Hey lovelies,


Hope u all are doing great and enjoying the pleasant change in the weather. Well am obsessed with highlighters currently and bought 2 new highlighters recently. One of them is the new MUA undress your skin highlighter in shade "Iridescent Gold". Since the day I saw it online, this highlighter grabbed my attention. The previous original MUA pearly pink undress your skin highlighter was really impressive and it performed so well for me. That's why I was so tempted to try this new gorgeous gold shade. So after trying it regularly for a few days, let's see what I have to say about this highlighter.

MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder in "Iridescent Gold"

MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder in "Iridescent Gold"

MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder in "Iridescent Gold"

This new undress your skin highlighter has the same lovely wavy pattern like the previous (original) highlighter. The packaging is not so sturdy but the plastic pan is big enough and has enough quantity of highlighter inside. Ahhhh....the highlighter looks so gorgeous inside the pan. I can't take my eyes off it.

The texture may seem a bit powdery in the pan, but when applied on skin it looks and feels so silky smooth. It applies and blends very easily. Even without any foundation or primer, it applies and blends easily. However, the soft blend-able texture leads to some fall out in the pan. I have dry/combo skin and luckily this highlighter doesn't enhance any dryness on my skin. I love how it adds a nice subtle shin to the skin without making your face look like a disco ball. This highlighter is very pigmented. A little amount of this highlighter is enough to provide a nice subtle glow to your face. Staying power of this highlighter is pretty great too. It lasted on me for about more than 5 hours which is quite reasonable.

Talking about the color, it is a light ivory or I should say its a kind of white gold colored highlighter with some silver undertones. It has some fine shimmer particles in it. But once applied, the shimmer isn't visible at all and it gives a nice subtle pale-silver kinda sheen which I love. This shade is just perfect and so gorgeous. It will suit almost any skin tone. Here are the swatches of this highlighter in natural and indoor lighting:

MUA "Iridescent Gold" Highlighter Swatch in Indoor Lighting

MUA "Iridescent Gold" Highlighter Swatch in Natural Day Light

As you can see this highlighter has a very light gold or Ivory kind of color with silver undertones which are more visible in natural day light. It is somehow looking more silverish in the swatches but actually this highlighter appears much pale-gold when applied on face. The texture of the highlighter might not be looking very smooth in the swatches too. But once applied, it looks so subtle and smooth. Here is a glimpse of how the highlighter looks when applied on my skin.

MUA "Iridescent Gold" Highlighter applied on cheekbones

This highlighter is considered to be a dupe for the famous NARS Albatross highlighter. I don't own the NARS one. But just for the sake of comparison, am going to compare this with The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer, my ultimate favorite highlighter.

Left: MUA Iridescent Gold ------ Right: The Balm Mary-Lou

Left: MUA Iridescent Gold ------ Right: The Balm Mary-Lou (Swatches in Day Light)

As you can see, Mary-lou is a much different and a much deeper champagne colored highlighter. Whereas this MUA highlighter is a very light ivory/gold colored highlighter with some silver undertones.  So it's definitely not comparable to the Mary-lou. But yes, as per the swatches I have seen online, it looks like a perfect dupe for the NARS Albatross.

Overall, I am in love with this highlighter. Considering the price, its a great drugstore highlighter. MUA once again has impressed me with this highlighter and I definitely recommend you to try it.


The Goods:

• Gorgeous light gold shade with silver undertones
• Silky smooth finish
• Highly pigmented
• Provides a nice subtle sheen
• Inexpensive

The Bads:

• Availability in Pakistan
• Fall out in pan

Price & Availability: I got mine from Facebook Page Bells for PKR 700/- only. MUA undress your skin highlighter is available online at MUA's website for £3.00. In Pakistan you can order this highlighter through any Facebook Page. 


My Rating: 4/5


Have you tried MUA undress your skin highlighter yet..? Do let me know what you think about this...



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The Lipstickholic

Hey there beauties,


Finally this weekend I am back with another question in our "Weekly Asks" segments. I couldn't ask any questions on weekend because of so many pending haul and review posts. But this weekend I have a question for all of you...

