The Emperor's New Lipstick: Lipstick Queen Jean Queen Swatches, Comparison, and Review

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Here's something that I was pretty excited to try. Since I don't typically spend $22 on a single lipstick, I used my last stash of Birchbox points to get it. I've heard all sorts of good things about the Lipstick Queen formula (moisturizing, comfortable, easy to use, etc.), and I went with Jean Queen, because I wanted something work appropriate and easy to reapply. And that it is. That it is.

The packaging is great, if you're into that sort of thing. I'm a sucker for metallic blue, personally.

Lipstick Queen Jean Queen

The lipstick itself is a sort of neutral, rosy shade. Generally fits in the MLBB (My Lips But Better) category.

Lipstick Queen Jean Queen

This lipstick, as the name suggests, is designed to be worn with denim. Which . . . what? I take that to mean it's casual and versatile, like jeans. It's also supposed to be a "gentle step up from nude" and "sheer and moisturizing."

So with the exception of one of those things (which I will get to), I have found it to be exactly as advertised - and yet I was disappointed, so I'm glad I didn't spend 22 real dollars on it. I suppose I should have expected the results I got, because I have naturally quite pigmented lips, and sheer products tend barely to show up on me at all. That's the case with Jean Queen. It's essentially a tinted lip balm in a lipstick tube.

Here's what my lips look like with just clear lip balm. You can see that they are rather pink, but don't have a clearly defined margin and they are pretty blotchy. Those are things that I don't think anyone would notice at a regular distance (or care about if they did), but you can see them in the closeup.

And here are my lips wearing Jean Queen:

There is a slight difference, yes, but it's minimal (and enhanced by better lighting in the second photo). Definitely "gentle" and "sheer" as advertised.

I guess I would be okay with this being a very expensive tinted lip balm, on par price-wise with the Fresh Sugar balms, if it wasn't for one major problem. It's the same problem I have with the Fresh balms: it's not moisturizing. Not for me. The one thing I read repeatedly about Lipstick Queen was how hydrating and comfortable their lipsticks are. I'm sure that's true for some people. For me, Jean Queen is actually slightly drying. Certainly not moisturizing. The Fresh balms, at least, are just not moisturizing in my experience - they don't actually make things worse.

I guess I also expect a sheer lipstick to be a step up in pigmentation from a tinted balm, and this really isn't. I put on Jean Queen the other day and asked my boyfriend if he could tell that I was wearing something on my lips. He responded proudly, "Yes! They are shiny! Sort of!" But when I asked if they were a different color than usual, he just sort of squinted at me and frowned.

Below is Jean Queen compared to a bunch of other lip products I have that belong in the same rosy-pink-MLBB category. As you can see, Jean Queen is about as sheer as Fresh Sugar in Rosé. On me, I'd classify the pigmentation of Rosé as "almost nothing" vs. Jean Queen's "maybe a little something?" You can see the texture difference in the swatch as well. The Fresh balm is more emollient.

From left to right: (1) Fresh Sugar Tinted Lip Treatment in Rosé, (2) Lipstick Queen Jean Queen, (3) e.l.f. Essential Lipstick in Posh (reviewed here), (4) e.l.f. Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Cherry Tart (reviewed here), (5) Essence Stay With Me Gloss in Choose Me! (reviewed here/discontinued), and (6) Revlon Balm Stain in Honey (reviewed here with indoor lighting where it looks more brownish).

The color of Jean Queen and Revlon Honey are surprisingly similar, though Honey is not an exact dupe--more pigmented and not drying for me, so I much prefer it. It's a lot more reasonably priced, too, at $7-10.

In the end, I'm not going to declare that you should absolutely not buy Jean Queen, because I know there are some people who will (and do) love it. If you don't have sensitive lips that are easily dried out by lipstick, then you may find it perfectly comfortable to wear (and even moisturizing, by many accounts). Maybe you are one of those people who swears by the Fresh balms that I hate and so your lips just respond to different things than mine do (they both have a lot of castor oil in them, if that means anything). If you don't have deeply pigmented lips, then you may find the subtle tint really pretty. It is a lovely color. I just wish there was more of it. But if you have lips like mine - dry and pigmented - you might also find this a disappointing product. For $22 and all the hype, this was a miss for me. Try Revlon Honey instead.

Do you have Jean Queen? Any strong feelings either way?

