Category Archives: Reviews
Urban Decay Naked Cherry Lipsticks (Review & Swatches)
While I’m unfortunately making you wait on my Urban Decay Naked Cherry palette review (sorry! Give me another week or so!), I can still give you a review on the lipsticks that launched with that collection. Say hello to the Urban Decay Naked Cherry lipsticks! These are brand new shades from their recent launch, but in their usual Vice formula and (specialized) packaging.
With the Naked Cherry launch, Urban Decay put out three shades for “lips like cherry wine”. While I agree that it applies to one of the shades, the description is a little bit suspect for the pink and more nude shades. It must be said that Urban Decay‘s interpretation of the colour “cherry” is very, very different than mine and it’s hard to remove myself from that. When I think of cherries, I think of deep red ones, bright red ones, and heck, even white cherries. What I don’t envision is mostly pink (which is one of the problems I have with the palette). I feel like Urban Decay tried to take a cool concept (cherries) and mash it up with their Naked range and it has mostly left me feeling confused.
Moving away from my feelings on the bizarreness of the Naked Cherry idea, let’s talk more about the lipsticks in depth. Urban Decay‘s Vice range is phenomenal – smooth. creamy, colourful, comfortable and easy to wear. The three shades in this collection are metallized (Juicy & Devilish) and cream (Cherry).
- Juicy: a light peach-pink with copper micro-shimmer (I actually see pink micro-shimmer but you get the idea)
- Devilish: a berry pink with tonal micro-shimmer (I have NO idea what tonal micro-shimmer is, but I see hot pink shimmer)
- Cherry: a deep berry wine (yep, bang on!)
Juicy is definitely the most “wearable” and nude of the bunch. But don’t let my face shot fool you – this lipstick is jam packed with shimmer and glitter and it is definitely noticeable once you get a bit closer up. I found that the lipstick predominantly wore away after a few hours and I was left with only glitter on my lips. The glitter isn’t gritty, but it definitely has more staying power than the actual lipstick (I’d classify the lipstick base as semi-sheer).
Devilish (oh how I wish this was RED!) is a medium pink with similar glitter particles as Juicy. Same thing here – the lipstick disappears over time and you’re left with glitter particles left behind.
Cherry is really heckin’ pretty. It’s a cream finish, which makes me a bit nervous in a colour like this, so I always made sure to pair it with a lip primer and a lip liner to ensure no bleed out. It lasted well through a drink at an event I went to, but since it is a cream formula with quite a high shine finish, you will need to retouch it every few hours.
Final Thoughts
Look, I love Urban Decay and I think the concept of the Naked Cherry lipsticks is a nice match for the shades in their palette (and I’m a huge fan of their Vice range) but I think these lipsticks are not really up my alley. The metallized formula is just so glittery! Which is not something I really want on my lips. And I don’t love how the lipstick itself dissipates but the glitter is left behind. As for the cream formula… there’s no denying how pretty that shade is – it wore well and didn’t move around, but I am PARANOID while wearing a dark lip that is creamy with a shiny finish. If you can get over the paranoia of always checking your teeth for lipstick or don’t have to worry about lipline bleedout, then this is a good pick for you since the formula is super comfortable to wear.
I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with these lip products, but for ME… this just isn’t something I gravitate to at all. If they took the glitter out of the metallized lipsticks and made the Cherry shade a matte then my life would have been made. Regardless of my thoughts, I hope this has helped you in some capacity. I do highly recommend the Vice lipsticks overall though – they’re unscented and super comfortable on the lips!
The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.
Holiday 2018: Too Faced The Sweet Smell of Christmas Melted Mattes (Review & Swatches)
When I saw that Too Faced was releasing this set for Christmas I just about popped out of my seat in excitement. I’ve been in love with their previous holiday Melted releases since they first launched Melted Candy Cane in 2016(which really needs to make a re-appearance – that shade is phenomenal). 2017 gave us the goodness of Melted Gingerbread Man. And this year? Well not only did we get Melted Gingerbread Girl (and a re-release of Gingerbread Man), but we also got FOUR BRAND NEW SHADES in The Sweet Smell of Christmas set!
What excited me about this set was not only the fact that each of them has a different scent, but they’re also mini sizes. I’m swimming in lipstick at this point in my life – if I never bought another lipstick I would probably still be unable to use up everything I own even if I lived to the age of 100. I am so very much HERE for mini sizes and I wish brands would release them on the regular, and not just for the holiday season.
