Tag: makeup

Review of Sephora Mix & Mingle Lip Set

2 Comments

N&K meant to post this review around Christmas time, but our schedules got a little crazy with work, family time, holiday stuff, New Zealand and the burlesque show. And so here we are…

Sephora‘s Mix & Mingle Lip Set Limited Edition 2018 is a lovely little minx offering lip pencils (but I’m calling them crayons) and glitter glosses. The colours range from light nude to deep browns to coral red and to a dark mythic purple. The crayons are pointed so neither a sharpener nor a liner are needed. Colours are fairly long lastingly rich. Feel is smooth. Look is that of a creamy lipstick. Translucent gloss is not gritty and doesn’t slip off easy. No colour bleeding.

Other features:

  • Slight sweet scent & flavour;
  • Crayons are great for ombre look;
  • Glosses are also lovely on their own;
  • Colours are good for Kells & my skin tones. Plus you can customize colours by layering;
  • Good for day & night looks;
  • For cleanup, you will need a good makeup remover;
  • Crayon caps are very short & tend to pop off. So place in a snack sized zippy plastic bag, to avoid colouring the inside of your Calvin Klein handbag (grr);
  • No colour names so if you like the singles, bring in the empty shell to match up to existing singletons. Or, sets are still available at Sephora Australia, Shape, Poshmark & Amazon.
Here are the colours swatched on Nals’s arm (T to B): lightest nude crayon, white gloss and then pairing matching gloss on top of matching crayon, etc. (L to R in lippie box.)

N&K Recommendation:

Other reviews are positive. And, yes we agree that it is definitely worth the buy. In fact, Kells & I have added this set to our quick go-to photoshoot bag!

N&K sportin Sephora M&M Lip set

Bad Ass Supercurls

Leave a comment

I was browsing some much-needed mascara, when I happened upon this purple goddess called 24 Hour Supercurler by Rimmel.

And guess what I thought? It’s Mascara Monday time for our gorgeOUs N&Kers!

Let’s re-state our review rules:

  1. We bought all mascara ourselves (which means nobody is paying us).
  2. We wear each mascara for a week.
  3. All mascaras purchased were black, and the darkest black they had available.
  4. Every mascara used was put on the exact same way, with only two coats. All eye makeup for the comparison pictures was exactly the same.

That’s it…there are no more rules.

Wait…maybe one more…the opinion is ours…take it or leave it. Believe it or not. These are just our 2¢.

What we want in a mascara

Lasting Curl

Staying Power

Colour

Separation

Volume

Length

Most reviews talk about these 6 points. The first 5 are important to me since I’ve got naturally long lashes2.

The problem is that my durn lashes ramrod straight. So, I’ve got to bust out the eyelash curler first1. Doesn’t matter if it’s a mascara dipped in gold. Without that lash curler, the mascara will not reach its full potential.
Application. So after curling and applying Rimmel London’s 24 Hour Supercurler, I found that the product applied quickly, without much fuss.
Curl power. This product didn’t curl my lashes very much. But, once I cyborg’ed it up1, the mascara worked well.
Staying power. It lasted quite a while. In fact, I found that I needed to get a Q-tip in there after cleansing to ensure all the product was out. (Lots of other people experienced this as well. See some other reviews.)
Separation. That curved brush is thick and it’s got some junk in the trunk. Angle that brush around & work it for your lashes. As the product has a thin consistency, lashes were separated beautifully with no porridge-y clumps.

Colour. Yep, the colour was “very black”. See Volume as this affects appearance of Colour.
Volume. Oh sigh. Here’s where it falls short. I got length, separation, curl power, colour… do you really need volume, too? Can all 5 equally co-exist in 1 mascara? I layer my mascaras anyways, so I’d just pair it with a volumizer.

Interesting tid bit: Rimmel London gives a dupe on fake lashes here. Did this dupe work for you?Did this dupe work for you?

Would I buy again (Yes!) & would i recommend it?

For newbies this is a good starter mascara.

For the seasoned mascara-ists, you’ll have to pair with a volumizer.

Footnotes
1 Mr Nals calls me cyborg when I’m using the curler. I’ve found that when I put curler under the hair dryer for 2-3 seconds, the curl is intense and adding a good mascara suspends it in curl-perfection.
2 My lashes have lengthened and volumized with EyEnvy eyelash conditioner! Our review is available here.

Maybe she’s born with it? Maybe it’s EyEnvy?

Leave a comment

Deprecated: ltrim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /var/www/wptbox/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 3030

Deprecated: ltrim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /var/www/wptbox/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 3030

As you delightful N&Kers know, I had a coworker with lashes that went on for days.  Her secret was EyEnvy.

Eyenvy is an eyelash & brow conditioner.

I searched high and low last year and could only find the mascara.  I thought it was peanuts but it actually made lashes a bit fuller.  My review is here.

 

Kells found the actual conditioner.  She reviews it here.

So in July, I finally got a bottle of conditioner.  They recommend applying once daily x3 months then go to every other day.  I noticed a difference about 2 months into the routine.  Or rather, others noticed:

 

a friend of mine said “Your lashes are so full that they’re casting a shadow on your face!”

