First Impressions: Sleek Matte Me

Recently I've really been feeling like my photography is just unsatisfactory?! I mean, I have photographed these Sleek lip creams more than four times and each time I have hated the photos. I shouldn't even call this a 'First Impressions' as I have had these for over six months *hangs head in shame* I've finally just gone ahead and uploaded a version that I am marginally happy with. Important life lesson: everything can't be perfect! Next time I think I will just upload the post the first time round!  

The Product

Sleek Matte Me

Colour range: Birthday Suit, Petal, Brink Pick, Fandango Purple, Rioja Red and Party Pink 

Claims: 'Matte Me is a matte finish liquid lipstick that glides on in one smooth application, with no need for a second coat.'

Price: £4.99 each

Alongside the mass influx of highlighters to the beauty market is the barrage of liquid lipsticks. They are everywhere and, pretty much, every brand has it's own version of these stay in place matte beauties. With the most famous offerings being from high end companies like  Kat Von D, Anastasia Beverley Hills and LimeCrime, I was super excited to see an affordable version in Boots. Plus,  I have always preferred matte lips over glossy so I went ahead and picked up all the shades they had on offer in the store.

I picked up; Petal, a pale pastel pink, Rioja Red, a blue toned bright red, Birthday Suit, a brown based nude and Fandango Purple, a bright fuchsia. I was most excited about trying Rioja Red as I absolutely adore bold red lips!  The lip creams look really glossy on the applicator but once applied dry to a completely matte finish. I find it quite difficult to control the amount of product on the applicator as the opening of the tube is quite big. I have to scrape a lot of the excess on the side of the tube in order to be left with a manageable amount of product. 

In all honesty, the application is not as easy as I would have hoped for. I find that moisturising my lips with a lip balm, five minutes before application, helps the process. I find that I definitely need more than one swipe to reach full opacity and have to tidy up any mistakes before it dries. However, I really do like the finished result of some of the shades, once it dries it is completely matte so, for the price, I would say it is worth it if you can nail the application. 

Once applied, these offer quite good wear time (4-5 hours), however the formula is really quite drying and not the most comfortable to wear, it also tends to emphasise any cracks or deep lines you may have in your lips. I find that i need to remove it completely after a couple of hours and reapply it on top of a fresh layer of balm to stop my lips becoming too dry.  I normally just vigorously wipe it off but it is smarter to use an oil based makeup remover to avoid irritation. 

I have swatched all the shades without a lip liner so you can see the true colour, but I would not advise wearing Birthday Suit and Petal without one if you are of a deeper skin tone like myself.  I have sort of disowned Petal as I think it looks too pale and milky on me.  However, If you like this sort of shade, I would suggest pairing it with a dark berry liner, like MAC Nightmoth or NYX Deep Purple, and creating an ombre effect if you have a deeper skin tone. Alternatively, a brown lipliner like MAC Chesnut will mute it out a little. Weirdly, the darker colours - Rioja Red and Fandango Purple, were easier to apply than the lighter ones hence, these are my favourites. I also think the vibrancy suits me a lot more than the pinks. Rioja Red is definitely my favourite out of the four shades, it's a true red that's perfect if you love bold lips.

Rioja Red

Fandango Purple

Birthday Suit

Petal

Verdict

Overall, I really like the vibrancy and intensity of the shades. Once dry, the formula is completely matte and for the price, it is a good offering if you don't want to spend triple the price on high end versions. The formula is a little tricky to work with and definitely needs a couple of layers in order for it to be fully opaque. I would suggest going to swatch these in store( Boots or Superdrug) before you commit to buying them to see if you like the formula before you purchase!

As always, thank you for reading!!

'Be your own kind of beautiful'  

Shea'd up: Mini Shea Moisture Review

Hi everyone! This post is a break from my normal beauty posts. This is review on some products from the Shea Moisture: Raw Shea Butter line that I have been loving recently!! I won't lie... I did not have any kind of epiphany or clarifying moment when I decided to go natural. In fact, I think I will put it down to laziness. I didn't want to go and buy a new box of relaxer so I just went to town with a pair of scissors.  Since then, I have probably texted each one of my friends numerous times, while washing my hair, declaring that 'I'm so getting a relaxer again!'. My hair actually gives me anxiety. Cue the naturalistas with the ' you just need to be patient with it' and the 'how can you not know how to take care of your natural hair' *Yawn*.

