My Desert Island Makeup

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A tropical backdrop would be more appropriate, but slow unpackers can't be choosers.

I moved to a new apartment last week, and I still haven't found unpacked most of my makeup. I also haven't unpacked my camera, so please accept this shitty photo that I took with my phone.

In the meantime, I've been subsisting on a makeup diet limited mainly to the few things I shoved in my dufflebag to get me through the first few days. Those days have extended to over a week, and here we still are. So I guess these are my desert island makeup essentials: not the most exciting things I own, but the things I can use day after day and be totally satisfied.

I'll go through the items in the photo clockwise starting at the upper left corner. Swatches and more detail are available at the previous posts I've linked below if you're curious. I've reviewed most of them--they made it to the island for a reason!

Wet N Wild ColorIcon Blush in Pearlescent Pink (reviewed briefly here, compared to Nars Orgasm here). I have the old version of this blush, which I've heard has been reformulated in the new line and is no longer as perfect. Can anyone confirm? (This old one is still available on Amazon for under $5, but apparently only 2 left!) I can use this everyday and it's always flattering on me. Just pigmented enough that it's easy to apply without layering, but not so pigmented that I risk clown-face. The only flaw is that in direct sunlight it's a little sparklier than I'd like, but it's not too obnoxious.

Paula's Choice Endless Lash Mascara. This is a decent mascara, but overpriced. It's what I'm using now, but if I were actually headed to a desert island I'd prefer to have a tube of Covergirl LashBlast Volume with me (reviewed here).

Sephora Bright Future Gel Serum Concealer in Fondant (reviewed here). Still the best undereye concealer I've used. I recently bought a new tube in the shade Butter Cream to see if it's a better match. I'll open that when I'm getting closer to finishing this one. The yellow undertones in Fondant do a good job of canceling out the purple under my eyes, but it's not ideal elsewhere on my face.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze (reviewed here). It's quick to smear on eyelids with my finger in the morning and it always looks pretty. I just recently hit pan on this jar that I've had for a couple of years, but I think I have at least a year to go. Amazon has it on sale for less than $4 (with coupon) right now.

TheBalm Stainiac. This is one thing that I've loved for years and never reviewed, because it photographs terribly. In a closeup shot of my lips it just looks patchy. In real life, it adds a nice pink flush--probably the slight unevenness helps it look more natural. (I can see how it might not look great on lips that are lighter than mine, though.) It's comfortable and longlasting. I can apply lip balm right over top without affecting the stain. I don't use it on my cheeks, because I find it hard to blend smoothly.

Shiseido Natural Eyebrow Pencil in Ash Blond (swatched here). I am using this sample I got from Choix, because I finished up my last Avon Ultra Luxury pencil (reviewed here). I have another one somewhere, but I haven't dug it out. I prefer the Avon pencil slightly, but in general I find pencils to be the easiest and quickest eyebrow product to use, provided they are hard enough that they don't deposit a ton of product and make a mess.

PUR Cosmetics 4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Powder Foundation. I haven't completely made up my mind about this stuff. I like how it applies and how it looks on my face, but it picks up sunscreen from my brush and forms a hard film on the surface. That might be a problem worth dealing with. I really like combining base and powder into one step. Any recommendations for other pressed powder foundations? I don't really like messing around with BareMinerals loose powder, and I find it looks heavier than I like, anyway.

Black Radiance Eyeshadow Primer (reviewed here). Without this stuff, my eyeshadow would melt right off in 15 minutes in this heat. I've also found that eyeshadow primer works well to keep concealer attached to ugly chin zits, fyi.

So that's been my #FOTD for a lot of days now. Soon I will pull out all of my other shit and be more creative, but this works in a pinch.

What makeup would you want to have with you on a desert island? Basics like this or something more exciting? (Let's all pretend that we would actually wear makeup on a desert island for some reason instead of just eating leaves and crying.)

My cheap favorites: the best makeup under $10

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I wrote a post like this way back when I started my blog, so I thought it might be interesting to update it and see how many of my favorites have stayed the same and how many have changed, now that I've tried a lot of new shit. I've also compared a lot of cheaper things to more expensive products along the way, and in all cases, the makeup in this list equals or outperforms pricier alternatives. I'm just doing makeup today, but I'll follow up with another post about my cheap favorites from other categories like skin care and hair products.