 

Mr Nals said “They look bigger.”(Man of a few words, that one.)

 

I’m now down to the every-other-day application.  But, it was easy enough to remember to apply & let dry.  My skin & eyes are super sensitive but I didn’t find any adverse reactions.

So N&Kers, if you want to try it: do it!

A couple of N&Kers have tried it, with uber positive results.

 

EyEnvy much?

1 Comment

Mascara Monday is baack!

Kells started us off with a bang with several Mascara Monday reviews. (Feel free to search our tag cloud for her Mascara Reviews.)

Today, I will be reviewing
⇒ ⇒ EyEnvy ⇐ ⇐

Continue reading →

All that Glitzes is Glitter

2 Comments

Deprecated: ltrim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /var/www/wptbox/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 3030

One cool December evening, we were watching Forensic Files, as I am a criminologist-by-night^. And we found out there’s a Glitter Guy! This dude has been collecting glitter for over a decade purportedly for forensic purposes (but we know he secretly loves to roll around in all that glitter!)

Clearly, this shibbles-n-bits isn’t just for kindergarteners anymore.

And so… what better time, than Holiday Time!, to discuss shimmery glittery goodness.

Today, we’ll be giving you the lowdown on:

1) BITE’s Prismatic Pearl Crème Gloss
2) smashbox’s Be Legendary Liquid Lip
3) Julep’s Moisturizing LipGloss

.One day, I had me a hankerin’ to get some glitterati. I was directed to the BITE Prismatic Pearl Crème line, with 10 coveted colour choices. The Pink Pearl is a light pink opaque with a suspension of light pink glitter. It has cool white-silvery undertones. The Rose Pearl’s base is a warmer opaque magenta with mesmerizing dual-tone glitter (pink-gold). I can’t quite figure out if the base is golden-hued or if it’s just the glitter. But whatever it is, it’s all fab. These glitter glosses (GGs) have staying power and true colour. (eg: it looked the same on me and Kells, and looked the same as inside the bottle.) The base feels like creamy gloss, and there’s no gritty feel to the glitter. Warning: this line is not for the glitter-shy. It bites you right in the kisser. So, if you’re unsure about glitter, you may want to look at the nibbly alternatives below. Check out our gangsta pic where we’re both sporting the Pink Gold. Kells has layered it on top of Fenty’s Cosmic Gloss Lip Glitter. I’ve layered it on top of Clinique’s Bold Pop matte lip. (Bold Pop is a rich velvety burgundy .)

For Christmas, my lil work SiSter, got me the Sugar Cane* gloss in smashbox’s Be Legendary line. This line has quite the array of colours from a ka-pow brick red to more muted tones. The Sugar Cane base is a full colour warm brown sugar with prismatic micro-glitter. It feels like a creamy slithery gloss (but not as rich as BITE’s). And with a soupçon of glitter. On my skin, this looks like a dark shimmery nude. I’m actually wearing this under a glossy Julep taco** in our Merry Christmas post on our Instagram.

Julep’s translucent GGs are also dreamy. They have pretty good staying power with that yummy glossy feeling. These are generally sheer with super duper fine glitter. There is a choice of 13 colours.  I’ve tried Glowing (coral pink), Charming (deeper rosy brown) and Adored (baby pink). The Julep glosses are great starters for those just getting into gloss and GGs.

Pink Pearl, Rose Pearl, Bold Pop, Sugar Cane, Low Key & Charming: L to R.

 

THE ANALYSIS

These are all awesome glosses in their own right.

more versatile than you think

What we love about glitter glosses is that are uber versatile. You can wear these:

  • straight on your nekkid lip
  • on top of lipstick… you can do the full Monty as we have in our gangsta pic, or just dot your centres to highlight
  • on top of lipliner
  • … get ready to have your mind blown… put a clear gloss on top of the glitter. Yes you heard me right, folks. When you add that clear gloss taco, your lips resemble a shiny marble. It’s glitterati to the max.

Okay so some other considerations…

Kells and I have a gorgeous gal-pal, Lil Kiwi. She is hyperaware of age-appropriateness of makeup and clothing.  She has a lovely porcelain complexion, warm brown mischievous eyes and an infectious AF laugh. However, she gravitates towards a more natural look, anyways, which is always age-appropriate. (Though lately, she’s branched out a bit, which Kells and I love.) So as I myself am approaching a certain number, I had a sad thought: is glitter is out of my age range? After thorough and extensive processing, the light of reason shone upon me.

My conclusion? “My inner diva is channeled and she wants glitter!” and boom! here you have this post^^.

We hope you enjoy exploring these GGs.

Do you have faves that you’d like to rave about?

What are your thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment below!

End bits –for you keeners that look this kinda stuff up–

^(in my head)
* (how appropriate as we are both from lands o’ sugar cane)
** Julep gloss taco: Ultra Hydrating Lipgloss in Low Key
^^ this post is dedicated to all the inner divas out there! Here’s hoping we can out them soon.

[contact-form][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Website” type=”url” /][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea” /][/contact-form]