Review: Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy Shine Sculpting Shine Lipstick in Baby Cashmere

Do you ever think to yourself, "wow. This would be a great name for a stripper or a small baby kitten?" when you're looking at makeup products? Well...here's a great one for you - Baby Cashmere.

The packaging: This lipstick comes in a very sturdy case with a magnetic top. I'm all for more lipsticks coming with magnetic caps...makes it dummy-proof for people like me who always manage to somehow not close lipsticks all the way. 

The scent: No scent detected.

The product: Baby Cashmere is a lighter brownish-pink shade with a bit of shine. It goes on smoothly with a light creamy texture. The color is buildable, but never really gets to full opacity. It lasts about 3 hours on lips, but it's so easy to reapply that the wear-time doesn't bother me. This shade definitely is a MLBB color.

The cost: $30

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencils in Dolce Vita & Bahama and Satin Lip Pencil in Hyde Park

The obsession with everything Nars-related continues...

The packaging: All three of these chubby lip pencils comes in its own box. The pencils are not twist-up, which is my only complaint. I hate having to sharpen these because I feel like you lose a lot of product by sharpening.
 

(L to R): In natural light - Dolce Vita, Bahama, Hyde Park

The scent: No scent detected.
 

(L to R): In sunlight - Dolce Vita, Bahama, Hyde Park

The products:

Dolce Vita is described as a matte dusty rose shade. On my lips, it pulls to a lighter, MLBB shade. This is usually my go-to lip product on a daily basis. It goes on smoothly, but it's better to do a light prep on your lips because this tends to be drying as it is matte. It usually lasts about a couple hours or so on my lips because it is a lighter shade. 

Bahama is a matte brownish-pink shade that definitely has a 90s feel to it. If you're looking to copy Kylie Jenner's lip, this is a must for you. Again, since it is matte, it tends to dry out my lips within a couple hours. This shade lasts a bit longer than Dolce Vita because it is a darker shade. 

Hyde Park is a glossier, muted red shade. Being a satin pencil, it glides on smoothly and is somewhat hydrating throughout its wear. It usually lasts about 3-4 hours on my lips through eating and drinking. This is a great red to wear for a very polished look. 

Cost: $26 each 

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso

Do any of you read Blair Eadie's blog Atlantic-Pacific? She is so beautiful and puts together the most amazing outfits...and also rocks the reddest lips around. When I saw that she wears Stila's Beso, I knew I had to go out and try it for myself. 

The packaging: This comes in a standard lip gloss tube, but it's slightly bigger. There's a doe-footed applicator, but I liked using my own lip brush instead for better control. 

The scent: There is a slightly vanilla scent to this.

The product: Beso is a true blue-based red. It's a showstopping shade. Every time I wore this, people actually stared. Not at what I was wearing and the rest of my face - just at my lips. This went on smoothly and had a creamy feel. It took about a minute or so to actually set, and then after that...it would not come off. I drank, I ate, I rubbed...and nothing. It's staying power was almost scary. It lasted a whole day and probably would have lasted a lot longer, but I had to go to sleep so I scrubbed and scrubbed until it came off. It wasn't very hydrating, so I did have to apply balm every couple hours to save my dry lips. 

This liquid lipstick was very similar to Giorgio Armani's Lip Maestro, so I ended up giving this to my cousin, but it is definitely worth buying since it's $10 less than Armani's version.

Cost: $22 - a total steal for such a great product!

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick Duo in Poppy and Scarlet

My lipstick drawers are slowly being overtaken by Nars, YSL, and lastly Bite Beauty. Who doesn't love Bite Beauty? One of these days, I'm hoping to make it to their Bite Beauty Lip Lab so I can make my own custom shade, but until then...I'll just keep buying up their already-made products.

The packaging: This is one slim tube with a lipstick at each end. It's fairly small and slim, but it's great that you can carry around two lipsticks at once. 

The scent: There is a slightly floral scent to these lipsticks. It doesn't last long after applying, but it is there.

The product:

Poppy is a bright almost strawberry-red shade. It went on smoothly, was fairly hydrating, and lasted about 4 hours on me. I've noticed that on other bloggers, Poppy looks more like a true red, but on me, it definitely leaned towards a pinkish-red.

Scarlet is a lighter oxblood shade. It too went on smoothly, had a very creamy feel, was fairly hydrating, and lasted about 6 hours on me. This left behind a stain, as most darker lip products tend to do. 

Cost: $12

Questions? Comments? Let me know!  

Review: Laura Mercier Rouge Nouveau Weightless Lip Colour in Sin

I already have these Rouge Nouveau's in Sexy and Mod, but couldn't resist adding another one to my collection...so here's Sin!

The packaging: This tube comes in its own box, and it's a slim, deep plum colored tube (Laura Mercier's signature packaging color). The product feels good in my hands and is easy to hold while applying.

The scent: No scent detected.

The product: As in the previous reviews for this line, this lipstick goes on weightlessly. It surprises me each time I apply this because I can't even feel it going on. Sin is a sheer plum shade, and it leaves a very sheer plum/blackberry shade on lips. It was not hydrating at all, and actually my lips felt pretty dry after a couple hours. The shade lasted for about 2-3 hours before I had to reapply. This is definitely a great shade to start with if you want to get into the oxblood/burgundy trend, but don't want a full coverage lipstick.

Cost: $25

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Review: Nars Lip Gloss in Sixties Fan

I know I've mentioned multiple times on this blog how much I despise lip gloss, but I have found some glosses that I like (maybe love?) in this past year. I think Nars definitely became one of my favorite makeup brands in 2014 because every single Nars product I put my hands on was spot-on fantastic.

The packaging: This is a standard lip gloss tube with a black cap and clear tube that allows you to see the shade of the product. It features a doe-footed applicator. Nothing fancy here, just standard packaging.

The scent: No scent detected.

The product: Sixties Fan is a deep raspberry shade, but on my lips, it was a bit lighter. It went on smoothly and lasted for about 3 hours (through eating and drinking). It became slightly tacky towards the end of 3 hours, but it wasn't where I wanted to just give up on life and wipe this off my lips. It was neither hydrating nor drying. 

Cost: $26

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Review: Nars Audacious Lipsticks in Lana and Charlotte

Life has been extremely hectic the past few months, so while I've been here, I haven't totally been "here." But it always seems like time slows down a bit in the fall/winter months, so I've been able to catch my breath lately. 

During the past few months, I've amassed a pretty huge backlog of lip products, but one of the best new releases were Nars' Audacious lipstick line. Hope all of you got to at least find a favorite out of the 30+ shades! 

The packaging: These lipsticks come in rectangular tubes that feel nice and heavy in my hands. The cap and the tube are magnetized, so the lipstick has a nice, muted click when you close it. 

The scent: None detected.

The product:

Lana is a bright orangey-red shade. It went on smoothly and had a very creamy texture. I found that I really didn't need much lip prep before applying Lana. It reminded me of LQ's Jungle Queen, but leaned a bit more red. One swipe gave nearly opaque coverage. It was lightly hydrating and lasted about 4 hours on me.  

Charlotte is described as an oxblood-burgundy shade, but on it translated to a darker raspberry shade. It went on smoothly, and one swipe gave nearly opaque coverage. It reminded me of Nars' Damned, but was creamier and not matte obviously. It was lightly hydrating and lasted about 6 hours on me. 

Cost: $32, but well worth it! 

Questions? Comments? Let me know!