The Spring Season: Maybelline Warm Me Up Lipstick
Maybelline Warm Me Up (#235) Lipstick
($7.49) is a beautiful shade of slightly milky-medium pink with a yellow undertone. It has just a smidgen of shimmer and a very creamy look. It’s smooth, easy to apply, and wears well for a solid three to four hours. I love that it’s a full color coverage shade, too–it gives me a quick and easy, everyday pink that I can wear alone or with smoked out eyes. Maybelline’s ColorSensational Lipstick line is really impressive–the shades I’ve tried so far have been wearable, creamy, and pack good color pigmentation to boot. If you’ve been hoping for a more affordable yellow-based pink, this might be it!
Is this the perfect pink lipstick for you? Would you wear it?
The Spring Season is a series of posts featuring my favorite soft beige, coral, and pink lipsticks and lipglosses — all perfect for the first blossom of spring — that runs through March 2010.
Beauty on a Budget: Glitter-tastic Nails with Milani Holographic Nail Lacquer
Milani Hi-Tech 3D Holographic Nail Lacquer ($4.99) is one of six new holographic shades from Milani this spring. Other shades include: HD (silver), 3D (gold), Cyberspace (blue), Digital (eggplant purple), Hi-Res (purple).
According to Milani, “New specialty nail lacquer that exhibits a unique 3D Holographic effect that no other nail lacquer has ever achieved. The nail lacquer appears to color-shift as the illumination source or the viewing angle changes. This color phenomenon is based on Holographic Image Technology that makes a very thin, bright, embossed metallic flake look like a rainbow. It allows the color to travel from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet; seven distinctive colors of the color spectrum.”
Hi-Tech is wickedly shimmery with larger shimmer particles (but they don’t feel gritty like a glitter polish often does). It’s a spring-y, yellow-green with different flecks of, predominantly, gold and green shimmer. It reflects and catches the light in a way that I can’t capture on film–definitely one of those “you gotta be there” moments. Really stunning, though. I’ll be sure to post again if I try any of the other five shades available.
Have you tried any of the new Holographic shades yet?
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ! 
- Product: 29/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you love glitter polishes but not the removal process, Milani’s 3D Holographic polish might be another way to get your glitter on.
Availability: Local drugstores, MilaniCosmetics.com
Long-lasting Eyeliner on a Budget: Milani Liquif’Eye
Milani Liquif’Eye Metallic Eye Liner Pencils ($5.49 each) are new for spring and available in five shades: Black, Silver, Gold, Aqua, and Brown. As far as I’m concerned, there is always more room in the world for metallic/chrome eyeliner. These do remind me of L’Oreal HIP Chrome Eyeliners in many ways, though these are a little firmer and more metallic than chrome finish. They’re definitely similar, though.
Liquif’Eye is soft, smooth, and richly pigmented eyeliner. It glides on like my beloved Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Liners and looks just as smooth. I get good wear out of these–no smudging, budging, or migration eight hours later. They don’t look faded either! Surprisingly, they stay well on my waterline, too, for several hours (but I do have a more watery waterline at times), which isn’t something most liners can do for me.
At just $5.49 each, they’re hard to resist. Not only are they excellent in every way–quality, long-lasting liner that is rich in color and smooth in texture–but they’re priced just right. I tried out four of the five shades, and I found each one to be just as good. I hope to see Milani release more shades in the future–how about a green, copper, and violet?
- Black (#01) is a rich, deep dark black. It’s an absolutely smoldering black that’s truly black–there’s no gray here.
- Silver (#02) is a bright and shiny silver with a metallic finish.
- Gold (#03) is a toned down, burnished gold. It’s not a true yellow gold, but it’a step down from that. Little more “antique” gold in it.
- Aqua (#04) is a bright aqua-blue. It isn’t quite as metallic as either the gold or silver shades, but it still has that metallic sheen.
Even the packaging is anything but cheap. It’s a matte black that looks and feels sleek. If you blindfolded me, I couldn’t tell you that these didn’t feel like other high-end eyeliners, like Smashbox and Urban Decay.
Have you tried these yet?
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 30/30
- Value: 10/10
- Ease of Use: 5/5
- Packaging: 5/5
Recommendation: Next time you’re near a Milani display, these are definitely worth a little look-see.
9 Eyeshadows for the Price of $11: Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips
Physicians Formula Bronze Brown Eyes Shimmer Strips ($10.95 for 0.26 oz.) is a strip of nine different shades designed to complement brown eyes specifically. Bronze Brown Eyes includes: a neutral lilac, soft bronze brown, coppery bronze, golden champagne, soft copper, bronze, light copper, plummy brown, and burgundy brown. All nine shades apply smoothly, give good color pay off, and have a frosty finish. (If you’re into matte textures, Shimmer Strips are not the way to go.) Physicians Formula describes the shades as “three blendable trios perfectly paired to color, contour, and line your eyes.” Sort of handy if you’re not quite sure how to pair your shades yet.
