Sephora Rouge Infusion Lip Stain Red Essence - Swatch and Review

Happy weekend! We got a bit of snow this morning. It was kind of nice. I'm just glad I didn't have to be out there driving in it. By the way this is a review of a deluxe sample I acquired with my Sephora points, not the actual full size product.

Packaging

• Black tube that resemble a lab vial. I received a trial version but it looks pretty similar to the full size. 
• Contains a doe foot applicator

Product

• Red Essence is a slightly warm tone red with a thin gel-like consistency that can be layered and build up to semi-opaque coverage. 
• It isn't sticky but can look patchy when you apply a sheer layer.
• The color wears well for up to 6 hours and start to fade from the center out. The stain remains for few hours more. 
• I didn't find it moisturizing but it's fairly comfortable if you pair it with a lip balm. 
• It has a sweet syrupy scent. Don't love it but doesn't really bother me either.

Final Thought

Longevity is good, pigmentation is good. I prefer to wear it sheer but the patchiness bothers me. It especially gets worst as it fades. I'm not really a fan of this gel stain formula. I wished it was more moisturizing and less patchy. Perhaps the lighter shades in the range may not have the patchiness issue.


Rating: 8/10

Price: $14.00
Availability: Sephora

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Icon - Swatch and Review

I hope everyone's having a good weekend so far. Wisconsinites are freaking out about tomorrow's plummeting temperature and by Monday we're expecting windchill down to -30 degrees Fahrenheit. All the public schools in the area have already decided to close. I worked a few hours this morning and stopped by Wal-Mart to get some food and it was packed! I hope my car starts on Monday because I still have to go to work. Packer game is on Sunday and apparently I heard my brother bought tickets and is planning to freeze his ass off on the bench watching the game, lol. Crazy!

Anyways...Let's move on to the review...

I was interested in the Hourglass Opaque Rouge because of the color and because I heard that it was long-wearing. There's some mixed reviews out there. Some rave about it and some are dissing it but here's my personal experience with the product.

Packaging

• I purchase the mini tube. Yes, thank goodness for a mini version but it's ridiculously small! It's 1/3 the size of the full size product and almost looks like a toy. It's got a cute curvy shape and comes with a doe foot applicator
• .03 oz. 

Product

• Icon is a blue tone raspberry red. The color is lovely and I love how it looks on me and it definitely makes my teeth look whiter. 
• So I had a few issues with this lip color. First, it's the application. What you'll need to do is apply it on the upper lip and spread the color even with the wand before it dries. Then you move on to the lower lip and do the same. The key is you need to make sure you spread the color evenly and working on one lip at a time is your best bet because the formula sets fairly quickly. 
• The formula is tacky. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT press your lips together for the first 5 minutes after application. If you do, it's going to be a hot mess because the color is going to stick and create uneven patches and it will look pretty ugly. Once you wait past 5 minutes and allow the color to set, you'll still feel some tackiness when you press your lips together but it won't be as much and the color won't budge.
• The formula is very pigmented and dries to a matte finish. I didn't find it drying or moisturizing but I would recommend you wear a lip balm first to keep your lips comfortable. 
• Also, you need to exfoliate and remove any dry patches prior to use because it will cling and clump if your lips aren't smooth. 
• They claim that the colors wears up to 14 hours and I guess that depends on what that means to you. It does wear well but if you are going to be drinking and eating the color is going to fade and look patchy, particularly at the center of your lips. If your food is a little greasy, the fading and patchiness will look more obvious. Whatever part that didn't come in contact with food or drinks will last up to 14 hours. 
• There is a light scent. I can't describe it but it certainly is not unpleasant and fades quickly.

Final Thought

The color is beautiful and what I would consider the perfect red for me but there are definitely flaws in the formula and application so you have to be especially careful when it's freshly applied. The tackiness of the product bothers me a bit. Yes, it wears quite long but while it does that it will also fade unevenly at the center of your lips as you consume drinks and food. Personally, for a lip product at this price point, I expect the formula to be nearly perfect, easy to use, and more comfortable. I'm not getting what I paid for here. 

