A Switch to the Dark Side

By the time mid-August rolls around I'm ready to ditch my bright lipsticks and begin to embody my witchy self and head for the dark side. It might be a bit soon to some but to me, fall is the time I get to dress the most "me" so I'm going to wear dark lips and combat boots as soon as possible. Some may call me gothic, some ask me if I am a witch, but in reality I just love a dark lip against my complexion (and also I want to be a witch). 

They're all MAC save for one, and no one is surprised. When I go dark I pretty much go matte and because of this, I lean toward MAC. In my opinion they make the creamiest, most pigmented, and longest wearing while still comfortable mattes. Yes, they dry your lips out after wearing them the entire day, but I accept that when I get a beautiful, long wearing, lip color. I also have one Lorac Pro color in one of my favorite non-matte lipstick formulations.

From left to right I have MAC Lingering Kiss, MAC Instigator, MAC Media, Lorac Pro Dominatrix, MAC Diva, and MAC Sin. Do the first two make me look goth? Yep. Do the last four look too much alike to justify owning them all? Probably. Do I regret any of them? NOPE. I love wearing dark lips daily in the fall through the winter so I love having all of these options. 

Lingering Kiss is darkened burgundy red color that is absolutely striking and unique. It's a matte formula and a new purchase for me as it was just released with the MAC A Novel Romance Collection. If you see it and like a dramatic lip like I do, get it. You won't regret it.

Instigator is ugh, my best purchase last winter. It's a dark matte purple/burgundy. It's much more purple than the rest of these and inspires the most questions of my witch status. Am I a practicing witch? Only in my dreams. But this is as close as I get to living my fantasy.

Media looks darker in the tube than it really is. Yes guys, to me, this isn't that dark. It's another dark burgundy matte color but when paired with a burgundy lip liner it's absolutely perfect for fall. It's permanent but a must buy to me.

Dominatrix by Lorac Pro is the least matte of all of these, giving off a slight sheen. I don't love this aspect but it is nice to have a not so drying option for a super dark lip. It's still not shiny or anything crazy. The pigmentation is excellent and the formula is creamy and easy to apply. 

Diva is an all time favorite and the nub of lipstick in this color that I have left proves it. It's a beautiful dark matte, burgundy red. I used this all last fall and winter because it was the only matte color I had in this kind of hue. Thus, all these other purchases.

Sin is very similar to Diva in color and texture. It has a hint more purple than Diva and for that I figured it was worth picking up this special edition gem. Let's be real, you put a MAC matte lipstick in front of me then tell me it's going to disappear soon, I'm going to get it and love it. 

Do you feel comfortable wearing a dark lip? Every time I do I get comments, whether positive or negative I decided a long time ago to do what I want and not care what anyone thinks.  

The Color of my Summer: Hot Pink

Summer 2014: The summer of hot pink, at least for this girl. Last summer I was obsessed with orange toned hues for my lips and cheeks, and I do still love a great orange-red lip, but this summer my favorite tone has been a bright, almost neon, fuschia-pink hybrid. It's brightening, flattering, and always makes me feel a little bit less dead at 7 am when I leave for work. I've found products for my nails, lips, and cheeks in this color and I figured I would share my newest obsession.

First on the docket, one of the only lip glosses I'll use. This is the Revlon Lip Gloss in Pink Pop, and it's actually not a recent purchase. I've re-discovered this beauty from when I picked it up at my homeland of Target a year or so ago. It's glossy, a little sticky, and has a good color payoff, especially for a drugstore gloss. All in all, I would say it's worth a try.

Ahh, the lipstick that sparked the movement, Lorac's Highly Pigmented Cream Lipstick in Vixen. This is a matte, bright fuschia pink that goes on easy and stays on forever. I love this formulation but unfortunately the other colors seem to come off as dull and a little boring. Maybe that's just me though. Overall this is a must have lipstick for me and I've used it a bunch this summer.

Another oldie but goodie, this is Maybelline's Vivid Lipstick in Fuchsia Flash. This color is insanely bright and beautiful. My only problems with it are the smell, that awful Maybelline cheap makeup smell, and also the fact that it's not matte. For brights like this I prefer them to be matte but I usually dab this in after I apply and wear it that way. It gives a nice stain afterwards and I often get compliments on it. If you're looking for a drugstore option, I would give this a try. 

