I promised in this post that I would swatch my latest* lippie haul from SN as soon as the weather and lighting conditions allow it. Well, when I left to Nuremberg it was still winter in Hungary: cold, cloudy, silent, snow on the ground, short days and all. On my way back the sun came out of hiding, the sky cleared up and I saw its azure blue tint for the first time in months, even the last inch of snow melted, and the weather was finally warm. It's been like that ever since: the birds are singing, it's 17:39 right now and there's still some light outside, it was 10°C today (50°F), and the lighting was perfect for taking some well-overdue shots of my lippies.

* Only they're not my latest lippies from SN anymore: our group haul arrived last week and in it another 7 glosses I'm gonna rave about very soon. (SN glosses seem to be my very own version of Pokemon: if I carry on in this vein, I'll have collected them all. :-D)

Anyway, the lippies I'm going to tell you about today are:

• Cultured (vegan)
• Bisou (vegan)
• Raindrops On Roses
• Bitten

I ordered them before Christmas 2009 and immediately fell in love with Bitten. I can now safely say that I absolutely don't care for Bisou (neither the shade, nor the formula), would love Cultured if only it were a bit less pink and more brown/yellow, and have found a perfect way to wear Raindrops on Roses: mixed with Gold Blush it gives my lips a lovely bright coral tint and my complexion the perfect "I'm wide awake and happy as a lark!" look.

Anyway, let me give you some details and show you some pics.




And now, lo and behold, the same lips wearing those four SN glosses:



Karen's description:

"Cultured Vegan Lip Gloss is inspired by MAC's Slimshines...so sorta like Maiden- it's not quite as pigmented or "formal" looking as a lipstick- perfect for the office or more casual occasions. It's a lighter nude with a hint of plum and a little bit of pearl. In comparison Maiden is pinker, and more golden,Polished Pink is browner and more shimmery."

No, not quite as pigmented, but it still manages to accentuate every little crease on my lips... I have the same problem with the other Vegan lippie I have, Bisou: they both make my lips look cracked and badly taken care of (which I swear they're not).

My other gripe with Cultured is not Silk Naturals' fault: because it has too much pink in it, it washes me out and makes my complexion look really dull. I was actually hesitating about whether to buy Cultured, Polished Pink or Maiden, but eventually I ended up buying this one. Since then, I have placed another order and put Maiden in my cart so we'll see how that one looks. (That order has yet to arrive though... I absolutely hate the Hungarian postal service.)

There is actually one very positive thing I can say about Cultured: its formula is incredibly smooth and moisturizing and I love the feel of it on my lips. If only it looked good on me...

Price: 4.75 USD
Rating: 3 out of 5

Karen's description:

"Bisou is a lightly pigmented berry tone with a little bit of peach, balanced with a bit of cooler raspberry. It gives your lips just a hint of shimmer and a healthy pink flush."

Sorry, but WHAT? Lightly pigmented?? Healthy pink flush???

Folks, for one thing, this looks nothing like the swatch on SN's site. The shade is not what I expected at all: it more sort of an intense cool red in sunlight, no brown in it at all, nothing neutral about it.

For another, it is anything but "lightly pigmented". Compared to other SN lippies, it's actually very heavily pigmented and the color is very intense, it's just that when I try to put it on, it tends slide off my lips and streaks like bad quality nail-polish. And it tends to gravitate towards above mentioned wrinkles and creases on my lips.

Sorry, but even combining this with other lippies (Clear among them) has not yielded any acceptable/wearable results.

Price: 4.75 USD
Rating: 2 out of 5 (And I was very generous.)



Karen's description:

"Raindrops on Roses is a shimmery, slightly sheer pink with little hints of gold in our yummy original Kisser Slicker formula. It's understated, very seasonal and absolutely gorgeous."

Well, hallelujah, I don't have to grumble anymore. :-)))

ROR is indeed absolutely gorgeous and very versatile. It was also one of the two lippies I took with me to Nuremberg. The other one was Gold Blush, and the reason why I took these two is that Gold Blush is a perfect everyday color, ROR comes in handy for a business dinner or any other fancy occasion, and the two mixed together give the loveliest coral/golden berry shade I've ever worn, great for both everyday and formal occasions.

But back to the product itself. Raindrops On Roses is a cool-ish berry shade tempered by some golden shimmer so that it becomes more sort of neutral rather than cool. It's a bit more pigmented than my other SN lippies, sort of in the range of Berry Crush and Temptation. The gold shimmer in it is a brilliant idea as it makes the gloss just warm enough for me to wear, but like I said it's best mixed with Gold Blush: nothing's better than those two together. ;-)

It goes well with my skintone which is always a bonus, and the texture is all right too.

Price: 4.50 USD
Rating: 5 out of 5


Karen's description:

"Bitten Organic Lip Gloss is the Fall version of Damsel. It's a true red, absolutely sheer- sort of like you ate a lollypop. It's deeper, and more red than Damsel, and a true red compared with the more purple Berry Nice."

I was bitten by the love bug the minute I tried this one. (Pun totally intended.) As a matter of fact, I fell for it the first time I saw it on SN's website: the description and the swatch looked too good to be true. I mean I've been wishing for a lipgloss like this for ages. I loved my Bourjois Les Cocktails lipgloss in Rouge Sunset and have been dreaming of a slightly more pigmented version from SN. And whaddaya know? Karen made my dream come true. :-)))

Bitten is a lot like Damsel when it comes to sheerness: both are more sort of lip stains than lipglosses in that they don't have such a high pigment content that would add thickness to their formula. Bitten is really just a sheer lollypop red that makes your lips look as if you'd been kissing. ;-) It does make your lips shiny too but that really just depends on how much you put on. One swipe, and it just tints your lips. Two-three swipes: yeah, it's obvious you've got something on. Full-on application (i.e.: swiping for ages): lovely, fresh red lips. :-) A bonus is that even when most of the gloss is gone, some color remains, so it's perfect for girls whose lips are not that pigmented.

Truth be told, I haven't been wearing Bitten non-stop ever since I got it (which, judging by the tone of my review, should be the case), but I have to be in the mood to wear red and that doesn't just happen every day. Nevertheless, it is an awesome lipgloss and the one I turn to when I want to wear red on my lips.

Oh, and the texture? Perfect. :-)

Price: 4.50 USD
Rating: 5 (or even 6) out of 5


Finally, here are some swatches on my arm to give you a better idea of what these glosses look like.
(Btw, why does Cultured look so darn nice in every picture??? It's really not as appealing as that... Gives my lips that sort of lilac tint that drowned people have... *scratches head*)




So has any one of these four Silk Naturals glosses caught your fancy? Do you actually own any on them? I know Sagu has ROR (I bought it upon her encouragement). Anyone else? Let me know. :-)