Plummy bronze: Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Accident and Urban Decay Revolution Lip Gloss in Shadowheart

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Can you tell I couldn't come up with a good title? Titles are always the hardest part of any writing. In general, though, I've been struggling a bit with motivation/inspiration to blog lately, even though I've been fully enjoying my beauty products. I think I've figured something out. I usually have some kind of angle to my posts, like a comparison or an analysis, you know? At the very least I'm trying to write about whether or not something is worth buying. But right now I have a lot of products that I haven't written about, but that don't exactly have a hook. So I've been feeling like I have nothing to write about, even though I actually have a ton of shit. It's not that these products aren't interesting; it's just that they aren't gimmicky or controversial, etc. But I'm just going to go ahead and write about them anyway. Why not? We'll look at some pretty (I hope) pictures together and think about makeup and skincare. I definitely still have some of my old tricks up my sleeve, but I'm also going to work my way through my hoard and show you all the things. Does that sound cool?

I'm starting with a lipstick I bought in the fall, Urban Decay Vice Accident, and a gloss I bought earlier in the winter, Urban Decay Revolution Shadowheart. They're an obvious pairing since they're almost exactly the same color in two different formulas and finishes (obviously). Shadowheart has been discontinued, along with the rest of the Revolution glosses, but you may still be able to get it for $11 on Urban Decay's site, which is where I got this tube. It's also been included in their new lip gloss formula, which isn't available yet.

(Side note: It looks like Urban Decay changed their loyalty program so that you don't get free shipping until the second tier, which is too bad. But if you're going to shop from their site anyway, I think it's still worth joining to get the birthday gift, etc. This is my referral link, which gives you 10 points.)

Accident is one of the metallized Vice lipsticks, with a plummy brown base and gold shimmer. The brown is on the neutral side (is neutral a side?), but it will probably look different depending on your natural lip color, since it's just a little sheer. Shadowheart looks a bit redder in the tube, but is also a brown base with gold shimmer, though not nearly as metallic as Accident.

Why did I buy a gloss the same color as a lipstick I already had? I DON'T KNOW.

Here, swatches! Accident on the left, Shadowheart on the right.

See how similar they are? Shadow heart has a little more red in it, but it's very close.

It's interesting how Accident doesn't look very reflective in a swatch, like it does on the lips. Arm swatches can only tell you so much. Let me show you.

Here is Accident on my lips:

Like I said, it's a bit sheer, so I apply a layer, blot, and then apply a second layer. I haven't had any trouble with bleeding or settling into lip lines. The wear time is decent, and it doesn't look ugly as it wears off, though it's certainly not an unusually long-wearing lipstick. It's extremely comfortable, just like almost every Urban Decay lipstick I've tried. (The exception is Sheer F-Bomb, reviewed here.) It feels lovely--I'd go as far as to say it's a actually moisturizing.

Here's my whole face. (Excuse the terrible reflections on my glasses. I've yet to find the right lighting for selfies in this apartment. If I go out on the balcony, I end up squinting and frowning, but inside in front of a window this happens. I'm working on it. Maybe I should get Lasik for purely blogging purposes.)

I think that the pink in my lips enhances the plum in this lipstick a little, and those purplish undertones help it to be more flattering on me than a true brown lipstick would be. The gold shimmer gives Accident a glossy look as much as a metallic finish. It's a really fun and unusual lipstick, but totally wearable for pretty much any occasion. Here's another photo of it in warmer indoor lighting.

Shadowheart was a little disappointing, because it looks more shimmery and opaque in Temptalia's photos. I also have the Revolution gloss in After Dark, which is so opaque that it's almost a liquid lipstick, so I had high expectations.

In the photo above, I've applied a pretty heavy layer of Shadowheart, and you can see that it's still pretty sheer and a little patchy. It doesn't look bad from a distance, though (below). The gold shimmer is extremely understated. It's a nice gloss in a great color that I didn't have--it just doesn't have the impact of Accident. It is, however, just as comfortable and moisturizing as the lipstick.

See? A pretty gloss, for sure. Using Too Faced's Lip Insurance (reviewed here) helps a bit with the pigmentation, and Shadowheart also looks great layered on top of Accident.

