Laura Mercier Mocha Rouge Lip Velvet
Long-Lasting Lip Color: Laura Mercier Lip Velvet
Laura Mercier Mocha Rouge Lip Velvet ($22.00) is a brightened up adobe brown–there may be a little redness to it, but not too much warmth–it’s not the easiest color to describe. It’s very neutral, despite its richness in pigmentation.
Lip Velvets are long-wearing liquid lipsticks. If you’ve been around the beauty-sphere for a bit, MAC’s Lac Lusters, which have been long discontinued. I know some of you are wondering how it compares to my beloved Chanel Rouge Allure Laques, and I don’t think they’re the same product. Oh, they’re most certainly similar–but they have different qualities that may appeal to you.
Lip Velvet is lightly creamy, very smooth, and intensely pigmented. It comes with a doe-foot wand applicator that’s fairly easy to use, but with the color richness, it’s best to apply with a mirror. The formula is also much more matte (I’d call it semi-matte, though) with some of the dryness associated with mattes. The product feels fairly dry on the lips, but it’s not actually drying. It’s not particularly hydrating, but it seems to retain whatever moisture you already had in your lips before applying it–making it no better or worse.
The color hugs and clings to lips and gives me around six hours of wear, plus a residual stain that lingers thereafter. This really is a long-wearing product that doesn’t dry your lips out (but just be prepared for it to feel a little… well, matte and dry!), which is a huge plus and often a failing of long-wear products. It goes on opaque in just one swipe, so you don’t need much product at all to get full-coverage color. The finish isn’t quite matte, as it does have a slightly glossy sheen, but it’s mostly matte.
Chanel Rouge Allure Laques are more moisturizing and not quite as thick, plus they’re very much glossy. There’s no “matte” in Rouge Allure Laque; it’s shimmery, glossy color. I think just the difference in finish really makes them two different products, or at the very least, products to consider together rather than trying to pick one over the other.
Lip Velvet’s do beat Chanel on wearing time, though – they certainly last longer, and even the lighter shades tend to persist for hours. I hope Laura Mercier will add some more shades that *pop* during 2010–the existing shade range is a bit everyday, neutral, and work-safe. (Not bad things, but I’d love to see more variation!)
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: For long-wearing lip color that doesn’t dry out lips but lasts for hours, Laura Mercier’s Lip Velvets are a good place to start.
Availability: Blue Mercury
Essie Sweet Time of the Year Collection for Winter 2009
For winter, Essie put out a trio of shades: Mint Candy Apple, Rock Candy, and Lollipop. A sweet lil’ treat–something I’d consider putting in someone’s stocking this year. Two of the three are distinct creme finishes, while one is more of a sheer, though still creamy looking. The only shade I really liked was Mint Candy Apple; it’s unique enough to merit a purchase, and it’s fun and wearable as well. The other two just seem like shades I’ve seen before, so they’re must-haves.
All swatches shown are two-coats with a China Glaze base coat and Zoya top coat.
- Mint Candy Apple is a creamy aqua. I know there’s supposed to be green in it, but it’s quite faint. It really just reads aqua to me–maybe a smidgen of green at best. I applied one thin (streaky!) coat as my first coat, and then I layered on a medium-thick second coat and away we went. I just didn’t really have any trouble with the application like I had heard from others. This is much paler, lighter, and more aqua than For Audrey (which is much bluer), nor is it remotely close to MAC’s Peppermint Patti (which is much greener). Against China Glaze’s Re-Fresh Mint, it’s also not a dupe — it’s significantly bluer, actually — though they have the same lightness/paleness, just one runs more aqua and the other more of a minty green.
- Rock Candy is a sheer, lightly creamy pink. It’s not opaque, and it has a milky pink look to it. This is definitely what comes to mind when I think of Essie–it’s nice, and it’s certainly flattering (even my Dad would like it, probably–because he wouldn’t even notice it!, just not terribly unique to me.
- Lollipop is a bright red creme. It’s incredibly bright and bold! It’s more of an orange-based red than a blue-based red, which is nice to see, as many holiday reds run cooler (or bluer, if you’d like). It also has this nice kind of punchy sheen/glow to it that’s interesting.
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: Three sweet treats from Essie for winter — if any of these shades grab you, they’re all worthy of a peek–it’s just a matter of your color tastes!
Availability: 8ty8beauty.com, Head2ToeBeauty.com, Transdesign.com
Lancome Untamed Plum La Laque Fever
Sugar Plum Fairy Lips with Lancome
Lancome Untamed Plum La Laque Fever Lip Shine
($26.00 for 0.21 oz.) is a darkened plum with a little wine in it and gold shimmer. It’s really a beautiful color on the lips, because it’s just dark enough to be dark, but it’s not so dark it’s too bold. You could even wear it alone, just running errands, which is really nice. The La Laque Fever is an interesting gloss formula (“lip shine” in Lancome-speak), because it has the glossiness of a gloss but the color is more like that of a lipstick. I find the glossy part wears off after an hour or two, but the color remains for six or longer and does make it (mostly) through a meal, as well. Some of the shades run more opaque than others, with this one being more semi-sheer/semi-opaque–it gives my lips a very nice, plummy tint, but it’s not opaque.
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 5/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: For a fun, plummy lip during the winter season, Lancome’s got you covered.
Availability: Nordstrom
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
Illamasqua Avenge Lipstick
Brighten Up the Winter: Illamasqua Avenge Lipstick
Illamasqua Avenge Lipstick (£14.00 for 0.14 oz.) is a new shade from their winter collection Dystopia. It’s a hot fuchsia pink with cool undertones and a matte finish. It has just a touch of sheen, but it really is quite matte. Illamasqua’s matte lipsticks are some of the least drying matte lipsticks around, but they may be more drying than some are used to (if you haven’t tried out mattes before — most of them can be a smidgen drying). Avenge is easy to apply, goes on creamy and doesn’t stick in places, so it gives lips even, opaque coverage without much fuss.
The only downside? It’s only available in the UK or through the website (which will ship outside of the UK!), but it is still a bit of a bummer.
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- Product: 27/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: Love yourself some hot pink? Might like Avenge…
Availability: Illamasqua
See more swatches and photos… Continue reading →
China Glaze Heli-Yum Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Up & Away Collection: Heli-Yum
China Glaze Heli-Yum Nail Lacquer is a vibrant, deeply pigmented pinky-red.; It’s not the scarlet red we’ve seen over and over again for the holiday season — it’s marked by a lot of raspberry pink. It’s one of the deeper shades of the collection as well, but it is a beautiful shade of not-quite-red but more-than-pink.
Intensely pigmented, smooth to the touch, and pretty easy to apply all describe this formula and shade. I needed just one medium-thick coat to get a smooth, non-streaky application with an opaque finish. I still went for two, but that’s a personal preference; you could easily get away with just a single coat with this particular shade and formula.
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: Though a little summery, this is one beautiful pink-coral shade for nails!
Availability: January 2010
