If you’re following along with my weekly vlogs you would have seen that Maybelline sent over a wonderfully large PR drop filled with all of their new launches a few months ago. I’ve been testing and playing with all the products and finally feel like I can give you guys a good review.
Maybelline Vivid Hot Lacquer (R149.95)
I’ve spoken about these at length on my channel and in the glossy lip products post. Being a creature of habit I’ve mostly been using the shade Charmer but they have a great range of bright and deep shades in this collection. All the shades are wonderfully opaque with a high shine finish and last a little bit longer than I expected. Being a gloss these do fade from the inside out and although the colour does stain your lips it’s still pretty obvious. I absolutely love these but my only gripe is that no matter what they stick to my teeth! Besides that, the nude shades are an absolute favourite. The bright & deep shades are a bit too much of a hassle for me to keep checking up on and reapplying.
I’m really impressed with these, I love the high shine finish, vanilla scent & wide shade range. Unreal & Charmer are my favourite shades. There are 11 shades in this range.
Maybelline Color Sensational Loaded Bolds Lipstick (R134.95)
I haven’t given these as much of a go, simply because the shades I received are not the most wearable but I have swatched them and worn them around the house. Maybelline describes these as opaque creamy base, one stroke lipsticks. I received 5 of the darker shades from Greige, to vibrant purple & black. I don’t know about you but I’m not wearing black lipstick on the regular and when I do wear it, I expect it to be matte, long wearing & doesn’t bleed at all. This is unfortunately the one product that I really wasn’t impressed with. Gone Greige, is exactly as the name suggests, a beigey, grey shade that’s surprisingly similar to Stone from MAC. The darker shades are a pity because they just aren’t opaque enough and when you go for a bold shade you expect a solid colour in one stroke.
In my opinion there are definitely better bold matte lipstick formula’s at the drugstore. Something like the L’Oréal Colour Riche Lipsticks are a good place to start.
I haven’t tried the bright reds or oranges in this range but I know Cara has and she’s written a blog post about them, so go check that out.
Maybelline Master Bronze Colour & Highlight Kit (R249.95)
This came at the perfect time because I was on the hunt for a new bronzer for Summer. You guys know that my day to day vibe is extremely minimal, natural and beautifully bronzed to give the skin some colour and life. For Summer bronzer is probably my most reached for product besides SPF of course! This palette has three bronzer shades and one shimmering golden highlight shade. From left to right: the first bronzer is more red toned, the middle shade is wonderfully warm toned (I’ve been using this shade the most) and the last one is more cool toned and could be used for contour and the right skin tone.
As much as I would love to use the highlight on it’s own, and I have tried, it is just a smidgen too gold for my pale winter skin. Come the heat of Summer when I have a bit more of a tan, I’ll definitely make use of this highlighter. For me, the middle, warm toned bronzer shade is perfect, it gives the right amount of colour & warmth without looking orange or over the top. It blends wonderfully and leaves my skin with a beautiful all over bronze, and is in no way patchy!
This is a great affordable option, and is a steal at R250 because you get three bronzer shades and a highlight. Such a win!
Maybelline Master Blush Colour & Highlight Kit (R249.95)
This palette has an almost icy pink highlight shade & three blush shades, the first a nude pink, the second is a bright fuchsia pink and the last is a proper purple. Unfortunately only the nude shade works with my skin tone and the other two are just too bright for me to even attempt. Having tested the nude blush shade I can say that the pigmentation is definitely there and it blends out beautifully. The highlight does tend to be quite powdery and sits on top of the skin.
As much as I can appreciate the variety in this palette I just think the shades wouldn’t work if you have a more pale skin tone. Also I’m not the hugest fan of bright blush shades, so I could be more than a little biased. I think if you have a deeper skin tone you’ll probably get more use from this palette.
Maybelline The Colossal Big Shot Volume Express Mascara (R134.95)
Maybelline has always killed it in the mascara department and in fact, they’ve created some of my favourite mascara’s. For those that have been following me for a while you know how much I love the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara, and just talking about it now makes me want to pick up another tube. *quickly places an order*
What can I say, they’ve done it again & created yet another stellar mascara formula that gets a big stamp of approval from me. Although I would usually go for a lengthening mascara, and this does give some length but that’s definitely not where this mascara shines. I love the volume without clumps or flaking onto the lower lash line. Like most Maybelline mascara’s I prefer to let them dry out a bit because that’s when you really see it working. When the mascara is new, and still really wet, it smudges quite easily so to get the best out of this mascara I let it dry out a little bit.
This mascara is extremely black, coats, every lash and really works in the volume department. I’ve used this almost every day for the last 2 months and it’s perfect for a natural makeup look. If I’m doing something darker or more smokey on the eyes at night I would need something with more length. If you have short lashes, like mine, you’d probably like this as natural kind of day to day mascara. For those that already have long lashes, you’ll love this!
You can find these products in store at Clicks & Dischem and online at Zando & Takealot.
Let me know in the comments which product you’re most excited to try!