Cheap Drugstore Nude Lipsticks For The Melanin Deficient

I know, I know, I've been MIA for awhile. But I have a few blog posts I'm excited about coming up soon. For now I have a few nude lipsticks that I can actually wear. Being so pale I'm practically transparent this is quite a feat! I put this together for a Facebook group I'm in and I thought I might share.

These lipsticks are very affordable and pretty easy to find!

Rimmel Airy Fairy- $5 to $6
Essence Creamy Nude- $2.99
NYX Pumpkin Pie- $4

Sorry my lips are so damn dry! The change in the weather this time of year does it every time!

Here is the swatch picture in a bigger size.

From left- Rimmel Airy Fairy, Essence Creamy Nude, and NYX Pumpkin Pie

Essence Stay With Me Long-Lasting Lipglosses Swatches and Review

I am a complete ho (wait, am I allowed to say ho? ;D ) for good quality, cheap makeup. I'm a bit of a completionist at heart so anytime I can afford to buy one of something in every color I get excited. So, Essence is a brand that gets me excited often. Their products are generally good to great in quality and will only set you back a few bucks. In fact, these lipglosses are only $2.29 and a freakin' awesome to boot. TO BOOT!

Essence Stay With Me Long-Lasting Lipglosses

Look at dem purty colors!

Essence Stay With Me Long-Lasting Lipglosses

The applicators are kinda odd. They're fuzzy like a traditional doe-foot applicator, but these are barbell shaped. Or "two balls on the ends of a stick"-shaped, if you prefer. My ONLY issue with these glosses is the inconsitencies in the "give" of the applicator. Some are fairly stiff and hardly bend at all, while others flop around like a limp, um... yeah. Something limp. The stick/limp applicator thing is just a minor annoyance and doesn't affect my extreme, rabid love for these glosses.

From left- Me & My Ice Cream, Candy Bar, Trendsetter, I Like Cotton Candy, Berry Me!, and Kiss Kiss Kiss

One thing I like about these is that the opacity is buildable. You can apply them very lightly for a hint of color or layer 'em on for a bigger punch of color. And they really are long lasting (for a gloss). They fade evenly and keep my lips feeling moisturized for the duration. The texture is smooth and on the thicker side. I didn't find them sticky at all. I always compare everything to MAC Lipglasses as far as stickiness and these don't come close to that. Like most of Essence's lip products that I've tried these have a fruity scent. I'm pretty particular with my scents and I actually like this one. To I think it helps that they're unflavored/unsweetened. These are all creme finishes. I really like this line, so it would be cool if Essence introduced some shimmers, too.

Me & My Ice Cream

Candy Bar

Trendsetter

I Like Cotton Candy

Berry Me!

Kiss Kiss Kiss

Available:

• These retail for $2.29. I bought mine at HEB (a grocery store in Texas) but they are more widely found at Ulta. Ulta even carries them online!

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

FOTD: Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette Pinks and Purples

Yay! It's Saturday! I don't plan on doing much of anything today. Read, play some video games, maybe watch a few episodes of Iron Chef America I have on DVR and THAT'S IT! I just need a day where I don't have to worry about anything and literally think about nothing all day. Haha, for some reason I am really excited by the prospect!

This is random, but did you know that whales are most closely related to hippos? I'm a Biology major, so this kind of stuff interests me. I'm taking a biological evolution course this semester that is really exciting for me so far. Yup, I'm a dork. A dork who loves pink and purple eyeshadow. Which is exactly what I wore to school yesterday!

All eyeshadows are from Urban Decay's 15th Anniversary palette.