Weekly Asks

As winters are here,  so this week's question is related to current season....



Don't forget to leave your answers and share your current favorite moisturizer for face... :)



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Love,
The Lipstickholic

Hey there beauties...

So last week I posted my makeup haul for this month. I thought that was enough for this month but well, I couldn't resist picking a few more makeup goodies. So here I am with another quick haul post. Without any further talking lets just move and see what I bought now.

Beauty Haul from Infinity and Bells

Okay starting with infinity. I have already done a detailed review on the Facebook page Infinity and I simply love this page now. Last month during "The Balm Sale", I ordered one Instain blush in shade "Swiss Dot" through this page. The owner is so nice and cooperative. She gave a reasonable quote for the blush without any advance payment. My The Balm order arrived at her place this week on Tuesday (in about six weeks). I checked her in-stock album and few things grabbed my interest. So I bought few more things including one wet n wild balm stain in shade "A stiff pink". I already have one in the same shade. But my Mom loved the shade and formula of this balm stain so much so I ordered this one for her. The owner shipped my order the same day and I received it the very next day. That's pretty quick. I got a golden music notes ring as a gift which I totally love. Its so gorgeous <3 Take a look at what I bought from Infinity this time.

Infinity Haul

A closer look at the free musical notes ring I got from Infinity :)

Two days ago I saw some yummy stuff in stock at Facebook page Bells. One thing that really caught my attention was the new MUA undress your skin highlighter in shade "Iridescent Gold". For some reason, I am obsessed with highlighters these days and I was eagerly waiting for this one to be available here. I immediately bought one when I saw it on FB page Bells. This was my first shopping experience with this page and owner of the page is really humble. She shipped my order on Thursday and I got it the very next morning (Today). There was a cute little note inside for me which I found so sweet. So overall, I had a great shopping experience with this page too.

Bells Haul

A closer look at MUA undress your skin highlighter in Iridescent Gold

Mine mineee isn't this highlighter just gorgeous. I totally love it... <3 Okay so here is the complete list of things I bought along with prices.


List of what I got with prices:

• The Balm Instain Blush in shade "Swiss dot" (PKR 1700/- from Infinity)
• Wet n Wild Mega Slicks Balm Stain in shade "A stiff pink" (PKR 500/- from Infinity)
• LA Girl Pro HD Concealer in shade "Creamy beige" (PKR 700/- from Infinity)
• Pink Camera Ring (PKR 295/- from Infinity) 
• Gold Music Notes Ring (Gift from Infinity)
• MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighter in shade "Iridescent Gold" (PKR 700/- from Bells)

So that's all for now. Am already in love with the MUA highlighter and the L.A girl concealer I bought. I read many mixed reviews on this concealer. But, am glad I still picked it up. It's the best match for my skin tone and conceals really really really well. Will be reviewing these beauties soon IA....

Don't forget to leave your lovely comments :)


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Love,
The Lipstickholic

Hey there beauties,

Today I have a different post for you all. I was tagged by Jadirah of Jasmine Catches Butterflies to do this virtual blog tour post. Its basically about how I write my blog posts. It's about the idea behind my blog posts and to share the "Behind The Post" scenarios with you all. I really like the idea of this tag. Such tag posts provide us the chance to explain the reason we blog and share the efforts we put in to create and publish the right blog posts for our readers. So am thankful to Jadirah for tagging me. I love such posts which are different from routine. Okay I have already talked enough, now I should move on to the questions.

Virtual Blog Tour

1. What am working on?
My blog posts are always very detailed and comprehensive. I mention even the tiniest details about the product/store or whatever it is. I even explain about packaging, delivery and all minor details. People really like and appreciate my detailed reviews but still I know everyone prefers to read precise posts and they want to know about main details only. So am working on improving my writing skills and working on keeping my reviews a bit more precised. Also am working on taking the right photographs for my blog, particularly for makeup tutorials. And last but not the least am working on expanding my area/scope of writing. I am working on writing more of fashion related posts and doing more of store reviews and lifestyle posts too.

