Tarte Lipsaver Treatment Primer

I have a confession to make - I'm a sucker for free deluxe-sized samples when I order something. Sometimes my motivation for buying an item that I haven't purchased yet is to get the bag of deluxe-sized goodies that whichever website is offering if I buy right then and there. Yes, I am THAT sucker customer. The only upside to this is that I get to try products for free without having to commit to buying a full-size version. Booya.

One such item I received a few months ago was a product from a Tarte purchase. I was offered a deluxe-size lip primer and I caved because, to be honest, I've never tried one before. I prime my eyes, I prime my face, so why not prime my lips? My lip products always wear off after a few hours, no matter how long-wearing they promise to be, so this product intrigued me. Also. I trust Tarte - it's the slightly more expensive cruelty-free best friend that has never let me down before.

Tarte Lipsaver Treatment Primer: $19 $13

 This product has a very thick, silky consistency, very similar to pore-blurring primers for the face. It's an off-white, almost clear color and it comes with a very handy-dandy applicator that allows for a fast and easy application. There's no weird smell, and the packaging is oh-so-damn adorable.Once on the lips it dries down in about 5-10 seconds so you don't have to wait too long to apply your desired lippie for the day.

 

Now on to the good stuff: let me first start off by stating the positives about this item:

1.) Not very expensive and a little goes a LONG way - this will last you many, many, MANY moons.

2.) This product actually works. Whatever lip product you put on top of this primer will last ALL. DAY. LONG. It will stay until you use a makeup remover at the end of the night. 

3.) It looks fabulous all day long.

With all the positives though, there comes one MAJOR problem that I did not expect. In every other review on the Tarte website, everyone stated that it was hydrating and very comfortable. For me, that was not the case. This lip primer made my lips feel like the Sahara desert. It did not matter how much lip balm, oil, or hydrating lip product I put on my pucker before using this, my lips would feel like the mummy when it's first awoken by Brendan Fraiser. 

I would pat on a hydrating lip balm on top of whatever lip product I was using that day after it had dried down, and within 30 minutes I was right back to square one. It was so bad one day when I decided to wear a matte liquid lipstick that I had to use my emergency stash of makeup remover wipes to take it off and apply lip balm obsessively for about 20 minutes before my lips felt somewhat alive again.

I can honestly say this product works. Whatever you put on top of it is locked in and loaded for all day wear. You WILL look fabulous, but I had to remove this lip primer from my routine for the shear fact that I don't want to be uncomfortable all day every day just to have a fabulous pout. 

 

Update: Tarte and I quickly got over this little spat and still hang out every day.

September Petit Vour Unboxing

Due to some Linda Blair-via-Exorcist-type illness afflicting my laptop's camera, my unboxings will have to be done via text for the time being. Yaaaaay reading!

This month's Petit Vour box has definitely been one of the better ones that I've received due to one particular item. I'm very excited to go over each item that I received in my box since I've been using them for almost a week now, and I hope this inspires you to start looking at more cruelty-free and vegan beauty items.

September Petit Vour Box

"What a Gem"

MEOW MEOW TWEET Baking Soda Free Deodorant Cream: $14

I got the Lavender scented version, which is one of my favorite scents. This is THE item that made this box so special and exciting for me. About 6 months ago I spontaneously developed an allergy to any deodorant that is heavy on salt and/or contains baking soda. I mean literally, overnight, this allergy developed. It has been a struggle. I have a box with 6, yes 6 different deodorants that I plan on doing a review video on that have failed over the last 6 months. I've been using this deodorant for almost a week now. No irritation. Smells amazing. Lasts all day. Super moisturizing. INSANELY CUTE GRAPHICS AND NAME. Yep, we have a winner. Worth. Every. Penny. DEFINITELY repurchasing.

OSEA Ocean Cleanser: $16 (Full-size $44)

This is the one item that I haven't tried yet from this month's box, but it smells like lemon-y organic ocean-y heaven. Like the ocean and a lemon had a baby. I'm tempted to make a cheesy joke but I'm holding back (barely). This $16 size is 1oz, which is really good. That's actually not that expensive considering this could easily last for 2 months. Very good value. this item and the deodorant alone made this month's box worth it.

ADORN Mineral & Organic Hydrating Cream Foundation: $4 (Full-size $65)

Nope, nope and nope. Now granted, it's very challenging when sending a foundation in a subscription box to the wide range of skin colors. I was sent the shade "Light-Medium". The shade wasn't particularly the big problem, although it was a small one. To me this foundation felt like it had peachy undertones. My skin has yellow undertones. When that happens it makes the person appear kind of off, and that's what this color did to me. However, I could've looked past the color if this foundation had actually done what it was supposed to - like blend for instance. I used two different sponges, a brush and my fingers. All 4 days resulted in the same problem, even when using different tools.

