Monday, March 22nd, 2010
Lime Crime: Lipsticks Reviews, Photos, Swatches
Over the months, I have been hemming and hawing over whether or not to do this review. Doe sent me these just around the time they were available to pre-order. Recently, Dusty, a long-time reader, asked me if I had tried them and what my opinion was. I’ve decided that it’s time to review these, despite the controversy over the brand itself, for my readers–for good or bad. I only ask that you leave me out of the drama! (In fact, Dusty said I could blame him, so I’m going to!)
Lipsticks ($16.00)
- Airborne Unicorn is a pinky-purple lilac with a mostly opaque look. On me, it’s similar to MAC’s Lavender Whip and Lady Gaga.
- Centrifuchsia is a brightened medium-dark pink. This is one of the more wearable shades of the ten released. I felt like this shade had the best feel/texture out of the entire line.
- Cosmopop is a lightened peachy-orange. This one looks a little chalky on my lips, and it was a bit on the drier side for application, which ended up with a streakier application.
- Countessa Fluorescent is a brightened blue-based pink with a little smidgen of purple. It’s like a slightly more neon version of Pepto Bismal. (No, seriously!)
- D’Lilac is a very cool-toned lilac, almost more like a light purple than a lilac. I had trouble getting this one to apply evenly–it was very streaky, a bit dry, and it required some effort to apply opaquely. One of my least favorites in terms of feel/texture.
- Great Pink Planet is like a more toned version of Countessa Fluorescent–a milky pink with a smidgen of lilac. Like D’Lilac, I had a lot of trouble applying this one evenly.
- My Beautiful Rocket is a medium-darkened orange. This applied decently, much like Centrifuchsia, and it went opaque without much trouble. I thought this one’s color differed quite a bit from the brand’s swatch on their website (which almost shows a duo-tone of orange and gold).
- No She Didn’t is a medium aqua blue that applies mostly opaque, but it can be a little on the streaky side so it looks a bit dry and chalky. Though it’s pigmented, for an unusual color like this, I’d probably opt for an OCC Lip Tar instead.
- Retrofuturist is a blue-based red that applies nearly opaque and does so in about two layers.
- Styletto is a slightly glossy black. It applies opaque, but it’s really a pain. I suppose most black lipsticks are a pain, so this one is no exception. It bleeds more than any of the other shades, and it requires a few layers to build solid, even color. I think it needs to be a little creamier in order to apply more evenly and crisply.
The good: The lipsticks are quite pigmented overall, and I didn’t have to layer them a zillion times to get solid, opaque color–this is really the standout feature of these lipsticks. They have a light vanilla scent to them when you first open, so I think most people will be pleased with the scent. The darker shades leave a stain behind, which may or may not be what you want (you may not want slightly blue-tinged lips for a day later, but you might enjoy a pink stain!).
I also really liked and appreciated that the lipsticks had a customized design and look to them. They weren’t just stock tubes, so I can see that time and care went into them. It also seems particularly unusual for a more “indie” brand, so definite kudos for that!
The bad: With all of the shades, I found I needed to wear a lip liner if I was actually going to wear them out, because they had a tendency to bleed around the edges, particularly with the darker shades (and of course, less so with lighter shades). After wearing these for a few hours, several shades are particularly drying–the only shades I found that didn’t feel drying were Centrifuchsia, My Beautiful Rocket, and Retrofuturist.I think this is because the formula itself is so full of pigments that the formula itself is drier and clings to lips and doesn’t provide any added moisture or a barrier to lock moisture in.
Some of the chalkier shades like Cosmopop, D’Lilac, and Great Pink Planet applied unevenly and these shades left a color-ring around the edges of my lips as they faded. To cover up the streakiness, I found applying a semi-opaque lipgloss on top helped out quite a bit.
The packaging is not for everyone–it’s kind of a fuchsia-purple tube decorated with holographic unicorns–but I personally found the case itself to feel a little cheap. It’s just not as heavy or as solid as I’d expect (or prefer). Not quite as light as one of the worst lipsticks (in terms of packaging) I’ve tried, but it’s just not as high quality as I’d expect.