As you can see, I've now fully embraced the brown lipstick life. I'm enjoying both of these, though if I had to choose, obviously I'd go with Accident. It's a really special lipstick in my overflowing collection. Shadowheart has been included in the new Urban Decay lip gloss selection, though, so maybe they've amped up the shimmer and pigment. Here's hoping!

Do I Need This? Lip Primer (Comparison of Too Faced Lip Insurance Lip Primer, e.l.f. Lip Lock Pencil, and Bite Beauty Line & Define Lip Primer)

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Welcome to the latest installment of my Do I Need This? series. In these posts, I offer my experience and opinion about whether or not I think a product or technique is worth it. Obviously, you don't really need ANY beauty products, so the answer to the question is always going to be no, to some extent. But is it going to change your life (or face)? Is it going to make things easier? Are you going to notice any difference at all? That's what I'm getting at. You may disagree with my verdict, because we all have different bodies/faces/brains/desires, but I'll try to offer a starting point, at least. 

One of the ways beauty companies keep us buying things is by continually creating new categories of suddenly indispensable products. Primer is one category that has certainly been growing over the last five years or so. Suddenly we need to prime everything: our faces, our eyelids, and even, apparently, our hair. I'm not going to be buying any hair primer, and foundation primer rarely seems to actually do anything to improve my makeup, but eyeshadow primer has actually become essential for me. I used to rarely bother with eyeshadow because it creased and melted off in a couple of hours, so primer makes a huge difference. But lipsticks and lip glosses can be finicky and fleeting too. Will lip primer do anything to make our lives easier? Or is it just another gimmick?

Do you need lip primer?

Short answer: Maybe, if you have problems with lip color feathering or pigmented glosses fading.

I'm going to compare three different lip primers here--one very cheap and two pretty expensive, one a thick liquid and two waxy sticks. Too Faced Lip Insurance Lip Primer ($20) is a whitish, translucent liquid product that comes in a tube with a doe foot applicator. It's similar to an eyeshadow primer (though I tried using eyeshadow primer on my lips and it was not a success). Bite Beauty Line & Define Lip Primer ($22) and e.l.f. Lip Lock Pencil ($3) are very similar, hard, matte, waxy crayons. The main difference is that the Bite product smells minty. (Note: I have a mini version of the Bite primer, which was part of the holiday Bite Discovery Kit.) No swatches of the primers here, because they are all nearly transparent. All three products make essentially the same claims: to prevent feathering and make lip color last longer. I tested each product with the same tricky lip gloss and lipstick.

Not my greatest photography.

First up, lip gloss. One of my favorite lip glosses is Avon Glazewear in Intense Plum (now sadly discontinued but still available on Amazon). As the name suggests, it's a quite pigmented purplish gloss. The problem is that that once I blot it, most of the color disappears. Wearing a thick layer of it, however, isn't really an option, because it gets messy and smeary. Too high maintenance. So a primer that can keep it in place at full strength would be ideal.

(Many, many photos below, so I will give you a cut.)

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?

Quest for Coral

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Settle in, because this is going to be an epic quest. Sometime in April, when I'd had about enough of the gloom, I decided I would declare this the Summer of Coral. It's kind of like the Summer of George, but on my face. I was going to find a bright coral lip product that I loved and wear the fuck out of it. I already owned some options, but none of them was quite right, so I started shopping. Here I've laid out all the lip products I now own that are coral or coral adjacent. There are some that turned out to be orange or orange-red, but if nothing else they provide a basis for comparison.

Here is the full array (lip swatches and more info for each below):

Left to right: Stila Lip Glaze in Melon, Revlon Moisture Stain in Cannes Crush, BareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Light It Up, Wet N Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in What's Up Doc?, Wet N Wild MegaLast Lipstick in Purty Persimmon, ULTA Automatic Lip Liner in Scarlet, Life's Entropy Lip Theory in Apoptosis, Life's Entropy Lip Theory in Recursion, L'Oreal Pop Balm in Caring Coral.

And here are swatches of all of them:

Swatches (left to right): Stila Lip Glaze in Melon, Revlon Moisture Stain in Cannes Crush, BareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Light It Up, Wet N Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in What's Up Doc?, Wet N Wild MegaLast Lipstick in Purty Persimmon, ULTA Automatic Lip Liner in Scarlet, Life's Entropy Lip Theory in Apoptosis, Life's Entropy Lip Theory in Recursion, L'Oreal Pop Balm in Caring Coral.

