Product Review - Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense Lipsticks

So I've been looking around at new (to me) lipsticks to update my collection, and I found these gorgeous lipsticks from Make Up For Ever. The Rouge Artist Intense lipsticks are said to be 50% more pigmented than other lipsticks, and are supposed to be very long-lasting.

I picked up two shades: 29 and 38. I don't love numbered colour names, but Sephora's website describes 29 as Satin Rosewood and 38 as Satin Coral, which I think gives you a much better idea of what the colour actually looks like. I ended up choosing two satins, but the line also carries matte and pearl finishes. I would say the majority of the time, I prefer a satin finish. 

left: 29, right: 38

And the swatches:

top: 29, bottom: 38

As you can see, these are gorgeous colours! So rich and pretty, but not dry looking at all. I see these two colours as being able to take you from spring, right into winter. 

38 is such a pretty spring/summer coral with just the right amount of brightness, without being overwhelming on the lips. Actually, coral is quite a departure for me because I'm naturally drawn to the berry shades. You should note that the true colour of this lipstick is more similar to the swatch above, than to the photo of my lips below. For some reason, the lighting didn't capture the colour looking as coral as it really is in real life.

38 on my lips

29 is more of a typical "me" shade. I will definitely be pulling this one out a ton once it starts to feel like fall (well, probably sooner because I cannot resist). I just love this muted berry shade with the perfect amount of rosiness in it. It's so pretty on the lips. 

29 on my lips

So let's talk staying power. Worn alone, these do last longer than your typical lipstick that is not considered long-lasting. I do have matte lipsticks (from Nars, MAC, etc) that may last as long or longer, but that may be because I ended up selecting the satin finish. The Rouge Artist Intense matte shades may last longer than the satins. However, these do last longer than many of my other lipsticks that are not actually intended to be long-lasting, so that is nice. I would say they perform as expected. The great thing is that I do not find them drying at all, which is a pet peeve of anything intended to be long-lasting.

One last note - I believe these are sold exclusively at Sephora, so if you are interested, check out their website.

Have you tried any of the Rouge Artist Intense lipsticks?

Thanks for reading!

Product Review - Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer

With all of the online buzz, I gave in and picked up one of the new Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquers. There were a lot of really pretty colours and I swatched a bunch before selecting the shade Celestial. Celestial is a rosey-berry shade that is not too dark, but definitely not a nude. It is a typical colour that I would select, and that's fine with me, because I love it!

I've worn this a few times since purchasing, so I can provide you with my pros and cons:

Pros:

- feels amazing on the lips - smooth and not sticky at all

- great pigmentation - one swipe across the lips and the colour shows up beautifully

- quite glossy - no need for layering a lip gloss over top

- easy to use applicator - there is a little dip in the doe foot applicator that makes it easy to get enough of the product onto your lips the first time. It is also easy to create a precise lip line due to the applicator

Cons:

- a bit of a strange smell - kind of like melons, although I only can smell it during application, and I don't notice any taste

- doesn't last particularly long - this is not a stain, nor does it dry down. It is more like a liquid lipstick

- not that cheap considering it is a drugstore product - I paid $9.99 at Shoppers Drug Mart. Rimmel. I suppose this isn't abnormal pricing for Canada, but if you want to pick up on a few shades, it will get pricey

So overall, I'm really loving this product! I might pick up a couple more shades if I see these on sale.

Have you tried this shade or any others of the Rimmel Apocalips?

Thanks for reading!

Another One From theBalm! Balm Jovi Rockstar Palette

So you have seen me post about theBalm several time before, but this palette deserves a mention because it is simply fantastic. It is Balm Jovi from theBalm! This is a full face palette - my other palettes from theBalm are all just eyeshadow, so this is a little different.

The palette has a rock magazine / album theme and it is just super clever and cute. Inside you get twelve eyeshadows, a highlight and blush, and two lip products. The packaging is extra-great in that the lip products (which are cream), have their own cover and so they are completely away from the powder products. This is perfect because it is terrible when powder gets into creamy products. 

In case you are overwhelmed by all of the colours and options, there is even a little chart to give you ideas on how to create four looks. This is a great starting point, and from there, you can get creative!

On to the swatches:

And here is a shot of the quick eye I did this morning - Alice Copper in the crease, Blink 1982 on the lid and blended out with Third Eye Blinded. 

Thanks for reading!

IT Cosmetics Vitality Lip Flush Butter

I have been a huge fan of IT Cosmetics since the first time I tried their products. I am never disappointed when trying a new product from them, and these lip butters were no different. I've been enjoying the Vitality Lip Stains for some time now, so when I heard a lip butter was being released, I was really excited. 

