light and pretty. They were 29 dollars for the big package of them which is much more than I thought they would be. I'm not sure why they're so expensive, but I love how they remove my make-up, love their smell, and the employee told me they never make her break out, so let's hope so! 

I also purchased one of the new Philosophy Field of Flowers body lotions. I chose the peony scent, it smells exactly like what I hoped it would smell like! I'm also pleased with how hydrating the lotion is. I bought a Pure + Good body lotion in December that wasn't moisturizing at all, I was surprised, but the Philosophy lotion leaves my hands feeling soft and smelling so springy! 

It was $26 at Sephora. Also pretty pricy, I had a hard time paying that much for body lotion, but it will hopefully last a long time! You can also buy the body lotion for $18, which is slightly cheaper! The line also comes in Violet Blossom, Orange Blossom, Wildflower Blossom, and Wild Blackberry Blossom. There also appears to be an original field of flowers scent, but I didn't see that or smell it!

I also got the Stay Matte powder by Rimmel in 001 (Transparent). I don't have oily skin, more like normal or combination, but so far it's been a great and very wallet friendly option for a high quality finishing powder. At $3.99 it's a great option for shine control and doesn't leave behind any noticeable powder residue once it has set in. My one complaint is the smell-- it has a distinct drug store or high street store smell which reminds me of my grandmother or old powder cases. Not my favorite scent, but good enough in all other aspects! 

 I also gave in and bought the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara. I never do my bottom lashes because they are kind of long and I look sort of creepy when they are done! But I get annoyed when product from the top slowly migrates to the bottom and my make-up gets smeary by the end of the day. I have heard people this product helped prevent that, so I decided to give it a go! It comes in two colors, black and brown, and was $10. That's really not too bad considering it will probably last a while! I doubt I will use this every day, but when I use dark eyeshadow colors I will give it a go. 

The last product I got was Davines Defining Relaxing Fluid. My hair stylist used this last time I was in and swears by it to prevent humidity induced frizzy hair and to smooth it whilst blow drying and straightening. The smell is pretty nice, not as floral as I expected, though. A pea sized amount or so is enough to use, so this will last for a long time!! I got it on Amazon for about $15, but I'm not sure I would do that again because the person who sold it wasn't a salon, and I have no idea if they tampered with the product or not. I'm going to go to the salon in a few days to smell it there and see if they are similar. If not, I will probably return it and buy the products straight from the salon (even if they are more expensive!)

So yeah, that's what I've purchased over the last few weeks. There are SO many more things I'm dying to buy, but I will have to wait and save my money. I've got a lot of things to save up for in the upcoming future (including this trip) so we will see. Anyone else buy anything great lately?

Review + Comparison: Rimmel Matte Lipstick vs. Covergirl LipPerfect™ Lip Color

OK. Did I tell you guys I was going to do this? Well, I'm gonna. So here's the deal. I have been tirelessly searching for lipstick that looks like this on my face. I wanted it to be a red with cool undertones that kind of had almost like a so-dark-it's-almost-black kind of red underneath it. Difficult to explain. Anyway, so I purchased on a whim #107 of Rimmel's Kate Moss Matte Lipstick thinking that in her ad, it looked similar to what I wanted. Then I found out that the make-up artist who did the first image I linked on here made a line for Covergirl based on the runway show she did that year. And she said that she used a lot of those colors on the models. Well, I hunted down the color (Hot) that I thought it was and purchased it online. Rimmel ended up being $5.49, Covergirl ended up being around $7. 

The top one is the Covergirl shade called "Hot #305," the bottom Rimmel's. Now I've already done a review for the Rimmel matte lipsticks, so I'll spare you on that one. But I'll post a few photos again of what it looks like with my complexion. 

Now the Covergirl shade was (not to my knowledge) declared a matte color. But I didn't care, I just wanted to find that freaking shade (still haven't found it FYI, spoiler I know). The packaging was alright, it wasn't something I oohed and ahhh'd over. But it did the job and I liked the minimal look of it.

I also like that you can see the color that you're going to be selecting on the bottom. That makes it nice and a lot easier to find the color you want. OK, now what it looks like on my face. 

