Sephora Cream Lip Stain (New Shades)

I have a few of the original Sephora Cream Lip Stain colors for years now and they are one of my favorite formulas for liquid matte lipsticks.  In general, they are non-drying, stay on for 6-8+ hours without weird peeling, and super comfortable.  I do find that the middle wears off faster than the rest, so it can leave that lip liner look at times, but it does re-apply really well without flaking off or anything.  Also, unlike some of the more liquidy formulas out this, this one is more whipped and absolutely does not bleed and you don't need a lip liner unless you want to.  The only con up until now was the very limited shade range available.

When I heard that they released more shades and now have 40 shades, I immediately went online and chose the shades I thought would be ones I would want to try - 23 Copper Blush and 24 Burnt Sienna.  Just like the other colors in this formula, I do not find these too drying, but it does stay on for the 6-8+ hours with normal eating and drinking.

I got in my Sephora box this morning and I did choose right!  Both colors are beautiful and in the neutral undertones I gravitate towards.

Copper Blush (left), Burnt Sienna (right) with flash

Copper Blush (left), Burnt Sienna (right) NO flash

The first one I tried is 24 - Burnt Sienna.  It's the darkest of the three shades and even though it's called Burnt Sienna, it's more berry in color than anything else, especially on my lips.

24 Burnt Sienna (in natural light)

The shade 23 in Copper Blush is the perfect natural dark mauve-blush color I love.  The color does dry down to a darker shade than that in the tube, so just be aware that the color on the tube is not the color that ends up on your lips.

23 Copper Blush (in natural light)

Overall, I highly recommend any shade really in the Sephora Cream Lip Stain line.  They are all opaque with one pass and end up staying on for most of the day without too much fuss.

The wear time so far is just like the others I had and the formula feels exactly the same.  It was slightly patchy on the first pass, but swiping the wand over it again evened it out pretty easily.  Only one dip was needed to cover my entire mouth and I love it.

Too Faced Peanut Butter & Jelly Palette Review

Peanut Butter & Jelly Palette

I love eye shadow palettes and when I heard that Too Faced was coming out with a palette that smelled like PB&J, I first thought "okay, gimmick".  Then I remembered how much I love the original Chocolate Bar palette, so I knew that I would have to do some research to see if the new PB&J palette is worth adding to my already extensive collection.

For someone who buys makeup just to buy, I have more than enough eye shadow palettes and have told myself that I will only buy new palettes if I found that they are different from my already vast collection of eye shadow palettes.

Now is the Too Faced Peanut Butter & Jelly palette completely unique and have exciting new colors? Not really.  What it does have is cute packaging, a condensed palette size, and colors that go well with each other to create some warm natural looks.  There is a good mix of matte and shimmer shades and while the color Jelly is almost sheer, it can be built up well and shows up nice with a little bit of work.

I love all of the colors in the palette, but just wish there was a darker brown outer-v color that could double as a liner.  I also found that while Peanut Butter and Nuts About U look different in the palette, once applied on the lid, for me at least, they come across almost the same color.  I think they could have swapped Nuts About U for the darker color and this palette would be my new holy grail. As it is, though, I mix Peanut Butter Cup and Jammin' and that creates a deep enough color to use on my outer-v.

I have traveled with this palette and the purples allow me to make a nice smokey look for any nights out and the other colors are good for day looks.  While the color combinations look like they wouldn't go well together, surprisingly, I found that all of the colors actually have many combinations that work very nicely.

I would say if you are someone who loves warm brown shades and pops of purple, this is a great everyday palette that transitions well to night time.  If you want a super versatile palette, this is not it.

Battle of the Dry Shampoos Review

I have always been part of the oily scalp club.  When I was younger, my mom used to keep my hair short so it would be easier to wash and manage.  Let's say I had the Asian-bowl hair cut until I was in junior high...

As I hit my teens, I discovered the usage of baby powder to help extend the time between shampooing and it changed everything for me!  I no longer had to spend at least 30-45 mins just blow-drying and giving my hair some semblance of style.  I have dark, coarse/thick, hair that has random waves in it.  When left to air dry with no product, let's say it frizzes, it kinks, and it gets really knotted up.

Enter the invention of dry shampoo!  The first dry shampoo I had used was the  Tresemme one and while I liked the fact that it definitely had a fresh scent, it stayed with you for the whole day and can be a little overwhelming.  The texture of the spray is fine at first, but it left my hair feeling super sticky/tacky and by the end of the day, I really wanted to wash it all off.  Not knowing any better, I finished 2 cans of this until I realized there were other, possibly better brands out there.




While on one of my weekly Target trips, I saw that other brands had started coming out with their own dry shampoos.  I zeroed in on Dove because I love, love, LOVE their Dove Damage Therapy Intensive Repair Conditioner.  The scent of this dry shampoo is exactly what I expect from the Dove line - light, slightly fragrant, and fresh.  I liked that it took care of my oily scalp and left my hair fresh all day.  It wasn't until the 4th or 5th use did I notice that I started having white flakes - like bigger than dandruff, and literally chunks (sorry if this is too graphic) all over my head.  I freaked out.  I have never had dandruff before and it was something I didn't know what to do.  I went out and purchased dandruff shampoo and hoped it would work.  After shampooing, everything looked fine, so I thought, problem solved.  The next day, I sprayed on some of the Dove dry shampoo and by mid-day, I had the flakes again!  I realized the dry shampoo may actually be the cause and so I did a text spot on it the following day and sure enough, it was flaky in just the area I sprayed it.  As much as it pained me to waste product, I trashed it so I wouldn't forget and end up using it again.  I think this dry shampoo did such a great job, it actually ended up making my scalp dry!


