Lip Review featuring Kat Von D

Deluxe Sample Size KVD Lolita

I am a bit behind on these, but since no one is reading them it really doesn't matter. Today I am talking about KVD Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in the cult favorite color, Lolita. I've heard stories that there have been a few different color batches of this and I don't know which version this is, but it is a deluxe sample size that I got from a Sephora Favorites collection. This was the first KVD ELL that I tried and I definitely fell in love with it, just like most people seem to do.

 

This has a doe foot applicator, it is really easy to work with if you pay attention, it glides on smoothly and feels creamy in application, is about 90% opaque on the first swipe, gives enough leeway(sp?) on the dry time to fix any mistakes, and drys down totally matte. With a second swipe, this is 100% opaque, no freckles showing through at all. This has a slight caramely butterscotchy scent to it, similar to the Colour Pop Lippie Stix, but not quite as strong. The scent fades pretty quickly once it has dried on your lips. This has a very matte finish, which means it is going to be slightly drying, but I think of all the matte liquid lipsticks I have tried, this is the least drying to me. Actually that is not entirely true, Ofra's are probably less drying, but those are a bit more uncomfortable for other reasons that I will get in to on a separate post. You do want to let this dry before doing anything with your lips or it will smudge around, but that is pretty self explanatory. If you overapply, using too many layers, or layering too often throughout the day, it will get thick and start to bunch up a bit around the inner line of your mouth. I have a tendency to do this sometimes because I just like the feel of reapplying lip products even when it is not necessary. But if you're more sensible than I, it shouldn't be a problem.

The color of this is described as a dusty rose on the Sephora page, but it really isn't. Or at least not the batch I have. This is more of a rose tinted brown color, but more on the brown side. I think this color would be flattering on anyone, which is probably why it is such a cult favorite.

As I said above, this is 100%, no freckles showing, opaque, with two swipes. This will fade some throughout the day and you will lose a little bit of opacity but not much.

This stuff really is Everlasting, it will last the whole day, provided you aren't eating anything extremely oily. Oil will take this off, but other than that it will last and last. Like I said, the opacity may fade some, but for people without lip freckles, I doubt it is even noticeable. I still like to reapply a bit after lunch but it is not strictly necessary. I just think it feels more comfortable and I like to re-up the color payoff.

Like most lip products in my experience, this does transfer on to your cup/whatever. But, like most of the better products, it does not take away from the look on your lips. It doesn't even look like it has been touched at all. It is pretty minimal transfer though. Maybe I should start adding pictures of how my water cup looks at the end of the work day so you can see the amount of transfer that has occurred in an 8 hour period.


Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 (covered) freckles
Full opacity, feels relatively comfortable/forgettable, lovely color, lasts all day

Lip Review featuring Revlon

Today's Lip Review is for the Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in the shade Sultry. 

These look really similar to Clinique chubby sticks, but I have never used those so I can't compare. Revlon also has Colorburst Balm Stains that are really nice and have similar packaging as well. This is pretty close to their Balm Stains because this does leave a stain on the lips the same way those do, but this has a matte finish whereas the Balm Stains are more on the glossy side. These twist up and do not have a sharpener.

The color on this one, Sultry, is a really beautiful deep dusty rose color. It's a little bit of a 'My Lips But Better (MLBB)' color for me, but this is definitely richer. This is a great somewhat neutral color that is probably great for light to medium skintones, but I would guess that it might be washed out some on deeper skin tones. However I don't know for sure, so if anyone ever reads this and wants to share their opinion,  go ahead!

I'm sorry the lip pics never really capture what I want.

This only gets to mid-level opacity on me, but I don't mind that too much. I usually do two swipes, but it doesn't really get much more opaque the more I add. I am still able to see freckles, but they are definitely muted and not that noticeable. However, this is less opaque than the other lip products I have reviewed so far.