2. How does my work differ from others of its type/genre? 
When I see different blogs, every blogger has their particular style that they follow and that is what makes them different from the rest. Well I have my own style of writing too. I try to start my posts in an informal tone and always with greetings to grab the readers attention. Then, my reviews and posts are very detailed as I have already explained above. Also, I try to add more than 2-3 relevant pictures of the products in my reviews. I mean I feel reviews and posts seem dull without relevant pictures. That's why I try to add as many as I can in my posts. My pictures are usually sharper, clear and formal having plain white background. Am a business graduate, so my reviews have a particular formal format. However, I still use informal terms and expressions such as using "hahaha" to express laughter or using certain exclamations at different points in my posts. So all these things make my posts and blog different from others of its type/genre.

3. Why do you write what you do?
I write because I love to. Its not that I was always passionate about writing. It was a God-gifted ability , a skill that was in me from start (Alhamdulilah). Since my childhood, I had this ability to transform my emotions or whatever was in my mind into words. I used to write poems too which I don't write anymore. I was always good at all kinda written assignments till my masters. Now writing about makeup is something I never thought I would do but since my teens, I was passionate about makeup. I used to follow international blogs to stay updated with latest brands and new products. Till my masters I had been so busy with studies so didn't had the time to run and manage a blog. But, I wrote some reviews on a few forums just because I love to write about makeup and fashion. Finally after my studies, I finally had time and opportunity to utilize my writing skills. This is how I started this blog where I write about my passion. And now am glad to be a beauty and fashion blogger Alhamdulilah.

4.  How does your writing process works?
I don't take any notes prior to writing my posts or reviews. I just take all the pictures in my little studio. Actually not a studio, it's a table with white charts, other relevant backgrounds and bright light lamp. So once I decide that I have to review this product. I take photographs and edit the pictures before writing the post. Once am done with the picture editing part, I open my blogger dashboard and start writing about the product, shopping experience or whatever the post is about. I never felt the need to plan my post ahead. I just start writing and words automatically start coming to my mind. I add pictures in my post while writing where ever needed and then continue with the next para. After am done with it, I try to proofread my post once or twice to erase any irrelevant details or to remove any mistakes and that's how I do it.

Photo editing for Blog Post

Okay so that's all. Once again thank you Jadirah for nominating me for this fun tag post. I realy enjoyed writing this. Now time for my nominations. I wish I could tag you all. I really wanna see this post by a lot of bloggers. But I can tag only few at the moment. So here they are.....

My Nominees:

Huda from Sparkling Makeup Blog
Sherry from From The Other Side of Mirror
Maila from All Things Girlish
Bia from The Beauty Finds
Sadaf and Fizzah from The Pout Painters

Would love to read your virtual blog tour posts... :)


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Love,
The Lipstickholic

Hey there beauties,


Hope you all are doing great. Well today am going to review an eyeshadow palette that I bough recently from J4G. Yes its none other than the Makeup Revolution Awesome Eyeshadow & Eyebrow Palette in "Disappear Till Tomorrow".  Many of you requested me to review this one. Well this is my second attempt at any eyeshadow palette review. Hope you all like it. So here it is....my take on Makeup revolution awesome eyeshadow & eyebrow palette.

Makeup Revolution Awesome Eyeshadow & Eyebrow Palette in "Disappear Till Tomorrow"

Makeup Revolution Awesome Eyeshadow & Eyebrow Palette in "Disappear Till Tomorrow"

Makeup Revolution Awesome Eyeshadow & Eyebrow Palette Brushes

Makeup Revolution Awesome Eyeshadow & Eyebrow Palette Back Side with Ingredients

Okay so the packaging is not so sturdy but for the price I can't complaint at all. This palette is small and compact and you can easily take it anywhere in your bag. The eyeshadow pans are quite small too but that's not an issue. You can easily use a flat brush to pick some decent amount of color from the pan. It comes with one sponge applicator and one small angled brow brush. The brow brush isn't much useful but sponge applicator is good and applies the color evenly when you are in a hurry and don't want to use ur brushes for makeup. So the packaging is overall okay.

