In Search of the Perfect Lipstick - Part Two

L’Oreal Infallible Never Fail Lipcolour

L’Oreal’s range of colors is quite good – from pinks to browns to purples.



Step 1 – marked with a big “1” on the tube’s top – is the color. It is liquid and applies with a sponge tip. Directions say to wait two minutes for it to dry before putting on Step 2. Step 2 is a clear topcoat very like a lip balm.



The color is long-lasting, perhaps 6 to 8 hours, depending on how frequently you eat, drink or bite your lips. You can reapply the clear moisturizing balm as needed. And it is needed. My lips felt and looked quite dry within a half hour of application.



There was minimal color transfer to eating utensils or teeth. Nice.



Revlon ColorStay Overtime Lipcolor

Revlon’s color range is more limited – fairly dark tones with browns predominating. For me that’s fine, because the whole point is to add long-lasting color to lips that have faded some with age.



Color goes on first with a sponge applicator. A brief wait for drying is needed though the package directions don’t mention that. Then comes the liquid topcoat applied with a brush.



This combo leaves the lips looking and feeling moist. Even when the topcoat wears off, my lips still feel moist. If you like the glossy look, you can reapply the topcoat as needed. There is absolutely no color transfer.



What I love most about Revlon ColorStay is that it lives up to its name. The staying power is incredible. I apply it once in the morning and, if I don’t remove it with Revlon ColorStay Eye and Lip Makeup Remover, there is still color on my lips the following morning! It does come off in the shower, which is good in case I want a different color for the new day.



Tags: long-lasting lipstick, L’Oreal Infallible, Revlon ColorStay

In Search of the Perfect Lipstick - Part One

Becky and I have been searching for the perfect long-lasting lipstick. One that is non-drying and feels moist on our lips. We don’t want it to come off on our coffee cups and teeth or to dry out our already dry lips or bleed into those little lines that form despite our best efforts. Finally, we want it to be simple to apply. No long waits between multiple coats of primer, color and top coat. I know we’re asking a lot.



I surveyed all my friends and most couldn’t recommend anything even close. However I did get two recommendations that the users think almost meet our requirements: L’Oreal Infallible Never Fail Lipcolour; and Revlon ColorStay Overtime Lipcolor.



I’ve tested them both and have to say I’m pretty impressed with both.



L’Oreal comes in the cleverest case you could imagine. Kudos to the engineers! The case is rectangular, 2 ¾ by 1 ½ inches. It is shiny silver plastic and one side serves as a mirror. It’s not a great mirror, but it serves in a pinch. The product has two tubes (liquid color and topcoat like a lip balm), one on each side of the case. You push each tube up and remove the applicator to apply. I like that the tubes do not come completely out, so you’re not fumbling with lots of bits and pieces.



Revlon’s presentation is much more mundane – a simple two-sided wand – liquid color on one end and liquid topcoat on the other.



However as they say, “The proof is in the pudding.” Presentations aside, here's my report on the performance of these long-lasting lipsticks.



Tags: long-lasting lipstick, L’Oreal Infallible, Revlon ColorStay

It’s Baaaack: the Lead in Lipstick Scare

The “lead in lipstick” scare has resurfaced – this time led by a pressure group called the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC). The CSC submitted 33 lipsticks to an independent lab for lead testing. Of course, none of the lipsticks list lead as an ingredient; rather it is an adulterant – you know – like rat droppings and insect parts in your food.



The CSC needed some benchmark for comparison. They chose the FDA limit for candy, which is 0.1 parts per million. Since lipstick is neither a food nor a drug, the FDA does not set a limit on the amount of lead that can find its way into a tube of lipstick.



That’s an extremely conservative limit of 1 atom per 10 million because young brains are most susceptible to lead damage and kids are typically big consumers of candy. (Pregnant women should beware as well, since ingested lead can migrate across the placenta.)



One can argue that the CSC candy benchmark is inappropriate. We don’t eat our lipstick. We use only a small amount each day. Lipstick users are not young children whose brains are most susceptible. Etc., etc. But if it’s a benchmark rather than a limit, what’s the difference?



