If you are anything like myself Christmas has you all spent out which is something I think happens to the whole nation. I hate to think of people getting themselves into debt just for one day of the year but with all this austerity and gloomy winter nights sometimes you just want to throw caution to the wind and treat the ones you love. I have always tried to strike a balance with my financial affairs as I want to save as much as I can but I also would like to own the items I wish and have fun. Generally this means saying no to myself about 50% of the time but back in October when we got engaged my thoughts turned even more to money and that of saving as much as we can.
That said I still want to have little treats so I got thinking about ways I can add little touches of vintage glamour to my life for as little money as possible. During the war years there was a little something called The Lipstick Effect whereby even though money was tight and rationing was tighter still women still bought lipstick as this was a small luxury item which made a lot of difference to how they felt. So without buying a whole new outfit or a brand new fur coat they still had a little luxury in their lives.
Off then I toddled to the high street and when I want low cost make up I always make a bee line for Superdrug, and in particular their MUA range. Here you can buy a lipstick for just £1 and they have a great range of Velvetines dupes for those who are hankering after those Lime Crime products but could do without the price tag. I don't know about you ladies but a dash of red lipstick really brings out the vintage siren in me.
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| Left to right: Lip Liner in Red Drama, Lipstick in shade 13, Matte Lipstick in Scarlet Siren, and Luxe Lip Lacquer in Reckless |
I bought the MUA Pro-Brow eyebrow kit, an eye shadow, and also their Matte Lipstick in Scarlet Siren (£1) but I also did swatches of their lip liner which I use in Red Drama (£1), their Lipstick in shade 13 (£1) and also their Luxe Lip Lacquer in Reckless (£3). Immediately after putting the Lip Lacquer on the back of my hand I regretted it because this stuff does not come off; not even when I scrubbed it with a nail brush and soap!
I love their lipstick in shade 13 because it has an orange based tone which gives it a great 1940s coral vibe; it's also quite highly pigmented for such a low cost product. With a slick of my favourite Lipcoat product this stays put surprisingly well. The Matte Lipstick in Scarlet Siren is more blue based and not as pigmented which I actually quite liked as that way you can build up to a colour that suits you. It felt nice and moisturising on my lips without being greasy and I was impressed with the longevity of the colour. I think I will use this as my workday week lipstick as it was soft on my lips and did not bleed. The Lip Lacquer, like I said, wins hands down for staying power. It's a great dupe of the Velvetines range made by Lime Crime and similar to Velvetines it is liquid but dries to be very matte. I wear this as more of a going out colour because I don't need to worry about touching it up and it's a slightly more dramatic blue based red. I do find though the doe foot applicator is difficult to get great precision with so suggest using a brush to apply.
A little bit of glamour does not have to cost the earth and with such great low cost lippys out there you can experiment with what colours suit you without feeling guilty. Have you tried these lipsticks at all? What do you do to add a little glamour to your day? I'd love to hear from you!