My cheap favorites are reliable and inexpensive. They're things that I replace when I finish them. Obviously I don't use these products exclusively, but I keep coming back to them because I prefer them to others. Below I've included links to previous reviews on my blog, if they exist. I've also tried to link to the best places online to buy these things, to my knowledge. Most of them are easy to find in any drugstore or Target/Walmart, etc.--in which case you might be able to get them on sale. But you might be like me and prefer online shopping when possible, so I've linked them below.

There are a few categories of makeup for which I don't have a current cheap favorite. For example, foundation: I'm picky about it and haven't found anything I absolutely love at any price point, though the Maybelline SuperStay Better Skin Foundation, reviewed here, is decent when sheered out, and Boots No. 7 Lift & Luminate Foundation is amazing if you can find a good color match (I can't). As for concealer, I have a favorite (reviewed here), but it's not cheap. I've used some good drugstore concealers, like Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circles, but I tend to run into problems with the range of shades available. I had a favorite powder (Maybelline Mineral Power Finishing Veil Translucent Powder--lots of Maybelline here in the "almost" category) but of course it's been discontinued, so I'll have to find something else soon. I don't have a favorite bronzer, because I almost never wear bronzer. I also don't currently have a favorite lip gloss, I guess because it's not a product I love to wear in general. There a plenty of perfectly fine lip glosses out there, but nothing that I am particularly excited about.

But let's get to my actual favorites. My photos aren't the prettiest, because I am currently using most of these things and, in many cases, have been using them for a long time, so they're a bit beat up. (Lots of images after the jump.)

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?

Unintentional Project Pan

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I guess you could call this being in a makeup rut, but I am going with unintentional project pan. That sounds more noble and interesting, doesn't it?

In case you're not familiar with the concept of "project pan," it's when people challenge themselves to use up enough of a makeup product (or multiple products) to "hit pan" - i.e. to reach the metal pan in the bottom of the product. I haven't been able to figure out where it originated, whether it was a specific blogger or in a community like Makeup Alley. Can anyone clue me in?

In my case, I realized this month that I was using the same handful of products day after day, though I hadn't chosen them deliberately to reach any particular goals. Some are things that I've vaguely thought I should try to use up, but I didn't vow to eschew all other makeup or anything. Most likely the reason I've been sticking with these few options is that I've been working from home, and most days I barely bother to wear makeup at all. When I do, I just grab a few things that I know are easy and effective, and that's that. I'm sure I will snap out of my rut project pan before too long, especially when I go back to working in an office (by the way, I finally got a job - temporary, but still a relief!). For now, these things are working for me, and I'm not sick of them yet, so I'm just going to go with it. Every now and then I put on a different lip color or blush, but for the most part it's been the things pictured here.

Here are the products in my unintentional project pan, listed clockwise from top left:

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara (sample)

I'm going to take a photo of this mascara on my lashes soon as an example of something I really like. It's light and fluffy and adds volume and length. It works well for me. This is the second mini-tube of this I've had, both of which came from subscription boxes. Sephora sells this "travel size" for $12, though, if you want to try it for a smaller price. Still more than a full size, good, drugstore mascara, though, and I'm not convinced it's that much better.

The Balm Stainiac

I should really write a dedicated review of this stuff, since I've been using it for years, and I love it. Since my lips are fairly dark/pink naturally, it nicely enhances the color while still looking natural. I don't really use it on my cheeks, because I find liquid blushes difficult to blend evenly (though this is more of a thin gel than a liquid).

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze

I've had this for ages and only recently (when I posted it on Instagram) remembered how much I like it. It's easy to use, since I just apply it with my fingers, and the shimmer makes it look multidimensional when blended from lashline into the crease. Some days I use Barely Branded (photos here) instead, for a more subtle look. If I'm going to be going out anywhere, I will use primer under Color Tattoos, but if I think I am going to be sitting home most of the day, I won't bother. Here are some primers I've tried recently.

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Fearless (sample)

I've used this card sample at least 30 times and there's still some left. That goes to show you how incredibly long it would take to finish a full size blush. Has anyone ever done it? Tarte calls Fearless "pink coral," but I would has thought of it as more of a bubblegum pink. Maybe a tiny bit warmer than than, but not much. In fact, I thought it would look weirdly fake on me, but it's actually very natural and flattering. I don't know about the 12-hour claim. I never remember to check my blush at the end of the day to see if it's still there. I don't many (if any) completely matte powder blushes, which is why I've been drawn to this sample, I think. I might have to replace it with something similar when it's gone.

