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Lips Sephora

Bite Beauty French Press Lip Gloss Review

September 3, 2018

I picked up two of the Bite Beauty French Press Lip Glosses ($22 each for 15 oz/4.3 g, made in Canada) in Salted Caramel and Dirty Chai and liked the colors so much I decided to buy the remaining four. The French Press Lip Glosses are coffee scented sheer glosses that have a cream finish. The coffee scent is actually pleasant to me, it’s like a soft sweet coffee scent and it’s not overpowering or heavy. After testing these for a few days I feel like this is both a hit and miss at the same time. Colors are really amazing, formula is something I think could be better.

There are six shades total, all coffee-inspired ranging from a light beige to deep brown. Colors include:

Flat White is a pale cool cream pink
Vanilla Latte is a creamy beige
Salted Caramel is a medium pink beige
Dirty Chai is a pink rose
French Press is a medium brown
Black Coffee is a deep brown plum

The texture is smooth and not sticky. It feels comfortable and moderately hydrating on the lips. Color-payoff and finish is where I think this gloss could be improved. Both Flat White and Black Coffee settled into lip lines and looked really patchy. Even with extra blending I found I couldn’t make them look right. Vanilla Latte worked better for me and I found it moderately streaky. I could smooth it out by swiping the sponge applicator back and forth. However after around 15 minutes I found it settled into fine lines on my lips. To fix the streaking issue I had to layer with a lip pencil, which seemed to fix it 100%. I tested these with some MAC Lip Pencils and Laura Mercier Lip Pencils and the final result was much better.

The remaining three colors Salted Caramel, Dirty Chai and French Press have a better formula for me. I found they worked well alone on bare lips, but adding a lip pencil improves the overall look and lasting power.

Lasting power overall is average. It stays put but does fade within a few hours so I did need to reapply. I think there are better options out there including the Amuse Bouche Liquified Lipstick which has better coverage and lasting power, although they are thicker and more opaque. If you need something lightweight Chanel Rouge Coco Glosses are smooth and sheer. I also really like the NARS Velvet Lip Glides and the Pat McGrath LUST Glosses.

Swatch comparisons to MAC Lipglass in C-Thru, NARS Velvet Lip Glides in Stripped and Swing, Bite Amuse Bouche Liquified Lipstick in Caramelized and Whip, Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipsticks in Honeycomb, Molasses, Chai and Verbena:

All this said, if you look at the customer reviews at Sephora, they’re overwhelmingly positive. For me Salted Caramel and Dirty Chai worked the best and I’m happy with those picks. The rest of the colors are so pretty but I found the formula somewhat lacking due to the settling into fine lines and streaky application. I’m willing to make the extra effort to make the other colors work, but with all the options on the market these days I think a formula should be excellent as is without any extra tweaking required.

A few shots in direct sunlight:

Bottom line I’m conflicted about my thoughts. Colors are great, formula could be a lot better. I can make them work with a little lip liner added. I don’t know that I would say it’s worth the extra effort especially with all the other options out there, but I do know many people like these.

Also shown in top photo for those curious: Lipstick Holder from Container Store, Small Mirror by simplehuman, Agave Lip Mask in Champagne, Amuse Bouche Liquified Lipstick in Whip, Byredo Perfume in Blanche.

You can find the Bite Beauty French Press Lip Gloss at Sephora and Bite Beauty. If you’re shopping at Sephora don’t forget today is the last day of their Beauty Insider Appreciation Event! You can use promo code once online, but you can use it in stores an unlimited amount of times. Valid in both US and Canada:

Rouge Members: 20% off with code YESROUGE, valid 8/24 through 9/3
VIB Members: 15% off with code YESVIB, valid 8/30 through 9/3
Beauty Insiders: 10% off with code YESINSIDER, valid 8/30 through 9/3

Have you tried these yet? What did you think?

