REVIEW: Joe Fresh Matte Lipstick in "Berry"

late last year, i started dabbling with darker lipstick shades. i put aside my corals and pinks and sought out wines and plums.

i picked up Joe Fresh's Matte Lipstick in "Berry" (3.3 g) on a whim - i could not really find any swatches of it online and there was no tester either - so i based my decision solely on the color of the label.

so imagine my surprise when i opened it and found that it was so dark and so purple! there's nothing in my  lipstick collection that even compares to it.

seeing the color of the lipstick, i applied it to my lips with the utmost caution. i breathed a sigh of relief when i saw the color was actually not as scary on!

top to bottom: natural light; with flash

"Berry" is a purple wine color. i don't usually take lip pictures with flash since you can see every imperfection on my face so clearly - it adds depth to my pores like you wouldn't believe... but i wanted to show you that even though this is a matte lipstick, there is actually a slightly shiny finish after you apply it. you can also see how the light reflects off the actual lipstick in the tube in the pictures above.
the lipstick applies easily to your lips too (there's no tugging) but it eventually dries to a matte finish. it doesn't feel overly dry on the lips though (as in i am not frantically searching for a lip balm). the color starts to fade after a couple hours of wear - mainly around the middle of the lips but it does leave a stain behind.

i would suggest a lip liner as well as a lip balm prior to applying this shade. if you look closely, you can see that this lipstick emphasizes the dry patches on your lips. applying the lip balm beforehand will also make the lipstick apply sheerer if you desire a softer look.

i was too afraid to apply more than one layer of it on my lips but on the swatches on my hand, the left swatch is one layer and then i built it up on the right.

natural light; with flash

oddly enough, i decided to google this color to see if it is sold on the Joe Fresh website and found my own link to another Joe Fresh matte lip product - a lip crayon - in almost the same color ("Plum")... which i have almost forgotten about. but what a weird coincidence! maybe i should always google a lip product before purchasing to make sure that i don't already have a similar one...

 Joe Fresh Matte Lipsticks are $6 each at Superstore. when i picked up "Berry", i was also considering "Brick" but can Joe make it any more confusing for a girl?

SPOTLIGHT: Coral Lips featuring Revlon (ColorBurst and Super Lustrous)

i'm baaaaaaaaaack! sorry for not posting regularly but it is the holiday season! and yes, i am one of those people that still had shopping to do on Christmas Eve.
i hope you all had a fantastic Christmas (and Boxing Day!). i was completely exhausted from all that shopping. this year was the first time i've ever attempted a Best Buy trip when they opened their doors at the wee hour of 6 AM.

getting out of bed is one of my biggest challenges so i made it there at 6:10 AM - which i felt like i totally deserved a pat on the back for. feeling tired, cold and hungry, i found out they were already sold of the camera i was hoping to lay my hands on. guess i should've known - there was a ridiculous amount of cars in the parking lot and i've heard stories of people lining up at 5 or earlier!
so i headed over to Visions instead since they were also selling the same camera but with the Wi-Fi feature and at a slightly higher price. to my dismay, Visions was also sold out by then... BUT they earn an A+ in my book since they are able to order it for me at the same price. hooray! now i just have to wait for their call. guess i know next year i won't have to wake up at such a ridiculous hour to shop!

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so back to the subject of this post... this actually has been delayed way too long. i remember mentioning that i picked up a handful of new lippies for my coral collection from London Drugs when they had a $3.99 Revlon lip products sale (it was seriously 6 months ago). i figured i'd finally squeeze this post in before 2013 since "Tangerine Tango" is the color of the year.

if you love corals as much as i do, then keep on reading! i am reviewing 5 coral shades, all of which are from either the Super Lustrous or ColorBurst collection but in different formats or finishes. here we go!

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in "677 Siren" - Creme (4.2 g)

let's start with the brightest color of the bunch - "Siren", an orange-red shade! the name is definitely very well-suited since it is a riskier color. the lipstick comes in a round tube, with a gold "Revlon" band around the middle. the top of the tube is clear so you can see the lipstick inside. the lipstick applies smoothly and evenly. after 5 hours of wear, the color is still vivid but my lips are a tad dry. the cracks and lines on my lips are very visible, as they normally are with bold colors such as this one. i'd make sure my lips are not peeling before using this one!

Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick in "075 Peach" (3.7 g)

this lipstick is very soft, just like the ColorBurst Lip Butters. the packaging of this lipstick is a rectangular quilted black tube with the color indication on the top. when you twist it up, you can also see "Revlon" etched on the lipstick. "Peach" is slightly shimmery and quite similar to "Smoked Peach" (scroll down for swatches!). the lipstick is very smooth and pigmented. the wear time is a little over 3 hours.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in "170 Coral Reef" (5.9 mL)

"Coral Reef" was surprisingly pigmented. i love it when lipglosses have great color payoff! this made me purchase a second Super Lustrous Lipgloss in "Nude Lustre" (which isn't as pigmented). this lipgloss is light and not overly sticky. i love that it also has SPF 15. the color is a very pretty coral that leans pink. after wearing the gloss for about 3 hours, i found that my lips still had the glossy feeling but the color had disappeared.

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in "015 Tutti Frutti" (2.55 g)

the ColorBurst Lip Butters give you the buttery balm feeling while also giving your lips a nice touch of color. the Revlon website says that it gives you "sheer to medium" color - but with "Tutti Frutti", it is definitely not sheer. compared to the others in this review, it is the most orange shade. i really enjoy how effortless it is to put these ColorBurst Lip Butters on and achieve such a strong color. one issue i have with it is that the buttery aspect of the Lip Butter makes the color move around on my lips. it also tends to settle in the dry cracks. after applying the lip butter, there are times when the product won't go back down no matter how much you twist the tube. after 3 hours of wear, i feel that it is not as moisturizing as before and some of the color has faded.
the Lip Butters also come in the same quilted packaging as the ColorBurst Lipstick, but it is slightly transparent and the entire cap is in the same shade as the lip butter inside. the top of the lipstick is also transparent which makes it even easier to tell your lipsticks apart.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in "013 Smoked Peach" - Matte (4.2 g)

the packaging of the matte version is similar to the creme ones of the Super Lustrous Lipstick line. instead of the gold band, it is silver and slightly larger in size. the tube is also a "matte" black instead of the shiny one of the cremes. the color looks very similar to "Peach" (ColorBurst) except it is slightly more pink. even though this is a matte, it goes on your lips easily. however, perfecting the application is difficult since it is hard to get even coverage. after some time, the color looks pretty dry on my lips.

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here are the swatches side by side to show you the comparison:

natural light

with flash; in direct sunlight

all of them have great color payoff which is why i am such a fan of Revlon lippies. a few of the colors do look similar to one another in the swatches - such as "Siren" and "Tutti Frutti"; "Peach" and "Smoked Peach". however, they look different on my lips:

these lippies differ in finishes and lasting power. aside from the gloss, "Tutti Frutti" (ColorBurst Lip Butter) has the glossiest finish. "Smoked Peach" is obviously the driest one.
in terms of lasting power, i'd rank them from shortest to longest: "Coral Reef", "Tutti Frutti", "Smoked Peach", "Peach" and then "Siren".
all of the them are unscented except for the ColorBurst lipgloss (smells sweet) and the ColorBurst Lipstick which smells slightly chemical.
for each lip product line mentioned above, there are plenty of other colors to choose from. the Super Lustrous Lipsticks has the most extensive range - i counted 58 color options on their website (not including the mattes)!
current prices for all the Revlon lip products mentioned above are $5.99 on londondrugs.com (did you notice how they vary in sizes though? ColorBurst Lip Butters have the least amount of product in them).

if i were to pick a fave - i'd pick two! "Coral Reef" is absolutely lovely - i love the soft coral shade. i also quite like "Peach". it's a nice everyday color that requires little effort to apply. "Siren" is really pretty when you want the focus to be on your lips.
as much as i like Revlon lip butters, "Tutti Frutti" is just a tad too orange for me. plus, it requires extra effort to get even coverage.
my least favorite would have to be "Smoked Peach" due to its frosty sheen. you can see every single line on my lips! it looks gorgeous on other people though.

so thank you for reading this post! do you have any more corals to recommend me? i still have quite a few in my collection to review but that can come later... i don't think i will be getting any lipsticks in 2013's Color of the Year (it's emerald!).

REVIEW: Joe Fresh Matte Lip Crayon in "Plum"

so the lip crayons keep on coming...
i am sure this is the last o--- whoops, i caught myself there. i think i have one more that is yet to be used...
but what i can say is that this is the last matte lip crayon i will be reviewing for quite some time. in case you didn't know, i am refraining from purchasing any more lip products this month (and hopefully the next)!