This eye palette contains 14 eye shades and 2 brow colors. Most of the eyeshadows are shimmery or metallic finish while 2-3 shades are completely matte. The 2 brow colors in the palette are matte too. Texture of these shadows is very smooth and creamy. The satin/metallic finish shades are so smooth and apply and blend very easily. Shimmery shades are also very smooth and easy to blend too but I experienced a little fall out with those. Still they are easy to apply and blend. However, the matte shades are kind of chalky and they are difficult to work with.

Talking about pigmentation of the eyeshadows in this palette. The shadows are very pigmented and am impressed with the pigmentation of this palette. Except for 2-3 shades which are very light, the rest of the shades are very pigmented. The staying power of these shadows is pretty impressive too. I used this palette to do my eye makeup during Eid days and these stayed on my eyes all day without any primer or foundation beneath. Now that is impressive.

Now let's take a look at all the shades in this palette.  I haven't used any foundation, primer or wet brush for these swatches. The left side of the palette contains few matte shades while the right side contains more shimmery and metallic finish eyeshadows.

Swatches of left side of the palette in natural light (without primer/base)

Swatches of right side of the palette in natural light (without primer/base)

Swatches of brow shade of the palette in natural light

So this palette contains some beautiful neutral shades including light, medium and dark browns, copper, bronze and gold, taupe and pink kind of shades, black and grey shades with shimmer and also ivory and silver shades for highlighting. The two brow shades are blonde and ash brown. While am quite happy and impressed with the pigmentation and texture of the shadows in this palette, the brow colors are much of disappointment for me. They are very pigmented but not the perfect match for my brows. But well, they are not bad and I can always use these shades as eyeshadows too.

So at the end, take a look at all the gorgeous shades in this palette once again with and without flash light.

Makeup Revolution  "Disappear Till Tomorrow" Swatches Without Flash (without primer/foundation)

Makeup Revolution  "Disappear Till Tomorrow" Swatches With Flash (without primer/foundation)

And at the end I have a quick 5 minute neutral EOTD using this palette for you. Hope you like the look. For this look I have used:

• The lightest taupe shade (1st from right side slightly mixed with 4th from left side the palette ) on my eyelid
• The bronze shade (5th from right side of palette on my crease and  outside my lower lash line. 
• Silver shade (last one from left side) to highlight my brow bone
• Palladio liquid eyeliner in black
• Maybelline great lash mascara
• I have used the darker brow color to fill my brows.

EOTD using Makeup Revolution Awesome Eyeshadow & Eyebrow Palette in  "Disappear Till Tomorrow"

So overall am quite impressed with this palette and am glad I tried it. Now am really tempted to try the Iconic palettes by makeup revolution as I have heard those are even better. If you are looking for a budget friendly neutral eyeshadow palette then you should try this for sure. Am sure you will like it.

The Goods:

• Affordable
• 14 lovely neutral shade and 2 brow colors
• Small and compact (easy to carry)
• Silky smooth texture
• Easy to blend
• Great staying power
• Decent pigmentation

The Bads:

• Availability in Pakistan
• Matte shades are kind of chalky
• Brow colors are not impressive

Price & Availability:  Makeup revolution products are exclusively available online at Just4girls.pk. I got mine from Just4girls for PKR 750/-. Stay updated with latest Makeup Revolution products launched in Pakistan by joining Makeup Revolution Pakistan on Facebook.
For international readers Makeup revolution stuff is available online on their website


My Rating: 4/5


Have you tried any Makeup Revolution palette yet..?? Don't forget to leave your comments and tell what you think about these.


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Love,
The Lipstickholic

Hey there beauties,

I hope you all are doing well and enjoying your days. Today am gonna share with you my latest purchases for this month and my giveaway goodies from Palladio. Last month I pre-ordered a few things from Beauty Joint through Facebook page Lush Grooming Bargains. Their shipment arrived right after Eid. So while I was waiting for my things to get delivered to me by Lush Grooming Bargains, I spotted some yummy ELF goodies in stock on Fb page Fantacies. I also found a great acrylic makeup organizer on the well known Facebook page Rouge. Finally had the chance to shop from Rouge too... :) So let's take a look at what I got this month from all these pages.

