Lip Gloss

Review: Black Opal – Color Splurge

August 6, 2015

I must admit that I’m a bit of a lip gloss junkie and although I’ve tried many brands I’ve never tried Black Opal. Well I recently received a few press samples of Black Opal – Color Splurge and decided to give them a try.

I must say that I was so pleasantly surprised. The quality of these lip glosses rivals many department store and luxury brands. Let’s take a look at the swatches:

Black Opal - Color Splurge Swatches — Black Opal Patent Lips in Dynamo, Patent Lips in Posh, Lustre Gloss in Magnetic, Lustre Gloss in Delish ,Lustre Gloss in Bliss

The Patent Color Splurge lip glosses are nicely pigmented giving a rich, true color. What you see in the tube is what you get when you apply it. The Lustre glosses are sheer with a glistening iridescence that I would wear on a night out due to the glitter. I found the lustre glosses had a nice color payoff as well, although the shade “Bliss” is quite sheer. All of the glosses are moisturizing with vitamins A and C and applied smoothly. Overall, I was very impressed with this brand. The glosses are available in several flattering shades which are very affordable at $6.95 a tube.

Getting Lippy: Naked Princess Luscious Lip Gloss

May 15, 2012

This week we are looking at new lip gloss for ladies that like a seriously sexy nude lip, Naked Princess Naked Shine Luscious Lip Gloss. Naked Shine, love the name, is a lightweight gloss infused with Shea better, sweet almond oil and antioxidants for youthfully soft lips. This gloss delivers a super high shine with just a hint of color and smells insanely delicious thanks to Moroccan Vanilla.

Naked Princess also makes some very sexy lingerie, it’ what they’re known for. So its only natural that I think of this makeup as boudoir makeup, the kind that’s sexy enough to turn heads but not messy enough to ruin your silk sheets. Besides whenever I think of the brand name, a picture of a woman wearing nothing but a diamond tiara is immediately conjured up into my imagination. Damn you Freud!

Back at the ranch…when Naked Princess says that their lip gloss delivers a naked shine, they’re not lying, their gloss gives a high shine and subtle pigment with shades like Barely Rose or Barely Naked. I swatched all of the shades and each swatch below shows at least two coats of gloss.

Naked Princess - Barely Pink, Barely Nude, Barely Blush, Barely coco swatches — Top to Bottom: Barely Coco, Barely Blush, Barely Nude, Barely Pink

Naked Princess Naked Shine lip gloss in barely coco, barely, buff, barely naked, barely rose swatches. — Top to Bottom: Barely Coco, Barely Buff, Barely Naked, Barely Rose

On a side note I’d like to shout out Naked Princess for being a cruelty-free company that doesn’t use any Parabens, Phthalates or synthetic dyes. Their makeup is also clinically and allergy tested and found to be non-irritating. Woo Hoo!

Now with a sheer lip gloss like Naked Princess you must have perfectly smooth lips before application. Right? Here is where the Naked Princess Naked Sugar Lovely Lip Polish comes in, it’s an ultra finely ground sugar scrub to exfoliate your lips. The scrub has a subtle mint flavor and nourishes lips with Vitamin E and Shea Butter. The sugar is so fine that it will dissolve away or can be rinsed away, plus Naked Sugar can also be used on dry cuticles! How sweet is that?

Do you like sheer lip gloss or do your prefer a more pigmented gloss?

Naked Princess Naked Shine Luscious Lip Gloss, $26

Naked Princess Naked Sugar Lovely Lip Polish, $22

Disclosure: The products featured in this review was provided for editorial consideration. Receipt of these products did not guarantee review and all opinions are my own. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.

Getting Lippy: Urban Decay Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color

August 26, 2011

Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color is a new lippy from Urban Decay‘s Fall 2011 collection available exclusively at Sephora. There are five shades: F-Bomb (bright red), Adrenaline (bright fuchsia sparkle), Crush (hot pink), Big Bang (bright pink sparkle) and Punch Drunk (bright orange). Cute names, right? I’m trying out Adrenaline because it gave me LIFE plus it had a lot of sparkle. Yes, I’m having a superficial lippy moment.