Read more information about lead in lipstick.



Tags: Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, lead in lipstick, lead limits

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine # 54 Boy

I am always searching for the perfect MLBB shade and I get extremely irritated when MUA or beauty journalists talk casually about this sort of shade, stating something inocuous like "oh and just dig out that lipstick, the one that makes you look a bit more healthy/if you've just had a good snog/is the same shade as your lips but just a tad darker"

It really makes my blood boil because I don't know what that shade is, I have been wearing makeup for the past 35 years (yes I can be that specific I remember receiving a makeup kit in a bright yellow suitcase at around 10yrs old, and immediately applying the bright green crayon like eye pencil in a perfect circle around both eyes - I was delighted despite the guffaws of my Mum and her best friend who later had a roaring affair with my father and a child or 2 but that's another story).

I search high and low, high end and low end and as a consequence have a slew of half used bullets of lipstick in varying shades of beigey grey rosy pinky colour. Which is why I stick to glosses or balms, but sometimes I can feel as if I am a bit mutton.

So this product with its lipstickgloss hybrid seemed perfect to me.

As can be seen my lips are pretty pale and unsnogged.

This is a lovely colour, there is some warmth to the pink and it is very sheer in texture, perfect.....and yet I can never get it to look right on me, is it too peach? is it too sparkly? In reality it is neither of these, it is a beautifully textured if a tad expensive lipstickglossbalm but for a grumpy old beauty bag it just causes me to frown at myself yet again.

NARS Dolce Vita - an obsession

I have the lot in the lip department.

Dolce Vita Lipstick?

Or maybe the Lipgloss?

How about the Velvet Matte Lip Pencil?

This is described as infinately wearable, suits all, MLBB shade, the ubiquitous rosy brown.

Swatched on my arm

From bottom to top, lipstick, lipgloss, velvet matte lip pencil.

And on my lips - lipstick

lipgloss -

Velvet Matte lip pencil

All of these are products which I frown at myself in - I like the pencil but maybe matte is a bit ageing on a 45 year old lip? The gloss is well glossy, but a bit more pigmented than I would normally go for and can feel a bit gloopy. And the lipstick, on a good day it looks fabulous, just what I want, my lips look like my lips 20 years ago, but on a bad day - well lets just say that it looks as if I have been at the pasta sauce with abandon.

Bésame Lipstick

This is one of the quotes which scroll across the Home page of the beautiful Bésame website.

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“Things are pretty, graceful, rich, elegant, handsome, but until they speak to the imagination, not yet beautiful”
------------------------------------------------------ Ralph Waldo Emerson

When we examined the Bésame lipsticks before even looking at the website, my nieces, sisters and I uttered the words, “enchanting”, “rich”, “elegant”, beautiful” and “retro”. Bésame certainly did speak to our imaginations.

As for the lipsticks, we all agreed that they are ultra-rich and creamy. As well, they’re surprisingly long-lasting for lipsticks not marketed as such. We had the red set to play with. So it wasn’t surprising that my blond-haired sister, Eileen, wasn’t comfortable with any of the colors.

However, the rest of us also felt the colors were too dark and glam for everyday wear. The reds are lipstick colors to wear for a special meal or evening out. Carry the tube in your purse and, if there’s a lull in the conversation or you’re feeling seductive, touch up your Bésame.

If you’re with the girls, enjoy the “Oooos”, “Ahhhhs” and “Whereever did you get that?” If you’re with a date, it’s a fetching way to say “Bésame”.

Tags: Besame, Besame mucho, Besame cosmetics, makeup party, female bonding , spa party, Ageless-Beauty

Bésame Party

“Bésame. Bésame mucho …” For anyone who isn’t familiar with this romantic Spanish song, the words mean “Kiss me. Kiss me a lot …” Bésame – what a perfect name for a very retro line of lipsticks.

I received a gift selection of Bésame lipsticks. The five lipsticks come in the prettiest gold-colored metal bullet-shaped tubes with an oriental-looking enamel design of red flowers, lined up in a pretty divided box and nestled in the prettiest little gift bag.

