Festival Vibes with Rimmel London Ink Me Collection

Let me start this post by a rather in your face statement - I don't like tattoos! I appreciate them and the art involved on other people but I don't want them anywhere on my body. Having said that, I do like the gold temporary ones that seem to recur year after year especially during summer parties and music festivals so I was delighted when I received a teaser from Rimmel London's Ink Me collection in the mail a couple of months ago. I know, it took me ages to post this review and I do apologise for that; but in my defence, it was still early for summer parties and festivals so these had to wait a bit before I got to use them. Moreover, I haven't been to any summer parties this year so I had to postpone using the products again :(

Anyhow, I finally got round to using them and I can finally share my thoughts with you :) First up, a word about the collection - it consists of transfer tattoos, ink stamps and eye/body liners, meant to give an edge to your makeup.

I got the temporary tattoos and two ink stamps - one in the shape of a star, the other in the shape of a heart. The star stamp was the first one I used during a photoshoot as it tied in exactly with the look I was going for. I was impressed with how well the ink stayed on and the application is straight-forward. Just stamp the design wherever you want! Both designs stamp well and the shapes do not bleed either. To remove, just shower or use a makeup remover - simple!

Photo by Go Raw Photography

I finally got round to apply one of the temporary tattoos down my back for a night out. Transferring the tattoo was again pretty easy as all the directions are printed on the packaging and on me, the temporary tattoo lasted for 5 days before gradually starting to fade away.

I think the Rimmel Ink Me collection is a great alternative to 'inking' yourself without the need for needles and commitment! What about you? Are you a fan temporary or permanent tattoos in general?

PR Samples

A Portrait of Me

Last April I took part on local gameshow Ħadd Għalik and my team managed to win a game which had a voucher for a photoshoot as one of the prizes tied to it and well I utilised it to take some portrait shots.

Initially, I was going to review the makeup products I used to achieve this look and we will still get to that in a minute but first, I wanted to talk to you a bit about what really goes on my life when I am not posing for pictures or attending events.

When I first saw these pictures I was elated with the results, something I not always am when I look at photos of me - I'm either not happy with the way my face looks, or certain poses make me look fat, others accentuate my problem areas (read my hips and thighs) but sometimes, there are those photos which I really love and want to share them with all the world because I look good and feel good looking at them! A case in point, being these portraits.

Behind the shy smile in these photos, is a strongly opinionated individual that is passionate about a myriad of subjects besides fashion and beauty - stamp collecting, history, politics and science being some of them. My full-time job, in fact, involves me working in a medical laboratory at the hospital, which of course occupies most of my time. Blogging does take up a lot of time too but it is something I truly enjoy doing for I get to share my outfits and new products with you as well as getting to meet fabulous people all along the way, be it other bloggers/influencers, followers, brand managers, photographers, etc...

Now, as promised, here are a few words about the products used to create this makeup look. A couple of months ago I was sent some products from the local representatives of Rimmel London which I haven't got to feature properly on my blog. This shoot was the perfect opportunity to show you this colourful palette and this beautiful red liquid lipstick.

I enjoy planning ahead, be it outfits for events, or activities for a day off. Summer is my favourite time of year and I enjoy spending days at sea whenever we have the chance to go and thus, to be honest, I was going to go for a more colourful look. However, when I had these pictures taken, summer was still not sure it wanted to make an appearance, so colourful makeup wasn't really on my agenda. The eye makeup was done with shadows from the Magnif'Eyes Colour Edition palette. The palette comes with 12 colourful shades ranging from warm neutrals, to blues, greens and even purples. The eyeshadows are mostly shimmery, with only 3 shades being matte. All shades have good pigmentation but the darker ones are a bit powdery in texture. Albeit, the colours I used all lasted well throughout the day and I think they came out really well in these photos. I think the khaki greens and beige shades used really brought out the colour of my eyes, which I admit are one of my favourite features to play with it when it comes to makeup.

For lips, I used the Stay Matte Liquid Lip Colour in the shade 500 Firestarter which has fast become a product I reach for very often. It has insane pigmentation and I don't need to touch it up during the day! This shade of red is one of my favourites ever and works well for day and night! I believe red lipstick gives you a confidence boost like no other and when you find the perfect shade that works for you, you're unstoppable -  to a certain extent of course ;)

Lastly, for contouring, correction and highlighting, I used the new Insta Conceal & Contour Trio and the Insta Duo Contour Stick respectively. My favourite out of the two is the Contour Stick, especially when it comes to the highlighting part. I like the highlighter on this one better than the trio palette because of the shimmer, whereas I prefer to use the lighter shade from the trio as a 'highlighting' concealer on the bridge of my nose and chin. I find both products have a creamy, easy to blend formula and I especially like the contour shade from the duo stick because it fits right under my cheekbone and is easy to blend seamlessly. On a side note, I think that the shades in the trio should have been labelled the other way round, don't you agree?

Doing my makeup and choosing my outfit for a night out is part of the fun for me and it is when I am most relaxed especially when I get to try out new products, so thank you Rimmel London Malta and thank you Paul from The Foto Grafer for these fun portraits :) I hope you enjoyed this post and got to know me a bit better too :) What are your favourite features/traits in yourselves?

Portraits by The Foto Grafer.
Featured makeup products were sent to me for PR purposes.

Review | Rimmel London Apocalips Lip Lacquer in 303 Apocaliptic

Good morning all :) Today I will be reviewing Rimmel London Apocalips Lip Lacquer in 303 Apocalyptic, which I later learnt is the shade Kate Moss is wearing in the product ad.

I'll admit I was immediately intrigued by this product after seeing rave reviews and beautiful swatches of all shades and I was inclined to get Stellar at first but I didn't find it in any of the Rimmel stands I checked out so I opted for Apocaliptic instead.

 

As usual, I'll start with a word about the packaging. To begin with, I have to say I really like the cap on these lip lacquers and I also like the ombre effect they created with the cap starting black and fading all the way down to clear so that you can see the product's actual colouration. The shade name is located just underneath the barcode sticker on the side.  The applicator is a doe foot sponge applicator that's sort of indented at the centre. Rimmel claims this is so that the amount of product applied is controlled. I actually like this kind of applicator but I don't think it made a difference as to how much product I apply.

 

Apocalips have been created to deliver the intensity of a lipstick with the shine of a gloss and I have to say Rimmel have really excelled in this regard so much so that I'd call these liquid lipsticks. Application is really straight forward however I do recommend the use of a matching lip liner before applying this shade as it tends to bleed if applied on its own (a good match is E.L.F. Studio Lip Liner & Blending Brush in Fuchsia). I'd describe the colour as a crème, bright Italian Pink.
 

 

The texture feels very soft at first but as time passes it may feel a little bit drying. The product has a somewhat strange scent that I cannot really explain but it doesn't transfer on the lips. With regards staying power, I cannot say that it lasts all day but it does last a good 4 hours on me. However the thing is that once it starts fading, it only does so in the centre of your lips, leaving you with a bright pink outline on your lips...not good I'm afraid.

 

Just for the fading thing, I would only recommend the lighter colours out of the 8 available shades but other than that, I think Rimmel have done a good job at incorporating a lip gloss and lipstick in one, saving us some space in our tiny clutch bags!

 

Rimmel Apocalips retail for €7.15 for 5.5mL of product from various outlets around Malta & Gozo.