Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

Archives for March 2011

What’s the Price of Perfection? About $6.50, Thanks to Covergirl Lip Perfection Lipstick

by 16 Comments

Cover Girl Lip Perfection Lipstick
Covergirl Lip Perfection Lipstick in Darling on lips

This spring is shaping up to be a memorable one for drugstore lippies, with lips (and wallets) everywhere doing the dance of money-saving joy. First, the long-wearing $10 L’Oreal Infallible Le Rouge lipsticks left their mark; then, the buttery $6 NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams leaned in for a kiss.

But the newest girl in town is a moisturizing lipstick from Covergirl. It boasts a lightweight texture, bold (yet still budget-friendly) color and comes in a whopping 44 shades. Covergirl’s new $6.50 Lip Perfection Lipsticks were designed by Covergirl Global Creative Design Director (and magic makeup maven) Pat McGrath, who’s kinda like the Midas of my makeup world; everything she recommends turns into makeup gold. 🙂

covergirl lip perfection lipstick
Covergirl Lip Perfection in Darling (left) and Soulmate (right)

I like to think of these Lip Perfections as gateway lipsticks for girls who don’t usually like opaque lipsticks. Applying them feels like kissing satin or fresh spun cotton candy, and I know you’ve heard this description before, but wearing them almost feels like I’m not wearing anything at all.

They have a very faint vanilla scent and flavor, which I don’t feel very strongly about one way or the other, but if you’re not a fan of scented lipsticks, it does disappear pretty quickly.

Because lipsticks with thin textures don’t typically last long, I was surprised to get four full hours from these. Better yet, as the color fades, it does so evenly, leaving behind a really pretty stain.

Covergirl gave them something they refer to as their “Silk Therapy Complex” (along with ingredients like olive oil, shea butter and aloe) to make them moisturizing, and supposedly it also helps improve lip moisture after seven days of wear. That sounds like marketing mumbo jumbo to me, but after wearing two of the colors — Soulmate (a creamy mauve) and Darling (a bluesh pink) — off and on for about a week, I don’t detect a difference in my lips… At least they aren’t drier than they were before, which is good enough for me.

Cover Girl Lip Perfection

Cover Girl Lip Perfection
Covergirl Lip Perfection in Darling (left) and Soulmate (right)
[Continue reading…]

The Silicone Is Gone from L’Oreal EverSleek Frizz Taming Creme Serum, But What About the Flyaway Hairs?

by 22 Comments

Well herald the trumpets and release the Kraken! Do my eyes deceive me? I’ve been waiting all my life (okay, more like five years) for a silicone-free drugstore frizz tamer, and it looks like one’s finally here!

L’Oreal’s new $9 EverSleek Frizz Taming Creme Serum is one of seven products in the new L’Oreal EverSleek Sulfate-Free Smoothing System of shampoos, conditioners and stylers released this spring. The serum, which is designed to be applied to wet or dry hair, is supposed to relax rumpled tresses and tame flyaways, making hair frizz-free for up to 48 hours.

However, my hair wasn’t the first thing I thought about the first time I heard about EverSleek. My nose was, and that’s because I’ve had some bad scent-sory experiences with L’Oreal hair products in the past. Some were just too heavily perfumed for my sensitive schnoz, but as it turns out, EverSleek’s fragrance is a relatively restrained light floral and amber that I find warm and comforting. I actually like it a lot.

I also like that L’Oreal didn’t test the stuff on animals, nor does it contain any animal products, so for that it gets two paws up from Tabs.


[Continue reading…]

Shu Uemura Lash Curler Woes and a Thursday Thank You

by 119 Comments

How are you doing, young lady? I hope something nice happened to you this week. I know we talk all the time in the comments, but I’m feeling extra chatty now, so I thought I’d say another hello.

Hello. 🙂

Have a seat. Let me pour you a cup of tea…

Hasn’t the week just flown by? For the most part it’s been a good one for me, with one minor major exception: I can’t find my Shu Uemura Lash Curler.

It’s true what they say — you don’t really know how much you love something until it’s gone (and you completely lose your sh*t).

It wasn’t in its usual place when I went to do my makeup on Tuesday morning. I looked everywhere for it, tearing through the house, panic rising in me with each passing second until BAM! I realized how silly I was being.

Had I lost touch with reality? Was I becoming Ronnie and Sam? It’s just an eyelash curler, after all.

