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: Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Embellished

I was walking through a Kroger a couple weeks ago picking up some groceries, when I found myself in the makeup aisle. Revlon has a little set-up for their new Evening Opulence collection, and I saw this lip gloss and though..."why not?"

The packaging: Just a clear tube with a black quilted cap. The clear tube allows the shade to show through, and the applicator is a doe foot applicator. 

The scent: No detectable scent here!

The product: I have yet to find a lip gloss that I can't live without...and the search continues sadly. I purchased this product in Embellished which is a deep burgundy with purple glitter flecks in the tube - but it didn't translate to my lips. On my lips, it went on smoothly, but as a red-brown tint. It also went on unevenly and settled into some of my lip lines. It also felt a bit sticky, and I ended up wiping it off within the hour. 
 

Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Embellished

Favorites: This is the only shade I've purchased in this line, but I've heard great things about Adorned (a hot pink shade) in this collection.

Cost: Around $7.59, but I'm sure you can find it for cheaper or get some coupons for this. I wasn't very impressed with this product, so I wouldn't recommend buying this.

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Review: Lipstick Queen Hello Sailor Lipstick

Blue lipstick? Yes. Lipstick Queen promises that this product will transform to a berry color when applied to lips. Does it deliver? Somewhat.

The packaging: This comes in a cute box with the words "Hello Sailor" and "Lipstick Queen" on the side in a blue and white scheme. The tube inside is brushed deep blue color, and the product itself is a beautiful deep ocean blue shade. The novelty factor of this product is what really made me stop and do a double take...and eventually purchase it. Also, It is pretty interesting to see people's reaction when you pull this out and apply it.

The scent: No detectable scent noted, so...whew.

The product: So it does not go on blue when applied, but leaves a very faint blue - almost purple - sheen on your lips. After several minutes, it transformed to a sheer berry color on my lips. I wasn't impressed by the tint it left because I felt like I could achieve the same tint by buying a tinted balm by any drugstore brand. Also, it wore off quickly meaning it didn't even hit the 2 hour mark. However, there are good points to this product. It is hydrating and moisturizing since it contains Vitamin E, and I think this could be layered on top of other lipsticks to turn any shade into a deeper berry. 

Favorite: So far, I haven't really been impressed with any Lipstick Queen products. I just don't think they work well on my lips. Am I the only one who isn't in love with this brand?

Cost: $25. I think this is ridiculously overpriced, and again feel like you could find a better product at drugstores for a much cheaper price.

Questions? Comments? Let me know! 

Review: Maybelline Color Whisper in Berry Ready & A Plum Prospect

So I'm late to the game on picking up and trying Maybelline's Color Whisper line, but better late than never! The two shades I chose were #85 Berry Ready and #100 A Plum Prospect. 

Drugstore lip products are getting better and better nowadays, and we're all the better for it. In the last 5 years, drugstore brands have really upped their game and it's getting easier to find dupes of brand name products. Maybelline's Color Whisper line makes me think of YSL's Rouge Volupté Shine products...and they cost way less.

The packaging: This product comes in a silver tube with a cap that matches the shade of product inside. I like the slimmer design of this product. It's easy to slip into even the smallest of clutches. I wouldn't choose one of these based on the color-coded cap though. The color inside is not very similar to the cap - I learned this the hard way with these two shades.

The scent: If you sniff hard enough, it smells like...lipstick. The scent isn't noticeable though, so no worries here.

The product: These went on very well. You get a lot of pigmentation with one swipe and it's very moisturizing. These both lasted about 4 hours on me and left a nice sheer stain behind. I don't know if the lighter shades would leave a stain, but these two darker shades did. 

A Plum Prospect is a brighter raspberry shade - I honestly thought it was going to be deeper or darker due to both the name and the color-coded tube, but it was a lot brighter and lighter than I originally thought. It's more of a magenta color that I would want to wear in the summer than the Fall.
 

A Plum Prospect

Berry Ready is a deeper raspberry shade. Again, based on the tube, I thought this would be redder, but it turned out to be darker and more of a bright plum (if that makes sense). This color could be worn in the Fall to brighten up a dark outfit. 
 

Berry Ready

 In both photos, I only applied one swipe to get this amount of pigmentation on my lips.

Favorites: Out of these two, I prefer A Plum Prospect more because I tend to lean more towards brighter shades. 

Cost: $7.49, but there's always sales going on! I got these at Ulta in a buy 1, get 50% off the other deal. Definitely worth it, because you're paying 1/5 of the price for a brand name version of this.

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Review: Nars Satin Lip Pencils

From a bad review in the last post to a good review in this post! Nars hasn't really been a go-to brand of mine, and the products of theirs that I have tried have been good, but not great. These lip pencils though are completely great.

The packaging: These pencils come in their own individual black boxes. The pencils are capped with a black cap and the shade of the product is banded around the bottom. 

The scent:  No scent was detected, so sensitive noses rejoice!

The product: The two shades I bought were Luxembourg and Hyde Park. Luxembourg is a bright, hot watermelon shade. Hyde Park is marketed as a cardinal red, but it was more of a raspberry on my lips. These pencils are HIGHLY pigmented and go on smoothly and evenly. They don't pull or drag on your lips and leave a nice stain behind. They lasts a long time as well - almost 6 hours! They weren't drying either, so there was no need for me to apply balm throughout the day. The only thing I don't like about these pencils is that you have to sharpen them, and that leads to a lot of product loss. Also, you won't be able to line precisely with these pencils because you never get a sharp enough tip even with sharpening.