For comparison’s sake, the mini version contains 3 mls of product versus the 7 mls you get in the full size product. Price-wise though? A full size Melted Matte will set you back $25 CAD/$21 USD, but this entire set costs $32 CAD/$21 USD which means you’re getting more bang for your buck by a significant chunk (the mini set is priced at $2.66 CAD per ml, whereas the full size works out to $3.5 CAD per ml). Not only is it a better value, but you’re also getting a lot more shades. I can’t tell you how much of a WIN that is for me. More value, more colours, and they’re all individually scented? In my book, you CANNOT go wrong with that!
The shades are scented how they’re named, which makes them all the more enticing since their scent profiles are right up my alley. And the scents are BANG ON, by the way – they smell EXACTLY like the product they’re emulating!
As to be expected with the Melted Matte range, the pigmentation is exceptional and none of them were weak whatsoever. You’ll get full, opaque coverage in one stroke.
Of the four in this set, Pumpkin Spice was my favourite colour on me. It’s a brown-peach with a hint of orange in it. The subdued orange aspect of it makes it easier to wear for a lot of people.
Sugar Cookie surprised me so much! I’ve fallen out of the habit of wearing nudes because I generally opt for something a bit more interesting, but I really loved how this one looked on me. It’s a great nude without looking like I’ve applied concealer to my lips because it has a hint of beige/brown in it.
Cinnamon Bear is your standard Christmas shade – a blue-based red with a rich appearance. I was surprised at how well this one held up on my lips without lip primer. I had no lip line bleed out and very little gathering on the inner corners of my lips.
Hot Buttered Rum is more of a brown with peach which isn’t necessarily my kind of shade, but this one smelled the BEST to me. I could barely contain myself from sniffing my tube of it all day at work. It smells so frigging delicious and it’s making me want to try hot buttered rum this holiday season!
Final Thoughts
I’ve documented my feelings towards the Too Faced Melted Matte formula in this post from 2016, and my thoughts have remained pretty consistent since they launched them (over various different shades I’ve tried in the same range). Overall I feel that the texture is fairly dry (but not drying on the lips) and I get a bit of gathering on the inner corners of my mouth. I also feel like the longevity is quite good, although not the longest wearing I’ve tried. All around, it’s a good liquid lipstick, although it’s not my absolute favourite on the market. BUT, what stands apart for me with Too Faced‘s Melted Matte range is that they make dynamic and different colours, AND imbue them with a delicious scent. So while the formula is not my hands down favourite, it really doesn’t matter because I reach for these time and time again.
What was interesting about this particular set though… was that I felt like the formula was actually better on these. I have no reason to believe that Too Faced has changed their Melted Matte formula, but overall I found that these minis lasted longer on lips and were more comfortable in the long run. This set is an enormous winner for me, and I’d encourage you pick it up if you were at all interested in it!
The Sweet Smell of Christmas Mini Melted Matte set by Too Faced can be purchased at sephora.ca for $32 CAD or onsephora.com for$21 USD.
Post contains affiliate links.
Revlon Super Lustrous Matte Lipsticks (Review & Swatches)
Revlon‘s Super Lustrous lipsticks are a main stay at the drugstore and in my collection, so I’m always happy to try out new finishes within that range. I’ve fallen particularly in love with their Super Lustrous Cream formula (Fire and Ice NEVER gets old!), so I was super excited to try out the newer Super Lustrous Matte formula as well.
Housed in the traditional Super Lustrous black tube with gold rim, the matte version has a slightly more matte outer packaging. The other change is that there’s no see-through top to show what the colour is on the inside – which was handy… but honestly the bottom sticker does a fairly good job of telling you what the shade is anyway.
While Revlon definitely has plenty of nudes to choose from, I’ve been trying out some of their more exciting shades – colours that are definitely more up my alley than a nude!
By the way, if you’ve been wondering what that black blob has been in the background of these photos… well, it’s Nemo! He looked comfy on the sofa so I didn’t shoo him away. 🙂
Swatched out you can see how intense the pigment is on the Super Lustrous Matte Lipsticks… except for Power Move. The texture on Power Move was completely different from So Lit and Femme Future Pink. It was more of a cream finish with a lot more slip which unfortunately causes some patchiness in the product. The other two though? Holy cow are they ever smooth with solid opacity!