More below the cut, because I have a thousand photos and a million words to go.

Revlon Colorburst Moisture Stain in Cannes Crush (Review)

So it occurred to me that if I could take mediocre photos with my phone and post them to Instagram, I could also take mediocre photos with my phone and post them to my blog, cutting out at least part of the process and saving some time. What a treat for you. Let's face it, though, if you are someone who demands flawless photography, you're probably not a reader of my blog anyway.

Here's a quick review of this glossy stain stuff from Revlon. On the plus side, it is a gorgeous pinkish coral color, it does feel moisturizing, and it does leave a stain. On the minus, the pretty coral glossiness wears away quite quickly, and on my lips, at least, which are fairly pigmented, the stain just ends up being slightly pink. That fucking awesome coral lasts maybe 30-40 min tops. I wouldn't be too disappointed it it were a regular gloss, but since it's supposed to stain, it's a big womp womp.

Immediately after applying, it's vibrant, glossy, and a little milky. It can look slightly patchy, but it becomes more translucent within minutes, so the patchiness goes away.

This second photo was taken about 20 min later. As you can see, most of the gloss has worn off and the color is less vibrant. The stain tends to wear away more in the middle of my lips, but that's pretty normal.

So while I don't dislike this shit, exactly, I'm kind of disappointed that this was what I decided to use my precious CVS bucks on. I already have plenty of pink lip products, including stains. I wanted coral. I'm trying not to buy any more makeup these days because I have way too fucking much, and this was sadly not an exciting way to break that no buy streak.

It's not a bad product and you might have better luck if your lips are less pigmented or if you choose a different shade. At 0.27 oz. it's bigger than most glosses. If you already own any of the recent glossy stains that pretty much every company has been putting out, including the ones in the photo below, then you basically know how it's going to feel and apply, etc. I'd say it's closest to the L'Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain (briefly reviewed here), which also starts out a little more milky/opaque and then sets to a more translucent appearance.

(And then I finished writing this post on my phone and realized that the Blogger app doesn't let you add links so I had to do that on my computer, and it screws up the formatting, and what the fuck, why is it so terrible? I tried.)

Two drugstore stain glosses: Wet N Wild Fergie Vicious Varnish High Shine Lip Stain in Flawless and Milani Power Lip Lasting & Moisturizing Gloss Stain in Cabernet Blend

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It's been a while. Oops. In the meantime, I managed to get a part time job, so I'm at least nominally employed. And my cat got sick again, which makes that about the 500th time in the last year. She's fine now, but I think that if she decides she needs any additional medical care, she's going to have to get a job and stop mooching off of me.

There have been other distractions, but let's just get back to the damned makeup, shall we?

I got both of these stain-gloss things a few months ago at about the same time, so it makes sense to me to review them together.

Wet N Wild Fergie Vicious Varnish High Shine Lip Stain in Flawless and Milani Power Lip Lasting & Moisturizing Gloss Stain in Cabernet Blend

Let's start with Wet N Wild Fergie Vicious Varnish High Shine Lip Stain in Flawless ($3.50). One thing both of these products have in common is long fucking names. The Wet N Wild stuff has a really interesting, slippery, and almost gelatinous texture. Sounds nice, right? Ha. Well, the closest thing I have to it is a L'Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain (review here), which makes sense, since that's also a stain-gloss. The L'Oreal's texture is a little stickier, though. I've never used anything quite like this Wet N Wild stain. I do like how it feels, but it might take getting used to for some people. It's packaged in your typical gloss tube with a particularly long and flexible doe foot applicator.

Wet N Wild Fergie Vicious Varnish High Shine Lip Stain in Flawless

Two $3 Essence lip thingies

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Wow, two actual reviews in a row, rather than just posts ruminating on my weird behavior. Don't worry, it's not in me to stop ruminating, but maybe you'd like to hear about some makeup that you could pick up as a cheap treat. One is good, and the other is potentially good for people who aren't me.

