Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush in Give Me a Cuddle Review

I’m still working my way through my lip color collection one week at a time. This week I tried to wear Rimmel’s Lasting Finish Colour Rush lip balm in Give Me A Cuddle for a solid week.

I mean, I succeeded. It just wasn’t the most fun.

This is where I confess to you that I bought this lip balm three years ago. That’s why the label looks so godawful. You can still purchase it, so I could have pretended that I bought it last week.

This blog isn’t about my dignity.

Three years ago I knew that I wanted to wear lipstick, but was having some trouble easing into it. This lip balm looked like a nice tame pink. At least on me. Some reviewers said it was too candy pink for them.

There is no flash in the image on the left. The image on the right has flash.

I can see the candy pink complaints. I do think this balm applies pretty thin, so you can adjust it to be less bright.

It looks fine, right? Barely even there. That’s what I was going for three years ago. The problem is that this balm isn’t particularly hydrating. And while it’s not an in your face color, it does dry my lips out and the resulting flakes are BRIGHT PINK. I don’t have an at the end of the workday picture for you because I wiped this off at lunch every day. It didn’t matter that I used my lip mask the night before. It didn’t matter if I exfoliated and hydrated in the morning before the application.

In the trash it goes. It’s not a good track record for Rimmel’s lip products. I also trashed some of their glosses for drying me out.

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Maybelline Lip Studio Color Blur Lipstick in Orange Ya Glad

There was a brief period of time when I couldn’t go into CVS without grabbing a new lipstick or nail polish. This is one of those impulse buys, as evidenced by the gimmicky applicator (not pictured because I don’t use it) and the fact that it’s ORANGE.

The idea of these lip pencils is that you can color the inside (or edges, I guess) of your lips and then create a gradient using their weird blender. This does not work for me with this color. It just evenly smudges. The pencil itself goes on pretty creamy and I have small lips. It doesn’t work.

So, the “blur” is a no-go for me. The orange, though. Orange lipstick is awesome. I didn’t know this. I thought I looked better in “blue” reds, but now nothing makes sense. I love the color…when I wear green shirts. I haven’t been brave enough to wear it with other colors, but I think it would also look good with black. Black is safe.

Say hi to my septum ring!

So, yeah, it’s cute. But does it stay put? You guys know by now that I’m not going to reapply mid day. Are you ready for these gritty shots of my lips at the beginning and end of my day?

Here’s the before:

And the perfectly acceptable after:

This is $9 lipstick after something like 10 hours and a full lunch. I need it in red now.

 

April 2018 Ipsy Bag

The situation: You give ipsy $10 a month. Ipsy sends you a “curated” bag of makeup samples. Mostly I hate it.

This month’s theme is “social butterfly”. They’re mocking me. I like going to bed early and reading books. I refuse to go to an event if there are more than three people there. Show of hands, how many times have you personally asked me to go to something and I’ve told you that I don’t want to? They even sent a little card with this bag telling me to say yes to everything this month.

No.

What’s in my bag

Baker would not let me take a fancy flat lay picture.

Swatches without flash (left) and with flash (right):

PRETTY WOMAN Nail Polish in Girl Boss
We’re going to ignore that lavender nail polish tends to look weird with my skin and go straight to the formula. I swatched this without a base or top coat to get a look at the color. This is the fastest drying nail polish that I’ve ever seen in my life. I actually watched the solvent evaporate.

The first coat was pretty weird and patchy. It looks kind of like a golf ball. There are dents everywhere from how quickly it dried.

I thought for sure the second coat would be even weirder, but it mostly evened out.

Purchase or pass: Other than the color, it’s pretty nice. I might consider another one of their colors after my next big nail polish purge.

TRIFLE COSMETICS Sugar Bunny Lip Scrub

Oh hey, a full sized product! That’s awesome because I’d never spend $18 on a sugar scrub. It smells exactly like watermelon Jolly Ranchers. It does not taste like watermelon Jolly Ranchers. I checked.

Purchase or pass: Pass. It works well, but I could dump some sugar in literally any lip balm and it would do the same thing for less than $18. However, I’m eyeing their Lip Parfait in Summer Cone. It’s the same price, but you don’t immediately wipe it off.

NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP Soft Matte Lip Cream in Milan
Have you ever wanted to coat your lips in silicone face primer? Because that’s the exact texture of this lip cream. Applying it was an experience. Once you get it down into a thin layer it’s okay. Getting to that thin layer is the issue. Just check out that chunk!

It’s so thick and clumpy on the applicator. I’m not sure if my tube has started to dry out or if the texture is just terrible. Once it mostly dries you can’t tell that you’re wearing anything.

Purchase or pass: I’m torn. I think it’s a pass based on the trauma of the application.