Avon Ultra Luxury Brow Liner in Blonde

Of the many, many eyebrow products I've tried (most of which are swatched and reviewed here), this is the one that I've found the easiest and quickest to use, and the most natural looking on me, regardless of my hair color. Even though my hair is medium brown right now, this works perfectly. Magic. (Look at the stub of the last pencil I used up. Aren't you impressed?)

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles in Fair

Almost empty! Mini review here. I like that it doesn't crease much, but since the color isn't quite right, I don't know if I will buy it again.

e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder in Cool

Reviewed here. I use this to set the concealer and just generally all over my face. This stuff mattifies, but the effects don't last long in the summer, so I prefer to use something else if I'm actually going to be out in the sweaty summer world.

That's it! I expect I will be finishing a few of these before the end of the summer, so that will be a fun side effect of my unintentional project. Then I will have to think of what else I want to fixate on.

(Note: I'm playing around with using ShopStyle affiliate links, since it gives me more options than just using Amazon's. I can pick out the cheapest place to buy things, for instance - though that is often still Amazon. Let me know if there are any technical glitches if you end up clicking any of the links.)

Quest for Coral, the Sequel (and my first Korean makeup purchase)

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My original quest for a wearable, affordable, bright coral lip-something failed, and I was ready to admit defeat, though I had made some interesting discoveries along the way. Then I got so many helpful recommendations that I felt compelled to give it another go. In the end, I kind of (sort of) took a couple of the suggestions I got, and I am pleased with my success. I've compiled all the recommendations I got in the comments of the post, on Instagram, and on Tumblr, at the bottom of this post for any others who undertake a similar journey. Thanks, everyone!

That sounds a bit dramatic when we're talking about lipstick, but whatever.

I actually ended up buying two things that no one suggested, but they worked out very well. The first is a Wet N Wild MegaSlicks Balm Stain Moisturizing Lip Color (insert obligatory complaint about the long name here) in Coral of the Story. I bought this without very high expectations, but I needed a new tube of my favorite Wet N Wild eyeshadow primer, after the two other primers I had left proved practically useless, and CVS had a BOGO sale on WNW. So I grabbed this bright coral-pink crayon, which otherwise would have cost $3.

Wet N Wild MegaSlicks Balm Stain in Coral of the Story

This stuff is surprisingly great! It is indeed both moisturizing and a stain. It feels like a balm, is quite opaque, and yet isn't patchy or smeary like a lot of other corals. It's exactly the color I was looking for - a coral that's a bit closer to pink than orange or red. Victory on all counts. I can't really think of anything to complain about, and you know how much I like complaining.

Here it is on my lips. The color really brightens up my face. I forgot to take a full face shot, but I'll post one on Instagram soon and link it here. There's also an arm swatch later in the post, if you prefer that.

Lip swatch of Wet N Wild MegaSlicks Balm Stain in Coral of the Story

At the same time, I had my last round of Birchbox points to use up, and I decided to spend them on something weird and fun. I redeemed them for two things: an expensive lipstick that I will review soon, and Peripera Peri's Tint Water in Mandarin (#4, since I've seen multiple names for this shade out there). By buying this stuff, I was partially taking two suggestions I had been given when I wrote about my omgstruggles with coral before: to try mixing orange and pink lip products and to try Benefit Cha Cha Tint. Of course, the idea of mixing was to make do with things I already had, not to buy more shit, and Cha Cha Tint is already coral, not orange, so I pretty much violated the spirit of both suggestions. But they inspired me nonetheless.

I generally avoid buying beauty products on the basis of pretty packaging, and therefore I avoid photographing the packaging for the most part. But since I wanted this Tint Water anyway and I was photographing it anyway and it happens to be adorable in the typical Korean beauty fashion anyway . . . please enjoy this packaging photo:

Peripera Peri's Tint Water in Mandarin #4

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.)

