Jordana Twist & Shine Balm Stain : Product Review

Gather round, gather round, it's time for another product review! After last weeks product review that was not so happy, I am proud to present a product review that is for a successful product! This would be the Jordana Twist & Shine Moisturizing Balm Stain in the shade Cranberry Crush. I haven't talked about my Revlon Balm Stains in quite a while, but this is along the same lines as those... but I'm discovering that they might be better!

The Facts

Price: $2.99/each (this was at Walgreens in Kansas)
Amount of Product: .095 oz
Number of Shades: 8... I think

Shade that I used: Cranberry Crush
Coverage: Light/Stain
Application: Tube to lips!

Wear Time: The wear time needs to be broken down into two categories for this. The glossy/shiny effect that the balm has only lasts for a few hours if you are not eating or drinking. The stain lasts for much longer, probably somewhere around 6 hours? This, however, is not true if you have a dog licking your face for an extended period of time (not that I know this by personal experience or anything).

Let's start with the basics for this balm stain. It's made by Jordana which is a very low-cost makeup brand that is found at Walgreens. Their products can be a little hit or miss, but everything that I've bought from them, I've ended up liking pretty well. After a little bit of research, I found out that everything they make is made in the USA and they are cruelty free, which is pretty cool.

The packaging is very simple, all one color and plastic witch metallic writing on it. The balm stain is like almost every other brand and twists up from the bottom, eliminating the need for a sharpener. I got Cranberry Crush because I'm a sucker for berry shades, but all of the shades seem to be pretty safe; nothing is extremely pale or extremely bright. I believe that some of the shades contain glitter flecks, but Cranberry Crush does not, which is perfect by me. 

The color applies very easily and evenly, but I still need a mirror to apply this shade because it's darker than my lips. It sits nicely on the lips for a few hours retaining its shine, but if you are eating, the shine and moisturizing factor are going to disappear pretty quickly. However, that's kind of to be expected from a balm. It does stain your lips for a pretty long period of time. Cranberry Crush leaves behind a light magenta stain, so a bit different than the hue that shows up on your lips directly from the tube.

One of the most important factors to me though is that this doesn't dry out my lips. I have applied this when my lips have been chapped and it doesn't make them any more chapped and it doesn't make any flaky skin more noticeable; both wins in my book.

Final Verdict: If you love the Revlon Kissable Balm Stains, definitely pick one or a few of these up, they might make you change your mind (and at $2.99 a piece, it's ok if they don't). Great color, moisturizing, and a stain? Pretty much perfect!

Revlon Colorstay Matte & Lacquer Balms : Product Review

I try to be as timely as possible when it comes to limited edition items since time is of the essence for those sorts of products. Hopefully, I'm catching this at a time when most of you can still find these in stores should you choose to purchase them. I'm not 100% sure that they are LE, because there hasn't been anything released by Revlon stating either way. I just found them at the Walgreens near my house last weekend, but I live in the midwest and things get here a bit slower than the rest of the country. Anyhow, the two products that I will be reviewing today are the Revlon Colorstay Lacquer Balm and Matte Balm in shades Flirtatious and Unapologetic (respectively).

The Facts

Price: $8.99/each (this was at Walgreens in Kansas)
Amount of Product: .095 oz
Number of Shades: 10 in each formulation; 20 overall

Shade(s) that I used: Flirtatious and Unapologetic
Coverage: Light/Medium (Lacquer) and Full (Matte)
Application: Tube to lips!

Wear Time: The wear time for the Matte Balm is about 4 hours with eating included. I think that the Lacquer Balm can easily be worn for four hours as well, but only if you aren't eating or drinking. The first swipe with a napkin and that sucker will be down to super light coverage. 

Flirtatious - Lacquer Balm

I think that the packaging is very pretty; it's metallic, it's a gorgeous color, and fingerprints aside, I like it. Like the Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains, these balms twist up from the bottom, so a sharpener isn't necessary. The Lacquer Balm glides on just like the Balm Stains... and looks almost exactly like the Balm Stains, which is disappointing. This product doesn't even come close to the shine that I would have expected for something described as a lacquer. Quite honestly, it's barely shiny; it has some glitter in it, is that what they meant by lacquer? Which brings me to my next point: glitter. I'm not sure if all of the lacquer shades have glitter in them, but Flirtatious definitely does and after a short time, you can feel the glitter grits on your lips (à la Peach Parfait from the Lip Butters line).

