RealHer Matte Liquid Lipstick

RealHer is not a well known brand but they have a good cause at heart. This brand is all about female empowerment and empowering the user to be true to herself, independent and free. You can definitely read more about their brand on their website. 

I picked up three of their liquid lipsticks in the shades I Am Fearless (pink berry), I Deserve The Best (mauve pink) and I Am Tough (blue red). They claim to be paraben free, cruelty free and infused with shea butter and natural ingredients. As you can tell, their shade names are so strong and definitely a good reminder for us everyday.

This is how the other sides of the packaging looks like. It is designed and formulated in California, USA but filled in China. It has an expiry date 6 months from date of opening but a shelf life of about 2-3 years. Mine expires in 2019. The front of the box has a small viewfinder but it's not quite easy to tell the shade from that cutout because it is quite dark and small. Each tube has 4.5ml of product for $15 so that is quite a lot of product. 

You can get 10% off if you subscribe to their newsletter and I believe there is free shipping for this product, otherwise just get two because they offer free USPS 2-Day Priority Mail for orders over $25. Plus, if you get your item and you don't like the color, just contact them for a free exchange! They don't even require you to send the item back whether you've used it or not.

In addition to all those perks, RealHer donates 20% of all gross profits to the American Association of University Women to empower and educate women and girls. 

The tube comes in a rectangular bottle with a white cap and black body. There's a small transparent gap at the bottom to show you the color of the shade but it's pretty short and small. I would prefer if I could see the entire tube of the color. 

The applicator is a nice long doe foot paddle with a dip in the center to pick up product. It's easy to apply the lipstick on with clean lines so I'm pretty happy with that.

All of them applied a bit streaky but I can overlook that because they didn't streak that badly, and they have a nice sweet floral scent. 

This is how I Deserve The Best looks like on the lips. It's a nice nude pink shade that is perfect for everyday wear. It doesn't dry down darker than the tube so it is pretty true to what you see. I really like this color but the formula of it isn't stellar. It stung my lips and felt tightening while it was drying. It also dried with a tacky feeling after that but it didn't transfer. However, I feel like the tackiness contributed to making the liquid lipstick feel drying on the lips. 

I Am Fearless is a pink rose/pink berry shade and this one has a better formula. It has a thinner formula and is highly pigmented but it is still a tad patchy. There was no tight feeling or stinging or tackiness and it felt comfortable when I first put it on but it started to feel like it was going to crumble off after a few hours. Like if you rub your lips together, you can definitely feel some dry patches so that felt weird. It didn't flake off though and lasted through some pretty oily food. 

I Am Tough is a deep blue red. It has a similar formula to I Am Fearless so I believe they will perform the same way. It doesn't bleed and doesn't transfer. 

Since they are $15, I would expect a superior formula because there are a ton of indie brands out there with better formulas and color selection for the same price. These are supposed to have hyaluronic acid to moisturize your lips but they still get drying. 

All in all, I wouldn't rank these above my ColourPops because ColourPop's shades are not streaky or patchy and much more pigmented. Plus, they have an amazing color range and they are only $6. 

Pigmentation - 3.5/5 (for streakiness)
Application - 5/5 (great doe foot applicator for clean lines)
Comfort - 3/5 (tacky and drying)
Longevity - 5/5 (much more oil-proof than ColourPop)

I also have some dupes for the shades that I got with ColourPop's. You can get 2.5 ColourPops for the price of a RealHer.

Clueless is the closest dupe for the mauve pink shade, More Better for the rose pink and Ribbon for the dark red. 

Palladio Velvet Matte & Metallic Liquid Lipstick Review

I've never heard of this brand called Palladio but I received one of their velvet matte and velvet matte metallic liquid lipsticks to try out and review. 

Their packaging is very similar to Maybelline's Velvet Matte Liquid Lipstick. It is in a transparent plastic bottle with a lipstick bullet shaped container inside. There is 4.16g/0.147oz of product in the tube for both formulas. You can find them on Palladio's website (www.palladiobeauty.com) or at Ulta. It is also available at Guardian for Singaporeans for $8.90. If you do choose to purchase from their website, you can use the code "Palladio" for 15% off your purchase. There is free shipping over $25 within the US so you can definitely save some bucks by shopping directly on their website.

The liquid lipsticks are botanical and vitamin infused but they are made in China. They also have a 12 month expiration date from date of opening.

Velvet Matte (12 shades, $7)

A lush, velvety liquid lip color with a lasting, rich matte finish.

• Moisturizing fluid cream formula
• Soft, flattering matte finish
• Applies with a doe-foot applicator

I got the Velvet Matte in the shade Brocade, which is a muted fuschia pink. The website's color is a tad darker than what I received but the color dries down to a darker shade than what appears in the tube. It doesn't exactly match up to what is shown on their website so take note that there is a color difference online and in person.

