New MUA pastel lipstick swatches!

Recently in my local Superdrug, I noticed that they had the new MUA £1 range lipstick shades for sale so I snapped them up. Shown above are the old shade 4, and the new 'bare' shade 14, 'juicy' shade 15 and 'nectar' shade 16 in the range. I put these together for a post as they are all pale pastel shades and I wanted to see how wearable they were on my chapped lips!

From left to right - 4, bare (14), juicy (15) and nectar (16)

Shade 4 from the original MUA range is a very sheer and quite glossy pink. It feels a bit more like a tinted balm in that sense. It's so sheer that when applying it it's can be hard to notice the baby pink tint - but it is there! Due to the how slippy this shade is, I don't see the colour hanging around for too long. However I do like the effect and it was very quick to apply.

Now this is 'bare' or shade 14. Much to my own surprise I really liked the tones in this! This shade doesn't make me look that dead and it doesn't look like I'm wearing foundation on my lips. Instead this is a very subtly peachy beige that tones down the natural pinkness of my lips. Impressively it didn't  drag or gather at all in the dodgy patches of my lips. This was creamy to apply and once on it wasn't sticky or slippy at all. For this reason I think that shade 14 would wear longer than the others here.

Unfortunately while shade 15 or 'juicy' was my favourite in colour, it had the most difficult consistency and application. While this lipstick is pigmented, it is also quite sheer and had a tendency to slip and show up my damaged skin. However, this is a gorgeous pinky peach and a true pastel shade that really pops. While it looks quite pale here, it's lovely and vibrant. I think that with a bit of blotting and some balm, this could still be worn in all weathers.

Shade 16 or 'nectar' is actually the most similar to shade 4 of the original MUA lipstick range. It's very sheer and very glossy but instead of being pink this lipstick is a coral orange. This would probably normally be considered more of a summery shade but I will be wearing it no matter what. This lipstick makes a bold shade a lot more wearable. It also livens up my lips whilst still looking vaguely natural. This may be sheer and glossy but it doesn't seem to budge as easily as shade 4. It doesn't have the most even application but my lips aren't in the best state at the moment so I don't think it's really the fault of the product!

Sleek lipstick in rose petal

I'm not sure if anyone else is familiar with this phenomenon but I often find myself inheriting makeup from my Mum. Whether it's too dark, shiny, bright, or just plain wrong on her, makeup in my house often is given a lovely new life when i get my grubby mitts on it. Case in point with this Sleek true colour lipstick in Rose petal.

The thing I love about this lipstick is the fact that I can't quite pin down the colour. It's got a bit of pink, a bit of gold and a bit of coral in there but it isn't too garish. It also applies far better than the previous Sleek lipstick I had tried (Amethsyt). Contrary to my previous experience, this lipstick glides on and provides an instant rose-gold sheen that looks pretty without being too dark or too shiny for an everyday look. Rose petal also doesn't dry my lips out or accentuate any existing damage (looking at you again Amethyst) which will be a godsend over the next few months. When blotted, the subtle shimmer remained without looking patchy or losing too much colour.

In this photo I'm wearing very minimal makeup but I do think that the shade of the lipstick works well with my pink based skin tone. Despite the fact that the lipstick is so shimmery, I don't think it looks too OTT for a daytime look. So when the temperature plummets I will be reaching for this in the mornings as a my-lips-but-warmer shade. Finding everyday lipsticks is 10 times harder than finding statement brights so I'm considering this a success!

So naturally when I looked this lipstick up on the Sleek website, it wasn't there! Just when I finally find a lovely autumnal shade, fate snatches it away. I suppose I'll just make the most of it while I can. I'm 100% sure there are highstreet dupes available, but I strongly suggest you all have a dig around to see if you've got a hidden autumnal gem lurking in your makeup bag somewhere! My faith in Sleek lipsticks has definitely been restored.

Collection 2000 Lasting Colour lipsticks

To inject a little oomph into your makeup bag this season, I suggest you look no further than the Collection 2000’s Lasting Colour lipstick range. Apparently released with an eye on the summer trends of last year, these daring shades can provide a serious colour injection for a low price-tag!

Last year my personal mission was to find a brilliant budget orange lipstick. This year it was to find a cool-toned but vivid baby pink. Ideally I was looking for something highly pigmented but affordable, and both times I swatched around and came back to this range.

I own ‘Orange punch’ and ‘Bubblegum’ and the names really speak for themselves here. And while matte and highly pigmented shades such as these are often seen as high-maintenance and thus impractical – this range has a few key plus points.

('Bubblegum' and 'Orange punch' in natural light)

('Bubblegum' and 'Orange punch' with flash)

When I say the pigmentation in these shades is strong I mean it, but this makes them wearable in numerous ways. ‘Orange punch’ often stains my lips but that just means I use it smudged under some neutral gloss to give a pleasant tint. While ‘Bubblegum’ is creamier and doesn’t seem to benefit much from any of my glosses, it works well when topped with another lipstick. Once again it offers a way of giving another dimension to previously neutral lip looks.

Of course I still sometimes wear these as the mattes that Collection 2000 recommend them as, my point is just that I do actually find them quite versatile. They were even released as Collection 2000’s first lipsticks with SPF15 which just makes them that little bit more practical for summer!

At £2.99 each I know that these lipsticks come in considerably cheaper than many of the other brands out there. However, the range is limited to just 11 shades which means that brands like Barry M and Stargazer will probably always be the go-to for most people when they want to experiment with something a bit braver.

Apologies for the limited photographs on these but I’ll definitely be featuring these products in an upcoming post of summer makeup looks. Think bold paintbox lips combined with chalky and vivid eyeshadows. Stay tuned!