Hey girls! I think I'm ready to believe that spring is finally here and intends to stay for good. The trees are blossoming, and I know it's not that big a deal, and that it happens pretty much every spring without fail, but it's still the most exciting piece of news today. The pigeons' heads are barely sticking out of the lawn and our neighborhood is practically bustling with dogs of all shapes and sizes.

It's just so good to be alive on a day like this!

Also, I'd like to say hello to my new student who, as it turns out, loves reading beauty blogs too. :-D Hey there girl! I hope you'll like what you find here. ;-)


Let's get down to business then. :)



I've been having this love-hate relationship with lipgloss for a while.

I love how it's sheerer than lipstick and doesn't sit in the tiny little creases of my lips but instead makes them look youthful and fresh. I love how it makes my lips full and shiny without being too over-the-top and how it coats them with a balmy layer of moisture and natural protective butters. I also adore it's delicious scent and taste and oftentimes wish it were edible. I'm fond of the brush that allows for precise application and the gorgeous packaging it comes in.

And I hate how usually a lipgloss manages to deliver only a few of the above.

How 'bout you?

...

Mmm-hmm, that's what I had thought. ;-)

I know we all have different requirements when it comes to lipgloss, but if you're like me and expect your gloss to be all of the above (minus the not-living-up-to-your-expectations part), then you'll probably love Stila's Lip Glaze in Mandarin Mist.






I've read several less-than-favorable opinions concerning the mechanics of the pen-styled tube on MUA, but I personally haven't experienced any problems with it. My only pet peeve is the lack of information on how to make it work the first time. * After that, it's a breeze, just make sure you give the bottom of the pen only a few twists, otherwise you'll end up with a humongous blob of lipgloss on the tip of the brush.

* Twist the bottom of the pen clockwise until you see the product appearing on the brush. It may take ridiculously long, but it's worth it. ;-)




I also don't have any issues with the brush and much prefer it to doe-foot applicators. It allows for a more precise application, and were it not part of the pen itself, it'd even be possible to clean with some alcohol, water and baby-shampoo. (If you're a hygiene-freak, that is, but really girls, how many of us actually clean our lipgloss brushes...? Just curious. ^_^)



Don't you all just want your lipglosses to smell and taste delicious? I know I do, and this product definitely hasn't let me down. Its scent reminds me of orange toffee and an orange-shaped chewing gum my Mum used to buy me when I was little. It even manages to taste the way it smells, which is no small feat in a world full of boring sugary and sometimes downright plastic-flavoured lipglosses.





Okay, so the color is a bit difficult to pin down, as with this product everything depends on lighting conditions. In warm, natural half-light and in the presence of incandescent lightbulbs it tends to take on a warm quality and comes close to being a pinkish-coral shade. However, I would probably refrain from wearing it in Tungsten-halogen light, as it tends to transform into every woman's worst dream: the opaque, icy-pink lippie of the eighties. Yuck.... Also, it pays off to apply this gloss a bit more liberally than you might be used to, because it takes away from the iciness and makes it lean more towards the coraly goodness it really is. (Don't ask me how though, it totally doesn't make any sense to me...)




First things first: it's glossy. Excuse me for stating the obvious, but as a girl who naturally gravitates toward sheerer, more natural-looking lip products this came as... well, certainly not as a surprise, but it's been quite a while since I last used anything glossier than Silk Naturals lippies, so it definitely needed some getting used to. :-D (Also, it's on the sticky end of the spectrum, but it's nothing I can't handle and a big thumbs-up goes to the Lip Glaze for not drying out my puckers.) After getting over that shocking little revelation, I didn't have any issues with the product. In fact, I like it a lot and will certainly reach for it when an occasion to crank up the pancake on my face a few notches presents itself. :-D





Stila wants you to shell out 22 USD for a 2.4 ml (0.08 fl.oz) lipgloss which, in my opinion, is a bit steep. Then again, anyone's willingness to pay that much for a lippie really just depends on what they want from the product in question. If you want a lot of shine and a delicious taste/scent, then it might be perfectly worth it for you. If you like your lips being more natural, with a little less bling-bling and more of a satiny sheen and some color, well then you might want to look elsewhere.