Joe Fresh had sheer and matte lip crayons available but i think they started clearing out the stock when Fall came around. the original price of these lip crayons were $6 but i am positive i paid less than $3 for this.

this is the first second (i forgot again!) lip crayon i own that is not retractable. in fact, it is like an actual pencil crayon. it even smells like a pencil crayon. the cap is clear and the color of the outer lip pencil is a pretty accurate indication of the actual color.

this Matte Lip Crayon in "Plum" (2.6 g) is a dark berry color. aside from the price, i also picked it up because i have nothing like it in my stash of over 50+ lip products (that's only a rough estimate too; i am probably off by another 50 or something ridiculous... i am a little scared to count).

the same thing happened with my dresses. i have a overflowing closet. my solution to this problem is to just buy more dressers.
i already knew i owned a ridiculous amount of dresses - i usually wear jeans but i can't say no to a pretty dress. cause you never know when an occasion can arise where i need to wear a dress that has a sailor feel with a drawstring bust and hem (seriously the label even says SportGlam - i am not sure what i was thinking). so the story is, someone asked me how many dresses i actually owned one day and i shrugged and said like 50. my sister and i decided to actually count when i got home and lo and behold, i had twice as much as that. yes that's right - i can wear a dress every single day for more than three months and would not have to wear the same dress twice.
note: this count was done before summer - i have since purchased more dresses.

anyways, back to the Joe Fresh lip crayon!!
this glides on pretty smoothly and does not tug on the lips. it is matte so i did notice that my lips didn't feel hydrated but it wasn't like i was constantly licking my lips, trying to replenish the moisture.
so like i said, "Plum" is a dark berry color and it leaves a stain afterwards. when i applied it full on, it makes me look a bit vampy (i said this to my boyfriend also and he did not understand what i meant by vampy). strange how in artificial lighting, it looks more red but then i go into natural lighting, and BAM, it's purple. to make it more wearable, i'd apply it lightly in the center and blend it out with my fingers.
i have yet to wear it enough to have to sharpen it but i am hoping it isn't super messy.

artificial lighting; natural lighting

so do you own any "vampy" shades and do you like to wear them?

*hooray* for reaching 20,000 pageviews today :) many thanks to all of you!

REVIEW: e.l.f. Studio Matte Lip Color

i was very excited to pick these up at Target during my L.A. trip - along with a few other things. you have no idea the overwhelmingly gratifying feeling i had when i walked out of those doors with my goodies in my bag. i would have visited 3 other Targets if i could. i can't wait for Target to start opening its doors in Canada!! i hope it will be as good as the American stores :)

so anyway! i picked up two of the e.l.f. Studio Matte Lip Colors (1.8 g) for $3 (US) each, which is the same price  as listed on the e.l.f. website. there are a total of 6 colors available, and i settled on "82463 Tea Rose" and of course, "82461 Coral".

i find the jumbo pencil format really cute. the exterior is sleek and round with the indication of the color around the bottom (which actually resembles the real color). the lid is a bit of a pain though since you really have to press down to close it and when i tried to take the lid off one time, my "Coral" one almost flew out of its container.

the formula is obviously going to be drier than say, the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains since we are talking about a matte lip product here. it does tug a bit when applying and it looked horrible the first time i put it on. it settled into every crack and emphasized all the dry patches of my lips so exfoliated soft lips is a must! i looked up some tips on wearing matte lipsticks and it includes: exfoliating first, dabbing some lip balm with a very light hand about 10 minutes prior, and when you are actually applying it to your lips, start from the center and blend it out with your fingers. it's difficult to get all the areas (especially near the inside of your lip - the part you can see when you pucker your lips) so blending with your finger really helped there.

the "Coral" lip color barely had a scent to it but on the other hand, "Tea Rose" smelt pretty terrible. i couldn't detect it when applying but when i sniff it now, it smells like bad herbal medicine.

the first one i tried was "Coral" and it looked absolutely - did i say horrible earlier? let's take one more step up and say - horrific. i had no idea how i was going to show close-ups of my lips in that condition! following the steps i listed above really helped though so here are some more acceptable pictures.

"Coral" - a very soft peach color. it can almost pass for a nude lip color for me.