This goes on smoothly for me, and doesn't seem to settle in to any lines. This feels very comfortable for a matte, and it lasts a good amount of time. This does not last the entire day, however it does leave a bit of a stain on the lips. So even though most of the balm texture leaves your lips, you are left with a nice color. This feels pretty good initially because of that balm texture, but I should say that it does go away after awhile. This dries down some and can feel slightly drying on the lips but it is not too bad, and that is usually after wearing it for awhile. Because of the eventual dry feeling, I usually like to reapply periodically throughout the day. This is not to reapply color so much as just to add more of that balm feeling to take away from the dryness. Also. this DOES have a scent to it. It actually has a fairly strong minty scent and flavor on the lips. It leans toward peppermint but I can't quite place the mint exactly. It is kind of nice if you're the mood for something to refresh you and wake you up, but if you don't like scent, you should be aware of that. I can take it or leave it personally, sometimes I am in the mood for the mint sometimes not so much.

Edit: I forgot to mention! This does transfer to coffee cup/whatever. For the most part your lips still look fine, they don't start to look patchy or anything, but you do lose some pigment on the lip.


If anyone ever reads these and has questions, feel free to ask.

You can find this pretty much anywhere you get drugstore type products, I think it was around $7. If you're interested, I would get it somewhere like CVS or Ulta so you can earn points and things (if you're signed up for their respective programs, and you should be!).


Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 (covered) freckles.

Two stars off for opacity (which again I don't mind that much because I don't always need that from my products, but since this is meant to be geared toward finding really opaque lip colors, I have to take off for it), slightly drying, doesn't last all day (although it does leave a bit of a stain), and possibly for the mint flavoring (which is a con depending on my mood at the moment). This is still a great lip product particularly for a matte, but I'm trying to be balanced, they can't all be worth 4 out of 5.

Lip Review featuring Urban Decay

Sorry about the spacing, I don't know why I can't get it look right.

Today I am wearing my sample of Urban Decay Matte Revolution in Bad Blood. I couldn't get a good pic on the lips, but I have a swatch below. The sample size is pretty nice, I must say. I have not purchased any of these, but honestly, I would when I run out of this one. From what I have seen of the other colors, this is probably my favorite. I'd really rather have something a little more neutral but I don't particularly care for the currently available options.

The color is a really rich true red, that can get darker with more buildup. I have a hard time judging whether things are blue toned, but I am pretty sure this is a blue toned red because this looks pretty good on me, and the orange toned reds do not usually work for me at all. This is definitely a bold color but it is pretty wearable at the same time. I think this color would look great on all skin tones, and it should really show up true to its color on anyone.

This goes on creamy and remains pretty creamy throughout the day. This never feels uncomfortable for me. It does dry down some, but not that much considering it is a matte. I have tried a lot of mattes and this is definitely one of the better options. There are not many matte lipsticks that remain creamy and still feel fine on your lips after hours of wear. This does not have any discernible scent as far as I can tell. This does transfer quite a bit, in that if you're drinking/eating something, you will have remnants on your coffee cup etc. However it does not transfer in such a way that your lips look patchy or partially removed. It still looks good on your lips the whole time, it's just bloody murder on your dishes or whatever. This lasts all day, but can benefit from a touch up after lunch. I should mention that if you are not careful, you can get that weird lipstick chin thing that happens when you eat with lipstick on. If you just blot a little before eating, this shouldn't be a problem.

This is very opaque right from the first swipe. It does not get more opaque with extra layers, however the color does darken some with more layers. With the first layer, it covers up my freckles pretty well, but I can still see them very faintly no matter how many coats I do. I really wish I could get a good lip picture but it just isn't coming out where you can see what I mean. It honestly is a very opaque lipstick, but I am still able to see just a hint of freckle.

This is a little high maintenance, but not overly so. You do have to be careful when first putting it on because it can definitely stray (also watch out for lipstick chin). I really never wear lip liners though so if you do, you may not have trouble with that. I am definitely willing to put in a little extra effort for a really great lipstick, especially for a matte that is actually comfortable to wear. I can see where some people would not want to deal with that, and that is fine, this just might not be for everyone. I will say though that there are a lot more high maintenance lipsticks out there and this one really isn't that bad.


You can get the full size version of this on their website, at Sephora, Ulta, and whatever other random places carry Urban Decay. I would suggest getting this at Sephora if you want points, or Ulta if you want points that will actually work toward saving you money in the future.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 (covered) freckles.

One star off for the faint freckle, and being slightly high maintenance.

Lip Review featuring Colour Pop

Ok, so today I happen to be wearing one from Colour Pop, so that is what we are starting with.

