Wednesday, July 8, 2009
NYX Black Label Lipstick
I love lipsticks and lipglosses and my makeup collection consists more of both more than eyeshadows or blushes. My favorite? NYX lipsticks! I have always been an avid fan of their “Round Lipsticks” (my favorites colors in the Round Lipstick Series are “Rea”, “Thalia”, and “Pandora”), so I was really excited to give their “Black Label” series a try. I chose “Dusty Rose” which a gorgeous medium pink, essentially a rose pink, which gives a nice natural subtle color on the lips, perfect to wear anywhere with any outfit.
The casing of the black label lipsticks are a bit bigger and thicker than the NYX round lipsticks, but it's every bit of “high class” and decadence at an unbelievable price of $7. The lipstick itself comes on velvety smooth and creamy, and with just the right amount of pigmentation in just a few swipes. What I love about the NYX Black Label lipstick, is that it isn't dry nor does it make your lips dry. It is very moisturizing and there is no odd smell or odd taste with this lipstick, unlike other lipsticks I have tried. And if you already have tried the NYX round lipsticks and loved them (I know I did!), then you are definitely in for a treat! You will love the NYX Black Label lipsticks and you will not be disappointed because you get so many great things in one tube: great price, quality lipstick with great pigmentation, and it's moisturizing; not to mention how many colors there is to choose from.
They have a good amount of colors to choose from and the bottom base of the lipstick is clear so you can see what color it is from the outside, making it easy to choose your color of choice. It's really refreshing that NYX constantly expands their line, adding more eye shadows, premium brushes, lipglosses, and of course lipsticks. They have come up with so many variations, formulas, and different colors that for sure you will find one to tickle your fancy or to even match every outfit!
Styli-Style Flat Pencils
Everyone loves an easy to use eyeliner that just glides on smoothly and doesn't tug. I personally like the Styli-Style 'Line & Seal' so I was sure that I would love the Styli-Style Flat Pencils! The one thing that bothers me about normal eyeliners (rounded tip liners), is simply that- their rounded tip. It doesn't cover a lot of surface area nor does it allow you to create a thick, even line without having to apply a few layers of eyeliner just to get the desired look, then only leave you with a smudgy mess at the end of the day, giving you major raccoon eyes!
With the Styli-Style Flat eyeliner pencils, it really changes the way we look at eyeliners in general; its flat tip makes it easier to hold giving you an amazing grip, as well as giving you an even line of pigmented color making it the ideal eyeliner to line both the upper and lower lash line. It's honestly virtually fool proof in the sense that even if you don't know how to apply eyeliner, it will be a cinch when using any of the Styli-Style Flat Eyeliners.
I had the opportunity to try one of these Styli-Style Flat Pencils (in the color “Venice”) which is a such a gorgeous turquoise color that can make any eye color pop and it's the perfect color for the summer! What's great about these pencils is that they are multi-purpose, meaning you can use the thin side to line your eyes and lips, and the thicker side for eyeshadow or lipstick application. It's also hypo-allergenic and 100% waterproof which is a major plus for me considering that I look for makeup that can withstand and last in this sweltering California heat and surpass sweat and/or tears.
Since it's a flat pencil, this means that you cannot sharpen it using just any sharpener, you need to purchase the Styli-Style pencil sharpeners especially made for the flat pencils.
The Styli-Style pencils are only $7.50 each on CherryCulture.com, and come in a range of colors: Venice (turquoise), Berlin (chestnut), London (green/black), Rio (tanzanite), Madrid (dark blue), Vienna (Italy Blue), and Rome (purple). I think these pencils are essential in any girl's makeup bag, and there's definitely a color for everyone- from the natural, earth-tone loving gal to the bold, daring gal!
Amuse 98-Eyeshadow Kit
I had another opportunity to try another Amuse palette, this time it was the Amuse 96 piece eyeshadow palette. I like this palette better than the Amuse Diamond Palette because it's a lot smaller in size, and has more eye shadows that are right up my alley. It has two trays on the top that fold out, and those trays are full of powdered eye shadows that are really-pigmented. When you pull out the trays it reveals another set of eye shadows (96 total) that are similar to those shimmer powdered eye shadows that are in the Amuse Diamond Palette; they too are depicted by a cute flower print on them.
The Amuse 96 piece eye shadow is nice with its fold out trays and the different color eye shadows that it comes with. However, I found the palette itself hard to open (unless mine was just defective) but I had to pry mine with a screw driver to open it. It also doesn't have a mirror but has see-thru bubble windows on the lid of the palette so you can see some of the colors inside. The palette is a bit heavy, but not overly heavy, just heavier than some of their other palettes. They also have a slight, but soft fragrance to them just like Amuse's other palettes.