The color that I got in the Lacquer Balm is gorgeous and is really the only thing special about this particular product. If you have been searching for these in hopes of something new and exciting, I wouldn't continue; it's not worth it. The Lacquer Balms are almost exactly the same as the Kissable Balm Stains except that they don't really stain. Meh.

Unapologetic - Matte Balm

And then we get to the Matte Balm. Again, I really like the packaging; good color, it's a matte package, and it's not rubbery, so it doesn't attract every piece of dust and dirt (I'm looking at you NARS and Lorac). I was so incredibly excited for this product, even after swatching it, because it looks awesome on my hand, texture and color wise. However, as soon as I put it on my lips, my excitement started to dissipate. I think I've been spoiled by high end lipstick, which can deliver full opacity and manage not to look cakey; something that the Matte Balm cannot deliver. Unfortunately, as soon as I put this on my lips, it started to look heavy. It can be blended out with my finger, so if that were the only issue, it wouldn't have been a dealbreaker, but it wasn't the only issue.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned on this blog, but my lips can be a bit finicky. After spending about a year looking for a balm that would help my continually chapped lips, I found that Vaseline is the only thing that makes them not chapped (I think I mentioned this in my last review...). One coat of Vaseline in the morning and I am a-ok for the rest of the day, that's how magical the crap is for my lips. I applied the Matte Balm to my lips a few hours after I had applied the Vaseline, so everything should have been ok. I applied around noon and planned on doing a 4 hour test, which I did, but by the time 4:30 rolled around, I didn't want to do anything other than wipe this stuff off my lips. The balm was very slick when I applied and slipped around my lips for a solid 30 minutes, but it completely dried my lips out and made very visible little flakes all over my lips. It also started to do what long wear lipsticks typically do and peeled off from the center of my lips due to saliva...

All around, the Matte Balm was basically what lip nightmares are made of. It just pains me to write it because I am so in love with the color! I'm sure I can find something from Sephora that is very similar, but you know, it's always nice to be able to get a killer product for $7.

I loved the L'Oréal LeMatte and LaLacque line and I was hoping that this was going to be very similar, but it isn't in the slightest. If you want to see my review on those, you can click here AND check out your local Target since they seem to be on clearance right now.

I did this photo with less lighting with the hope that you could see the glitter particles better... you kind of can.

Full Flash

Final Verdict: As much as I love Revlon's lip products and it pains me to write this, skip these. There are much better products available from Revlon and other drugstore brands.

Burberry Lip Cover : Product Review

Welcome to the world of luxury cosmetics! Today, I'm going to be reviewing a high end lipstick for you guys; Burberry Lip Cover in No. 33 Oxblood. I bought this after I saw swatches of it on Reddit and I fell head over heels for the color. Also, burgundy/dark raspberry/wine colored anything is my favorite and Oxblood is probably the coolest way to describe the color (you know, if you're morbid, like me). I bought this from Burberry directly since I couldn't seem to find it through any other retailer, but it's fine because they offer free shipping on any purchase. AND, they're so fancy that you have to sign for the package when it comes... which means I had to take a trip to UPS to go pick it up.

For the high end world, this lipstick isn't that much coming, it comes in at $30, but compared to most mid-end, that's still fairly expensive. For example, Givenchy lipsticks are $36 and Urban Decay lipsticks are $22; so it's smack dab in the middle. As you can see above, the bullet comes with Burberry detailing all over it, but it doesn't affect the usability at all (similar to how the RiRi Hearts MAC lipsticks have her signature on them). The packaging is very prone to fingerprints which is going to drive me insane, but I already knew this since I own a mini Burberry lipstick. One of the coolest things about the packaging though is that if you put the lid on backward or sideways, it flips itself around (with magnets, I assume) so that it's always in the right spot.

So, that's all fine and good, but how does it actually perform?

So here it is when I first applied it. Do you notice that it looks a bit streaky in the top photo? Yeah, ignore that. My lips get insanely chapped and peel if I don't put Vaseline over them, so I have to put that under any lipstick, regardless of brand. What does that mean? It means when I apply lipsticks, they have a tendency to get streaky until I rub my lips together. So, can you guess when I took that picture? Yeah, before I rubbed my lips together. I want to clarify right now that the lipstick doesn't apply patchy or streaky,  it's just my stupid lips and the Vaseline. 

Aside from all of that, it applies really nicely and very opaquely; no dragging or patchiness. I didn't use a lip liner, because I feel like that's cheating when you are testing out a lipstick. I applied this at about 9:30 a.m. before I came into work.