DELECTABLE BY CAKE BEAUTY Ultra Nourishing Hand Cream in Sweet Mint
It’s a hand cream that smells like mint chocolate chip ice cream. I was going to fuss at it for being expensive, but it’s actually not. It’s just a solid hand cream that smells a little bit too much like dessert. Seriously, my hands are making me hungry.

Purchase or pass: I found a $15 off affiliate link (you get $15, I get $15). They’ve got a box set of half sized hand creams for $9 and I want it.

NOMAD COSMETICS Illuminating Highlighter in Midnight Sun

I’m cranky about how tiny this highlighter is. It came in a little carboard box that I had to rip in half because physics didn’t intend for packaging that small to be able to open.

Having said that, this highlighter packs a pretty hard punch. It’s a nice champagne color without looking yellow. I’m not a fan of the mica concentration, but I’ve started to feel that all powder highlights are too much light straight glitter for me.

Purchase or pass: Their website auto-plays music. Hard pass. (I also couldn’t find this product on their website, but mostly the auto-play is a sin.)

Wow, I think that everything in this month’s bag was usable! It must be because I finally cancelled my subscription. But never fear, I’m getting bags until June and picking a new subscription for July.

I don’t learn from my mistakes.

Hard Candy Fierce Effects Lip Gloss in Plum Diva

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about lipstick. It’s been winter in the northeast. My skin has been SO DRY that even with excessive moisturizing and doubling my water intake, I haven’t been able to wear lipstick very often.

So I’ve dug into my lip gloss reserves. I don’t like lip gloss. It’s sticky, shiny, and smears onto everything. This one is okay, though. I’ve been getting some compliments on it.

It doesn’t go on quite as purple as I want it to, but it’s pretty solid and fades evenly. It does feather. I’ve been able to keep it in check with a clear lip liner. The two pictures below show this gloss right after application (left) and about 8 hours later (right).

I would tell you that you could get this at Wal Mart for $5, except it’s out of stock. It apparently had a short run in 2015 and has been gone for..a while.

I have had this lip gloss for three years. It is still mostly full. I know people that have created entire humans & have taught them to walk in the time it has taken me to start wearing this lip gloss.

That’s gross. How old does a lip gloss need to be before it can kill you? I’m sure there’s a little icon somewhere on the tube telling me to throw it out after six months.

I’m not going to. It doesn’t go near my eyes, so I think the risk for damage is pretty small.

What do you have floating around that should really go in the trash by now?

November 2017 Ipsy Bag

I “only” have seven months left of my year subscription. Oh boy.

This month’s theme is “All You”, which sounds suspiciously like something that a “market your product to millennials” random word generator spat out.

And side note, this month ipsy decided to capitalize the brand name of ALL of my items instead of one or two! You’re finally doing great at proofreading, bby.

What’s in my bag

MARC ANTHONY Hydrating Coconut Oil & Shea Butter Oil Treatment
Pros: Smells great. It does actually smooth my hair without making it a greasy mess.
Cons: The bottle doesn’t close. It’s oil. If I even think about this bottle tipping over, everything in my bathroom will be ruined.
Purchase or pass: I can’t figure out where to buy this in a bottle instead of a foil packet. No one wants to buy a foil packet that contains more than one use of a product.

Here’s a swatch of the rest:

COLOURPOP COSMETICS Pressed Powder Shadow in Paper Tiger
I was pissed that I was being sent yellow eyeshadow. I don’t wear yellow. I don’t have the complexion for yellow. I’m pale with pink undertones. Yellow is BAD. This yellow is…passable, though.

I still have no idea what I’m going to DO with it, but I could probably smoke it out with some brown eyeshadow and look okay. Bonus points for not budging when I washed everything off my face.
Purchase or pass: One day I’m going to do a ColourPop haul, so I was happy the quality was good even if this is the last color I would ever pick.

LIME CRIME Diamond Crushers in Lit
I have some feelings about Lime Crime. On one hand, there is all of the drama. On the other, people really like the velvetines. This lipstick wasn’t the greatest introduction to them. There isn’t enough pink under the glitter to get a crisp line, and the glitter is too dense to really wear over a darker lip. It’s an awful color for me. I think ipsy knew this was going to be a weird one, so the website insists that it can also be worn as a highlighter.

If you like your highlighter to look like straight glitter, then sure.

It does smell really good. I want to eat it.
Purchase or pass: I want to throw it away, but I’m inexplicably attached to it.

TARTE Deluxe Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Feisty
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this blush. I have no snark for you. It blends. You can build up coverage. It works nicely with my skin tone. My only reservation is that the bronzer from this same line broke me out
Purchase or pass: It’s $29. I have student loans, so we’re gonna pass.

TRÈSTIQUE Mini Brow Pencil in Espresso
Hey, did you notice how irritated my arm was in that swatch picture? It’s because this thing’s wax-to-pigment ratio is way off. It wont write. It’s also too orange to match my eyebrows.
Purchase or pass:  Direct to trash.

