Ulta3 Lipsticks Review and Swatches: Rosa, Plum Purple, Deep Red Rose Matte, Sahara Rose

Like Max Black (Kat Dennings) of the show 2 Broke Girls, I’m crazy about lipsticks and all lip products. Also like her, I’m on a tight budget, so much as I love to play around with beauty products, I really can’t afford to unless it’s the sales.

On the plus side, after playing around in my local MyChemist, I think I’ve finally found a collection of lipsticks worthy of Max’s approval: lipsticks by Ulta3.

Anyone who has been in Australia for a while would have noticed how easy it is to find Ulta3 nail varnishes in various chemists, so it is quite interesting to note that the brand has branched out into various other types of make-up too.

Being a huge fan of the red lip look, I couldn’t resist getting hold of Deep Red Rose (matte) as my first purchase for $3.95. On my lips, it kinda felt the way all matte lipsticks do: sits ok, with deep colour and just a little on the dry side. Given that I tend to prefer my lip stuff to be a little more on the moisturizing side, I found myself picking up another one in Plum Purple a week later for $2.95. This one is shade that is really similar to Deep Red Rose but is a tad more moisturizing as it is a standard lipstick. So, obviously my lips has to be well moisturized already when wearing them, as otherwise they pick up on the flakiness like crazy, but luckily don’t seem to ‘bleed’ on me…

Later, after having to throw out my beloved Revlon lip butters, I decided to buy two more lipsticks that felt a tad closer in colour to the two that I had to throw away. Enter Rosa and Sahara Rose. At $2.95 each.

All of the lipsticks have a good deep colour and sits and feels like other lipsticks I’ve swatched from higher-ended brands like Max Factor, so it kinda makes me wonder just what it is that makes them so cheap? I haven’t been able to find the ingredients for Ulta3 lipsticks anywhere but I figure that they are pretty similar to the ingredients of other lipsticks in general…

Well, at least they’re really great for lipstick collectors as Ulta3 has a huge range of lipstick colours, has all the features of high-end lipsticks, and are at very purse-happy prices.

Revlon Lip Butters: Cherry Tart and Berry Smoothie (swatches)

Ok. So admittedly I may have come onto the Revlon Lip butter bandwagon a little late, but I absolutely LOVED my ‘butters’ in Cherry Tart and Berry Smoothie.

In the lipstick vs lipgloss debate, I would say that I prefer lipstick in how they are packaged and lipgloss in that they are slightly moisturizing. So to me, they are the best of both worlds - In that they are nicely pigmented lip balms that have the really classy packaging that you get with lipsticks.

Cherry Tart being a universally flattering red shade that applies quite sheer and so is ideal for me in that I like to wear makeup that makes me still look like ‘me’. Berry Smoothie gave me the perfect ‘me but better’ shade  - which with me making the huge mistake of applying it directly on my lips during a cold sore outbreak means that I have no choice but to throw it out…it’s also possible that I have made the same mistake with my Cherry Tart one as well…

That being said, I just found out at my local pharmacy today that the entire range is being discontinued, which is why I found all of them on sale. This leads to the question of what Revlon is coming out with that is a replacement for these lip butters, as I see no reason why you should discontinue a perfectly good thing…That being said, the one thing I do find fault with these lipsticks is the casing, ie that the lid 'sticks' to the base when you try to pull it off...

 

Treating Cold Sores and Lipstick

It is common knowledge that it is possible to catch cold sores from lipsticks and other lip stuff that has been used by someone who has had a cold core outbreak.

After consulting with a nurse, I also know now that once you have the cold sore, you cannot be reinfected ever again – kinda like chicken pox.

BUT there is one thing that I’ve learnt the hard way…although you cannot reinfect yourself by using a lipstick that you had used when you had a cold sore, using the lipstick again does cause you to have another outbreak. So now I have to throw out one of my favourite lipsticks.

This is not to say that you cannot wear lipstick when you have a cold sore though…

All you have to do, is apply your chosen lipstick with a Q-tip/cotton bud, but you cannot double dip the stick into the product.

NB. Re treatment for said cold sores, I tend to use a lot of the betadine products re health related issues as they seem to work quite well for me - both in the cream/gel formulation and dabbing the liquid onto the affected area using a cotton bud. In the course of the past week in trying to clear up my outbreak, I've found out (via a google search) that dabbing a little nail polish remover using a cotton bud n the afflicted area every hour or so, does in fact seem to work.

According to my bio chem buddy, the reasoning behind this is that acetone has the chemical ability to kill organic cells - which does explain why my fingers and nails feel so dry after I remove my nail polish.

Red Lipstick - Lush Lip Tint Review - A Million Kisses

So as part of my hunt for the perfect red lipstick, I decided to give lip tints a try. Basically, they just add colour to your lips without any extras…

As you may know, I am something of a Lush addict, given my love of their chocolate whipstick lip balm since it reminds me of my favourite Terry’s Chocolate Orange, and after sampling it in the store, I had to bring their million kisses lip tint home with me.

Given that I tend not to buy any beauty products without reading advice and reviews first, I’ve found that the best review is from corallista. My personal opinion is that it gives a perfect vintage-y red lip look, so long as you remember to layer it properly, although the trouble is that it also tends to come off easily if you decide to eat and drink a lot – leaving a look that brings to mind the idea of wearing lipliner without lipstick. Other than that, it does work as a rather good tint on me especially when I apply it sheer, although I also need to apply a good lashing of lipbalm first as my lips tend to be rather dry…

Red Lipstick - Kate Moss for Rimmel London

Ever since I was in high school, I’ve had an enormous girl crush on Kate Moss. Also Rimmel was the first brand of non-discount make-up I’ve ever bought. So I was really chuffed when I found out that they had collaborated together for a range of lipsticks.

It’s pretty much a no-brainer that in my hunt for the perfect red lip, I had to buy myself a lipstick from the range.
I also totally love the fact that the lid has a little Rimmel crown logo on top.

I usually prefer my lips in terms of colour more sheer-looking so even though the colours are really strong and smooth when applied, without being too drying, I tend to dab my lipstick on my lips either directly from the tube or with my fingers so that it works more like a tint.

N.B. I was also really happy to discover that Kate Moss shares my love of Scott Fitzgerald, and especially of Zelda. So it’s really awesome that her engagement ring is based on Zelda’s – although let’s hope for her sake that her marriage turns out to be better than the Fitzgeralds’ was…  

 

I’ve been on the hunt for a ring similar to hers for a very long time now (about 1 year), so if anyone knows where I can look to find one, I’d be totally grateful!!