Tag: lip gloss

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Beauty

Milani Lipstick Collection

milani-lip-products

A loud title for a very diminutive post: I only own three Milani lip products. Thing is, the brand does not retail here, neither officially nor on the grey market. All the products I own came to me via my Lip Monthly subscription of yesteryear. I happened to love every single Milani lipstick I received.

milani-violet-addict

Milani Lip Intense Liquid Color in Violet Addict 04

The brightest of the three, Milani Lip Intense Liquid Color is a full-on shiny vinyl lip colour. The applicator is a sturdier doe-foot, which makes it really easy to apply the product evenly. The formula is good, very comfortable on the lips. Does not feather. Smells a bit weird in the container, but once applied, you don’t feel it. Wears off well. If you drink or eat something light, it would lose some lustre, but most of the colour will remain. Eventually it would look as a tint. Despite being very bright, it doesn’t stain the lips.

As you can see in the photo above, the lettering on the packaging has worn off already. This is a tiny-tiny minus for a person who enjoys it when their makeup products look pristine throughout. (Read: Me.)

Here’s Milani Lip Intense Liquid Color in Violet Addict on the lips on my Instagram (follow me there, follow me there!!):

All dolled up on day 3 of #selfieseptember. Lipstick is Milani Lip Intense in Violet Addict. 💋 💄 👠

A photo posted by Alexandra (@armrwrpnt) on

There’s also one more swatch of it on my arm below.

milani power lip in pink lemonade

Milani Power Lip in Pink Lemonade 04

Next is a product I’ve opened only recently. It is described by Milani as a lasting and moisturising gloss and stain 2-in-1. I had thought that this would be more like a balm/ gloss type of thing, and I’d also thought for some reason that it would be sticky and uncomfortable to wear. In all of these points I was wrong – although it is reminiscent of a gloss, it’s still a colour-heavy one. The stickiness is minimal. The wear of Milani Power Lip causes no discomfort at all. The colour also suits me really well, Pink Lemonade is a pinkish red colour that looks great against my skintone.

Milani Power Lip in Pink Lemonade wears off amazingly. Seriously. For that thing only I want to shower it with affection. It would of course lose its lustre after a meal, but your lips would still retain a hint of colour throughout. This particular shade looks like a very natural tint. As it gradually wears off, it makes your lips look like you’ve just been kissed for a particularly long time, which is a great look on any woman, if you ask me.

If you’re after a contoured lip look, then Milani Power Lip in Pink Lemonade is not for you. The application is easy and in no way messy, but the lip line will not be pristine. To me, that is the beauty of Milani Power Lip. It is very reminiscent of the lip looks that were quite popular on the runway a couple of seasons ago.

My only gripe with this product is its packaging – it has a built-in brush and a screw-type mechanism that dispenses the product into the brush. It took me a few tries to figure out the amount of clicks I’d need to hear to get the right amount of product out.

You can see Milani Power Lip on my lips in the photo below, and on the arm further down the post:

milani-power-lip-pink-lemonade-on-the-lips

lip monthly milani lip gloss

Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss in Nude Touch 11

And now we’re onto the true lip gloss of the bunch. Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss in Nude Touch is a transparent vanilla-scented gloss with champagne sparkles. Oddly looks well enough on its own, giving a wet lips effect. This is actually how I prefer to use Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss in Nude Touch, because when I use a lipstick and a lip gloss together, I end up feeling tacky. Applied over lipstick it also works well. Out of my lip glosses, this is probably one of the more ‘long wear’ ones, but despite that, it’s not extremely sticky. Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss also feels moisturising.

milani-nude-touch-gloss

So far, my acquaintance with Milani lip lines has been really good – there’s not a single dud in these products! I really wish the brand would retail here. Quality affordable make-up is still hard to come by, and Milani would have been a great alternative to the maybellines and the l’oreals.

Swatched, top to bottom:

  • Milani Power Lip in Pink Lemonade
  • Milani Lip Intense Liquid Color in Violet Addict
  • Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss in Nude Touch

milani-violet-addict-swatches

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Beauty

Lip Combo: Pink

Despite Kylie Jenner’s lip kits getting mixed reviews here and there, they’re still one of the most coveted beauty products around. Admit it, they’re on your wish list too. I know they’re on mine.

However, lip kits – or lip combos – are not a revolutionary idea. I’ve been coming up with mine (quite probably inspired by the others) for years now. Below is my go-to pink.

lip-combo-pinks-bourjois-oriflame

Products, top to bottom:

  • Bourjois Levres Contour in Flamboise Exquise
  • Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in 11 So Hap’pink
  • Oriflame The One Colour Unlimited Lip Gloss in Pink Boost 30643

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvets are easily one of my most favourite lip products out there. True, there are formulas that are more matte, more pigmented, longer lasting, just more – but there’s something about the Bourjois offering that draws me back to them every time. They are very easy to wear, completely non-drying, and feel very natural on the lips. The finish is matte but not powdery matte that makes every line on your lips stand out. It’s also very easy to apply, and is scentless. Always a big plus in my book.

Although you don’t need a pencil when using Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvets, I love lining and filling my lips with a pencil first and then filling them out with the colour. I find that it does prolong the wear of the lipstick and makes reapplication that much easier. Although Rouge Edition Velvets do not bleed outside the lines and absolutely do not feather, it’s easier to slip a bit outside the line on the reapplication if you don’t go in with the pencil first. Bourjois Levres Contour in Flamboise Exquise is a nearly perfect match for Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in So Hap’pink. I bought them together, and have been using together ever since.