Eyes:

• Two Faced Shadow Insurance
• Urban Decay Tainted on inner half of eyelid
• Urban Decay Junkshow on the outer half of eyelid
• Urban Decay Half Truth in the crease
• Urban Decay Vanilla to highlight and over the eyeshadows below my lower lash line
• Urban Decay Evidence used wet on upper lash line and below lower lash line
• Urban Decay Deep End over Evidence on the lower lash line
• Urban Decay Corrupt eyeliner on waterline
• A mix of CoverGirl Lashblast mascara and Wet n Wild MegaLash Clinical Mascara on lashes
• Physician's Formula Canyon Classic quad matte eyeshadow in brows (darkest shade)

Face:

• Physician's Formula CircleRx concealer in Fair Light under eyes
• Maybelline SuperStay concealer in Ivory also under eyes
• Ulta Fabulous Face natural finish foundation in Classic Ivory
• Physician's Formula Healthy Wear SPF 50 Powder Foundation in Translucent Light

Cheeks

• Revlon Cream Blush in Rosy Glow

Lips

• Essence Creamy Nude lipstick
• Evil Shades Feline's Kiss Hardcore Lips lipgloss

MOAR PEEKSHURS!

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Lip Layering Swatch Spam!

I've posted a lot of lip swatches lately, so I hope you guys don't mind. I'm not sure why, but lip swatches are my favorite to do. In reality I mostly wear just a quick slick of lip gloss, so doing swatching gives me chance to play with lip products I don't normally use. I have quite a few lipsticks that I know I will rarely or never wear so it's fun to pull them out and play from time to time.

So, I hope you enjoy my lip layering spam; it was fun to do. Even though my lips hurt now, haha.

This is Essence Creamy Nude lipstick under Revlon Colorburst lip gloss in Crystal Lilac.

This is Wet n Wild 516C lipstick under Buxom Tara lip gloss.

This is Rimmel En Vogue lipstick under Essence Bubble Babe lip gloss.

This is elf Studio Matte Coral lipstick under Kiss My Sass Caribbean Escape lip gloss.

This is NYX Rosebud lipstick under Kiss My Sass Summer Lovin' lip gloss.

This is Wet n Wild 509A lipstick under NYX African Queen lip gloss.

So that is it for today- just some swatch spam!

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

EOTD: Versailles' Old Gold

My final exam in my lab is tomorrow.  Man, these summer classes go by quick.  I hope I actually learned something, haha.  The good thing is I can make as low as an 60 on the final and still  make an A in my lab!  It's looking good for making an A in my lecture, too.  Yay me!  I start my second summer class class and lab for biology the day after my current class ends. I'm really looking forward to a break, but won't get one until December, when the fall semester is over. Ugh.
I wore this look to school last week.

This is MAC's Old Gold pigment on the lid and below the lower lash line, Antoinette's Revolution Cosmetics' Versailles eyeshadow in the crease, and MAC's Superslick liquid eyeliner in Desires & Devices on my upper lash line.

I don't actually own the full size of MAC's Old Gold pigment.  I asked my SA for a sample because I was thinking about buying the full size but she filled the sample jar so full I'm not sure I will even use the whole thing.  As much as I like Old gold, I love Antoinette's Revolution Cosmetics' Versailles eyeshadow even better.  It is so gorgeous and a definite must own.

Here is what I wore on my lips with this look:

This is elf Flirtatious lipstick under Essence's Rising Star lipgloss.


Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Lip Swatch Spam with Essence Lipglosses

I love Essence's products.  Of course just like with any brand there are duds, but to me there are surprisingly few for how inexpensive this brand is.  I can't remember exactly how much these lipglosses were (they were on sale at my local grocery store), but they only retail for somewhere between $2 and $3.

I've been obsessed with layering lip products, but didn't really have that many options in my stash.  I wanted to expand my collection of layering glosses, but didn't want to spend a fortune.  I spotted these Essence lipglosses and they're perfect for layering.  My cheap and shitty camera can't pick up the pretty shimmer/glitter in the sheerer shades, so just know that these look way cooler in person.

The glosses are medium thickness, but not sticky.  They feel smooth and moisturizing but not watery or greasy.  I cannot stand the feel of particles or grittiness in my lip products and luckily even the most glittery shades still feel smooth. They don't have a taste that I can detect.  The best way I can describe the smell is fruity, and I actually really like it.  Some fruit scented lip products have the tendency to smell like chemicals or plastic, but this one doesn't.