Make no mistake though: I love having Stila's Lip Glaze in my stash and knowing that whenever I'm in the mood for a bit more shine, I can get that (and a lot more) from this gloss. I might even buy another one (or two) in the future, but let's just say that Mandarin Mist and I are not exclusive. ;-) In the case of this lipgloss, there's scope for improvement, particularly in the stickiness department, but it has a lot more good qualities than bad: the delicious scent and taste, the lovely finish it gives our lips, the practical packaging and the wide range of shades available all speak in favor of trying Stila's lippies if you haven't already.

A big thank you goes out to Fan, my fellow beauty-blogger and friend, who sent me this lipgloss for my birthday two weeks ago. I'm ever so grateful for her that I got the chance to test one of Stila's famous Lip Glazes and hope to return the favor with something similar in May. ;-)


Rating: 5 out of 5

Available: Stila's website, Sephora, and probably other major department stores (Needless to say, Stila is not available in Hungary...)

Ingredients:
Polybutene, Octyldodecanol, Helianthus Annuus (Hybrid Sunflower) Oil, Lanolin Oil, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla Cera) Wax (Candelilla Cera\Cire de Candelilla), Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax (Cera Carnauba\Cire de Carnauba), Tocopheryl Acetate, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Ethylhexylglycerin, Flavor (Aroma), Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Benzoate, Limonene, Farnesol, Citral, Benzyl Salicylate, Eugenol, Cinnamal, Benzyl Alcohol, May Contain (+/-): Mica, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090) (CI 42090), Bismuth Oxychloride (CI 77163) (CI 77163), Carmine (CI 75470) (CI 75470), Red 6 (CI 15850), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Red 22 Lake (CI 45380), Red 27 (CI 45410), Red 28 Lake (CI 45410), Red 30 (CI 73360), Red 33 Lake (CI 17200), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Yellow 6 Lake (CI 15985)  

Just as Fan has been let down by Maybelline on several occasions, I too have had my fair share of disappointments with Labello. Many years ago, when shopping online was only a distant dream for me and I had to make do with what was available in local drugstores, I bought Labello lipbalms several times and was pretty unhappy with each one. There was a certain yuckyness to them that I can't really describe, and they would disappear from my lips quicker than I could say "Lipsmackers".

Not so with this new lipbalm of theirs. The one I got from Fan, which contains dragonfruit and starfruit extracts, is an excellent quality product and the more I wear it, the deeper I fall in love with it.

Fine, it's not the kind of INCI list that would make me buy the product in question, but somehow it still works.




The stuff I'm happy to see on that list:

• Butyrospermum Parkii (shea) butter
• Candelilla Cera (candelilla wax)
• Prunus Dulcis (almond) oil
• Simmondsia Chinensis (jojoba oil)
• Tocopheryl Acetate (vitamin E)
• Vitis Vinifera (grape) Seed Oil
• Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane (a.k.a.: avonbenzone; a chemical sunscreen that doesn't do much on its own, there's too little in there anyway, but hey, a little is more than nothing. By the way, according to Labello's website, this balm and the rest in the series has an SPF of 10.)

The rest is just artificial stuff we have to live with if we decide to buy non-organic, non-natural cosmetics...



Labello's new lipbalm lends my lips a subtle shine (no pearly effect, thank goodness), and some moderate color. It also contains silver sparkles, but while they're visible in the solid product, once you apply the balm to your lips, they disappear completely.




When it comes to color and shine, I can best compare this balm to Silk Naturals' Soft, one of my favorite everyday glosses. It's a sheer raspberry shade that's perfect for daytime wear and provides this classic fresh look that's appropriate both in the office and for a walk in the city with friends.




It feels like a buttery-gel on my lips and so far it has only managed to protect and moisturize them, which is a big deal because many lipbalms actually tend to dry my lips. (Please note the absence of mineral oil on the INCI list, which is probably the reason why this balm performs so well.)





Its scent is delicious, exotic and mouthwatering, which makes it a perfect distraction from one's work. Imagine me sitting in the office, trying to label folders and catalog documents, but failing miserably thanks to an irrepressible urge to sniff said lipbalm every few minutes.
Epic fail... :-DDD
(I even ended up putting some on my wrists as if it were a solid perfume... *blushes like crazy*)



The twist-up tube contains a generous 4.8 g (5.5 ml) and usually retails for 439 HUF (1.8-2.6 EUR / 2.5-4.0USD abroad) in DM in Hungary , so if you're on a budget looking for an affordable, good-quality lipbalm, this is definitely a product you should consider.