I know I need to be patient but guess what... I'm not a patient person so there! I have been natural now for about two - three years (Unfortunately,  I didn't do the customary marking of the date on my calendar so excuse my lack of accuracy). If you believe in the hair type and curl pattern malarkey then I am probably a 4C. My hair is very dry with little definition and is damn near impossible to comb without heaps of product. I've think I've tried every oil under the sun alongside many creams and conditioners. My standard is to spend an entire day washing and conditioning my hair, putting it into four plaits and reaching for my closure wig. 

Enter SHEA MOISTURE!

The great thing about Shea Moisture is that there is a line of products for EVERY hair problem and hair type. Fine hair, frizzy hair, dry hair you name it! It also doesn't have any sulfates and is certified organic. I have used the Curl Enhancing Smoothie from Shea Moisture's Coconut & Hibiscus line (Thick/Curly hair) before however, I found it a little to light for my hair so I was really keen to try some products from their Raw Shea Butter line which is specifically for dry, damaged hair. Although you can normally find  Shea Moisture products in UK stores, they normally don't have the full range. Luckily, Shea moisture will be launching some of their lines in Boots this month, so you should hopefully have no trouble getting them over here wherever you live. I bought these when I went to America a few months ago. Target pretty much had every product in the line and after much deliberation I picked up the Restorative conditioner and the Extra- Moisture Detangler.

This stuff is INCREDIBLE! I partly finger- detangled my hair before proceeding to wash my hair with the Herbal Essences Hello Hydration shampoo before applying the conditioner. All I can say is that my hair has never felt so loved. The conditioner is rich, thick and creamy and instantly allowed me to comb out most of the tangles and knots in my hair.  I twisted up my hair and left it to sit for 10 minutes before rinsing it out. This stuff left my hair feeling so soft it's unreal. I then left it to air dry a little before combing it out with the Extra- Moisture Detangler and re-twisting it with a little pure shea butter. As we know, I lack patience so I ended up taking the twists out after two hours  and here is the result:

Please understand that my hair has never ever looked or felt like this! The best thing about this is that once my hair had completely dried I was able to comb it! Combing my hair whilst it is dry is something I have NEVER been able to do so I was so impressed that this allowed me to do so.  I wore my hair out like this for a week and it was so easy for me to re-twist it every night. I now know that it really is all about finding the right products and I will definitely try to be more patient with my hair, yes naturalistas you win.

I met the UK Shea Moisture team at the Blogger Hangout event a couple of weeks ago and i was gifted this Strengthen, Grow and Restore Leave- in Conditioner*. I can't wait to try it and see if I get similar results! If anyone from Shea Moisture reads this : THANK YOU! I am so gutted that I can't attend the launch event this week ( Oct 8th/9th 2015) but can't wait to go to any other events you are holding. Wishing you all the best :)

As I always say, please do your research about any product before you go spending your money. Yes it worked for me, but you may find another line or product works better for you. Here is a list of some of the main Shea Moisture lines and the hair type/problem it targets to help you out a little:

Superfruit Complex - Dull lacklustre hair [Available soon in Boots UK]

African Black Soap - Dry/Itchy and flaky scalp 

Coconut & Hibiscus- Thick/Curly hair  [Available soon in Boots UK]

Raw Shea Butter - Dry Damaged Hair [Available soon in Boots UK]

Yucca & Plantain - Frizzy, Split and breaking hair 

Jamaican Black Castor Oil - Chemically processed, colour treated or heat styled hair [Available soon in Boots UK]

Shea Moisture will be bringing other lines to Boots UK in due course but for now you can get a lot of the lines on Amazon if you don't want to wait. 

Disclaimer: This post is NOT sponsored. The two products blogged about were paid for with my own money. Items marked with an asterisk are PR samples/gifts. 

'Be your own kind of beautiful'