Velvet Ribbon- Lisa Eldridge Plush Matte Velvet Lip Colour

After five long months I'm finally back to blogging. It was a completely unintentional break but one I think was needed. That being said I've greatly missed writing more in-depth reviews despite writing for Bean Magazine and keeping my Instagram up to date. So when my Lisa Eldridge lipstick order arrived on Friday afternoon, I was immediately inspired to write a blog post about it because if there's anything that can get you excited about blogging again it's a beauty release from the queen of makeup herself.

When I saw Lisa Eldridge had created her own line of limited edition lipsticks AND that they were reds AND that they were matte, I knew I'd want to buy them. She released three shades, Velvet Ribbon which is a "vibrant classic neutral/blue red", Velvet Morning, a "hot and fiery, bright orange/red" and Velvet Jazz, "a muted, earthy brick red" inspired by the 1930s reds in Lisa's vintage collection.

I love all three, and of course wanted to buy all three but I couldn't really afford it so I went for Velvet Ribbon as I tend to wear classic reds most often.

Let's begin with the packaging, the case is a beautiful pale matte gold and the lid has the most satisfying magnetic click. The top of the lid is embossed with Lisa's signature monogram. It's sleek, modern, classy and has that weighted feel too.

Once you open it up, it's not your ordinary lipstick bullet, Lisa has explained that she tried for a long time to have a velvet effect on the lipstick bullet. I have no idea how, but she managed to achieve it and it looks unlike any lipstick I've seen before. It's a small detail that was probably unnecessary but has taken this lipstick to another level. I love that she has that attention to detail. It makes these lipsticks incredibly special. I tried to photograph the texture as best I could with macro filters on my lens so that you can see the velvet effect. I think you'll agree it looks like actual material!

It's supposed to be a creamy, saturated and highly pigmented matte with a slight sheen, long lasting and not drying. I'm going to be honest I've only worn it for one day, but it was enough to know it's all of those things and more. It's so comfortable and lightweight, it applies smoothly and easily and doesn't drag on the skin at all. You can achieve full opacity with just one application.

(L-R: Velvet Ribbon, Charlotte Tilbury Red Carpet Red, Pat McGrath Elson, No7 Brick Red, MAC Ruby Woo)

This is hands down the best matte red liptick I own. I understand that's a hefty claim having only had it a couple of days, but it doesn't take long to figure out if you like a lipstick. As you can see above I swatched the most similar shades I could find in my collection. I think it's most similar to Ruby Woo and Red Carpet Red and a bit lighter than Elson. It's probably the most similar formula to Elson, but I actually found Velvet Ribbon longer lasting and the packaging of Elson broke on me after only a few uses so I now find it very difficult to use as it takes a lot of fiddling around to twist it up and down and for that price I'd expect more.

It works out less expensive than the Charlotte Tilbury (€32) and Pat McGrath (€35) counterparts before shipping at £26/€29.40 (€39 with shipping). It arrived within a few days of ordering and yes the shipping is expensive at £8.50, but for that you get a signed for DPD courier delivery with a text that gives you a one hour window of delivery. Much more convenient than other online retailers. Shipping is free over £40 too.

Obviously unless you're a big LE fan, these lipsticks probably won't interest you but if you have followed her for any amount of time, you'll know she's got so much experience in the beauty industry and has never sold out or put her name to anything sub par. She's clearly put her heart and soul into this collection and has done something different to anything currently on the market. I'm clearly a fan, and matte red lips are my favourite so this is my dream collection. They are also cruelty-free which is great to see from more brands.

With all the Black Friday "sales" recently it's very easy to get caught up in wanting things we don't need and can't afford. With all the excesses of the blogging and "influencer" community I'm trying to be more conscious about what I spend my hard earned money on instead of getting caught up in the never ending new releases. I'm hoping to bring you more quality content with detailed unbiased reviews to help you decide if you really need that new palette or lipstick or if you're better using what you have instead like I'm trying to do. That being said, I'm completely biased here because I admire Lisa Eldridge so much, but I'm so delighted her collection didn't disappoint me.

Let me know if you've bought one (or all three) of these or if you're thinking of it.

Emma x

Watch Lisa's video below for more information!

Lancôme Matte Shakers

Last year Lancôme released their Juicy Shaker lip glosses that quickly became a firm favourite of mine despite not usually being a lip gloss fan. The combination of nourishing oils and pigment encased in the most fun lip packaging ever, made for one of my favourite lip innovations of last year. Seriously, if you haven't tried them yet, I can't recommend it enough! Earlier this year I saw Lancôme were bringing out a matte version of the Juicy Shaker and I was very excited to see how the two would compare.

