Bite Lip Lab Creme Deluxe Lipstick: 01/15

For 2015, the folks at the Bite Beauty Lip Lab (which is in SoHo if you're in NYC) are doing a Sephora-exclusive run of twelve exclusive lipsticks.  A new one will release each month, then disappears into the ether. I guess.  Sephora describes January's release as a "deep burgundy with red undertone" and is Bite's creme deluxe formula, which is described as "luxurious pearl, silk, and champagne" (and costs $48 if you create a lipstick in this formula at the Bite Lip Lab).

Pigmentation: I'd say this was decently pigmented, but it needed a few strokes from the tube to get there.

Maybe not as deep as described, but I think a red-toned burgundy is a pretty accurate description.

Product: Upon initial application, this had a glossy finish, but dried down to a satin. Has a lot of slip that doesn't seem to go away as it dries down, making it move around when I pressed my lips together. For the life of me, I could not get this to make a crisp edge straight from the tube, so a lip liner or brush will be crucial for future applications. (Illamasqua's Severity pencil is a perfect match FYI)  Can't put my finger on what the scent is, but it's faint, pleasant and doesn't stick around long.

I applied this on unprimed dry lips and, at first the formula was super comfortable to wear, but as I write this post I'm three hours in and it's pretty drying.  01/15 also settled into my lip lines after about two hours.

Packaging: The tube has a slanted cap and is plastic with a rubberized finish. 

Price: $36 for .15oz

Truthfully, I had high hopes for this lipstick and I'm really let down. For the price and knowing the normally high quality of Bite's products, this fell short of so many marks. I personally will be keeping it because I don't mind having to do the prepwork prior to wearing or re-applying, but I'm definitely turned off to seeing what's ahead for the rest of the year.

Update: I wore this the next day and it's SO high maintenance I've decided to return it. Or maybe take it to Bite's Lip Lab, dupe the color in a different formula, and then return it.

You don't have to take my word for it! 01/15 is available now (for a limited time only!) at Sephora.

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick: Poe

Poe was THE shade of the Studded Kiss collection that was always sold out. If you are on three fence about purchasing, here's a quick review to maybe help you decide:

Poe is navy with warm purple glitter. I LOVE the color-- it's as flattering as a blue lipstick can get bc of the rich color and the purple sparkle.

Unfortunately, the texture is awful. It is SO dry and drags on the lips. I had to really work to get it to apply evenly with a lip brush (and I hate using lip brushes gr). Once applied, It feels like I've put powder on my lips. I've never experienced this kind of texture in a lipstick before.

I returned this, and I don't recommend it.

As always,  you don't have to take my word for it. The Kat Von D Studded Kiss lipstick in Poe is available right now at Sephora.

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick: Mötorhead Swatch + comparisons!

Hi! So I decided I couldn't live without Mötorhead and snatched it up, all with the thoughts that I didn't have a color quite like it in my collection. 

COLOR/PIGMENTATION: Sephora describes Mötorhead as "black cherry." I would say it is a darkened berry. Full on it pulls cool-toned, but sheered out it looked a warmer. I naturally have warm undertones to my skin, so you may have different results.

When swatched, I thought this looked could use a touch more pigmentation.  I'd say it had medium coverage.

Since I have a few darker lipsticks from KvD, and truthfully was disappointed by Mötorhead's color (I was expecting something MUCH darker), I decided to see how it compared to my other dark shades.

L-R: Vampira (from the Spellbinding lipstick set), Vampira everlasting love liquid lipstick. Mötorhead, Rosary Painted Love Lipstick 

As you can see, it is similar to the Vampira Liquid lipstick, just a touch lighter. This alone is making me consider returning Mötorhead to Sephora, but I really like the texture!

PRODUCT: Mötorhead has a slightly creamy texture and applied fairly evenly, that isn't drying nor is it moisturizing. Even on my desert-dry lips, I was able to wear this (with the help of lots of lip balm, of course) for quite a few hours. I think I lasted about 4 hours before I took it off-- not because of the lipstick, but because my dumb lips were peeling and looked gross.  Keep in mind my lips can't take wearing lipstick these days, and usually last around an hour before I have to take it off, so I'd say this is a pretty good formula!

PACKAGING: Please see my first Studded Kiss lipstick review for my thoughts on this.