I am not a TV star (Review of e.l.f. Essential Lip Stain in Crimson Crush + sassy GIFs)

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Every time I've watched New Girl or Don't Trust the B (RIP), I end up trying to figure out how to get my lips to look like Zooey Deschanel's or Krysten Ritter's. What is particularly appealing are the scenes when these women are just sort of hanging around the house casually, probably when we are supposed to assume that they are not wearing makeup (ha!) - yet they still have crimson lips. They don't really look like they have lipstick on; it's as if their lips are just naturally cherry red. Here are a couple of examples of what I mean:

These are perhaps not the best illustrations, because they look pretty lipsticky, but apparently people aren't screencapping or GIFing these ladies bumming around in their PJs.

I got it in my head that I needed a lip stain to replicate this look. I am fully aware that the product used on the actual TV shows was probably not a stain. More likely it's just blotted matte lipstick or something. If it wears off or gets messed up, they have a makeup artist standing by. Nevertheless, I wanted a stain! I am stubborn.

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

Pretty Neutral: Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle vs. Revlon Balm Stain in Honey

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Of all the products with bizarrely and needlessly long names, Revlon ColorStay Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain is probably my favorite (swatches of all the ones I own here). Of all the neutral lip colors I've ever tried, Revlon Color Stay Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain (*deep breath*) in Honey is definitely my favorite. Most beigey or browny neutrals wash me out, but Honey is a really flattering rosy neutral that totally works for me. I wouldn't call it "my lips but better," since my lips are naturally more of a pink than a neutral. Instead, I would call it a neutral that makes my lips look awesome - not invisible - and is totally appropriate for professional occasions when I need to look polished but not too made up. My go-to job interview lip shit.

My second favorite Revlon products are the ColorBurst Lip Butters. They're comfortable and easy to use and wear. So when Pink Truffle came out a while back, looking intriguingly similar to Honey, I thought maybe it would be worth adding a sort of dupe in a different formula to my hoard. (I'd tried something like that once before with the ColorBurst Matte Balm in Elusive and failed, but you have to admire my perseverance, right? Right?) So how do Pink Truffle and Honey compare?

Swatches of Revlon Balm Stain in Honey (left) and Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle (right)

8 minute basic, work appropriate makeup routine for the lazy and/or incompetent (using affordable products)

See below for the list of products used.

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I feel like if this were a feature in a magazine, it would be called a 5-minute makeup look. But since I do not move quickly in the morning, I'd categorize it in the 8-12 minute range, to account for the time I spend staring blankly at the wall between each step. My criteria for choosing each product in this routine is what I oh-so-fucking-cleverly decided to call the "fast/last" rule. That is, it has to apply fast, and it has to last through most of the day without reapplying. Fast, for me, means minimizing the use of tools like brushes. If I can smear it directly on my face, great. Your version of the routine might include more or fewer steps, depending on what you like/need. For instance, I'm lucky enough that my skin is fairly clear, or at least there isn't too much that I really strongly feel like I need to cover up. I just go with concealer and powder when I am in a hurry. That's just me. If you prefer to use foundation etc., then you'd have to factor in the extra time for that.

By the way, the "lazy and/or incompetent" bit in the title refers to me in the morning. Also during the rest of the day, but mostly the morning.

Here's are the steps I take:

Revlon Colorburst Lacquer and Matte Balms with review and swatches of Flirtatious and Striking and comparisons with Revlon Balm Stains (picture heavy post)

Revlon Colorburst Lacquer
Balm in
Flirtatious

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I posted last week about the Matte Balm that I decided to return (Elusive). I exchanged it for a Lacquer Balm in Flirtatious, and here is my impression of that product and the Matte Balm that I kept, Striking. 

Let's talk about the Lacquer Balm, Flirtatious, first. These come in metallic tubes. Now, I don't usually talk too much about packaging, but I need to complain a bit. The metallic package, at least for this particular shade, makes it really fucking difficult to figure out what color you're actually going to get. There are some swatch-like panels on the display, but they were hard to see since it was stuck in a poorly-lit corner at the CVS where I bought this. Anyway, I thought I knew what color I was getting when I looked at it in the store. It looked pink. Just sort of ordinary pink, maybe leaning slightly toward fuchsia. Much like it looks in the photo on the left, which I had to take at a weird angle at home to capture the same color.

In other lighting, however, the color totally changes! Look at the photos below. In the first one, the tube looks much more like the very red Romantic Balm stain at the bottom, doesn't it? And because the stickers on the bottom of the tubes are also metallic, they shift depending on your lighting, etc. too. So you might be in for a surprise once you actually open the thing.