The Matte Shakers were released in May and come in seven gorgeous shades: Energy Peach (272), Beige Vintage (270), Yummy Pink (379), Kiss Me Chérie (374), Red'y in 5 (189), Pink Power (378), and Magic Orange (186).

The innovative Ultra Thin Film technology means that the emulsion is twice as fine and intense as a conventional lipstick to give a second skin texture on the lips with rich pigmentation for a bold colour payoff. The cushion applicator has been redesigned to give a more precise and easy application. Like the Juicy Shaker, you have to shake the bottle before application so that the cushion is coated with just enough product for one layer of colour.

I was sent all seven shades to try out (yes I'm aware how jammy that is!), I couldn't contain my excitement but I wanted to be thorough and take the time to try out each shade and wear them all properly before writing a review. As you may have noticed, I'm a bit of a lipstick fanatic and I think it's made me so much more critical of any lip products I try because if I don't love them, I just don't have room for them in my collection. 

Yummy Pink, Pink Power, Energy Peach, Beige Vintage, Kiss Me Chérie, Red'y in 5, Magic Orange

As I said I had been incredibly excited to try these out since I first heard about them. I was curious as  to how a matte formula was going to work in the Juicy Shaker packaging. When I saw they had the same cushion applicator I thought the application might be tricky, luckily I was wrong and the newly designed cushion has meant that applying it is so much easier than I thought it would be. 

The formula is so thin that you can apply one light layer if you don't want too much intensity but it's also easily buildable to allow for full opacity without feeling heavy. I was so impressed with how pigmented the formula is compared to how light in texture it is. It doesn't feel like you're wearing anything on your lips. 

Yummy Pink


Pink Power


Energy Peach


Beige Vintage


Kiss Me Chérie


Red'y in 5


Magic Orange

At first I wasn't sure about the colour range, I thought some of them were a bit too similar to each other. Although some of them look similar in the bottle, they actually are all very different. There is a shade for everyone here whether you like something subtle like Energy Peach or Beige Vintage or if you're a fan of bold shades, Yummy Pink and Magic Orange are so vibrant and perfect for Summer. The finish is more of a modern matte, it applies easily and then dries down a couple of minutes after application but doesn't look or feel too matte or drying.

I like that they've kept the range of shades small, usually with a lip collection there's at least one dud shade that I wouldn't wear but I think you'll agree every one of these colours is so beautiful. Another bonus to having such a light but highly pigmented formula is that the shades are easy to layer. The whole idea behind the Matte Shakers is that you can create easy lip combinations such as gradient and ombre lips and even duo lips with one shade on the bottom and one on the top. I've been wearing the Ombré look by applying a shade all over such as Red'y in 5 and then a lighter colour like Magic orange in the centre and blending it out for more dimension. This is a great and subtle way of making your lips look bigger than they are.

I'm so impressed by the lasting power of these. I don't use a lip liner with them but you can if you want to reshape your lips a bit first or to make them last even longer. I apply directly from the cushion and I'm amazed at how easy it is to get a precise line around the edge, I honestly thought it would be a lot more difficult and that I'd need lip liner every time. Sometimes I leave the edge with a slightly diffused look by running a cotton bud or my finger around the line of my lips to give a more undone and relaxed finish.

They do fade as the day goes on unless you reapply, however the fade is quite natural and the pigment remains so it's not that noticeable. They definitely stain your lips, I've found the pigment in the brighter shades difficult to remove if I've been wearing them all day. You'll need an oil based makeup remover if you want to remove all trace of colour. It doesn't bother me at all, but it's something to consider if you don't like products that stain your lips.

Between the Juicy Shakers and revamped L'Absolu Rouge collection last year and now these Matte Shakers, Lancôme have really been dominating the lip product market for me recently. I credit a lot of the success and innovation to Lancôme's makeup Creative Director Lisa Eldridge who obviously has such a passion and talent for creating new and exciting products.

If I hadn't been sent these I definitely would have been buying at least one of the shades because I'm such a big fan of Lancôme at the moment and I'm always interested in trying something that's new and exciting for the lips. I honestly don't know if I could choose which shade is my favourite, they're all so beautiful.

As usual, you can buy the Matte Shakers from Brown Thomas, Arnotts and Boots for €22.50.

Have you tried the Matte Shakers yet? Which shade would you like to try most?

Emma x