It's one of the best lipbalms I've tried in a good while, and I might even go as far as saying that it compares to my beloved Silk Naturals lippies. And that, my dear friends and readers, is a huge compliment from me. :-D


Available in: DM, Rossmann, Müller and Schlecker stores, and probably all major drugstores near you
Rating: a solid 5 out of 5


Okay... Since I'm a huge lipbalm/lipsgloss/lip-practially-anything freak, I am now asking you to tell me what your favorite lipbalm is. I'm risking a lot here, after all one only gets so much money a month, but what the heck, I'm still curious. :-)))


Also, check out the goodies I got recently:

• Whipping Star by Frank Herbert, my favorite author ever (By the way, was it really necessary to insert the most unbecoming picture they could find of him into that Wikipedia article...? Check him out here, at least here he doesn't look like a hobo...)
  
• Hypno Gloss mascara by Essence
• Beauty Box from Artdeco for Sagu
• Brochure from La Roche Posay full of samples

 

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. :-)  

Remember this post? It was so much fun to write. :-)

When was the last time I posted something other than a product review?

I have all these little tips and tricks lying around, miscellaneous stuff I've found, things I'm happy about, random thoughts no one but you might be interested in, questions I need answers to, and a blog to tell others all about them, and... I still post friggin' product reviews. And it just sometimes happens that I want to talk about something other than cosmetics and make-up.

Sooo, it's time for Random Tidbits, Episode II.

Having a salary is so liberating: I can finally delve into the wonderful world of mineral make-up and order product samples from all those brands I set my eyes on a long while ago.

There's of course Fyrinnae whose eyeshadows, Lip Lustres and Pixie Epoxy I want to try, and Adorned With Grace where I hope to find the perfect match amongst their foundation, after all they are a MMU company creating foundation shades for people with yellow/olive skintones. Sagu called my attention to Sassy Minerals a while ago, and I've seen some great swatches of their eyeshadows on various blogs, so I'm probably going to raid their store in the future.

There's also LaurEss and their Neutralize corrector that I want to try, and though I've lost interest in Pure Luxe a while ago, there's still a small order I want to make, because I find it's hard to live without two of their eyeshadows from their Fall '09 Collection: Boy Toy and Tryst.


By the way, Pure Luxe also carries one of my favorite eyeshadows of all time: Golden Sands.




It's a gorgeous charcoal-brown with golden sheen and, according to PL, bronze shimmer. Well, the bronze shimmer is only visible in daylight, otherwise it's more sort of greenish to me. It's a very complex color, hard to describe, but until I tried to swatch it, I hadn't even noticed the bronze. I was totally convinced that it has gold and green shimmer in it, but apparently there's no such thing mentioned on PL's website.

Oh well, it's still a HG for me as it goes perfectly with my skintone, and somehow manages to be both subtle and extraordinary at the same time. It's great if you just want a wash of color on your lids, perfect for workdays when you want to look polished but not made-up and is also an excellent base for a more complex look created of browns, greens or even bronze/purple eyeshadows.



It wasn't love at first sight but now I couldn't live without it and will definitely get the full size when I place an order at PL.

Now comes my question. Back in Nuremberg I got a small jar of virgin coconut oil from Tropicai, an importer of fair-trade coconut food and cosmetic products.




It smells amazing: it has the purest, most delicious coconut scent I've ever encountered. I did use it on my short, wavy, bordering on curly, and annoyingly frizzy hair on a few occasions and got great results: only half a pea size (or even less) made my hair much softer and manageable.

But that's not the point. (Not even if this is a beauty blog and I should be telling you about things exactly like this. Will do so though, soon.)

The point is that ever since I got a sniff of that jar of coconut oil, I've been obsessed with everything coconut: the smell, the taste, everything!

So my question is: can you help out a girl with a serious fixation on coconut and let her know about your favorite coconut products? I'm mostly thinking about cosmetics here (body-lotion, hand-cream, shampoo), but you're more than welcome to share your favorite coconut recipe with me too. ;-) It doesn't matter if it's not available here in Hungary (although it'd be great if it were): there's always E-Bay to hunt these things down on, and dreaming about something unattainable has its benefits too.