11 Comments

Lips Tom Ford Beauty

Tom Ford Lip Sculptor and Lip Lock Priming Balm Review

August 15, 2018

Tom Ford has some new lip products launching this fall and I picked up a few items as soon as I saw them pop up online. Right now the latest includes 20 shades of Lip Sculptor ($46), a Lip Lock Priming Balm ($46) and a Lip Exfoliator ($46). I bought four of the lip sculptor twist-up pencils and the priming balm to try. I also swatched all the shades of the pencils for reference in case you can’t get to a counter.

The Tom Ford Lip Lock Priming Balm is almost identical to the MAC Prep+Prime Lip. I do feel the Tom Ford has a slightly more emollient feel and it also has the signature vanilla Tom Ford lipstick scent. The MAC has been a long-time staple. Anytime someone asks for a lip primer recommendation for something to help smooth the lip without the slip of a lip balm, I recommend the MAC. The Tom Ford Lip Lock Priming Balm is similar in the sense it’s a creamy lip product you apply to bare lips before lipstick to help prevent feathering. I don’t use a primer all the time, but I find it particularly nice with opaque cream lipsticks or mattes. It helps prevent color from sinking into fine lines and also helps smooth the surface. I find with mattes I need a smooth surface without any dry patches or flakes. This balm helps smooth the surface. According to the description, this is paraben-free; sulfate-free; phthalate-free; silicone-free; glycerin-free; sulfite-free; talc-free; PEG-free; peroxide-free; mineral oil-free; BHA-free; BHT-free; alcohol-free; propylene glycol-free; petrolatum-free; formaldehyde-free; ethanolamine-free.

I think the Tom Ford priming balm is excellent and I’m glad I bought it. I think it was worth the splurge but once I use it up I think I’ll stick with my MAC.

The Tom Ford Lip Sculptors are essentially a fancy lip pencil with a brush on one end and a twist up portion on the other. They are packaged with a beveled tip so you can sculpt the lips. Pigment is medium and texture is creamy, smooth, doesn’t tug and has a velvety soft finish. The colors are so good I really wish they were just lipsticks instead of pencils. There is a new Satin Matte Lip Color Lipstick launching later this fall (available for pre-order) which I’m intrigued about. I’m assuming the Lip Sculptors are designed to be coordinated with the new mattes. For now I can wear the Lip Sculptors alone or like a lip liner. I like that when I apply all over the lip it’s almost like a soft matte lipstick.

I picked four colors and they are pretty similar. I must admit I was overwhelmed at the counter. There are 20 shades! I don’t think there’s a single bad color, every option looked beautiful. The reds to me look nearly identical but most reds with any brand of lipstick, pencil or gloss do. The difference is in the undertone. I would have picked up one of the plums, but the price point is steep and I wanted to wait for later launches. Bottom line these are excellent formula and color-wise. I still think they are really overpriced, but I’m happy with my picks.

Colors I bought:

03 Deviate is a perfect nude
05 Slash is a pale pink nude
06 Bait is a warm pink, can be patchy if you have dry spots
14 Crave is a mauve

I like that Slash is pale but not too pale like Spiced Honey Lip Color was on me.

Swatched on bare lips, coverage is buildable to full with layering. Finish has a velvety look, but it’s not dry:

Swatches of all the colors. There is also a clear version which I did not swatch, colors are: 01 Divulge, 02 Invite, 03 Deviate, 04 Extort, 05 Slash, 06 Bait, 07 Conspire, 08 Elicit, 09 Crush, 10 Ensnare, 11 Charge, 12 Exploit, 13 Dominate, 14 Crave, 15 Devour, 16 Succumb, 17 Subvert, 18 Instigate, 19 Manipulate, 20 Electrify

Labeled with names instead of the numbers:

On the nails is Chanel Resplendissant

Swatch comparisons below to a few other neutrals including Laura Mercier Velour Extreme in Vibe, Pat McGrath Permagel Ultra Lip in Bare Rose, Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in Iconic Nude, Bobbi Brown Lip Pencil in Beige, Pat McGrath Permagel Ultra Lip Pencil in Buff, Burberry Lip Contour in Medium, MAC Lip Pencil in Whirl and MAC Boldly Bare

At $46 each these are really expensive loves. I’m happy with my picks. I wish the lip pencils were lipsticks and then I could justify buying more of the colors. Color-wise I know red and bold pinks are popular classics but I would have liked to see a few more plum options. Maybe a couple chestnut colors or one peach. Still I think the color lineup is beautiful and I do believe there is something for everyone.

