Review: Tom Ford Lip Color in Indian Rose (04)

I bought my first Tom Ford lipstick last year some time when I was in search of a darker-toned lipstick. I found Bruised Plum and fell in love with both the color and the lipstick formula, but also found myself reeling after spending $49 on a lipstick. Well, they say time heals all wounds...and now I find that I have apparently no qualms when it comes to shelling out $49 for a lipstick. My bank account hates me.

The packaging: If you're going to pay this much for a lipstick, you know the packaging better be awesome...and it is! The tube is rectangular with nice, sharp angles and lines. The gold and dark maroon colors definitely add to the lux feel of this lipstick, and it feels nice and dense in my hand. 

The scent: There is a powdery cotton candy-like scent, but it doesn't linger on lips.

The product: Indian Rose is a pink-rose shade with a little bit of shine to it. It's a great every day shade as it will work for both day and night. This formula is amazing - it glides on smoothly (no tugging!) and is pretty hydrating. One swipe let me natural lip color peek through a bit, but two swipes gave me opaque coverage. My lips felt very soft the entire time I wore this, and they were not dried out at the end of the day. This shade wore for 5-6 hours on me, and reapplying was very simple.

Cost: $49

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipstick in Defiant Coral (320)

Estee Lauder. To me, this brand always seemed like it was reserved for rich, older ladies-who-lunch, so I never really paid much attention to Estee Lauder. However, with the launch of the Pure Color Envy lipsticks, everyone has been raving about these lipsticks, so I had to at least buy one, right? 

The packaging: This came in its own box. The tube is deep navy-purple with gold on the top and bottom. The tube, itself, is shaped to have the middle curve slightly outward on all sides. If the tube was a human, it would be skinny, apple-shaped. The tube has a nice weight to it and has a magnetic closure - all which adds to the feel of a nicer, more luxurious lipstick.

The scent: There is a powdery candy scent to this if you sniff really hard. It doesn't linger on lips though.

The product: Defiant Coral is a bright, pink-coral shade. Some have described it as more of an orange-ish coral, but on me, a lot of pink comes through. This formula glides on so smoothly and evenly (I actually said "WOW" out loud after applying this lipstick because it was so smooth going on). It didn't tug my lips at all, and one swipe gave me nearly opaque coverage. It was hydrating and wore well for about 5-6 hours. Defiant Coral is definitely not a shade I would wear every day, because it's one of those showstopper shades, but it's truly a beautiful color - especially for summer. 

Cost: $30

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Benefit Cosmetics BeneBalm and BeneTint

A lot of makeup brands have taken to releasing balms this summer, and I'm all for it! Anything sheer that can be applied on the go without a mirror is my best friend!

I bought Benefit's Benebalm, ChaCha balm, and Benetint all in one scoop, so I'll review Benebalm and Benetint first, and ChaCha balm with ChaCha tint second. 

Benefit Cosmetic's Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm in BeneBalm

The packaging: This came in its own little box. The tube is the cutest thing ever because it's a shiny red tube covered in light pink polka dots. The tube makes me smile just by looking at it. 
 

(L to R): BeneBalm, ChaCha Balm, Benetint in natural light

The scent: There is a slight floral/rose scent to this balm, but it doesn't linger after applied.
 

Wearing only Bene balm

The product: BeneBalm is a very sheer rosy red shade. It is incredibly sheer and leaves a very sheer rosy tint to lips. It is super hydrating and applies smoothly. It wore for less than 2 hours on my lips, but it was so easy to reapply. If you want color pay-off, skip these balms. I think the real magic happens when you apply these on top of the lip tints! 

Cost: $18

Benefit Cosmetic's BeneTint

The packaging: This came in its own box. The cap has the applicator brush attached, but this brush is completely inconvenient for me. Using this brush to apply this tint has resulted in me getting it outside my lip lines, so I use single-use doe-footed applicators that I bought off of Amazon to apply this. 
 

(L to R): BeneBalm, ChaCha Balm, Benetint in sunlight

The scent: There is a slight floral scent to this tint, but it doesn't linger.
 

Wearing only Bene Tint

The product: Benetint is a reddish rose tint. This product is a liquid lip stain, so it goes on very wet and dries down to a great natural red flush. It wore for 4+ hours on my lips alone. This product tended to dry out my lips after a couple of hours...BUT this is where the BeneBalm came in. Applying Benebalm on top of this gives it a completely natural, just-ate-a-red-popsicle look and your lips feel hydrated. 
 

Wearing Bene Balm layered on top of Bene Tint

Cost: $30

Benefit Cosmetic's Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm in ChaCha Balm

The packaging: Same as Benebalm, except the tube is a golden coral shade with pink wave accents. 
 

Wearing only ChaCha Balm

The scent: Same as Benebalm.
 