PRICE: $21

Of course, you don't have to take my word for it! Kat Von D's Studded Kiss lipstick range is available now at Sephora.

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick: L'ecole Des Femmes and Lullabye

The long awaited Studded Kiss lipstick collection from Kat Von D became available on Monday-- a week early than what Miss Von D posted herself on Instagram quite a few weeks back. AND THANK GOODNESS! Even though my lips are sad and peeling from Accutane, I was too excited not to pass up a few colors. I wanted colors that I thought I'd wear, but didn't have 100 variations of (like red), so I settled on L'ecole des Femmes, "salmon pink," and Lullabye, "matte magenta violet."(*both shade descriptions come from Sephora.com)

Lullabye Studded Kiss Lipstick

L'ecole Des Femmes (Let's call it LDF for short): Coral pink. It's pretty close in color to the Jeffree Liquid lipstick, but slightly warmer and a tad less bright.

Although blurry, this is much closer to what  LDF looks like in real life

L'ecole Des Femmes

Lullabye: Iridescent magenta with pink micro glitter.

Lullabye Studded Kiss Lipstick

Lullabye

PIGMENTATION: LDF was fully opaque in about two swipes in the swatch above. Lullabye took a little bit more to build up. I feel like there is an underlying sheerness to it.

PRODUCT: LDF had a drier texture than Lullabye, probably due to it being matte.  There is a 10-hour wear time claim on these, which I will have to test when my lips can wear lipstick for more than 10 seconds. (wah) The Studded Kiss line has been scented with Creme Brulee, which has a slight plastic-y smell. Another update is that the lipstick bullets have been stamped with the KvD insignia, which I am loving-- it looks really nice.

PACKAGING: The updated packaging looks very nice, however, it feels like a thinner plastic so I'm concerned about breaking tubes when I'm less-than-graceful. When I saw the new packaging on KvD's instagram, I was disappointed that the color window of the old packaging was scrapped. Thankfully, the labels on the bottom reflect the lipstick color. I rarely care about outer packaging, but the Studded Kiss boxes had a raised studded pattern which was pretty cool.

PRICE: $21

Despite the weird new scent, the wide shade range, sleek packaging, and great color payoff, make Kat Von D's new Studded Kiss lipsticks a worthy buy in my opinion.

As always, you don't have to take my word for it. The Studded Kiss lipstick range is available now at Sephora.

Kat Von D Spellbinding Lipstick Set

Dear readers,
I broke down and bought the KvD "spellbinding" holiday 2013 collection.  Here's my take on the lipstick set:

For $39, you get 10 mini (1.2g) lipsticks.  There are 5 permanent colors, and 5 colors unique to this set. 9 shades are matte (some moreso than others), and 1 is the "foiled love" formula (which just means it's super sparkly).  I do already have 2 colors from this set-- Ritual and Lovecraft-- but there were a few I was interested in trying (mostly Thin Lizzy!!). Plus, I feel like I am either wearing red or nude lips these days and I wanted to branch out without buying a full lipstick.

Mau5: Purple tinged magenta. On the sheer side upon first swipe, didn't quite build up to being fully opaque.

Thin Lizzy: Sheer rose with a ton of copper sparkle. Much different than what I was expecting!

Bachelorette: Cool-toned pinkish red cream. This is really similar to Dita Von Teese's Follies Pink

.
L.U.V.: Mauve. When I removed the swatch, it left behind the most noticeable stain (other than Vampira).

Underage Red: True balanced red. One swipe delivered opaque color.

Ritual: Warm nude-tan.  For some reason, this color is different than my tube from the permanent line.

Backstage Bambi: Cool toned semi-bright bubblegum pink

A Go Go: Orange that leans a touch red. Pigmentation-wise, this was the best of the bunch.

Lovecraft: Cool pink nude

Vampira: Burgundy with more than a hint of purple. Pretty similar in color to KvD's Rosary lipstick, but this has a creamier texture. This was the first one I wore in real life, and I was a tad disappointed.  It applied a bit patchy, and it only wore around 4 hours.  It did, however, leave behind a pretty stain.

All in all, I think this set is worth it if, for no other reason, you (or a friend!) are lipstick phobic and/or want to try some new colors.  The textures seem to be a little better than the KvD lipsticks I have, BUT mine are old so either they're a little dried out or it's been reformulated.