Essence Stay With Me Longlasting Lipgloss in Choose Me! and Essence Stay Matt Lip Cream in Smooth Berry

The first of the two products is Essence Stay With Me Longlasting Lipgloss in Choose Me! The color of this gloss is difficult to categorize. In the tube, it looks like a sort of plummy or burgundy shade with pinkish shimmer. On the lips, the shimmer is pretty much invisible other than to add a bit to the shine, and it's sheer enough that it just sort of deepens my natural lip color and adds some warmth and sheen. It makes my lips more rosy, but not at all vampy, like you might expect from looking at the tube. It doesn't settle into lines as much as it might appear from the photo - that's just the nature of closeups of sheer things, in my experience. It's a very wearable, everyday color. Flattering, too, at least on me. (I hope I've never claimed that something is "universally" flattering, because I've been disappointed by recommendations that made the promise before.)

Essence Stay With Me Longlasting Lipgloss in Choose Me!

Buying things I shouldn't (in drugstore clearance sales)

Okay, I'm going to get back on schedule around here for real this time. I was swamped for a couple of weeks with a graduation (mine - you can call me Dr. Cheap now) and a wedding (not mine) in Canada, but now I have nothing to do but sit at home putting on makeup and being unemployed. That should mean more blogging for a while.

This is a short one. Just thought I'd show you what I got for about $6 at Walgreens today:

• e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal
• e.l.f. Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Pink Lemonade
• Milani Baked Blush in Corallina

All of these things were 50% off. Not a huge deal for the e.l.f. shit, since you can get it for that price regularly on their website, but I thought what the hell. I want to compare that Shimmering Facial Whip to Benefit High Beam, since it's supposed to be a dupe. I like the other Liquid Lipstick I have, so we'll see about this one. The Milani blush is a little more exciting. I've heard good things about this one, and $4+ isn't bad.

You can find very useful info about the Walgreens and CVS clearance sales on Nouveau Cheap. I went to CVS too, but didn't find much there except for some of the scented Revlon polishes for about $2.50. But no more nail polish for me. None!

A $4 dupe for Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar? (from Vampy Varnish)

Whoa, looks like it. I am going to have to get my hands on one of the L.A. Girl Glazed Lip Paints, I guess.

HauteLook Lip Beauty Bag $24: What do you think?

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For $24 (plus shipping) you get a makeup bag with 10 items in it. It includes a LORAC lip gloss, a Laura Geller lipstick, a NYX lip liner, and some tools, among other things. You can check it all out here. One of the items is a Mirenesse Lip Bomb, which I once got in a Birchbox, and honestly wasn't very impressed with. It's basically a liquid lipstick, like a very very pigmented lip gloss, that's kind of messy and wears off in an ugly way.

Do you think it's worth it? Does it look exciting to you? I'm really asking. I have a couple of credits (thanks to whomever used my link!), and I wonder if this is a good way to spend them or not.

If you got a POP Beauty lip gloss in a recent Ipsy bag, you should probably throw it away

There seems to have been some kind of problem with the ingredients used in manufacturing, and people have reported burning and redness after using their gloss. More info here, here, and here. I got one, and I didn't have a reaction to it. I threw it in a drawer somewhere, because I didn't like the color, but I'm going to dig it out and toss it. Not worth keeping around if the company doesn't even know what fucking ingredients were used to make it.

Glossy/sheer red lip comparisons

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I wanted to swatch all of my red lip products that are on the sheer side to see if I had any dupes that I could eliminate. I figured I might as well take a photo and post it, in case that sort of thing is useful to anyone else.

From left to right above:

Revlon ColorStay Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Romantic
Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Candy Apple
Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Cherry Tart
H&M Lip Pencil in Million Dollar Lips (Red)
Sephora Gloss Lipstick (unknown shade name)*
Stila Lip Glaze in Persimmon
Be a Bombshell Lip Gloss in Hot Mess
e.l.f. Super Glossy Lip Shine in New York City*

* These ones seem to be discontinued.

In the end, the only ones that are really very close are the Stila and Be a Bombshell glosses. I prefer the BAB formula. It's thinner, and so it will bleed slightly more, but it's easier to apply, feels better, and lasts really well. So bye bye Stila.

Here's a lip swatch of Hot Mess:

You can see lip swatches of a couple of the Revlon ones here. The color of the Revlon Balm Stain in Romantic and the Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple look pretty similar, but the formula is totally different, so they can both stay. I fail at eliminating things! Sheer reds with some sheen are just so fucking pretty, though.

Is e.l.f. Essential Hypershine Gloss ($1) a dupe for Stila Lip Glaze ($8)?

