Three Affordable Lipsticks: Blue Heaven, Coloressence and Miss Claire

Did you ever wake up at night in cold sweat wondering why you bought so much makeup and emptied all your bank account? Well, these guilty thoughts generally do not assail me but unfortunately my husband does not quite seem to have the same idea. So the budget restrictions are back in place..No No it does not extend to his ten thousand bucks Fossil watch and the extensive wardrobe that my one year old has. It is just restricted to my makeup Hmmmppphhh…So now I am on a lookout for affordable and good quality makeup products. I was recently hunting for some cheap lipsticks and while browsing online I spotted these Blue Heaven and Coloressence products on Flipkart. I immediately ordered lipsticks from both the brands. Also I got a Miss Claire lipstick while getting my favorite Miss Claire eyeshadows from the local beauty store. Read on to check out how these products fared.

Blue Heaven lipstick in Cherry Red

First things first. Do not trust the pictures posted on any online site. On Flipkart the picture is of a pink lipstick packaging with a see through bottom. In real life the lipstick has this gold somewhat cheap lipstick encasing which does not seem good enough to be carried along in a handbag. Of course I was disappointed and to top it off the color of this lipstick is not cherry red but rather a bright blood red. I somewhat dealt with this disappointment and swatched the product. The lipstick is creamy and the texture is smooth. On the lips it glides on smoothly and does not settle into fine lines. The color is rich and vibrant. It’s a nice red to add to your collection. Moreover the price tag of around 56 bucks does not hurt as well (They have increased the price of this lipstick on flipkart)

On the downside its creamy texture means it lasts for not more than three hours. It does leave behind a nice red stain though. Apart from the packaging I find the smell of this lipstick kind of revolting. Its got that horrible medicinal smell which I just detest. If you can bear with the smell and the packaging this is a good product. Moreover for college girls it’s a great budget product (Although I am not sure how many would like that bright red on their lips)

Coloressence Lipstick in Passionate Pink

This lipstick turned out to be the worst lipstick purchase I have ever made. Again the packaging of this product seems different than what is shown on the website. Unlike see though bottom with the color inside I got an all black lipstick tube with coloressence embossed on the cap. The lipstick is supposed to be a bright pink but it has this horrible dry texture that makes swatching it very difficult. It is extremely difficult to apply on lips and just forget about ever applying it on dry chapped lips. It just settles into horrible dry lines and even fades in patches. The smell is fairly bad as well. Definitely not getting any of these again ever even though they are priced at around 125 bucks or so.

Miss Claire Refill Lipstick

I love Miss Claire eyeshadows which are by far one of the best budget eyeshadows in the market. So I had some expectations from these lipsticks. The slim tube looks nice and dainty. It is priced at 150 bucks for around 1 gm of product which seems quite a lot but its ok with me. The color is a dark brown and is a great nude lipstick for my pigmented lips. The texture is good. Although it is not too creamy, it does fare well on dry lips. Moreover it stays on for quite some time as well, approximately four to five hours. The only downside is the obnoxious smell which can just drive you crazy. It has this weird rotting smell that I just hate.

Here are the swatches of the three lipsticks.

From Left: Blue Heaven Cherry Red, Coloressence Passionate Pink, Miss Claire Refill Lipstick

My recommendation: Spend some more bucks and get a good quality lipstick probably a Maybelline or Colorbar.

Miss Claire Crackle Nail Polish

I am not a nail polish fanatic (this is just a way of saying I am too lazy to use nail polishes). I just can’t sit and wait for it to dry so it ends up all chipped and ugly. To top it all my daughter just loves to peel off my nail paints. The end result is that I end up using the nail polish removers more than the nail polishes. However with introduction to blogosphere and after seeing awesome nail art by some amazing people like Kejal and Zara, I decided that I was going to get a few nail paints. So the next time I went to the beauty store to get my Vov and Miss Claire stuff I picked up a few nail paints. Just as I was walking off I spotted the crackle nail polishes by Miss Claire and picked one up readily. These are so cheap compared to the Colorbar and OPI nail polishes, just 150 bucks. There were loads of colors available but I decided to get this blue one. The shade name is CR04 and it’s a beautiful dark blue shade. I applied a white base coat and topped it with the crackle nail paint. To finish off I applied a clear top coat. This brings out the color and makes it a bit more long lasting. Here are a few pics and swatches of the Miss Claire crackle nail polish.