Fall Beauty Haul

I placed my ordered for "ELF Mist and Set Spray" and "ELF Baked Highlighter in Blush Gems" on last Saturday with Facebook Page Fantacies. It was my first shopping experience with this page and I must say the owner is so nice, humble and cooperative. Their rates are pretty reasonable too. I got my parcel within 2 days (on Monday morning). So am quite satisfied with their quick delivery. Here are the two ELF goodies I bought from Fantacies.

ELF Stuff from Fantacies

So on Tuesday Lush Grooming Bargains dispatched my beauty joint stuff and it reached my place the very next day. Its my third shopping experience with this page and they are always accurate with deliveries and offer great prices. I simply love this page. I bought just a few things which I actually needed as I was supposed to be on a spending ban...lol. I wanted to get this ELF studio blush brush and this wet n wild lipstick so with that I ordered two more things (1 Jordana foundation and ELF travel size mirror). Well no more unnecessary shopping for me now. Ahem.... I am doubting that already :D Anyways this is what I ordered from Beauty Joint through Lush Grooming Bargains.

Beauty Joint Stuff from Lush Grooming Bargains

Then the same day my giveaway prize from Palladio Herbal Beauty Group reached my home. I wasn't expecting it at all. So it was more of a surprise for me and it made my day more special Alhamdulilah. I just loved their cute pink pouch. That pouch has a mirror inside too. Inside the pouch there were some yummy Palladio goodies...yayyyy. Take a look at what I got :)

Giveaway Prize from Palladio Beauty Group

Giveaway Prize from Palladio Beauty Group

At the end of the day I received my Rouge order too. Yes the cute little acrylic makeup and brushes organizer. Its actually smaller than I thought it would be, but I love it. It has a mirror too. Thanks to Rouge for getting it delivered to me in perfect condition. Wanna see how it looks. Here are some pics for you.

Acrylic Organizer from Rouge

Acrylic Organizer from Rouge

List of what I Bought:
Okay so here is the List of what I got from all these place:

• ELF Mist and Set Spray in "Clear" (PKR 650/- from Fantacies)
• ELF Baked Highlighter in "Blush Gems"  (PKR 650/- from Fantacies)
• ELF Studio Blush Brush (PKR 650/- from Beauty Joint through Lush Grooming Bargains)
• ELF essentials travel mirror (PKR 399/- from Beauty Joint through Lush Grooming Bargains)
• Wet n Wild Megalast Lipstick in shade "Pinker Bell" (PKR 499/- from Beauty Joint through Lush Grooming Bargains)
• Jordana oil free liquid foundation in shade "Natural" (PKR 450/- from Beauty Joint through Lush Grooming Bargains)
• Acrylic makeup organizer (PKR 1500/- from Rouge)

Giveaway Goodies from Palladio:

• Pink Palladio beauty pouch with mirror inside
• Palladio new herbal matte lip color in shade "VELVET WINE" (worth $7.00/-)
• Palladio herbal baked eye shadow in shade "CHAMPAGNE TOAST" (worth $6.00/-)
• Palladio liquid eyeliner in "BLACK" (worth $6.00/-)
• Palladio anti wrinkle eye-cream sample
• Palladio herbal skincare essentials brochure

Price & Availability of Products:  Products price are mentioned in the list above. First two ELF items are bought from Facebook page Fantacies. Beauty Joint items are purchased through FB page Lush Grooming Bargains. And Makeup Organizer is purchased from Facebook page Rouge.
Giveaway goodies are from Palladio Beauty. Stay updated with their latest products and further information on their Facebook page here.


