L.A GIRLS | Glazed Lip Paint - Review

Hello Loves,

First off, apologies if you happened to send me an email this week, I am completely swamped with work and haven't had time to do any BiL-related stuff. I will respond to emails over the weekend!

Alrightey, so in this post I'm going to be letting you guys in on what I think about the L.A Girls Glazed Lip Paint. I'm really loving these highly pigmented glosses that various brands have been releasing, because you know I prefer my lipsticks more moisturising as opposed to matte, so these are right up my street. I actually refer to such products as 'liquid lipsticks'.

L.A Girls Glazed Lip Paints: (L-R) 'Bomb Shell & 'Blushing'

These are the (now) infamous L.A. Girls Glazed Lip Paint, they're being touted in the beauty-blogosphere as dupes for the more pricey version by Too Faced Cosmetics. L.A Girls released 6 shades of this product: 'Blushing' - Mauve shade, 'Coy' - Purple shade, 'Hot Mess' - Orange shade, 'Bomb Shell - Hot-Pink shade, 'Baby Doll - Baby-Pink shade and 'Pin Up' - Bright Red shade. So after watching MakeupByLeina's swatches and review on youtube I decided to go for these two. I got each from different beauty-stores here in Lagos.

L.A. Girls Glazed Lip Paint 'Bomb Shell' - N1,500

This is the shade 'Bombshell'. I bought this from Stella's Addiction. Why did I get it?... It's Pink! That's the only explanation I need to give :p.

L.A. Girls Glazed Lip Paint 'Blushing' - N1,000

This shade is 'Blushing' and I got this off Haute Beauty World at their stand during LMUF3

Swatches

'Bombshell'

Look at that pigmentation! This is a bright blue-toned pink shade.

'Blushing'

This is an interesting shade, it's coming up a little bright, but in real life it is a medium mauve tone.

One thing I observed is that the tube colours are slightly different from the atual shade of the product inside. So the tube colours can be a little misleading, I'd advice checking out actual swatches online before you buy a shade you're interested in.

Review

I'd strongly recommend you apply these using a lip-brush. I did try applying it straight out the tube and it was just a little too messy for me. The applicator contributes to the messiness, as it lets a lot of product out and since it's so pigmented you only really need a little at a time, so be mindful of this. I like that it also has a cooling sensation on the lips and the staying power is also surprising for a 'glossy' product. One day I applied it at 9am in the morning and it was still on at well past 12pm. As I have mentioned before, I am not too fussed with staying power of lip-products, because I don't mind reapplying, I am more concerned with the pigmentation and this absolutely ticks that box for me. Would I recommend you buy it, absolutely! It will be a fun addition to your stash, but I don't think it's an absolute must-have. Apart from 'Blushing' all of the other shades can easily be duped, but you may have difficulty getting THAT much pigmentation in a glossy lip product.

Anyone else got this in their makeup bag... What do you think?

Laters,

Ez xxX

STELLA'S ADDICTION - Eyebrow Threading

Hello Hello!

Hope you all had a good week! Either way, be happy you survived! lol :D

So the last time I blogged about threading was 2 years ago, you can read that here. And to be honest I haven't updated with anymore new places to thread in Lagos because I just had not discovered any that matched up to that... not until NOW!

I can't remember the first time I found out Stella threaded brows, but I just made a mental note to visit her the next time I was due one. It's good to have options I tell you, because what happens when your 'regular' is out of town???

So yesterday I finally went down to the Stella's Addiction Studio in Lekki Phase 1 (address in this post). I was a little apprehensive, because I felt I had found somewhere good enough, why change?  I mean your brows essentially frame your face and botched-up brows can be very traumatising... and no, I not in the least being dramatic. But like I said above, it's good to have options, so off I went!

How did my brows turn out? Have a look below:

I am so so so pleased with the results!! These are my brows with absolutely nothing in them, no pencil, shadow I don't even have any eyebrow gel! Just brushed through with a brow brush. They are a lot thinner than I have ever had them, but Stella is so meticulous and she wanted my brows to be as identical as possible and she did an AWESOME job levelling them out!

