Retail Therapy Hat Trick: Make-up post

Oct 20, 2012 15:16

While I am an avid follower of beauty blogs, I rarely make impulse purchases when it comes to makeup. Well, unless you count my compulsive lip balm habit, which means I own about 20 lip balms that include Burt's Bees, Firebird Bath & Body, House of Gloi, LongWinter Farm, and four Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters for when I want a little bit of tint.

I would say I own about 15 lipsticks. A couple of Revlons, a few NARS, and three or four MAC. The truth is, I don't actually wear lipstick very often. Maybe once or twice a month. I wear it if I'm onstage or for photos, but overall, I just find it too much of a fuss. If I'm out all day, eating, drinking, etc, I don't want to have to worry about if my lipstick is fading unevenly, or giving me a serious case of fruit punch mouth. (My favorite red, MAC's Dubonnet, is so, so guilty of this.) I also have a nervous habit of biting and rubbing my lips when I'm thinking, so basically what I'm saying is that I am practically lipstick-repellent. Tinted balm is safer, and I don't need a mirror to re-apply.

But lo. I have found a product that is a GAME CHANGER.



Behold! The Yves Saint Laurent Glossy Stain!

These wonder products were ALL OVER the beauty blogosphere when they launched a few months ago. Bloggers backed up YSL's claim that these were long-lasting gloss/liquid lipstick/stain hybrids. Wear for up to 8 hours and an even stain fade? I am intrigued.

So I hit up the internet for swatches to see how they looked when actually worn. Here are a few: Glossed in Translation, Karla Sugar (plus arm swatches), Makeup And Beauty Blog, Splash of Color, Dash of Spice, Emily Has Dimples, & Shameless Fripperies. I could go on. I basically stalked the reviews. I am a Virgo. I do not make $32 lipstick purchases without doing my research.

The final step was to haul myself to Sephora to try it on for myself. After multiple arm swatches, I decided to try on #4 Mauve Pigmente. With my current fuchsia hair, reds and corals clash, and I have never been a pink lipstick person. That left the browns, the mauves, and the purples. Of the offerings, #4 was the most versatile, so I tried it on, and it was perfection.

Here's an arm swatch. I'm having a lazy, makeup-less Saturday, so a lip swatch will have to wait, although Glossed in Translation above has a great one.



It's a mauve-y berry shade that would look good with warm or cool skin tones, which is why it works with both fuchsia hair and my warm-toned skin. It was pigmented but translucent on the first swipe. Nearly opaque on the second.

Let me tell you about the wear. I put it on at about 8pm. It went on smoothly, and after a minute, dried to a non-sticky, high-gloss finish. I kissed J, and nothing rubbed off on him. I came home, ate dinner, drank a full glass of water, and then fell asleep on the couch because J wasn't feeling very well and had turned in early.

When I woke up at 6am with Nox whining in my face for breakfast, I looked in the mirror and it was still on. Evenly. Less glossy, but not even in its faded stain stage yet.

Well, damn.

I have a feeling I'll be replacing my performance lipsticks with these. I can't wait to see how they'll hold up to festival wear in sweltering Baltimore summers.

The other thing I bought recently was Too Faced's Ultra Flush Blush in Cocoa Rose. I am also not a blush person, really. Before this purchase, I only owned two blushes-- both cream blushes in the coral family (Revolution Beauty Balm in Sunkissed and Stila Convertable Color in Gerbera). I don't really like to wear blush, because it tends to make my pale ass look clownish or feverish, especially pink blushes. I prefer cream formulas because they take ten seconds to swipe on and blend out with my fingers. Considering Cocoa Rose is both matte and powder, it is a real departure for me.

I don't really tend to be a matte person. Matte lipsticks emphasize dryness in my lips. I'm only NOW starting to get on board with matte eyeshadows, because my eyes are more opaque than they are translucent, and many matte shades just make me look sunken in. (I have found a few matte neutrals that work on me recently, however). And because most cream blushes have a dewy finish, I'd never bought a matte blush. That said? I really like Cocoa Rose, which I purchased at ULTA after a MUA used it on me. It's a nice subtle fall shade that gives me a very finished, sophisticated look. I am also still dithering about NARS's Sin, as I'm worried that purple undertone is just a titch too cool-toned for my skin.

Also: I know I have had issues with Aromaleigh in the past. The former owner was... extremely unprofessional. It went dark for about a year, and came back under new ownership. (The former owner is now solely behind the scenes, blending colors. This was always her strong suit.) I had the chance to try out some of the shades in the Earth Sea Sky collection, and they are gorgeous. I particularly like Spiritmist, Gildedoak, Holyground, and Fairfauna. Nice neutrals with unusual lustres, and some duochromes. Can't wait to try some of the others, and they are on sale. If you're looking for a cheap way to shake up your fall makeup routine, their samples are $1 a pop, and last for awhile.

And on a final note, omg, how beautiful do Butter London and Zoya's holiday collections look? Soooo pretty.

retail, makeup

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