20% off sale stuff from Sephora

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I'm not going to post a lot of deals today, because my internet access while staying with my parents is spotty, but this one is interesting. Extra 20% off things in the sale section on the Sephora site today with code EXTRA20. The Bite Beauty holiday sets are marked down there: the huge Discovery Set is down to $40 from $55 and you get an extra 20% off on top of that. I used a gift card to pick that up. The Bite duos that I posted about here are marked down to $10 from $14 (+ 20% off). Unfortunately the dark berry one I have is sold out, but the others look interesting too. And of course there is a bunch of other stuff in the sale section of the site, including the Urban Decay Vice4 palette.

Remember, you can get an extra percentage off using Ebates, too--right now it's 4% at Sephora. (Here's my invite link.)

Sheer, matte . . . gloss? Review of Maybelline ColorSensational Vivid Matte Liquid in Berry Boost

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Don't forget to enter my lipstick giveaway here! Ends tonight at midnight.

I got this Maybelline Vivid Matte Liquid in Berry Boost as compensation for doing L'Oreal consumer testing (more on that here). When I first saw it, I wasn't particularly excited, because I tend to hate liquid matte lipsticks. Most of the ones I've tried have been horrendously drying. I find them difficult to apply neatly and they tend to wear off in an ugly way--flaky and patchy and impossible to touch up without removing them completely. I really think that the popularity of Instagram beauty accounts is one of the main reasons those products have become ubiquitous recently. I know some people (apparently) wear them successfully in real life, but they seem mainly designed to be worn for about 20 minutes while creating a beautiful Instagram photo and then to be removed. But I thought, hey, I haven't written a post about how much I hated something recently, so maybe this Maybelline Matte Liquid will at least be useful for grumpy ranting purposes.

No such luck(?). It's actually not bad. And it's different from any lip product I've tried before. It's not really a lipstick or a lip gloss or a lip stain. It's sort of between a gloss and a stain. Let me explain.

It's not an opaque, paint-like liquid lipstick like most of the other liquid mattes I've seen. Of all the things I've used in the past, it's most similar to the Wet N Wild Fergie High Shine lip stain (now discontinued, I believe) that I reviewed here, except matte, rather than shiny. (That WNW stuff started to smell funky after about 6 months and I threw it out, so I hope this Maybelline doesn't do the same.) It's similar in texture and feel, the applicator is similar, the opacity and pigmentation is similar--but the Maybelline stuff turns matte after a few minutes rather than staying glossy.

Here it is immediately after I applied it. A little shine:

What this seems to be is a semi-sheer gloss stain, except "gloss" would suggest, you know, glossy, and this isn't. It's not super matte, but it gets more and more matte the longer you wear it. And it feels soft and slippery on your lips like a gloss. Not sticky and definitely not transfer-proof, though I haven't had any trouble with it smearing.

Here it is about an hour after application. A little more matte. Can you tell the difference in the photo? I think it looks a bit shinier here than it does in person.

Even if you apply multiple layers, it won't become completely opaque. Because it's not opaque, it's easier to apply than a liquid that is--except that the long, stiff wand is kind of a pain in the ass to use. You can see in the lip photos that the edges aren't perfect. If absolute precision is important to you, it would be best to use a lip brush to apply it, but I can't be bothered. Since the long doe foot picks up a lot of product, if you're going to apply it directly, I recommend wiping some off and starting in the middle of your lips, so that when you outline the edges you don't make a mess.

I also like to apply just a light wash with my finger tip to create a nice stain. It's quite pretty that way. And it does stain the lips, so you can apply balm over it and retain some good color. I've been wearing it this way for family holiday events during the last week, and it lasts well through turkey and wine.

I find this stuff slightly drying, but it's not terrible. It's not so bad that I want to avoid it. The worst part is probably the fragrance, which I can not only smell but even taste. It's a bit fruity but also floral, and not particularly pleasant. I'm not sure what fruit it's supposed to be. It's hard to describe.

I haven't tried any of the other colors, so I can't promise that they all perform the same way--and there aren't many reviews out there yet, since this is a pretty new release. As for Berry Boost itself, I don't see much berry in it. In the tube and a heavy swatch, it's kind of berry, or maybe fuchsia, I suppose, depending on the lighting. There's not much, if any, purple in it, which I'd expect in a berry shade. On my lips, it really just becomes bright pink. The color in the tube and the color on my lips aren't too close. And like I said, since it doesn't build up to opacity, I think you would have a hard time recreating the color in the tube, though it's possible that the natural pink color of my lips is doing something here. Here are some comparison swatches: Revlon Balm Stain in Smitten (left), Maybelline Vivid Matte Liquid in Berry Boost (middle), and Wet N Wild MegaLast lipstick in Sugar Plum Fairy.

I haven't used a product quite like this before. From reviews I've read, it sounds like this might be similar to the L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte Glosses, though I haven't personally tried any of those. I wouldn't be surprised to find similarities, since L'Oreal owns Maybelline too. If you like sheer, cushiony stains, but not shiny or sticky glosses, the Maybelline Vivid Matte Liquid might be worth checking out. Anyone else tried these yet? Or something similar? What do you think?

