The Best Of Maybelline

When I came to prepare for this blog post, I realised that Maybelline is very much a "Marmite" brand for me - I either really love the products that I buy or I hate them, there's no middle ground! Luckily, there are a bunch of Maybelline products in my stash that I do really love - as you can see from the battered packaging of some of them, they really do get a lot of love.

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara

For me, Maybelline are top dog when it comes to mascaras, some of my favourites are by them, and I don't think I've yet come across one that I particularly dislike. So when I heard that Maybelline were releasing the Lash Sensational mascara, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it, not least for the gorgeous rose gold packaging, but I was also really intrigued by the design of the wand.

Drugstore Dupe: Maybelline Color Drama Pencils V NARS Velvet Matte Pencils

NARS Velvet Matte pencils have become a much loved product among the beauty blogging community so I was really happy to receive the lip pencil coffret for Christmas, which contained two of the Velvet Mattes, so I could really see what all the fuss was about. Whilst I was pretty impressed with them, the Maybelline Color Drama pencils, labelled a NARS dupe, had also caught my eye, and I was keen to see if they really were as good as their high-end counterparts.

l-r: NARS Iberico & Cruella, Maybelline Keep It Classy, Light It Up & Berry Much

The shades that came in the NARS set were Iberico and Cruella, both reds but Iberico with much more of an orange tone to it, with Cruella being more of a classic deep red. Looking at the photo above, all of the Maybelline pencils I bought look pretty similar, but I can assure you they're not! Keep It Classy is a reddy-plum shade, Light It Up is a classic red, and Berry Much is a intense, deep purple berry shade. Having looked at both ranges in store, although Maybelline do have some beautiful colours available, NARS win hands down on the variety.

I found the NARS pencils relatively easy to apply, but found that with them being really matte, they dried out my lips quite easily. The Maybelline pencils on the other hand were really creamy in texture and found them much more comfortable to wear. The downside to this was that they didn't last quite as long as the NARS pencils, though they do still have quite good staying power.

The real snag I have with both of these products is that, unlike a lot of other lip pencils on the market which have opted for the twist up mechanism, you have to sharpen these ones to get more product. A little thing to grumble about I know, but it's a tad inconvenient.

Left - NARS Velvet Mattes in Iberico & Cruella, Right - Maybelline Color Dramas in Keep It Classy, Light It Up & Berry Much

I think the Maybelline Color Dramas are a really great product and good dupe for the NARS Velvet Mattes. Personally, I'd purchase more of the Maybelline pencils over NARS, mainly for price, £4.99 compared to £19, but also for comfort too, though if your lips don't tend to dry out as much as mine, you may prefer the NARS pencils for their greater staying power. I really hope that with the love these products have also been receiving, Maybelline will add more shades to their line in the future.

Have you tried either of these lip pencils? Which would you rather buy?

Maybelline Colour Elixir Lip Lacquers

There was so much hype surrounding these products when they were finally launched in the UK. We spent forever lusting after them whilst our friends in the States had them, and after what seemed like forever, they were finally available towards the end of last year, and we all went crazy over them. After experiencing the same hype over the Maybelline Baby Lips and being extremely disappointed, I decided to sit back and watch the reaction before deciding whether I really wanted to give these a go myself.