Redeem a Lychee Crushed Dream

Hello guys! Today I have a rather different post for the blog. It is somewhat of a lipstick review, but also a bit of a DIY! It involves the Face of Australia Lip Quench in the shade Lychee Crush. This particular shade from the line has been so hyped up and raved about all over the Australian beauty blogosphere - probably a bit of old news by now. I was sucked in and bought it in January as it swatched so prettily on my hand, but alas the shade completely washes out my complexion, giving me dead, zombie lips - very unflattering! Keep reading for a review of it, and how I made it work for me!

The shade itself is very pretty and one that I wish suited my skintone - I can definitely see where all the hype comes from. It is a pale peachy-pink nude shade which would be suitable for everyday wear or for a more subtle lip paired with a strong eye. I'm fairly sure any pale, 'conventional' nudes just don't go with my skintone and I have learned my lesson and steer clear of any of these types of shades. The 'nudes' I prefer are more 'My lips but better' shades. 

Swiped, blended

Aside from the shade being totally unflattering on me, I'm not too taken with the formula either. It's pretty opaque and creamy, moisturising and feels nice when swatched on the hand. But, this shade in particular settles into the lines of my lips, doesn't spread evenly and overall looks pretty bad. I've tried blanking out my lips beforehand but it doesn't seem to work either. I also really dislike the smell which could probably be attributed to the SPF30 in the product. The only way I can make this shade work on the lips is by adding, mixing or layering it with another shade, something darker and warmer. It produces a nice colour but not something I could really be bothered with.

Spontaneously one night, I decided to try it out on my cheeks. I was reading some posts on Stila Gerbera convertible colour and people said it was very pretty on the cheeks but too pale on the lips - so I thought, hey! That's the problem I'm having with this lipstick! When I applied it to the cheeks, it was love! Whether applied with fingers or my Real Techniques Stippling brush it was super pretty. So, Lychee Crush went under the knife.

I wanted to make it a bit easier to use with my brush so I decided to melt it down into a little pot. The pot I used is a little sample pot from Mecca. I decided to mix the shade with a bit of Maybelline Vibrant Mandarin which is a coral shade just to give it a teensy bit more warmth and vibrancy. The original Lychee crush and my concoction are very similar but I do like the one with added orange better.

All chopped up!

Looks pretty...gross

I chopped it up first to see how much product would fit in the pot. I probably could have melted it all but I wanted a bit of breathing room and if it turned out to be a disaster, I would have still had some left. I used a hairdryer to melt it down and I'm not sure if that's the best way, but it worked for me. I melted it, then mixed with a toothpick, then melted and left it on a flat surface to set evenly.

I even made a little label!

Ignore the little dots, they're from my stippling brush

The formula is super creamy and lovely to apply to the cheeks. It blends really nicely and it livens up the face and brightens but very subtly and naturally. I've been using it a lot! The one downside though is that is is not very long lasting - I didn't expect it to be as it is a lipstick. I top it with a bit of translucent powder to stretch it out a bit but that takes away the dewy finish I really like from it.

Here is a swatch, but it's pretty much the same as the first one

Overall I'm super glad that I found a new use for this lipstick and stops it from gathering dust in my drawer! I actually think the colour is quite similar to Stila Gerbera but maybe that ones a bit more peachy? I think it gives a similar effect though and I really like it! I don't know if this post was helpful or not, but I hope you enjoyed it!

Do you ever use lipstick as blush?