It's $20 and is definitely a cool palette to have because it has a wide range of eye shadow colors to play with, the eye shadows on the top trays are the most pigmented in my opinion and they go on nice and smooth. They are really vibrant in color and you can create countless looks with them. The eye shadows on the bottom are a bit more shimmery, almost metallic, and again these are the ones that have the flower print on them so you can distinguish which ones are which. I also like how this palette has a different set of the powdered eye shadows (the top trays) because it gives you more variety to work with and I actually like those eye shadows better than the shimmery ones hidden under the fold out trays. They also come with two eye shadow applicators to apply these yummy eye shadows with and it's also good for traveling; unlike the Amuse Diamond Eye Shadow palette that was too big to carry around; however this palette of course is a lot thicker than the Amuse Diamond Palette which was a lot thinner.
L.A. Colors Mystic Fountation
I recently had the good fortune to try a new foundation from a line I was not familiar with. The line? L.A. Colors, a division of Beauty 21, who create makeup “to target the diverse beauty needs of women of every demographic at an affordable price.” The foundation? Mystic Foundation, which claims “natural looking coverage and a creamy formula that evens out skin tone and improves skin texture.”
I have long been a fan of cream foundations. Unlike liquid foundations that tend to be tricky to apply, difficult to blend and can rub off after a few short hours of wear, cream foundations tend to solve those challenges and still give a nice, natural finish, usually with better coverage.
You will be pleased to know that my experience with L.A. Colors Mystic Foundation was a fantastic one! It has a smooth, creamy and dense consistency--I liken it to Becca's stick foundation, but with a creamier texture and less ‘drag'. However, unlike many stick or cream-style foundations, Mystic Foundation does not turn powdery and it does not get cakey, a big plus, especially if you set your makeup with a dusting of powder, which I definitely do.
Mystic Foundation offers superior blendability. I rubbed the stick across my forehead, cheeks, chin and then rubbed a little extra around my eyes and nose (the areas where I tend to need a more coverage), blended quickly with my foundation brush and I was, in essence, done. A few blemishes were still barely visible, so I grabbed my concealer brush and found that Mystic Foundation covered them quickly, completely and still looked very natural.
The coverage is medium to medium-to-full, and easily blended. I found the finished look especially natural if a foundation brush is used (I know, I know…enough with the ‘natural' already!). It totally gave my skin a smooth tone and texture; my husband even said that my face looked especially healthy and clear (wow!). Also, coverage can be built up, so in effect, Mystic Foundation may be used effectively both as foundation and as concealer.
The color and pigmentation is superior (the color I am using is called Nude—my skin tone is fair with some freckles and red spots). With nine shades available to match almost all skin tones, you are sure to find one that will give you "perfect skin", too.
Another HUGE plus: Wear is superb. Example? After one hour of rigorous tennis and marathon shopping trip, I found that Mystic Foundation still looked perfectly fresh and even.
One note for those who are fragrance conscious: Mystic Foundation contains fragrance but not so much so to be overpowering; in fact, I found the fragrance quite nice; it's soft and minimal (reminiscent of baby powder mixed with almond).
Overall, L.A. Colors Mystic Foundation is one of the best foundations I've used. And at $4, it is a complete steal!
Eyeko Fat Balm
I love lip balms and virtually every chapstick that can moisturize and soften my lips (and doesn't have a funky smell or taste). Especially around this time of the year, my lips take a beating and become so dry and chapped, at times to the point where the soft skin on my lips start to flake and can be so painful. Usually I opt for chapstick rather than lipstick because I am all about comfort and would rather work on getting my lips conditioned rather than having lipstick on that would further dry my lips.
I had the opportunity to try Eyeko's Minty Fat Lip Balm in “Minty”, and let me tell you how much I love this cute thing! I have always like big fat lip balms because they cover so much more lip area to ensure you get every little spot! The packaging was beyond adorable, it's about 3 inches tall, perfect to take anywhere, it's baby pink with cute designs on it, and has a cap that stays on. I can't tell you how many times my lip balms and other chapsticks get ruined because eventually their caps get loose and don't stay on the stick or the chapstick itself breaking off the stick for becoming too soft or too small, causing them to be more prone to breakage. With Eyeko's Minty Fat Balm, there's so much product- a fat stick of balm- that makes it so sturdy and worth every penny. You never feel like you may be applying too much pressure for it to break. It's also in a convenient twist-up tube.
