Mini Budget Beauty Haul: BYS

Well I've been a naughty little make-up junkie in the last few days and I've bought some products I wanted to share with you. I'm putting it down to the fact that I was deprived shopping and make-up for a few days over the easter break, see my camping essentials beauty post here.

I tried to behave myself though, and I only let loose at my local Gloss store where I picked up some BYS products. Now, I'll let you in on a little secret, in my undergraduate uni time I used to work at Gloss, and back in those glory days the store not only stocked BYS and other beauty brands but it also sold all sorts of NYX products (and I had a staff discount!). Sadly, those days seem to be gone, but on the up-side BYS has improved a lot since then, most of their formulas are pretty good now, and they still have the cheapie price tag (although they used to be even cheaper!). BYS is also available at K-Mart and believe it or not, The Reject Shop, but Gloss usually carries the biggest range.

So, on to the goodies. I grabbed a white kohl eyeliner, a synthetic angled blush brush, three original lipsticks (they also have a long-wear formula available) and a blush. All for under $30 I might add (most BYS products retail for $3.95 at Gloss, the brush was $8.95). Here is a pic:

I've only tested the eye kohl once, and I'm not overjoyed with it, it's a bit hard, doesn't glide on super smooth, but it will do for the moment. I find a white eyeliner to be essential in a make-up case to line the waterline when you're looking tired, but thanks to lots of sleep over Easter I haven't needed to break it out yet.

As for the brush, the lovely beauties who follow me on Twitter will know I've been searching for a cheap brush that I can use with my Australis finishing powder (and double up for use with blushes/illuminators). I'm going to invest in MAC brushes one day (sigh!) but I actually don't mind this brush for the price. They had some other brushes which were cheaper and felt awful, but the BYS synthetic line seemed ok. So far so good, it feels soft, holds its shape even after a clean, and it doesn't leave little whiskers all over your face like cheap brushes usually do. It scores about an 8/10 in the cheap brush stakes I think!

Now, for the lipsticks. I've been on a bit of a lipstick kick lately and I loved the fact BYS has so many colours for only $3.95. To the left is a picture of the three I got. From left to right colours are:

Devil in Disguise, Sassy Salmon and Coral Kiss.

Can I just say I'm in LOVE with the Devil in Disguise colour. Not only does it instantly get me singing the Elvis song (Mr. BeautyScholar said he had the song stuck in his head for hours after I told him the name of the colour) but it is just a divine colour. Think an  orange based ruby red, with a gold sheen. It's just so pretty. Here are some swatches of all three lipsticks (let me apologise in advance for my crappy photography. I'm still trying to master the art of taking swatch photos properly).

At the top is the Coral Kiss, Devil in Disguise in the centre and Sassy Salmon down the bottom. The Coral Kiss is actually a lot darker than the Salmon in real life, and they all have a lustre finish that my camera didn't really pick up.

As for the other two shades, Sassy Salmon is a slightly purplish pink. It reminds me a little of the Revlon Matte pink pout shade but it is slightly darker (and not matte of course!). The Coral kiss is a bright true coral, and I find it lovely to wear on through the day. It gives just the right pop of colour.

Here is another pick of these two shades on my lips, the colours came out a bit better in this one, Sassy Salmon is on the top and Coral Kiss is on the bottom...

These lippies wear fairly well given their price point and after they fade a little, all three colours leave a nice tint on the lips for several hours and they aren't drying or smudgy. I do have one major gripe with them though, and you've probably heard this before. The packaging is TERRIBLE! Not only is it tacky and cheap looking, it is not functional at all. The lids on these babies do not click shut at all, they just fall off, completely. Some are tighter than the others but I'd be careful throwing these in your handbag if you didn't have a lipstick case to transport them in. 

Now, on to the blush. Ok, so I am totally coveting NARS Orgasm like any beauty-o-holic that doesn't own it. So I've been searching for cheap imitations. I don't have the NARS one to compare it to, but from what I've seen this one doesn't do too badly, it's kind of similar - 

Again sorry for the swatch, it's pretty average, but you can see that it is a similar shade to Orgasm. What do you think? It's got a slightly shimmery finish with a slight touch of gold in it, and it is just pigmented enough for my pale skin. You might have to apply it a bit heavier though to get a good colour deposit if you had a darker complexion. Looks great with the Coral Kiss lippie too! 

Ok beauties, I've nattered on enough about my purchases. I'd love to know what BYS stuff you own, any good dupes in their range? They had some other cute things that I might need to pick up soon like the baked blush and baked bronzer and funky animal instinct eye shadows, but hopefully I won't have to go camping again to justify the purchases :) 

xxx BeautyScholar.