Next I tried what is now a cult favorite - Batiste and I have to say, it is everything I had thought a dry shampoo should be.  It controlled the oil, gave me great volume, and the scent I had used was Fresh, so it exactly that - fresh!  I tried different versions and at such an affordable price, I went through multiple cans.






Of course the grass is always greener on the other side, so I started venturing out to more expensive brands with high hopes that if an inexpensive brand like Batiste is that good already, these 3x-the-price brands should be fabulous!  I tried the Living Proof one which is good, but more musky in scent, so if you don't like it, definitely stay away because this scent will stay on your hair until you wash it!  While good, the Living Proof one didn't add much volume and by the end of the day, my hair does not feel as fresh as it did at the beginning of the day. 

Next, I tried the dry shampoo from Klorane which is touted to be great for oil control, freshness, and volume.  I actually love this dry shampoo!  The scent was light, but didn't stay on your hair to interfere with any other fragrance you might have on.  The oil control was so good and it did add some volume without much effort.  There also was not much white cast on it and I loved using it whenever I needed a hair refresher.  The problem was, I went through one can so fast - literally in one month, it was done.  This is twice as fast as any other dry shampoo I had used.  At over $20 a can, this was just too much of an expense for daily use.

I have gone back to Batiste and wonder why I ever tried anything else.  It gives me everything I need and at a really great price!  There are multiple different scents available and for those who really worry about the white cast, there are tinted options too!

Too Faced Melted Matte - Sell Out Review

So this whole matte liquid lipstick craze - I definitely fell into it for the past year.  It's really hard not to when all of my favorite Youtubers do lip swatches and compare them all. 

When I was in my early 20s, I never saw myself as a lipstick kind of gal.  I was more into lip glosses or just lip balms since I didn't have to worry too much about re-applying or how precise I have to be so my lips don't look lop-sided.  Let's face it, my laziness was real then and is still in effect even now.

For the past few years, I have started delving into lipsticks and even trying out some out-of-my-comfort-zone colors.  I generally tend to lean towards rosy-pinks or browny-pinks and mauves for my everyday kind of lip.

In comes liquid lipsticks that promise to stay on and not budge, which means I don't have to re-apply (ding ding, my lazy gene likes the sound of this).  I have tried quite a few of the liquid lipsticks out there that have flooded the marketplace this past year from Stila, Colour Pop, Dose of Colors, OFRA, and TheBalm. 

When I saw that Too Faced was coming out with their version, I could not wait!  I had gotten an email from Sephora about the pre-launch for VIB Rouge and VIB members and I just had to do it.  On the site, there are 17 shades with short descriptions of the colors.  I know they try their best, but these descriptions were of no help to me.  The lighter colors all looked the same when scrolled over and I didn't want to splurge and buy all of them only to go and return them later since I usually have a hard time finding lighter colors that don't make me look washed out. 

I decided on ordering Queen B which is described as a matte soft mauve.  Queen B came and I immediately tried it on.  It was more gray-toned than I expected and after it dried down, looked very similar to other colors I already had in my collection from Colour Pop like a mix of Trap and Teeny Tiny.  While I love the color, I couldn't justify having yet another gray-mauve color in my collection. 

I returned it and after scrolling through swatches online, I decided to try Sell Out which is described as matte soft pinky-brown.  In the tube under fluorescent lights, the color looks almost orange-tinged to me, but I bought it and am so glad that I did!  The color is actually exactly as described - a soft pinky-brown.  This is the kind of color that I love to wear and goes with everything.

No flash

I know it's not even, but bear with me!

The formula is very comfortable when compared to some of the other brands I had tried before.  It comes out very liquidy and opaque with one swipe.  This is does not have that mousse-like texture that OFRA or Dose of Colors has.  This is more similar to Colour Pop and Stila, but a lot more comfortable.  On me, with a day of drinking water through a straw and eating regular food, this lasts about 8-10 hours and does wear down in the middle, but the color wears down so evenly, it's is hard to tell unless I get up-close to a mirror.  Overall, I have to say I LOVE this formula and will definitely pick up a few more colors. 

My Foray into Sunday Riley Products

As someone who has always been into skincare, I was never really that adventurous to branch out and try too many different brands.  I find a brand I like and stick to it.  Now that I'm aging gracefully, I find that my skincare needs are changing and I have to look at other products that may cater to those needs.

After researching other blogs and reviews from Sephora and Ulta, I decided to try Sunday Riley's  Power Couple Duo to see what all of the fuss was about.  Since Sephora just recently had their VIB sale, it was the perfect time to try this set of products without completely breaking the bank.

The Luna Sleeping Oil is instructed to be used before putting on any other product.  The blue oil is a little scary to see slathered over your face, but with a few rubs, the color completely disappears.  There is a slight scent to it that is not unpleasant, but for people who are sensitive to fragrance, you have been warned.  After rubbing on this sleeping oil, I play a game on my phone, brush my teeth, or just read a chapter in a book to let the oil really sink into my skin. 

After about 5-10 minutes, I apply one pump of Good Genes and smooth that all over my face.  It has a light, almost citrusy scent to it that goes away completely once applied.  I love the way anything feels applied over the Luna oil because my face feels soft and supple.  Combined with Good Genes, I feel like my sun spots and freckles have lightened some. 

I have only used these products for the past 2 weeks and while it certainly isn't enough to say they are miracle products, I have not had such immediate results with many other skincare items.  For the price, I am glad I purchased the duo first to see if it would work long-term before committing to the staggering price tag on both products.  For now I am completely enjoying the way it feels on my skin and the effects on my sun spots.