Something curious I found was the vanilla scent seemed to disappear significantly once I used these. While they have a pleasing vanilla scent, they have a waxy feel and taste. It’s not terrible, but it’s not exactly delicious!
Overall: These lipsticks are just okay. If I’m going to shell out $16 a pop, I expect it to rival other mid- to high-end lipsticks, but it really doesn’t, overall. Centrifuchsia had the best texture–it was pigmented, didn’t dry lips out, felt lightweight, and it left a stain behind. Many of the other shades, though, felt too thick, which is something that can emphasize dryness on the lips and settle into lip lines. The biggest reason these lost so many points is they don’t live up to the claims — most colors require at least two layers for smooth, even, opaque coverage, and I wouldn’t describe these as creamy, either.
It seemed like the closer you got to “normal” color, the better the formula was, but the further you got from “normal” color, the worse it was! For better results, make sure you moisturize and hydrate lips well in advance, apply lip liner to keep color from bleeding and migrating, and then apply with a lip brush to ensure more even coverage.
My picks: Centrifuchsia, Countessa Flurorescent
Skip: D’Lilac, Great Pink Planet
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ! 
- Product: 22/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 3/5
- Packaging: 3/5
Recommendation: If you’ve been on the hunt for a really off-the-wall color and see it here, it may be worth getting to satisfy that need. These just don’t stack up to most mid- to high-end lipstick formulas, so I’d opt for another brand instead, if you were just looking for a new shade of lipstick.
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil: Pop Life & Toudra
NARS Pop Life & Toudra Velvet Matte Lip Pencils
($24.00 for 0.086 oz.) are two new shades from NARS’ Holiday Collection. These are jumbo-sized lip pencils that are designed to be used more like a lipstick than a lip pencil. The product is “enriched with Vitamin E” and is designed to last for “hours.” NARS describes Toudra as a “richly pigmented Barolo wine shade is creamy, long-lasting and matte for strong, seamless color and a perfectly defined pout,” while Pop life is a “bold, bright and modernly matte holly–red hue that slips on with a velvety texture – a new holiday staple.”
Toudra is a bronzy, not quite coppery, brown-based wine. It’s not really what I’d think of when someone tells me it’s a wine shade, though. It’s in there, and yet it’s distinctly different. It has a bit of a frosty/shimmery look, and I didn’t find it applied as easily as some other Velvet Matte Lip Pencils have in the past. It even felt a little gritty, and dare I say… drying? (Which these are specifically stated to not be!) It is reasonably pigmented, though since it doesn’t apply smoothly, you end up using a fair amount of product get an even, full coverage look.
Pop Life looks very holiday-red when you check out the product, but on my lips, it was definitely not the case. It was more of a brightened up orange-based coral shade. It was smoother and gave a better look overall compared to Toudra, but even this still felt a little drying to me. I didn’t get “hydrating” when testing either of these shades out myself. If you’re looking for a red, you might consider Dragon Girl or Cruella instead–both of which are a lot redder than Pop Life.
These aren’t really your best bang for your buck lip product, considering you only get 0.086 oz. for $24–a NARS lipstick contains 0.12 oz. but also costs $24.00. NARS has plenty of pigmented lipsticks in their collection (along with sheer shades, of course), so I’d probably start there in a lip color hunt. I like these, in terms of the actual product (and discounting the price differential), more than NYX’s Jumbo Lip Pencils, because they feel a little more high quality and they do last much longer on me (about four to five hours).
Bottom Line: I don’t love the new shades from holiday. I don’t own any of the permanent shades, but I’ve tested them in-store and have been more drawn to them there than I was when I swatched these two (and liked them even less when I actually used them!). Neither color really pops for me, and I’m not sure why these aren’t as hydrating as NARS touts the product line to be.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 21/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: I’d recommend trying these in-store before purchasing, to see if the texture meets your expectations!
Availability: Beauty.com
, NARS Cosmetics, Sephora
See swatches… Continue reading →
Monday, October 12th, 2009
Korres Lip Scrub
($19.00) is a solid lip scrub in the shape of a lipstick. It uses rice powder to exfoliate while jojoba oil and beeswax are there to hydrate your lips.