"Tea Rose" is a lilac shade. at first i found it too much on the cool side for my skin tone but then i started liking it a little bit.

and finally some arm swatches:

top to bottom: artificial light; natural light

-- update September 22, 2012 -- so i stumbled on a video that was recommended for me on the main YouTube page and it was a review on the same e.l.f. lip products i reviewed here. the lady in the video mentioned that there was actually a hidden sharpener at the end of the lip color. there is no mention of this on the e.l.f. website at all so i was very surprised. i can't find the video right now to give the lady credit but when i do, i will add her name here. 
so you can actually twist the end (where it is colored) off, and you can use it to sharpen the lip color. amazing huh? --

before figuring out the proper way to apply matte lipstick, i was not a fan - but now i'd recommend it to those who want to add a few mattes to their collection. they're affordable and the pigmentation is definitely there. the lip colors leave a stain and are quite resistant to water (a stain from the arm swatches remained even after a shower). surprisingly, i did not find that it dried my lips out while wearing it but i would recommend some lip balm afterwards. the only setback is that the color selection is a bit limited. 

what is your take on matte lipsticks? 

REVIEW: Ultraflesh Perfect Pinks 6-Piece Set

helloooooo!
so continuing on my journey to overflow my current lipstick container, i did not think twice when i saw this box at - you guessed it - Winners. in fact, i saw a set for "Perfect Reds" first and then "Perfect Pinks" but to my horror, both boxes were missing one lipstick! who would do such a thing??
so it became my ultimate goal to track down a set. i found my "Perfect Pinks" set at my third Winners and on my fourth trip, i also secured a "Perfect Reds" set (to be reviewed separately).
considering that i did find this at Winners, the box was a bit bunged up but the lipsticks were untouched. thank goodness!!

the lipsticks in the Ultraflesh Perfect Pinks set are itty bitty (1.2 g each) but i loved the idea of finding a perfect shade of pink. each box contained 6 lipsticks - there are 3 shades and each shade has a matte version as well as a sheer one.

this is the first time i've tried Ultraflesh and i've only seen their products at Winners. i purchased this set for $8.99. after searching online, Sephora also carries Ultraflesh but has a very very limited selection (in fact, only 3 items). they used to have the 6-piece set for $29 so i paid about a third of the original price! nice one Winners! Ultraflesh is actually owned by Fusion Brands Inc, the same company who does Fusion Beauty and CLEAN.

i apologize for the different lighting in the following photos - i don't like swatching multiple lipsticks in one go since it will be quite drying on my lips. as a result, some swatches were done in direct sunlight and some during cloudier days. top right are shots in artificial lighting and bottom right are natural lighting.

starting with "Tender":

matte
the matte version appears to be a matte pink with the slightest bend towards mauve-purple. i tried this color first and it was especially drying on my lips. even in the swatches of all the colors on my arm, i could tell that this color had the most drying formula. it tugged at my lips when i was applying it and it seems to accentuate every line in my lips. the color does not look particularly good on me either. it looks like i was trying to pull a Nicki Minaj.

sheer
i really like sheer Tender. it looks like a pink nude in the tube but actually appears quite pigmented on my lips (and a tad purple), rather than sheer. it glides on much easier than the matte Tender.

"Ethereal":

i didn't expect such coral-ly colors to be in a pink set! and what's also odd is that the matte and sheer versions are quite similar. both are very shimmery which defeats the purpose of calling one a 'matte'. the matte Ethereal is slightly more coral/orange-based while the sheer is more red/brown.
the matte does not feel super drying but is drier than the sheer formula. i like both of these colors since coral is just awesome but would've preferred if they weren't so shimmery.
matte

sheer

and lastly, "Fragile":

matte
matte Fragile is the definition of a hot pink. it is on the cooler side of the spectrum and is quite pigmented. i don't normally wear flashy colors so i only put on one layer with a soft hand but i'm sure the color can be much brighter (it was also a cloudy day!). this particular color left a nice berry stain hours afterwards. i quite enjoyed this color!

five hours after:

sheer
Fragile in sheer form looks like a slightly toned down version in the tube but is sheerer than all the other colors. it's something you can wear comfortably without thinking about it. on my arm, it looks like sheer Ethereal without the shimmer.

arm swatches:

top to bottom: artificial light, natural light

left to right: "Tender" Matte, Sheer; "Ethereal" M, S; "Fragile" M, S

these lipsticks tend to be on the drier side (especially the mattes) so i would recommend wearing lip balm or lip gloss. the sheer versions have a shiny finish to them. i think the color payoff is pretty good and the sizes are small but enough to try all of them many times.the scent of cheap lipstick is a bit strong when you are applying it but that's the only time you notice it. i expect to wear the majority of these colors so i am glad i picked this one up! it was also fun trying on different variations of pink even if they didn't work on my skin tone. i am sure Tender (matte) would look great on other people :)

a comparison of the size with a NYX and a MUFE lipstick:

how much product is actually in the tube:

NOTE:
i reached 10,000 views overnight. thank you very much for all the loveeee <3