Review: Biguine Rouge A Levres Color & Care Lipstick in Red Carmine (08)

This product one of the other lip products that my friend S picked up for me in Paris. I had never heard of the Biguine makeup brand, and I don't know where you can buy this in the US. The only places that I've been able to find these are on Amazon and Ebay. If anyone knows other places to buy this line, let me know!

The packaging: Being a drugstore brand, there is nothing fancy about the packaging here. This comes in a standard lipstick tube and the cap extends the entire length of the tube. The tube is a gunmetal gray, while the cap is clear. 

The scent: There is a sweet floral scent to this product, but it doesn't linger on lips.

The product: Red Carmine is a sheer red with pink tones. It goes on very sheer, but can be built up to a semi-transparent shade. It went on incredibly smoothly without tugging and was hydrating throughout the time I wore it. It lasted about 3 hours on me, and reapplication was easy. I absolutely LOVE this product and shade. It was so easy to swipe on (even without a mirror), and gave my face a very healthy glow. 

Cost: Unsure since I can't find these available online?

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick in Rouge Jet Set (13) and New Effet 3D Lipgloss in Fuchsia Excentric (57)

This and the following post are products I should have reviewed in June, but I kept forgetting to do so. However, the good news is that I have tested these out for almost 3 months, so there's that at least! My best friend S picked up these Bourjois products for me when she was in Paris since they're considerably cheaper there. I had never tried any Bourjois products before, so I was pleasantly surprised by these. I'll review the Bourjois lipstick first, and then the gloss.

Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick in Rouge Jet Set (13)

The packaging: Since this is a drugstore brand, there is nothing fancy about the packaging. This comes in a standard lipstick tube. The bottom is clear so you can see the color of the product. The cap does tend to be harder to pull off than other tubes, but this is a very minor complaint.
 

(L to R): Rouge Edition in Jet Set and New Effet 3D Lipgloss in Fuchsia Excentric

The scent: Very faint floral scent, but undetectable on lips.

The product: Rouge Jet Set is a bright red with slight orange undertones. It is quite creamy and glides on smoothly without tugging. 2-3 swipes gave me full opacity. This shade tends to feather, but can be fixed by lining the lips beforehand (I favor clear lip liners). This product lasted about 4-5 hours on me, but did transfer a lot during eating and drinking. 

Cost: $20 in the US (Urban Outfitters carries the Bourjois line)

Bourjois New Effet 3D Lip Gloss in Fuchsia Excentric (57)

The packaging: This comes in a standard lip gloss tube. The applicator is a brush applicator. The cap is silver while the tube is clear so that you can see the color of the product. 
 

(L to R) Rouge Edition in Jet Set and New Effet 3D Lipgloss in Fuchsia Excentric

The scent: Very perfume-y scent. It tends to linger for awhile on lips. I'm not sensitive to smells, but this gave me a headache the first time I wore it. 

The product: Fuchsia Excentric is a bright fuchsia that leans heavily on the pink side. This gloss went on with almost a thin buttery consistency. It wasn't sticky at all throughout the entire time I wore it, which was a huge surprise. My natural lip color tended to peek through here and there since this is semi-transparent, but it wasn't unflattering. This lasted about 2-3 hours on me, but reapplying was simple. 

Cost: $16.99 in the US (Walgreens carries this). This is definitely a lip gloss I would recommend!

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Review: Bite Beauty x JCrew Matte Creme Lip Crayon in Lola

Bite Beauty has done it again! They should just go ahead and take out all the money in my bank account because they keep releasing products that I can't help buying. I went and tested the 6 shades of the Matte Creme Lip Crayons they released at Sephora, and almost bought Peche. BUT, I heard about their collaboration with JCrew (3 exclusive shades) and bought this one instead.

The packaging: This came in its own box. The product is encased in a slim, matte black-gray tube with a pop-off cap. These are twist-up tubes, which I love (why do companies bother with lip crayons that you have to sharpen??). 

The scent: There is a fruity scent to these, but I can't figure out what it smells like. Regardless, the scent doesn't linger.

The product: Lola is a bright watermelon pink. When I say bright, I mean BRIGHT. But it's definitely wearable. This goes on with a little bit of tugging on my lips. They aren't as creamy being a crayon, but it still went on smoothly with minimal lip prep. One swipe gave me nearly opaque coverage, so these crayons are definitely highly pigmented colors. It was neither drying nor hydrating, but after about 4 hours, I felt the need to apply some lip balm. This wore for 6+ hours on me - it probably would have worn for longer, but I wiped it off. 

