RSSBest Things This Week July 9 2010
July 13, 2010
Very often, we don’t want a lipstick look. We want color and softness on the lip, but not the heavier look of lipstick, especially when we’re not wearing much makeup on the rest of the face. These Lip Glazes are costly but if I’ll use mine (Stolen Kisses) to the end and dig out the last bits.
It’s uncommon that every lipstick in a given line will be so well colored that it will be right for certain Seasons. Usually, there are a few colors that don’t flatter any skin that I can figure out and/or the color is too gray or yellow or off in some way. Not the case with these.
Best Things This Week June 15 2010
June 22, 2010
With Passion Pink (Bright Winter), Perfect Plum (Dark True Summer or True Winter), Barbie (Bright Spring), Sweetheart (the Light Seasons), Soft Touch (the Darks), Mocha (True Autumn), Irony (True Spring), and a few others, well…there’s a good color range.
Read moreGoodbye, Lipliner
February 1, 2010
A line around the lips first seems like overkill. It’s too much paint and too much time. What if you could apply a transparent sealant around the lipline that sets a shape for everything to come, and didn’t let it smear?
Read moreProduct Review : Estee Lauder Double Wear Lipstick
November 1, 2009
Gina said “this stuff does not move….SERIOUSLY it doesn’t feather, bleed, leak, run, walk, saunter, promenade….it is as sedentary as cream cheese on a knife that has gone through the dishwasher. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it…Lord have mercy! I am saved!”
She’s right, of course.
Makeup Model : Clear Winter
June 16, 2009
I get a lot of emails from women who know they’re Winter but don’t know which one. Good on them to know that there are 3 versions of each season. The Clear Winter (Sci\ART’s Bright Winter) is the bridge to Spring. That means that it still respects the deep, clear, dark colors of all Winters, and is predominantly cool, but it is just slightly warmed by yellow.
Read moreProduct Review : LipSense Liquid Lip Color
March 22, 2009
I’m always a little nervous when asked to do a review on a product I’m given rather than one I bought myself. What if it’s awful? I don’t like writing really negative things unless I can balance it with something positive. Does your integrity require that you write the opinion even if it’s bad, since the person requested it?
No need for anxiety here. This is the most interesting and weirdest product I’ve put on my lips and also one of the best performers. I had given up on long-wearing lipstick, figuring it was just a beauty industry inside joke. ‘Lip Plumping’ , now that really is a joke.
Kelly Robertson of Celebrity Lipstick e-mailed to ask if she could send me a lip product sample from her SeneGene line. She looked at the pictures I’ve posted of myself along the way and chose a color in keeping with my neutral-makeup-loving, conservative, Canadian self. The color Kelly sent was Apple Cider, on me a warm peach-rose color of medium depth.
The product comes with a Moisturizing gloss in a second tube, and an instruction sheet. It’s makeup – do I need instructions? Actually, yes, they’re helpful.
I started by doing what we all do with lipstick, I smeared it on my hand. Within 30 seconds, I couldn’t get it off. Promising indeed.
When you apply it to your lips, the first thing you notice is that it stings. That’s about all you’re noticing for 10 seconds as something evaporates. Not tingle. Sting. The color goes on sheer with 1 application but builds nicely with further applications, and it stings with each. Kelly tells me that the sting comes from SD40 alcohol, a type well above standard cosmetics grade. If your lips are chapped or cracked, you’ll feel it even more.
It’s also thin and can sneak past your lipliner easily if you move too fast. There is a plus side here for mixing 2 colors. It would be extraordinary for me to apply a color of anything from the container without mixing it with something, so mixability is a big concern of mine. If you owned 2 or 3 of these, you could customize an endless number of colors.
It’s tacky within 1 minute and you apply the moisturizing gloss. The stinging stops. The gloss is shiny but not obnoxious, quite pleasant actually. Kelly tells me that the stinging sensation is relative to how dry your lips are but that the shea-based gloss is very healing and the sting on application goes away after a couple of days of wearing the product.
