Viva Glam Lady Gaga VS Rimmel Pink Blush

Now that spring is drawing nearer I'm beginning to gravitate towards lighter and more spring like shades. One color I have been trying to add to my collection is a flattering bubble gum pink shade. I started looking into it and soon realized that Viva Glam Gaga (the first one) was apparently a very flattering shade that would have worked on my NC35 skin tone. To be completely honest, when the shade came out I didn't even give it a try because it looked too light. I didn't even consider it, which now makes me bash my head against my desk in regret. Lesson learned, don't judge a lipstick in its tube.

The good news: I have found a shade of lipstick that is very very close to the Viva Glam Gaga shade. Rimmel in Pink Blush is a very similar color, they do have their slight color differences and a total difference in smell and texture but each one has also has their drawbacks. I borrowed the Gaga shade from a friend and decided to do a side by side.

Viva Glam Gaga is a lustre formula, which usually means they are on the sheer and moisturizing side. However, this shade is a little odd; this one is more opaque than the usual lustre shades. Unfortunately, even though this shade has a little more color payoff it's also very streaky in my experience (you'll see in the pictures).  The color payoff (compared to other lustres), how flattering the color looked and the fact that it smelled like vanilla all made up for its streakiness.

After trying the Lady Gaga shade I moved on to Rimmel Pink Blush. I managed to hunt the shade down at Walgreens. Right when I uncapped the lipstick I got hit my this very strong smell of cinnamon. I was instantly turned off by the lipstick, however, I powered through for make-up science. I applied the lipstick and I have to say it went on a lot nicer than the Lady Gaga shade. I did notice that this shade was a tinge warmer than Viva Glam Gaga, but that was actually more flattering for my skin tone. I also noticed that the Rimmel shade wasn't as streaky and I didn't have to keep swiping the lipstick on to get a good amount of opaqueness.

Take a look at the pictures of my science experiment below:

Left: Pink blush Right: Viva Glam Gaga 

Top: Pink Blush Bottom: Viva Glam Gaga

Viva Glam Gaga

Rimmel Pink Blush

As you can see the shades are very close. However, oddly enough, I found that I actually liked the Rimmel Pink Blush better than the Lady Gaga shade. I had no idea what it was at first, but the lipstick just performed better in general, it was more opaque, not streaky and although it had a horrible smell at first that went away after a couple of minutes and then I was just left with an awesome shade of bubble gum pink. Pink Blush actually outlasted Viva Glam Gaga in wearability as well. Mac Lustre shades are notorious for wearing off rather quickly, which Viva Glam Gaga did indeed do. Rimmel Pink Blush, on the other hand, lasted me about 3 hours and when it faded left a hint of pink rather completely bare lips. Rimmel didn't feel as moisturizing as Viva Glam Gaga, however, it wasn't drying either. In the end I found Pink Blush had a good balance.

All in all, it seems that for the $6 I paid for Rimmel Pink Blush I got a good deal! I love the lipstick now, it's exactly what I'd been searching for and I no longer regret not buying Lady Gaga. Rimmel is actually a more flattering shade for Olive skin tones AND performs better. So, if you can get over the initial smell of the lipstick, which really wont be too hard after a minute or two, then you'll be left with a nicely priced and lusted after shade!

So, what do you say reader, will you give Rimmel Pink Blush a try?

Chanel? Oh My!

I can honestly say I've never owned Chanel anything. I suppose that the poor kid in me just can't fathom spending the amount of money it takes to own Chanel. However, I constantly hear about how amazing the brand is, most especially the lipsticks.

I frequent this website called Makeupalley.com not only because I love reading the reviews on products before I buy any make-up, but also because they have a swap program you can join. I realized I have many things that probably need a new home and put them up for swap. I ended up swapping a Marc Jacobs perfume I received as a gift, but was unfortunately allergic to, for a Chanel lipstick and eyeshadow.

The lipstick I received was the Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle. It is a "hydrating cream color" and it truly was amazing from the very first time I used it. It felt like creamy butter on my lips and the shade, oh the shade was beautiful! The texture was not too drying, but almost matte, yet creamy. The staying power was arguable, but definitely better than my MAC lipsticks. I'd say I got about 4 hours of wear.

I can honestly say that I was very happy to have swapped my perfume for this, I fell in love with it the first day I used it. The feel of it, the beautiful shade is truly universal and would look flattering on anyone.  On fairer skin it would probably pull more pink, but on my NC35 skin, it's almost a neutral pink. It's a beautiful neutral color which can be worn day or night.

This could be my everyday lipstick, too bad it's $32, though I think if I love it this much I would repurchase if I ran out! I don't think I've ever loved a lipstick as much as I do Chanel Mademoiselle. Only time will tell, for now, I still have plenty of wear in my tube left. I will continue to wear the shade morning, noon and night because it really is that wearable!