Oriflame The One Colour Unlimited Lip Gloss in Pink Boost was on my wishlist for a while until I finally bought it. I try to limit the amount of glosses I own at any particular time, because they tend to go bad five times as quickly as lipsticks do. I wear it both on its own, over the pencil, or over slightly worn lipstick when I just can’t be arsed with fixing it properly or I know it’s going to get ruined in the next hour anyway. Applying it over freshly applied lipstick tends to look cakey.

lip-combo-pinks-swatched

Left to right: Pencil, lipstick, gloss.

What’s your favourite lip product combination?

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Beauty

Lip Product Empties

Let me quickly walk you through some lip products I have either finished or discarded recently.

veryme-gloss-tester-sosusan-lip-dome-ofra-lipstick

Oriflame VeryMe Mirror Lip Gloss is a perfect cool-toned pink lip colour for me. I loved using this in combination with OFRA Cosmetics Laguna Beach, but also on its own. The scent of the product was lovely, and the application was relatively OK (it’s a squeeze tube). The formula was a bit sticky. It was fun while it lasted, but I had to let it go because it started separating and smelling funny.

A sample size of one of the Oriflame Pure Colour lipsticks. I’ve written a post about them here, if you fancy a read. This one had to go because I dropped it on the office floor. A grimy dirty dusty icky yucky office floor. *shudder shudder*

So Susan Lip Dome was a lovely crayon. Not fully opaque, but it gave my lips the nicest bordeaux tint. It also felt nice and wore very comfortably. Unfortunately, it went bad before I could use it more. I received it via a Lip Monthly subscription, and I figure it was old.

OFRA Cosmetics Liquid Lip Colour in New Orleans also had to go – it was patchy and dry as all hell. And although I adored this colour, it made my lips look ridiculous, so I had to let it go.

You can read my post on OFRA Cosmetics lipsticks here.

oriflame-lip-balm-devine-lip-balm

Oriflame Beauty Lip Balm, although intended transparent, did give a bit of a pearlescent pale pink hue to the lips, so at times it made me look rather dead. It also didn’t moisturise my lips enough – matter of fact, sometimes the product felt drying. This is an old formula, and Oriflame updated it. I haven’t tried the new one.

Look DeVine Pinot Noir balm I loved. I received this one through Lip Monthly as well. It had a great scent and made my lips really moisturised, soft, and plump. I had to be careful with accidentally building up the colour with it, as a couple more strokes than necessary, and it would make me look a bit on the undead side.

Categories
Beauty

Lip Monthly April ’15.

lip monthly april 15 (2)

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 be matte lipstick in cammi

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.

la girl lipstick in last night

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 lip gloss in sahara

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 eyebrow pencil

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.

lip monthly april 15 (7)

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.)

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Beauty

#100empties: Three Mascaras and Two Lip Glosses.

empties mascaras

Time to talk trash again. 😛

INGLOT Sleeks Cream Lip Paint in 89

Glossy without the stickiness. A perfect shade of slightly orangey peach nude for me. Good coverage on its own. Not long lasting, but hey, it’s a gloss. Chucked this one because of its age, already repurchased.

Oriflame HyperStretch Mascara

This one has already been discontinued. I didn’t like this mascara when I first tried it, but it grew on me. It’s a perfect every day mascara. One coat gives definition and length, two coats give a bit more oomph, but no drama. I’m on my second tube of this mascara, and really, I’m kinda sad they discontinued it. Can’t vouch for its lash growing properties, but my bottom lashes do appear to be a little longer. Perhaps the thinner the hair, the better it works.

Vivienne Sabo Cabaret Mascara

I read nothing but exceedingly good reviews of this thing. Indeed, when I bought it and used it for the first time, I was like, WOWZA. The second time I was like, yeah, this is good stuff. Fourth time I was, hmm, something’s off… And on the sixth use the formula was so dry, it crumbled off my lashes within minutes. Now, I’m not sure if my tube just came from a weird batch or something, because this product gets steady positive reviews from just about everyone. I was very excited to try it. The pricing is quite merciful, so I might give it another go some time soon.

Oriflame MaxiLash 3D Mascara

Discontinued as well. Had one of those brushes that are combs. That was the only reason I never got along with the product, as the formula was good — not too thick, not too runny, and even with the ruddy comb it didn’t glue my lashes together.However I’m one of those weird people who refuse to use a brush from another mascara with a different tube. I could never really build up volume with the comb or use a right amount of product. The application was messy, and although I really loved the colour (very black) and could see that the formula was good, it had to go. Sadface.

Covergirl Outlast Lip Color, the topcoat/ balm part

One day my father just came over with four Covergirl lipsticks, dropped them on the desk in front of me, and mumbled something about them being for the daughter that never visits him. Fathers, right.

This is the balm that goes over the colour part of the product. I love these Covergirl super-staying lipsticks, and the balm is thick enough that it doesn’t let the colour product dry your lips. This one was a bit funky from the start, as in it would refuse to stay in the bullet properly. Eventually it fell out, so I let it go, as I have three other balms that I believe would be enough for the lip stains.

5 (+2) down; 93 to go.