Review: Maybelline ColorSensational Lipstain in 350 'Blushing'

I had been wanting a lip stain for ages and decided on this one. I wouldn't use the integrated balm in some of the lip stain products like Revlon"s Just Bitten, so I avoided those ones. There werent many testers for Max Factor's one, and I couldn't find a colour I'd wear enough - red would be cool, yes, but I'm not brave enough for it. That'll come as celebration when I've lost the weight I'm trying to get rid of.

Packaging

It's a sturdy marker pen, really. I like it - some packagings feel very flimsy, but this doesn't. It does annoy me that it's the American spelling of colour, but hey ho, it's an American brand after all.

Does it live up to its promises?

The Boots website says:

Tint lips with sheer matte colour for a fresh barely there feel. New pen builds for precise buildable colour that lasts!

Why You'll Love It

A fresh new sensation in color:

• Sheer wash of color from water-based pigments

• Fresh, barely-there feel from vitamin-enriched berry nectar

Personally, I really like the product - I like that you can just put it on once, or do a few coats for a stronger colour. This shade is also one I like, a darkish pink that, as you can see in the photo below, looks fairly 'done' even without other make-up.

I agree with them saying the pen is precise - in contrast to lipsticks and glosses, it's very easy to just get the colour where you want it.

The smell is nice - minty and sweet, a bit like dentists' surgeries (are they called surgeries for dentists?)

So far, yes, it does live up to its promises - though I'll have to see how it fares with continued use. It is slightly drying, though, so a balm afterwards might help - I've also heard a lipgloss on top works.

Would I repurchase?

From my experience so far I'll have to say yes, definitely - it's exactly what I wanted

This lip stain sells for £5.99

FOTD: Red Lips and Cat Eyes

Products used:

• Elf eyelid primer
• Elf eyeshadow in 'driftwood'
• Collection 2000 Extreme 24H eyeliner
• Elf blusher in 'shy'
• 17 Ultimate Volume lipgloss in 'very berry'

Dancing On Ice, show 1

Since Strictly’s over, I’m watching Dancing On Ice. I do like it, no matter how much my brother mouths off about it.

Christine Bleakley got a lot of flack for apparently not being personable enough. Personally, I thought that while she could have been a little warmer, she’s probably just working her way into it.

She wore the red lip really well in my opinion, and I liked that it was mirrored by the dress without it being trashy – the high neck and low hemline helped, and she looked so elegant.

I think my favourite two looks beauty-wise were Jorgie Porter and Chemmy Alcott.

Jorgie’s was such a natural look, with a lovely air of youth and innocence. To recreate this look I would use my 17 All About Nude palette, but if I didn’t have that I would use a pale shadow (like No7’s Starry Night) blended with something like 17’s Walnut Pearl eyeshadow with a pinkish lip either from 17 Mirror Shine Belle or from a tinted lip balm.

It would be perfect for a summer day or a simple frock type day.

(I couldn’t find a better still, tried for ages, sorry)

The most interesting thing about Chemmy’s look was that she had a gold lip. I’m not entirely sure how I would recreate this, but in this month’s Company they featured a company called GlitzyLips (www.glitzylips.com) so I would probably do that – Don’t Copper Me is the cloest to what she wore. This isn’t a look you could really wear anywhere, I don’t think, except maybe for Hallowe’en or a very extreme clubbing night.

All pictures from ITV except the last which is from www.glitzylips.com