Now we get to the good part. It does not come off. It does not require the gloss to be applied every 15 minutes (every 1-2 hours is plenty and doesn’t need a mirror because the color doesn’t budge) because the color is not drying and the gloss has some lasting power.
The product doesn’t crack, roll, crumble, fade in the center, dry, no matter how often you roll your lips. Other than being a little sticky, it’s very flexible and you don’t really know you have it on. It leaves no trace on cups. I drank tea and it didn’t move. I applied my MAC lipstick over it once instead of the gloss it came with and the color looked interesting but didn’t move.What you give up in comfort in the first minute, you get back in a huge durability and comfort payoff.
Are you familiar with the business lunch? 6 men and you. You took a little more care with your makeup. You’ve met, you’ve eaten the soup. By now, you know your lipstick is long gone. Buy why put on more lipstick, there’s still the wrap or the salad? By the time they’re done, you can’t even hope for lipliner to be getting you through. You hope that the emphasis you placed on your eye makeup is drawing attention away from your naked lips.
Yes, you could excuse yourself to go touch up your makeup, but how womanish and wimpy is that at a work meeting, and then you return looking all glossy? This is better. The guys are hanging around drinking coffee and guess what? So are you! Looking the same as when you walked in. Now here’s a woman who has it together and whose look is working for her in every sense of the word.
After a salad with dressing, the product is gone from only the center of the mouth but still quite presentable. Pull out a lip balm (if the guys wouldn’t pull out a lip gloss, then you shouldn’t either; Labello or Blistex, or anything one of them would use, is forgiven; you can fix the look back at the office or alone in your car), slap some on, and you look good. Don’t eat oily food at the business lunch.
For evening, for parties, for meetings, for a day outdoors, anytime you don’t want to fuss with reapplying lip color, this product is most definitely worth a try. It’s uncommon for a product to surprise me but this one did. It was still looking great 8 hours after I applied it.
The color selection is quite remarkable. I appreciate that one of the biggest challenges of online makeup sales is showing colors that are representative across different browsers and monitors. Though the swatches have been improved since I first looked at them, they might still need a little work. Apple Cider looks like a light-medium peach-pink on the site but it actually goes on deeper than that on me, and I have medium coloring. On a fair woman, it would certainly be more intense unless she only used a single sheer layer. I also wish the swatches were about twice the size they are.
If you lick it, it will taste very slightly chemical. You won’t taste it when you eat or drink and it has no odor once it’s dry. LipSense is not tested on animals. If you have any questions or need guidance with colors, you will find Kelly incredibly helpful and receptive to questions.
-->This is the most interesting and weirdest product I’ve put on my lips and also one of the best performers. I had given up on long-wearing lipstick, figuring it was just a beauty industry inside joke.
LipSense really keeps its promise. It does not come off. The product doesn’t crack, roll, crumble, fade in the center, dry, no matter how often you roll your lips.
Product Review : Revlon ColorStay Mineral Lip Glaze
February 11, 2009
I’ve been staring at this review for a few weeks. I never post it because I figure the product’s been out for awhile now. The reason you’re reading it now is because everytime I use it, I think “Good product.”
Not dry feeling. Colors are fairly true to the color in the tube.
Revlon’s ColorStay Mineral Lipglaze is not sheer enough to be called a gloss. It contains enough pigment to be closer to lipstick. It begins very shiny but that wears off by the time it’s dry. A soft sheen stays behind to give a little dimension without the super-wet and glossy look that works poorly on a mature face.
It is more comfortable than L’ Oreal’s Infallible gloss, with less of a feeling of something bonded on your lips, and about the same staying power. It is able to retain its texture till it’s gone without getting waxy or greasy. You will have to put up with a little stickiness but it’s a bearable trade-off for much longer wear, whether worn alone or with another more fleeting product.