This lip balm itself is very moisturizing, doesn't have a funky smell or taste at all, it smells and tastes like a nice vanilla mint, and I LOVE the cool tingly feeling it gives you on your lips that tells you it's doing its job! It really stays on your lips so you don't have to re-apply often and I have noticed such a tremendous difference. I have been using it for about a week now and I love how soft and supple my lips feel after using this. The color of the lip balm is a nice sheen baby pink, giving your lips a nice sheer clear pink tint.
There are two other yummy fruit flavors to tickle your fancy: Strawberry and Rapberry, each has their own unique flavor and sheer color. The price however may be a little steep for some, $13 each; which may be pricey for just a lip balm/chapstick, but they give you a lot of product that'll last awhile, and it's really unlike any other lip balm I've tried in which others have had a weird nasty wax feeling. This lip balm has a nice soft natural feeling to your lips I think you'll like!
L.A. Girl Mega Pearl Single Eyeshadow
One of my favorite affordable makeup brands is L.A. Girl. They have a ton of products for the face, eyes, and lips at such an affordable price. The best part? The pigmentation and quality put into each and every product. I love L.A. Girl's lip palettes because they are so creamy and pigmented and they come in a variety of colors that I immediately knew that their mega pearl single eye shadows would be just as good!
I had an opportunity to try these eye shadows and they definitely do not disappoint! They go on so smoothly and they have a nice shimmer to them, like a pearl shimmer finish, no chunky glitter- which makes it perfect for anyone to wear for any occasion (although some shades may have the appearance of glitter or more shimmer). They are also very pigmented and at only three bucks a pop! It applies so smoothly and evenly and accentuates the eyes with its vibrant colors, that you are sure to find one that suits your personality or your outfit for the day. Although most of the colors are on the bold side, there aren't too many neutral colors, but they are still awesome eye shadows to have. However, the eyeshadow doesn't stay on long so its best to use a eyeshadow primer before application to make it last longer as well as keeping the eye shadows vibrant.
There are 24 gorgeous shades that'll make it hard for you to just choose a few! I tried on two of the 24 shades: appletini and kamikaze (a green apple color and a medium blue color). I love appletini it reminds me of a sour apple color that goes great with purple or blue eye shadows; and is a nice solid version of a mineral eyeshadow I once had, so it was nice to have it in solid form to make it less messy and easier to travel with. They each come in their own individual pots with a clear, see-thru flip top lid which is very easy to open and makes it easy to identify each color. It's also flat and fairly small so it doesn't take up a lot of space and its easy to store.
Overall, I love these eye shadows from L.A. Girl, they are definitely “more bang for the buck” and gives you great color payoff at a pretty good price since. These eye shadows are really affordable, and there's so many colors to choose from.
NYX Round Lip Glosses
First of all I like NYX Products, and secondly, I love lip glosses in general. I first fell in love with NYX's Mega Lip glosses (the square-tubed ones) because they were pigmented and came in a variety of colors. So it was no surprise how excited I was when the new NYX Round lip glosses came out with it's new sleek packaging and angled doe foot wand that contour the natural shape of your lips for easy application.
I first tried NYX round lip gloss in “Doll Pink” because I loved the NYX Mega-Rich lip gloss in “Barbie Pink” so I was excited and eager to try doll pink which was just GORGEOUS on! In the tube it doesn't look like it would be a dazzling color, but once you put it on, it makes you say “WOW!”, it's the perfect pink to me, not too soft and not too bright. I also love the new packaging because it takes up less space as the NYX Mega-Rich lip glosses and the color you see in the tube is the color you get.
The smell and taste of these lip glosses are similar to that of dish washing soap; like a lemon-citrus scent- not horrible or intolerable, just a different scent from other lip glosses. I love how pigmented these lip glosses are, literally one application gives you enough color and because of the angled doe foot design, you don't experience a lot of streaking like you do with other lip glosses. They are also very soft and creamy and not at all sticky, and because of this they don't stay on too long, but make a nice overlay color over lipsticks or even by itself.
My favorites are: Doll Pink, Ballerina Pink, Whipped, and Cafe Latte. I ended up liking “Doll Pink” a lot so I ordered more colors! And they are only $2 each so it makes it really affordable to try a few or even all of them, and pretty much the price you pay for a high-end lipstick is how much you can spend to get all the colors. The swatches online of course don't do the actual colors justice, but they are all pretty colors and for $2 a pop, you don't feel so bad if it didn't work out as oppose to paying $20+ on a high-end lipstick! I must say that these new NYX Round Lip Glosses are a great addition to the mega-rich lip glosses, definitely a lot more revamped and modern and suitable for anyone.
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