This season, glossy, brightly pigmented lips are the go-to look! Everyone wants staying power. OCC has added a new product to their lip colour line called Stained Gloss. It’s described as a gloss with the pigment potency of a Lip Tar with a casual glossy finish (from the Sephora site). These have a pigmented translucent, lacquered quality to them.
OCC Stained Gloss!
Here are the swatches (from left to right).
Voyeur, Meta, Jealous, Androgyne, Rhythm Box, New Wave
Definitely check them out, especially if you find the original Lip Tars are a little ‘much’ for you. They retail for US$18 and are available now from OCC’s website, their flagship and from Sephora.
So……I’m not a fan of Rihanna…at all, BUT when I heard that she agreed to a multi collection deal with M.A.C. that started with the creation of a customized shade of lipstick in the Retro Matte finish, ah went bazodee!
The Retro Matte finish is the SINGLE BEST FINISH FOR A LIPSTICK EVA! Ruby Woo is my favourite lipstick and is my go-to with a high bun. So this shade is supposed to be what Rihanna wears on tour, a blue-based red, that’s universal on all skintones. Last week, M.A.C. released it online and it sold out in 3 hours…..yup, I was one of those waiting on that virtual line! There is no special packaging (I thought at least the box would have something on it), but engraved on the lipstick, was RiRi’s signature.
So I got this blush BY 3 palette for Christmas. Let’s just say…..this is amazing!!!! I usually dip my toe in instead of diving in when it comes to blush. Not because I am afraid, but many brands don’t pack that punch that I need for it to show up.
This British drugstore brand really impressed me. Talk about pigmentation! I got the colour 366 Pink Sprint, which contains 3 shades of pink.
The texture is amazing, as a matter of fact; I think this is a good dupe for NARS blushes, with respect to quality. Highly pigmented, very smooth, finely milled texture that’s not chalky or too stiff. And they are all matte! The packaging is great for travel as it comes in a sleek black case with a large mirror.
A few years ago, matte nails were all the rage in the nail art industry. I loved having the option to have a non-shiny finish. But sometimes, depending on the colour, matte nails could look a little…you know…flat.
Now companies have come out with textured nail polish – which is a matte base nail polish but it also includes glitter/shimmer that when it dries, it leaves a sandpaper-like texture to the nails. Have you ever seen freshly laid asphalt in the summer? The matte black surface appears to be littered with tiny pieces of shimmer. Well that’s just what it looks like. So the matte polish has a sparkly effect when the light catches it. It actually looks different to a regular shimmer polish or the original Zoya matte polishes. You could actually see the sand-like texture on the nail. Very interesting!
For spring, Zoya has brought out a collection called PixieDust and it contains 6 new colours (which I received from Zoya).
From PR:
Infused with Magic and Wonder! Featuring the latest “must-have” nail polish finish – Textured, Matte & Sparkling.
This newly developed formula is sure to captivate with a magical sparkle and sugary finish like no other. The color experts at Zoya have created six, long-wearing stunners for the introduction of this look…
As with all matte polishes, make sure that your nails are free of dust and oil (swipe some nail polish remover on them beforehand) and don’t use any base coat or top coat for best results.
Zoya recommends using 1-3 thin coats and for these, and I used 2 coats for all the swatches.
Its seems as though this spring and summer is all about the bright, semi-glossy lip. Intense colour like a lipstick with the glossiness of a lip gloss. But not super shiny, more like a really slick lip balm. All in a chubby pencil. Cute, convenient. So NARS Satin Lip Pencils are a perfect example of this and are now available online at narscometics.com and at their boutiques.
NARS Satin Lip Pencil
Speaking of boutiques, I recently went to the NARS boutique on 413 Bleecker when they unveiled their Satin Lip collection as well as I was able to see their new Radiant Creamy Concealers. Some pics of that are below, but here’s the scoop on the new Satin Lip Pencils.
Via PR:
Arresting Color, Seductively Satin Finish. This season, NARS dresses up lips in the new Satin Lip Pencil. Drenched in decadent moisture for an ultra creamy finish, thirteen statement shades smolder with rich pigments. Created by Founder and Creative Director Francois Nars, the Satin Lip Pencil combines the convienence of a pencil with the application of a lipstick in a jumbo-size crayon design.