Things to exclude from your suggestions: LUSH's coconut-scented products (I know them.. Wish they'd drop the vetiver...), Balea's coconut body-lotion and hand cream (Tried it, hated it, sorry.), The Body Shop's coconut line (I know about it, will hopefully sink my teeth into the body butter soon.)

So enable me girls and feed my coconut craze, will you? Thanks a bunch!  

Pink Twink was originally a GWP at Silk Naturals last summer, and I was lucky enough to get it. It has been re-issued, however, and although Karen originally planned to have it on the site throughout the month of February only, she's decided to extend its availability by another week.

Why is this good, you ask? (And oh, why devote an entire post to one little eyeshadow?)

Well, because Pink Twink is the only pink I've ever been able to wear without actually looking like someone who has cried her eyes out or someone who hasn't slept in a week. Also, I'm not alone with this opinion: many of my friends who've received samples or managed to try it have said the same, and there were also people on Silk Naturals' forum (myself included) who had begged Karen to bring it back, if only for a little while. Karen, as we all know is a real angel, and has generously granted us our wish. :-))





It's a very complex but wearable color, and exactly because of that complexity, it's very difficult to photograph. At first sight, it may not even seem that wearable, especially when you notice how browinsh it looks in the picture. However, that brown is nicely counterweighted by the silver sheen this eyeshadow has. The minute light hits it, the brown is gone, and you have a wearable but never entirely cool toned pink eyeshadow. It's really just a neutral pink what with the brown base and the silver shimmer.

I'm going to show you another picture taken in direct sunlight: now the brown is balanced by the silver sheen.



Another one, this time you can see some product on the lid of the jar. Again, the picture was taken in direct sunlight.



Swatching this e/s was a real PITA: I never really managed to capture the essence of the product and why I love it so much. There's just too much brown, but when you're actually wearing the e/s it's not like that at all: every little movement you make with your head lets Pink Twink change from brownish-pink to silvery-pink and back, and so it's never boring but always very flattering on your lids.

It's one of my favorite eyeshadows of all time and I'll definitely order it this time around. I encourage you to do the same. ;-)


 

You could say this post is waaaaaay overdue: after all, I did get some of these glosses back in April and two of them in summer. My only excuse is that priority-wise blogging has never overtaken real life for me and it has been doubly so in the last couple of months when I was trying to find a job (and failing spectacularly).

Anyway, better late than never: here are six more Silk Naturals Organic Lipglosses:

• Soft
• Mimosa
• Berry Nice
• Nectar
• Nude Beach
• Darling

Let's just briefly recap on what we already know about SN lippies:

• Their most important feature is their ability to moisturize and protect lips like nothing else I've ever tried. I swear that ever since I've been using these I haven't had chapped lips. (Okay, I have, but that was because I was too lazy to apply them or forgot them at home.)
• They are exceptionally wearable colors due to each having a tiny bit of brown base in it somewhere and to the fact that most of them are sheer and natural.
• They come in small tubes and while initially I was somewhat frustrated by their size, I am now perfectly content with their packaging as it allows for more precise application.
• Last but not least: I'm head over heels in love with them and will continue to hoard/use these lovelies until Karen makes them. :-) (In fact, I already have 5 more on the way.)
  

Now, onto the lippies themselves:





Karen's description:

"Soft is very similar to Bobbi Brown's limited edition/hard to find Clear Pink lip gloss. It's a medium toned pink with just a little bit of coverage- and no shimmer. I love it for weekends, and more informal looks. It's cool toned- but cute and wearable for just about anyone because it's essentially a sheer wash of pink. "

'Soft' is such an unassuming little thing... No wonder it wasn't my favorite at first. It's a sheer, cool (but wearable!) pink, and despite all that "Olive gals should wear warm, peachie colors!" it looks fabulous with my olive/yellow complexion. Once I gave it a try and payed proper attention to what it was trying to whisper in my ears ("Wear me, you won't regret is!") I was sold. Besides Tender, Damsel and Precious, it's my go-to color on days when I just can't decide on what I want to put on or simply want to look natural but polished. If you're new to SN, this color (along with the ones I just mentioned) is a great introduction to their lipglosses.