Right?
[Continue reading…]

I’d Circumnavigate the Globe for the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams

by 81 Comments

nyx soft matte lip cream in addis ababa

Forget “champagne wishes and caviar dreams.” I prefer “makeup wishes and Soft Lip Creams.” 🙂

In my wildest beauty nerd dreams, I’d visit each of the 11 cities featured in the new NYX Soft Lip Creams line ($6 each) just to be able to wear each color in the city it belongs. First London, then Amsterdam, Antwerp, Stockholm, Monte Carlo and Milan. From there it’s across the Adriatic to Istanbul, down to Abu Dhabi, further down to Addis Ababa, way, way east to Tokyo, and then all the way across the Pacific to end in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Of course, to complete the fantasy, I’d fly business class, and Ben McKenzie love would accompany me on the journey (sorry, El Hub!). On planes, in trains and automobiles, we’d talk for hours about The Hunger Games, and then, somewhere over the Mediterranean, he’d reveal his secret fetish for crazy cat ladies.

But seriously, here’s what really happened…

Today I wore Addis Ababa (a matte hot pink), Antwerp (a matte coral), Milan (a matte peach) and Amsterdam (a matte red) — not at the same time, of course — as I tooled around the sleepy Northern California town of Novato, dodging cookie-pushing Girl Scouts (OMG! THIN MINTS!), and walking a chubby cat named Tabs.

Okay, so that wasn’t terribly exciting, but these Soft Matte Lip Creams are. 🙂 NYX, a budget-minded, cruelty-free brand, just released the new line of creamy, long-wearing matte lipsticks for spring.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams
NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams from left: Addis Ababa, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Milan
[Continue reading…]

Did Smashbox Put Their Limitless Liquid Liner Pen on a High-Sodium Diet?

by 47 Comments

smashbox limitless liquid liner pen

What’s the secret to the Smashbox Waterproof Limitless Liquid Liner Pen’s ($22) water repelling powers? Could it be the seasoning perhaps?

Unless I missed the makeup challenge on Top Chef this season, the inclusion of sea salt in the formula must have been a Smashbox idea. Does it help the product work? I’m not sure, but I do see that the company’s Limitless Eye Liner and their bestselling Jet Set Waterproof Eye Liner are 100% sea salt-free.

Even if the spice is purely cosmetic (weird!), this bad boy repels water and sweat like a champ. The other day I drew the Black shade along my upper lash line before hopping on the treadmill, and roughly one bucket of perspiration later, it still looked good with nary a smudge.

smashbox limitless liquid liner pen

smashbox limitless liquid liner pen
[Continue reading…]

I’ve Taken a Shine to These New NARS Illuminators

by 48 Comments

nars illuminator review

Truth: sometimes I view fruit solely as a vehicle for the delivery of Nutella — a Nutella delivery system, if you will, with the final destination being my belly.

And, in a way, the new multi-purpose NARS Illuminators in Super Orgasm, Copacabana and Laguna ($29 each) are just like that. The liquid (like fruit) serves as the vehicle to deliver the glitter/pearl (the Nutella) to the skin.

Okay, I could have used a better analogy…but I think you know where I’m going with this. The stuff is basically shimmer suspended in a very sheer tinted liquid.

The newly released shades follow up on last year’s shimmery, multi-purpose Orgasm Illuminator, and, like Orgasm, they’re also designed to work as blushes, bronzers and/or highlighters.

nars illuminator super orgasm laguna copacabana
NARS Illuminators from the left: Laguna, Super Orgasm and Copacabana

If the colors sound familiar, congrats! — you’re an official beauty nerd. 🙂 Yep, NARS drew from their permanent line for inspiration here, basing the new products on some of their most iconic shades. I’ve really been looking forward to giving these a try because, like Michael Corleone, I keep my friends close, and my NARS (Blushes, Bronzers and Multiples) closer.

The first thing I realized using these was just how much shimmer they contain. It’s A LOT. Even a wee dot, like around the diameter of a pea, is enough to noticeably illuminate my cheeks, the bridge of my nose, my temples, chin AND my shoulders and decollete. And the fluid is really easy to blend into the skin, too, taking mere seconds to apply.

Illuminating tips from NARS National Artist Janice Daoud…

How do you use the Illuminators as a blush?
With your fingertips, pat a small amount of Super Orgasm onto the cheek bones, and bring it downward for a radiant, healthy glow.
 
What’s your favorite way to wear them?
I like to mix Laguna Illuminator with my foundation. It adds instant warmth. I follow with Copacabana along the cheek bones and the center of the face for a refreshed look.

In addition to my face, where else can I apply them?
Don’t forget your shoulders, neck and decollate for a sexy, chic look. All of these [colors] look amazing, and they’re universally flattering on all skin shades.

nars illuminator copacabana

nars illuminator super orgasm
[Continue reading…]

Copyright © 2025 Makeup and Beauty Blog. Get in touch.