RIMMEL London Show Off Lip Lacquers

I have been a fan of Rimmel Stay Glossy Lipgloss for a long time now.  They are affordable and come in colors that are basic and easy to throw on anytime/anywhere.  So I was excited to see Rimmel London Show Off Lip Lacquers in my local Walgreens and was intrigued to try them out.   Originally released overseas as Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquers, they are finally available in the US. You can find these now in stores for $4.99 each in 14 different shades.  I picked up 3 shades:

200 Comet – Rosy Brown, deep nude

101 Celestial – True Pink that brightens up any pout

100 Nude Eclipse – Nude Beige

All three shades are crazy pigmented, long-wearing and not sticky. Only one swipe is needed to get full opaque coverage. I have been mixing them to create different shades as well, mainly using Nude Eclipse as a mixer to lighten up the other two shades.  It works perfectly.

Top to Bottom: Comet, Celestial, Nude Eclipse

Show Off’’s are described by Rimmel as, “Intense rich colour of a lipstick, enhanced by a satin smooth shine.” Basically what they are trying to say is that these are a lipstick/lip gloss hybrid. The finish is shiny, like a gloss and creamy like a lipstick.  Sometimes long-wearing formulas can be drying but I didn’t find that with this product.  I found the staying power to be pretty good for a gloss formula; it almost leaves a little stain behind once the gloss has worn off. The texture is a bit on the thick side but it feels smooth and creamy on the lips.  Show Off’’s come with a doe foot applicator with a little dip in it making it easier to swipe on an even application.  One thing I wasn’t crazy about was the scent of this product. It has sort of a watermelon scent that kind of bugs me. I basically dislike anything that smells like that cheap watermelon scent (Bubble Yum gum is the worst!!).  This scent doesn’t seem to hang around too long to bother me too much though.  Overall, another great lip product from Rimmel. If you are looking for a highly pigmented version of Stay Glossy, Show Off’s is exactly what you need!

MAC Archie’s Girls Collection…I’m a Betty!

 Due to some unforeseen circumstances (Oh life with kids…), I was unable to make it to my MAC Archie’s Girl appointment at my local MAC counter.  But I was able to stop by and pick up a few things before they sold out. Overall, sadly, I wasn’t too impressed with the collection.  The colors just didn’t really wow me. All the Veronica colors were too cool or bold and some of the Betty colors were just too bright for my taste. Here is a review of what I did purchase, check it out!

Betty Lipglass in Summer Sweetheart $16.50

MAC Summer Sweetheart Lipglass is described as a light peach which is a pretty spot on description. It has a milky peach, creamy consistency and look.  Its looks great on its own (semi-opaque, natural lip comes through) and over top lipstick as well.  Love this color, it’s basic and pretty!

Betty Opulash Optimum Black $17.50

One of my local MAC artists has been trying to get me to try out the Opulash mascara because I always comment on her lashes and it’s the formula she wears. My False Lashes is about to expire so I thought what the hey, I’ll try it out (the cute packaging is a plus).  Opulash delivers even color to every little lash with its large, full applicator brush (LOVE!!). The formula adds both length, volume, separates and is buildable without getting clumpy or making lashes look stiff.  It reminds me a lot of Plushlash, which use to be my favorite MAC mascara for years.  The Optimum Black is a super intense black color, more saturated than the regular Opulash. Overall, love this mascara and it might be my new fav!

Pearlmatte Face Powder in Flatter Me $30.00

MAC Pearlmatte Face Powder combines pearlized and satin shades to achieve an array of looks. I can be used for highlighting and blush effects or as an Eye Shadow with a velvet-smooth finish. Flatter Me is the Betty Pearlmatte Powder of the collection and is described as a “golden peach base with coral hearts.” The main color is a warm peach with a soft, frost finish and the hearts are a medium pinky-coral with a subtle golden sheen. When combined the shade of the colors provides a soft peachy sheen to the cheeks and is certainly buildable in color.  The texture is buttery soft and finely milled. On the skin and blended out, it doesn’t look powdery, and the finish is a soft shimmer-sheen so it doesn’t emphasize the skin’s texture or pores.

swatches



Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Intimacy

I purchased a few items from the Naked Strangers collection released by Illamasqua. The first being Sheer Lipgloss ($20) is the color Intimacy. Described as a nude brown pink on the Illamasqua website, I find that this gloss is the most beautiful nude pink shade I have seen in awhile.