And here it is at 3:00 p.m. after eating two Special K bars, an applesauce, a sandwich, a string cheese, a granola bar and drinking water (although, the water does come out of a Camelbak). I think you can see the the color has not faded much at all after a lot of food and 5 1/2 hours of wear. In fact, for all of that activity, it looks pretty damn good. I can see some dead skin flaking up and there is a small amount of patchiness to the lipstick, but nothing astronomical and nothing that you would notice unless you were really, really, oddly close to my lips. 

I do, however, have two complaints about this lipstick and they're both rather small. The first is the smell, which I unfortunately hate. I don't quite know what this lipstick smells like, but it makes me think of something floral or old-lady esque. Chanel cosmetics smell like old lady rose perfume to me and this doesn't quite smell like that, but it's somewhere along the same lines. It's not overpowering though, so I can deal with that; I deal with Chanel's scent as well. The other thing is that this isn't the most moisturizing lipstick in the world and even though I put the Vasline down first, my lips were feeling a bit dry by the time I took the second set of photos. Burberry says that this lipstick is hydrating, but I think I'm going to call bull on that one.

Final Verdict: I'd buy this again in a heart beat. I love the color and the staying power is awesome. Unfortunately, my dog attacked me shortly after and licked my lipstick off, but if he hadn't, I assume that this lipstick would have been fairly decent looking for a full 8 hours. And even if it couldn't perform that long, 5 1/2 hours including breakfast and lunch is pretty damn good. Yes, this lipstick is $30, but I think that this shade is fairly unique and the formula is good. Buy it if you have the pennies and want a great fall lipstick!

Skull Face : Tutorial

Enjoy!

Also, I don't know what's going on with video quality and my camera, but it's something funky and I don't like it. I'm working on getting a different camera all together, so this early 90s film look won't be around for too much longer.

Glossy Box x Byrdie Beauty : Beauty Box

If you've been following this blog for a while, then you know that I don't have the greatest opinion of Glossybox. For me, most of the time, the products do not justify the price and after hearing umpteen stories of their horrible customer service (which I've never experienced), it's safe to say that I'll never be a regular subscriber. However, the occasionally do curated or collaboration boxes, and those bad boys are usually amazing. When I heard that they were teaming with Byrdie Beauty (the sister site of Who What Wear), I jumped on ordering a box. Want to see what I got? Keep reading.

One thing that I will always commend Glossybox on is their packaging; it feels really luxurious. I don't know if you guys ever order high end makeup directly from the manufacturer (e.g. ordering Chanel directing from Chanel), but they really take the time to make a complete presentation out of it and Glossybox does this, too. 

And the contents! 

From left to right: Tarte Lights, Cameras, Flashes Mascara, Balance Me Shine on Tinted Lip Salve, Sesha Renu Exfoliating Gel, Bvlgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert Eau de Cologne, and Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream. 

When I opened my box on Saturday morning, I'll admit, I felt a bit disappointed. I think I was just expecting something very similar to the Man Repeller boxes from January. Now that I've had a few days to look at this, I don't feel the same way; I'm actually pretty happy with this box. The Tarte and the Balance Me are full sized items; ringing in at $23 and $16.50, respectively. The Sesha sample comes in at $16.80, Fresh at $12.42, and Bvlgari at $5.78. This makes the total monetary value of the box $74.50.

The only item that I'm really not excited about is, you guessed it, the lip salve. It's a natural product, so it's much thinner than a standard lip gloss, which I usually like, but this is extremely thin and makes my lips feel oily. I'll keep using it to make sure that I don't have a change of opinion, but I think that's a flop in my book.

Other than that, I'm pretty excited to use the items. The Bvlgari smells great and light and fresh; a bit more of a spring/summer fragrance, but still nice smelling. I like the Fresh brand and plan to use this at night during the winter when my skin gets a bit dryer. Not to mention, for a face cream, this is a pretty big sample and should last a long time. 

I love Tarte's Lights, Cameras, Lashes mascara, so I can't wait to try this version. I'm a pretty big Tarte fan all around and this was the first "sneak peek" from this box, which was also worth more than the box itself. And last but not least, the Sesha exfoliating gel. It took me going to look at the company's website and doing some research on it, but I think that the idea behind it is pretty cool. You apply the gel to a dry face and it exfoliates the dry skin using papaya extract. It says to only use it once a week, so this sample should last a while as well. 

And that's the box. Thoughts on it? Let me know down below!