Rating: definitely 5 out of 5

Karen's description:

"Mimosa starts with a sheer base of peachie pink and adds really pretty golden sparkle. It's a light, fun color that's great for everyday. If you like Lovelace blush- Mimosa will be a fun one for you."

Karen's description:

"Berry Nice is a clone of Bobbi Brown's Raspberry Lip Gloss from the Pink Raspberry Pallette. It's completely sheer- there's no shimmer, or coverage- just a gorgeous juicy pink color. If you've tried Damsel or Sweet Nothing- it's a similar style to those- but this is a deeper berry color.

Bobbi Brown calls this color universally flattering, and we're finding it to be true- it's a gorgeous shade that should look good on just about anyone."

Karen's description:

"Nectar is our clone of Clinique's Black Honey- it is by far our most requested clone. Nectar is a deep brown berry shade- completely sheer without any shimmer at all. It's a cult favorite- universally flattering shade, and perfect for Fall. This one was a hard one to make, it's gorgeous, but unless it's a huge seller- it's going to be Limited Edition, so if you like it please tell your friends!"

Urgh, where ever shall I begin...? I had been lemming Clinique's 'Black Honey' for ages but had always been a bit apprehensive about shelling out so much money on a product that reportedly doesn't last longer than a month... Then I made a compromise and bought this. "Universally flattering", "looks great on all skintones", "naturally flushed lips", yada yada... Not.

Too dark, too brown, too everything that I can't wear and that makes me look like a zombie.

The texture is lovely and it's a perfectly sheer lippie, so to women whose skintone is more suited for wearing browns I say go for it!

Rating: 3 out of 5 (Sorry!)


Karen's description:

"Nude Beach is the perfect combination of pink and golden-brown. It covers relatively well- not too much, not too shimmery, but balanced and gorgeous."

Mmmm, that's more like it! :-D

Nude Beach is a fantastic color for the summer, although I'm not entirely sure I would call it a "nude". It's definitely too saturated for that: on my lips it had this beautiful pearly-bronze sheen with a bit of peach-sorbet in there somewhere.

In winter it's somewhat duller and closer to being a nude, and I guess its shade really depends on what lighting you're wearing it in.

Rating: 5 out of 5


Karen's description:

L-O-V-E-L-Y...!!!

Okay, so if 'Nude Beach' has a bit of peach-sorbet in there somewhere then 'Darling' has it all. It's THE warm, peachy pink lippie that I can actually wear and not look like a 90-year-old lady who got stuck in the 80s style-wise.

It's sheer, shiny, has a bit of shimmer in it and is almost a kind of brick-red without all those things commonly associated with brick red lippies.

Rating: a solid 5 out of 5


Finally, let's see how these babies perform in action... (Let's just say I'm not too happy about how these pictures came out, but this is all I can come up with at the moment. Any tips on how to photograph makeup on one's face are greatly appreciated. ;-))


 

Aaah, I remember those days when Bourjois was on sale and their products could be bought for ridiculous prices... I kept searching the stores for some so far undiscovered gem to pop up and was simply giddy when I came upon something new. Good times...




Up until recently I had been struggling with my acne and never really felt like using flashy makeup for daytime. I wanted something low-key, something that would not call people's attention to my zits too much (not that that could be avoided, but still...). Silk Naturals lippies were perfect for this purpose with their incredibly creamy and moisturizing texture and sheer, wearable colors.

However, as a result of my medical program (diet + medicine + exercising), I no longer suffer from cystic acne and my skin has cleared up incredibly (= at the moment I have only one zit!), and what remains (scars) is relatively easy to cover up with makeup. I feel I can whip out my Bourjois lipglosses again and wear these shiny, flashy and creative concoctions again.

I just feel soooooooooo liberated. ;-P

So, it's high time I redone all those Bourjois lippie posts I wrote back when I had but a scanner and lots of free-time on my hands. This time I intend to provide quality pictures and swatches as faithful to the original as possible.



