Flormar "Pretty Lipstick" Cream and Gloss Lipstick P319 Review and Swatches

I received this as a gift from the lovely Sarah, like, a thousand years ago. I have quite the backlog of lippies, but thought I should start with one that I love, to get us off on the right foot. (#spoileralert, I guess?)

back when it was new and pristine

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

Marcelle Rouge Vitality Lipstick in 540 Desire Pink Review and Swatches

Many months ago, Sarah sent me the most delightful care package, full of sweet, thoughtful goodies, including some makeup (and a Ryan Gosling journal, swoon).

100% pure awesome.

She included Annabelle Rosewood blush, which funnily enough is the same shade Liz sent me, way back in the day (and is one I love, and since it's not available in the US, it never hurts to have a backup!), and Marcelle Rouge Vitality Lipstick 540 Desire Pink.

the lipstick in question

MAC Viva Glam V Review and Swatches

Larie threw this in with my order from her blog sale awhile back, because she is generosity incarnate :) I have many lippies, but few nudes, as they tend to make me look dead, but I thought Viva Glam V, which has been hailed as "universal", might work. And so it does!

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupté Shine 02 Pourpre Intouchable Review and Swatches

I've been wanting to pick up one of the Rouge Volupté Shines ever since I tried some samples from Sephora. The formula is semi-sheer, lightweight, balmy, but not slippery, so when I had my $20 off $50 last year I decided to pick up a tube in Pourpre Intouchable, which I'd determined could be a high-end replacement for Revlon Sugar Plum, my HG MLBB shade.

Ooh, shiny.

Bite Lush Lip Tint in Juice

Larie recently had a blog sale, and I picked up a couple of Bite lippies I'd been wanting to try (and, because she's amazing, she included a pile of other wonderful goodies!). I figured I'd start the reviews with this Lush Lip Tint. I like sheer lipsticks for low-maintenance days, or when I'm wearing bold eyes, and I don't have a lot of lippies in this particular color family (being warm/nude pinks).

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in Roomiest Rose Review and Swatches

I liked Mightiest Maraschino so much that I paid full price for Roomiest Rose. A wise choice?

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in Mightiest Maraschino Review and Swatches

Another lippie post! I'm on a kick.

I placed a rather sizable order at Sephora during the VIB sale, and decided to use some of my points to pick up a mini Mightiest Maraschino––we all know how much I love my lippies, after all. After my Givenchy Violine Précieux didn't wow me, I figured I might as well give this a swatch, fully expecting it, too, to fall short of my expectations.

Turns out, I should've put my money towards the Chubby Stick Intenses, because damn, son, this is some good shit.

Golden Rose Perfect Shine Lipstick 239 Quick Review and Swatches

This was the first makeup item I picked up while in Turkey. I wanted to try and find an MLBB, and since this was cheap (somewhere between $3 and $7, because my memory fails me), I decided to give it a try.

Taken on a bedspread in Bodrum in a hotel with very
inadequate a/c [not sure why I remember that and not the
price, and yet...]

MAC Lipsticks, Part 2

I already posted about the warm pinks and corals; today, I cover everything else!

The Pinks and Plums

Left to right: MAC Positively Dashing, Shiseido Nymph, MAC Plumful, Revlon Sugar Plum, Golden Rose Perfect Shine Lipstick 239, Dior Atout Coeur, L'Oreal Rose On and On, MAC Lustering, MAC Sweetie

I'm not sure why I look surprised here.

Positively Dashing is a Pro Longwear Lipcreme, described as a "mid-tone 'berry' blue-red". It's a medium plum in a formula that's supposed to be lightweight with a creamy finish. It's relatively lightweight, but creamy? Not so much. I find it wears best when I apply and blend with my finger and repeat a couple times; then it isn't as uneven, and it lasts me 2-3 hours before needing to touch up, which isn't exactly long-wearing, but is longer-wearing than some. Unlike Violine Précieux (which is almost exactly the same shade), it doesn't dry my lips out, but it doesn't moisturize them, either, so it has the effect of making my lips look a bit shriveled. This is not ideal, as I have actually very nice lips, so I will continue looking for the plum lipstick of my dreams, but Positively Dashing will do for the time being. As long as I top it with balm. Grade: B-/C+

Givenchy Le Rouge Sensuously Matte in Violine Précieux Review and Swatches

Ever since its release, Givenchy's Le Rouge lipsticks have been heaped with praise. I have coveted, so very much, so when Sephora's VIB sale rolled around, I picked one up, the LE holiday Violine Précieux, described as a "berry rose".

The packaging is, indeed, beautiful. The holiday editions have a gold-and-black leather case, and it is supremely classy, albeit rather ridiculously large. It took me a bit of time to figure out how to open it––you have to hold the little squares on the front and back and pull the lid up, which is harder than it sounds; on the upside, it's not going to come apart in your bag!

MAC Lipsticks, Part 1

I heard about The Body Needs from Life's Entropy; it's a website that has handmade cosmetics, as well as samples of pretty much every MAC lipstick and pigment, glitter, and paint pot. After trying Plumful and falling in love, I added TBN to my email list to wait for a sale, and within a few months, there was 30% off everything, so I pounced and picked up 9 that looked promising, in a variety of formulas. I've been playing around with them the past few weeks (my other lippies are feeling somewhat unloved, ha!) and will share my thoughts, split up over a couple of posts. Today, I'll show you the bright warms; next time, I'll show you the pinks and reds, and the final post will cover purchase information.