Wearing ChaCha Balm layered on top of ChaCha Tint

The product: Same as Benebalm, but ChaCha Balm is a very sheer mango-peach shade. ChaCha Balm, just like Benebalm, looks great layered over Benefit's ChaCha Tint. It provides a whole other dimension to ChaCha Tint, and keeps lips hydrated. 

To see my review on ChaCha tint, click here!

Cost: $18
  
I don't think I could buy either of these products separately after trying them together. The Benebalm alone is too sheer, and the Benetint alone is too drying. This is the same with the ChaCha balm and ChaCha tint. So if you want to try either out, just buy both. You'll love it!

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: YSL's Rouge Pur Couture in 52 Rosy Coral

It takes a lot for me to get into Korean dramas. I've never been the type to watch a lot of Korean dramas, which puts me at the odd end of most Korean girls. I happened to be shopping with my girlfriends at Nordstrom one Sunday after brunch and made my way to the makeup counters to browse. The YSL rep ended up showing me some lip products and then asked if I was Korean. When I said I was, she said that the products she was showing me was selling out due to a Korean drama. My friend C who is my guru for all things Korean told me it was due to a drama called My Love from Another Star starring Jeon Ji Hyun. Long story short, the lip products the YSL rep showed me were the wrong ones...but I researched when I got home, and ended up ordering the correct YSL lipstick! 

Apparently due to Jeon Ji Hyun's popularity, YSL sold out of this lipstick WORLDWIDE. I checked today, and it's again sold out on the YSL website, so maybe the frenzy still hasn't settled.

The packaging: This comes in its own box. The tube itself is the YSL standard gold tube with the logo stamped on the front. It has a nice dense weight to it, so it feels nice in my hands.

The scent: This has a sweet mango-ish scent to it. You can smell it when you first apply it, but it fades quickly.
 

Rosy Coral - blotted on softly

The product: 52 Rosy Coral is a BRIGHT, HOT, in-your-face pink. It looks like it has more coral in the tube, but when I applied it, it was almost neon pink on my lips. With this shade, I definitely had to meticulously exfoliate my lips. It settled into every crack/line/crevice, so it does show every little imperfection. It wasn't very hydrating, so I had to reach for lip balm after a couple hours. It lasted about 3 hours on me. One swipe was pretty heavily saturated, but with this shade, I prefer blotting it on with my finger to give my lips a more natural pink flush. 
 

Rosy Coral - applied directly from tube

This isn't a shade I would repurchase again, but it's a fun shade to have in my lipstick stash. While I don't think I would ever apply it directly onto my lips, it is VERY pretty when blotted on. 

Cost: $35 

Review: Fresh Sugar Tulip Lip Treatment

So Fresh decided to release a new shade in their Sugar Lip Treatment line, and you know I had to buy it! I actually got to purchase this earlier than the actual public release because Sephora gave that option to their VIB Rouge customers, so I've been wearing it for several weeks now and testing it out. 

I think I now have all the lip treatments except Coral and Plum. To see my review on the other lip treatments, click here! 

The packaging: This comes in its own box, and the tube is just like all the other lip treatments. It's a screwed-on tube, which is both good and bad. The good part is that there is no way for this tube to accidentally come off inside your purse. The bad part is that it's not as easy to just pop the cap off and apply. 

The scent: This is scented like the other lip treatments - that familiar sweet lemon scent. This is a scent that either you really love it or you REALLY hate it. If you see other reviews on these lip treatments, people either really love the scent or think it's the worst. I definitely love this scent and it lingers, so the scent definitely has some staying power.

The product: Tulip is a great summer shade. It's a sheer bright hot pink shade that is buildable. One swipe will give you a very light tint on your lips. These glide on smoothly, but are not weightless. You definitely can tell you're wearing product on your lips. They are very hydrating and last about 3-4 hours on me. They tend to get a little tacky on lips towards the end of 4 hours. Since these are one of the easiest lip products to apply mirror-less, I'm always carrying at least one of these in my purse!

Cost: $22.50

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Lipstick Queen's Jungle Queen Lipstick

The majority of the lipsticks I've been buying for summer have one thing in common - extreme saturation. They may be corals, reds, pinks, etc...but they're all bright with great color payoff. 

The packaging: This came in its own little box. The tube itself is a deeper green with the lettering done in a coral-orange shade. Again, my gripe with LQ is that the tube feels cheap. It feels like it would be easily dented. 

The scent: No scent detected.

The product: Jungle Queen is a bright orange-red shade that supposedly is the perfect color to wear with animal prints. Just like LQ's other lipsticks (Jean Queen, Medieval Red), this glides on smoothly and is fairly hydrated on lips. Unlike the other two LQ lipsticks I mentioned, this is not sheer. One swipe had a lot of color to it. It lasted 4-5 hours on me, and felt great while it was on my lips. 

Cost: $22

Questions? Comments? Let me know!