Favorites: I had also purchased Yu (a very hot pink shade), but returned it for Luxembourg instead. Out of all three that I tried, I think my favorite would have to be Hyde Park because it's much more wearable than the other two. I wear it most days as a stain, but blotted the color on with my fingers. 

Cost: $25. If you want a very pigmented shade that lasts for most of the day, then this is worth it. Otherwise, I would suggest paying $10 more and going with something from YSL's Rouge Volupté line.

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Review: YSL's Volupté Sheer Candy (Glossy Balms)

Today's review will be on my favorite line of lip products. Honestly, you cannot go wrong with Yves Saint Laurent! I'll do a separate post on YSL's Rouge Volupté Shine, but for now, we'll focus on the Glossy balms.

The packaging: These come in a reflective gold box and the tube for the glossy balms is a reflective silver tube. I love, love, LOVE the feel of these. They invoke a very old-Hollywood glamour feel and the heaviness of the tube adds to this rich feeling. You'll just feel classy holding this in your hand.

The scent: Bad news for sensitive noses - this has a very distinctive mango smell. If smells bother you, there's no getting away from this. You'll smell it putting it on, you'll smell it when it's on, and it'll linger for awhile. I don't mind smells, and actually I love the smell of these.

The product: Every shade of these glossy balms glides on effortlessly. They don't tug or pull on your lips, you don't have to prep your lips beforehand, and you don't need a mirror for the lighter shades. When applied, the colors are true to what you see in the tube. 

The first shade I chose was 02 - Dewy Papaya. It's a very sheer, peachy tinted balm. It has a small amount of sparkle to it, but it's not too noticeable. This lasted about an hour or so on me. It's so sheer that after about an hour, I reapplied to get more color. However, if you like a very sheer shade that just adds a tiny bit of color to your lips, this is the shade you should start off with.

The second shade I chose was 04 - Succulent Pomegranate. I am in love with this shade - it's a very bright pink. I love this shade because at times when I feel like wearing hot pink on my lips, but don't want it to stand out too much (such as matte lipsticks or stains), this sheer wash of hot pink is perfect. This lasted longer than the first shade - a little over 2 hours (but during that time, I ate and drank). It's easy to reapply though - one swipe should give you a nice sheer wash of color while two swipes will give you a brighter, shinier pink.

The third shade I chose was 05 - Mouthwatering Berry. I was actually shopping for a thank you gift and chose this for the recipient...and ending up getting one for myself (this happens more frequently than it should)! This is a sheer reddish berry shade. The shade is similar to what you would look like after eating a bowl of blackberries. I like wearing this on nights when I know I'll be drinking red wine because if I have any wine stains on my lips, I can cover it up by using this! If you've always wanted to try a bit of a deeper berry shade, but feel nervous about going straight into lipsticks, try this first. It's sheer so you can build it up the saturation level to whatever makes you comfortable. This lasted about 2 hours as well.

Favorites: It's hard to choose because I love them all, but the one I wear most is Succulent Pomegranate (04). The shade of pink just makes me happier when I swipe it on, and I feel like it wakes my face up whenever I'm looking especially tired. 

Cost: $32 - very pricey. BUT I use at least one of these every day. Very worth it in my opinion, but choose your first shade wisely, so you'll get the most out of your money!

Natural lips

02 Dewy Papaya

04 Succulent Pomegranate

05 Mouthwatering Berry

Questions? Comments? Let me know what you think!

Review: Fresh Sugar Lip Treatments

For my first review on this blog, I've chosen Fresh's line of Sugar Lip Treatments.
I remember buying the original Sugar color several years ago, but it wasn't until about a year ago, that I fell in love with these all over again.

Fresh Lip Treatments (L to R): Sugar, Rose, Petal, Berry, Passion, Cherry

The packaging: I love how these are packaged. They come in their own little box, and the actual tube that encases the product is sturdy (I've dropped these several times and barely made a dent in them!). You have to slightly unscrew the tube to open it, and then you unscrew to push up the product. The only thing I don't like about the packaging is that it has a metallic finish, so when you accidentally rub two tubes together, it's reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard (this might just be me though). 

The scent: I love the smell of these! It smells like a very sweet lemon. I'm not sensitive to smells in cosmetics, so I don't know if others would think these are too scented though.

The product: These all go on very smoothly and you can build up the color as much as you would like. These products are not weightless, so you know you're wearing something on your lips though. The great thing about these lip treatments are that they are not sticky and they're easy to reapply without a mirror. They also left my lips feeling smoother and softer. They last about 4 hours on me and the darker colors leave a nice stain on my lips. If you're eating or drinking, you'll have to reapply after. 

Favorites: My favorite out of the group is Petal, although it's hard to choose a favorite! I only chose Petal because it's my go-to Sugar and the one I throw in my purse when I'm going out for the day. It's the closest to my natural lip color and enhances it just the right amount.

Cost: $22.50 - pricey for a balm, but you'll fall in love with them and they're SPF 15!

For comparison, here's a photo of my natural lip color

The original Sugar

Sugar Rose - sheer rose tint

Sugar Petal - sheer petal pink tinted

Sugar Berry - sheer raspberry tinted

Sugar Passion - sheer crimson red tinted

Sugar Cherry - bright sheer cherry red tinted

Questions? Comments? Let me know what you think!