This is the color Baewatch from the new Colour Pop fall collection. Their new fall collection is 90's themed, so, YES. This is a matte finish, mauve-y color with a slight purple undertone. Like all of their Lippie Stix, it has a little bit of a rich caramel-y scent to it, but it is not overwhelming or lasting. This goes on fairly smoothly, and feels creamy when you first put it on. If it has dried out in the tube, it can drag a little on the lips, but if you're careful when you put the cap back on, and if you swipe away the 'pilling' issue, then it shouldn't be a problem. This does dry down more and is less creamy feeling throughout the day, but that is because it is matte and it lasts for a very long time. It is never uncomfortable.

Opacity after two coats.

This takes some buildup to get to full opacity, but for people without freckles on their lips, I would say that one coat is the perfect amount. On me, one coat almost gets me there, but I need two coats to fully cover the freckles. Which is not bad at all compared to a lot of other lip products I have tried.

Attempt to show how it 'pills up' but it is hard to get a good pic.

This Lippie Stix, as well as all of the others I have tried from them, starts to get kind of ragged the more you use it. I don't know how to explain it exactly, but it's sort of like it pills up or something. It doesn't do it a LOT, and it is easy to fix, I just swatch it on my hand before using to smooth it out again, but I figured I should mention it. If I am really in a hurry in the morning, this can sometimes prevent me from reaching for a Lippie Stix, but ultimately it is not a big deal.

When initially applying this to the lips, there is some wiggle room to build up layers and smoosh things around on the lip etc, but once it dries down, you don't want to apply more coats or anything. The more you apply on top of the dried product, the worse it wears. It starts to collect in cracks and lays weird on top of the previously layer and anyway it's just horrible. You can reapply if you feel you need to, but you just have to be careful with it. It lasts fairly well through eating and drinking, it does transfer some but your lips still look fine. I usually reapply a little bit after lunch just to fill in where it faded, but it doesn't require much and I don't need to touch up throughout the rest of the day.

Also, did I mention? Colour Pop Lippie Stix come in a ton of colors, several finishes, and are only $5!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 (covered) Freckles.
One star off for needing to build opacity, and for the 'pilling'.

Lip Reviews!

Well, my original thought for this blog was that it would serve as a sort of beauty diary to keep track of different issues that we all go through. But since we haven't really been keeping up with that, I've decided that I need to start some lip reviews. I know that there a million out there already, but I think I can provide a unique perspective. I have freckles on my lips, so for me, finding a really good, truly opaque lipstick is a life long mission. Not that I have a problem with my lip freckles, but I don't want them showing all the time. I have a fuck ton of lip products at this point in my life, so I am going to try to use a different one every day, posting a review and possibly swatches etc as well. My lips are really weird and don't tend to photograph very well, but I will try to get some pics too so that you can see the opacity level.


I intend to post a bare lip picture at some point, so you can see the freckle lip before lipstick. That way you know what we are dealing with. I just can't post right now because I have lipstick on!




Here is my disclaimer:


These reviews are just about how they work out for me. They may not have the same wear time on someone else, or the same opacity, creamy/dry feeling, whatever else. I am not a professional, I don't know wtf I am doing with makeup most of the time, but I like to explore new products and try to give an informed opinion. Anyone is free to leave a comment with their own opinion as long as it is respectful to other people. If something does not work out that great for me, it does not necessarily mean it is a bad product. Sometimes things just work out differently for different people. That said, I may on occasion say that something IS a bad product, but whatever, that's just my experience with it.


Also, Matte lip products are usually on the dry side just by nature of being matte, so if I talk about a product being not that drying, I mean for a matte. Any matte is still going to be more drying than a glossy or creamy product, and it will really never be hydrating. This does not bother me that much, to an extent. There are definitely some products out there that I can NOT handle how dry they are. You should usually always exfoliate your lips before using a matte product as well. If you have been having trouble with mattes, I highly suggest trying that out before giving up completely.


If there is something about a product that I forget to mention, or if you have questions about anything I say, let me know! I am trying to be as thorough as I can but I may forget things!


Also: My intent is to do one every day that I wear a different lip product, mostly on work days, but I may forget so in that case, TOO BAD.

Feed the Addiction, But Hopefully Spend Less Doing So:

This is just going to be a quick list of places I've found on the internet that can help you get a good deal on various beauty related items. Some of them are good for finding deals on non-beauty items as well. 

