loreal

Wearing the new L’Oréal Paris Colour Caresse by Colour Riche Luminous Lipcolour in Violet Chiffon

It’s been an exciting afternoon! First, I discovered what might be my new favorite drugstore lipstick (more on that in a minute); then, I improvised a pasta dish without following a recipe, and it didn’t turn out completely terrible. 🙂

If you’ve ever partaken of my improv cooking before, you’d know that it’s a crapshoot. Sometimes it works out, but sometimes, well, let’s just say that calling it “whack to the Nth degree” would be kind.

Luckily, I had some good ingredients on hand. I made a sauce of olive oil, minced garlic, crushed red pepper, halved cherry tomatoes and clam juice from a can, threw that in with some spaghetti, and garnished it with basil and salty Pecorino Romano cheese.

I wanted to add the clams for protein but didn’t realize they were whole clams until I opened the can.

Eww! I like diced clams, but I can’t deal with chopping them up when they’re whole. They’re just so…squishy and rubbery, and there’s that dark stuff that oozes out of ’em.

I ended up leaving out the clams, but I did add the clam juice to the sauce for flavor.

The dish was probably the best improv pasta I’ve made in a while, and I should have immortalized it with a pic! — but blast if I didn’t forget to take one before I finished devouring the meal.

Finding my new favorite drugstore lipstick this afternoon helped to soften the blow. The new $9.99 L’Oréal Paris Colour Caresse by Colour Riche Luminous Lipcolours are more than just mouthfuls. They’re also all kinds of rad.

From the left: Pink Cashmere 171, Blushing Sequin 172, Violet Chiffon 175 and Pink Vinyl 183

Loaded with pigment and moisture, these 16 creamy, modern marvels are rarities among moisturizing lippies because they don’t highlight any flakes on my perpetually parched lips. L’Oréal’s lightweight Luminous Lipcolours are pigmented enough to satisfy my almost insatiable thirst for color, even with a single swipe, and hydrating enough to keep the flakes at bay.

After trying four of the colors so far, my lips and I are happy, moisturized and utterly impressed.

The unscented, unflavored pinks, neutrals and berries in the line headline the show like silent movie matinee versions of the far more expensive Pure Colour Sensuous Rouges from Estee Lauder ($28 each) and Chanel’s Rouge Coco Shines ($32).

Swatches from the left: Pink Cashmere 171, Blushing Sequin 172, Violet Chiffon 175 and Pink Vinyl 183

Wearing Blushing Sequin
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L’Oreal Infallible 8 HR Le Gloss in Glistening Berry

Now, when a gloss makes a Herculean claim and says that it lasts eight hours, that’s gonna attract some attention, and the first question many people are probably going to have is, “Does it actually last eight hours?”

Let’s find out. 🙂 The new L’Oreal Infallible 8 HR Le Glosses (about $10 each) are so confident in their stamina that they advertise it right on the tube.

Overlooking the possibility for a moment, however remote, that L’Oreal had something other than wear time in mind when they emblazoned these tubes (like eight home runs, eight happy remoras, or eight hungry rabbits), I tried two of the 20 shades available now at drugstores.

The first thing I noticed about Glistening Berry and Pink Topaz was how the texture changed on my lips over time. Both glosses started out feeling thin and smooth but thickened within the first few minutes into a thick, sticky film.

I took that as a positive sign, since sticky glosses tend to last longer for me than glosses with thin textures and consistencies.

And texture wasn’t the only change I noticed. These glosses also start out with a lot of pigment and high shine, but they settle down to a soft, sheer sheen over the first 15 minutes. Long term, I think it makes them more wearable and less intimidating, which I like.

As for the way I think they taste and smell, it’s a little strange… Like minty grape juice — or a magic, wear-time enhancing potion, perhaps? — but it dissipates after about 10 minutes.

Then there’s the million-dollar question: how long do these actually last on lips?

Glistening Berry on the left and Pink Topaz on the right
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