Top to bottom: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Smitten, Revlon Colorburst
Lacquer Balm in Flirtatious, Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Romantic

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)

$1 lipstick for people who hate lipstick: Photos and review of e.l.f. Essential Lipsticks

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Remember how I don't like lipstick? Well (some of) these cheap bastards are a rare exception. The shades I like best (Gypsy and Posh) have a texture, feel, and wear similar to Revlon Balm Stains. I don't like this format as much as I like the big pencil thingy, but then these are 1/8 the price. One of the things I hate most about most lipstick is the constant paranoia that it's going to smear. And it usually does. There's less risk of that with these.

They all have different textures and finishes, and the e.l.f. website is completely useless when it comes to telling you what to expect, so I hope that this information will be helpful when it comes to the 5 shades I have. Also, the photos and color swatches on the e.l.f. site are often inaccurate, as are their descriptions/names. It's not even necessarily that easy to tell what you're getting when you look at the product in the packaging. If you combine my photos and descriptions, hopefully you can get a decent idea of what to expect.

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).

50% off everything from theBalm for 24 hours only

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Celebrating their new website design. I think I might pick up another one of their lip stains, though the one I have now seems like it's going to last forever. Anything else I need to try? I've heard that the MaryLou Manizer highlighter is good.

I'm Breaking Up With Lipstick

I'm stating for the record that I've given up on lipstick. I just don't like it. I mean traditional lipstick in a tube. I'm not going to buy any more. I have tried e.l.f., every drugstore brand out there, MAC . . . I'm just not willing to spend any more money to find out if there is a lipstick I don't hate. Fuck it.

My Not-Cheap Favorites (and How to Avoid Paying Full Price for Them, If At All Possible)

See my cheap favorites here.

Okay, I confess, not every makeup/skin care product I use is super cheap. Sometimes I manage to get something fancy for a good price. Other times I haven't found a cheap option that I like as much as the pricier one. I feel like it occasionally makes financial sense to pay the extra $5-10 when you know something is just right, rather than to experiment with a bunch of cheaper options and end up spending more in the process. Your threshold and mine for what is a reasonable price to pay to avoid gambling on something new will differ. For example, I know there are other gel moisturizers that might substitute for the Paula's Choice one I've listed below. For $17 (on sale), I'll just buy the Paula's Choice version, because I love it. If it cost $20+, I would probably look around for a substitute.

I'm linking to all of these products and giving you their regular price, but honestly, I don't think I have ever bought one of them for full price. If I have tips for finding these for cheaper, I've included them below.

The Balm Stainiac in Beauty Queen, $17

This stain has an awesome gel formula, so it doesn't bleed all over the fucking place like Benefit Benetint. That means I can actually use it to outline my lips and then fill them in.  It can be used for cheeks too, but I tend not to use it that way. On my lips it leaves a nice, deep pink stain. Sometimes I wear it under another lip color so that when that inevitably wears off, I'll be left with this. It also feels somehow really soft and luxurious to apply. I know that sounds weird, but I like it. 

I got this for free using my Birchbox points, so if you have any of those saved up, this would be a good choice. At the time I'm writing this, it's $14 on Amazon, which is a little better, at least.

Cheap vampy lip options (from The Science of Chic)

Cheap, cheaper, and cheapest!

Fix Your Face: e.l.f. Studio Lip Lock Pencil

This stuff is good. If you have a problem with lipstick bleeding, it's worth a shot. It's a waxy pencil that you use to line around the outside of your lips.

I put it to the ultimate test: Benefit Benetint. I can't actually wear that shit on my lips because it bleeds so bad it makes me look like some kind of zombie with cracks or veins radiating all around my mouth.

Without Lip Lock:

Uh oh, someone got into the Koolaid.

With Lip Lock:

So maybe you can see that there's a tiny bit of bleeding, but it's minor. I wouldn't be like, "Fuck this," and take it all off and give up like I usually do if I try to put Benetint on my lips. It's presentable in public.

Basically if it can keep this bloody stuff almost under control, you're going to have no problem with regular lipstick or lipgloss bleeding.

And it's $3. You can probably get it at Target if you don't want to pay shipping for spend $25 or wait for a sale on the e.l.f. website - though they frequently have good ones.