You can find the Tom Ford Lip Sculptor and Lip Lock Priming Balm out now. I bought mine from Nordstrom. Tom Ford Beauty is also available at Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sephora and Beautylish.

32 Comments

Lips NARS

NARS NARSissist Wanted Velvet Lip Glide Set

August 9, 2018

NARS x Ulta launched another exclusive mini lip set called the NARSissist Wanted Velvet Lip Glide Set ($45 for 3.4 ml / 0.12 oz x 6). As a lover of minis I couldn’t resist picking this up while browsing through Ulta a few weeks ago. This has six small Velvet Lip Glides, two of which were launched earlier this year individually in Swing and Roseland swatched here. The other four shades are exclusive to the set for now.

Inside you have six colors that I think are perfect for everyday wear:

District is a medium peachy pink
Swing is a perfect neutral nude beige
Lure is a warm soft orange
Roseland is a pretty pink rose
Spike is a perfect mauve plum
Vault medium neutral-warm brown

I think every single color is perfect in this set. Loving everything in a set is rare for me but this one equals pure love. I’ve reviewed the Velvet Lip Glide formula before but in case you haven’t tried it, these are medium coverage liquid lip products that have a liquid lipstick feel but lighter in weight and without the matte dry down. There is a soft slight sheen to the finish but it has a more velvety feel. Lip swatches on bare lips below. Lasting power is like a regular lip gloss – you’ll have to reapply every few hours or if you snack.

There have been a number of request for swatch comparisons for Cozumel from the NARS Undressed Liquid Lip Set (reviewed here). I pulled the ones I thought might be similar to that along with ones from this set in attempts to dupe it. From left to right below:

NARS Wanted Velvet Lip Glide Set (Ulta Exclusive)
- District
- Swing (available individually)
- Lure
- Roseland (available individually)
- Spike
- Vault
Velvet Lip Glide Unlaced (reviewed here)
Velvet Lip Glide Suck (was a Nordstrom exclusive reviewed here, now available at NARS)
Full Vinyl Lip Lacuqer in Santo Domingo (reviewed here)
2017’s NARS x Ulta Lip Glide Set with Night Together, Rapture and Californication
Velvet Lip Glide Xenon (reviewed here)
Velvet Lip Glide Bound (swatched here)

One last look:

Bottom line, I think the set is an easy win. The colors are perfect for summer to fall. There is a good range of warm and neutral for me. I love that Spike isn’t too blue in undertone which makes it easy to wear. I don’t mind that there are repeats of Swing and Roseland as those are my favorite colors anyways. Lure does pull a little orangey/warm on me but I think it’s summer appropriate. It’s also a good one I can mix in with pale colors to balance out for my lip/skin tone. For previous NARSissist Wanted reviews:

NARSissist Wanted Eyeshadow Palette reviewed here
NARSissist Wanted Cheek Palettes and Power Pack Lip Duos here

You can find the NARS NARSissist Wanted Velvet Lip Glide Set available at Ulta Beauty and at NARS Cosmetics. I do believe it’s limited-edition. I highly recommend it.

