Yawwwwwn…oh…there you are. Where on earth have you been??! Flat entrance I know, I’m still getting back into the swing of things after an awful, and I say yucky bout with dengue fever…nothing new to me because it was my 2nd time to get it, the last time was 10 years ago when I was doing my thesis in college. To others who don’t get what that is it’s a hemorrhagic fever brought about by mosquito bites, kinda like the less intense Asia-pacific version of Malaria or West Nile Virus. I nearly put this LUSH post up last Monday but by the time I had the photos color balanced I was feeling too sick to type any words, the fever hit hard within minutes and by Wednesday I was confined, I was healed of fever by Friday night, and yesterday I was released. Next page…December! Don’t these Fresh Handmade cosmetics by LUSH stand apart from everything else you’ve ever seen? What you’re looking at now are technically a lipstick and a lovey warm gold cream eyeshadow…and you just shot me the “what” look, yes, these are makeup items. I am absolutely loving how the shade names are in handwritten typefaces on old school tags and how the whole appearance just throws you off entirely. It’s the type of makeup that helps you stock up on talking points when people see it in your purse.
I’m not exactly what people would call a “LUSHIE”, aka an all-out LUSH lover. The UK brand LUSH isn’t as popular in the Philippines as it is in the West only because, I THINK, aside from the price hike for one, bathtubs aren’t a default thing in every house here and the thought of dunking a LUSH Bath bomb in my “tabo” (dipper) or the toilet (kerPLOP) just to see it fizz and not get to dive in just wouldn’t cut it for me. Plus all those deep, rich moisturizers, bath melts, body bars (solid moisturizer) they’ve got stacked in cake rations might have a tendency to sit on top of skin in our humid weather rather than sink in leaving you feeling slightly basted and hot even (I’m willing to give their product “King of Skin” a try, though). What I love about LUSH however is their handmade vegan cosmetics mission and how clear and light your conscience is when you use their cruelty-free, often delightfully gourmande organic products which are great for kids and people with sensitive skin. From above there’s that personal touch where you can obviously see the name of who processed the product I have on hand and the date of when it was packaged. If you’re just about to break the bank on MAC’s ever popular red lipstick shade, Ruby Woo, hold your horse’s nose, I have something to show you. Read more to get the full scoop on the two items that I chose.
The liquid liners and mascara (yes they have 1) come in the exact same sort of bottles, I’m not kidding. I chucked the mascara off my buy list because for a mascara the lash brush is just too stupidly close to the bottle cap so the bottle cap hits your eyes. For the lip products though I think the product packaging is just genius. Take a look at my little bit of fiery lip chili! Just don’t come too close!
This is a nearly indescribably beautiful cool, soft creamy (but not greasy) red called “Decisive” which is comparable in shade to MAC Ruby Woo. Decisive is a cool blue toned red with a super slight almost unnoticeable pink undertone. It would pair perfectly with a product like MAC Cherry Lip liner or for cheaper, NYX Hot Red Lip liner. It goes on moist and after about 10-15 minutes sets to a demi matte soft finish which isn’t completely transfer-free but it won’t transfer just everywhere. I advise lining the lip edge or even the complete lip generously with lip liners like the ones I mentioned before applying this more all over the inside. These are double the price of the NYX Soft Matte lip creams I own but they perform similarly. I can feel the difference though on my lips these might not have as much lasting power as those but they do have acceptable lasting power and my lips feel more hydrated and pillow soft without the messy transfer as long as you blot. If you eat a sauteed or fried meal with oil, or salad with oil dressing this lipcolor will move so that’s the only time you’ve got to really watch it. Using lipliner though will really make a difference, I didn’t in these shots because this was as in minutes before the dengue fever suddenly arose from incubation. You’ll notice I already wasn’t feeling well because I didn’t apply foundation on my face.
Before blotting with tissue
After blotting with tissue
No lipliner
Now right after this set of photos I fell really sick and though I would have liked to show you how the gold shade “Happiness” looked on the eyes I was too weak to shoot anything. I did manage to get a decent arm swatch though where you can see this cream eye shadow applied and blended. It’s an almost peachy sort of gold, in fact at first I thought it was rose gold when I put it on my arm.
”Happiness” is a gorgeous metallic gold with a drop of copper in it, none of that cheap brassiness happening. I like how you can get a solid metallic finish when you apply it directly and I like how you can move it about in the first 3 minutes if you want a softer look or want to use it as a base. You can also see how “Decisive” stained a bit when I washed it off my hand, which isn’t bad because when it wears away from the lips (as long as you don’t smear beyond your mouth) it leaves a pretty stain at the end of the day. Sad to say these aren’t that affordable, they launched around mid summer this year abroad for about $22.95 and here they’re about Php995 but the texture is absolutely gorgeous and for a vegan product staying power will not disappoint. I want to run back in for one of the liquid eyeliners and one of the other liquid lipsticks but that’s only in the other dream I have randomly at night where I’ve got a big fat wallet without holes. So I shall just include them in my upcoming wishlist!