This foundation is a b*tch to blend. It took FOREVERRRRR, and it still was streaky. This foundation also claims to be full-coverage. LIES. It was light-to-medium coverage. Now granted, once it was blended, it didn't go anywhere for the entire day. It didn't budge, fade, nothing. It stayed, but it was too much of a pain. 

I'll pass.

ODACITE Serum Concentrate: $3 (Full-size $32-$42)

I received a little sample of this company's blemish serum. It was OK. There was nothing particularly special about it. I already used Burt's Bees Blemish Stick and that's only $8, compared to the full size of this which is $32. They did the same thing which I put them head-to-head, so I'll just stick with my Burt's Bees.

Real vs. Fake LimeCrime Velvetines

It's well-known that alcohol and shopping don't always mix, but sometimes when you've had a few glasses of Jim Bean you forget that age-old wisdom and find yourself browsing Mercari looking at discounted makeup. It was when I stumbled across a LimeCrime velvetine for half the cost of regular retail AND free shipping that I did damage. I fell in love with the shade called "Bleached", a warm nude and this item the seller claimed was real, just without the box. 

I bought it within a minute of finding the listing, believing her story of the cost being low due to the missing box. Then, right afterwards I noticed a comment that somehow I hadn't noticed. It read "Is it legit?". That's when I realized I had stumbled into the world of copycat makeup. I had forgotten that not just certain brands could be copied, ALL popular brands of makeup can be copied. Velvetines are in high demand, and people are very good these days at passing things off as real.

When it arrived in the mail I immediately tore into my package and inspected the goods. I own 3 real velvetines from previous purchases - two from LimeCrime.com and one from DollsKill.com. At first glance it looked the same, but after a couple minutes there were some glaring differences. I decided to do some research and sadly I write this knowing now that I have purchased a fake velvetine, and hopefully my research and experiences will help prevent you from doing the same.

What Research Says

1.) If there is no flower on the top of the cap, it's not real

Reality

1.) Two of my 3 real velvetines don't have flowers on the caps. Either LimeCrime or Dollskill sent me fakes or not all the batches of real velvetines have them.

What Research Says

2.) All the tags on the very bottom have to be the same with bold print and hot pink color.

Reality

2.) My shade Utopia purchased directly from LimeCrime has a different kind of sticker on the bottom than the other two. It's not a big deal to me but apparently there's not 100% consistency with all real velvetines.

What Research Says

3.) Fakes have shinier caps than the real velvetines.

Reality

3.) It took a bit of staring, but yes, the "Bleached" shade which is fake has a slightly shinier cap than the other 3 real ones.

What research says

4.) Fakes have more space between the bottom and the product.

Reality

4.) "Bleached" very clearly had more space between the bottom and the product.

What research says

5.) I couldn't find anything on the smell difference, but to me real velvetines smell like sweet clay. All the lip products from limecrime have a sweeter smell.

Reality

5.) "Bleached" smelled like chemicals. Nothing sweet about it - dead giveaway.

Even though I knew that "Bleached" was a fake, I didn't mind at first because I thought I had gotten a wonderful dupe for half the cost, until I wore it. I couldn't take it and after half a day at work I ran to Sephora to borrow a makeup wipe and scrubbed it off of my lips. It was terrible. It was very opaque, provided great coverage, and the color was beautiful. It lasted through eating and drinking without so much as budging, but the deal-breaker you ask? It never dried down. It stayed very sticky, causing small patches of color to come up if I would press my lips together too tightly. I couldn't forget about the stickiness because with every word I was reminded with my lips sticking together and then slowly peeling as I went to say something else.

One half day of sticky lips was enough for me, and now it's going into the trash.

LA Splash Liquid Lipstick Review

I have a confession to make - while on the outside I look like a more conservative work type with slight hippie tendencies, on the inside I am obsessed with makeup. Ok, for anyone reading this blog that's probably not a surprise, but I'm especially obsessed with makeup looks I see on models and makeup artists online. I secretly strive for that look that a lot of the models on the Dolls Kill (a favorite) website wear. The models on that particular website have inspired many makeup looks in the last year. Since my body type can't work for a lot of the clothing that they wear, I instead stalk the shoes, accessories and makeup on the site often, patiently waiting for a sale.

In the last month and a half I was granted two, and so I bought a slew of different products, two of which were L.A. Splash liquid lipsticks. They looked like beautiful, easily wearable colors and the prices were too good to pass up.