I can't describe how much I love these! They're so easy to put on and go since they last so long! Bite Beauty is supposed to released 6 more shades in this line, so here's hoping there's even more great shades to covet!

Cost: $24

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Review: Marc Jacobs Beauty LoveMarc Lip Gel in Cabaret (146) and Lust for Lacquer Lip Vinyl in Shooting Stars (316)

This Marc Jacobs lip combo was a Sephora Beauty Insider 1000 point perk that I got a month ago since both products were full size. Both were touted as being limited edition, but now are available as part of the permanent line. 

The packaging: This perk came in a box that housed both products. The lipstick is an all black tube with a silver magnetic closure. It has the Marc Jacobs logo stamped on the side. The lip gloss is a clear tube with a black twist-off cap. The applicator is a doe-footed applicator.

The scent: Both have a slight fruity-vanilla scent that does not linger.

 

(L to R): Shooting Stars and Cabaret in natural light

(L to R): Shooting Stars and Cabaret in sunlight

The product: Cabaret (146) is only available to VIB Rouge members right now. It is a muted, warm berry shade. It swatched brighter on my arm, but when applied, it's much warmer and darker. It went on somewhat smoothly, with slight tugging on my lips. It was neither drying, nor hydrating. It wore for about 4-5 hours and left behind a slight stain. 
 

Shooting Stars

Shooting Stars (316) is a dark, muted brick-red gloss with brown undertones and lots of micro-shimmer. It went on smoothly with lots of shine (thanks to all the micro-shimmer). It was somewhat drying and wore for about 3 hours. It started to get pretty tacky/sticky on my lips towards the end of 3 hours. The shimmer stuck around on my lips even after the color faded, which depending on the person can be a good thing or bad thing (to me, it's a bad thing). 
 

Cabaret

When worn together, these two create a beautiful deep berry shade (perfect for Fall!). It's a bit heavy on my lips though, so I don't see myself wearing this combo much. The color created reminded me of Kevyn Aucoin's Bloodroses, so I would opt for that rather than this duo. 
 

Shooting Stars layered over Cabaret

Cost: Lovemarc Lip Gel is $30, Lip Vinyl is $28.

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: EOS Smooth Sphere Lip Balm in Fresh Watermelon, Pomegranate Raspberry, Summer Fruit, and Strawberry Sorbet

I usually don't do reviews on drugstore lip balms because I honestly don't feel a need to do so. I think everyone has their go-to favorites (I'm looking at you, Nivea Kiss of Moisture!) and that's about it. However, more drugstore brands have released fancier balms with more eye-catching packaging, like EOS. 

The packaging: These balms come housed in a sphere-shaped tub. The cap is a twist-off cap, and there is a flattened indentation on one side to rest your thumb on when you're applying the product. The product itself is dome-shaped. I know people who love the shape of this product, and I admit that it's cute. However, if you have a tiny purse/clutch, there is no way to slip this into it without making your purse bulge. Want to slip this into the pocket of your jeans? Great! But it'll look like your thigh grew a goiter. EOS does have a few of these balms that come in the standard lip balm tube, so this is good news!

The scent: These are scented, obviously. To me, they're pretty heavily scented and tend to linger for a long time. 

The product: The four balms I picked up are Fresh Watermelon, Pomegranate Raspberry, Summer Fruit, and Strawberry Sorbet. They contain shea butter and jojoba oil which help keep lips soft and smooth. These balms go on with a thin-medium consistency. They don't feel heavy or goopy when applied and last about 2-3 hours. They keep my lips fairly hydrated, but not as much as I would like. I found myself continually reaching to apply more to try and hydrate my lips. The shape of the product make application very easy as you literally just roll this around on your lips. The product itself is very hard, so applying pressure won't make a dent in this. 

The bottom line on these are that they're cute to look at, but not as hydrating or moisturizing as I would like.

Cost: $3.29 - at this price point, there are much better balms on the market.

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Lipstick Queen in Saint Sunny Rouge

As a part 2 to the last post, here's the other Lipstick Queen product that I've been carrying around with me for the past several months. 

