Red Lipstick and More Bikes

Seriously, I am so tired. Went shopping with the kids tonight to buy my oldest daughter her new bike. The majority of the assembly took about 2 hours, then we encountered a problem with the brakes. I won't bore you with the details, but after several more hours and countless expletives, she now has a working bike.
Again I didn't finish assemble until it was almost dark so unfortunately a family bike ride wasn't possible today. Its on the cards for tomorrow though.

Now, onto other fun things! The other day I decided to buy two cheap lipsticks, and some matching cheap lip liners and test them out. I've been looking for "the perfect red" on and off for years, but never found anything quite right. My taste has changed a little since I started my search and now I'm comfortable wearing brighter, more orangey reds than I would have been previously, so that has helped widen my options. Anyway, I thought I'd share my finds with you, because they really are great value for money for those not wanting to spend much.

First, the lip liners:

Essence lip liner - Femme Fatale

Brand: Essence
Shade: Femme Fatale
Cost: $1.95
I got this to match one of the shades of lipstick I bought, but tested it alone. I'm sure these aren't the best lip liners in the world, but they're great for the price. They applied nicely, not terribly creamy, but fine, obviously if you find it dry you can apply it over a lip balm. There was little to no feathering and it lasted well. I really liked the colour, especially when paired with lipstick.

Essence lip liner - Red Blush

Brand: Essence
Shade: Red Blush
Cost: $1.95
Much like Femme Fatale, its pretty damn good for 2 bucks. I've used quite a few Essence products now, including blush and nail polish, and they're decent. I really like my Essence blush, and the nail polishes tend to chip fairly quickly but they have a great range of colours for an awesome price. Back to the lip liner! It applies pretty well and has some staying power. Its a nice browny red colour.


Lipsticks:

Beauty Attitude - Racing Red

Brand: Beauty Attitude
Shade: Racing Red
Cost: $3.00
This lipstick looked quite bright in the tube, but came out a little bit darker than I expected. It applied quite smoothly. As far as longevity goes, this one rubbed off the fastest, but wearing it over a lip liner would probably go a long way toward helping it last longer. It goes pretty well with the Red Blush lip liner and should be modeled with duckface for best results!

Beauty Attitude - Dragon

Brand: Beauty Attitude
Shade: Dragon
Cost: $3.00
This was my favourite. I never used to be a fan of these sorts of shades, and when I first put it on, my immediate reaction was "whoa, that's bright!". After wearing it for a few minutes though I found I really liked it and it now lives in my handbag and is getting regular wear. It isn't very creamy or moisturizing, but that's easily fixed by applying balm first. Its has a nice matte finish and looks awesome with the Femme Fatale liner.

Gratuitous selfie
Dragon lipstick over Femme Fatale liner with a touch of gloss to finish

And some mess :)