So Lit is a shade that is very much ME. It’s a strong orange with a faint hint of red. The colour on this one was unreal – full pigment and very comfortable to wear. Lasting power was well over 5 hours.
Femme Future Pink is a beautiful bright medium pink-leaning-fuchsia. Pink lips are not usually for me, but this one has enough neon in it to make it interesting to wear. Staying power was exactly the same as So Lit.
Sadly, Power Move was the oddball in the bunch. This lipstick wore more like a cream finish which meant that it had a lot of slip. The cream texture combined with the dark shade made it a bit of a nightmare to wear – it moved around a LOT, and I found it gathered at the corners of my mouth. I also found that it separated a little bit on my top lip, just under where my lip starts to curve in towards my mouth. It wasn’t a pretty look. 🙁
Final Thoughts
Although Power Move gets a total pass from me, So Lit and Femme Future Pink are huge winners. The colours and textures on those two are absolutely wonderful. They don’t feel thick or heavy like the mattes from the olden days – these are smoother and more buttery. They wore down nicely and didn’t gather at the corners of my mouth. They were also still incredibly comfortable to wear past the five hour mark. I don’t really understand what went wrong with Power Move, but the other two are definitely worth getting!
Oh! And they’re unscented too, which is FANTASTIC. I love scented products, but I’d rather have no scent in a lipstick than a nasty one, which is sometimes an issue at the drugstore. Revlon has never had a scent on their Super Lustrous lipsticks (in my makeup wearing years anyway), and I’m glad they’re continuing that trend.
The Revlon Super Lustrous Matte Lipsticks can be purchased on shoppersdrugmart.com for $9.99 CAD.
The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.
Holiday 2018: Too Faced Melted Matte in Gingerbread Girl (Review & Swatches)
It’s that time of the year! While I’m still gearing up for Halloween on a mental level, I’m FULLY INTO all the Holiday and Christmas makeup launches that are happening around me right now. And we all know I’m suckered in by Too Faced every time, and this year is definitely no exception!
Last year I fell madly in love with Too Faced‘s Melted Matte in Gingerbread Man – a limited edition, just out for the holidays lip shade that screamed gingerbread-y goodness and smelled like sugar and sweetness. Heck, I even pulled it out last month and started wearing it because I was so excited for the holiday makeup season to launch. So imagine my surprise when Too Faced announced that not only was Gingerbread Man coming back, but he was also getting a girlfriend too!
So say hello to Gingerbread Girl Melted Matte – Too Faced‘s latest scented lip product that’s got me super excited. Gingerbread Girl smells just like Gingerbread Man – which is to say creamy, sugary, slightly chocolatey… and not really scented like gingerbread. It’s one of the most intoxicating scents that Too Faced makes in my opinion – it’s so frigging delicious!
I have a full breakdown on how I feel about the Melted Matte formula in this post from 2016, which you may want to read as this post focuses primarily on the colour and comparison to the previous year’s limited edition Melted Matte. My thoughts and opinions on the formula are still the same, as I feel the product is consistent across the board!
I was eager to see how Gingerbread Girl would compare to Gingerbread Man, and was so surprised to see that Gingerbread Girl was the darker shade! For some reason I thought they’d make it paler and more pink-toned, but it’s definitely a deeper, richer red-brown. Although, funnily enough, it looks like someone could’ve swapped the caps on the two shades since they match the product in the opposite tube more closely!
The shades swatched out are bang on what you see in the tube. Gingerbread Girl is red-brown, and Gingerbread Man is more of an orange-based brown.
And… wow. I wasn’t expecting to like Gingerbread Girl this much. I already knew I loved Gingerbread Man because the colour is right up my alley and perfect for autumn… so I wasn’t expecting to fall heads over heels for the slightly darker version! Honestly, I don’t think I could pick between the two shades if I had to… they’re both wonderful! I like that they kept the theme of gingerbread, but made them not too similar either. Well done Too Faced, well done. 🙂
Gingerbread Girl is a little bit hard to get your hands on at the moment because demand is VERY high, but if you’re Canadian you can pick her up at sephora.ca for $25 CAD. If you’re in the USA, you can get Gingerbread Girl at ulta.com for $21 USD.
The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.