I was so enchanted with the Bésame packaging that I went to their website to check out the rest of their products. I thought the packaging was lovely, but was just blown away by the beauty of the site. It’s a Zen-like experience; the beautiful scrolling graphics and quotes on the home page are just mesmerizing.

Read more about Besame lipsticks.

Tags: Besame, Besame mucho, Besame cosmetics, makeup party, female bonding, spa party, Ageless-Beauty

Boots 17 Mirror Shine On Lipsticks in Beehive and Belle

I am in the mood for lipsticks rather than lipglosses and am digging around in my stash for sheer lipsticks with which to break myself in again. These lipsticks were dish du jour about a year ago in the beauty blogging world and they really are fab, the quality and finish is better than many brands I have used which are 10 x the price (oh yes these are currently £2.59 each)

Beehive at the bottom and Belle at the top

Here is a close up of Beehive

And on my lips

I am not quite sure that I can get away with this as it is a bit on the nude side and I have enough loss of pigment from my lips naturally thankyou very much without cosmetically enhancing that. So saying the texture really is sublime, very moisturising very sheer.

Belle is more up my street.

Quite a cool pinky mauve

This probably is the MLBB shade I am searching for, the trouble is that when I see it on in a full face I wonder that it is a bit boring? Again super moisturising and easy to apply without a mirror - although at a pinch one could use the packaging which is very reflective.

Available from Boots in various colours and currently £2.59 - bargain.

Lipstick Queen Saint Nude

I am not entirely sure about Saint Nude, it is quite pigmented and matte, and rather more brown than I would like.

On lips below

This looks better on camera than in real life and is less moisturising than any of the other LQ lipsticks that I have so saying it is a good neutral and I have worn this and received compliments.

Available from SpaceNK £17

Lipstick Queen Butterfly Ball in Trance

So another day another Lipstick Queen lipstick. This one is Trance which is part of the Butterfly Ball range. These lipsticks all have an irridescence to them, a little hint of glitter which is meant to suggest butterfly wings.

This is a very sheer raspberry with hint of glittery green/turquoise, the glitter is not felt on the lips.

On lips below



It appears warmer on the lips than it is in reality. It is a balm with a hint of colour and as a comparison has less pigment to my mind than LQ Medieval which I will be reviewing later in the week.

Available from SpaceNK at £18.

Lipstick Queen Saint Pink

Lipstick Queen Saint Pink is part of the I suppose signature range of lipsticks by Poppy King.

The range is divided into *saint* which has 10% pigment and *sinner* which has 90% pigment, thus one can chose a shade, beit berry, coral, natural, nude, pink, red, rose, rouge and wine and decide on whether one wants to ramp it up with the *sinner* or tone it down with the *saint*.

So Saint Pink.

This is definately a pink - I say definately because some of the shades can be not as one would imagine from the names - and a warm pink at that.

This is probably a satin finish.

On the lips

I do tend to forget this lipstick which is infinately flattering, and seems to really suit my skin tone.

Available from SpaceNK £17

Lipstick Queen Jean Queen

I thought that I would do a week in Lipstick Queen lipsticks - it will actually only be 5 days because I only have 5 lipsticks by Poppy King but what the hey.

The LQ range has to be my favourite brand of lipstick, no taste, no smell. I cannot abide lipsticks with a flavour, although I am partial to a flavoured gloss or balm, but to flavour a lipstick is sacreligious to me. 

So Jean Queen.

I am really pleased with this photo - my son usually takes my lipstick photos with a macro lens but he is off to university in the next few weeks so I really have to learn to take these sort of photos on my camera, this one turned out particularly well, and I hope that it captures the beautiful rosy pinkness.

The idea behind this shade is that it is a "wear it with your jeans" shade which I presume means that it is a wear with anything ie dressed up or casual and I would agree, it adds a brightness to the face, and the finish is gleamy, rather than glossy or matte or satin.

It is very sheer when swatched so I have shown it on my lips.

Available from SpaceNK £15.