As you can see from the picture above, these lip butters are full of great ingredients. As such, these lip butters feel so nice on the lips. Extremely hydrating and smooth, my lips feel great when wearing them. They also have a lovely, but very light scent that almost reminds me of the scent of MAC lipsticks, which I love. I cannot taste anything on my lips, however.

There are three shades in the collection: Pillow, In Love, and Darling.

l to r: Pillow, In Love, Darling

And here are the swatches:

l to r: Pillow, In Love, Darling

As you can see, the colours are just gorgeous - sheer, but still pigmented enough to give your lips a nice flush. I consider my lips to be fairly pigmented, and these all show up beautifully. 

As for lasting power, these are not stains like the previously released Vitality Lip Stains. These are more like gloss balms, so they will need to be reapplied. However, you will probably find yourself wanting to reapply due to the luxurious texture!

Can you tell I like these?

I would definitely recommend picking up one of these lip butters!

Thanks for reading!

Some Inglot Purchases

Everytime I'm in New York, I make a point to stop at either the Inglot counter in Macy's, or the Inglot store (or both!). I just love their shadows and the Freedom system. If you aren't familliar with Inglot, they have an extremely wide selection of shadows that come in an individual pan. You can select the colours you want and then purchase an empty palette to arrange them in. I believe you can get palettes that hold 2, 4, 5, 10 or 20 individual shadows (there may be more, but these are the ones I know of). This time, I filled up a quad, and purchased another three shadows that I might just put in one of my Z-Palettes. I also purchased a lipstick and a lipliner, which was new for me - I've tried Inglot glosses and blushes, but never lipstick or liner. I'm really happy with my whole purchase.

I would say that Inglot shadows are comparable to other high-end shadows. I find them to have great pigmentation and staying power. One other pro with Inglot is the price. I believe each shadow is only $6 (USD), and the empty quad was $10.

My only real dislike about these eyeshadows is the naming system! They are all numbers that make it really hard to remember what you have or don't have. On top of this, once you put the individual pan into the palette, the number is hidden as it is on the bottom of the pan, so you have to take a pin out and carefully remove the pan. It's a bit annoying. But before I went to New York I made a list of all the colours that I already have so that I didn't purchase any duplicates. I learned from my previous mistake - I already have two pans of 409! This is just a minor complaint though. Overall, I highly recommend these!

Here is what I got:

top row l to r: 34, 352 344
middle row l to r: matte 373, DS 488
bottom row l to r: 445, DS 498

Swatches top to bottom: matte 373, DS 488, 445, DS 498

Inglot lipstick #113 and liner #859

Swatches - Inglot lipstick #113 and liner #859

As I mentioned, I picked up my first Inglot lipstick and lipliner. I'm really happy with both as the colours are gorgeous. I ended up using them everyday in New York and have been reaching for them a lot since returning home. I find the lipstick to be very long wearing, although I do not believe it is marketed as such. I'll definitely grab another one next time I'm at an Inglot counter. The liner is great too - it is a nice soft, neutral pinky-nude shade that goes with everything. And I love the blending brush on the end! 

All in all, I'm still very impressed with Inglot products and would recommend them to anyone!

Thanks for reading!

Huge Wet n Wild Haul!

In Canada, it can be difficult to find all of these amazing Wet n Wild products that are so loved in the online makeup community. As someone who rarely shops at Walmart, I would never have stumbled upon the Color Icon trios on my own. I think it was probably Emily at Beauty Broadcast who first introduced these to me in her You Tube videos. In my local Walmart, they do carry the full permanent line, however I have never seen any of the limited edition palettes, or special collections like the Fergie line. But that doesn't stop me! I ended up placing a couple of online orders - one at Nonpareil Boutique and another at Beatyjoint. So yeah, even if you are in Canada, you can get your hands on all of these great products. I think I spent less than $100 and ended up with pretty much the full range, that included the spring limited edition palettes, some of the older limited edition palettes that I had missed, the six-colour palettes, all of the Color Icon blushes, the bronzer, etc. I may have gone overboard, but I always feel like I have to justify the shipping and handling charges, so I buy more. Also, often there are discounts offered for spending a certain amount. 

So anyways, here are some pictures and thoughts on what I got.

Spring Forward Limited Edition Palettes: Going in the Wild and Nude Awakening

Wet n Wild Limited Edition Palette - Going in the Wild

Wet n Wild Limited Edition Palette - Nude Awakening (Sorry, swatches are upside down..)

These two palettes are really pretty. I've read reviews that criticized the pigmentation and mentioned that these are not up to par with the quality of the previously released eight-pan palettes, but I'm not sure that I agree with that. I haven't used them for a significant period of time yet, but they seem to apply quite nicely from what I have seen so far.

