You guys seem to like it when I show you products on a budget that work as well as their pricier counterparts, so I think you are going to like what I have in store for you today.

I've spoken before about a brand called Ulta3 and how much I love their nail polishes and how surprised I was by the quality of them. They have recently revamped their makeup line and the first thing that caught my eye when walking past the new stands were the new lipstick containers. Gone are the cheap-looking plastic tubes and they are replaced with a sophisticated tubes with colour panels on the bottom which is what draws they eye.

You know what else is great about these? The price. $2.99 for the standard colours and $3.99 for the mattes. Yep, that's right, they have a range of matte colours. In a budget line. Awesome, right?

So you want to know how they look right? For the most part - they are terrific. A couple of them need a little work, but overall I was really impressed with the quality, opacity and the wear of them.

L-R: Vixen, Harem Pink(m), Lilac Glow, Orange Crush(m), Pure Chic, Pink Pout(m), Coral Reef

015 - Vixen
Terrific work appropriate colour if you like a little shimmer. Smooth, opaque and easy to work with.

030 - Harem Pink (matte)
This is the first of the three mattes and my favourite of them. While not a true matte lipstick, this can be forgiven because it also does not have the drying qualities most matte lipsticks do. Opacity is fantastic and it's a smooth cream finish.

007 - Lilac Glow
A blue based pink/purple, this one surprised me with it's wear-ability. Definitely not a colour for everyone but still a keeper.

029 - Orange Crush (matte)
Not a fan of this one. I can't say I expected a matte orange to be terrific or flattering but I was intrigued to see what the formula was like. The answer is terrible. Clumpy, a little drying, not opaque at all and building up the colour makes it look worse. There is nothing redeeming about this, and like Harem Pink, it's not actually a matte at all.

051 - Pure Chic
Again, another great work colour to add to the collection. No faults with this one, great application, opacity and wear.

033 - Pink Pout (matte)
This one is just ok, it's a little drying, not actually matte, great colour though.

040 - Coral Reef
I was so disappointed with this one. I was so excited about the colour and was so disappointed with the lack of colour payoff, the texture and the overall finish of the lipstick. Avoid this one.

I want to try a few more of these, definitely some reds, but I highly recommend these as a luxe option for less.

That's it from me today, I was thinking about putting together a post on contouring - is that something you would be interested in getting some insider tips on?

I love it when you buy a polish that you have no expectations about and when applied, it doesn't just impress you - it completely blows you away.

The Ulta3 range is the "cheapie" polish brand you find in chemists over here in Australia. It's about $2.50 a bottle and you pretty much know it's going to suck but you buy it anyway because it looks promising in the bottle even though you know you're going to be bitterly disappointed. You know the ones I'm talking about right?

Well it seems like this brand might have picked up its act since the last time I purchased one of their polishes. This is Lollypop Lilac and it's a light purple foil! Its smooth two coater, dries pretty much straight away and makes one helluva stamping polish. As far as I can see, this polish just hit it out of the ball park.
I think I might go track down some more of these to see if I just got lucky or if this is a truly awesome discovery for polish addicts everywhere.

Your thoughts? Winner or loser? Do you have a polish brand where you are like this? Have you given it another go and been surprised? Or maybe you just had your suspicions confirmed that it really is a crap brand?

That's it from me today.

Be awesome to each other.