7 Comments

Lips MAC

MAC Plenty of Pout Plumping Lipstick + Lip Gloss Review

August 1, 2018

MAC launched a limited-edition collection called Plenty of Pout. It has a selection of lipsticks and one lip gloss with plumping ingredients they say are meant to “take lips to their very fullest potential.” MAC describes these has having a full bee-stung look with sheer, creamy colour. These contain a ginger root complex that has a cooling sensation to make lips look volumized upon application. At the same time they have oils to moisturize and smooth. As one with naturally full lips I usually don’t look for pluming lip products (I don’t want them bigger!). Also many tingle lip products are so strong I can’t handle the sting. Still the colors in this launch looked perfect and nothing would stop me from trying them. There are 6 shades of the Plenty of Pout Plumping Lipstick and 1 shade for the Plenty of Pout Plumping Lip Gloss.

The Plenty of Pout Plumping Lipstick that come in a similar tube style to the Huggable Lipsticks (now discontinued), Liptensity Lipsticks and Tendertalk Balms. I personally love this style of lipstick because I feel they’re less prone to breakage, especially with the Florida heat outdoors sometimes can soften the base and make my lipsticks break. These are described as sheer and creamy, but to me they seem to have medium to full coverage. Texture is indeed smooth and creamy with a very slight tingle to me. It feels minty and cool. All the colors and glossy shine are just perfect to me. Since they are so creamy I do need to blot once otherwise it looks like I have too much product on. The colors can probably be duped but the best thing about these is that for me there is no tweaking or mixing required. Colors work for me straight out of the tube and they are moisturizing. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the strongest), I’d rate the tingle at a 7. Your mileage may vary depending on how sensitive your lips are.

Kiss and Cuddle is a creamy light peachy beige
Nicer Than Nice is the perfect baby pink
Smooth Going is a soft coral pinky peach
So Swell is a muted pink brown
Ample Chic is a perfect hot pink
Crazy Lush is a vibrant hot red

Some have a slight hint of shimmer in the tube but they apply like creams on my lips, shimmer isn’t really visible once I have them on.

Swatched on bare lips. For skintone reference I’m wearing the Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Foundation in Buff on the face. MAC Equivalent is NC35 or NC37 for the Studio Fix Fluid Foundation.

There is also a Plenty of Pout Plumping Lip Gloss which is a soft clear light pink. This gave my lips the same amount of pain the Buxom Full-On Lip Polishes and Glamglow Plumprageous Nudes. It comes with a sponge tip applicator which is easy to use however I could not wear this one more than 5 minutes before I HAD to remove it with a bi-phase makeup remover. Another semi-rant is that once you take the applicator out of the tube you see how little product there is! This is the same issue I had with the Charlotte Tilbury Collagen Lip Bath I reviewed a few weeks ago. On the lips the MAC Plenty of Pout gloss is clear. I would not recommend – for me this was 10 out of 10 painful in terms of the sting, but if you can take the tingle and don’t mind how little product there is inside then there’s nothing wrong with going for it!

Both the lipsticks and lip gloss do plump the lips. Not in an overly done way but there is noticeable fullness with both. If you can handle a bit of tingle I think they are worth looking into – especially since the lipstick colors are perfect. If not I’d recommend you opt for the MAC Cremesheen Lipsticks for a similar creamy feel with a bit of shine or the MAC Liptensity Lipsticks if want similar coverage but with a semi matte finish.

You can find the MAC Plenty of Pout Plumping Lipstick and Lip Gloss collection out now. Everything is limited-edition. Available in stores and online at Nordstrom, Ulta Beauty, Dillard’s, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and MAC Cosmetics.

MAC Plenty of Pout collection provided courtesy of MAC for review.

4 Comments

Lips

Top 5 Favorite Neutral Lipsticks

July 29, 2018

I’m a neutral lip lover and in honor of National Lipstick Day I’ve narrowed down all my favorites to my top 5 neutrals. This includes lipstick only – I’m still a lip gloss and tinted balm lover at heart, but for lipsticks these are my favorites of the moment. I broke out my backups of these for today’s post. Each of these colors I’ve already gone through at least 1 full tube – this is how I narrowed down my picks for my top 5. If I have used them up and repurchased it must be good because it usually takes me forever to use anything up. On the nails in the top photo is OPI Samoan Sand (with three coats).