Oh yes, I bought another bright pink lipstick. And this one, is my favorite. Thanks to the beautiful program that is Back2Mac (6 empty products for a lipstick or eyeshadow), I didn't even have to pay for my new favorite lipstick. This is MAC's Pink Pigeon. This was special edition a while ago and I remember being mad that I missed it, but back then I was scared of lipstick and just oogled them from a far. But it was recently re-promoted and released permanently so I'll never be without this gorgeous, matte, bright pink lipstick ever again.

Yes, I did include non-lip products. This is MAC's Beauty Powder Blush in Bred for Beauty. It came out with the Moody Bloom collection so it may be hard to get ahold of, but if you can, do it. It's a bright, reddish pink that comes off on the cheeks as a great natural flush and pairs well with all of the lip products I talked about earlier in the post. I highly recommend it.

My last addition to my bright pink collection is an overpriced but beautiful nail polish by Nails inc. in Sloane Street.It's the same bright pink hue in an acceptable, standard formula. The reason I say it's overpriced is that it does take a few coats and it is a dollar more than an Essie and has less product. However,  when I bought this at Ulta I spent a good 15 minutes taking it around with me and comparing it to all other nail polishes from every brand I could find and I couldn't find another exact dupe. So I bought it, and it's gorgeous.

Here are the lipsticks and blush swatched, starting from left to right it is MAC's blush in Bred for Beauty, the Revlon lipgloss, the Lorac Pro lipstick, the Maybelline Vivid lipstick, and my all time favorite, the MAC lipstick.

What is your favorite color to don this summer? Do you like pink or are you more prone to corals or orange? 

Until next time!

December 2013 Favorites

I'm addicted to watching other bloggers/vloggers describe their monthly favorites. I think that it's an excellent view into what my favorite beauty "gurus" are using at the moment and it's one of the main places I get recommendations from when I go on Ulta and Sephora buying sprees. Also I mean come on, we all like to snoop at each other's makeup collections. We're only human. So these are my December Favorites!

First off, the C.Booth Egyptian Argan Oil Body Butter. Holy grail product alert! My best gal Leanne bought this for me for Christmas and I'm pretty sure it's going to be in my bathroom for the rest of my life. It's super thick, moisturizing, and quick to soak into the skin. I have very dry skin in the winter and this has been an absolute lifesaver. Plus, it's not too expensive. All in all, I recommend it to anyone who has dry skin. It can be bought at Ulta!

Next, the Naked 3 Palette. Refer to my full review if you want to hear me go on and on about this new favorite item in my collection. It's just repetitive to talk about it more. Just. Yes.

Benefit's Rockateur Blush is my perfect bronzy, glowy, everyday blush. I'm obsessed with wearing it on days I want to liven up my skin. It pairs very well with just about any and every dark lipstick that I throw on my lips. I highly recommend it.

MAC's Warm Soul blush does a lot of what Rockateur does but it is slightly less warm and less shimmery. It has a more plum undertone when paired with certain lipsticks. It definitely still gives a glowing look just not as obvious and is another great blush for winter. Or anytime, let's be real it's an all time favorite.

Rimmel's Lasting Finish lipstick in 10 from the Kate Moss Collection is a newer favorite. It was my go-to red for Christmas. It's just the perfect bright cherry red with a relatively matte finish and is incredibly long lasting for the price.

MAC's lipstick in Diva was my go to shade this December. It's a great dark reddish burgundy matte that I can alter with either a red lip liner or a plum one. I have featured it in face of the day posts before and I'm sure it will pop up again. 

With Diva I loved MAC's lip liner in Currant. I used it with all my dark plum lipsticks and all I can say is that it adds a little something extra to all of them. It adds a lot of wear time like all of MAC's lip liners and I have just really been enjoying it.

Lastly I loved Tarte's Lights, Cameras, Flashes! mascara this month. It was a new purchase and it took me a while to figure out how to use it correctly but there's nothing that has both worked this well on my lashes to lengthen and volumize without irritating my eyes. I'm already planning to repurchase it. 

So those are my December favorites! If you want me to continue doing this monthly or every once in a while then please let me know. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope your New Year has started off well. Until next time!

RiRi Dupe Alert?

My only excuse for being gone so long is that senior year is a mixture of the best and most fun time in my life and also the most stressful. My week day trips to the bar are intermixed with days on end of hunkering down in the library basement stacks looking through old Life magazines. If you've been through it you will understand. If not, you will in due time.