My Recommendation: Get it if you love crackle nail paints. They are good and quite affordable as well.

Some Budget Buys: Elf, Meylon, Faces etc.

Recently I went to Clover Center in Camp, Pune which is a great place with lots of boutiques that have some amazing clothes, shoes, bags and of course makeup. The basement is filled with small tailoring shops and boutiques. It also has a beauty center which has a number of products which include daily essentials to all your makeup products. Moreover it also has small counters of your favorite drugstore brands like Revlon, Bourjois, Maxfactor and Faces among others. It also has Body shop products, OPI nailpolishes, Elf products and some cheap brands of cosmetics as well. Needless to stay I went berserk roaming around the place till I finally picked up an Elf blending brush and a Faces Eyeshadow brush from there.

Here are the pics:

Elf Blending Brush (Price: INR 149)

Well, it is quite nice considering the price tag. I know it is not comparable to a Mac brush but then it is quite good for eye makeup starters like me. The bristles are denly packed and a bit scratchy. A close dupe and probably a much better one would be Vega PB15 professional eyeshadow brush.

Faces Eyeshadow Brush (Price: INR 99)

This one is surprisingly quite good. The brush is densely packed and the bristles are soft. It also picks up the eyeshadow quite well. Moreover the shape makes it easier to pat on and blend eyeshadow.

I also got an eyeshadow and a cracking nail polish from, Bette, a shoe and bag shop in Clover Center

Meylon Eyeshadow (Price: INR 130)

This is so pretty and resembles those baked mineral eyeshadows out there. The color is a sparkly purple and the texture of this eyeshadow is a nice satiny smooth. I don’t know where you can find it but I guess most beauty centers have this and sometimes Fashion and You has a sale on Meylon products. I also saw it on a online deals site but the price was exorbitant.

Miss Claire Crackle Nail Polish (Price: INR 225)

I spotted a crackle nail polish on the counter and immediately grabbed one even though I don’t do any nail art but this seemed easy. There are many colors available and the price is great as well.

Lovin it!!: My Miss Claire Eyeshadow Collection

Eyeshadows have become my latest obsession. From cheap local brands to MAC I want to try them all. Recently while shopping for shoes from a local shoe and bag shop, I spotted some eyeshadow singles in a box. I was instantly drawn to these Miss Claire eyeshadows singles and ended up not buying bags or shoes but picking up three of these beauties. Later when I researched on the net, I found out that a lot of people have been getting these amazing eyeshadows which are made in Korea. The rave reviews on the net are certainly justified because these are some of the best eyeshadows I have judging by quality and the cheap price tag. Of course I went back and picked a lot of other colors as well. Now my collection has swelled up to around seven Miss Claire eyeshadows

Price and Packaging: They are priced at just Rs 95 for 2 grams!!!!! J J How cool is that. I think I am going to pick all the colors. The packaging is super cute. These round black “dibbis” with plastic see through covers are my absolute favorite. The shades do not have names but numbers which along with the list of ingredients and other details is written on the bottom of the “dibbi”. I can plop it into my purse and carry it anywhere.

Texture: The eyeshadows have a satin finish with a slight sheen. Blending is super easy as the eyeshadows are extremely smooth and do not have any fallout. They have matt finish eyeshadows and shimmery eyeshadows as well. The dark blue eyeshadow I have is a matt finish one. I think I also spotted a matt brown and an extremely shimmery silver gray as well in that huge collection.

Pigmentation: Pigmentation and the color payoff is awesome and one swipe gives you amazing color. There is no problem with creasing and even without a primer it stays on and on. With MAC Groundwork paint pot as base I think this lasted for more than seven to eight hours once!!!

0723: Simmery Olive Green and 0901: Golden Brown

0113: Metallic pink and 0951: Metallic brown 

0315: Cranberry, 0451: Matt Dark blue and 0418: Metallic Blue

What Do I Not Like

• Names people..someone give these beautiful eyeshadows some names. I get so muddled when I am searching for something.
• Availability is the biggest issue. I think you can find this easily in Pune and Mumbai. I don’t know about other places.
• Most shops having these do not have testers so it is a hit or miss. 

Go run and get this if you know where you can find it. You will certainly not be disappointed. I am collecting all of these:)