LA Splash Lip Couture in Rose Garden: $14

This is the most worn shade out of the two, and this one was the first one I used. I must say, these are the most comfortable liquid lipsticks I have ever used. They're not drying and they don't feel weird at all. True to form, they don't transfer, however, I noticed when I drank and ate the inner part of my bottom lip had some of the lipstick come off. It wasn't very much though, and the rest of it remained on there with the color staying strong.

 Reapplying the product was quite easy and it layered nicely, however, because with my job I talk all day, I noticed flaking. Excessive flaking towards the end of the day was kind of a problem. OH GOD THE FLAKING. The interesting thing is that when it flaked off, it didn't leave behind any patchiness, so I think the flaking happened from the second layer I applied, but it took a long time for that to happen. 

The ONLY way I was able to remove the flaking was by removing all the product from my lips and starting over again. The only thing that works well with these lipsticks are oil makeup removers, so that is something to keep in mind.

LA Splash Lip Couture in Lollipop: $4.20

This shade is so bright lovely, and just like Rose Garden it's unbelievably comfortable on the lips. The same flaking problem happened with this shade too. However, this shade didn't flake quite as much as Rose Garden. Once again though, the only way to get the flaking off my lips was to remove the all of the product completely and start over. Both of the shades seem to be pretty much identical in formulation with how they wear and layer, as well as their intense opaque pigmentation.

Extra Pros

Long wearing - I wore all of my liquid lipsticks to bed on the back of my hand. When I woke up the next morning, the only shades that were still going strong were the LA Splash liquid lipsticks.

Vegan & Cruelty-Free: I emailed the company asking them about their animal testing policy and their ingredients for their liquid lipsticks. This was the response I received from their customer service:

"Dear Ashley,

 

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

 

Our Liquid Lipsticks do not contain any animal by-products, beeswax nor carmine colorants; which, are the ingredients of concern among the Cruelty Free and Vegan communities.

 

The ingredients for our liquid lipstick are listed below for your reference:

 

C10-12 Alcane/Cycloalkane, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Dimethicone, Silica Dimethyl Silyate, Quaternium-18 Bentonite, Propylparaben

 

We do not test any of our products on animals.

 

Our ingredients are FDA approved and cruelty free as well."

 

Verdict

I LOVE these liquid lipsticks, however, if you are wearing them throughout the day and you will be talking a lot, it would be smart to bring a tiny bottle of oil or oil makeup remover and a cotton wipe or two for the flaking issue that happens later on in the day. Aside from that, these are totally worth every penny.

Product Review: Chanel Precision Lip Definer

Last year when I moved back to California my mother gave me a slew of products that she didn't want anymore. As I was told, there was nothing wrong with them, she just used her favorites more and found several items collecting dust.

Enter one eager makeup-loving daughter who was especially surprised that one of those products was a Chanel lipliner. Yes, Chanel, that luxury brand that buying one piece of clothing might mean going without food for a year. This gift was one that I was initially very excited to test out and give a full run-down review on, and I have used this product many times since being gifted it.  I'm not a brand junkie by any means though, I am someone who will be brutally honest if the $400 product is worse than the $4 product, no matter their name. 

***As a disclaimer before I get into the product, I found out about 2 months ago that Chanel cosmetics are NOT cruelty-free. I stopped using this product immediately after finding out and set it aside for this review. If this not being cruelty-free doesn't bother you, then keep reading***

Chanel Precision Lip Definer 

 

Chanel Precision Lip Liner: $31

The first thing to note is that this doesn't have a weird smell, or any smell at all, which is one positive for this item. To be honest though, I've never encountered a lip pencil with a smell, ever, of course there could always be a first. An immediate downside before even testing this item though is that if you run out and need to replace it, it's $31, and this particular color is no longer being made. This means you'll have to wait for it to show up on Ebay, Amazon and other resale sites, which could mean you'd get if for less, but it could also mean it might cost more than $31. That's pretty darn pricey for a lip liner. Just sayin'. Price aside though, this is the hardest lip pencil I've ever used in my life. Swatching on the back of the hand felt stiff but I was willing to look past that since it had nice, even pigmentation. On the back of the hand that is.

Trying to use this product on the lips was the worst lip experience of my life. To get color payoff I had to press down hard and it was painful, catching my lips and leaving uneven product in the wake of it's application. I tried so many times (before finding out it wasn't cruelty-free) and it each time I was left feeling frustrated with awful-looking lip liner. Even if this was cruelty-free, this wouldn't be worth $3.10, let alone $31. One slight positive is that the other side of this lip liner has a smudge brush to smudge out any lip product you might put on top of it. That's one nice touch, but it doesn't make the price worth it.