Rating: 7/10

Price: $10.00 for the mini and $28.00 for the full size. 

Availability: Sephora

Jordana Twist & Shine Moisturizing Balm Stains - Swatch and Review (very pic heavy)

I was supposed to review these a long time ago but this post have been delayed so with no further ado, here it is! All the pictures took me a long time to finish but it was definitely worthwhile.

Packaging

• Jumbo twist up pencil. The shape and size of it is exactly like the Revlon Balm Stains. The only difference is that the Revlon Balm Stains have a silver cover at the end. 
• .095 oz or 2.7 g, also the same amount of product as the Revlon Balm Stains. 

Product

• I find that they glide nicely and easily on the lips without having too much slip. The glossiness last about 3 hours but the stain can last up to 12 hours or more depending on the shade. Well actually, I find them all giving a fair amount of staining power, particularly the darker shades. The only one that didn't really stain much at all was Nude Chic. They do fade a bit unevenly.
• In terms of pigmentation, I think they do offer a fairly good pigmentation in spite of having a bit of translucency in them. 
• They are very comfortable and feel hydrating up until the glossiness fades. You will likely need a lip balm or reapply if your lips are starting to feel dry. 
• They have a sweet fruity scent, which I don't mind. 

Final Thought

These Jordana Balm Stains are definitely comparable to the Revlon Balm Stains and I think they are actually slightly more moisturizing. In spite of the uneven fading, overall, I think these are a hit with a very nice price tag attached to it.

Rating: 9/10

Price: $2.99
Availability: Walgreens


Did you already snag some for yourself? If not, which one will you get?

Rock n Rouge is a cool toned bright red cherry color. 

Tropical Frenzy is a blue base bright pink, almost neon. 

Sweet Pink is also a blue base pink, similar to Tropical Frenzy but less bright. When I swatched them on my arm, I thought they looked almost identical but on the lips, you can definitely tell the difference. 

Nude Chic, this one was interesting because it had light reflecting silver shimmers in it giving your lips a slight frosty shine and finish. I've been reaching for this one a lot! It's like my lip but better.

Terra Crave is a lovely light brown with a bit of red undertone to it. It's gorgeous and so easy to wear. Perfect for daytime looks or the office.

Honey Love is a pinkish nude brown. It's demure and very flattering. 

Cranberry Crush is a medium raspberry color. A bit brighter than I anticipated so the name is a bit misleading but I love the color nonetheless.

Huge Jordana Haul (With Preview Swatches) & Some L'Oreal

I'm super excited to show you this haul. I went to Walgreens last night to pick up two hand full of Jordana products. Crazy eh? Well, to justify my craziness, Jordana was on sale at for BOGO 50% off so I went nuts and grabbed whatever my two hands can hold.

Ok so the funny story is that I went to another Walgreens first before doing my grocery shopping and I had picked up just one Jordana Balm stain along with two L'Oreal products. After I was done grocery shopping, came home and ate supper, I decided to swatch Tropical Frenzy, which is the shade I initially got. I was like wow, this feels nice. I go online looking for swatches and reviews of the other colors and come to find that it was on BOGO sale at Walgreens and I didn't even know! Boo me! But I blame Walgreens for not labeling the sale.

It was 9 pm and I decided to run off to the Walgreens closest to home, an hour before they close to grab the rest of this haul because I didn't want to miss out on the BOGO sale. Yep, beauty junkie mentality to its fullest!

I don't know how new these balm stains are but I think they are fairly new. In all, I purchased 7 of the Twist & Shine Moisturizing Balm Stains. They have 8 shades available and the only one I didn't get is Candied Coral. Beats me why I didn't get it. Maybe because I already had a coral balm stain? I don't know what I was thinking. Here's a quick preview of the swatches below. I will review them eventually.