Physicians Formula’s Shimmer Strips line-up always reminds me of Bobbi Brown’s Shimmerbricks. They’re not-so-elegantly packaged in comparison, as they come in a clear, slightly glossy plastic packaging. Shimmer Strips come in a slim compact that skinny and long that snaps open and includes an angled sponge-tip applicator (which is as good as sponge applicators are, which is not very). Otherwise, they do have a very similar feel and look–soft, not ultra intense in pigmentation but not sheer, and frosty.
I found these worked just fine using regular makeup brushes, though less is more–piling too much on the brush can lead to excess fall out. Overall, I found fall out to be minimal and the color to stay on fairly well with just some fading after the eighth hour of wear. Physicians Formula also designed Shimmer Strips for Hazel, Blue, and Green eyes, if you’ve been looking for a how-to on how to make your [insert color here] eyes.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 26/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you’ve been looking for easy-to-use eyeshadows on a budget, Physicians Formula’s Shimmer Strips give you nine all in one!
Affordable Eyeshadow? Really? Maybelline Eye Studio may make it possible!
Maybelline Eye Studio Green with Envy Eyeshadow Quad
($7.49 to $9.99) is new from Maybelline for spring. Though the packaging is nothing to write home about (typical mass packaging–feels cheap, not the sturdiest palette I’ve ever handled–the lids often pop off, but they can be popped back on), the eyeshadows are some of the better ones I’ve tried when it comes to drugstore beauty brands. The eyeshadow quad consists of four shades…
- A shimmery, white-gold champagne highlighter that’s opaque enough to show up but sheer enough not to be overly frosty. I like this as a highlighter or all-over-the-lid kind of wash of color.
- A shimmery, yellow-based green with a golden sheen. It’s like a slightly muted, less golden-shimmered MAC Lucky Green. It has decent color pay off, but it’s not quite as pigmented as higher-end eyeshadows (like MAC or Urban Decay), but for a drugstore brand, I’m still impressed.
- A shimmery, muted peach-brown with golden shimmer and sheen. I can’t think of a dupe for this (at least, not off the top of my head), but it kind of feels like one of those hard-to-wear neutral shades, at least for me. I think those with cooler complexions may find it easier to wear than warm-toned complexions.
- A charcoal gray with gold and green shimmer. I felt like this had the worst texture and color pay off of the four, though it was still okay (just not fabulous). It felt a little chalky or powdery, so it’s best applied in layers and patted on rather than blended too much. It is, however, a unique shade (which just isn’t something you see often from mass). I think if you layered this over a dark base, you wouldn’t have to worry so much about pigmentation and could get the cool multi-tonal shimmer to show.
I think the color pay off of the Give Me Gold Eyeshadow Quad was better than this one, but I’d still say it was good for something found in mass retailers and for the price. It has the same silky texture, but it can sometimes feel powdery (use less than you think, then build up). I have a few more of these to try out over the next few weeks, so I’ll continue to review the other variations as I test them. I have a few of the more “colorful” ones to judge just how pigmented Maybelline can do truer, more vibrant hues.
Which ones have you tried? Impressed or disappointed?
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 26/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 3/5
Recommendation: If you like soft shadows and want something affordable, Maybelline Eye Studio Quads might be up your alley!
Availability: Target, Walmart
Affordable Gel Eyeliner from Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner
Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner ($9.99) is a gel eyeliner that comes in a glass pot with a screw-on lid. Lasting Drama is currently available in four shades: Black, Brown, Grey, and Plum. I’ve only tried out the Black and Plum myself. Each glass pot of gel eyeliner also comes with a small, flat bristled brush with a dome shape for lining. I personally didn’t find the brush the right kind to line with (I prefer angled or very, very thin and pointed), but it’s a nice little bonus.
I’m pleased to report that after testing the wear of this liner that it is indeed lasting! (I wore it in this look.) Blackest Black didn’t smudge, budge, or fade on me throughout eight hours of wear–though Maybelline does advertise “24-hour wear” (I’ll leave that test to someone else…). I found it was plenty black for me–and I love me some rich black pigment–so I was quite surprised at how well it translated onto the lid. I used MAC’s 208 angled brush to apply Blackest Black to my upper lash line, and it was smooth, easy to apply, and gave me good color intensity off the bat. I didn’t have to go back over to darken at all, which was yet another concern alleviated.
Blackest Black is very much a true black. It doesn’t have much of a sheen, though it’s not completely flat, and it doesn’t have shimmer. Plum, on the other hand, has a higher sheen and plummy-mauve shimmer in a dark plum base. The consistency of both is thick without being goopy and very smooth when applied. They’re not creamy like Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliners, but they can be blended or smudged so they’re not too thick. They seem to dry without much of a fuss, but they don’t dry instantly, so you may have to wait a few seconds before you squeeze your eyes shut to avoid any transfer.
At $9.99 each, they’re on the pricier end for the budget beauty maven, but Maybelline frequently goes on sale, so at buy one, get one free or buy one, get one 50% off, I think they’re definitely worth picking up if you’re in the market for an affordable gel eyeliner. The packaging has a surprisingly “high-end” feel for Maybelline (whose packaging I’m generally not impressed by) — they look and feel much like MAC Fluidlines.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 28/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you’re looking for an affordable gel eyeliner, keep an eye out for Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner!
Availability: Ulta, your local drugstore