Intimacy is a super-wearable natural color with just the tiniest hint of shimmer. It is decently pigment for a sheer gloss formula and wears for about 3 hours (without eating or drinking). The formula is super creamy, not sticky at all and has a subtle candy like scent. This is the second Sheer Lipgloss I have purchased from Illamasqua and it looks like they changed up the packaging, definitely for the better. The glosses use to be in a squeeze tube which can be messy and allow too much product to be dispensed. Now the glosses come in a tube with a wand for much easier application. If you are looking for a great neutral pinky nude, this has to be one of the best around!

Rouge Bunny Rouge Gleaming Temptations Lip Gloss

Included in my Beautyhabit order was a gift with purchase.  They offered Gleaming Temptations Lip Gloss in Love Tricks as a gift with the purchase of two or more Rouge Bunny Rouge items.  This was an awesome GOP!! Rouge Bunny Rouge describes Love Tricks as "a sheer, pale lilac mauve with a fine, milky white opalescence,” which is a pretty accurate description.   The color looked a bit scary in the tube to me, but when applied it’s really sheer and gives lips a touch of color. 

Love Tricks is a cool light fuchsia pink which I didn’t think would look good with my coloring but surprisingly it looks amazing. The sheer opalescent pink applied to my lips actually looks quite natural and gives a hint of a shiny pink flush.  The texture of this gloss is moderately thick but not sticky at all. It glides on lips effortlessly and leaves them moisturized and soft.  The Gleaming Temptation glosses have the same citrus scent that the lipsticks have, which is very subtle. Overall I like this formula of lipgloss, its has some lasting power which is good and once the gloss has worn off my lips they still feel soft and supple.

Chanel Summer 2011: Pink Peony Glossimer

For summer, Chanel released three new Glossimer shades ($28.50) that are limited edition. Glossimers are a sheer gloss formula often designed for layering over lip color. I love Glossimers for their soft shimmer and easy to wear texture and the color selection is great. The texture is not sticky at all and applies very smoothly. I only picked up one color from the summer collection, Pink Peony.

Pink Peony is a rosy pink with soft shimmer. It delivers high shine when worn on its own and over a lip color. At my Chanel makeover, the MA used this color over Gardenia Rouge Coco and the shimmer really stood out. It’s a great color for summer and I have been wearing it non-stop since Saturday.

Lipgloss of the Moment: Lancôme Color Fever Gloss in Hotness

I decided that instead of doing a favorites post at the end of every month, I am going to start doing an “Of the Moment” series.  Basically it will be posts about what I am loving at the moment in makeup, skincare & fragrance. I find that when it comes to monthly favorites, it’s hard for me to narrow down what I love for that month. I love and use too many products.  So for my first “Of the Moment” post I am going to feature a lipgloss that I currently have been using a lot. 

Lancôme Color Fever gloss ($26) in Hotness is a pale peach shimmer with lots of shine.  I love the way Lancôme’s glosses smell, it’s like a delicious floral fruity scent.  The texture of this gloss is not sticky at all and applies so smoothly. It’s a great neutral shade on its own or adds shimmer and shine over a lipstick.  The overall shade selection of the Color Fever glosses is great and I have several but Hotness is what I am loving at the moment.  What is your favorite gloss of the moment??

Rouge Bunny Rouge Lip Products

Along with my Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadows I picked up two of the Russian brands lip products, Color Burst Lipstick and Gleaming Temptations lipgloss. Both lip products contain moisturizing ingredients such as Vitamin E but the lipstick contains such ingredients as Orchid Flower extract, Meadow foam, Manoi Butter to hydrate and the lipgloss contains Sesame, Neem and Boswellia Oils; Lotus Flower Extract, Gingko Biloba, Green Tea to hydrate, nourish and regenerate. After trying both products I definitely agree that they moisturize and hydrate very well. Let’s talk about the colors that I choose.

The color I decided to purchase in the Color Burst lipstick is The Plot Thickens. This shade is a beautiful rosy nude beige with a satin finish. It has a slight figgy scent which I really like. When applied it has decent pigmentation, not too sheer, not too opaque, very middle of the road. This product applies easy and smooth and feels soft on the lips. It’s definitely hydrating yet lightweight. Overall a great lipstick that is easy to throw on at anytime.

I picked up the shade Birthday Suit in the RBR Gleaming Temptations lipgloss. Birthday Suit is a honey, peachy beige with a soft shimmer. This is a gorgeous color! On its own Birthday Suit is very sheer but when applied over a lipstick, especially The Plot Thickens, it adds a beautiful nude sheen. This product also has a fig scent to it and is non-sticky and moisturizing.