We’re all looking for long-lasting lip products. I’m not very fond of the 2 step longwear lip products. I’ve tried Almay, MAC, and Clinique. Though the colors were gorgeous, the texture is crumbly within an hour unless you keep your lips immobile. Besides, I don’t want to take the time and it’s messy. The top gloss is always oily and the opening of the tube gets all smeared with the stuff. The 2 ends of the MAC ProLongwear tube actually came apart.
From L, Forever Fig, Unlimited Nectar, a mix of the two.
I bought Forever Fig. For me , it’s a pretty natural lip color when my hair is darker.
Unlimited Nectar would be lovely on a Spring. A caramel-peachy nude color, it’s too light for me on its own but great for combining with too-pink lipsticks to neutralize and lighten them and extend their wear.
As always, a mixture of two colors is always magically better than either alone. It’s true in watercolors and in makeup too.
I know many of you will be surprised to read that it doesn’t last 8 hours. Not 6 hours and not 4 hours. Maybe 2 hours but don’t eat.
Still, these are worth buying.
-->This is not sheer enough to be called a gloss. There is enough pigment to be closer to lipstick. It begins very shiny but that wears off by the time it’s dry. A soft sheen stays behind to give a little dimension without the super-wet and glossy look that works poorly on a mature face.
Read moreGift Ideas For The Real World 5
December 10, 2008
How do I love shopping? I cannot count the ways.
1. A Flip MinoHD. A sleek pocket-size camcorder that creates high quality movies that can be downloaded into a computer. For quality, ease of use, and size of movies, these are hard to beat. Pricier than most of my gift suggestions, but you wouldn’t regret this. The High Def (HD) version costs more but is probably worth it. At The Flip Store, called MinoHD Camcorder.
You simply must go to this page to experience the design and pattern generators. Ships for free, in the US at least, for now at least.
2. Crème de Cassis. This is a blackcurrant liqueur. Drop a splash in the bottom of a glass of champagne, or wonderful sparkling white wine like Henkell Troken. Extreme elegance.
3. Laura Mercier Tinted Illuminating Moisturizer SPF 20
Feel like your skin looks flat by mid-winter? A little bronzer helps, but not enough. This product gives a real-looking glow but not a speck of glisten. You know the sheen on the dull side of foil ? It’s more like that. There’s no sparkle. Too much could certainly make you look like an ornament, but a light touch just looks polished, like the skin’s been buffed. A perfect amount of light reflection occurs and define the angles of the face.
I bought Natural Radiance (for light to medium skin tones, a medium beige).
There’s Bare Radiance (light beige, for fair to light)
and Warm Radiance (medium peach beige for medium skin with pink tones- that’s from Sephora, I’m not sure just what color it describes).
Is it just me or is the lighting in all Sephora stores very misleading? I tried Bare which looked chalky. I bought Natural which looked just right in the store but is quite a deep beige at home in daylight. Given the cost, this might not be one to buy without testing.
I used it on its own. Very sheer but there was no twinkling skin. It wasn’t even unbelievably ridiculously shiny, just very sheer. With a little concealer, it was great for a weekend. For work, mixed with my usual foundation at 50:50, it only warms and deepens it a bit because it blends out very sheer, and it looks AWESOME (if I say so myself).
This is a beeeyootiful tinted moisturizer. Your skin will look better, I promise. I am so impressed that I’m going to buy the Bare Radiance so I can create the perfect shade. I really love it.
4. Joy Tea by Tazo Tea at Starbucks. Their seasonal offering and it is lovely. There are no weird holiday flavor shots, no Jack-in-the-box that nobody likes. It’s just an unusual but nice mix of black teas. From the Starbucks site : “Tazo Joy is a delicate yet full cup, created with some of the finest varietal teas available. Rare Darjeelings and Formosa Oolongs are paired with light-bodied, fragrant Nuwara Eliya teas from Ceylon. Yunnan teas from the high plateaus of Southern China and Southern India Nilgiris add texture and complexity.”