In this first post we'll take a look at the four prettiest shades:

• 10 Miel Acrobatic
• 49 Rose Enigmatic
• 5 Rose Angelic
• 59 Ocre Rythmic

It is lovely and I was ecstatic when I spotted it among the discounted items one day, but I have to concede that it's just not for me. This gloss has a peachy base infused with golden pearly shimmer and is much lighter than my lips, which is never a good look for me. Nevertheless, for those who like shades like this, it's perfect: doesn't dry lips, isn't sticky, has a nice scent and a brush that allows precise application. What more could a girl ask for? ;-)


Oh. My. God.
This gloss is perfection in a tube. I call it 'liquid grapefruit' and you'll see why once you take a better look at my swatches.
It's basically golden shimmer all over in a sheer coral/pink grapefruit base. The whole thing is incredibly sheer and glossy, and I can imagine it'd look just gorgeous on any lip. I don't know if this one's still available (many Bourjois glosses in my stash have been discontinued), but if you find it anywhere, go ahead and get it.





My other favorite, and annoyingly difficult to photograph. It's basically a pearly pink with hints of coral, lots of golden shimmer and there's also an almost undetectable amount of green in there somewhere. This last thing is what makes it so special in my book: I love lip products that have green shimmer in them: it just makes them a bit more exciting and gives them an extra depth. Plus is makes stuff go well with my Martian (=olive) complexion.



As sheer as Rose Enigmatic and chock-full of antique gold shimmer. Looking at it closely, I have a hunch that the base it totally transparent and colorless, it's only the ridiculously fine shimmer that lends it its color. I kinda like that it's so sheer and that it's very easy to control the amount of product I use, so I've found yet another favorite in this one.

Finally, let's see them in action.



Read more about Bourjois lipglosses in the following posts:
Erm... Gloss anyone?
3 More Glosses
Bourjois Makeup
Bourjois Lipgloss Review

All images on this blog are © Izar, unless stated otherwise.  

Should I repeat myself?

Oh well, why not…?

I’m a lipgloss/lipbalm/lipstick addict.

Basically if a product is advertised as having been made for lips, I’m immediately sold. Whenever I find a new online cosmetics store, I always click on the button that has the magic word “lip” on it somewhere. Whenever the products behind it seem appealing, I immediately start planning the contents of my shopping cart, or at the very least jump to bookmark the site.


Sometimes I’m a bit ashamed at owning so many and think of all the “useful” things I could have bought with that money, but more often than not I can be seen pondering the next item I could add to my relatively impressive collection. (I know that said collection is nothing compared to those of some notable beauty-bloggers out there, but do allow me to be proud of mine nonetheless.)


Naturally, these lippies just scream to be reviewed, especially the Silk Naturals ones. My time and energy, however, are limited nowadays and I just can’t put together reviews of dozens of products at a time with heaps of pictures and swatches. Thus, I’ve decided to share only two at a time, preferably two that couldn’t be more different from each other, in the hopes that you, Dear Readers, will always find among them at least one that you like.


This time, my choice fell upon two Silk Naturals glosses that I absolutely adore: Precious and Damsel. One glimpse at these and I wouldn’t have thought that I’d end up wearing them just as much as I adore them. Precious has been my favorite SN lippie ever since I got it a month or two ago: with its cool pink base and the contrasting heaps of golden shimmer it makes it difficult not to fall victim to its charms. It looks suspiciously pearly upon first glance, and if there’s one thing that can keep me away from lippies of any kind is that pathetic remnant from the eighties that makes every woman who was not born a beauty queen look washed out and cheap.




However, this lippie was made by Karen Stark, which practically guarantees that it’ll turn out wearable, and it does: it is possible to apply it in a way that it leaves a lovely pinkish-golden sheen on one’s lips that is just perfect for the summer.





Some of you may remember having read words suspiciously similar to these a couple of reviews ago, and you will not be mistaken: I did say the same thing about Gold Blush, another SN lippie with similar features. Had I known what Precious is like then though, I would probably have expressed a little less enthusiasm for Gold Blush and a lot more for Precious. You see, Precious is Gold Blush, only it has more of everything GB has: more pink, more gold (lots and lots!), more charm, more character, and more of that extremely elusive quality that’s often difficult to put into words and that we usually just call “ooomph” (give or take a few ‘o’s).


Damsel is completely different in that it lacks the warmth and shimmeriness of Precious, but easily makes up for it with its sheerness and gorgeous, bright strawberry tint. I first saw it when one of my Hungarian friends (sharing a name with the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom and war ;-)) showed it to me and what flashed through my head were just three words: “I WANT THIS!”. No wonder though: it’s a real eye-candy.