The product has me at odds. I’m not sure if it’s best to remove it, let it sink in for a few minutes, then remove, or not to remove it at all. The rice powder makes for a very, very subtle exfoliator, and it feels more like a polisher than a scrub. I really didn’t feel like it did much in the way of exfoliation, though it did make my lips feel more hydrated–if I didn’t wipe it off, but the grainy bits of rice… you have to wipe it off at some point. Otherwise, it just feels like you have sand on your lips.
The lemon scent is very subtle, too, and I think I smell more of the jojoba oil/beeswax combination than the lemon. This stuff also doesn’t taste good, so those who have the urge to lick their lips while this is on… resist!
While convenient for travel, I don’t personally find it necessary to travel with. A toothbrush or a wash cloth will do in a pinch, and at $19, I’d rather buy another lipstick than a lip scrub that does just a so-so job. Not to mention, I think it’s easy to use up this product, so you won’t get as much usage out of it as you’d like before needing another tube.
- Product: 22/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 3/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Availability: Sephora.com
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Fusion Beauty LipFusion Infatuation
($29.00 for 0.19 oz.) is supposed to be a liquid lip color that also plumps up lips with Fusion Beauty’s Amplifat™ technology.
In the past, Fusion’s LipFusion has always been my go-to if I ever want a lip plumper, just because I found their original LipFusion line to be incredibly non-irritating — no burning, stinging, tingling, or in other words, pain, when using it. I tried DuWop Lip Venom, and I thought my lips were going to fall off! I’m personally not into lip plumpers myself, because I do like my natural lip size (and sometimes feel they’re too big!), so I don’t often seek out anything that’ll fatten them up.
What Fusion Beauty says are key ingredients…
- Amplifat™: concentrate (derived from a perennial sea fern) works with the skin’s own triggers to help naturally increase two key proteins that occur naturally in the skin (ADFP and FABP5). These two key proteins help induce diffusion and storage of fatty acids.
- Lip Vantage: is a dual-encapsulated plumping and highly hydrating ingredient that delivers incredible moisture and promotes lip renewal for more youthful looking lips
- Peptides: enhance collagen synthesis for naturally enhanced, lush, youthful, healthy lips.
But naturally, I was curious about Fusion Beauty’s new Infatuation line-up, and I’m all about more color in a lipgloss! I tried three shades…
- In the Flesh is a semi-opaque darkened peach with light pink-peach shimmer and lots of glossy shine.
- Sugar Rush looks like a light peachy-pink when I swatched it, but on my lips, it looks much more like a sheer milky pink with silver-pink shimmer.
- Pucker Up is a semi-opaque medium pink with a little bit of brightness, but I wouldn’t call it a full-on hot pink. I felt like this one had the least amount of noticeable shimmer and looked more like a creamy gloss (but it did seem to have a touch of shimmer).
None of the three shades I tried really grabbed me by color. They didn’t apply too evenly on their own, and the color had a tendency to settle into lip lines. If you layer it over a lipstick, you’ll get a more even application, but then you’ll lose a lot of the lip plumping effect (since it’s no longer directly on your lips), so it’s kind of a wash. The gloss smells like grapefruit to me, but at the very least, it has a slightly sweet scent with a kick.
The tingling action was so-so — it felt like a bit more than LipFusion, but it was still something I could endure (and I have a low threshold for tingling on my lips). The result was just slightly bigger lips, but the effect could have easily been from how glossy the formula was rather than any actual fattening on a more scientific level. The gloss itself was thick enough that it felt like a creamy lip gloss, but it was still non-sticky. The wear time felt a little less than average, as it seemed to fade and wear off after just two or three hours when I tested it out.
This lip plumping gloss goes for about $152.63/oz. as compared to Fusion Beauty’s Color Shine (which contains 0.29 oz.) at $131.03/oz. — but each Color Shine retails for $38, which is a bit of a steep investment to make into a single lip product. $29 puts it around the level of Chanel, Dior, and Guerlain lip glosses but with a plumping effect.