Velvet Matte Metallic (5 shades, $8)

Our Top seller Velvet Matte has been given an opulent twist with flattering metallic pearls to create a striking feminine look. Drench your lips with this supple, creamy formula enhanced with green tea and vitamin E. Designed with long wear metallic pigments and a velvety matte texture, the new VELVET MATTE will make you rock the ultimate lip trend. 

This is the shade Opulent from their metallic range. It is a nice vampy red with a sheen. Again, there is a color difference from their website because the actual color looks much darker than what is shown online. Also, the metallic pearls are very very faint and I couldn't tell at first glance when I looked at the tube. I really had to look closely to see the shimmers in the tube. So, I wouldn't exactly call this a metallic lipstick tbh. 
Both formulas are very very similar, if not exact. The metallics just have an added shimmer to them. They do not dry down to a matte finish (satin at most) but they are extremely pigmented and smooth to apply. It goes on with a creamy feel and do not apply patchy or streaky at all. The doe foot applicator tends to pick up too much product though, and it is a tad too furry so it doesn't give me clean lines. 

The lipsticks transfer and bleed. They tend to go onto my teeth too so that is quite annoying. I wore Opulent for a day out and it started bleeding after 3-4 hours of wear. I did have a cupcake for tea so that might have disturbed and moved the lipstick. The pigmentation was still pretty strong and it did not fade unevenly so that was good. The metallic sheen wore off pretty fast in my opinion, but it wasn't really there in the first place. It started to feel a bit drying at the 5 hour mark but nothing too uncomfortable. I removed it after 7 hours with a wet wipe (so it's really not hard to remove it) but it was still looking pretty good prior to that, with the exception of the bleeding. 

I suppose you can make these lipsticks work if you apply a lip liner to prevent the bleeding or if you just put in a bit more effort into reapplying and touching up throughout the day to keep the lipstick looking fresh. The color range isn't as vast as other brands but the colors they provide are gorgeous and if dark vampy shades can apply in a non-streaky manner, then that is a sign that the formula is good.

To summarise, I have listed the pros and cons of this liquid lipstick.

Pros:

• Affordable, plus you get a good amount of product for the price
• Easy to get
• Pigmented, not streaky, not patchy
• Smooth and creamy, easy to apply
• Long lasting
• Not drying for the most part
• Fades evenly

Cons:

• Transfers ("velvet matte" might be deceiving to some)
• Metallic sheen is very faint and does not last
• Bleeds
• Limited color range
• High maintenance 

My final thoughts? I won't be purchasing more of them and I may not reach for them as frequently as I would reach for my ColourPops. I do think that there are a ton of brands with a similar price point with a more competitive formula. For example, ColourPop's Ultra Satin Lips are bomb. They do not bleed and feel very comfortable on the lips.

Here are some ColourPop dupes for the shades that I got.

Lyin King is an exact dupe for Brocade. It also dried down faster and has a more matte finish than Palladio's even though it is an ultra satin lip. Bad Habit is a little more mauve/purple than Brocade but it is the closest I could think of in the ultra matte line. 

Hutch is an ultra matte with more purple than Opulent and 3-Way is a plum ultra metallic with gold flecks. I completely forgot about Saturday and Smitten which are ultra mattes but Saturday is the closest dupe to Opulent in terms of color. 

Disclaimer:

I received this product complimentary from Palladio Beauty via Octoly. The opinions are 100% my own. If you are a content creator, you can sign up for Octoly using my referral link for extra points: https://www.octoly.com/creators?cref=hbi9w

ColourPop x Amanda Steele Collection

 Hack (Ultra Glossy Lip)
"A sheer pink with pink glitter"

The pink base does give a nice tint to the lips and it has pink glitter in it. As with all their Ultra Glossy formulas, this one is not sticky or heavy on the lips

 Jiffy (Ultra Satin Lip)

"A satin dusty mauve"

This is a cool toned nudey pink and it applied very smoothly with no streaks. It feels very comfortable on the lips and lasts a really long time even through eating and drinking. Since it is a satin finish, it does transfer but you can tell that there is still a lot of pigment left even after a kiss test so the color really clings onto your lips and it is there to stay. 

 Chaps (Ultra Matte Lip)

"A deepened aubergine"

This is a really pretty dark eggplant purple and also very unique and bold. It is full on purple so it matches the theme of the collection very well. The formulation of this is pretty good. It's not streaky or patchy and one swipe did the trick. Very pigmented, lightweight and does not bleed or transfer.

Next up, we have the three Super Shock Shadows that are sold as singles for $5 each for 2.1g/0.07g of product. All of these have sparkles so if you love glitter, you will enjoy these and if not, stay away from them. The colors look really fun and vibrant and once the pigments set, they do not budge or fade. I say that from personal experience but bear in mind that I have single eyelids so I do not face the problem of creasing and transferring on my eyelids.  