When it arrived about a week later and rolled out of the parcel, it turned out to be everything I wished for it to be: it’s a stunningly beautiful vibrant pink that’s still wearable and looks great on olive skin. (I’m not sure it’d show up on lips darker than mine, but on an averagely tinted pair of lips it looks great.) It’s an almost radiant neon pink, but because it’s sheer and has no opacity at all, the only thing it does is brighten up my lips and lends my complexion a fresh, youthful look.




These are the two Silk Naturals lippies I use most often, but I do like to wear others, for example Nude Beach and Very Berry (I do prefer NB though), that I’m planning to write about next time.


By the way, I mentioned in this post how I’m not really head over heels with the small diameter of SN lippies and how tedious it makes it for me to paint my lips with them. I’ve changed my mind since then: exactly because of their thinness they allow for much more precise application.


Stay tuned for more Silk Naturals lippie reviews!  

Before I start this small review I'll seize the opportunity to welcome all my fellow Hungarian readers here on Binary Star. So many of you have visited me today and I truly hope that what you found here was to your liking and that you could benefit from my reviews.

Let's get down to business then. A few months ago I placed another small order at Pure Luxe and got myself some more eyeshadows. Half of them I managed to swatch before the truly dull days of winter set in: these are the ones I'll share with you today. The other half: let's do a little dance and pray that the sun comes out of hiding, because I'm not willing to lower my standards and give you desaturated pictures the colors of which are way off.

(In the bottom right corner of every picture there's a wet [top] and a dry [bottom] swatch of the shadow.)


And now, without further ado, I give you...








Asp is more layed-back color, a sort of pinkish gold-beige with multicolor shimmer. Don't let the shimmer part fool you though: it's a perfectly wearable color that any teenage relation of yours will probably leave where it is, not because it's not beautiful, but because the shimmer is very low-key and elegant, and not even visible when you apply it to your lids. It's there, make no mistake, but it's rather something that gives Asp its unique quality and not an in-your-face kind of thing.







Cooler than I expected, Carnivale is a pretty purple with a bit of pink shimmer, and probably not something that will make your heart flutter in your chest every time you look at it. At least I was not impressed. Nonetheless, this is a color I'll reach for time and time again to accentuate the green in my eyes and to create a not-so-ordinary smoky eye.








Oh. My. God.

Now this baby deserves all the praise I can give it. It's a beautiful taupe/dark-beige/mid-brown with gold and pink shimmer, but looking at it from afar it's just an incredibly elegant gold color, the kind I've been dreaming about all my life. What's missing here (I don't miss it at all though) is the slight orange undertone all gold eyeshadows tend to have and that made me give up on ever being able to wear gold.

What an incredible find! If you've been hesitant about wearing gold on your eyelids so far then this sure is a product for you to try.







A very unassuming color at first (and unfortunately the dry swatch came out a bit awkward too), but it really is lovely: it's a greenish grey (or vice versa?) with gold and multicolored shimmer, and it looks lovely on its own or paired with some other greens, like EDM's Cypress or In The Garden.  

Karen Stark, the woman behind Silk Naturals, is unquestionably the Bobbi Brown of the mineral makeup world.

Her creations, no matter how extravagant they are in color, are extremely wearable and universally flattering on all skintones. They look equally good on my mother, who has medium olive skintone, my best friend, whose skin is golden, and me, who has light olive skin with just a hint of beige.

I can't really pick my favorite from the seven glosses I have so far: I like them all with equal fervor, either wearing them on their own or mixing them and creating an endless variety of custom shades. Mixing these and coming up with new colors is especially advised to those who, like me, prefer neutral shades, ones that can be worn all day, everyday, for all occasions. (Sorry, I'm still not brave enough to wear an entire rainbow on my face.) As I'm a teacher and can mostly be found in the offices of various multinational companies during the day, I really have to be careful not to overdo my makeup. Also, I'm planning to acquire a more professional look in 2009, and though these lip glosses are but a minuscule step in that direction, I'm still happy to have them in my arsenal. They're sheer, brown-based (I'm quoting Grayburn here!) and practically melt into the skin on your lips leaving no streaks or buildup in the creases. Also, they're as shiny as a mineral lipgloss can ever be, though if you crave that 1000 Megawatt shine, you should probably stick to regular glosses.