Bottom line: As a gloss, not overly impressive, and there are numerous other high-end glosses at $29 a pop I’d opt for over these (Chanel Glossimers and Guerlain KissKiss Gloss, just to name two). As a lip plumper, it makes lips look fuller, but it’s not enough plumping for me to shell out $29 to get it. I think, as well, since the gloss itself isn’t outstanding, I’d rather go for their clear formula and use another gloss for color.
- Product: 20/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 3/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: For those who prefer a lip plumper that doesn’t pain them, LipFusion might work out for you. These glosses are more pigmented than their Color Shine formula, but your mileage will vary by the shade.
Availability: Sephora
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Sunday, September 6th, 2009
Smashbox Reign Collection: Jet Set Eyeliner Palette
Smashbox Jet Set Eyeliner Palette ($48.00) contains four shades of cream eye liner. They’re described as budge-proof and water proof. The palette comes with a miniature-sized angled brush as well. It is part of Smashbox’s Reign Collection for the fall.
The shades you get are dark black, dark brown (neutral-cool), metallic gold, and metallic dark brown (with warm tones). I like Smashbox’s Jet Set formula overall — it’s definitely long-wearing, holds up to humidity and heat, and is pretty waterproof. However, I have found these liners to be prone to drying out if one is not careful about sealing the container after each use. With the Jet Set palette, this is a definite concern, because it’s not really air tight – the palette flap just opens and closes but never feels sealed. I do worry about how long before you start noticing these drying out.
The shades are so-so — the photos I took of the palette are of a counter’s testers (which accounts for some of the “ew” factor!), and the shades are certainly wearable, but maybe not enough variation to merit $48. I could buy two full sized shades for $22 each ($44 total). I don’t really need a dark brown and a shimmery dark brown in the same palette, you know? I don’t feel that this palette represents Jet Set liners overall, and I’d recommend checking out the real, full-size versions instead of this palette.
- Product: 7/10
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 6/10
- Packaging: 6/10
Recommendation: The packaging may sway some, but be careful — it may lead to drying out of those cream liners faster than you can use them up.
Availability: Nordstrom ($48.00) contains four shades of cream eye liner. They’re described as budge-proof and water proof. The palette comes with a miniature-sized angled brush as well. It is part of Smashbox’s Reign Collection for the fall.
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Sunday, August 30th, 2009
Dolce & Gabbana: Black Crayon Intense Eyeliner
Dolce & Gabbana Black Crayon Intense Eyeliner ($29.00) is an intense black eyeliner with microfine gold glitter. The eyeliner itself is double-ended with the crayon on one side and a smudging sponge brush on the opposite end.
The liner stays on about average as far as my eyes are concerned — lasts for a few hours, doesn’t fade too much as wear extends, and it certainly doesn’t disappear. It doesn’t stay pristine throughout the day, though, unless it is smudged out quite a bit and set with some powder. I liked the intensity of the black color, and the gold glitter is subtle (and surprising) enough that it can work for everyday or to glam up a look in the evening.
For the price tag, I personally would expect better wearing time–at least eight hours of no budging, smudging, or fading. It can handle about four hours, but after that, there is noticeable (though not terrible) migration and fading on the lower lash line. It does wear better on the upper lash line, because it less disturbed and prone to fine lines like the lower lash line is. Because of the glitter, I would not recommend using this on the waterline (so I didn’t).
The eyeliner was not as soft as I would like, either. It wasn’t as creamy and soft as Urban Decay’s 24/7 Liners, though still harder than Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Eyes liners. I found mine to feel just a bit rougher than I think is necessary in a pencil, though it does allow one to get a more defined, precise line. I would suggest quickly giving it a shot of heat via your blow dryer if you have sensitive lids or find yours particularly hardened.
- Product: 6/10
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 7/10
- Packaging: 7/10
Recommendation: Unless there was a particularly unique shade amongst D&G’s eyeliners, they’re not the first product I’d recommend from the D&G line. (I’d probably recommend their lipsticks first.)
Availability: Saks
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