When Lori Taylor tweeted last December about some new lipsticks that Smashbox was bringing out, I was intrigued! I was eager to feed my newfound passion for lipsticks. Fast forward to the new year and I couldn’t wait to place my order!
Smashbox’s Be Legendary Lipsticks are new for Spring/Summer 2012.
Smashbox's Be Legendary Lipstick
There are 22 shades, from neutrals to brights to deeps and they also come into a variety of textures from mattes to creams to shimmers. Smashbox also added shea butter and antioxidants Vitamin A and E for the creamy lipsticks. The shea butter adds creaminess and moisturization properties and the essential vitamins act as antioxidants and therefore can protect the lips. The matte shades also contains Vitamins A and E.
So there has always been a desire to have long-wearing makeup and now pretty much every major cosmetic line brings out makeup that promises to last and last. No one wants to work on a look only for it to crease an hour later.
Just in time for this season and NYFW, Maybelline brought out 10 new shades for their new Color Tattoo By EyeStudio 24hr Eye Shadow. These come in glass pots with black screw caps that look very similar to M.A.C.’s Paint Pots. Speaking of Paint Pots, they contain 5 gms of product while the Maybelline product contains 4 gms. The thick-walled glass makes the containers durable and I had no problems with the seal on the cap. I really liked that Maybelline chose to release a good mix of really bright, bold colours, with some neutrals as well as both shimmer and non-shimmer textures. They are described as a cream/gel and again the texture is very similar to the Paint Pots. Very creamy and smooth, although the shimmer shade that I tried was slightly less creamy than the matte shade. They also have really good pigmentation and they can be applied lightly for a sheer wash or more heavily for and opaque finish. Dry time is pretty quick so that you have to work quickly to apply product to the eye. Typically for a creamy product that comes out of a pot, I use a stainless steel palette knife but you could also use a synthetic brush or your fingers to scoop out the product! Maybelline has marketed this new product as just a cream eye shadow, without use a base or in combination of other shadows. I tested this new item on my upper eyelid, without the aid of a primer or setting with a powder eyeshadow. I got about 5 hours of wear before I saw the first signs of creasing and it was minimal. While my eye shadow looked fine for the rest of the day, I don’t think that this will last for 24 hrs. Which is not a bad thing anyway. Who really needs all that?
Recently I attended the launch of Make Up For Ever’s new lipstick line, Rouge Artist Natural.
Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural lipsticks
A few years ago, they brought out Rouge Artist Intense, a 50+ collection of amazing, heavily pigmented lipsticks. This time around, for Spring 2012, they are releasing another 50 lipsticks, which are supposed to provide a softer effect on the lips. These lipsticks are more moisturizing, and have a glossy sheen to them, as if they were mixed with a little lip gloss.
So I decided to pick up one colour for starters, N28.
One of the hardest things to do is to find the perfect red. A lot of women of colour avoid the most coveted lip colour of all time. Red is the colour of the season and sultry glamour is back! Various textures and finishes, it doesn’t matter. Red is it!!! Truth be told, I had to make a conscious decision to start buying reds. It is really a matter of trial and error to find reds that work with your skintone and personality and the engineer in me loves this!!!
So here are some the reds that I have collected recently. And for the record, I don’t know where I have been but M.A.C.’s Ruby Woo bessssssss!!!!! I don’t know what they sprinkle on that lipstick, and it’s a matte too!! It is a gorgeous, stunning true red and the finish/texture of the lipstick also makes it unique! No one looks bad in this one. I think this is as close to a sure bet as you can get! If you would like more detailed swatches/info on a particular colour, let me know. I will be doing a review on the NARS items. Check out my review on the NYX Lip Cremes here. I’m NW45 with red undertones but my arm is a little lighter.
Swatches (L to R): Succubus, Strutter, Chaos, Amsterdam, Monte Carlo, Fiery, Russian Red, Ruby Woo, Moulin Rouge, Vesuvio, Dragon Girl