I would probably never have recommended for anyone to go out and buy a $32 lipstick, but I just have to say, try it. Try it in a store, wear it around all day and see how it feels and looks. If you love it as much as I do? I say, get it. =)

Spring look with Urban Decay

So, Spring is almost here. I keep hoping it will come soon because I'm tired of rain boots and frizzy hair. I'd also like to finally start doing some more spring like make-up. I went to the Urban Decay counter to look for some inspiration. I'd always wanted to try a lavender eye look but was always too worried I couldn't pull it off with my olive skin. Pastels scare me.

After some looking around though I managed to find their 24/7 Shadow Pencils. The one color that stuck out to me was Morphine, it is this beautiful lavender color with a bit of pearl. I've used Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliners before and have been a huge fan of their consistency, durability and wearability. When I saw that they'd made these into Shadow Pencils I was super excited to try them. I asked the make up artist if she could show me a good way to wear this. She asked if I had the Naked palette (and I do!) so she showed me a good way to wear it.

Begin with Sin from lid to brow bone. Then put the 24/7 shadow pencil in Morphine on the lid, straight from the pencil and blend with a brush. Next, take Naked and put it on just the crease, then mix Hustle and Dark Horse and add it to just the outer corners of the eyes. To finish the look off add Virgin to the inner corners of the eyes. To top it all off line your eyes with 24/7 eye liner in Bourbon (a rich brown shade with a hint of shimmer).  The look took her a total of 3 minutes to finish, easy and no fuss. You can see the final look to the right here. It's soft and spring like, but not super pastel and overbearing. I was a huge fan with the work she did, I bought Morphine and Bourbon as I didn't own either of them.

Here are some swatches of the shades:

Bourbon

 

Bourbon

Morphine

Morphine

Bourbon and Morphine (Flash)

Bourbon and Morphine (No Flash)

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this fun Spring look. I'm just glad I was able to find a lavender eye look that wouldn't make me look like A) a kid or B) like pastels blew up on my face. This look truly is a wonderful look for the coming months and I'm excited to try it out myself. The products have wonderful staying power as well, I got my make up done around 1pm and it held strong even at 10pm when I washed it off.

SuperStay 24 Color

I decided to try these new Superstay 24 Color lip colors, these can be found at any drug store. There is a range of shades but I decided to get the two that seemed like I could wear most often and would also compliment my NC35 skin tone.

Upon trying the first shade I really liked the formula. The lip color went on nice and creamy and then slowly dried. At first I was afraid that it felt incredibly drying, however, once I put on the gloss it came with it felt really nice. The colors I picked ended up being pretty similar. However, the pictures can't do the pink color, Continuous Coral, justice! It's a beautiful pinky-coral with tiny flecks of hardly noticeable glitter that end up making it a beautiful shade. The second shade, Cinnamon Stay, is a nice mauve-y color with no shimmer at all. Once applied on they look different in person, but for some reason my camera did not capture the difference.

Top: Continuous Coral Bottom: Cinnamon Stay

Top: Continuous Coral Bottom: Cinnamon Stay

Continuous Coral

Cinnamon Stay

These colors do what they say. They last a LONG time. No idea if they last 24 hours, I don't generally wear my make up to bed nor stay awake for 24 hours to test the longevity of make-up. However, I can say that I wore this shade for 16 hours and found that it had worn off very little, hardly at all noticeable to anyone but me. I just reapplied the gloss every couple of hours to keep my lips from feeling a little dry. These lip colors performed like champs and I enjoy wearing them because they look nice and don't wear off by the time I finish my coffee at work.

Smashbox Softbox Summer 2011 swatches

Hi readers! Sorry for the hiatus, I've been sick and things got busy! Promise to make up for it with consecutive posts.

I received my Softbox recently and I am super excited to share these swatch pictures with you! I really love this palette it is so perfect for Spring/Summer, light and airy. The shadows themselves are a good mix of matte and shimmer and the matte shadows are almost creamy and feel amazing when I swatched them. The lightest shades almost disappear on my NC35 skin, however, that's only a couple of them and the rest really compliment my skin tone. The eyeliners alone are amazing as well.

Bottom to top: Nectar, Vanilla, Flirt

Bottom to top: Stone, Sugar, Lucky Penny

Bottom to top: Sienna, Nude, Truffle

Top to Bottom: Taupe liner, Bronze liner

I am really excited to get some looks going with this palette. It just screams spring/summer which is nice since I am looking forward to when it stops raining. Hope you like the swatches, I'd definitely recommend this palette, I find the colors fresh, the quality excellent and am overall happy with my purchase!

So, will you be getting your own Softbox? Let me know in the comments what you think!