My Favorite Pink Lipsticks and Glosses

In honor of valentine's day, here are my favorite pink lip products -- including natural and bright pinks. Yesterday I wore MAC Impassioned, the brightest pink I own, and today I wore NYX Tea Rose a softer pink that is still a step up from MLBB.

The lighting is rather bad in the first set and last set of swatches because it was really cloudy yesterday when I was taking the pictures. I tried to adjust the color to make it as accurate as possible.

NYX Tea Rose, NYX Fig, Revlon Pink in the Afternoon, MAC Sweetie, MAC Hue lipsticks

NYX Tea Rose, NYX Fig, Revlon Pink in the Afternoon, MAC Sweetie, MAC Hue lipsticks

Tea Rose is an opaque rosy pink. Fig is nearly the same as Tea Rose but a bit brighter and slightly more coral. Pink in the Afternoon is one of my favorite pinks, a nice neutral pink great for everyday wear. Sweetie is a pinky plum with silvery shimmer/glitter that gives it a slightly frosty finish. Hue is a sheer milky pale pink.

Now onto the in-your-face brights!! :D

Click past the jump to see bright pinks, lip glosses, and me wearing Impassioned!

My Favorite Bright Blushes

Continuing in the bright blush theme for the past week (see my post on applying bright blushes here) today I am showing you all of my (not so many) bright blushes. Blushes and lipsticks are my favorite makeup products but though I have fewer blushes overall I tend to love each of them more than I do my lipsticks or the poor, forgotten eyeshadows.

I only own five BRIGHT blushes (and one of them technically isn't even a blush). I swore I had more until it came time to dig through my stash for this post. Obviously pink pinks are overrepresented out of these five. I really need some red or bright coral blushes!

 

Clockwise, top left: R&R All Nighter, Illamasqua Tweak, NYX Hot Pink, Prestige Love, ELF Pink Passion

 Blush Breakdowns (Favorite to least favorite):

• Rock and Republic All Nighter -- This is a strong red-orange with warm golden shimmer. When applied sheerly it becomes a warm orangey glow. R&R blush formulas are by far my favorite among high end blushes and this one lives up to the standard. It blends beautifully, never feels powdery, and lasts all day (or night!). It is the biggest tragedy that these are discontinued! 
• Illamasqua Tweak -- See my review of this shade here. This is a matte warm watermelon pink that blends sooo smoothly for a matte and becomes a beautiful flush once applied.
• NYX Hot Pink cream blush -- This is a bright, hot, cool-toned pink in a cream formula. I don't like cream blushes because I find them a hassle to apply but these are great for an affordable cream blush at an affordable price. You have to be really careful though because literally the tiniest amount is enough!
• Prestige Love eyeshadow -- So this is techinically an eyeshadow that may be discontinued (?). I use it as a blush though and if you have any favorite pink/coral eyeshadows you can use them for blush as well! This is a bright fuschia pink with a slightly blue duochrome which thankfully doesn't really show up when worn as a blush.
• ELF Pink Passion studio blush -- This pale, cool-pink blush is just okay. While it is pigmented, it applies very chalky and powdery compared to refined mattes like Illamasqua, TheBalm, or NARS. In my opinion there are better blushes out there in the drugstore but some people (including me) just couldn't resist the $3 price tag. 

These are one-swipe swatches in natural/direct sunlight and indirect lighting. 

L-R: R&R All Nighter, Illamasqua Tweak, NYX Hot Pink, Prestige Love, ELF Pink Passion

 Click past the jump to see more swatches!

Illamasqua Tweak Blush Review and Swatches

Illamasqua Tweak is one of my new favorite blushes! It is a bright reddish watermelon pink (or is it? I can never describe colors >.<") that is SO pigmented that I barely dab a stippling brush into the blush with the lightest touch and still have to tap off excess on a tissue. Applied very sparingly it blends with my skin to create a beautiful pink flush.

The formula of Illamasqua blushes is phenomenal and is definitely my favorite along with the sadly discontinued Rock and Republic blushes. This is matte but unlike some mattes (like NARS) I find that this blends really easily into my skin without clumping together where I have dry flakes. It just blends so well with little effort, just the help of my Sonia Kashuk stippling brush.