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You may have noticed that e.l.f. regularly makes products that look like more expensive products from other brands. They imitate the packaging, sometimes the name, and the basic type of product in an apparently attempt to attract people who want the higher-end item but aren't willing or able to spend the extra money for it. A good example is the crazy cream blush I reviewed a while ago. Their strategy seems to work fairly well, because you'll often see e.l.f. products suggested as cheaper alternatives to similar-looking higher end cosmetics.

It's important to be aware, however, that often what e.l.f. is replicating is just the appearance of the product - that is, the packaging. They don't necessarily try to recreate the formula of the more expensive inspiration: the texture, pigmentation, scent, wear, finish, etc. That means that they are not necessarily a reliable source of real dupes. It's marketing, not SWFing.

e.l.f. Hypershine Gloss has been around forever and has been a favorite of mine for years. Though there are other brands that sell glosses in this click-brush type of packaging, Stila seems to me like the most likely reference point for e.l.f.'s version. But until just recently, I had never tried Stila's very popular Lip Glaze. I ordered several tubes of it in an attempt to find something to compare with the two e.l.f. glosses that I already had (and also because they were pretty, and so I bought a few that definitely weren't going to be comparable shades). In retrospect, I went overboard, because it turns out that I am not a huge fan of the Stila glosses. Let that be a lesson to you (me) here: whether you're looking for an e.l.f. dupe or a dupe for an e.l.f. product, proceed with caution.

So to answer the question in the title before I go on to a more detailed comparison of these two products: No. They are not dupes.

The oldest makeup in my hoard

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Ancient cosmetic artifacts.

In the last few years, two main things have changed about my makeup collecting habits. First, I have such a ridiculously large hoard of makeup and nail polish that my past selves would be baffled and probably judgmental if they knew what was ahead. (We could psychologize about what has motivated this change in behavior in me - latent hoarding tendencies coming out, the consumerist mentality of blogging, ramped-up procrastination efforts - but let's skip that for now.)

Second, because I have so much of everything, I am much more ruthless about what I discard. I still don't throw things away unless they are absolute garbage, but I have a lower threshold for what I will give away to someone I think would like it better, and a higher threshold for what is worth keeping around "just in case I decide I want to use it some day." That last point is debatable, I guess. I do have a lot of colors of eyeshadow that I almost never wear, for example, but that I think I might want some day. But if they perform poorly and aren't getting use, then they're out.

That all means that if I had done this exercise even two years ago, I would have a lot more old crap lying around to show you. As it is, with one main exception, these are all things I still like and use.

I'll go through the list in chronological order, based on the year in which I think the product was acquired. All dates are approximate! I don't really know exactly when I picked up most of these things. It's based more on a general sense of where I was in my life when I first used it. More relative dating than absolute dating, you might say.

Note: There are lots of photos below the jump.

ca. 1995: Annabelle blush brush and unknown powder brush

I guess these aren't technically makeup, but they're the oldest objects in my hoard at the moment. I "borrowed" both of these from my mother when I moved out of my parents' house to go to college in 1999. I'm sure she bought them several years earlier, which is why I'm putting them at 1995, but they could be even older than that.

Tricky tricky! Which package contains more product? Lip Gloss Edition (PLUS photos and review of L'Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain in Infinite Fuschia) (picture heavy post)

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Here is the third (and possibly final) installation of the series in which I look at the tricks packaging design plays to make you think you're getting more product than you really are. You can see the previous editions here. This time I'm going to look at a bunch of tubes of lip gloss, and holy shit, there's a lot going on here. Not one of these is without its illusion - so it took me a long time to choose which products to compare here, because every time I checked the label, I was surprised by the size. Some of these still confuse me, even when I know how much is actually in there. Let's get to it. Which of the two tubes below do you think contains more product?

L'Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain in Infinite Fuschia ($10)
vs. e.l.f. Super Glossy Lip Shine in New York City ($1)

These lip balms sound gross (from The Science of Chic)

I've never seen the appeal of the Maybelline Baby Lips. There are a million lip balms out there. After reading this, I don't think I'm going to find out what the deal is with these. Supposedly moisturizing formulas often dry my lips out, so this sounds like a fail. I'm a picky bitch when it comes to putting stuff on my lips.