My favorite dry shampoo: Batiste Cherry

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I use dry shampoo pretty regularly. I have what I think is best described as combination hair: oily at the roots, dry at the ends. Because it's oily, I can't do that whole thing where you don't wash your hair for 4-5 days that I always see recommended on blogs. It would get nasty. I know people say if you stop washing your hair as frequently, it stops being as oily, but I don't know if I believe that--and I am not willing to go a few weeks with smelly, greasy hair to test that theory. If you have been endowed with hair the "looks better the second day," I fully admit my jealousy. Without dry shampoo, if I wash my hair before bed the night before, it's limp and stringy by the following late afternoon or evening. With dry shampoo, I can go between 36-48 hours without washing my hair, but that's it. I'm fine with that. I try to stretch it out to those 48 hours so that I can avoid drying out the rest of my hair with excessive washing, and that's where dry shampoo fits into my routine.

So it serves a definite function, but at the same time, I know that I don't need to keep buying cans of it for $6, because lots of less expensive substances, like corn starch, will work just about as well. That's what I used to use before I even knew that dry shampoo in a can existed. The advantage of a simple loose powder, other than cost, is that it doesn't create a cloud around your head that you have to avoid inhaling. The disadvantage is that it's messier and harder to distribute evenly than an aerosol. I also prefer my dry shampoo to have a nice scent, and though I've thought about ways to add fragrance to corn starch, I've never got around to actually experimenting with that. I end up going back to dry shampoo cans, even though I sometimes think I shouldn't.

Accordingly, I've reviewed a lot of dry shampoos on this blog. Some of them good, some of them terrible, but I kept trying new ones, because I felt like there had to be one out there that ticked all the boxes for me: pleasant but not overwhelming fragrance that doesn't make me cough or sneeze, doesn't leave powdery residue on my scalp, absorbs oil, doesn't give a bad texture to my hair, doesn't make my hair look dull, adds a little volume, easy to spread though the hair and brush out. I've used some dry shampoos do well on some or most of those requirements, but there was almost always something not quite right.

Lots of people recommended Batiste, but I'd tried their original scent ages ago and didn't like it, so I sort of ruled them out. Most of the other scent descriptions don't sound like things I would like: "wild" (i.e. vanilla and musk) or "blush" etc. But I do like fruity scents, so long as the fruit isn't apple or watermelon. Or banana. Or coconut or raspberry. I'm really picky about fragrance, apparently. An unpleasant perfume can ruin an otherwise decent product for me. I'd never seen the Cherry scent in a store, but I noticed it one day last fall on Ulta's website and decided to go for it. It was an excellent choice, because this dry shampoo covers all the bases for me. So, to repeat myself for eeeeemphasis, these are all the things I like about Batiste Cherry Dry Shampoo:

• Smells good, but not overpowering.
• Not messy.
• Doesn't leave white residue on my scalp or roots.
• Absorbs oil well.
• Easy to distribute evenly through hair and to brush out.
• Leaves my hair feeling soft and normal, not rough or stiff. Easy to run my fingers through my hair after using it.
• Adds a little volume.
• Leaves my hair looking as shiny as it ordinarily is rather than dulling the shine at the roots/crown.
• Can matches my blog's color scheme. (Obviously the most important feature.)

Here are the requisite awkward before and after photos of the top of my head. Before (24 hours after washing):

After (just looks like normal, clean hair, I think):

If I had to come up with a criticism, it's that sometimes I find the fragrance that lingers in my bathroom after I use it a little strong. Other days, I'm not sure why I had a problem with it. I think it just depends on my mood. It is a slightly floral, cherry scent, a bit like the opening, very ephemeral notes of Escada's Cherry in the Air perfume. If you don't like the taste/smell of cherry candy, then you should probably choose a different scent.

I reviewed this stuff on Instagram last year, but then I decided to use up all my old, inferior dry shampoos before buying any more. I almost made it through them, but I do still have a little bit of that Klorane dry shampoo to finish. I picked up my latest (third) can of Batiste when Target had a beauty sale recently, because Target seems to sell it for slightly cheaper than most other places to begin with ($6). It costs the same amount in store or online at Target, unlike some things they sell, and I have actually seen the Cherry variety on the shelves there recently. Amazon has it for $6 right now too.

So that's it! I've found my favorite, and as of now I plan to keep using this until I become ambitious and responsible enough to DIY a scented corn starch, I guess.

Review: Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection + Giveaway!

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Because people click my Paula's Choice invite link here on my blog, I've been able to try some things from the brand that I ordinarily wouldn't buy for myself. One such thing is this set of four lip crayons for $45. At $11.25 a piece, they're not too much more expensive than most drugstore lipsticks, but I haven't been especially impressed by PC makeup in the past, so I probably wouldn't have gambled. Since I had some credits, however, I figured I would give them a shot--turns out I like (most of) these! And since I got them because of the blog, it seems right to review them here. As further thanks, there's also a giveaway at the end of the post.

Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection (top to bottom): Winter Berry, Currant, Plum, and Sugar.

These four lipsticks in crayon format are described as "satin matte." There are two reds, a dark berry, and a sheer, pearly shimmer. They apparently all have names, but I threw out the box, and the pencils themselves aren't labeled, so I am getting these names from the Paula's Choice website and hoping I assign them correctly: Winter Berry, Currant, Plum, and Sugar. 

Sugar is the sheer shimmer. I'm sure of that, at least. In trying to sort the others out, we come to something I found slightly disappointing about this set, i.e. that it contains two reds. In fact, the labels of all three colors look so similar, that I usually have to hold them side by side to figure out which one I want. My guess is that Paula's Choice probably intended to create a set that included a pink, a red, a berry, and a sheer shimmer. That would make sense, right? Instead we have a pink-red, a true red, a berry, and a sheer shimmer. The colors are lovely, but the variety is a bit lacking.

Paula's Choice Berry & Bright Lip Pencil Collection: Winter Berry, Currant, Plum, and Sugar.

The differences are clearer when you look at the lipstick itself, but obviously we are dealing with two different reds here, not a pink and a red.

25% off any one book from Amazon

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Not bad, of you were planning to buy someone a book as a present. Of course, I bought one last week. Use code 25OFFBOOK. May only be used once, ends Dec. 14. More info here.

Sales: Tarte (30% off), Urban Decay (free shipping), ASOS beauty 30% off

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So I just posted about excess consumerism and now I'm telling you about sales. The things is: if you're going to buy something anyway, you might as well wait for a sale instead of impulse purchasing. Maybe by the time a sale comes along, you won't want it anymore. If you do, then it's a good thing you waited.

Tarte has 30% off everything and free shipping over $25 until tomorrow (Dec. 10). Use code FRIEND30. This is the sale, last year, where I bought the lip crayon I talked about here, as well as their Amazonian Clay foundation--which I returned, since it was too yellow for me (reviewed here). I did end up paying return shipping, but you're unlikely to get 30% off somewhere else like Sephora. If you have Tarte stuff on your list, this is the way to go. They have a good sale section too.

Urban Decay has free ground shipping on all orders, no minimum, until Dec. 31. I recommend checking out their sale section where you can get their eyeshadow primer for $10. It really is good stuff (reviewed here).

ASOS also has 30% off beauty. Again, this is the sale in which last year I bought a foundation that I ended up returning (Bourjois, also reviewed here). They have a bunch of other brands that are difficult to find in the US. I'm sad they no longer have free shipping on all orders, though (now it's $4, or free for $40+ orders).

Anything else going on right now that's worth mentioning?

"Self care" and consumerism

I touched on some of these points a few weeks ago when I wrote about people who convince themselves that the more expensive cosmetics they buy are objectively better--or even that they themselves are better for buying them. Part of this attitude, I think, relates to a current cultural idea that we all "deserve" luxury in some form. Maybe we can't all live in huge houses, but we are still "good enough" to deserve a Tom Ford lipstick. This type of thinking is intimately connected to the self-care imperative that is becoming more and more widespread, no longer limited to Tumblr and xoJane. While I think self care is a valuable concept in some ways--especially for women, who have been taught that we have to keep on top of everything and be responsible for others in addition to, or instead of, ourselves--"self care" and "treat yourself!" have become nearly synonymous, in a creepy but unsurprisingly capitalist way. Rather than looking after ourselves by taking an hour to sit peacefully in our bedrooms reading a book, we should just buy a bottle of nail polish. There's a lot more I could say about this, but this article in The Atlantic already says it. It is very worth reading (and short!). Interestingly enough, it actually quotes Jane Marie (formerly) of Millihelen on why self care seems unachievable.

Concealer comparisons (and a rave review): Sephora Collection Bright Future Gel Serum Concealer in Fondant vs. theBalm Time Balm Concealer in Lighter than Light in vs. Stila Stay All Day Concealer in Fair

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The title gets really long when you include the full names of three different products!

One of the only types of makeup I've worn consistently since high school is undereye concealer. I inherited extremely dark under-eye circles from my dad. I don't really have bags or puffiness, but I have dark purple half-circles (the shocking photo appears later in the post!) that are only enhanced by the contrast with my pale skin. I think the cause has something to do with my sinuses, but whatever it is, if I don't cover them, I look pretty sickly and ghoulish. As a result, I've tried dozens of concealers over the decades years, and I keep trying new ones. I think I've said before that I am a bit of a concealer Goldilocks--I'm always convinced that there must be one that's just right out there somewhere. I think I have finally found it, so read on to see which one of these it is.

In addition to very dark, purplish circles that need to be covered, I have some other challenges when it comes to finding an effective concealer. I have some lines/wrinkles under my eyes that tend to cause concealer to crease. My eyelids are also oily, which exacerbates the creasing and also makes things fade more quickly. As a bonus, the skin around under my eyes has a weirdly rough texture, which an inferior concealer will highlight.

(Be warned: long, detailed review with lots of photos ahead.)