I love lip gloss and am always up for trying a new one. New brands, old brands, expensive or inexpensive I will give almost anything a go. So when I saw that Revlon had a new lip gloss I just had to try some of them out.
The official name of these glosses is the Revlon Ultra HD Lip Lacquer and can be found here at drugstore.com for about $8 Online they are described as the following, “Lip lacquer goes HD with our innovative wax-free get technology. Get true color clarity, vivid high-impact shine and a bouncy, lightweight feel.” Now, I am not sure about HD, but the rest is pretty true to form. They feature a brush as opposed to a sponge tip applicator and are a comparable in size and form factor to the NARS Larger Than Life lip glosses. The colors I got were #525 Pink Diamond, #540 Petalite, #520 Pink Saphire and #555 Amber. All were moisturizing and not sticky at all. As far as color payoff, they are all fairly opaque and provide a nice shine and pop of color. In order to get the best color payoff I prep my lips with a dab of concealer to ensure that I am getting maximum color payoff. These would also work great on top of a lipstick. All of the lip glosses I purchased offer a bit of sparkle so if you prefer a matte look or lip products without sparkle, these would not be a good option.
Drugstore products can be a bit of a guessing game since most drug stores don’t offer testers. As for these glosses I would recommend any of these colors and am glad that I purchased these as I plan on getting quite a bit of use out of all of these.
I am obsessed with nude lip shades. For years I have snatched almost every nude gloss that crossed my path, however with the new matte lip look I am on the hunt for matte nude shades.
Enter the NYX Simply Nude Lip Cream…I was walking around Ulta and found these little gems on an end cap. There weren’t testers so I grabbed three to see how I liked them, knowing that with Ulta’s return policy I could return any that I absolutely hated. There are six nude shades total, but I only got three. The colors I got were Disrobed, Fairest and Peaches. See below for swatches:
Sooo, how did these work? I really, really like them and would recommend them to anyone that is looking for a good, matte, nude lip. The pros are the shades are stellar – I think they are comparable to department store colors. The packaging is good and they rotate up so you don’t have to worry about sharpening these with a pencil sharpener. The price also can’t be beat (I paid $5.99 each at Ulta) especially when there is a BOGO deal. When wearing these I would definitely recommend wearing a lip balm as a base to make sure that the formula doesn’t feather. My favorites lip balms to use are the Dior Creme de Rose Lip Balm, the Guerlain Kiss Kiss Lip Lift and Carmex. All do a great job, although I am partial to Carmex which I have been using since I was a kid.
Give these lip pencils a try and let me know what you think. Do you have any other good, matte shades you would recommend?
One of the most life changing products I have started using regularly over the past two to three years would have to be dry shampoo. Every single day (even on days I wash my hair) I use this magical spray to give my hair a little extra “oomph” or to sop up some of the oil on my head.
I have super thin, unruly hair that will not grow past my shoulders. I hate it and am so grateful to hair extensions and dry shampoo for giving me the opportunity to not have to wash my thin mane daily. Not only does this cut down on my get ready time drastically, but it also is better for the overall health of my hair in general.
I have been collecting “empties” (products that are all used up) to discuss whether or not I like them and if I would purchase them again. As you can see from the image I had quite the collections and here is my take on several of the most popular dry shampoos out there:
1. Pantene Dry Shampoo: This shampoo is pretty good. There is a pronounced scent which I really like, however if you are sensitive to scents I would pass this one up. I will definitely repurchase this item due to the price, ease of getting it and most importantly it does a really good job on my hair. The one con with this is I find that the ends of my hair seem drier with this product than with others.
2. Eva NYC Dry Shampoo: This is my favorite of all dry shampoos shown here. At $11.99 a bottle, this is a relatively good value and really does a good job of freshening up dirty hair while not weighing it down.
3. Redken Pillow Proof 2-day Extender: I actually liked this dry shampoo, however I seemed to run out of this stuff sooner than any of the other dry shampoos. In terms of quality I think it is comparable to the Eva NYC, but I will not repurchase due to how fast this ran out.
4. Batiste for Blonds: I HATED this stuff. The blond that came out was reminiscent of a lemon – not blond hair. I would not recommend this one at all.
5. Batiste: Original Formula: I thought this was pretty good although this product did seem to weigh my hair down more than the Eva NYC and the Pantene product. For that reason I will not repurchase.
6. Victoria’s Secret Fresh Body Dry Shampoo: This product has a really strong, girly scent which I loved. If you are in any way sensitive to fragrance I would not recommend this item. As for the actual dry shampoo I found this to be just OK. The bottle didn’t last long and it weighed my hair down similarly to the Batiste. This wasn’t cheap and for these reasons I will not be repurchasing.
7. PSSSSST…Dry Shampoo: So this item is not pictured, however I wanted to talk about this item as well. I found that the smell on this shampoo didn’t bother me, however more than any of the other shampoos referenced in this post this one weighed my hair down the most. Whenever using this I always was forced to wash my hair the following day. In addition the white cast that PSSSST left was the worst of all these. In a nutshell, would not repurchase.
Sooooo…do you have any dry shampoos that you like? I would love to hear your thoughts!
I love a good deal and I am no different when it comes to makeup. In many cases I feel that makeup products you find at the drugstore are equivalent (and sometimes even better) to department store brands.
I have had my Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette which retails for $27 for for a while now. I use it regularly and have been really happy with it. Great pigmentation, super smooth application and the colors are very rich. However, since I am always on a hunt for a great dupe, when I saw the NYX Naturals Eyeshadow Palette on Nordstrom.com for $7, I decided to order it. Here are some images and comparisons of the two palettes:
Below are swatches of the NYX Naturals Palette. I swatched the four colors from darkest up to the more peachy color. I ran my fingers at the exact same pressure as the Urban Decay paletete.
I am a highlighter junkie. One Sunday morning I was perusing the newspaper and saw a circular for Ulta that featured their new Naked Skin Urban Decay Naked Highlighter which retails for $29. I simply couldn’t resist so I decided to purchase.
A few days later my package arrived and I tore into it. Immediately I noticed a pronounced shimmer-very fine glitter. Some highlighters contain glitter however I prefer a sheer, glowing look and was a little scared off, at first. Here is an image of the product packaging:
The Pretty:
– Packaging is very nice
– Finely milled powder is very good quality and goes on smoothly
– The product has the effect of a loose, shimmery powder that is generally found in a loose formula so this
one is good for traveling.
– The swatch reminds me of a slightly lighter MAC’s Soft & Gentle. If you are a fan of Soft &
Gentle, chances are you will like this.
The Not-So Pretty:
– There is glitter. Although there isn’t a strong presence of glitter it is there and I did find some when using on my face. So if this scares you off, you may want to stay away.
– Excellent for travel as there is no chance of having this explode like a loose powder
I am going to keep this item because the color is pretty and I will use it when I want a little extra glow from my highlighter. However on a daily basis, I am going to stick with one of my staple highlighters for daily use which are MAC’s Lightscape or Benefit’s Hight Beam which both offer an excellent glow without any shimmer.
Here are some images of my favorite celebrity looks that have definitely utilized the “magic” of highlighter. See more on Glaamspot!