The packaging: This comes in its own box. Like all the lipsticks in the Saint Sheer lipstick line, it's a muted matte yellow-gold tube with the brand stamped on the cap. I tend to not like the feel of LQ's matte tubes because when you hold two of them in your hand and they brush up against each other, it has that nails-on-a-chalkboard feel.

The scent: This has a weird synthetic scent to it, but it goes away once it's applied.

The product: Sunny Rouge is part of the Saint line of LQ's lipsticks. The Saint line is the sheer range of LQ's lipsticks, and Sunny Rouge is a warm, medium pinkish-red. Although it's supposed to be sheer, it went on more pigmented than I expected. 2 swipes gave me an almost opaque coverage. If I needed a truly sheer effect, I had to blot this on very lightly with my fingertips. This went on smoothly, without tugging on my lips. It lasted about 4 hours on me, and was hydrating.

Cost: $22

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Lipstick Queen in Jean Queen

Do you ever buy something and love it so much that you wear it all the time and forget to review it until now? No? Well, you're better than me then. This and another LQ lipstick have been sitting in my makeup bag because I wear the two so much. I really thought I had reviewed these already, but apparently I bought them, tested them, and then loved them so much that I kept in my makeup bag rotation until finally realizing it now.

The packaging: This comes in its own denim-printed box (hence the name Jean Queen). The tube is very similar to LQ's Sailor lipstick (shiny dark blue). This similarity led me to once grabbing Sailor instead of Jean Queen for a night out. All worked out well though - I had berry lips instead of Jean Queen's shade!

The scent: No scent detected.

The product: Jean Queen is a sheer watermelon pink. Jean Queen was designed to wear with any denim since it's supposed to light up your face and offset any shade of denim. While it does look great when you're wearing jeans, it also works with just about any outfit. It's a great muted pink shade that definitely works with an all-natural makeup look. 

It went on smoothly (much like LQ's Medieval) with no tugging on my lips. It was hydrating and lasted about 2-3 hours on my lips. It's easy to reapply since it is a sheer lipstick. This is one of those products where I can apply without using a mirror, so that's a huge plus! 

Cost: $20

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Sephora Rouge Shine Lipstick in French Kiss (22)

I am obsessed with Sephora, so much so that it was almost too easy to renew my VIB Rouge membership. However, I almost always skip Sephora's own line of makeup for the other brands it carries. The only exception to this are Sephora's eyeliners, which are my go-to eyeliners. 

A month ago, though, I decided to look at their lipsticks and found that their Rouge Shine lipstick line is actually pretty amazing. Tons of shades and at a third of the cost of most other lipsticks! 

The packaging: Nothing too fancy or special here. The tube is all black with the shade stamped on the bottom. The cap is a long cap that encases the entire lipstick. 

The scent: There is a fruity, almost raspberry scent to this. It didn't linger for more than a minute or two after applying.

The product: French Kiss (22) is a glossy, muted magenta. This lipstick was INCREDIBLY creamy. It applied so smoothly (almost like a gel) and did not tug at my lips. It was hydrating throughout the entire duration of wear, which was about 4 hours. The color itself was pretty pigmented (about 2 swipes gave me nearly opaque coverage). The "shine" aspect of this product was not lost at all - this gave me a very wet, glossy pout-effect, which meant I could not stop looking at my lips in the mirror. 

The only downside to this product was that it broke in half in the tube the first time I applied it. It wasn't even twisted halfway up, so it was a bit annoying that it broke so easily. I didn't have it in direct or indirect sunlight, so melting wasn't an issue. I think the product is just too soft, so it's prone to breaks. 

Cost: $12.50 - go get one (or two, or three) at this awesome price!

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Review: YSL Rouge Volupte Shine in Coral Incandescent (12)

Who can ever resist anything coral? Not me! If the word "coral" is in the name, I can't help buying it. 

The packaging: This came in its own box. The tube is the standard YSL tube - gold with the logo cut-out in the center to allow the color of the product to peek through. 

The scent: The same mango scent as all the other YSL lip products. Heavy at first, but disappears after applying.

The product: Coral Incandescent (12) is a bright coral that tends to lean more pink. Like all the other Rouge Volupte Shines, this goes on effortlessly with no tugging. It's sheer, but buildable (about 3-4 swipes will give a more semi-opaque coverage). It's incredibly creamy and hydrating, and lasts for about 3-4 hours on me. Reapplying is a cinch since it's so smooth. 

Cost: $35 - great shade for summer!

Questions? Comments? Let me know!