Okay so that's all for now. Hope you like my picks for the months. Don't forget to leave your comments on what you think of these :)


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Love,
The Lipstickholic

Fijian Water Lotus Fragrance Launch

Fijian Water Lotus Fragrance Launch

Hey Everyone,


Hope you all are doing well. You must have seen my makeup revolution haul in my last blog post. Many of you asked me to review some of these new beauties soon. So today I am reviewing the product that I was most excited to try. Am talking about "Makeup Revolution Salvation Velvet Lip Lacquers". In my first small haul, I got just one shade (Keep flying for you) to try and see how it works. The shade I bought was quite bright. Then, I decided to buy another shade (What I believe) that can be used everyday easily. Let's see what I have to say about these velvet lacquers.

Makeup Revolution Salvation Velvet Lip Lacquers

Makeup Revolution Salvation Velvet Lip Lacquers

Makeup Revolution Salvation Velvet Lip Lacquer Applicator

Okay so there is nothing much to talk about the packaging. These come with an outer gold colored packaging as I have shown in one of the pictures above. These lacquers have the regular gloss tube like packaging with a doe-foot applicator.  The applicator picks just the right amount of color to apply on lips. It spreads the color evenly on lips.

How To Apply:
Applying these lacquers can be a bit tricky initially. It took me 3 days to learn the right way to apply these. You can follow these steps to apply these lacquers for a perfectly even velvet matte pout.

• Carefully apply a fine layer of this lacquer on the lips and let it dry. (Warning: Don't rub your lips at all until it dries out completely).
• Leave the mouth open or lips apart for a minute and let it dry and then close your lips/mouth.
• Still its better not to rub your lips together immediately after it has dried out.

If not applied properly, the lacquer may appear uneven or patchy on the lips. But once it is applied properly and is dried out, it turns to a beautiful velvet matte finish which I like a lot.

Formula and Finish:
Now talking about the formula and finish of these lacquers. These lacquers are so creamy apply smoothly on lips. These are really very very pigmented and just one swipe is enough to provide full coverage. These lacquers may feel a bit tacky before they dry out completely. But once the completely dry out they don't feel tacky or sticky at all. What I like about these lacquers is they don't dry your lips out. However, they may enhance any cracks or uneven patches on your lips.

Now I will be discussing both the shades individually as my experience with both shades was different.

Keep Flying For You:
"Keep Flying For You" is a bright NEON orange/coral shade. Yes it is very neon. It is a very pretty shade but a kind of shade that I won't be using a lot. I would say am a bit disappointed with the staying power of this shade. It stays on your lips for about 2-3 hours (with minimal eating and drinking). After 3 hours it starts to crumple from the center. The worst thing is it fades away unevenly. You could see a line around your lips with some patches of lacquer in middle too after 3-4 hours.

Keep Flying for You Lip Swatch

Keep Flying for You Fading Unevenly After Few Hours

What I Believe: 
"What I Believe" is a very pretty tea pink kind of shade. It is looking much pale pink in the pictures but actually appears as a pretty light barbie pink shade on my lips. I love this shade and will be using this more often ^_^ Although it also starts crumpling from the center after few hours of application. But still it fades less unevenly. I also noticed this particular shade lasted a bit longer on my lips. Am in love with this shade.

What I Believe Lip Swatch

At the end we have arm swatches of both the shades.

Left: Keep Flying for You---Right: What I Believe

So overall, I love the matte velvet finish of these lacquers and love the shade "What I Believe" for everyday use. These are very pigmented. Both the shades performed differently for me. The darker shade didn't last longer and faded much unevenly. Whereas, the lighter shade stayed on my lips for a bit longer time. Once you learn to apply these the right way, you may be able to get some extended staying power out of these. Am still tempted to get more shades as am in love with the finish of these velvet lacquers.

The Goods:

• Very Pigmented
• Velvet Matte Finish
• Affordable (As compared to other velvet matte lacquers)
• Does not feel drying on lips 
• Decent Staying Power

The Bads:

• Not very long lasting
• Tend to crumple and fade unevenly
• Application can be tricky

Price & Availability:  These velvet lacquers are available online at Just4girls for PKR 550/- each. For international readers these are available online at Makeup Revolution Website for £3.00/-


My Rating: 3.5/5....Good



Have you tried Makeup Revolution Salvation Velvet Lip Lacquers...?? What you think about these...???




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Love,
The Lipstickholic