The Best of: Spring and Summer Lip Products

As the temperature rises, my lips get brighter! Right now, the drugstore has some amazing products that make me question whether I need to purchase another high end lipstick ever again. 

I get a lot more brave in the summer with brighter lipsticks/glosses..

Since everyone has been talking about the Revlon Lip Butter's I will start with those and get them out of the way! The lip butters are great for summer because they have a hydrating formula. I have two of the new colors - Juicy Papaya and Wild Watermelon. The pigmentation of these two are a little different -Juicy Papya is pretty sheer and needs a bit of layering to bring out it's warm peach/coral shade. I like to layer one sheer coat of wild watermelon so it looks like a red stain. The lip butters have a shiny finish and are really comfortable to wear. Revlon lip butters

The Maybelline Vivids are also really popular, with good reason. My go to shade this summer will definitely be Shocking Coral. The formula on these lipsticks is so amazing and the color range is great. I have a full post on the Vivids here.

NYX butter lip glosses are very pigmented glosses and feel really smooth once applied. I have two shades: Peaches and Cream and Cherry Cheese Cake, which is bizarre because the shade is orange. The texture of these butter glosses is really creamy. One coat gives a nice pop of color, but you can build these up to look really opaque. NYX's butter glosses have a decent lasting power, a couple of hours or so.

Finally, I am including a Victoria Secret Beauty Rush Sunset Kiss gloss in Orange Rush. I picked up on a whim the other day. I loved the ombre effect in the bottle and purchased it! Orange Rush is a sheer  gloss with gorgeous gold shimmer in it. It is a little thick for my liking - but a gorgeous gloss nonetheless. 

Swatches Left to Right: Maybelline Shocking Coral, Revlon Jusy Papaya, Wild Watermelon, NYX Peaches and Cream, Cherry Cheese Cake, Victoria Secret Sunset

what are your must have summer lip products?

Illamasque Panic Blush

Next to Nars, Ilamasqua makes my favorite blushes. I only have a couple but the two that I do have are amazing. This is Panic, a cherry red matte blush. This is a highly, I repeat highly, pigmented blush and appearance can turn hazardous if overly applied! Seriously, less than a tap is needed in order to get a beautiful cherry glow on your cheeks. I suggest using a stippling blush to apply the product then you can buff and blend into your skin. 

A lot want to compare this blush to Nars Exibit A, but they are completely different. Nars is a fiery orange and not a true red by any means.

The quality of this blush is top notch. It lasts all day and the texture is so smooth. I was so hesitant to purchase this because it is so not a 'me' blush but I am so thrilled with it.

I am pretty pale, around NC20, and I really like the way it looks on my skin tone.

Nyx Megashine Lip gloss: Burgundy

If you are a lipgloss fan and don't own any of the NYX Megashine glosses I suggest you go out and buy the range. Well, maybe not not all 61 colors but at least some of your favs! The shade I am showing you today is Burgundy - a nice Burgundy / berry wine color. 

This particular gloss has some sparkles in it but nothing noticeable (or gritty feeling on your lips) at all. This gloss has so much shine without the gooey, sticky feeling. The pigmentation is really good as you can see: the photo below is Burgundy on with no liner or lipstick underneath. These babies sell for under $5 as well = great quality lip gloss for a reasonable price!

The color range is from one extreme to another. I believe they have clear gloss and then there are nudes, bright shades, and vampy ones! Some have shimmer while others don't. They pretty much have a gloss for everyone!

Do you own any of the NYX Mega Shine Glosses? What shades do you love?

Maybelline Colorsensational Vivids Review

Happy Hump Day! I know I am due for a nail post but I broke my middle finger so badly - I need to wait for it go grow in properly! So to make up for it I am going to share with you my thoughts on the new line of Lipsticks from Maybelline, the Colorsensational Vivids.

