city color cosmetics – Beauty Playbox

I’ve got half a year of Lip Monthly subscription bags to catch up on, woo hoo. The reason I haven’t been writing about them much was because I felt disappointed in the products at first glance, and it continued for a while. But then I actually sat down and spent time with these, and found out that my first impressions were incorrect in many cases.

City Color Cosmetics Be Matte Lipstick in Cammi

Didn’t like this shade in the tube. No, that would be wrong. I loved the shade, but since I’m so pale, I thought it wouldn’t look good on me and came up with a list of friends with darker skin tones to whom I could pass this on. Didn’t even want to open it at first, but then curiosity kicked in, I swatched it, and what do you know: It looks great on my lips. It’s a very autumn/ winter shade. The longevity is OK. It’s a true matte, but it’s not very drying. I can see this getting a lot of use during the next couple of months.

L.A. Girl Lipstick in Last Night

My first reaction was, wooooo bright bright bright. I thought I wasn’t going to keep it, but then it grew on me. The quality is decent. The formula is very creamy. One of the things I didn’t like about it was that it stains. Although the colour is intense, you can turn it down a notch if you just pat the bullet on your lips and then go in with a brush to even things out. It’s a very spring/ summer colour. I might bring it out in the dead of winter to brighten things up, though.

Cargo Cosmetics Essential Lip Gloss in Sahara

Can I just stop for a second and say how I love Cargo Cosmetics packaging? I’ve previously received their eye shadow, and both the box it came in and the tin the shadow is in are so pretty, I can’t even.

Haven’t yet used this gloss yet, but in the tube it looks similar to the Milani gloss I received via Lip Monthly not long ago, perhaps a bit lighter. I’m weird about lip glosses, as in I really don’t like using them for longer than a certain amount of time after opening. So I kinda want to go through at least two other glosses I’ve got going before I open another one.

Other reviewers posted about a Cargo gloss in Anguilla, and I have to be honest here, I wouldn’t have minded getting that shade instead of this one. On swatches it looks like this really pale milky kind of pink, and it’s something that I’ve been looking for for ages now. But ah well, I suppose Sahara is a more universally flattering shade.

Ofra Universal Eyebrow Pencil

Once again, I have yet to use this one, but the colour, a cool-toned medium brown, looks like a match, and I really enjoyed using all the other Ofra products I received via Lip Monthly. Their Laguna Beach is one of my favourite lipsticks.

OFRA, City Colors, and LA Girl swatches. The City Colors lipstick looks streaky, but it really isn’t. It’s just my mad swatching skillz on display here.

Lip Monthly subscription is $12.95 + shipping (outside US & Canada – I live in Europe, and it’s $5). Each box contains 4 products, usually full-sized. The products come in a make-up bag.

(This post contains affiliate links.)

Lip Monthly: November ’14.

Lip Monthly usually ships faster, but living outside their usual zones of delivery coupled with busy winter holiday times meant that I received my November bag only recently, during the last days of December.

As usual, Lip Monthly shipped in a make-up bag. They come up with a new design every month, and I really like this month’s. They became a staple work make-up bag for me, as they’re pretty durable, and don’t get beaten up in my rucksack, where I tend to shove a bag of groceries and some catfood on my way home.

Let’s look at the contents!

First up are Hikari Lipstick in cabernet, NYC Expert Last Lipstick in 443 Purple Crush, and City Color Cosmetics White Gold Shadow & Highlight Mousse.

I’m wearing Hikari as I’m writing this post, and so far I really like it. It’s long lasting (lasted me through a portion of spaghetti, a glass of juice, and two cups of tea, as well as a lot of talking), and while I can’t call it moisturising, it’s not drying either. I’m currently going through a spell of annoying dry lips, and it didn’t make them feel any more uncomfortable than they already are. Also, despite their flakiness, the lipstick applied well, and the colour looked very smooth. The finish is somewhere between matte and satin.

I haven’t tried the NYC lipstick yet, but it looks like it’s got a bit of a frost in it. Not particularly a bad thing, but if it’s eaten easily, it might end up looking a touch too messy during the day. But as I said, I haven’t tried it yet, so no verdicts.

The City Color Cosmetics shadow/ highlighter I found impressive. Once I read that it was a mousse (ergo, a cream) shadow, I literally groaned, because cream shadows don’t last on my eyelids at all. I’ve got several that don’t even manage to stay long enough for me to finish the rest of my makeup. However, this seems considerably more long-lasting. Once you apply it on the lid, you’ve got a short amount of time to blend it how you want it, because after about 30 seconds it doesn’t seem to budge. The colour is gorgeous, but it’s also quite festive, so I don’t think I’ll be using this as an everyday look.

Next up are Ofra Lipliner in Silk and Crown Lip Brush. I haven’t tried the brush yet, but you can never have too many brushes! I’m short on the lip ones, too. The handle is a smooth matte black, and it almost feels like an artist’s brush, rather than a makeup one.

The Ofra lip pencil works great with my VeryMe lip gloss. I line my lips, then fill them in, and after that apply a layer of gloss. They look great together, and are perfect for day wear. I’m also happy that this is a pencil that requires a sharpener. For some reason I’m so nostalgic for them lately. They feel much better than the mechanic ones, and also allow for a more precise application.

You can subscribe to Lip Monthly here. Use the code “HOLIDAY299” to get your first bag for only $2.99 on 4 Month Subscriptions. Lip Monthly ships internationally! I can’t say that their service is perfect, but so far I’ve been pleased with their selections, and eagerly await my next bag. No plans to cancel the subscription.

(Above post contains affiliate link. Subscription paid for with my own money.)