Ebates:  Warning: This is an affiliate link, because why not? If you're not comfortable with that, no prob, click HERE instead! Ebates is Free and easy to use! When you sign up, you get a $10 gift card of choice (usually, this may not always be the case), and you get a certain percent back on almost anything you order online if you go to their site first. The percentage of money back changes but averages around 4% cash back or less. There are times (such as their recent anniversary sale; it was 16% back) when the percent is higher. It's not always a lot of money that you are saving, but it does add up. You get money back on a quarterly basis, either by check in the mail or through paypal. You have to make sure that you set up everything for your 'Big Check' or you won't receive the money back, this was honestly the trickiest part about signing up, because you're not immediately directed how to do it. There are a ton of websites through Ebates, but not everything is there. For example, Amazon might be on ebates at times, but it may only have certain departments where you can get money back. Still, this is a really great resource for saving some money if you shop online, especially for beauty products because sites like Sephora, Ulta, and Beauty.com are all on there. Totally worth signing up for, just remember to go to this site BEFORE shopping, and going to your chosen page through their link. There are also bonus coupon codes similar to retailmenot provided right on the page, so you can get even more out of your shopping!

• There is also the site Mr. Rebates but I have not used this site and do not know how it compares. If you have used it and prefer it to Ebates, or vice versa, let me know why!

Hautelook (affiliated with Nordstrom Rack): You have to sign up to use this site, and honestly it is not the BEST. This is mainly due to my grudge against paying for shipping. They give free shipping if you spend over $100. That is ridiculous by today's standards. I can understand free shipping after $25. But $100 is just craziness. So anyway keep that in mind with anything you buy from here. This site IS good for something though. They occasionally have really great sales on great brands, and sometimes on limited edition things that you can't find anymore. Shipping takes kind of forever, so that is another not so great thing about this. If you keep that stuff in mind and work out if what you want is worth it price wise, it can definitely still be a great way to get super deals on high end makeup. The really nice brands do tend to sell out quickly though so you have to keep an eye on it.

Target Sample Page: I forget how I came across this, but it is pretty great! They don't have samples all the time and they can sell out as well. Basically you just sign up and choose to receive whatever sample they are promoting, take a short survey, and they will send it to you if you qualify. It is Free! I recently signed up to receive a sample of Frizz Eaze serum, and am still waiting on that. I don't know how often they do this, or exactly what happens after you receive it, so I will update on that once I get further in.

RetailMeNot: You probably already know about this, but I'm including it anyway! Before you check out from any website, do a quick search on here to see if there is some kind of discount code that will work for you! Simple!

Nouveau Cheap: This is a Beauty Blog I found and check regularly because the author posts lots of deals for both online and IRL shopping. There is usually some kind of weekly roundup for all the drugstore deals broken down by store, and there are random updates when she hears about a sale online somewhere.

Cheapasfuck: This blog seems a little more geared toward beauty reviews, but there is an occasional post about a great sale or something that Nouveau Cheap hasn't posted about, so I like to check this one too.

Budgetbeautyblog: Same as above, beauty blog with reviews, but with an occasional highlight on a special sale of some kind.

Temptalia: Also a beauty blog, with a VERY comprehensive review list, and also a great place to find dupes for higher end stuff. It is on this list because it also has beauty deal roundups, for both online and IRL stores.

Additionally: Sign up for rewards programs at any sites you frequent! It may seem like a hassle at first but it is definitely worth it. Make your money work for you, don't miss out on points. Sephora has the Beauty Insider program, Ulta has... Ultamate Rewards? I think it is called? Beauty.com is also partnered with Drugstore.com, and you get 5% back in points toward future purchases from both sites.


Well that is all I have for now, I may update this list more as I discover new things. I'm sure there are a lot of other great beauty blogs out there, feel free to share them or any other tips for deals that you might have!

The Importance of Self Care

TL;DR:

This is all really difficult to write, but I am doing my best to express this shit:

If I lived in the Divergent book world, I probably would have been Abnegation (not that any of us would be in just one group, part of the point of the books was that we are all more than one thing). I don't mean that I am entirely selfless, but I do tend to try and take myself out of the equation, and I'm generally happy as long as everyone else is happy. This is perhaps not the healthiest attitude. I will always feel that you should indeed care for others, but in my case this has also resulted in a lack of self care. Taking care of yourself does not in any way impede your ability to care for others, but sometimes you get so focused on that, you forget about YOU.