Adrenaline is such a fierce color but I did find the lippy to be a little bit gritty due to the sparkles. C’est la vie. I love a chubby pencil because I feel like I can get a better grasp on the pencil – plus I love the word chubby. The product is a bit soft so it applies smoothly. The only minor problem with the consistency of this chubby pencil a lot of product is going to get stuck in your sharpener – so remember to store it in a cool place. But even with that minor flaw the color payoff is pretty impressive; I just wish that they came in more colors!

Have you tried this new lippy?

Urban Decay Super-Saturated lip color, $19

Getting Lippy: Tarte LipSurgence natural lip luster

August 19, 2011

Tarte Lipsurgence natural lip luster in pouty

Some days I feel a bit more girly than other, I like to call those are my “Pink” days. You know those days when you love something extra frilly, pink or over the top glam. S if you’ve ever felt that way then you’ll probably relate to Pouty by Tarte. Pouty is a shade from Tarte’s Lipsurgence lip tint line.

While shopping for a new lippy I tested a few of the Tarte Lipsurgence pencils and Pouty just had me at hello! It’s a shimmery berry tint that delivers a sheer wash of color with ingredients designed to moisturize. This lip tint has peppermint oil, soybean oil, canuba wax and beeswax to keep lips moisturized. If you get dry lips an application of lip balm before application couldn’t hurt, I like to moisturize prior to using any lip color.

Tarte Lipsurgence natural lip luster swatch in Pouty

After playing with the pencil I liked wearing it both as a gloss and as a stain. For a matte lip, simply blot your lips and you’ll still have a nice yet much more sheer tint that’s very fresh and natural looking. For a more intense look you can “build” color and have a more intense shine. The taste of peppermint is faint and it does give the lips a nice sensation. The pencil itself it pretty easy to use and features twist-up bottom so you never need a sharpener – I love this. The only downside about this pencil is that the color tends to fade quickly and is completely gone after eating.

Tarte Lipsurgence natural lip luster, $24.00

Have you tried any of the Tarte Lipsurgence lip products?

Review: Intelligent Nutrients USDA Certified Organic Lip Gloss

June 28, 2011

Intelligent nutrients usda certified organiz lip delivery antioxidant gloss

When you consider the fact that the average woman consumes approximately six pounds of lip products in their lifetime you may want to very carefully choose what you put on your lips. I know that I often, out of habit, lick my lips throughout the day – it’s not the worst habit but it’s certainly not healthy.

Because we know that “You are what you eat”, I like to take a closer look at cosmetics that are organic or offer some additional benefit. Enter Intelligent Nutrients USDA Certified Organic Lip Delivery Antioxidant Gloss – yes that’s a mouth full. Intelligent Nutrients believes in a more organic approach to beauty so they do not use any synthetics, sulfates, parabens, mineral oil etc. in their products. Instead they reply on good old mother nature with ingredient like USDA certified organic cranberry, Acai, Purple Corn and Blueberry. These super foods contain powerful antioxidants to fight the good fight against aging.

Intelligent-nutrients-lip-delivery-antioxidant-gloss purple maize

After sampling the gloss the first thing that stood out was the texture which is noticeably unlike many lip gloss products on the market. Perhaps it’s because Intelligent Nutrients employs food grade ingredients – but I found the consistency to be a bit thinner that other glosses. The second thing that I noticed was that it smelled natural, almost like a fruit and yogurt combination.

The key ingredient in this gloss is their signature Antioxidant Intellimune Seed Oil Complex which helps to combat pre-mature aging and support moisture. Oils like Rosehip are used because are non-toxic and intensely nourishing along with well know favorites like Shea Butter, Beeswax and Carnauba Wax.

Intelligent Nutrients lip gloss swatch purple maize and clear frosting

The new Lip Delivery Antioxidant Gloss features two shades: Purple Maize and Clear Frosting. The Purple Maize is an ultra sheer wash of color with a light and fruity fragrance and taste. The Clear Frosting is just that, clear with a nice sheen to it. The formula is intensely moisturizing so it’s great for dry lips. The gloss also gives a nice shine that can be layered on top of lipstick.

The two lips glosses will be available August 2011 on the Intelligent Nutrients website for $24.

Disclosure: The products featured in this review were provided for editorial consideration. Receipt of these products did not guarantee review and all opinions are my own.