(Can you see that uneven patchiness around the edges on the bottom lip? I didn't wear it on my top lip so you could see the difference. Uneven towards the top of my bottom lip too, I can see my natural color showing through. Ugh)

Final Verdict: Nope. The color was pretty, but the pencil was terrible and cleaning that little brush is such a nightmare since the bristles are so densely packed. Getting any gloss or lipstick out of those bristles is a pain. On top of that, my lips hurt every.single.time I used this pencil. On top of that, it's not cruelty-free, which means this bad boy is going in the trash.

 Go use Colourpop, go use Wet & Wild, go use Urban Decay, go use Too Faced, use anything other than this one.

2 Spray-On Makeup Brush Cleaners, One Review

With a new-found steam to the detoxify my beauty/skincare products, I've found myself wanting to make sure every aspect of my life is at least cruelty-free while working towards all of my beauty/skincare being vegan too over time. This led me to realize that my MAC makeup brush cleaner is something that needs to go since MAC isn't truly cruelty-free, not while they're selling through mainland China that requires animal testing.  

As someone who's tried numerous different kinds of brush cleaner before, I was excited to branch out and see what high-end AND drugstore had to offer since I'm lucky to have access to both on a daily basis. 

My first top was Target, and there I picked up the only labeled brush cleaner in the entire store that the Target employee knew of, which happened to be cruelty-free & vegan: ELF cosmetics brush cleaner.

ELF Studio Daily Brush Cleaner: $3

At first glance this seemed like a 100% winner due to the fact that you get 2.02 fl oz for only $3. My wallet was rejoicing. However, my immediate reaction when I first sprayed this was "oh dear god what I done". The scent of this brush cleaner alone is enough to make me dry heave. This cleaner smells sickeningly sweet and not in the good way, almost like decaying fruit rotting in mid-summer Louisiana humidity. Aside from the scent though, it worked on my powder brushes quite nicely. Both real and synthetic haired powder brushes were sprayed, gently massaged to work the cleaner through the bristles, and then wiped on a clean paper towel until the leftover product was gone. The end result was a set of powder brushes that were clean but unfortunately had an awful lingering scent that made me cringe the next morning when I went to use them. For my liquid foundation brush though, this did nothing. It knew nothing therefore did nothing...Jon Snow. 

I used 1/4 of the bottle trying to clean my liquid foundation brush to no avail. Spray cleaners seem to work best for powder brushes. While this worked nicely for most of my brushes, I can't continue to use it. Smelling that scent every time I clean my brushes will send me to an early grave.

When the ELF version didn't work I inspected every cosmetic counter at Macy's until I found another spray brush cleaner, this time from the company Origins. I thought that Origins was cruelty-free until I accidentally stumbled across an article stating that they sell through mainland China. 

Whoops.

Origins Brush Cleaner: $14.50

For this brush cleaner you get 3.4 fl oz for $14.50, which is more expensive than the MAC cleaner. I was a little disappointed, hoping that I would get more for the cost, but I was still hopeful that it would blow me away. My immediate reaction when I first sprayed this was "Thank god it doesn't smell like the ELF one". This cleaner has the slightest organic scent that is on the verge of heavenly. Using this one on my powder brushes though wielded very different results. Instead of becoming squeaky clean, they remained the same color they were from my powder products, except they just stopped depositing color on the clean paper towel once sprayed. Following the same process: Spray, massage, wipe, repeat until clean....well, there never was a truly "clean" state.

To be honest, this cleaner didn't really do much appearance-wise for my brushes. They felt softer, conditioned and sanitized, but they still looked very dirty, which leads me to believe this didn't get a lot of product out. It might've just sanitized the product that was left in there.

Final Verdict

NO. DOUBLE NO.

I am still on the hunt for an effective cruelty-free and hopefully vegan brush cleaner that is less messy and time-consuming than shampoo & water. 

I won't rest until I find it, I just might stop to take snack breaks in-between. And maybe a nap or two.

Cleaning Broken Blush From Carpet

Last week I was getting ready for work when the worst imaginable thing happened: my blush z palette fell on my white carpet...opened. 

When it hit the floor, one of my hot pink powder blushes seemed to take all of the impact and shattered, causing every ounce of that blush to come out of it's container and scatter across my white carpet. Naturally, a mini heart attack occured at that moment, but I was able to clean it up within 5 minutes without a single trace of that hot pink left anywhere on the carpet.  