You don't have to take my word for it! The Spellbinding Lipstick set is now available at Sephora.

Review: Dita Von Teese Art Couture lipstick-Manslayer (631)

After lusting over her makeup line since it came out, I finally ordered a few things from burlesque goddess Dita Von Teese's cosmetic collaboration with European brand Art Deco.  First up is Dita von Teese's lipstick in Manslayer (631).

On me, Manslayer appears to be a deep berry red. It dries down to a matte finish in a few minutes, and it didn't feel drying compared to other red lipsticks I have.

Don't worry matte lip fiends-- it is much more matte in person.

 When I saw swatches online prior to my purchase, I was expecting it to be closer to MAC's Russian Red.  Besides the formulas being different, Manslayer is much deeper.  

Here's how it compares to my other red (and one burgundy) lipsticks:

Top row (L-R): DvT Muse Red (615), Kat Von D Rosary
Middle Row: MAC Russian Red, DvT Manslayer, MAC Viva Glam I
Bottom row: MAC Prolong (Pro Longwear Lipcreme)

If you've always wanted to try to wear red lipstick, I think Manslayer would be a good gateway color.  It's not bright, and looks great sheered down if you're scared to wear it full-strength.  

I suppose the only downside to the DvT lipsticks is that they have a vanilla-y smell.  Personally, I like it because it actually smells like food (unlike the plastic-y vanilla scent MAC uses for their lipsticks); but, if you're super sensitive to scented cosmetics, this may be a dealbreaker.

Also, if you are nervous about ordering something from another country, that will put a damper on things as well.  Dita Von Teese's line is not sold in the USA, but I was able to buy it from a UK site called Tender Loving Skincare.  The shipping was very reasonable (about $10), and their customer service is impeccable.

As always, you don't have to take my word for it! Dita Von Teese's Manslayer is available now at Tender Loving Skincare.

Kat Von D Fall 2012

It's the most wonderful time of the year-- for me at least-- because new products and fashion for Fall is being unveiled!  And really, what would this blog be without mentioning Kat Von D's new products for Fall/2012?

This season, not much in the way of color cosmetics as the focus seems to be on skin.  Let's take a look!

LOCK-IT TATTOO FOUNDATION ($35.00)

The first foundation from KvD!  This will come in 14 shades total, and has a 3 shade categories- Light, Medium, and Deep- so a large range of skin tones is covered.  I will assume this is supposed to be a full-coverage foundation (even though Sephora's description doesn't say so), since the pigmentation is emphasized in the description.  Speaking of, Sephora notes this has 21% pigment-- does anyone else know the percentage of pigments in their foundation?  The packaging looks great, and  I'm anxious to return to a foundation with a pump.

LOCK-IT TATTOO CONCEALER ($25.00)

As a lover of the original Tattoo Concealer, I'm curious about this.  Besides the new name system and packaging, is the formula different?  I'm not sure how many shades of the original packaging it came in, but the Lock-It tattoo concealer comes in 8, with the same shade Light-Medium-Deep shade categories as the foundation.

FOILED LOVE LIQUID LIPSTICK ($19.00)

If this is a shimmery version of the Everlasting Love Liquid Lipstick, which I loved, then count me in.  Foiled Love Liquid Lipstick (which is available now!) comes in four colors:

Forever & Never- "Shimmering Light Bronze"

Backstage Bambi- "Bold Pink"

Adora- "Bright Red"

Hellbent- "Deep Maroon Red"

All descriptions are according to Sephora.


SHADE SHIFTER EYESHADOW ($TBD)
These aren't on Sephora's site (yet), but I've seen the display for them in-store.  These might be duochromes, but I remember the display text saying something about "water activation." It's coming in four colors.  I don't remember the names, but this is what the colors looked like:
gold/copper or bronze
blue/purple
plum/burgundy
reddish brown/green (a la Urban Decay Lounge, MAC Club or the similar color that's in the KvD Gypsy palette from way back)
Needless to say, I'm really curious to see these in person.

I'm SUPER excited for the foundation, as so far I've found her face products to be worthwhile.  Also, my theory is that since there is only one new color cosmetic (which is probably very similar to something previously launched), I want to believe the makeup scientists worked really hard and took a lot of time to create an awesome foundation.  

How are you feeling about the KvD fall 2012 collection? Let me know in the comments!