Favorite Spring Lip Products

Since it's finally warming up here in Seattle, I thought I would talk about some of my favorite Spring lip colors. I usually find that my go-to products in Spring remain some of my favorites throughout the Summer as well.

Here we have the NYX Cosmetics Butter Lip Gloss in Peach Cobbler, MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Coral Bliss, Fresh Sugar Tinted Lip Treatment in Coral, Maybelline Color Elixir in Celestial Coral, and Rimmel London Show Off Lip Lacquers in Aurora and Luna. The order in which they are listed corresponds to the pictures below.

The NYX Cosmetics Butter Lip Gloss in Peach Cobbler is the best lip gloss I have used in a long, long time! Not only is the color gorgeous, but the formula is so comfortable and soft on the lips. I hate sticky lip products, so finding this gloss was nothing short of a miracle for me. Beyond that, these glosses are super affordable and smell like HEAVEN. I cannot praise this stuff enough!

MAC Cremesheen lipstick in Coral Bliss is a beautiful sheer, peachy nude. The more you build this up on the lips, the more that peach color will start to stand out. If you're nervous about trying a coral lip color, this is definitely a toned down, more wearable option. MAC lipsticks are famous for their amazing quality and yummy vanilla smell, and they're also reasonably priced in my opinion.

Fresh Sugar Tinted Lip Treatment in Coral is a super moisturizing, bright coral shade. This is great because the color is so vibrant, yet so easy to wear due to the balm-like feel of this product. If you layer on this color, it can also start to lean into a cherry red shade. This is perfect if you want to take your look from day to night. I mentioned this product in a different shade in my "A Few Products Worth Splurging On" post, which just goes to show my love for these!

Maybelline Color Elixir in Celestial Coral is another glossy type product, with a lot more shine to it than anything else here. The name of this color is somewhat deceptive; I would consider it more of a rose shade. Either way, it's a beautiful color. This gloss has a slightly sticky texture, but it actually hasn't bothered me too much. Another affordable option, this product comes in a huge range of colors.

Rimmel London Show Off Lip Lacquers in Aurora and Luna are two more great options for this time of year. Aurora is a deeper, slightly rosy coral shade, while Luna is a true nude peach. These start out looking glossy, but dry to a semi-matte finish. I have done a full review on these lacquers, which I will link right here for more info.

As you may have noticed, a lot of these products contain the word "coral" somewhere in the name. Corals and peaches are the staple colors this time of year as far as I'm concerned!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave them down below in the comments. Have a great day!

A Few Products Worth Splurging On...

Sometimes it can seem as if all of the expensive products out there are priced simply based on the brand name attached to them. While I can admit to spending (way) too much money on makeup, there are still times I question if price really does determine the quality of the product you're getting. The following products are some of the ones I have been the most impressed with recently, and truly feel are worth the high price tag.

First up is by far my favorite mineral foundation ever, the Tarte Amazonian Clay Airbrush Foundation. This is a powder with medium to full, buildable coverage. I have very dry skin overall, yet I still get oily around my nose throughout the day. This powder is amazing because it doesn't accentuate my dry patches at all, and it also helps control oil! In fact, this powder gives a more luminous finish to my skin than some of the liquid foundations I've used. If you're looking for a quick, one-step product, this would be the thing for you. It gives awesome coverage and has the smoothest, most skin-like application; just gorgeous! You can purchase this product from Sephora or Ulta.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Airbrush Foundation in Fair Honey

Next is the Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder Compact in the shade Highlight 01. I'm not sure why the word matte is in the name of this product, as it is a highlighter. Perhaps it refers to the lack of shimmer? To me, that really is what makes this stand out as such a fantastic product. It gives the most beautiful glow to the skin, and has the least shimmer of any other highlighter I've tried or seen. The small amount of shimmer that is present in this product is super finely milled and barely noticeable on the skin at all. For anyone with fine lines, wrinkles, blemishes, or pores on their cheeks, using a highlighter with shimmer can draw even more attention to these issues. If you struggle with this, I highly suggest checking out this powder. Yes, it is expensive, but a little goes a long way and the results are stunning. You can purchase this product here at Sephora.

Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder Compact in Highlight 01

 

Another product I would definitely save up for is the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment, particularly in the shade Petal. This stuff is extremely moisturizing and great during the winter, especially for those of us with chronically chapped lips! All of these balms from Fresh also contain SPF 15. This shade is a great, wearable option for women of all skin tones. It's one of those "your lips but better" colors. I remember the first few times I wore this, I got so many compliments on my lip color! While these don't have the best staying power, considering that they're a balm they do stay on quite well. They're one of the most comfortable things I've ever put on my lips, and they're just so darn pretty! They leave my lips incredibly soft and nourished, even after the color has faded. I found mine at Sephora.

 



Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in Petal



The following item is a tinted brow gel, Benefit Cosmetic's 'Gimme Brow. This product may not be enough for someone with thinner brows, or someone who's brows are really sparse. However, if you already have somewhat full brows and are more concerned with filling in random "blank spots", you will really enjoy this product. The tiny applicator this has is part of what makes it so unique, as it's super easy to get product onto every last brow-hair. It gives the most natural, full brows without looking heavy or overdone. This is a great product for everyday use, which is part of what makes it worth the higher price. This can be found at both Ulta and Sephora.

 

Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow in Light/Medium

 

While there are certainly many other high end products I have become smitten with, these are just a few of the ones I have been particularly loving. I chose these items based off of how often I use them and what I thought would be the most versatile for a variety of women. I have been using these items on a regular basis for months now, and would highly recommend them to anyone I know.

 

If you have any additional questions or thoughts, please leave them below! Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this post!

Review: Rimmel London Show Off Lip Lacquers

Hey everyone! This is my very first blog post, and I'm very excited to share my makeup musts with you! Today I'll be reviewing the Rimmel London Show Off Lip Lacquers, also known as the Rimmel London Apocalips in the United Kingdom. Personally, I've heard a lot of hype going around about these in the past several months, and couldn't wait to get my hands on them! I have 7 shades I'll be reviewing, all of which I've owned and used for a good two months now.

There are currently 14 shades available in the U.S. There are a wide variety of shades; from nudes to reds and shimmer to matte. I personally do not own any of the shimmer shades, as it's not really my style and I doubt I would get wear out of them. The ones I will feature below all go on as a gloss but dry semi-matte and have a finish more similar to a lipstick.

 From left to right, the colors shown above are Luna, Celestial, Nova, Aurora, Stellar, Apocaliptic, and Big Bang.

A quick description of each:
Luna is a light peach shade with a subtle pink tone.
Celestial is a true pink with subtle mauve tones.
Nova is a lighter Barbie pink shade.
Aurora is a peachy-pink shade that leans more towards the pink side.
Stellar is a vibrant coral shade.
Apocaliptic is a true hot pink with cool tones.
Big Bang is an orange-toned bright red.

I'd have to say that Aurora is my favorite color out of the bunch - it's the perfect combination of wearable pink, peach, and red shades and would be suitable for any skin tone, in my opinion. It doesn't lean too far into any color range, which has made it very versatile for me.   

Overall, I really do like these lacquers, and you can't beat the price! They are very long wearing and surprisingly conditioning and comfortable to wear. The pigmentation is also very impressive, especially for a drugstore product. Every shade I have shown has equally good pigmentation. They do have a fruity smell to them which may bother some people, but it fades very quickly and doesn't have a taste to it. Here in the U.S. they are currently exclusively sold at Walgreens for $4.99 each. Hopefully they'll be expanding to other drugstores so that more people have easy access to try them! 

I would definitely recommend these to anyone looking to try a new drugstore lip product, and I'd give them a rating of 4.5/5 stars. The only reason they didn't get five stars is because the vast majority of the shades have warm peachy undertones, and I'd like to see more with cooler tones to them as well. 

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this review! Feel free to leave questions, suggestions, and requests below!