Dolce & Gabbana Fire Lipstick
The Scarlet Season: Dolce & Gabbana Fire Lipstick
Dolce & Gabbana Fire Lipstick ($30.00) is a truly fiery red — it’s got that ember glow of the fire and the brightness of a red. This is most definitely one of my favorite orange-reds I’ve come across while doing The Scarlet Season. It’s creamy, opaque, and moisturizing. It wears well and lasts awhile (about five or six hours, plus a stain). It has a slightly glossy sheen while the finish is matte. I don’t even feel like I should have to say anything about this shade — I think it really speaks for itself.
What about you? Would you wear this red?
The Scarlet Season is a series of posts showcasing and featuring my favorite shades of red lips–from glosses to lipsticks that runs through December 2009. You can sure expect to see a lot of red this holiday season!
Guerlain Gentiane Rouge G Lipstick
Lip Luxury: Guerlain Gentiane Rouge G Lipstick
Guerlain Gentiane Rouge G de Guerlain Lipstick
($45.00) is a smooth, lightly shimmered rose. This is exactly what I picture when I think of a rose lipstick. It’s pigmented, goes on opaque in just one layer, and it feels amazing (as all Rouge Gs do). It’s soft color that looks feminine and very wearable for a variety of skin tones.
This is definitely one of my favorite shades from the Rouge G line that I’ve tried, because it’s a color that works on so many levels. You can wear it alone, for the everyday, with a smoky eye, or with a neutral eye. It’s versatile, and I can appreciate a lip color that I can work into my look wardrobe with no fuss.
Of course, the price is steep, so this isn’t a product for everyone!
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you’re on the hunt for a rosy pink, Gentiane might be it!
Availability: Nordstrom
, Sephora
LORAC Silver Screen Palette ($30.00) is a face palette that contains eight shades of eyeshadow, two shades of blush, a double-ended brush, and a lipgloss. It’s from LORAC’s Hollywood Ice Collection.
The palette is actually divided with both cool and warm eyeshadows — the first row of eyeshadows are warm, while the second row of eyeshadows are cool. The idea behind the palette is having the ability to go from day to night within a single palette. I definitely think LORAC hit a home run on that mark — this can be easily used to create several softer, more neutral looks, while the mauve, silver, and black-blue shade can add drama to any look.
- Warm eyeshadows: a warmed up champagne, a peachy-pink, copper-brown, chocolate brown
- Cool eyeshadows: an icy, semi-matte white, a silvery mauve-plum, a brownish-green-blue (reminded me of MAC’s Club eyeshadow), and a blue-black with blue-green sparkles.
- Blushes: a bright, peachy-apricot and a semi-matte to matte dirty pink
- Lip Polish: a semi-sheer, reddish-brown with gold shimmer
If you’re looking for an easy-to-use palette with both eyeshadows and blushes in one (but thankfully no lip color wells!), I think you might find LORAC to your liking. The quality of the eyeshadows is great — they’re smooth, soft, and pigmented. They’re not ultra pigmented, but I don’t think ultra pigmentation is always necessary (good pigmentation is enough — ultra can actually make a color harder to work with at times!).
The palette is housed in sleek, silver packaging and it’s pretty lightweight. The brush is a throw-in; it’s not spectacular, but it’ll do ya in a pinch. I think they could have gone with a more neutral lip color (I know, gasp!), because I’m not sure that deep of a shade will work for the majority of looks.
Bottom Line: The colors weren’t necessarily to my personal taste, but these are quality shades at an affordable price. It’s hard to beat $30 for this much product!
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- Product: 26/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: Still hunting for a holiday palette? Wanting something with variety? Try LORAC!
Availability: LORAC Cosmetics, Ulta
Givenchy Pearl Shine Rouge Interdit Shine Lipstick ($27.00) is an extremely sheer bright white-gold shimmered lipstick. This is the equivalent of the ultra sheer lipgloss that just adds a glossy sheen to your lips — because that’s about all this lipstick does for me. It’s kind of cool to look at, and on lips, it’s definitely a shimmery/frosty confection, but there’s no real color to it. I found it’s a lipstick you use to layer under lipglosses, but it’s not really something I’d wear alone.
It’s hydrating and has a fun, glossy sheen, but without the color, this lipstick falls flat, and for $27 and not even a smidgen of color? I don’t know if it’s worth it. I tried layering it underneath Givenchy’s Tender Pearl Lipgloss (also from the same collection), and it really didn’t add as much as I had hoped for. It adds a little extra shimmer here and there, but the gloss could have just as easily stood alone.
This lipstick gives “sheer” a new meaning, and while I can handle sheer, this seems a little too sheer even for sheer fans. I’m not sure if it’s a “shade” or we should just chalk it up to sheerness, so I’m a bit troubled by how to rate this product overall. (If it’s more of a shade issue, I don’t rate a product down simply because I don’t dig the shade personally.)
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- Product: 23/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: If you’re looking for a layering shade chocked full of shimmer… this might be it!
Availability: Sephora
Giorgio Armani #600 Rouge d’Armani Lipstick
Venturing Into Plums: Giorgio Armani #600
Giorgio Armani #600 Rouge d’Armani Lipstick ($30.00) is a fuchsia-plum shade in Giorgio Armani’s new long-wearing lipstick formula. The formula is supposed to deliver up to eight hours of wear-time without fading or feathering while feeling moisturizing.
Previously, I reviewed #401, which is more of an orange-based red (more orange than red, I’d say, though) — and the shade didn’t suit me personally, so it was onto the next… #600 is certainly a shade much more up my alley! It’s a bright plummy shade (which is why I’d describe it as a fuchsia-plum) that’s not so bright it’s hard to wear, but bright enough that it can be worn alone or as the star feature of a look.
On my lips, it certainly hugs and adheres to them – looks like it’s natural and yet obviously not (since it’s clearly a brightened up pucker!). It has a very glossy sheen and full color coverage. I initially thought it might be a little sheer, since the swatch wasn’t quite as opaque as it was with #401, but it proved me wrong once I applied it to my lips.
It’s definitely hydrating and wears well — I don’t know about a full eight hours, but I get around five or six, which is good enough for me. It’ll hold on decently through some drinking and a bit of eating, but I didn’t get stellar results through a full meal myself.
I found myself liking this shade much more than #401, and I was happy to see that it wears very similar to #401 as well (reds tend to wear the longest and best, because they’re so deep and richly pigmented!). I’m also still digging the packaging – there’s a magnetic clasp that keeps it locked into place.
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: Looking for a plum with a lil’ kick? #600 might be it!
Availability: Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue
Dolce & Gabbana Gold Lipstick
Holiday Dazzle: Dolce & Gabbana Gold Lipstick
Dolce & Gabbana Gold Shine Lipstick ($30.00) is a shimmery, shiny dose of bronzy-copper with flecks of coppery gold. This is not really a shade that works best alone but as a layering tool. This is a great lipstick to layer to achieve a warmer, brighter, or more shimmery lip color. It works particularly well under semi-sheer to sheer red-based lipglosses! It is semi-opaque, actually, because it does significantly cover lips, but since it’s more shimmer than lip color, it can look patchy on its own if you’re not careful. Even though it’s a shade I’d wear with other products, it can still be worn alone since it has decent coverage. Dolce & Gabbana lipsticks are very creamy, smooth, and always last a good four to five hours on my lips.
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- Product: 27/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: Add some dazzle to your lips with this shimmery lipstick from Dolce & Gabbana!
Availability: Saks Fifth Avenue
