All posts by Chelle
Maybelline Color Jolts (Review & Swatches)
Released just this past summer, Maybelline‘s Color Jolt Intense Lip Paints feel like the brand’s answer to everyone else’s liquid lipstick/gloss hybrids (sometimes called matte glosses by other brands… WHICH IS NOT A THING OKAY – you cannot be matte and glossy at the same time!).
Lip paint is definitely the best wording for these little guys – they deposit one heck of a lot of colour in a thick almost gel-like formula. They’re a bit thicker than the Too Faced Melteds, in case you’re familiar with that formula. (I’m going to be doing a lot of comparisons to the Too Faced Melteds because the products are very, very similar.)
Like the Melteds, the Maybelline Color Jolts have a flocked applicator that is slightly narrower than their counterparts. The product comes out of the center of the applicator via the squeezy tube. Due to the nature of the small applicator, it’s really, REALLY easy to get a precise tip (easier than the Melteds). While they have a watermelon scent when they come out of the tube, I can assure you that this goes away. I, for one, am totally grossed out by the scent of fake watermelon and yet I was able to wear these for several hours without issue because the scent dissipated very quickly. (What a relief!)
What’s a review without pointing out some of the negatives however? (An ad, that’s what.) The Color Jolts are only really half full in the tube. I was surprised when I went to go apply Never Bare (the one above) and discovered that I had to squeeze halfway down the tube before I got any product out of the tip.
- A Maybelline Color Jolt retails for $9.99 USD and contains 6.4ml.
- A Too Faced Melted retails for $21 USD and contains 12ml.
If you look at those two, you can see that the cost of a Color Jolt is on par with the cost of a Too Faced Melted which is a bit ridiculous since Maybelline is drugstore and Too Faced is high end. Sure, you’re not shelling out more than $20 for a tube if you buy the Color Jolt, but you’re also not getting as much product either. (This only matters to some people – since very few of us actually finish up a lip product like this.) It just seemed weird for Maybelline to chintz on the amount of product you’re getting.
With the size discussion out of the way, let’s take a look at the colours! All three colours were opaque in one swipe. The colours are solid and beautiful. You’ll notice they have a sheen which does stay on the lips for quite some time, so these won’t dry down to a matte or satin finish.
Final Thoughts
Although the volume of the product is really, really weird given the price point, I do enjoy the Color Jolts immensely. I like how true and opaque the colours are. I like that the scent goes away so I don’t have to worry about a taste on my lips. I did find the colour faded a bit within two-three hours, but that’s not unexpected for something with such a glossy texture (re-application and layering were not a problem either). I also found that the product didn’t gather in the outer corners of my mouth which is something I’m exceptionally prone to (even with the Melteds).
Since the texture is a bit thicker than your average lip product, I was never concerned about these travelling or moving around on my lips and I’m really impressed that I can say that given that a glossy red lip is probably one of the most terrifying things you can wear in public! And although I’ve said the texture is thicker than normal, these are not uncomfortable to wear on the lips! I’d love to see them release more shades in this formula since they currently only have 8 shades and most of them skew quite bright which could turn a few people off.
Let me know if you’re interested in the Maybelline Color Jolts, or if you’ve already tried them out!
The Maybelline Color Jolts can be purchased on ulta.com for $9.99 USD each.
VIDEO: How I Did My Makeup In High School
I did also do this as a post over two years ago and it has a few more looks in there if you want to check it out!
Quo Fall 2016 Collection (Review + Swatches)
The weather is finally cooling down in Toronto (well, it WAS… today it’s like 30°C again – UGH!), and I am sooo happy that I can start talking about new fall launches. Nothing makes me happier than the cool autumn air mixed with the scent of dying leaves (well that came out weirder than I expected, but you know what I mean!).
Quo has launched their most recent seasonal collection to help get you in the mood for the cooler season and I’m allll about that life.
They’ve released three new eyeshadow palettes, and I have the one called Plum Perfect ($18 CAD). I was pretty damn happy when I saw this palette because I was a little bit worried this would be yet another neutral palette. But I can happily report that although there are neutral shades in there, there’s also some gorgeous purples and a mid-tone red/pink that I am absolutely adoring.
Even better is that this palette swatches and wears incredibly well. Quo‘s eyeshadows can be hit and miss for me so I’m never sure what kind of quality I’m going to be getting. This Plum Perfect palette definitely gets the thumbs up from me though!
With every Quo launch, the item I get the most excited about is their face palettes. I’ve never found a dud amongst these palettes! The colours always work really, really well for me and I love the layout and size of the pans. This Sweet Illusion Face Palette ($20 CAD) has a more coral toned blush as well as a bronzer and a highlighter.
The blush shade is the kind of shade that makes me giddy with excitement. I do think it’s a weird pick for fall, but hey, not everything can be vampy deep cheeks! The bronzer is warm, but not too much so and works well on my (roughly) NC/NW20 skin. The highlighter isn’t overly reflective, so if you just want a bit of a highlight, this is a good option.
They re-release this brow palette ($12 CAD) with every season and they just don’t work for me due to the colouring. Here’s a look at my swatches of it from an older collection:
And lastly, I’ve got the limited edition matte lipstick in Mysterious ($14 CAD).
Looking to get into deeper, darker lips for fall? Look no further than this beautiful shade. Since it’s a matte, I did find the formula was a little bit stiff to apply, but the colour payoff was so, so worth it! It also has a lovely vanilla scent.
I decided to go all out with the deeper plums and red tones for my look. I wasn’t sure how the coral cheeks would work with this look, but in the end I feel like the lipstick shade ended up affecting how the cheeks looked so it really tied everything together.
The blush is definitely quite pigmented, so go easy if you don’t want a lot of colour. the bronzer and highlighter are quite subtle, which works for us faired-toned folk as we lose our summer tans.
For the eyes, I used the mid-tone pink/red on the upper crease, the silvery-purple on the lid and the deeper purple on the outer half of the lid. Everything blended well together and I had no issues with pigmentation. All these shots were taken roughly 6 hours after application so you can see that everything has held in place and stayed quite pigmented!
I was really happy with how this collection played out on my face. Let me know if you’re into this new fall release by Quo, or if you’re lamenting the end of summer! 😉
The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.
Swatch Sunday: Too Faced x NikkieTutorials The Power of Makeup
Too Faced recently launched their collaboration with YouTuber makeup artist NikkieTutorials (she’s not just a YouTuber, she’s also quite an accomplished MUA!). The palette is inspired by Nikkie’s viral video “The Power of Makeup” which has an insane 32 million views!
As I’m a rabid Too Faced fan as well as a frequent viewer of Nikkie’s videos, I wanted to pick up this palette to support both her and the brand. Sadly, I did not find that the quality of these shadows were up to Too Faced’s usual standards so I’m feeling a bit deflated by this palette (this swatch fine, but application to my eyes was not great). Read on for swatches!
Too Faced x NikkieTutorials – The Power of Makeup Swatches
The Too Faced x NikkieTutorials – The Power of Makeup set (there’s also a purple mascara, a glitter, a black Sketch Marker and a mini Shadow Insurance) can be purchased on sephora.ca for $68 CAD and on sephora.com for $56 USD.