So, obviously this shade is much more bold. And I think it is a great red and would be perfect for evenings out and simple daytime looks, as most true reds are suited to do. But here's the thing that drove me craaaaaazzzyyyy about this lipstick-- it takes forever to get off. I mean, I'm telling you, I looked crazy all day. Because the first layer comes off and then it's just kind of the same color but matte. Then, you keep rubbing. I used vaseline and make-up remover and nothing worked. Didn't budge. Then I kept rubbing at it all afternoon, and another layer of color came off, but this one left the shade on my lips a crazy bright fuchsia color!! What?! So I kept at it and it kind of went to this dull pink that was at least socially acceptable (mind you it had been 4 hours since I applied and I had been vigorously rubbing my lips with the back of my hand almost the entire time. And eating, drinking, and putting on chapstick)

So, do I like the color? Yes. It's pretty bold for me, but yeah, I like the color... initially! But the hassle to take it off will probably deter me from ever buying this lipstick again until they fix their formula. I didn't face the same problem with Rimmel. While stubborn and definitely on longer than I meant it to be, I could at least remove it with make-up remover when I didn't want it on anymore. And I think this is the reason I generally avoid pharmacy make-up... because the quality just isn't as good :/ Rimmel is definitely an exception, though, and I've been very pleasantly surprised by the quality of their products!

Both lipsticks after washing vigorously and using make-up remover. Top, once again, Covergirl, bottom is Rimmel.

Has anyone used these products? Did you find them easier to take off, and if so, what did you use? Have you liked your experience with pharmacy (high street) make-up products? 

Today: Haul (!!!!!!!?!?!)

OK guys, I've been on a lipstick craze lately and I think it's time I cool it down but before I did, I purchased 4 new lip products (though one of them is shipping and will be here in a week or so!)

I took a leap of faith, everyone, and I purchased Rimmel Kate Moss Lipsticks (Matte collection). This is the first drugstore (high street) make-up purchase in my entire life. That sounds snobby I guess, but I grew up in a strange environment. My first make-up products were Laura Mercier. Go figure.

Anyway, so I purchased two lipsticks! And guys, here in the US we have TEN matte shades, not five. They are really pretty and I hope the UK and elsewhere get them! I'm definitely buying more colors. 

 Left is #103, and right is #107. They are both from the matte line. 

 I also bought Bobbi Brown lipgloss in Bellini. Its so pretty over other colors, I can't wait to play around with it! The Kate Moss lipsticks come in bright red casing with her signature on it (as you can see). Not a huge fan of black and red together like that (reminds me of bad proms?) but I can get over it because they are easy to find and the lipsticks are so awesome on. They cost $5.49 each, and the Bobbi Brown lipgloss was $24.00

The first thing I noticed after putting on the Rimmel #103 was that, though matte, it was surprisingly moisturizing. My lips always go super dry when I put many lipsticks, so that was a pleasant surprise. The color also looked darker on my lips than I anticipated.

Bellini, Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick#103, Rimmel Matte Lipstick #107

The photo was taken in afternoon natural lighting through an open window. Also, if anyone noticed, yes, I got my hair cut and I hate it and wish it never had happened.

This is Bellini over #103. It lightens it up and makes it more springy! 

Natural Lips as a reference 

 #107 is quite dark. It's the color Moss is wearing in the photograph for the campaign (x) I think the photograph for the lipstick has been darkened a bit because I don't see anyone with the lipstick looking that kind of oxblood dark red. But it is gorgeous nonetheless. I think this will go great for nights out, or could work for daytime with a little mascara and no eyeshadow. 

 I also have to confess that I visited Aritzia today. I've been in a craze all week because my favorite bra went missing (I know, who am I) and I was worried it would be gone forever. I had gotten it on sale at this store, but couldn't see anything similar on their website (that's not a sponsored link, actually like none of my links have been sponsored links). So I called them and described it and guess what. They had it in different colors. 

It's the best ever because it's kind of dressed up sporty. It has a detachable halter strap and really cute detail on the front. It looks adorable under sundresses, slouchy shirts, sweatshirts, etc. etc. Basically everything. 

I bought two just in case. And I'll be going back periodically because I think they have such cute clothes and I want this bra in basically every color! 

Also, UPDATE: I contacted Rimmel and they informed me that Apocalips are not sold in the US and they have no plans on doing so!! So if ANY BRITISH BLOGGERS want a cheap thing from the US like cereal or hand sanitizer or a similar lipstick, let me know?? And we can do an exchange or I can send money. PLEASE. SOMEONE.

That's all! Anyone have any plans to buy stuff this week?