Dupe Test: e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal ($1) vs. Benefit High Beam ($26)

Disclosure: This post contains some Amazon affiliate links.
e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal is frequently mentioned as a cheap dupe for the much beloved but very expensive High Beam highlighter from Benefit. I'll be the first to admit that I am pretty liberal with applying the term "dupe". I'm no stickler. If it's basically the same and performs the same function, I'm fine with it. Nevertheless, after comparing these products (and two other pinkish highlighters I own), I have some mild reservations about calling them dupes. They can be used for the same purposes, successfully, but there are some significant differences. Rather than a dupe, I'd say that the e.l.f. highlighter is a good product, and a reasonable alternative to the Benefit version. A near dupe, maybe. Since I'm convinced that there are cheap options that are comparable to almost all higher-end beauty products, and since I'm on a weird quest to determine which e.l.f. products are decent and which ones are shit, this kind of comparison is my idea of fun. Wheeeeee.

Left to right: e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal, Benefit High Beam, Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer in Pink Shimmer, Pixi Brightening Primer in Pearl Essence

I threw two other similar highlighters into the mix, just for the sake of completion, and in case anyone else has them and would like to see how they fare. None of these are dupes. You can see just from the photo above that the e.l.f. highlighter is quite a bit pinker than the Benefit or Stila, and it is pinker than the Pixi option too, though the bottle for that one is opaque. On to the swatches!

Top left to bottom right: Swatches of e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal, Benefit High Beam, Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer in Pink Shimmer, Pixi Brightening Primer in Pearl Essence

Let me break them down one by one - I'll end with e.l.f.

$15 alternative to Urban Decay's Electric Palette? (that is holy-fucking-bright) (from Glitz Glam Budget)

Maybe you've been tempted by the Urban Decay Electric palette, but you're not sure how much you'd actually wear it and don't want to spend $50 on something like that (like me). Check out swatches of this $15 palette from Coastal Scents. Looks pretty awesome. The colors aren't all exactly the same, but there are 12 instead of just 10, so that's a bonus.

Cheap near-dupe for Nars Light Reflecting Powder? (from Makeup Withdrawal)

Makeup Withdrawal compares Wet N Wild Take on the Day Mattifying Powder to Nars Light Reflecting Powder and finds them to be pretty close.

I actually bought that Nars powder a while back when I won a gift card and wanted to use it on some kind of product that I didn't think I could find in a cheaper version. I guess I should have waited! Or gone with one of the Hourglass powders. (By the way, I still stand by what I said in this post: I think finishing powders can add a little something, but they are subtle and not crucial. I don't really notice when I forget to use one. But now there are more cheap options, so the cost/benefit aspect is a little different.)

Dupe update

Full-size bottles of Zoya nail polish are probably my favorite things to get in an Ipsy bag. A recently-released $9 nail polish in a $10 subscription (along with 4 other things)? Yes please. And Zoya is one of my favorite nail polish brands. This month, I got my third bottle from Ipsy. Fuck yeah!

Except remember how I recently bought Wet N Wild Bite the Bullet to quench my desire for Zoya Odette? Sure enough, Ipsy sent me a bottle of Odette this month. How could I have known? How could they have known?

Oh well, now I can do the comparison that I couldn't do a month ago. Check them out:

Wet N Wild Bite the Bullet and Zoya Odette.

Messy swatches of Wet N Wild Bite the Bullet on index and rings fingers,
and Zoya Odette on middle and pinky fingers.

That's two coats of each without topcoat. As you can see, they are really very close. Odette is a bit darker and maybe a touch browner. The formula/application is pretty much identical. The comparison between my index finger and middle finger above is the most accurate, since the flash seems to have washed out my ring finger a bit, for some reason. They're not exact dupes, but I think that if you are interested in one, you'll be happy with the other.

If you're interested in signing up for Ipsy and would like to use my invite link, that would be pretty cool of you. But you're still cool if you don't do it, I promise.

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)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

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)

Review and swatches: weird and fun e.l.f. Cream Blush in Vixen (and e.l.f. Studio 50% off today and tomorrow)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

e.l.f. Cream Blush in Vixen (it's a handful)

I've been meaning to review this blush for a while now, because it's really nice. Recently I tried a blush color that I'd assumed wouldn't work for me, but did - this is another one in that category. I didn't have any reddish blushes until I bought this one, which is somewhere between red and fuschia. It's matte (no shimmer). Turns out that it's really flattering on me. I have pale, sort of neutral-tone skin. Looks close to my natural flush.

e.l.f. Cream Blush in Vixen (in natural light)

e.l.f. Cream Blush in Vixen (with flash)

This particular shade is out of stock right now, but there are five others available. I wanted to swatch it anyway, in hopes it will come back, because the swatches on the e.l.f. website are always pretty terrible. But if any of the other colors appeal to you (google swatches!), I'd recommend this based just on the formula. It blends really easy using your fingers, and you can get subtle color or build it up for something more noticeable. It wears really well too. No complaints.