Quick note, Tropical Frezy and Sweet Pink are extremely similar when swatched. I think Tropical Frenzy may be just a tiny bit brighter but honestly you don't need both. Another thing I want to mention is that prices vary between Walgreens. The first Walgreens I went to, they charged me $3.29 for one of these, whereas the second Walgreens I went to, they were sold for $2.99 each. With that said, the prices are low to begin with and the sales makes them even lower, which is why I ran off to Walgreens like I had a makeup emergency crisis, lol.

Secondly, I saw the 12 Hours Made To Last Eyeshadow Pencil, which reminded me a lot of the Milani Shadow Eyez and the Rimmel ScandalEyes. I just had to have them. I really want to know how they compare. These are $3.99 each. I picked up the shades: Endless Emerald, Continuous Almond, and Pink Evermore.

I love eyeliners and seeing that they came up with the 12 Hr Made To Last Liquid Eyeliner Pencil, I had to try a few as well. These were $2.49 each at regular price, again like I said earlier prices may vary between stores. I got the shades: Purple Fix, Jade Jewel, and Espresso Last.

So far, my initial impression of these new Jordana products are good and they have a potential to become new favorites as well but I will tell you want I really think of them once I have used them enough to form a better opinion. One thing is for sure, the prices for these babies are awesome and won't break the bank!

Lastly, while I was at Walgreens, I saw that L'Oreal was on BOGO sale as well and I've been curious about the Magic Nude Liquid Powder since I read on Beautezine that it is comparable to the Giorgio Armani Maestro foundation. I have not tried the Maestro foundation but I wouldn't be surprised if the formula is similar since Giorgio Armani is owned by L'Oreal. I had that eye opening experience with two eyeshadows from Lancome and L'Oreal which were practically identical, you can read it HERE if you missed it. L'Oreal is the parent company to several high end brands like Lancome, YSL, and Urban Decay. This is $12.99. 

Didn't know what else to get for my BOGO item so I grabbed the L'Oreal Clean Artiste Waterproof & Long Wearing eye makeup remover. Normally priced at $7.99 for a 4 oz bottle. I go through these makeup removers a lot so it's always good to have a back up.

Whewwww...Ok, that's it for now. Did you take any advantage of the Jordana sale at Walgreens?

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain - Rendez-vous and Romantic

I just got done posting my son's graduation pictures. If you would like to check them out, you can view them HERE. Thank goodness for having a few drafted posts because work has been kicking my butt this week so I'm too tired to play with makeup when I get home.

I've already reviewed a few of these before so I'm going to keep this post simple and to the point. If you'd like to read my reviews and see swatches on the shade Precious and Honey, you can go HERE. And if you like to see review and swatches for Darling and Charm, go HERE.

I just realized then that the quality of my pictures and swatches then weren't that great but I've come a long way for the improvement by trying to get the lighting right, playing with the camera settings, and editing. So far, I'm satisfied but I still feel the need to improve and I have a couple equipment on my wishlist that I believe will do just that but don't have the budget for them just yet. I'm planning on purchasing another car this year so I would really need to cut back on makeup hoarding.

Rendez-Vous is a fairly pigmented, somewhat bright coral shade yet not over the top. It's not fully opaque but the color payoff is quite good that you will definitely notice color. The staining power is quite long so even after the shine disappear, you won't need to reapply unless you want to. My lips do start to get dry at around 4 hours though. The texture of the balm is pretty much the same across the board. It's balmy yet doesn't slip so much that it becomes annoying so it clings on to your skin for a while yet feels quite comfortable on.

When I swatched both colors on my arm, I thought these two shades looked almost identical. I was expecting Romantic to be a darker red yet is is just slightly deeper than Rendez-Vous. I guess I can call this a deeper coral red. I should've looked up swatches before buying but that's not always the case when I just buy it on the whim and there's a sale going. But anyways, you probably won't need both in my opinion. One is just slightly darker than the other.

Which Revlon Balm Stain is your favorite color?