Overall I am super happy with all the RBR products that I purchased and can’t wait to get some more. But what they really need to do is bring this brand to the US, and fast!

L to R: The Plot Thickens, Birthday Suit

Laura Geller Focus on Favorites 5 piece Starter Set

I first read about Laura Geller’s cosmetic line on Musing of a Muse’s website. I read various reviews about her products and some of them really jump out to me as something I would want to try. SO I popped over to QVC’s website and check out various products and watched a few videos describing the products. I decided to start out with the Focus on Favorites kit, which features five mini size of Laura’s stand out products, perfect for first timers to try out. The kit comes with:

• Spackle tinted primer in Bronze
• Real Deal concealer
• Balance-N-Brighten
• Baked Eyeshadow & Liner duo in Unearthed/Dutch Chocolate
• Shine-N-Shield SPF 15 lipgloss in Fresco Gelato
• Small black faux leather zipper bag

This kit comes in three different shades: Fair, Regular, or Tan in the Balance–N–Brighten (Light, Medium, Medium Deep for the concealer). Of course being the pale one I am right now, I decided to try out the Fair/Light kit. Here is what I thought of each product:

I have been looking for a makeup primer for sometime but haven’t really found one that I liked very much. I found most greasy or drying, so I was please to try out Laura’s primer. When you see it in the tube you almost think it will be to dark in color for fair skin but it’s not at all. This primer subtly brightens the face and feels nice when applied. It’s almost a gel-like consistency which is nice and feels like it hydrates without being overly greasy. This primer is oil free and paraben free.

Primer in Bronze

Real Deal concealer was one of the products I really wanted to try. I love the Vichy Dermablend concealer I just purchased but I wanted to see if I would like this formula better. This concealer claims to cover scars, under eye circles, birthmarks, etc. It’s a silicone based oil-free concealer with super pigmentation; a little goes a long way. Overall I found that I really like the formula and think it is not as drying as and smoother than the Vichy.

Real Deal concealer in Light

Balance-N-Brighten is the other product that I was interested in. The idea of swirling color corrective pigments together to create a unique foundation powder sounded cool. This powder is a correcting and brightening with swirls of soft tans to beiges to help offset ruddiness brighten and balance your complexion. I have to say that this powder is quite impressive. I like the feel, the coverage and the staying power of this product. Mainly I have been using this as a setting powder over my foundation but on the weekends I have been using it with just concealer. Both ways my skin looks evened out and happy! I will definitely be buying this in the full size.

Balance-N-Brighten in Fair

I am no stranger to baked eyeshadows. I have several from MAC and a few from other brands as well. Laura Geller claims to be the first to create baked products, not sure if that claim is true but the majority of her line is now baked products. The Unearthly/Dutch Chocolate duo is an eyeshadow & eyeliner duo. Unearthly is the shadow (can be applied wet or dry) that is a beautiful bronzy gold color. Dutch Chocolate is the liner that is a deep chocolate brown color that can also be used wet or dry. It’s a nice color combo and could see myself using this duo a lot in the summer.

Baked Duo in Unearthly & Dutch Chocolate

L to R: Duo Dry & Duo Wet

The last product is the Shine-N-Shield lipgloss with SPF 15 in the color Fresco Gelato, a warn berry. This gloss is nicely pigmented and applies smoothly to the lips. It hydrates well and contains Vitamin E and cocoa butter. It feels great on my lips and stays on for a decent amount of time. The color is pretty universal and would look great on any skin tone.

Fresh Gelato Swatch

Overall, I am very pleased with the 5 piece Laura Geller starter kit I purchased. In fact I was so impressed that I ordered one for my mother and ordered another kit for myself (Baked Beginnings) that I will be reviewing soon. Definitely go check out Laura Geller on QVC or at Macy’s or LauraGeller.com.

Bobbi Brown Pink Peony Rich Color Gloss

Only one item from the recently released Bobbi Brown collection, Peony & Python, really caught my eye.  Pale Peony Rich Color Gloss ($22) is a semi sheer bright pink with a cream finish.  There is a slight mint scent that is the norm for the Rich Color Gloss formula, which I really enjoy.  It almost makes your lips tingle a bit.   Also the texture is not as sticky and much smoother than her other gloss formulas.  This color is a great complement to Bikini Pink Rich Lip Color that I had purchased earlier.  The combo makes for a great bright spring lip, which is very on trend right now.