5. L’Occitane en Provence Cherry Blossom Eau de Toilette. This is a gorgeous scent. You’ll recognize cherry but it’s not Lip Smackers. A light floral, yes, but miles from anything fussy and complicated. This scent is fresh and different. It is sweetish but galaxies away from the cloyingly horrid lily-of-the-valley. If I were buying a scent for someone whose taste I didn’t know, this would be it.
From Sephora, about L’Occitane Cherry Blossom:
?Cherry Blossom ?This feminine, floral fragrance pleasantly perfumes the skin with the fresh, soft fragrance of cherry blossom with cherry extract from the Luberon in Provence.
Notes:?Cherry, Freesia, Black Currant, Cherry Blossom, Lily of the Valley, Rosewood, Amber, Musk.?Style:?Fresh. Feminine. Unique.
L’Occitane is one of Leaping Bunny’s truly cruelty-free companies and they make nice stuff. I gladly support these companies.
6. L’Occitane Hand Indulgences : an ultimate hostess gift.
7. Tarte Purse your Lips Lip Gloss Clutch. Normally $106, on for $39, and the clutch is cute. If I don’t get this, I’m buying it for myself. Look at these colors! Be aware that the tubes are smaller than the full-size gloss. Too bad. Knowing the mark-up on cosmetics as we all do, what would it have cost them to be remarkable and make them full size? Hardly anything.
8. Ten Thousand Villages. Fair trade. In support of women becoming stronger. So many gorgeous items, so inexpensive.
The SO-cutest garland.
Lovely wall hangings. this is an embroidered Tree Of Life.
You could buy a whole pile of the stuffed trees and stars for last minute gifts. And this sweetest nativity ornament,
9. Bold Bean Coffees. Thanks to Kathryn for sending this great site. Artful blends, single origin, and organic choices. Fair trade and Rainforetst alliances (see the Tri-Pak page), and supporting some fine organizations and causes.
Are you Mellow Morning Half-Caf or Manic Morning Espresso for the upcoming day at the mall?
10. Planet Chocolate. The best shopping bag. Fill it with the best stuff. From Eve Chocolatier – where great chocolate (and fantastic spiced cocoa) can be found.
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The list of gift suggestions that real-life women can afford to give (and many that we’d like to receive) continues.
Read moreProduct Review : L’Oreal Infallible Lip Gloss
October 15, 2008
If you like gloss and want to spend about $8, try this one. It’s ON SALE at Zellers this week, $2 off.
It is creamy and chocolate malt-smelling on application. It soon goes from creamy to bonded with your lips, but still comfortably. There is something different going on here about the way this gloss fuses with lips, like a flexible coating.
Does it last 6 hours? Don’t make me laugh. But for a gloss, it’s very very good. Surprisingly (how often can you say that about a beauty product), not only does the shine last but so does the pigment.
The colors are nothing like on the website. The L’Oreal website is a pain, with too many pages that take too long to load. I hope this link takes you there directly. The site shows 16 colors on the Infallible Never Fail 6Hr Lip Gloss page. There were 8 at Zellers. I bought Coral Sands first.
Sangria above, Coral Sands below
Others have said it’s too sticky and separates if you apply a layer over the first one – I didn’t notice either. It’s not goopy and doesn’t create threads if you touch it with your finger/cup/fork. The one step application and ability to re-apply any time are two of this product’s strongest points. You can put another product over or under this one and it behaves well.
Maybe by “sticky”, women mean that you can feel it like a layer of adhesive on your lips, and that is so. I think it’s a good thing. How else is it going to last 6 (ha!) hours? You know how other long-wearing product roll and crumble when you rub your lips? Not this stuff. It is so stuck that you can rub for 30 seconds and it will not move. And it still feels perfectly fine. It must be some sort of sealant technology.
Coral Sands on L, Sangria on R.
The angled, triangular, sponge applicator would have no influence on a decision to rebuy but it works well enough. Actually, the pointed tip makes it easier to draw a precise outline for a darker color like Sangria.
It is a little more light and a lot more sheer than it appears in the tube. Coral Sands is a pale peach, slightly pink. On fair skin, especially with yellow undertones, it would be great. On me, by itself, it’s too light and washed out. On a Spring woman, beauty.
