Manic Panic Metallic lipstick review: Hells Bells

I've previously mentioned in this post here my love for lipsticks and how they can so easily transform a look on application.  Most of the lipsticks I own are your standard high street brands which can be very limiting in terms of colour choice and finish, and brands that offer better choices are more often than not high end and therefore not so budget friendly.  The reason I chose Manic Panic was because of their midway price points of products and their company policies on vegan products and animal testing. I've really been trying to get into cruelty free products lately and its great to see alternative brands that are so dedicated to the cause.

At £9.99 each, they aren't that cheap, but then they aren't completely extortionate either, and it's worth it for the fact that you get (in my opinion) a quality product from a trustworthy brand in a shade selection unseen elsewhere. Not that I can speak for any of the other lipsticks just yet, but I am hoping to collect a few more and see!

So heres what the packaging looks like. Pretty average, functional and doesn't feel cheap or likely to break. It's nice and sturdy on application too, which is good because nobody likes wobbly lipstick!

The colour I bought was Hells Bells, a metallic silver colour. I wanted something really different,  but fairly colour neutral because I'm planning on changing my hair colour again soon after my baby is born.

And here's what it looks like on, with my colour clashy red eyeshadow and purple hair combo! On first application it is quite thin and sheer, so it takes a good couple of layers built up to get the true colour intensity on the lips. Despite wearing three or four layers of thr lipstick, it actually felt very light and moisturising and as if I was wearing nothing at all. I kept forgetting I had it on and smudged it a few times. I'd say after an hour or two you would definitely need anothet layer, but that doesn't bother me and I expect that when wearing lipstick.

Overall I really like this product and can't wait to purchase more from them soon! Maybe once month.... I hope!

Gothic Beauty covergirl look

I love Gothic Beauty magazine, I just love to sit and immerse myself into the decadent beauty within it's pages. One of my favourite bits is seeing the covergirl look, the hair, the makeup, the clothes, it's simply flawless. So one day the inspiration struck me to try and copy that look. At the time I was reading issue #43 and fell in love with the eyelashes used, eyelashes are my weakness! So I went in search of lashes just like them, and decided to just recreate the whole look.

So here is the cover of issue #43 that my look is based on. I wish they would feature a how to of each cover look in the magazine, so here is my modified version, made easy!

And the products I used were:

- the Pore fessional by Benefit
- Studio Fix Fluid in NW10 by MAC
- Eyeshadow Primer Potion by Urban Decay
- Bulletproof pressed eyeshadow by Sugarpill
- a white/silver shade from Lipsy London's Nighttime Goddess pallet
- Supercat black eyeliner pen from Soap and Glory
- Exaggerate waterproof black eye definer pencil from Rimmel
- Shade 04 Kate lipstick also from Rimmel London (a very dark purple)
- Feather eyelashes from Stargazer (I had to cut them up into various small bits as you can see below)

So I started with my standard primer and foundation routine of the Benefit pore reducer with MAC foundation on top, and next I covered my whole lid up to the brow bone with  this very white silver shadow. Please do excuse this very messy pallet I haven't cleaned it in a while!

Next I blended my black eyeshadow into the outer corners of my eyes to create a very slight wing, and lined my eyes very thinly (a hard task for an eyeliner addict like me!) with the eyeliner pen. The fact that it was quite a fine tipped liner really helped to get the fine precise lines, as well as the those inner corner flicks!

Next I lined my upper and lower waterlines, and coloured my lower lash line as well. I then set about snipping up the feather lashes into smaller more useable portions, as they were originally a strip lash designed for the upper lids. I used a small portion of the inner lash corner and attatched to feather lashes to each one. I had to trim the feather lashes down a bit as they were very long. I also tried to leave as much of a usable lash strip as possible after all the trimming down, so I actually still have a smaller pair of feather lashes to use now. After this step I lightly shaded in my brows and added my lipstick to finish.

I'm thinking of doing a few more of these looks, as it was a very fun to do, although fiddly and challenging at times. So keep your eyes peeled!