The Maybelline Colorsensational Vivids are probably the best lipsticks in the drugstore at the moment. I usually never purchase more than one product of the same range at a time but I just could not resist these stunning shades. I purchased #895 On Fire Red and #870 Shocking Coral.
Shocking Coral is a pinker coral lipstick - very nice if orange doesn't suit you, or scares you a bit!
On Fire Red is a vibrant red shade

The Vivids are made with honey nector so they are a very nourishing lipstick. They glide on really nicely and have a nice smooth texture. The honey also gives the lipsticks the same scent as the original  colorsensationals.

These truly are vivid shades. The lipsticks are really opaque on the lips and color pay off is great.
The vivds have a nice sheen to them as well - almost comparable to Mac's Lusers - but in all honesty I think these are better. 

I found the wear time to be about two hours. I wore On Fire Red one night out and retouched once throughout the night which isn't too bad!

Shocking Coral:
 

On Fire Red

Maybelline did a great job with these lipsticks - the shade range, the formula. I think they really hit the nail on the head in what a lipstick should be!

Have you tried any of the colorsensational lipsticks?
Which is your favorite?

  

My week in NOTDs: China Glaze It's Alive & Finger Paints Twisted

Sorry for my lack of posts this week but I wasn't fully satisfied with either of my NOTDs. I also went naked the beginning of the week. I think it was the stress of starting my second week at my new job and beginning my classes.

Ever since I got FP Twisted I wanted to wear it with black and red so I killed 2 birds with one stone and did an alternating mani. I used Wet n' Wild's Black Creme and China Glaze Winter Berry, then topped it off with 2 coats of FP Twisted

THEEEN I put on this beautiful green glitter that I skipped out on when it first came out. This is one of China Glaze's polished from their halloween collection - It's Alive. I had been wanting it and luckily found it at a local beauty supply shop on clearance and only just got to wearing it. The formula of this was a little lumpy for me but it's probably just because it's a bit old and could have used some thinner before I applied it.

That was my quick wrap up for the week. I am off to the shelter, hopefully adopting a dog very soon!

Merry Christmas Funky French

Hello everyone happy holidays to you all and Merry Christmas :)

Just popping on to do a last minute Christmas post.

Over the summer I did this funky french that I loved so I decided to recreate it for a Christmas mani!

simple and festive!

Hope you all have a great day :)

China Glaze Ring in the Red

Finals week is over and all of my papers are turned in :) I rewarded myself with a little treat from Sallys. The other day I saw one of the China Glaze mini holiday sets that came with Ring in the Red, Holly-Day, Twinkle Lights, & Velvet Bow. I picked it up along with some nail art brushes and did this mani.

Look at the sparkle :) The base is 3 coats of Ring in the Red.

I used Holy day for the green dots and flakes

It's a Candy Cane Christmas, Sweet as it can Be!

Finally, it is time for Christmas themed nails. My Rite Aid Snowman was just a starter

This was just a simple candy cane mani I did a few nights ago.
For the red I used China Glaze Ruby Pumps and the glitter coat is Savvy's Tinsel - very appropriate :)

Confetti Fruit Smoothie

The other day I was perusing my local CVS. I hadn't been there in a while so I was surprised to see that they still had a good selection of Confetti's left. Not many struck my fancy except one; Fruit Smoothie!

This is a really pretty creme. Its a bright pink, almost red!

I am in love!! I originally thought this was similar to Essie's watermelon

but I think this has a more red/orange tones to it.

I then added a BM design. I added it after I saw EmeraldSparkled's post with this design. I thought it was beautiful!

This is BM06

Essie Watermelon

I was browsing through my friends stash the other day and stumbled upon Essie's Watermelon, a gorgeous bright red-pink shade. I have not had much luck with Essie's in the past. The first one I bought was Jazz which I loved.

I then went on to try Tart Deco which I got because I thought it was a dupe for Haute as Hello (a shade I couldn't hunt down at the time). Tart Deco was a disaster for me. I disliked the application and it ended up drying a, not so attractive orange shade.

This shade gives me hope for Essie!! The application was smooth and easy and the opacity

could not have been better.

This could be the perfect everyday shade for me in the summer!

A day or two later I added some crack to it :)

So help me out guys. If I love this Essie, what other shades by Essie will I love!?