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)  

Fan and I have been writing each other for a while and promised gifts for the other's birthday. I had mine last Friday, so yesterday I got to be the ecstatic recipient of a lovely package from Belgium full of goodies. :-)

This is the third package I got from Fan (here are the first and second), and as usual its contents blew me away.




What I got:

• A letter. A heartfelt, beautiful, handwritten letter. You don't get those very often now, do you? And it's a shame too, because while e-mails are great, there's just something about handwritten letters that adds a whole new level of "awesome" to one's life.
  
  
• A Stila Lip Glaze in Mandarin Mist
  
  Stila is not available in Hungary (does it even surprise anyone at all anymore...?), so you can imagine how excited I was to find this among my gifts. And you can probably also guess how difficult it is for me not to tell you all about it right now, but I'm planning to dedicate an entire post to each item I got, so you'll have to bear with me a little longer.
  
  
• A blush by HEMA
  
  Fan has already written a post about it, so if you're really curious (which you should be), then you can read about this product here. For now, let it be enough that it's every bit as great as Fan said it would be. :-)
  
  
• A Labello lip balm with star fruit and dragon fruit extracts
  
  I'm risking a lot here when I tell you that my first reaction was: "Ooookay...Labello. Right." Cause we kinda have it in Hungary, and I've had some not-so-pleasant experiences with the brand about five (or more) years ago.
  
  Let me just quickly make amends for my cheek before Fan gets really angry with me and tell you that she knows her stuff when it comes to cosmetics and that this Labello is not the Labello of five years ago. In fact, this stuff is so good that after only two days of using it continuously (yeah, I kinda couldn't get enough of that juicy scent) I can wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who's looking for a good, reliable lip-balm for the summer. (There's added SPF, baby. )
  
  So please Fan, don't hate me for my initial reaction: I've been keeping your name in my prayers ever since I tried this balm. *hug*
  
  
• A lovely necklace with a gorgeous blue crystal surrounded by silvery stars that twinkle with each tiny little movement I make. To me, it symbolizes my love of stars, of endless space, and a literary genre that strives to wrap up the infinite and hand it to us on a silvery plasteel plate: science-fiction.
  
  
• Some nice sheets of paper I can use to try my hands at origami. I should probably start with something easy and not be crazy enough to attempt the Kawasaki Rose, but then again, that Rose smells like a challenge. ^_^

Don't you fret for a minute over the brevity of this post: I'm planning to spend this week and the next with telling you about each of Fan's gifts in a separate post. ;-) There's going to be pictures, lots of details, ingredients lists and all sorts of other juicy stuff to keep you entertained. ^_^

No, I haven't forgotten. Like I ever could. :-)


You've truly made my birthday a special time of year with your letter, your thoughtful (and perfect) gifts and with just being my friend. *hug*