BECCA Ultimate Lipstick Love*

*this post is sponsored by BECCA (eek!)
Up until now, BECCA have been known mostly for face/base products that give their signature "BECCA Glow" and most people will know about their their amazingly buttery Shimmering Skin Perfectors (if not, then where have you been?!). Opal is my ultimate fave in both the liquid and powder form, but I also had time to play around with their foundations, concealers and other glowy goodness at the BECCA trip (blog post here), where I discovered they only had lip glosses in their lip arsenal. I remember commenting saying that I can't wait for BECCA to expand on their lip ranges as I'm not much of a gloss girl and lo and behold the day has come.. and BECCA have not failed to disappoint!
In true BECCA "glow" style, this new lipstick range gives a healthy sheen to the lips that is thankfully not not overly shiny or sticky. The shade range is so on point as it covers the two most popular lipstick choices- nude and red, but with the idea that not one shade of red or nude lipstick will look good on everyone... so BECCA have created 30 shades so that everyone can find their perfect colour!
Now if you're not a usual reader of my blog then you won't know that this is exactly why I've been focusing on lip swatches for the past couple years, as my own lips are pigmented/darker than other people's, so I like to show people who have similar lip and skin tones what shades could look like, to help them decide which may suit them too. Of course everyone is free to wear what they like but if you have darker pigmented lips like me then certain nudes just end up looking ashy/pastel, which I'm personally not a fan of on myself.
So I couldn't have been more over the moon to have been approached for my first ever sponsored blog post (after 8+ years!), to be for this range.. it's so in line with what I already do! 🙌 Read on to see swatches of the Ultimate Lipstick Loves and more info...

Packaging:  The lipsticks are in the traditional bullet form which I think is making a comeback judging by my DMs/feedback on some of my socials and I'm not surprised after the last couple years of the liquid lipstick hype. I still do like my transfer proof liquid lipsticks, however since my son's started school I've not had to worry about it transferring on to him and am free to wear any lipstick I like now, so I've actually recently repurchased some old fave bullet lipsticks (Mehr especially!). The packaging is sleek and golden with the BECCA logo embossed at the top of the lid. I like how the magnetic lid slides down by itself slowly and closes with a satisfying clicky noise lol.
Colour/Shade:  As mentioned above, the Ultimate Lipstick Love shades are nude and red shades and there are 30 of them, split into these categories:

• Neutral Nudes: Chocolate, Burgundy, Mocha, Taupe, Tawny, Dune
• Cool Nudes: Souffle, Mauve, Orchid, Sorbet, Petal, Sugar
• Warm Nudes: Rosewood, Truffle, Blush, Dusk, Tulip, Bare
• Cool/Neutral Reds: Maroon, Merlot, Ruby, Garnet, Cherry, Blaze
• Warm/Neutral Reds: Ember, Rouge, Scarlet, Crimson, Flame, Poppy

I don't have all 30 shades but have swatched all the shades I do have above on my arm and below are lip swatches of some of the shades I think will be most popular!

My personal favourites of the nudes are: Mocha, Mauve, as these are a good mix of brown and pink tones. Truffle is the lightest nude that suits my skin/lip tone and Rosewood is a brighter rosey shade that looks like it would be a great nude on deeper complexions.

My fave reds are: Ember (from the warm reds category) and Ruby (from the cool reds). Usually I prefer my reds to be more cool/blue toned as I find them more flattering and also make the teeth look more white compared to warmer reds that can make my teeth look yellow.

Pigmentation: These Ultimate Lipstick Loves have pure colour pigments and light reflecting oils that are long wearing up to 8 hours. On my naturally pigmented lips, I find the colour pay off to be just enough to cover the obvious darker areas of my lips, but not too pigmented/creamy that it looks over done.
Formula: If you're not a fan of uncomfortable/drying lipsticks, you won't have to worry about these BECCA Ultimate Lipstick Loves as they are super comfortable to wear due to these key ingredients:

• hyaluronic acid - to hydrate and smooth the appearance of lips
• avocado + olive oils to nourish

Finish: 

The lipsticks are a moisture rich finish which means they are not matte, but more of like a balmy/healthy sheen finish. When I wear them alone my lips have a natural, plump, healthy look to them - but they're not in any way plumping - it's just how I would describe them!

Scent: 

No particular scent

Price: 

£20 each, exclusively available first from John Lewis from 7th January.
Nude lip shades:

Red lip shades:

Overall thoughts:  I was actually surprised that the price of these are only £20 as they look/feel more luxe with their gold packaging and the formula actually reminds me of another (more expensive) luxury brand lipstick I usually carry with me to top up/help when a liquid lipstick gets drier throughout the day.
I personally find lipsticks with hydrating/balmy properties like this help bring life back to liquid lipsticks that dry more as the day goes on, or I tend to wear these without any lip liner when I want a quick bit of colour on the lips without faffing with precision (i.e. school run).
It's not transfer proof as you would expect from a non-matte lipstick, but despite this it's pretty long wearing as long as you don't have a baby/child grabbing your face! 

What do you think about this new addition to the BECCA Cosmetics range? Personally I am totally here for making a popular red or nude shade for everyone but also think they'd be great to top up on drying matte lipsticks throughout the day 🙌
Hopefully BECCA add some liquid lipsticks too, ideally with the same theme of nude lipsticks at least for all skin/lip tones 🙏
I'm going to be holding a giveaway of the entire 30 lipsticks on my Instagram so keep an eye out!                      *this post is a collaboration with BECCA Cosmetics however all thoughts and opinions are my own as always!  Unless otherwise stated, products reviewed are press/brand examples. Links may be affiliated links which means that if you make a purchase though one of the links, I receive a small commission which helps support and run this website.