If you watched my video, you'd know that I swatch my shadows lightly. I don't go all ham on it and press and swirl it. You can get pigmentation with any shadow if you use that much effort in picking up product. You can tell that the textured design of the shadow is still intact after my swatch so I really am using minimal effort to pick up the product so you can judge the pigmentation of the products for yourself. 

Steele (Super Shock Shadow)

"A metallic pastel pink with multi-dimensional glitter"

I love ColourPop's metallic shadows but this was pretty sheer and light on my skin (which seems to be the trend among most of CP's light metallic shades). It almost doesn't show up unless you look at it under direct light. I did two swipes for this swatch. There are a ton of pink, purple, blue and silver glitter on it but it is not the sparkliest among the three and the pastel pink is very very light. It will probably show up more on darker skin tones. 

Ignition (Super Shock Shadow)

"A glitter lavender"

Loving the sparkle here but it applied a tad light and sheer? I mean, I thought it would be a smidge darker or opaque. I found that a lot of pigment and glitter remained on my finger after swatching and it was hard to transfer and build the color on my lids. You might want to try a sponge tip applicator with this one. 

Hydroplane (Super Shock Shadow)

"A glitter teal"

Absolutely love teal colors and they make a great pop of color to any look. The campaign pictures also feature Amanda Steele wearing this all over her eyelid with a wing and that is such a bold and daring look to pull off if you are feeling up to it. It is super sparkly and although it didn't swatch as intensely as the campaign pictures, it is still rather buildable. 

Weekend Warrior (Pressed Powder Shadow Palette)

This is ColourPop's first ever pressed powder eyeshadows and first ever palette so it was very hyped up but I think CP has a lot to work on in terms of formula. I had high expectations for this because their Super Shock Shadows have such a unique formula and the pigmentation and lasting power hardly ever fail me. This is quite the opposite of what I expected but the shades in here are very cool toned so that might be something you can consider too. 

The palette consists of 4x1.4g/0.05oz of product and retails for $18. Bear in mind that a Super Shock Shadow has 2.1g/0.07oz of product so you are paying more for this palette. Plus, the quads that CP sell are also at $18 for 4x2.1g/0.07oz of product. 

Throttle

"Satin pale pink"

This is the only satin finish in the palette so it has a slight sheen to it. It hardly shows up against my skin though so i can't say much about it. It has more pigmentation when used with a finger and almost nothing when used with a brush. I used this as my inner corner highlight and browbone highlight and the sheen really saved it because it does do the job in highlighting. 

 Harley

"Matte cool grey"

This is also on the light/sheer side. It seems to have a purple base and the fallout is major when you use a brush with it. Again, there is more pigmentation when applied with a finger and less when applied with a brush. It was kinda hard to build it up also. It was just bent on remaining sheer. 

 Burnout

"Matte deepened teal"

Ah yes, finally something with pigments! This is an intense dark green but you can definitely blend it out to soften the color. It has a lot of fallout too and it's actually quite chunky and patchy when you use a brush with it.

 Chopper

"Matte deepened purple"

This one is quite pigmented too and has slightly less fallout. It blends nicely but does apply patchy. It looks more like a plummy brown to me than a purple. 

To compare the effects of swatching with a finger and brush, I used my e.l.f Eyeshadow "C" Brush to swatch the shadows. on the left side of the finger swatch. If you watched the video, I had to go over the brush swatches a few times and pack it on and blend it out to get this result. 

Washed everything off and decided to brush swatch it again and it's really just like that. So, as you can see, you will definitely get more pigmentation if you use your finger but you really have to pack it on and work it in to intensify the colors. They are definitely buildable and blendable but it does get patchy and mind the FALLOUTTTT! 

I did switch up and use a fluffier brush in the form of elf's contour brush and it helped to reduce the fallout but the shades applied pretty light. The brush did help to blend the shadows out, maybe too much, so if you need to concentrate the color in a certain area, then you would have to pack it there. 

This is the look I came up with.
Throttle: base, inner corner highlight, brow bone highlight
Harley: crease and transition color
Chopper: outer corner shade
Ignition: Lid topper for extra glitter and dimension

After 6 hours of wear with Jiffy on my lips, my makeup is still looking pretty good:

I have ColourPop's Flexitarian and Might Be on my cheeks as a highlight and contouring blush. The satin lip lasted through my lunch and some cups of water without fading weirdly in the centers or corners so that is a plus! You can definitely see the line where the lipstick ends but it's on the inside of my mouth so, who cares?

Anyway, shadows don't really fade on my lids because my single eyelids do not fold and crease so I'm really not a good example for that part. 

So, ending off the post with all the shadow swatches together so you can compare them! Will you be getting any items from the collection?