LipstickRules

13 May 2013 10 Comments

Hello ‘Betsey’! My Friendship With Stila’s Color Balm Lipstick

When I first laid eyes on Stila’s Color Balm Lipstick in Betsey*, I knew we’d be fast friends. What’s not to like? She’s bright and she’s pink — two of my favourite qualities in a lipstick.

The friendship became even better once I tried Betsey on.

I’ve tried many of the hybrid lip balm/lipstick/gloss combinations coming out in the market, and thought this would just be the same. But there is something special about this formula that makes my lipstick-loving heart sing.

First, the colour pay-off. It is highly pigmented almost like a regular lipstick. I haven’t seen such colour from any hybrid, even my beloved Revlon Lip Butters. But don’t fear if you’re afraid of too much colour. You can definitely build this up, and wear as little or as much as you want. On most days, I tend to like to pack it on for maximum impact. And when I mean packing on, it’s one swipe. To get less, I would just dab it on and then blend with my finger or a brush. That’s what I did in the look above. I was out running errands with the fam, and wanted just a bit of colour.

Once on the lip, there is a nice sheen. The colour is not flat. Staying power is fantastic too. I wore it a good four to five hours without having to reapply.

The best part for me is just how comfortable it is to wear. It feels like I was just wearing a lip balm though I knew that it had much more impact than a typical balm.

The colour Betsey is a cool toned fuchsia but works for warm-toned gals like me. It’s the perfect bright spring lip.

We are now BFFs.

Available at Sephora and wherever Stila is sold.

11 May 2013 6 Comments

Review: Revlon’s Nearly Naked Foundation

I’ve been curious about Revlon’s Nearly Naked foundation*.

Words I kept hearing about this foundation included: natural, light, and easy to wear. I was able to test drive it myself the past couple of months, and I’m finally ready to give it my two cents.

First, I have to tell you that I tend to prefer higher end foundation. My skin reacted to drug store foundation in the past so I have a bit of a phobia. I was more than relieved when I tried this foundation, which has now made it into my regular rotation.

The Nearly Naked foundation is indeed a nice foundation to wear on days you want lighter coverage. I tend to wear medium to full coverage so it was a bit out of my comfort zone. I felt like it covered what I needed to, and on days where I felt I needed more coverage, I just added a bit of concealer on top of this.

Here’s a before with no makeup (left) and after with foundation (right)…and then an after after with full makeup!

You can still see your skin and it doesn’t look or feel cakey or heavy. The finish is dewy but not shiny. As for the texture, it isn’t watery or thick. My only beef with the product is a lack of a pump dispenser. (Why? why?) It is awkward to have to pour this out of the bottle. I’ve had many a messy situation as a result. But if you can get over this hump, it is lovely to work with. It applies beautifully especially if used with a brush.

So there you have it, a foundation that does live up to the hype.

07 May 2013 8 Comments

What’s Up, Skin?!

Something is up with my skin this week, and it’s putting a serious crimp in my blogging and photo-taking abilities. My face is a big rashy, dry mess and so not picture worthy.

If there’s any form of excitement or stress in my life, my skin reacts. Leading up to my wedding day 13 years ago, I broke out into a daily rash for what seemed like months. Same thing when I was pregnant with my first baby. And now, when I’m stressed or nervous or anxious, I get hives or a rash. This week, it’s a rash.

This is not an ideal situation for a beauty blogger who likes to take selfies on a daily basis — like this:

So what do I do when I get a rash?

My first step is to switch out my skincare and wash my brushes. I then reduce the amount of makeup I wear.

I have to fight the urge to layer on the foundation. Since I’m red already, I avoid the blush. This part is the most painful as I am a blush fiend. So the focus becomes…the lips of course.

I figure if I go bold on the lips, it lessens the focus on the blotchy red of my face.

So there you have it, a rambling, vain post from an unhappy and rashy beauty blogger.

06 May 2013 8 Comments

Head over Heels for NARS Pierre Hardy Nail Polishes – Sharks Left, Sharks Right

NARS has paired up with renowned shoe designer, Pierre Hardy, to collaborate on a special limited edition collection. Inspired by Hardy’s Summer 2013 shoe collection, the partnership offers six nail polishes and two blushes. The beauty blogging community has been all over the blushes the last week or so, and as a die-hard NARS blush fan (I own about 10 blushes!), I can see why. The blushes look ah-mazing. But today’s post isn’t about the blushes but rather two of the polishes from the collection that I was able to preview.

The two polishes are: Sharks Left and Sharks Right.

First of all, cute names, yes?

Sharks Left is the prettiest pale yellow I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t sure how it would translate on my skintone but I really liked it! It is such a soft and very feminine colour that is so opposite of the brights I’ve been sporting lately. To get the full colour impact, I found I needed two coats of this as it did apply slightly uneven.

Sharks Right is a pale lavender. I’m obsessed with this colour for spring. It is gorgeous, gorgeous. For some reason, the texture seemed thicker and clumpier than the yellow but that might just be the bottle I had. In any case, on the nails, this looked so pretty. It also took a couple of coats.

Apologies for the poor attempt at a mani. I’m still working on developing this skill

As for wear, I didn’t notice any chipping for a couple of days, and even so, it was minor.

These polishes are on the high end, priced at $32 for the pair. Are they worth it? I would say, if you’re a NARS fan, it’s worth a look. I’m curious about the other colours myself.

Have you looked into NARS lately? What’s your favourite NARS product?

25 Apr 2013 4 Comments

The Emergence of the ‘Blog Face’

When I was a kid and into my teens, I did not like getting my picture taken. Clearly, times have changed. All thanks to blogging, I now have enough self-portraits to last many a lifetime. Today, I wondered when these #selfies began. I know it wasn’t instant. It took a lot to bring me out of my shell.

So I looked back, and found hints of what my husband calls my ‘blog face’ emerging in mid-2010, a year after I first started blogging. Here’s a sampling.

Looking at these I can tell I’m not entirely comfortable yet. But practice makes perfect, and the more I did it, the more I started to find ways to feel more comfortable and find ways of mastering the blog face.

It’s all about how you angle your face, position your lips, look or not look at the camera. It’s an art form, yes? It doesn’t matter that it takes 30 or 40 photos to get it right.

In all seriousness, what a long week. I hope yours was good.

If you’re a blogger, when did you start posting your #selfies?