Often when I look at them, I find myself thinking: "This is what lipstick should be like."
I've never much cared for lipstick, as it's usually too pigmented, too artificial, and too dry for my taste. Regular lipgloss is better, but still not perfect: more often than not it's sticky and gooey, dries my lips just as lipstick does, and it's just too glossy to look natural.

Silk Naturals "lipglosses" are, in my opinion, the perfect remedy to my predicament. They're less pigmented than a lipstick but still show up quite nicely on my lips, they aren't as saliva-like (sorry!) than glosses, they give just enough shine as to make my lips look moisturized, and not only do they make them look moisturized but they do actually condition my lips like no other lip product I've ever tried. They're definitely the greatest find of 2008 for me.

Forget my raves about EDM's Cozy Night and my adoration of Alverde's Cool Red lippie. Silk Naturals lipglosses are superior in every way.











The Silk Naturals website describes this as "a shimmery, slightly sheer golden red coral", and that seems a very accurate description to me, but let me just add my own two cents. ;-)

I've never been able to wear bright red colors as I've always felt that they either wash me out or look too bold and "just not me". Well, not this one. For one, it has this magic quality of somehow seamlessly blending into the color of my lips, which makes it look natural even though it is anything but. (I mean, look at that bright color. Whoever was born with lips like that?? Scratch that. Bagaela was, and boy do I envy her... ;-))

For another, the color itself seems to get along with my skintone just fine without the two of them playing power-games and wreaking havoc on my face making me the ultimate loser...
This cheerful color brightens up my complexion, reminding me of warm summer days and geraniums in the window. :)







Right. I ordered this color because I recently noticed that when I mix a peachy-coral shade with a brown one I get a really stunning shade for my lips, and I wanted to have a brown lipcolor in my stash to mix it with a peachy one. Now the peachy one was supposed to be Foreplay, but it turned out that I need something much stronger than that ('Peach Melba' might just do the trick).

Also, I'm not quite sure I got the right color: according to both the official description and the reviews Toffee is supposed to be a tan color with warm peach undertones, but I'm sorry to say that I can't detect any of that in my gloss. Not to mention that this tube is the only one that reeks of wax and oils-gone-bad. Obviously, that yummy vanilla fragrance got left out of it, and I can't really see myself wearing this as it has too unpleasant a smell to be worn around people.

Otherwise it wouldn't be a bad color really: I think I'll use smidgens of it to tone down other colors when I need a really neutral tint on my lips.








By the way, Tender isn't the only gloss that somehow reminds me of EDM's Cozy Night. Sweet Nothing is a perfectly sheer mauve gloss, yet again with a tiny bit of brown in it just to make it all the more wearable. It's the most moisturizing of the seven SN glosses I have; at least it feels the creamiest, which is probably due to its sheerness and how it doesn't contain much pigment. Again, a lovely shade, something you can easily pull off on any occasion. I love it!







Seemed a bit pale for me to consider wearing it, but to Ms Stark's credit I can pull this off without a hitch. It has "a raspberry pink undertone with an overlay of gold" and it's a clone of MAC's Viva Glam V lipstick. The cool berry-pink is nicely complemented by the golden shimmer and yet again, we get a lovely, neutral, wearable color from the mixture of cool and warm ingredients.

PEACE

Izar © 2008

I got this one as a free gift with my order as part of Silk Naturals' Christmas special, and even though it's on the verge of being a bit too pale for me, it makes up for its lack in the wearability department with it's yummy sweet peppermint taste. I've never been a fan of minty lip products (or mint in general), but I think I can see the light now. It feels just a wee bit tingly and cool on my lips while I enjoy the sweetness of the vanilla flavoring. Very cool! ;-)

***

These glosses are too good not be reviewed in 2008 for the sole reason that I want to include them in my Best of 2008 post coming up in January. Credit for the prompt goes to Grayburn, and if you're a (beauty) blogger too, then feel free to write your own post on the Holy Grails and "can't-live-without-it" products of 2008.


Also, check out Grayburn's post on some other SN lippies and another one discussing their foundations.
I wrote about SN's Gold Blush lipgloss and a few of their other products in a previous post.

EDIT (2009/12/30): And here's another review with lots of swatches.
I have a hunch I'll be adding more to the list soon. :)