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!

Chanel Aqualumière Savage Grace Review and Swatches

This was the other lip gloss I picked up from Nordstrom, having heard good things about the Aqualumiere formula and falling in love with the way it looked in the tube and "needing" a fuchsia lip gloss.

Before I go further, I want to point out something very important: THE SHIMMERS ARE DUOCHROME. I was not at all able to capture it on film, but they shift from orange to red to purple, though it's not really noticeable on the lips. It makes playing with the tube really fun, which is...probably something normal people don't do, but I have never claimed to be normal.

Giorgio Armani Flash Lacquer 608 Review and Swatches

Hi, guys! I apologize for my unintentional absence from here and online in general; the term was truly miserable, crowned by finals last week which finished eating my life, and then after those got done I had to recuperate and start finalizing plans for my trip! And now I am at the beach with my mother, inhaling salty air and battling beach hair. I have lots of things to show you, though, so let me just dive right in.

I've not been a gloss person since early college. They're generally too sticky, too migratory, too sheer, too fleeting, too smelly, too juvenile. But then I tried Lipstick Queen Big Bang gloss, which was a revelation: translucent but not particularly sheer, not sticky, pleasant gel texture, long-wearing, and pretty. Then came Burberry Mallow Pink, the most gloriously perfect pink-coral. Slightly tackier than LQ in texture, but beautifully pigmented, understated shimmer, moisturizing and beautiful wear: it has been my most-worn lippie pretty much since I got it. It's my daily choice at least twice a week, and given that I have 30+ lippies, that's high praise.

Recently, Chanel released new shades in their Aqualumiere line which, from swatches online, looked very promising, and the new Armani Flash Lacquers, described as being lightweight and comfortable, called my name. When Nordstrom had 14% cash back on Ebates for their birthday, I picked up glosses from both lines, opting for the fuchsia Savage Grace from Chanel, and the MLBB rose 608 from Armani. The latter is the focus of the post today.

Look, Ma, A Real Nude! Becca Sheer Tint Lip Color in Gisella Review and Swatches

I tend to gravitate towards bolder lips and lighter eyes, but sometimes I feel like changing it up. I have a sizable collection of eyeshadows, and in spite of my glasses hiding pretty much everything, I like to give it the old college try occasionally. (The irony, of course, is that I don't actually have the time to do elaborate eye makeup when classes are in session, but that's neither here nor there.) And so, I like having the option of a true nude. Until this point, Le Métier de Beauté Purple Haze has served that purpose, but it really only works with cool-toned eye looks, so when I needed to reach the $50 free shipping at Becca, I figured I might as well try to find a nude lipstick there. Some quick browsing led me to Gisella as the most likely shade to work that purpose, so into my basket it went. How well did my online peeks serve?

Benefit They're Real! Mascara Review and Swatches

I have an HG mascara, but it is rather prohibitively expensive (though compared to Guerlain, it's a steal), and one time when I needed to reach $50 I decided to pick up a travel tube of Benefit's They're Real! to try out. Herewith, my thoughts.

image via Sephora

Rite Aid Pretty Woman Magnetix Nail Polish Review and Swatches

Magnetic polish is super cool. That is, or at least should be, a universally-accepted truth. Sadly, it is also rather expensive. Happily, more budget-friendly brands have been coming out with magnetic options: ICING, a tween accessories store present in some malls (not mine, boo), China Glaze, and Color Club have all released or have upcoming magnetic collections. And, lo and behold, a random Rite Aid brand version has recently appeared! Nouveau Cheap posted about it, and I ventured over to my nearest Rite Aid to check it out a couple days later. The line, called Pretty Woman Magnetix (because apparently every brand ever thinks that's a clever play on words? I don't even know), has, like, 10 different colors, and I was frankly swamped with the choices, especially because none of them have names. I ended up purchasing just one, since, while $8 is less than magnetic polish from many other brands, it is still 20% of my monthly nail budget. And, y'know, I sometimes try to not go over that too much (I usually fail, epically). I then bought another to try, but have since returned the first, and may well return the second, for reasons I will outline below! Try to contain your excitement.

The bottle is really weirdly shaped. Obviously.

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

Milani HD Advanced Lip Color in Modern Mauve Review and Swatches

Another item from my Milani 50% off haul, oh goody! I've been wanting to try this lipstick for awhile, but between it not being available anywhere near me and being $9 for 0.06 oz, I couldn't quite take the plunge. But half off with free shipping is an offer I can't refuse, so I did some research and figured Modern Mauve would be the closest thing to MLBB in the line for me. Herewith, my musings.

Milani Modern Mauve

Benefit Benetint, Posietint, and High Beam Review and Swatches

Earlier this year, Benefit had a trio of minis of three of their most popular bottles: rosy-red Benetint, warm pink Posietint, and pale pink glowy High Beam for a mere $15. I'd been dying to try Benetint and Posietint for years, but was not about to pay $28 (now $29, great) for something I wasn't sure I'd like, so I was thrilled to see this set. Regular readers know that I have the world's oiliest, shiniest skin, so a highlighter is really not something I get much use out of (which is sad, because so many highlighters are just so pretty), but I wanted the other two products enough to accept it. I'm always looking for a great long-wear, natural lip product, and I hoped that Benetint and/or Posietint would fit the bill. Each product comes in a mini bottle, similar to a nail polish bottle, with a little brush––very cute, and given the formulas, pretty functional.

Left to right: Benetint, High Beam, Posietint

mark Save the Day Anti-Acne Concealer Stick Review and Swatches

Rounding out the skin-helping trio I got from Mark (previous posts were on their gel cleanser and clay mask) is their Save the Day concealer with salicylic acid, designed to help fight blemishes while concealing them.  I can't really say that I've seen dramatic improvement in my blemishes when wearing it, but I can speak to its effectiveness as a concealer, so that's what I'll focus on in this review.

Ole Henriksen Fresh Lips SPF 15 Review

Yet another entry in the Sephora Sun Kit series, this one has the distinction of being something besides a moisturizer/sunscreen!  I've proclaimed my deep and abiding love of Jack Black lip balms, which have SPF 25, so I didn't really need the full-size Ole Henriksen lip balm that came with the kit, but I'm happy to review it nonetheless!

Image from Sephora.com