Anyway, back to the purpose of this blog post. This fall I have become utterly OBSESSED with dark berry lip colors. It's actually a little bit weird and unhealthy. My debit card is sad but my lipstick collection has never been happier. My favorite has been RiRi Heaux from Mac, which was limited edition. I went on the hunt to find a dupe because this retro matte formula wears down even quicker than most so I've already used a quarter of my tube. 

I have always stared at the Rimmel Kate Moss collection lipsticks but never took the plunge. If you have read my review on the Rimmel Show Off Lip Lacquers you know my hatred for the smell/taste of most Rimmel lip products. However, a good matte dupe is hard to come by so when I found this little baby I had to do it. The possible dupe is the Lasting Finish by Kate lipstick in 107 Rosetto Rouge.

Here are my little babes swatched side by side

It's actually hard to tell which is which but the Mac is on the left and the rimmel is on the right. Now, as far as color goes these are pretty similar. Mac's Riri Heaux is actually a little deeper and richer. The finish is also MUCH more matte and therefore I prefer it. I generally enjoy my lips to look as if I colored them in with a Crayola crayon. The Rimmel gives more of the finish of a Rose Art crayon, so it's a little waxier, a little less color payoff, and much less satisfying.

The Rimmel also has the semi-gross taste of most Rimmel lip products. The lasting power is almost as good as the Mac though, which is a strong feat considering it is about 5 dollars and the Mac version was 15.

All in all I would say this is a respectable dupe. I still prefer my RiRi Heaux but considering how hard it is to get my hands on a second tube I will settle for the Rimmel most days so as to not use my holy grail berry red up in the first season I have it.

I hope to post again soon! Thanks for sticking with me fellow beauty whores. :)

My Top Summer Lip Colors!

Warning: if you don't like bright or matte lip colors I would walk away now. Or click away. Whatever. Alls I'm saying is, bright orange lips straight ahead.

Anywho, if you read the title you know this will be a list and swatchfest of my top summer lip colors. The majority of them are orange toned because I have convinced myself that they are the most flattering on my slightly warm toned pale skin. I apologize for my obsession with them but I am what I am. So here we go!

This little beauty is Mac's Vegas Volt lipstick. It's my second favorite finish, Amplified, and it's a gorgeous true coral color. Over a year ago, right as I boarded the lipstick obsession train, I was furiously googling for the perfect coral lipstick. I came across a review for this little gem and immediately placed an order on Mac's website. I put it on once and was sold. It's a gorgeous coral color that strikes the perfect balance between orange and pink. It's great for my pale skin that has a lot of peach undertones and I imagine that it would work on just about every skin tone since it is so balanced. It's honestly gorgeous and I find myself wearing it almost too often. I think it makes my other lipsticks jealous.

 

This lipstick is not for the feint of heart. It's Mac's Sounds like Noise and it is everything. Let me explain. This is the lipstick from the Hayley Williams for Mac collection that released in April. With that release my world was made. I'm not even being dramatic. Okay maybe I am but oh well. I'm a little too obsessed with Hayley Williams, I mean who isn't? I would love to be a badass rocker chick who can headbang and sing perfectly on pitch at the same time. When I found out about this release I had a conniption/heart attack combo. The only thing that I found incredibly necessary to purchase was this lipstick. With that incredibly long and unnecessary backstory out of the way, I can talk about the lipstick. It's a bright orange matte color that to me is perfect for summer. It's creamy and applies evenly while incredibly matte. If you're not really into orange toned things on your face run in the opposite direction of this because it's true to the color that it is in the tube. The only place you may be able to get your hands on this is Amazon or blog sales since it's sold out on the Mac website but if you're into oranges and you find it I say grab it. It's wonderful. 

Now guys, I debated on showing this one. But I had to stay true to what I really love for summer. The reason I struggled with adding this baby is because while it may be my all time favorite lipstick it's also discontinued. Long discontinued. It's Revlon's Strawberry Suede. But! You can still usually find a tube of it on Amazon or some other semi shady website that we beauty junkies find on our hunt for discontinued items that we have convinced ourselves that we need. I found out about this beauty from Estee of Essiebutton. She raved about it and I immediately searched for it online and found it on Amazon. I paid over what the original price even was but I got it and I haven't regretted it, even for a minute. This is a gorgeous bright, almost neon. coral. It has a lot of red in it which is why I love it. The formula for Revlon mattes is one of my favorites. They apply creamy and almost completely matte. They do dry out the lips but I expect that from matte lipsticks. Comparatively these aren't bad at all. All in all this lipstick is just perfect for summer and honestly, I've been known to rock it all year round.