The top palette - Going in the Wild is perfect for this spring with the pretty pastels. The purples aren't extremely bold, but it is easy to create a soft pretty look.

The bottom palette - Nude Awakening is the one that has been compared to the Urban Decay Naked palettes. It is full of really great neutrals and is extremely wearable, not only on a daily basis, but in any season of the year. I can see this becoming a go-to item in my collection.

Where's the Party Limited Edition Palettes

top: Sparkle Til Morning
bottom l to r: Shimmer The Night Away, Drinking A Glass of Shine

This limited edition collection consists of three palettes: Sparkle Till Morning, Shimmer The Night Away and Drinking A Glass Of Shine. So far, I've only really used the top palette in this collection - Sparkle Till Morning. This is the only eyeshadow that I took with me when I traveled to New York for a week (??!!? I normally travel with much more..), and it was all I needed! Of course the reason I only took this one palette was that I knew I would buy others, but you really can get away with a simple palette like this for a whole week and still be able to create different looks that match to your mood or outfit. I was really happy with this, and really cannot stop using it. That pink shade in the top right corner is sooo gorgeous. I'm obsessed with it. Anyways, I still have to try the other two palettes.

Color Icon Blushes

top row l to r: Mellow Wine, Heather Silk
bottom row l to r: Pearlescent Pink, Berry Shimmer

These blushes are really great. I would say that they are comparable to many high-end blushes out there. Often drugstore blushes lack pigmentation, and you need to really layer them on to get the result you want, but with these, I just tap my brush in lightly, and there is enough product. I'm really enjoying using these.

Color Icon Bronzers

l to r: Goddess and Princess

So far I have tried the Goddess shade, which I thought was very pretty while I was applying it, but in natural light it turned out to be much too pink-toned for me. Since you can see yellow undertones in my neck, it does not look right to have this pink bronzer on my skin. Unfortunately this will not work for me, but I have yet to try the Princess shade. It appears less pink, so hopefully it will work out.

Color Icon Eyeshadow Singles

top row l to r: Nutty, Brulee, Kitten
bottom row l to r: Golddigger, Sellout

I have to say that Nutty is the colour that I reach for the most out of these. It is a really perfect neutral taupe-y brown colour that is great for allover the lid or blending out other colours. I haven't used the others very much, but I'm excited to give them a try.

Color Icon Eyeshadow Trios

I have to admit that I purchased the Silent Treatment trio as a backup. Yes, I already have it. But it is just gorgeous. It is a perfect neutral trio that that can be worn in a more natural way for everyday, or can be intensified for evening. I picked up I Got Good Jeans at the same time because it was something a bit different for me. It is very pretty as well, with the navy and the gold.

Color Icon 6-pan Eyeshadow Palettes

l to r: Greed, Lust, Vanity

The Vanity palette is one that I hear quite a bit about. I was a bit disappointed, however. I found that the matte and shimmery nude/ivory colours were very nice, even the matte light brown was a decent contour shade, but the gold and the two deeper browns did not give me the rich colour pigment that I've come to expect based on the trios that I have already been using. I was able to make a nice eye look out of this palette, but it wasn't the look that I had in mind.

Mega Last Lipstick

901B Think Pink and 903C Just Peachy

Top: 903C Just Peachy
Bottom: 901B Think Pink

I really like these lipsticks. For such a cheap product, I didn't have very high expectations, even though I have heard a lot of good things about them. They are a bit on the dry side, but of course the staying power makes up for this, so layer with a bit of balm, and it isn't really a problem. The colours are both quite pretty.

Tell me, have you been loving Wet n Wild lately?

Thanks for reading!

My YSL Lipstick Habit

So I only recently began loving YSL lip products, but when I love something, it really shows! This is my collection so far, and I have been seriously resisting the urge to pick up more! I guess I am a bit of a sucker for beautiful packaging, and I gave into the hype, but I do really enjoy using these products and find myself reaching for them quite often. 

l to r: Rouge Volupte Shine #9 Nude in Private, Rouge Volupte Shine #15 Corail Intuitive, Rouge Pur Couture #1 Le Rouge, Volupte Sheer Candy #6 Luscious Cherry, Rouge Volupte #1 Nude Beige, Rouge Volupte #29 Opera Rose

Rouge Volupte Shine #9 Nude in Private and Rouge Volupte Shine #15 Corail Intuitive

Rouge Volupte Shine #15 Corail Intuitive

I picked up both of my Rouge Volupte Shines during Sephora's VIB event. I generally try to buy these during discount specials or when Murale is having a cash in your points event due to the pricepoint on these. I'm really loving this formula, especially for summer. Last summer I was into the Sheer Candy version, but the Rouge Volupte Shine is kind of the best of both worlds as there is a bit more staying power than the Sheer Candy, but you get the lipstick feel of the Rouge Volupte. Anyways, I really like both of these, but I'm particularly enjoying Corail Intuitive, and included it in my April favourites here.