$2 dupe for Chanel Azure nail polish (picture heavy)

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link.
People seems to be pretty fucking excited about the new Chanel nail polish, called "Azure". It's a greenish-teal-blue metallic duochrome - which, frankly, is not an original or unique shade of nail polish. It could be that this is one of those situations where you have to see in person to appreciate it's super-specialness, but I seriously doubt it. I think instead that this is a case of Chanel bringing its trend-making power to making an already common type of nail polish trendy (redundant much?). And then charging $27 for it. The formula isn't even anything special, apparently.

But I have a $2 nail polish that is mind-bogglingly gorgeous, and it looks like a dupe for the Chanel polish - or close enough. Check it out:

50% off theBalm cosmetics from HauteLook

It's too bad my beloved Staniac isn't there, but there are a few of their popular eyeshadow palettes (including Meet Matte and Nude 'Tude, which is supposed to have some dupes or near dupes for Urban Decay Naked shades) and blushes available, and I have heard good things about the MaryLou Manizer highlighter and Time Balm concealer. Anything you need? I'm guessing a bunch of this stuff will sell out pretty quickly.

Orly Gel Nails, Born shoes, and BCBG Generation clothes are also marked down on HautLook at the moment.

You have to have an account to browse, so here's my invite link.

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

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

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.

An alternative to the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette for $13? (From Beauty Broadcast)

Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link.

Beauty Broadcast swatches the NYX One Night in Morocco palette and suggests that it might make a good alternative to the Urban Decay Naked Basics eyeshadow palette, which includes only 6 shades of eyeshadow for $27. The NYX palette has 8 eyeshadows, a primer, and 4 lip colors for $13. Not a dupe, exactly, but the colors and the quality look quite similar. Sounds good!

Your Claws: Near dupe for Essie Butler Please (but better)

In my ridiculous collection of nail polish, I have more blues than almost any other color (in close competition are purples and teals). I kept seeing swatches of Essie's Butler Please from last fall, and I decided I needed it. It was my first Essie. But I was disappointed. It's really thin and streaky. I put it on one hand and was so annoyed that I just took it off. Blah.

But then I noticed that I already have something almost identical! Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Pacific Blue. You can see in the swatches below that it is very close in color, though Butler Please is just slightly darker. And the formula of Pacific Blue is a MILLION times better, and I don't think I'm exaggerating. You can pretty much get away with one coat of the Sally Hansen, and it will be completely opaque. For the Essie, you need to use 3-4 coats minimum, and even then it can be a little uneven and somehow lumpy. The Sally Hansen blue levels itself much better, and you get a perfectly smooth surface. Also, the Sally Hansen polish dries to a shinier finish. The Essie just looks dull. Can I emphasize any more how much fucking better Pacific Blue is?

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Pacific Blue (left) and Essie Butler Please (right)
in natural light.

Fix Your Face: Recent ULTA brand makeup purchases (swatches and review)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
I bought a few ULTA brand products recently, so I thought I'd show you swatches, in case you're interested in your own spree. These are all good options.

From left to right in the photos below: (1) Metallic Automatic Eyeliner in Starlet; (2) Metallic Automatic Eyeliner in Golden Eyes; (3) Automatic Eyeliner in Teal Blue; (4) Smokey Eyes Automatic Eyeliner in Cobalt; (5) Automatic Lip Liner in Bloom; (6) Lip Crayon in Fashionista; and (7) Cheek Stain in Desire.

In natural light (colors of the gold and teal eyeliner and pink lipliner aren't quite right).

Your Claws: Beautifully cheap greens from NYX

If you want to get with the Pantone Color of the Year thing (Emerald), here are a couple of fucking gorgeous options. They're NYX Girls Emerald Forest (left), which is a glass-fleck, shimmery green that shifts to gold. It's similar to Zoya Ivanka or Zoya Apple, but I don't own those, so I can't tell you which one it's a dupe for. Or try NYX Girls Mermaid Green (right), which is an unusual green that's slightly on the blue side, but not teal.

Comparison of Sephora baked eyeshadow palette ($30) and the e.l.f. version ($10)

Comparison of Sephora baked eyeshadow palette ($30) and the e.l.f. version ($10)