October 2017 Ipsy Bag

Do you remember last month when I was excited to have broken free of the black eyeliner hell?

Yeah, that was short-lived.

What’s in my bag

This theme! Look at the the little bat zipper! I want everything to have a little bat zipper! I was hoping the bag contents would also be on theme but asking anything at all of ipsy is asking too much, if you haven’t noticed.

Onto the contents!
Swatched top to bottom:
Meech and Mia loose eyeshadow in purple
Urban Decay 24/7 glide on liner in Perversion, skinny line and chunky line
MDMflow liquid to matte lipstick in Retro

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion
I’d throw this away out of spite alone except it has such a goth name, guys. I love the name. The actual eyeliner is just okay. The packaging insists that you can get precise enough lines to draw wings.. That’s a lie. The pencil is too smooth to keep a sharp point for a useful amount of time. 24 hour wear is also a lie without good eye primer. It goes on evenly and is a solid black, though. I’m keeping it specifically to draw the shortest line on my lower lashes and am using my Steve Laurant eyeliner from August for the tops.
Purchase or pass: I’m going to get bored of this in two weeks and throw it away. Pass. I have more black eyeliner from ipsy than I will ever use in my life.

Nail Medic Charcoal Infused Nail Polish in Lava or Volcanic Ash
Ipsy sent me different gray nail polish last month. How many shades of gray nail polish are on this planet? I’m sure we’re going to find out.
I’m also here to tell you that charcoal in your nail polish isn’t going to do anything at all to protect your nails.
Purchase or pass: Passing for ~the benefits of charcoal~ alone. I haven’t even tried this one yet. I’m still wearing last month’s trash gray nail polish.

MDMflow Liquid Matte Lipstick in Retro
Ipsy heard my cries for lipstick! And gave me pink. That’s…. okay. I can work with pink. This isn’t gross pastel pink and matches my natural lip color nicely enough that when it starts to wear off I don’t look like a hot mess.

It’s not so terrible, right? At least, not when you first put it on. I had tried it out before I wore it all day and it seemed pretty drying despite ipsy’s blurb saying that it was hydrating. So I did a day of prep before I used it. I wore my good chapstick. I did my nice sugar scrub and gooped on my hardcore lip treatment. I drank water.

NOTHING WE DO MATTERS IN IPSY LAND. My lips were flakey the whole next day. I’m never flakey.
Purchase or pass: Pass. I needed a prep day before using this product AND needed a recovery day. I’m not doing this for a lipstick. It’s going directly to the trash.

MEECH AND MIA Loose Eyeshadow in Purple

HEY APRIL, DON’T YOU FEEL DUMB FOR GIVING AWAY YOUR EYESHADOW BRUSH LAST MONTH? No, because I still have three and that’s two too many.
Funny story, I’m a little purple/brown color blind. I have genuine trouble telling them apart within a certain range of purples. Guess what color this eyeshadow is? My exact bad purple! It took me a very long time to figure out if this was the purple or beige. I guess that means that this is a nice grown up purple. I’ve been wearing it. I haven’t had any issues with the sparkles scratching my cornea (always a fear) or even migrating and making my whole life shiny. Not bad.
Purchase or pass: I might purchase a different color that has a more intense color payoff. I checked the website and this is shown as a true, vibrant purple. Passing on the whole brand.

BioRepublic SkinCare Sheet Mask Duo
I don’t think I’ll hate these? They don’t sound gimmicky or like they contain face acid. I’m confused. Will report back in this month’s What’s Weird on my Face.

Purchase or pass: These masks cost $5 each. I really enjoy sheet masks but I doubt they’re going to live up to the price.

Hard Candy Metallic Mousse

I was very firmly against metallic lipstick for a while. I’m not sure what changed, but now I want all of the shiny things and glitter lipsticks. Is it because Kesha is back? Probably.

Also, fun fact, I originally typed “mouse” and it took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure out how to fix the word.

Anyway. Metallic lipstick. I got curious and picked up Hard Candy’s Metallic Mousse in Queen of Hearts.

I included the side view because this lipstick comes in a giant metallic tin that makes it look HUGE. It’s not huge. You only need to apply a really thin coat, so I’m not as irritated as I was when I first opened it. I hate intentionally misleading packaging. These people know I can’t visualize a fluid ounce.

This is me at the beginning of the day.

And me at the end.

Thoughts:
This formula isn’t the greatest. It doesn’t streak or peel, but it’s sticky ALL DAY and comes off on my water bottle like no other.
A pro for the color is that it matches my natural lip color enough that when it inevitably disappears from the bottom half of my top lip, I don’t look like I’m walking around with just an outline of old lipstick.