Tom Ford Lips and Boys in Bradley is probably my most-worn nude since it launched, lip swatches here and compared to the Girls here
Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Pillow Talk is the best my lips but better neutral pink, on the lips here
Sisley Phyto-Lip Twist #11 Litchi is the prettiest soft peachy nude, it was such a splurge but 100% worth it (never swatched it on the blog, but will be swatching more of this formula soon)
MAC Matte Lipstick in Yash is a great matte neutral nude, I can’t find lip swatches of this one on the blog but I do have it arm swatched here, also love Patisserie, Touch, Velvet Teddy and Mehr
Pat McGrath LuxeTrance in Sextrology is an easy to wear baby pink that doesn’t wash out my tan complexion, lip swatches here

I’ve also included a few more runner ups and I’ve linked previous lip swatches for each color below. These are some neutrals I love for their texture, lasting power, creamy feel and color. There’s one matte which is the Laura Mercier color below – I add balm to it because the formula can pull a bit dry but the color is perfect.

Lip reviews + swatches linked below:

What are your best neutrals for lipsticks?

19 Comments

Lips NARS

NARS Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer Review + Swatches

June 25, 2018

New lips just launched from NARS in a few different formulas and today I’ve swatches of all the new NARS Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer ($26 each for 0.17 oz/5.5 ml, currently available at NARS and Barneys New York). There are 10 shades in this formula and 1 special-edition color Orgasm (reviewed here). In addition there are 5 new colors of the Velvet Lip Glide (reviewed here) and 5 new shades of the Powermatte Lip Pigment (to be reviewed soon). The NARS Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer is an opaque, rich color, full coverage gloss with a high shine. They come with a flat applicator with a sponge tip on one side and plastic portion on the other. One will dispense a lot of color while the other blends it out more. There are 10 shades total, 6 creams and 4 sparkles. I believe there are hits and misses with this launch formula-wise.

Most of the colors have a beautiful smooth application. There are some however that apply streaky on bare lips and settle into fine lines. Color descriptions and thoughts on which ones are the best below. First a look at the shades and swatches.

Shown above from left to right:

Santo Domingo is a medium to light muted dusty pink, it settles into fine lines at first but once you let it set on the lips, it smooths out
Conquest is a perfect medium bright warm pink
Valencia is a bright coral hot pink, this also settled into my lip lines
Red District is the best cream formula, it’s a perfect bright red, smooth, opaque, glossy
Mississippi is a sheer mauve plum, it takes a few layers but applies smoothly
Baden Baden is a gorgeous deep plum, but alone it was streaky, I’d recommend applying it over a matte lip pencil
Abruzzo is a high sparkle metallic wine plum with gold and silver flecks, I thought this would be too glitzy but this is a truly stunning color, smooth coverage and no texture
Everglades is one of the scariest lip colors I’ve seen, having actually driven through the Everglades a couple times I’d say this color evokes the same feelings I had driving through alligator territory (they are probably the most frightening living creatures I’ve ever seen)
At First Sight is a sheer sparkling white silvery gold, it’s pretty sheer, almost transparent but has the prettiest sheen
Cape Town is an iridescent duochrome orange, pink loaded with multi-color sparkles, it’s very metallic but smooth

Overall the shimmers performed better on my lips formula-wise. I would say the cream colors Valencia and Baden Baden are the higher maintenance ones for me as the color settled into fine lines if I applied these on bare lips.

Close up lip swatches on bare lips. For skintone reference I’m wearing the MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in NC37, Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Concealer in 3w1 (reviewed here) and Armani Luminous Silk Powder Foundation #4 on top to set.