Tweak is definitely a unique color in my stash and I'm so happy I have it now. I will definitely be trying more Illamasqua blushes next time there's a sale. :) These are currently $24, and exclusively at Sephora (in the US).

Warm lighting: Blended, Swiped once, Built up

Cooler lighting

See how well it swatched? The one swipe swatch is nearly as opaque as the built up swatch. I also blended a teeny tiny bit of the remaining blush on my fingertips on the left so you can see how the color looks blended. Of course if you have a cooler skintone the color will become cooler on you.

 

The color in the pan is STUNNING! It looks different from in my swatch because it becomes warmer on my skintone.

Here it is applied with a Sonia Kashuk stippling brush.

Have you tried Tweak before? What are your favorite Illamasqua blushes?

Rainbow EOTD: Urban Decay Bright Greens

Today's color of the day is green! I almost never wear green eyeshadow even though it's my favorite color, and if I do it's a wimpy almost-neutral like olive so I decided to go all out with a bright green. The colors didn't show up very well on camera, it was even brighter in real life. 

I experimented with the eyeshadow shape to create a sort of reverse cut crease. I packed the matte bright green (UD Chronic) onto my lid, barely blending the edges at all, and then I swept the shimmery lighter blue-green (UD Green Goddess, see swatches below) into the crease. I purposefully didn't blend them together because I wanted there to be a contrast between the two. Overall I thought this was a pretty interesting and successful eyeshadow shape so I'll definitely be trying it in the future! :)

Here you can see the clear distinction between the matte and shimmery shades

Click past the jump to see more photos and swatches of the eyeshadows I used! 

Rainbow EOTDs: NYX Purples

Part two of my rainbow eye looks is PURPLE!! I love the look of purples on brown eyes and I find that it is probably one of the easiest bright colors to wear on the eye. For some reason though I wear purple even less than I wear greens or blues.

In this look I went for a deep blue-purple. The star of the show is NYX Purple eyeshadow (from the trio) which is a stunning purple with a beautiful blue duochrome. I applied it in traditional asian-eyelid fashion, below the "crease," to create a pop of color. This way of wearing brights really makes them more wearable and practical in my experience than pulling the color higher up in the crease.

 

Click past the jump to see more photos, swatches, and products I used!

My Top 5 "Winter" Lippies

Following up on my tips to rocking bright lips post here I wanted to show you some of my favorite winter lip products. Of course what do I really know about the mythical season known as winter? *looks outside window to see 75 degree sunny weather* I'm currently sweating in a tshirt and jeans in LA. But who cares if it looks like it's time to go to the beach, I'm going to be proudly wearing my winter lippies!

So anyways from what I hear, "winter" lip colors traditionally include darker shades such as berries, plums, and reds. Now this sounds excellent to me because I cannot resist a bright/in-your-face lipstick. Most of my favorite winter lipsticks can be worn year round though.

Here are swatches of my favorites. Obviously because I am ridiculously obsessed with red lipstick I just had to include three.

Revlon Fire l/g, MAC Russian Red, Chanel Dragon, Revlon Raspberry Bite, WnW Sugar Plum Fairy

1. Revlon Colorburst Fire lipgloss 
I rarely wear lipglosses but this is a SUPER pigmented bright red gloss that verges into liquid lipstick territory. The pigmentation on this is similar to the Illamasqua intense lipglosses. In one swipe it is full impact red. The lip swatch looks rather odd because of the shininess. 

Revlon ColorBurst Fire lipgloss

Click past the jump to see pics of me wearing the rest of the lipsticks!

MAC Lipstick Formula Comparison, Review, and Swatches

  I wanted to compare different MAC lipstick formulas for you to see the differences in finish, texture, and opacity. I own all the regular formulas except frost (which I hate hate HATE in lipsticks). Though individual shades in each formula may have slightly different qualities, I find that most within each formula are nearly the same.