MAC Wonder Woman Collection: Emancipation & Marquis D’

 I wasn’t super impressed with MAC’s Wonder Woman collection. The packaging seemed too childlike and overdone; the colors in the collection didn’t seem to mesh to me. Overall, not my favorite and I was planning to skip it entirely but I did decide to get two products: Emancipation lipglass and Marquis D’ lipstick. I thought it would be nice to just have a few products from this limited edition launch.

Emancipation lipglass is a limited edition sheer champagne pink with subtle shimmer. It’s a beautiful everyday color and that is why I picked it up. The lipglasses in this collection are super-sized and cost a little more than normal lipglasses at $19.50. You do get a lot more product for your money.

Marquis D’ is a sheer nude pink with a slight gold sheen. It’s a lustre finish lipstick and is a repromote from Blond, Brunette, Redhead (2009). Not sure why I didn’t pick this color up then but I really like it.

Left to Right: Emancipation, Marquis D'

Overall, the Wonder Woman collection was a real let down for me. Unless you are a fan of the superhero theme of it all, I would skip this collection. I was hoping for more metallics but what can you do. Hopefully MAC will make up for it in their summer collections.

NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencils

 Along with their Spring 2011 collections, NARS launched a new product: Velvet Gloss Lip Pencils ($24). The collection launched with six shades ranging from nude to blackberry. I picked up two colors, Hopi and Frivolous. Both colors have a natural finish and are not super pigmented, almost like a glaze. They offer a smooth texture with a super glossy sheen and contain Vitamin E, making them moisturizing. After applying and wearing the formula, it’s very lightweight and lasts for a decent amount of time. Now onto the colors…

Hopi is a peachy nude (no shimmer) and is the most pigmented of the two colors.

Frivolous is an iridescent pink and is very sheer, subtle when swatched and applied on the lips.

Clinique Long Last Glosswear in Milly Pink

 For Spring 2011 Clinique collaborated with Milly NYC designer Michelle Smith to create a limited edition collection called "Pretty in Prints" that includes an eyes/cheeks palette and a glosswear. Since I love the Milly clothing line, I was super excited to see and try out the collection.  I picked up both the Pretty in Prints palette and the Long Last Glosswear in Milly Pink.  (I will be reviewing the palette in another post.)  I already own a few of Clinique’s glosswears and really enjoy the colors and the formula, so Milly Pink is a great addition to my collection.

Clinique describes their glosswear as “Lip gloss juiced up with eight hours of lasting shine. Spends every minute comforting lips. In glistening shades from sheer to full intensity. Moisture makes each one even more mouthwatering. Protects lips, too.” I do have to say that glosswears do have a decent lasting power but definitely doesn’t last for 8 hours. As far as the color, in the tube Milly Pink looks like a bright coral pink with gold shimmer, but on the lips it is much sheerer. It gives my already pigmented lips a beautiful shimmery glaze of pink. This is a great color for spring and goes beautifully with the Pretty in Prints palette.

MAC A Tartan Tale Lip Bag – Vain & Glorious

Each Holiday collection, MAC comes out with a couple of lips sets that come in bags that are designed in the theme of the collection. Two different lips bags were released in this collection; Vain & Glorious (pinks) and Dazzle the Lads (reds). The Vain & Glorious Lip Bag ($36.00) includes three lip products: A dazzleglass in Baby Sparks (full size, permanent to the MAC line), a lipstick in Mellow Mood (full size, LE) and a lip pencil in In Synch (mini, LE).  The bag that comes with these lip sets are small multi tartan patterned bags, which I simply love! I am a sucker for anything plaid and this bag is super cute.  The bag holds all of the products in the set as well as a few more lipsticks or glosses. Now on to the products:

~Baby Sparks is a sheer, pale pink dazzleglass with pinky blue shimmer. This gloss is very sheer on the lips; it adds a lot of gloss and shimmer.

~Mellow Mood is a mid-tone pink lipstick with a little gold shimmer. This is a lustre formula lipstick and is a great color to swipe on and go.

~In Synch is peachy pink colored lip liner that is quite pigmented. This is a great product to use to tone down your lip color before applying a nude lipstick or gloss.

When used together, these lip products give a glossy, gorgeous light pink lip. I am super happy with this combo and the cute tartan bag makes it even better!

L to R: Mellow Mood, Babysparks, In Synch