Springing Spring: Pink Lipsticks

I have somehow, in the last couple months, managed to acquire three cool pink lipsticks. That's not a color family that I tend to gravitate towards, preferring warmer pinks or deeper plums, but a confluence of factors (one I won in a giveaway, one was a free gift with purchase, and one caught my eye in Rite Aid) led to this point, so...whatever. Here's my thoughts!

Tarte LipSurgence SkinTuitive Lip Tint in Energy*

This is one of those "pH matching" products, which is complete baloney, but it came free from Ulta when I ordered my mother's mascara, and even if the marketing is a bunch of hooey, that doesn't mean it's not still a pretty pink. And it is, though it's not without its issues. It applies clear, and like all Tarte LipSurgence products, it smells and tastes like mint and tingles a bit upon application. After a minute or two, it's turned into a sheer medium pink (thanks to the Red #27 in it). It's mildly moisturizing, in spite of the peppermint, but I don't get very long wear and need to reapply roughly every hour. It does lightly stain, but only the inside of my lips; for it to wear completely evenly, I need to exfoliate my lips ahead of time, and that's more than I can usually remember to do. Still, it was free, and it's pretty on, so I'll probably use up the sample! $24 for 0.1 oz, available from Sephora, among others
*free gift with purchase

30 Days: Day 11

Hey, y'all! I'm writing this (note; the post itself was written awhile ago) from Bandon on the Oregon coast, a lovely little town. My mother and I came for a few days for a much-needed vacation, and so far it has been lovely. I've taken lots of pictures, but unfortunately forgot to bring my camera cord, so a full post will have to wait until I get home, at which point I will also catch up on comments and other blogs. Until then, though, have another 30 Days!

Show us your lippie collection! (Where "lippie" includes anything tinted you wear on lips, because I forgot to include lip balm and am too lazy to take more pictures.)

Full-coverage lipsticks: L'Oréal Infallible Le Rouge in Bold Bordeaux, Sephora Rouge Cream in Sexy Game, Clinique High Impact Lip Color in After Party

I rarely wear any of these, because I tend to not go for opaque lipstick, since I find it to be much less forgiving. I absolutely loathe the L'Oréal lipstick, and will post my scathing review once I take some more swatch pictures (the ones I have right now are after I fiddled with it for awhile to try and make it work, which is not as accurate a portrayal as I would like). The Sephora lipstick is a pretty color, it's just, again, really opaque, and I may throw it out. The Clinique is also very dark and vampy, but I find I can apply it sheerly when I want, and it was my first department store beauty purchase, so I'll hold onto it for sentimentality's sake if nothing else!

More Product Mini Reviews

Hey hey, it's time for another post of mini-reviews! I got to try a lot of products during my New York visit, thanks to L's impressive collection, and will remark on them in a succincter-than-usual fashion. I've decided to post this rather than a monthly favorites/empties (or Skincare Saturday, for that matter, though there are several skincare products here), mostly because I'm sick and don't have the energy to write a new post. Here they are, in no particular order:

Philosophy The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash

$25 for 8 oz, available from Sephora

This is a very nice, gentle exfoliator. I only used it the one time, since I spent 4 out of 6 of my nights at Z's, but I found it to do its job without unnecessary irritation. I'm not sure I'd want to spend that much myself, especially since I have my Clarisonic which takes care of my physical exfoliation needs, but if you don't have a Clarisonic and want something mild to exfoliate, Microdelivery is definitely worth checking out!

Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes! Mascara Review and Pictures

Let me start by saying I don't like mascara. I have naturally long, dark, thick lashes, and I wear glasses for severe far-sightedness, so my eyes look huge, and I rarely have any desire to make them look bigger. I hate how many mascaras clump, flake, smear, and make my lashes so long they bump annoyingly against my glasses (yes, this happens). Mostly I just curl my lashes and call it a day. There are, however, some times when I feel that my eye look benefits from more dramatic lashes, and that is the reason I opted to get a deluxe sample of Lights, Camera, Lashes! (henceforth LCL) as my Sephora 100 point bonus. And, of course, so I could share my experience with you all! Because nothing's more fun than mascara reviews, right?

image via Sephora

LCL is an all-in-one mascara. It claims to lengthen, curl, volumize, and condition lashes. The bushy wand deposits plenty of product with one coat, making my lashes longer, though I don't notice much in the way of volumizing (unless some mild clumping counts?) or curling. I still do my normal curl routine after application, because I find that when I curl my lashes before applying mascara, I end up with product all over my lid (the result of an unfortunate combination of blindness and tremor); fortunately, the mascara holds a curl really well, and I don't find my lashes limping at all over the course of the day.

no mascara, no curling

30 Days Makeup Challenge: Day 3

For an overview of this series, see here!