I always have to fill-in my brows slightly just to cover a few gaps and extend the tail, but as you can see she threaded them so well, I hardly need to fill.

I highly recommend Stella, guys! And she also talks you through what she's doing, so if you don't want  what she recommends, then you can state your preference. Nothing like a beauty-expert that actually LISTENS, and not just talks AT you because they 'know what you want'... *pet peeve*!

Details
Price: N2,000


I recommend threading your brows over a razor. With a razor, along with cutting the hair off as close to the root as possible, you are also scrapping off a layer of your skin in the process. Albeit a teeny-tiny layer of skin (which is why you don't feel any pain), over time it will become evident when the hair stops growing and the area becomes shiny. Also with threading, the results last a lot longer.

But tell me anyway...

What's your preferred brow-grooming method and why?

Laters,

Ez xxX

STELLA'S ADDICTION - Mini Haul

Hello and TGIF!!

Most of you know Stella of Stella's Addiction the beauty blog and makeup artist! But do you know Stella's Addiction the Makeup Store?

I recently popped in to the Store/Studio to buy some Bdellium Tools brushes as I've been eyeing them for quite some time. I also picked up a little something extra from E.L.F.

I really believe that  the quality of your tools really plays a major role in a flawless makeup application. And the art of blending depends on a really good blending brush.

What are qualities of a good blending brush? Well it depends on the section of the eye you are working on, but 2 things must be present soft bristles and minimal shedding. If you want a brush that will blend out any harsh lines and also transition colours smoothly into one another, you will need a nice fluffy blush with soft bristles and these vary in size dependant on the area you are blending. If you want to create a cut crease and also blend out the harsh lines in that area, a small dense brush is what you will need.

Bdellium Tools '776 Blending' Brush - N1,700

I've got a couple blending brushes from MAC, Sigma, ELF and Cala, but I've been meaning to try a particular blending brush from Bdellium, the 776 blending brush.

I like that the bristles are slightly smaller than my other blending brushes and this gives me a little more control when placing colours. It's also very soft and not scratchy at all. I've used it a few times since I've got it and it's been pure love! Really recommend this one.

Bdellium Tools '781 Crease' Brush - N2000

Now I only planned to pick up one brush, but this little gem caught my eye. I've been after a small dense brush for placing dark colours just in the outer corner of my eye and a little in the crease. And also to just blend out that area. Also when I do a cut-crease look I like the edges around it to be blended out, just because it looks a lot nicer, to me.

See how the bristles are so densely packed, which means the brush hasn't got as much movement as it's blending counterpart, but that's what makes it work! It's stiff enough to pack on the colour, but has just the right amount of movement to blend it through at the same time. Really happy I picked this up too

E.L.F 'Concealer Brush' - N700

Now i don't know how many of you know that with ELF there are two collections when it comes to their tools, the ELF Essentials and ELF Studio. Now the Studio line prices are slightly higher than the Essential and this translates into the quality. Most people are not even aware of the difference but the Studio line tools are usually black, while the Essential line are white, just like in the picture above. I shop from both lines really, it just depends on what I am getting. I typically prefer the face brushes from the Studio line and a few of the eye brushes from the Essential line.

I prefer to apply my cream-based eye products with a synthetic brush and this concealer brush works really well! I use it to apply my MAC paintpoint to my lid, or my NYX jumbo pencils, any thick/cream product really. This purchase wasn't planned either, just saw it on the shelf and grabbed it.


One thing I really love about Stella's Addiction are the prices! I did a comparison and these items I bought are a lot cheaper than what most beauty-retailers out here are selling them for. I love a good bargain!


Where to Buy:
Stella's Addiction - In-store and Online
Address: 5 Wole Ariyo Street, Off Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1.
Online: Stella's Addiction Online

What's your favourite brush?

Laters,

Ez xxX