 

MAC lipstick formulas and my thoughts on each:

• Amplified creme: These are full opacity with a creme finish that tends to dry to a semi-matte finish. Most of these shades are rich and BRIGHT. They last about 5 hours on me and don't dry out my lips. These are MACs best formula. 
• My favorites: Vegas Volt and Impassioned.
• Other popular shades: Girl About Town, Up the Amp, Morange, Blankety (not as bright as the rest)

• Cremesheen: These are medium pigmented with a creamy finish. They can be built up to full opacity. These last about 4 hours on me and don't dry out my lips.
• My favorite: Ever Hip (Limited edition)
• Other popular shades: Creme Cup, Shy Girl, Creme d'Nude

• Glaze: There are only a couple of these and I only own Hue, which seems to be different than the rest. Hue is sheer and though it's supposed to be glossy I find it has a creme finish. It lasts 3 hours and doesn't dry out my lips. Don't like this formula.

• Lustre: These are sheer but can be built up to medium pigmentation. They have a glossy finish. They last about 3-4 hours on me and sadly tend to dry out my lips a bit. I love the finish and the shades though which is why I own so many of these.
• My favorites: See Sheer, Hug Me, Viva Glam Cyndi (LE)
• Other popular shades: Freckletone

• Matte: These are full opacity and matte. More than half of these are reds :) They last about 5-7 hours on me depending on the color. I don't find them too drying for a matte formula, though some are more drying than others. 
• My favorite: Russian Red
• Other popular shades: Ruby Woo, Lady Danger

• Satin: These are full pigmented and only a bit creamier than the Mattes. They start off semi-matte but tend to dry matte. When they dry they also dry out my lips. They last 4-6 hours depending on the shade. Along with glaze, these are my least favorite formula overall, though some shades perform better than others. 
• Other popular shades: Snob, Myth, Rebel

In the swatch pics below I swatched each shade in one layer so you can clearly see how sheer/opaque each formula is.Though I have multiple lipsticks in some formulas, I chose representative shades to give you a general idea of each.

Indirect lighting, 1 coat  L-F: Vegas Volt (Amplified), Ever Hip (Cremesheen), Hue (Glaze), See Sheer (Lustre), Russian Red (Matte), Brave New Bronze (Satin)

Direct sunlight to show the sheen

Overall, I don't think MAC's lipstick formulas are the best. As a whole they are one of the more drying formulas out there. I think people tend to own so many MAC lipsticks mainly because of the relatively affordable price point and the HUGE shade range. 

What are your favorite and least favorite MAC lipstick formulas?

What's in my travel makeup bag?

Or rather, bags. I've been away from my makeup stash for a month and this is what I brought with me. Amazingly, I've discovered that I can survive on less, but lets be real, I can't wait to be reunited with all my makeup pretties on Saturday!

My Harajuku Lovers and LeSportsac makeup bags

 I like the Harajuku lovers bag more because the opening is much larger and allows me to find things much more easily.

Clockwise, top left: Tarte Exposed, MAC MSFN, Milani Luminoso, MUFE Face & Body, Revlon Age Defying Concealer

These are some of my favorite face products, including MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural (which I use as a natural foundation), MUFE Face & Body foundation, Revlon Age Defying Concealer (in two shades which I mix to match my skintone), Tarte Exposed Amazonian Clay blush (my current favorite everyday blush, I can't stop using this!! My old favorite Rock & Republic Call Me is probably crying as I type this), and Milani Luminoso baked blush.
 

For eye products I brought my favorite Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Palette, a freestyle palette I made containing WnW Vanity, Night Elf, Silent Treatment, and Walking on Eggshells palettes, WnW creme liner (which I use for my brows), Clinique gel liner, UDPP, Revlon Colorstay liquid liner, and CG Lashexact waterproof mascara.

Now that I think about it I didn't really need to bring my homemade WnW eyeshadow palette, Comfort Zone was more than enough.

L-R: WnW Stoplight Red, MAC Jubilee, MAC See Sheer, MAC VG Cyndi, Chanel Dragon, Chanel Mademoiselle, Revlon Coral, Revlon Raspberry Bite, and Revlon Nude Lustre lipgloss.

And of course, where I always go overboard, lipsticks!!

The only ones I didn't use were the two Revlon lipsticks so I'd say I brought just enough lippies. I love the holidays because they're such a great excuse for wearing red lipstick ;) So many pretties!!

Revlon Nude Lustre, MAC Jubilee, Chanel Mademoiselle, MAC See Sheer, MAC VG Cyndi, Revlon Coral, WnW Stoplight Red, Chanel Dragon, Revlon Raspberry lipstick swatches

Thanks for looking!

Did I go overboard? What makeup do you bring when you travel?

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