Loneliness can be a driving factor in lack of self care, because you start to believe that you aren't worth bothering with. I think this has been my problem for a long time. It's this feeling of not being good enough for other people, even though there can be many other legit reasons for that current lonely feeling. The problem is that you get stuck in a thought loop of, "Why am I so alone? Where are my friends? Why don't I have more friends? Am I going to die alone?" etc etc forever. That's when you start to get depressed and decide you are the problem after all (or at least this is how I get, I can't actually speak for anyone else when I say 'you').  I have always been fairly independent, I am good just being on my own, and I honestly do not care what other people think of me, most of the time. I know I don't care because if I cared, I would probably try to change to fit in better. But I don't care, and even though I may always be on the journey to discover who I really am, I do know who and what I am NOT. As far as I'm concerned, self discovery is all a process of elimination. That doesn't mean that I am not occasionally effected by what other people think. Here's the thing, though: This is almost ENTIRELY how I am perceiving what I think they are thinking about me (does that make sense at all?). With the exceptions of a few incidents in my childhood, there have been almost no interactions where anyone has ever said anything about me that actually effected how I see myself. I am far more effected by what I think others are thinking than by what others are ACTUALLY thinking (is that more clear?). What's that quote, about people not being against you, they're just FOR themselves? It's totally true. ANYWAY MOVING ON! Before getting sidetracked down one of those tangent wormholes I am always finding, my point was that even though loneliness can make you feel left out and worthless, it does not make it so. I have friends that I love and speak to fairly regularly, and they live all across the country. I have family that I love and they live all over too. Even though I may go through periods of loneliness, I know and appreciate that I have people there for me if I really need them. It can be hard to recognize on a day to day basis when you live alone and don't see anyone you care about for long stretches of time. I think that self care and taking time to relax can really help improve your attitude toward yourself and the world around you.

In a somewhat opposite note, being around people for too long can be draining as well. This is especially true for me since I am very introverted, but even extroverts need to remember to take time out from everything and recharge. For me personally, I can get very overwhelmed if I don't get some alone time every once in awhile. It is not usually much of an issue for me, but if I ever do find myself in a situation where I am asked to do something/make plans/hang out for several nights in a row, I have to remind myself that it is ok to turn things down because I know that I will need a break. This can be difficult because I don't like to let people down, and I don't want to be left out in any future endeavors. You just have to figure out a way to balance it all, and that is some incredibly generic and vague advice for sure, but in a way that's kind of half of what life IS; finding a way to balance it all. I find that what works best for me is if I need to turn something down, I try to make another plan for some other time in the not too distant future (e.g. "I can't this week, but I can hang out next week if you're available?"). Don't push yourself into doing something you know you don't want. If you do, it will most likely end up making everyone miserable anyway. Or maybe not, I certainly can't say how everyone will act in every situation, I just know that for me, I usually end up making things sucky if I am not happy to be there in the first place. So don't feel bad about taking time to take care of yourself. The world will understand.

So if you read through all of that, you should probably understand by now that it is perfectly fine and even encouraged, to friggin TREAT YO SELF sometimes. Self care is important. The happier you are, the happier you will make others. It isn't going to cure depression. The more I think about my life the past few years the more I am starting to realize that I was probably in a fairly deep well of depression, and NO, I do not think that I could have 'cured' myself with some self care. I do not really know if depression is something you even CAN cure. But I will say that I probably would have had a lot better individual days if I had taken better care of myself. I'm starting to feel somewhat better about myself even though I have a long way to go. I still feel like there is a lot more I want to say about this but I can't quite articulate all the thoughts in my head. I am going to link a couple of older xovain articles that I have been getting the feels from lately (as I seem to be stalking the archives), and if you're interested, you should check out the comments sections too because there is almost always something helpful from the community down there.

Article by beauty guru ALLE

Not specifically related but gives me the 'I can relate' feels, by Marci

So basically, this is all to justify the small fortune I spent at Lush, buying bath products to luxuriate in. You're welcome.

Update: took a nice bubble bath in the dark with candles, real legit style, and listened to this the whole time: Click here to listen to a French guy whisper to you about history