Left to right, one swipe each: Crosswires, Ultra Darling, Catrice Pinkadilly

Circus, Speak Louder, Impassioned 

Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited in PK 375 Quick Review and Swatches

This is the other Shu Uemura Rouge Perfect I picked up back when they were half price and I had a coupon. I already reviewed BG 935, which I liked in spite of the short wear time, because the color is so easy to wear and flattering. I had hoped that PK 375 would be a good fuchsia (apparently forgetting that I already have a fuchsia, and picked up another when I was abroad, but that's another issue entirely).

Left to right: MAC Hot Tahiti, MAC Candy Apple, Lipstick Queen Cosmos,
Lipstick Queen Thriller, Shu Uemura PK 375

ARTDECO Perfect Color Lipstick 82 Review and Swatches

We've been enjoying a resurgence of sunshine and relative warmth, very welcome after record-breaking rain at the end of September. Of course, school has started, and though I am not taking much in the way of classes, I am still teaching (in a tragically windowless room!), and between that and research (in a tragically windowless lab!), I've not had much time for blogging. My apologies! Here is a long-overdue review of a lipstick I purchased in Berlin.

Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited BG 935 Review and Swatches

Sorry for my most recent absence! I went down to LA for a wedding of a friend of the boy's, which was lots of fun but didn't leave much time for blogging (or work, but shhhh, don't tell). I'm back at home again, though, and hopefully will be staying put for awhile! Which means more posts for you! Hooray!

So, I know the lipstick marks on the inside of the cap
are gross, but I figure it's good to show you what it
actually looks like after being used! (That, and I'm
too lazy to clean it. You're welcome.)

Catrice Ultimate Colour lipstick 210 Pinkadilly Circus

I picked this up in Berlin, as it was a pretty color and comfortable price (€3,49, I think? Definitely less than €4,00), and I figured even if it didn't end up working out, I could still get a post out of it. Happily, it's been a raging success!

Yes, I used it before I photographed it. You didn't expect

me to wait 2 weeks to get home before wearing it, right?!

MAC Plumful Review and Swatches

After an emotional session with my therapist, I decided to indulge in some retail therapy. I was going to get a Dior lip gloss, but couldn't decide on a shade, and decided to wander over to the MAC counter to look for an MLBB lipstick. I did some swatching and settled on Plumful, a lustre lipstick. I was ecstatic at the reasonable-to-current-me $15 price tag (oh, how times have changed), and the sheer plummy pink was exactly the kind of color I was looking for.

Giveaway Winner, and Preview of Things to Come

Firstly: The winner of the giveaway, as chosen by Random.org, is Lizzy––which made me snort up my tea, since she won the anniversary giveaway last year, too! What strange coincidence, heh. Thank you to all who entered! And stay tuned for an end-of-the-year giveaway in a few weeks :-)

Secondly: I've managed to acquire a number of new lippies recently––a combination of depression and sales led to some cheer-up purchases, and no, I don't regret it: they're all gorgeous, and nothing makes me happier than a pretty lippie (save a holo/duochrome/sparkly nail polish, I suppose!). It may be shallow to enjoy the snap of a luxury lipgloss being closed, but I don't care. I will find joy in whatever small things I can: shortbread cookies, tea, comfort perfumes, and, yes, makeup.

To that end, let me share my new pretties! There will be full reviews and FOTDs of everything in the next few weeks, knowing how slow I am at posting, heh.

Clockwise from top left: Shu Uemura PK 375, BG 935, Becca Berry Twist, Giorgio Armani Flash Lacquer 608, Becca Lip Priming Perfector, Korres Lip Butter Quince, Le Métier de Beauté Framboise Crème, Chanel Savage Grace

I've apparently become a bit of a gloss person, weird. Any you're particularly interested in hearing about? And how have y'all been?

Blue Lipstick

I was wearing a blue, black, and white floral dress yesterday, which I matched my eyeshadow to (Inglot 428 on the outer half, theBalm Stubborn on my lid, theBalm Sassy patted on the center, Inglot 352 above crease). The boy suggested I wear blue lipstick as well, which of course inspired us to go looking for blue lipstick looks. Our favorites were all darker, richer blues rather than lighter, brighter ones, in particular:

via allwomenstalk

via lucipussycat

via Jarnsaxa

Not something I would necessarily want to wear, but I have to say I do find them very interesting! Now I kind of wish I had occasion to wear something so unorthodox...

What do you think of blue lipstick?

30 Days: Day 20

Have you entered the giveaway?! 9 subscriptions, currently only 7 people entered...your chances are good ;) Ends tomorrow!

Only 2 weeks into the term and I am as overwhelmed as during finals. It's gonna be a great quarter, y'all. I'm holding out hope that I'll be able to find wee bits of time for the blog, but I apologize if my posting becomes even more sporadic than usual! For now, though, here's the last of the lippies: the reds! Because I have so many reds. I don't know how that happened. Then again, looking at these swatches, it's coming back to me...

Lipstick Queen Thriller: Very similar in finish and feel to Cosmos (below), but slightly less glossy.
Lipstick Queen Cosmos: Probably my favorite gloss, both because of the color (such a pretty berry-red) and formula (not really very gloss-like at all!). Currently MIA, because I am terrible at keeping track of my things.
L'Oréal Endless Red: Intensely pigmented, shiny, and long-lasting. A true red, very showstopping, and not something I find myself reaching for very often because it's so bold. I love it no less for that!