I went back for Sangria. I saw it described in as a sheer earthy plummy color, sounded nice… It is nice, but too rosy red for me. What was I thinking? It’s made for a Winter, just a nice lip color. Here it is:
Sangria on a Winter woman.
It’s a good thing I have daughters. I can give them all the colors I should have known better than to buy.
Oh well, we made to Wednesday. For this, we deserve 2 of anything.
(Update Nov. 08 : In reading Emily’s Living Cruelty Free blog yesterday, I noticed that I made a mistake in thinking L’Oreal is cruelty-free. In fact, they’re not that at all. This product is not good enough to excuse buying it. If I had it do to again, I would have passed. Your decision.)
-->If you like gloss and want to spend about $8, try this one. It’s ON SALE at Zellers this week, $2 off.
It is creamy and chocolate malt-smelling on application. It soon goes from creamy to bonded with your lips, but still comfortably. There is something different about the way this gloss fuses with lips, like a flexible coating.
Product Review : Lise Watier Plumpissimo La Base and Le Gloss
August 17, 2008
This is a pretty good product, but buy it for the right reason.
Lise Watier Plumpissimo Lip Gloss
I bought it to satisfy my fetish for the perfect bronze-peach gloss. To spend $20 on lip gloss, the product has to be special or I have to be feeling weak. In this case, it was both.
I broke one of my personal makeup-buying rules here because I bought the product in the evening. After 4PM, the light is so flattering with its softer yellow wavelengths that many borderline products will look good. If something looks good in AM lighting, with its harsher, bluer wavelengths, then it will look good anytime. An exception would be choosing lip color that will be worn in the evening, where you need deeper pigments for it to be visible.
This product comes in 5 colors. They are each very good, all pure, pretty colors. Good pigments are hard to find cheap. I bought Bronze but there are 5 others. They all shimmer. It takes a day’s search to find great lipgloss without glitter. I’m not versed in sparkle technology, but there are those glosses where the glitter complements the color of the gloss and seems to enrich it (like Chanel’s Glossimers) and others that just create a white/gray 1960’s frost effect ( I see Cover Girl Wet Slicks here). This one is somewhere between the two but leaning more to the good side depending on which color you buy.
I like a product that is creamy, not oily/slippery/thin/watery. Though this gloss feels more oily when applied, it has decent durability. It is scented of orange and cinnamon, but mildly so IMO. I guess this is what is supposed to do the plumping, but I’ve written before ( in Product Review : Maybelline Volume XL Seduction Lip Plumper) that I don’t think plumping products based on tingle work, at least not so as anyone else would notice. Either that or I have un-plumpable lips which is entirely possible. This gloss came out 3 months ago. I’m not sure why. The whole lip plumping thing has been done, unless someone comes out with a new gimmick.
I don’t care for brush applicators. You’d think they would work well, like a built-in lipbrush, but they don’t. With time and use, the bristles start going off in all directions and it’s just a mess. In this case, the bristles are quite long, perhaps to avoid that problem. Problem is the brush feels too long and the bristles are a little floppy and hard to control. I still like sponge-tips best, especially with gloss, the beauty of which is that precision is not necessary.
La Base is an accompanying product with the same type of brush application. It is positioned to “redefine contours, enhance lips, and hold lipstick color longer”. Once again, I must have uncooperative lips. Though it is very comfortable, I would not agree that it accomplished any of the above goals. It is also $20.
I don’t dislike Plumpissimo. I’ll use it all up and have gotten compliments. The reason-to-buy here is the color.
Because I love hearing what other women think, and appreciate nothing better than an honest review, here are some opinions from others, at I’m A Beauty Geek, Chick Advisor , and Kiss and Makeup.
-->This is a pretty good product, but buy it for the right reason.
I bought it to satisfy my fetish for the perfect bronze-peach gloss. To spend $20 on lip gloss, the product has to be special or I have to be feeling weak. In this case, it was both.
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