All the lip swatches side by side:

Overall some beautiful colors and lovely formulas (patchy colors aside). There isn’t really any detectable scent to these. Lasting power is pretty good, they are thicker than the Velvet Lip Glides due to the high shine so they adhere better to the lips. Lasting power is pretty good, not as good as their Powermatte Lip Pigments, but for a gloss they stayed put until I snacked. My favorites are Santo Domingo, Red District, Abruzzo and At First Sight. Compared to other lip glosses these are among the most full coverage that I’ve tried. Ones like the Pat McGrath LUST Glosses or Chanel Rouge Coco Gloss are a lot sheerer. Anastasia Beverly Hills Lip Glosses are probably the most similar (but hers are thicker), Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Liquid is also thicker with a more lipstick feel.

You can find the NARS Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer now at NARS and Barneys New York. Starting July you will also be able to find them at other NARS retailers like Sephora and Nordstrom. Have you tried these yet? What did you think?

NARS Full Vinyl Lip Lacquer provided courtesy of NARS for review.

105 Comments

Lips Marc Jacobs Beauty

Marc Jacobs Beauty Enamored Hydrating Lip Gloss Stick

June 15, 2018

Marc Jacobs Beauty launched new lip glosses in stick form called the Enamored Hydrating Lip Gloss Stick ($28 each for 2.1 g/0.074 oz). I’ve been such a huge fan of the Enamored Hi-Shine Lip Lacquers I was eager to try the new formula. I ordered five sight unseen. I picked the neutrals which turned out to be a lot lighter in color than I anticipated but still lovely. My picks:

Sugar Sugar – sheer nude cream
P(r)each – sheer soft peach
One Mauve Time – perfect mauve
Sweet Escape – baby pink
Mocha Choco-Lata – perfect nude beige

These are emollient sheer smooth gloss sticks. They have a very shiny finish and moisturizing feel. Lasting power is medium – they won’t disappear quickly but they aren’t budge-proof. The gloss sticks have a melt-on texture. Packaging is slightly longer than the Enamored Hi-Shine Lip Lacquers but similar in style. The Enamored Hydrating Lip Gloss Stick has a removable pull off cap and the product comes in a twist-up tube that clicks with each twist. The only downside is you can only twist up, you can’t twist back down. The good thing is each click will only push a small amount of color up.

The two lightest shades Sugar Sugar and P(r)each were patchy with the first application, once you have it warmed up a little it smooths out. Close ups of each color below with lip swatches.

Mocha Choco-lata!

Sweet Escape

One Mauve Time

P(r)each

Sugar Sugar

All side by side:

For quick reference my MAC foundation shade right now is the Studio Fix Fluid in NC37. Lip swatches as always done on bare lips.

If you want something light and glossy these are great. I think the color selection is a lot more wearable for me compared to the Le Marc Liquid Lip Crayons. The glossy texture feels similar to me although the crayons are full coverage while these new gloss sticks are a lot sheerer. I’d say if you like the feel of the YSL Volupte Tint in Balms or Chanel Rouge Coco Shines you will most likely really like the Marc Jacobs Enamored Lip Gloss Sticks. In terms of glossy lips though my favorite product this season are still the Pat McGrath LUST Glosses although the formula is completely different and also in liquid form.

They are sheer so depending on how much color you want these might be too sheer if you prefer a lot of pigment. I give them a thumbs up – although I do wish the packaging would click up and down. The only shade I think is iffy is Sugar Sugar – this is mainly because I find pale colors challenging to wear in general. If you see the last photo of my natural lip you’ll see that there is going to be a contrast between pale colors and my lip. This is why you’ll often see a dark ring around the outer edge if the product is slightly sheer or transparent. It’s my natural lip color showing through. Since I have full lips if I cover it entirely with product it makes them look EXTRA huge.

Based on how light and sheer these colors are I was tempted to order the other three shades which are deeper/brighter. I have not seen them at stores near me yet but have decided to pass for now. My top two picks are Mocha Choco-lata! and One Mauve Time.

You can find the Marc Jacobs Enamored Hydrating Lip Gloss Sticks at Sephora, Neiman Marcus, Net-a-Porter and Marc Jacobs Beauty. Have you tried these yet? What did you think?