Favorite everyday lip?
I've long had an obsession with finding my perfect MLBB shade (see entries under "HG Lip Search" for examples...), so I have several options for nice everyday lip color.

Left to right, one swipe each: Tarte Dazzled LipSurgence pencil, Jordana Sweet Strawberry Easyshine, Essence Fairytale lipstick, Revlon Sugar Plum Lip Butter, Revlon Berry Smoothie Lip Butter

My current favorite is Revlon Sugar Plum Lip Butter (second from right in picture above), as I find it gives me a really natural, subtle lip with plenty of moisture that I don't have to reapply every 30 minutes, but I also really like the others, too!

What about you?

Tarte Lip Service Limited Edition LipSurgence Collection Review and Swatches

Here's the long-awaited (can you hear the sarcasm?) full post on the LE Tarte LipSurgence collection, available now at Sephora and Tarte.com.  I've been pretty much wearing these non-stop since I got them so that I could get this review up before it sells out on Sephora again, but I also wanted to be sure to give as thorough and accurate a review as possible.  I think this is a happy medium!  For arm swatches and my initial thoughts, see here.

Left to right: Glitzy, Perky, Flashy, Swank, Dazzled

Three of these are Lusters and have shimmer, and two are sparkle-free tints.  I found that, overall, the lusters felt a little gritty from the shimmer, but they also seemed to stay moist on my lips for longer than the tints, which were not gritty, but lost their slip within half an hour.  The tints leave behind a lovely stain of color when they wear off, while the lusters last an hour+ (depending on the pigmentation) but leave behind less of a stain and a sprinkling of glitter.

They all have a very slight peppermint smell/taste, which gives the tiniest bit of tingliness when applied, but it's very mild.  They supposedly increase moisture by 6000%, which is just so ridiculous I can't even say.  They are moisturizing, definitely, more so than Clinique Chubby Sticks, but I do still rely on my Jack Black after a day of wearing these.  I'd initially thought their texture was softer than Clinique's, but I think that's only true for Perky, the light pink tint, as it seems to be softer than the others (and is also looser in its casing, so it has smooshed against the side of the tube a bit); I wish I could compare them, but, alas, I lost the Clinique one.  The texture is balmy, but firm, so there's no wasted product.  Overall, I would describe them as a glossy staining tinted balm, which is a mouthful, but I really think that covers all the pieces.

Pictures and descriptions of each shade:

Tarte Lip Service Limited Edition LipSurgence Collection Sneak Peek

ETA: For a full review write-up and lip swatches, see here!

Last week, I ordered the LE Tarte LipSurgence collection from tarte.com with a 20% off code (create an account, put stuff in your cart, and then leave it there for a few days, and they'll send you a code! Thank you, Retail Me Not) because it was sold out at Sephora and I didn't want to miss out on it.  It's back in stock, fortunately, so my review won't have to be a "what you can't have" type thing, but if you want it, I would snag it soon, since I'm sure with the start of Sephora's F&F sale (it begins this Thursday and runs through November 2nd, but order early if you want to ensure you get everything you want!) it'll go pretty fast.  Normally, a LipSurgence pencil is $24 for 0.10 oz, but you get 5 full-size pencils/lip sticks for $29 in this set.  And with 20% off, that's a mere $23.20, less than one regular pencil!  So, seriously, I couldn't afford not to get it.

It only just arrived today, and I immediately took some pictures and swatches so I could post them for your enjoyment, since I don't know exactly how long it'll take me to test and review them fully and wanted you to have some idea what the deal is if you're planning on buying it soon.  Anyways!  Here they are; I'll post a more thorough review with lip swatches and product break-down once I've had the chance to play around with them some.

In their pretty box, left to right: Glitzy, Perky, Flashy, Swank, Dazzled

1 swipe each, top to bottom: Swank, Perky, Dazzled, Flashy, Glitzy

Eyelash Curlers: My Favorite Medieval-Torture-Looking Tool

I wear mascara very, very rarely; I used to wear it daily, but between my emotional tendencies and allergies, I would often end up with mascara down my face, and since I'm severely far-sighted, my glasses enlarge my eyes a lot, making mascara that lengthens, thickens, and/or multiplies rather redundant.  Since my lashes are nearly black as it is, I also don't need the tinting properties of mascara.  The one thing I do need?  Curl.  The few times I've tried to use a curling mascara, though, I've ended up with mascara all over my eyelids (and once, memorable, on my nose).  Fortunately for me, eyelash curlers exist!  Many people are frightened by them, understandably--they do look like something used to torture blasphemers during the Inquisition.  But don't let that scare you off!