Rouge Pur Couture #1 Le Rouge

I don't wear red lipstick very often, but I think it is good to have at least one that you really like for that special occasion. This is a really gorgeous true red that feels great on the lips. I applied this with a red liner from Rimmel to make sure that the edges were tidy, but I think this is a perfect red shade for any skintone.

Volupte Sheer Candy #6 Luscious Cherry

If you are not ready for a bold red lip, like the one above, you could always go for a red lip using a balm form. This balm is extremely pigmented, yet sheer and very wearable. I wore this all last summer and took it with me when I traveled for a fresh look. A great bonus is that you can apply this red without a mirror. 

Rouge Volupte #1 Nude Beige, Rouge Volupte #29 Opera Rose

Rouge Volupte #1 Nude Beige

These were my first two YSL lipsticks. At first I wasn't used to the texture of these - it is very slick so it takes some time to get used to, but now I just love them. Nude Beige is a gorgeous nude and Opera Rose is a perfect true pink. 

What's your favourite YSL lipstick shade?

Thanks for reading!

Favourites - April 2013

I can't believe it is May already! April went so fast for me, but I bought a ton of great things, and all of my April favourites are actually items that I bought in April, but loved so much that have been wearing them basically everyday since. This month was a real mix of both high and low products, which I love because great products can be found at any price point. 

My April faves are:

• Revlon Lip Butters in Sorbet and Juicy Papaya
• YSL Rouge Volupte Shine lipstick in #15 Corail Intuitive
• Cover Girl & Olay Simply Ageless Concealer 
• Cover Girl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation
• Bobbi Brown Blush in Nectar
• NYX Slide On eye pencils

Revlon Lip Butters in Sorbet and Juicy Papaya

Have I ever mentioned on here that I love Revlon Lip Butters? Well I do. And the new colours they recently put out for spring as part of the Pacific Coast collection, are so good. I might have mentioned in a previous post that I just picked up the above two? Well I went back and got the other two as well. I just love these. 

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte
Shine #15 Corail Intuitive

OK, so another lip product. I couldn't choose one! This lipstick is so pretty - it is a very subtle coral that is just lovely. And of course the YSL lipsticks are some of the best. I'm thinking of doing a post on my full YSL lipstick collection as I have accumulated several. This was one of the items in the picture here, that I picked up at the Sephora VIB sale. I like to take advantage of discounts when purchasing pricey items like this one.

Cover GIrl Simply Ageless Concealer in 205 Very
Light and Cover Girl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1
Foundation in 910 Classic Ivory

Honestly, I would never have guessed that I would be putting any Cover Girl products in my monthly favourites. Not because I have anything against drugstore makeup - I love the drugstore, but I used to use Cover Girl foundation when I was 14. And it wasn't very good. I've also tried a lot of other Cover Girl products back in my teen days (what teenage girl didn't have a Cover Girl pressed powder compact in their school bag?), but since then, I've found products that are so much better, whether they are low or high-end. So when both this foundation, as well as this concealer started popping up on beauty blogs, I didn't think it was worth checking out. But my curiosity took over and my frustration with my current foundation drove me to Shoppers Drug Mart where I picked up both of these (on sale, I might add). And I'm really glad I got them. I've been using both products ever since I got them, two weeks ago. The foundation shade Classic Ivory is a perfect match (117 in MUFE HD) and I just love the finish that it gives to my oily skin. Anyways, I don't want to do a full review here, but these are products that I will keep using on a daily basis.

Bobbi Brown Blush in Nectar

You may have received the email a few weeks ago about the Bobbi Brown friends and family sale on the website - the discount lured me in and I picked up two blushes, a bronzer and an eyeshadow. This blush in Nectar is perfect. It is such a gorgeous pink with a hint of coral in it that goes with everything. I can't stop using it! 

NYX Slide On Pencils in Gun Metal, Azure, Golden Bronze and Glitzy Gold

These eyeliner pencils are so good. I'd heard that they were similar to the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils, but had never tried them. I have to say that they seem like the same formula to me. They have the same creaminess, the same great colour payoff, and they last all day for me. These are amazing, and for the price, I highly recommend these. I will be going back for more colours.

So those are my favourites for April. What are yours?

Thanks for reading!