You may think I'm crazy because yes, this is a strikingly similar color to Strawberry Suede. But alas, that's one of the reasons why I love it. This is Mac's Lady Danger. It's also a matte formula and it's my perfect summer red. It is a bright, orange red hue that immediately brightens up my complexion. I talked about it in my most recent face of the day post, which you should check out if you haven't already. I don't have much to say about this other than it's kind of perfect and if you're looking for a close dupe to Strawberry Suede this is pretty similar. I consider them pretty different but side by side there is minimal difference. I'm just obsessed with this kind of color so I hoard them like those people on Buried Alive hoard newspapers and cats.

This is my final orange lip color for this post, I PROMISE. Revlon lip butters are kind of perfect for summer, even for girls like me who usually rock a completely matte lip. I hate glosses so this is about as close to a shiny lip as I'll get. In addition to the three new shades of lip butters that I talked about in my previous post, which I'll be wearing all summer I can guarantee it, I love Tutti Fruitti. It's a great true orange with a slight hint of coral. Like all lip butters it can be sheered out or built up for a more opaque color. This one is a permanent shade and you can find it anywhere Revlon is sold. My preference is Target because their dollar cheaper price sucks me in every time. 

After all those orange tones we have reached the point in the post where I realize that most of my collection is composed of oranges, panic, and switch to a nice neutral pink. This is Mac's Chatter Box. It's one of the only pinks that I can comfortably wear without feeling like a bad hooker. This is a great middle ground for those out there who, like me, are terrified of barbie pinks but still want a rosy hue for summer. It's an amplified finish which means it's highly pigmented, goes on smooth and opaque, but has a ever so slight creamy sheen. It's a great color that I reach for weekly, and even more often in the summer.

This is a cult classic and I understand why. It's Mac's Impassioned amplified lipstick. It's a bright, hot pinkish coral color that is one of my all time favorites. Last summer I wore it just about every time I left my house at night. I warn you, it's damn near close to neon. If you're not into bright colors I would stay away from this beauty. But if you like to wear a bright lip, even every once in a while, you need this one. I have seen people of all skin shades working this lipstick so don't be shy if you are my pale as snow skin color or a much deeper skin color. Go to Mac online or find a counter and just buy it. Do it.





























This last shade is probably the most wearable. It's the Maybelline Color Whisper in Mad for Magenta. I have a whole post raving about these because they truly are a wonderful product. I have quite a few but I find this to be the most unique and fun to wear in the summer. It appears to be a dark purple but on the lips it comes off as quite a bright, purplish pink that is great for an easy summer lip. I know I'll be wearing it a lot on days that I want to look pulled together but can't quite put forth the effort.

Here they all are in order, swatched!

From right to left: Vegas Volt, Sounds Like Noise, Strawberry Suede, Lady Danger, Tutti Fruitti, Chatter Box, Impassioned, and Mad for Magenta!

What do you like wearing in the summer? Are you like me and go for brights every day or are you more of the glossy, natural kind of girl?

The Day my Lips Accidentally Matched my Nails

You may be thinking, this is a random post. And yes, by golly it is. But I found this coincidence too funny not to document it. 

This reddish coral hue has become my favorite color for the awkward time between Winter and Spring. It's not too dark to be considered a Fall or Winter color and it's just bright enough for me to feel like it's sunny outside even when it's 40 degrees and sleeting. (Thanks, Michigan weather) 

The nail polish is OPI's "Red Lights Ahead...Where?". It's a great bright red with a hint of coral. I find OPI to be consistently great as far as consistency and application. It's probably my favorite brand in that aspect and this is no exception.  I have three coats on here but two would have been suffice.(I compulsively over polish) The lipstick is sadly discontinued, but it's one of my absolute favorites; Revlon Matte's "Strawberry Suede". It's the same bright coralish red as the nail polish and lasts for hours on end with minimal re-application required. If you can get your hands on this online snatch it up. I know I'll probably be repurchasing a backup because it may be my all time favorite lipstick.

I hope everyone is having a good week, I know mine has been way too stressful. I can't wait to go home and hang out with my family, whilst also writing my final research paper draft for my hardest class. Ahh, the glamorous life of a college student.