If this happens to you (hopefully it never does), then just follow these easy steps and you'll be good to go for any powder product:

What you will need:

 Bowl/bucket

Laundry Detergent

Wash cloth

Paper Towel

Vacuum 

Water

Step 1: DO NOT PANIC! It will be okay, your carpet is not ruined.

Step 2: If there are any children or animals within close range and are active, immediately remove them from the area so they don't walk/play in the area and drive the stain deeper into the carpet.

Step 3: Get your vaccuum and use the tube to suck up as much loose debris as possible.

Step 4: If there is any actual stain left on the carpet, get a bowl/bucket with 1 cup warm water and add 5-6 drops of laundry detergent and mix until frothy. 

Step 5: Saturate the stained area with mixture and let sit for a minute before taking wash cloth or paper towel and blotting in an upwards motion. Continue to do this until stain is removed/no more comes up.

Step 6: If there is any stain left, take hydrogen peroxide, soak a clean portion of the cloth and let it sit on the stain for an hour +. If there is no more of the stain left, take a piece of the paper towel or dry part of the wash cloth and and blot firmly to remove any excess moisture.

30 Days of Lips + Looks: Day 30 "Inner Demons Recreation"

Day 30 "Inner Demons Recreation" - Calvin Klein

(Original Image)

Calvin Klein One Color Pure Color Lipstick: $16.00

I saw this movie a little while ago and I fell head over heels in love with the main character's makeup. I've never done a black smokey eye on myself before, and I really don't use black eyeshadow often to begin with. This was definitely stepping outside of my comfort zone, but I wanted to really push myself for the last look of my challenge. I hope you lovelies enjoyed my challenge!

30 Days of Lips + Looks: Day 29 "Israeli Cut Crease"

Day 29 "Israeli Cut Crease" - Too Faced

 

Too Faced La Creme Color Drenched Lipstick: $22.00

This is the most dramatic eyeshadow look I think I have ever done. It actually wasn't as involved of a process as I thought it would be, surprisingly. I decided to call it an "Israeli" cut crease since the Arabic cut creases I've seen use silver/white or pink on the eyelid while I used gold. Not that I'm trying to create a new look, I just thought it would be fun to use gold and whenever I think of Israel I think of the golden sand and beautiful shimmering building topped with gold in Jerusalem where we visited.

I did repeat this lip color but it felt like the only one that would truly pair well with this eyeshadow look since it's SO dramatic.

30 Days of Lips + Looks: Day 28 "Purple Rain"

Day 28 "Purple Rain" - Lime Crime

 

(Inspiraton photo)

Lime Crime Velvetine "Rave": $20.00

 This was another inspiration photo that was sent to me that I thought would be really fun to attempt. The pink lip color I have isn't the baby pink like in the photo, and I don't have a bright purple eyeshadow like in the picture, but I decided to attempt it with the limited range of purples that I have. I actually have 2 different kinds of glitter on top of the purple eyeshadow, it just didn't pick up the glitter on my lid, only under my lid. This was actually the easiest look I've done so far. Maybe I'm getting faster?

30 Days of Lip + Looks: Day 27 "Red Lady"

Day 26 "Red Red Wine" - J Cats

J Cats Big Lip Pencil : $3.99

So I decided to attempt the strobing trend along with my bright red lip for work. I feel like my makeup held up really nicely, I'm a little shiny despite re-applying powder after getting home, but my skin looks nice which is always my main focus. I actually really love this lip pencil because it's so hydrating and pigmented that I actually wear it by itself as like a lipstick. It lasted all night through eating and drinking with just one little touch-up. I need to wear this more often because this is one of the best red lip products, EVER.

30 Days of Lips + Looks: Day 26 "Purple/Bronze/Nude"

Day 26 "Purple/Bronze/Nude" - Urban Decay 

 

(Inspiration photo)

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick "Naked": $22.00

I was sent an inspiration photo tonight that was so pretty I couldn't pass it up. I love dramatic brown/bronzey looks, so this was really fun for me to re-create. The lipstick is more of a pinky-nude than a true nude like in the photo. Despite my photo's appearance that my makeup is much softer than the inspiration photo, it is actually just as dark and intense - the lighting washed it out tonight a little bit sadly.

30 Days of Lips + Looks: Day 25 "Feeling just a little blue"

Day 25 "Feeling just a little blue" - Bite 

Bite Lipgloss "Strangefruit": $22.00

I saw a look done with blue eyeshadow packed on the middle of the lid, so I decided to try it in a softer way that I could wear during the daytime. The gloss looks intimidating in the tube but once on it's super beautiful and absolutely wearable with any look.