Avon Glazewear lip gloss on sale 3/$8

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So that's $2.67 each. If you didn't get a chance to win Rave in my giveaway, now would be a good time to get it. Here are my other swatches. There's also some other makeup on sale, and shipping is free over $30. Check out my Avon tag for more info.

UPDATED: Avon Glazewear Lip Gloss Swatches, Photos, and Review

UPDATE: I redid the photos of these glosses, since I really hated the old ones I had, and added a new shade (Plum).

Avon Glazewear Lip Glosses, natural light: (left to right) Diamond Dazzle, Mirage, Iced Pink, Darling Pink, Cinnamon Apple, Rave, Crimson, Intense Plum, Cherry Liqueur

Avon Glazewear Lip Glosses, with flash: (left to right) Diamond Dazzle, Mirage, Iced Pink, Darling Pink, Cinnamon Apple, Rave, Crimson, Intense Plum, Cherry Liqueur

This isn't usually the sort of blog where I swatch a single product in a bunch of different shades, and holy shit, it was a lot of work! I don't know how swatching bloggers can stand it. But I love Avon Glazewear Lip Gloss so fucking much! I bought a bunch of minis recently, so I thought I'd post some photos. I hope they are useful, because the color swatches on the Avon website are not very accurate, and they don't provide descriptions, so it's difficult to tell what you're getting. For instance, from the website, I would have guessed that Rave is brownish, when it's really a purple-pink. 

I've raved about the formula and finish of this lip gloss before, and I still think it's one of the best ones out there. Note that I don't say best for the price. I mean this is one of the best glosses out there for any price, period. It's not sticky, it's moisturizing (or at least not drying), it stays put, and it has absolutely no smell or taste (I think that's ideal, since every scent will annoy someone). They don't bleed, and most don't settle into lip lines at all (the "Intense" shades do, slightly, but it is only noticeable very close up). They come in a nicely sized tube with the use doe-foot applicator. I have no complaints about the packaging at all. I've been impressed with every shade I've tried. The regular price for these glosses is $6, which is good to begin with, but they are frequently on sale or part of some BOGO type deal. I've never had to spend more than $3 on one.

More $1-2 e.l.f. lip products: Photos, swatches, and reviews of e.l.f. Luscious Liquid Lipstick and e.l.f. Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
I recently reviewed the e.l.f. Essential Lipstick, which I like, despite not being a lipstick fan in general. I felt like that lipstick was not your typical lipstick, and now I'm going to review two other products that aren't exactly what they claim to be - but aren't bad, nevertheless.

e.l.f. Luscious Liquid Lipstick ($1)

My bare lips, for comparison.

e.l.f. Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Cherry Tart

Natural light.

With flash.

"Cherry Tart" sounds like it's going to be a cherry red, but this is actually a warm, berry pink. The product come sin one of those dial/click tubes, which is probably my least favorite type of applicator, because it's always click-click-click-nothing-click-click-OH SHIT. Anyway, it's fine. This is a little sheer, but with nice, even color. The shade is great. It's not sticky, lasts a decent amount of time, and even stains a little. It's a really, really good product - especially for one fucking dollar. I recommend.

However: liquid lipstick? No, I'd say it's more like a gloss. It's semi-sheer and stays shiny on the lips. It's a pigmented gloss with a much better than average wear time.

Fix Your Face: Swatches and Reviews of NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream and Butter Gloss and Revlon Balm Stains and Lip Butters (with LOTS of photos) AND 40% off from ULTA this week)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
ULTA has a sale on this week only (until April 13) for 40% off NYX, Revlon, Physician's Formula, and Almay. It's both online and in store (and you can combine it with their usual $3.50 off $10 coupon, code available on their main page).

I thought I've give you some options by swatching a few things that I've been meaning to post for a while now: NYX and Revlon lip products. None of these products are brand new, so if you want to find product shots or information about the packaging, etc., a quick google search will yield plenty of results. I thought I'd just give you my own opinion and show you what I've got on hand.

You may have noticed that I haven't had a lot of luck with most of the NYX products I've tried so far. But a couple of exceptions that you might like are the Soft Matte Lip Color and Butter Gloss. Here are swatches of the two shades I have:

NYX Soft Matte Lip Color in San Paulo and NYX Butter Gloss
in Creme Brule (natural light).