Rating: 3/5.
I’m going to wear it until I run out, but I’m not getting any more colors or repurchasing.

I also think this may be a gateway lipstick for purple glitter lipstick territory. Send help.

July 2017 Ipsy Bag

I finally bought my Ipsy subscription!

Ipsy is a subscription service that sends you a little makeup bag with a handful of samples and sometimes full sized products every month in exchange for $10. I had ten bucks and love getting mail, especially if there’s a chance that I’ll get something weird to put on my face. Sold.

What’s in my bag

Trestique Mini Porcelain Concealer
Buildable coverage, downright adorable packaging (A STICK CAP THAT LOOKS LIKE A PENCIL), and truly pasty colored instead of yellow/orange. I’m pasty. Porcelain fits my ghost skin perfectly. I forgive them for the weird capitalization in their brand name.
Purchase or pass: Will consider purchasing after I blow through my weird yellow toned concealer.

EYEKO Skinny Liquid Eyeliner Travel Size in Black
This stuff is currently letting me live out my goth princess dreams. Wings for miles! I was hoping that since they advertise that it’s smudge and fade proof that I wouldn’t need a primer, but no. It’s a pen, but it goes on smooth.
Purchase or pass: I still have dreams of finding an eyeliner that doesn’t require primer, so I’m going to pass. If you don’t have my oil problem, I recommend.

Winky Lux Double Matte Whip in Angel Food

 

I hate this lipstick so much. I thought it was just the color at first, because I’m profoundly uncomfortable wearing lipstick that is lighter than my natural lip color, but no. The formula is also sticky as hell. All day. It does stay all day, but at what cost? The above picture is after twelve hours. Can you see me regretting my life choices?
Purchase or pass: I said I hate it. If you’re looking for a long wearing nude liquid matte, I like the NYX Lingerie line. It doesn’t make me feel like my lips are chewing gum.

Hanalei Lip Treatment in Rose
I’m happy that I got this. I enjoy using it. BUT it lasts about three hours and my lips are still flaky afterwards. Not impressed.
Purchase or pass: Chapstick is better.

tarte cosmetics Amazonian clay waterproof bronzer
I don’t usually wear bronzer…so..it doesn’t make me look orange and it goes on my face? I dunno guys, it’s powder. It’s hard to mess up powder for me.
Purchase or pass: I would never pay $30 for this, but I’ll wear this until I use it all.
Update: It broke me out.

City Color Be Matte Red Reviews

I’m going to put this on in the morning and then ignore my face for the rest of the day. Pictures are right after application and then about 12 hours later.

First up is a selection of City Color Cosmetic’s Be Matte dark reds. I got a five pack for ~$8. I don’t think this pack is up for sale anymore, so the links go to less official resellers of the individual colors.

A note: These lipsticks are rounded and are nearly impossible to apply to my tiny lips from the tube. You’re going to want a lipstick brush (though those little angular eyeliner brushes will do the trick if you’re not ready to commit). I’ve been using this one for about six months: E.l.f. Retractable Lip Brush

Swatches!

Colors from top to bottom are: Samy (M22), Lola (M20), Lana (M23), Brianda (M24), Francesca (M21). I can’t tell much of a difference between most of the colors, either, it’s not your monitor.

And now the wear tests! I wear chapstick under my lipstick because matte lipsticks tend to dry your lips out. These aren’t the worst about it, but it’s still noticeable. Your lipstick will look nicer for longer if you have magical moist lips. I have regular mortal lips.

Samy Before (Top) & After (Bottom)

I was extra impressed with this one because I went to an ice cream event this day and ate 10 cups more of ice cream than on any of these wear tests. I didn’t wear chapstick this day. Magic. I hope you don’t like this color, because I can’t find a link to it for you.

Lola Before & After

(3 Pack) CITY COLOR Be Matte Lipstick – Lola
Lana Before & After

CITY COLOR Be Matte Lipstick Lana
Brianda Before & After

CITY COLOR Be Matte Lipstick Brianda
Francesca Before & After

I don’t wear this color often, because it doesn’t apply evenly no matter what black magic ritual I perform. You might have better luck if your lips are naturally not a ghost color like mine.
CITY COLOR Be Matte Lipstick Francesca

Thoughts:
This lipstick is a great, cheap option as an introduction to matte lipstick. I picked it up to figure out what kind of reds I should wear..and have since decided to just keep wearing whatever I want regardless of my undertones.

It’s somewhat drying, but doesn’t flake off or feel disgusting like some other matte lipsticks I’ve worn. You’re a little aware of something being on your lips, but don’t feel like a clown.

It doesn’t quite last all day. If you touch up your lipstick after lunch you will be way cuter than me at the end of the day. These lipsticks are pretty pigmented for the price and don’t feather. They do transfer onto cups.

Solid 4/5.