Since I meant these mainly for layering, I also am showing a swatch of each color over Rimmel's Pink Champagne lipstick as well as by themselves, which looks like this on it's own:

 Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Pink Champagne

From left- Bubble Bath, Rising Star, True Love, Rock On, Pixie Dust

From left- Bubble Bath, Rising Star, True Love, Rock On, Pixie Dust

 These glosses don't have a doe-foot applicator.  It is more elongated, tapered, and flat like a paddle.

From left- Bubble Bath, Rising Star, True Love, Rock On, Pixie Dust

Essence XXLShine Lipgloss in Bubble Bath

Essence XXLShine Lipgloss in Bubble Bath over Rimmel Pink Champagne

Essence XXLShine Lipgloss in Rising Star

Essence XXLShine Lipgloss in Rising Star over Rimmel Pink Champagne

Essence XXLShine Lipgloss in True Love

Essence XXLShine Lipgloss in True Love over Rimmel Pink Champagne

Essence XXLShine Lipgloss in Rock On

Essence XXLShine Lipgloss in Rock On over Rimmel Pink Champagne

Essence Fairytale Lipgloss in Pixie Dust

Essence Fairytale Lipgloss in Pixie Dust over Rimmel Pink Champagne

Whew, that was a lot of lip swatches!

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Recent Hauls/Purchases/Acquisitions

Sorry I don't have time for a proper post today, the class I'm taking this summer is threatening to kick my butt if I don't give it nearly every second of my free time.  And I don't take kindly to threats of violence, so I better stay on top of it. :)

I just wanted to share a few things I bought/acquired recently so you know what to expect in upcoming reviews!

I like high end makeup, but I'm a drugstore queen at heart.  I didn't buy all you see above at once, but with sales and coupons I only paid about a total of $30 for it.  You can barely buy an eyeshadow palette for 30 bucks at Sephora.  I always try to save my money to buy a few higher end things, but my natural tendency is to spend as little money as possible while acquiring the most items.  What can I say, I'm cheap.

The above are few recent indie makeup purchases.  I've really been into pink eyeshadow lately, so I just HAD to buy the pink mNg trio from My Pretty Zombie when I had the chance.  Something else I had to take advantage of (again!) was Detrivore's sale of 10 eyeshadows for $20.  Unfortunately Detrivore is closed for the next month and a half so I feel bad posting swatches when you can't even order right now!  I may just wait to post them until her shop opens again.

And last, but not least, I won Zoya's Summertime and Sunshine collection from Mary from Body and Soul when she was hosting a giveaway.  Isn't that awesome?! I was even planning on buying a few from the Sunshine collection before I found out I won.  I even love the cremes, but I have so many nail polishes that I'm pretty sure I have dupes for almost every color.  My stash is already out of control as it is, so I was thinking of saving them for a giveaway of my own.  Do you think it would be rude/weird to give away something that I won?  I just would rather them go to someone who would use them more than I would.


So there ya go.  Is there anything you've bought/reviewed recently that you're especially excited about? Feel free to share links if you want.


Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Swatches From Two of Essence's Limited Edition Collections

Here I have some random things from 2 of Essence’s limited edition collections.  I thought I would put them together as I don’t even know if they are available anymore.  So, this post is probably a waste of your time.  But pictures are still fun, right?

I’ve put off writing this post mostly because the name of this one collection annoyed me.  C’mon, “Whoom Boooomm!!”?  Yes, that is boom with 4 Os, 2 Ms, and 2 exclamation points.  A little over the top.  But I love Essence’s limited edition collections and was willing to overlook the horrific name.

I’m not even sure if this collection is available anywhere anymore.  I know Essence is primarily sold at Ulta in the US, but I always buy mine at my local grocery store and they usually have the limited collections.

From left- Colour-Changing lipgloss in Muse Marilyn, and eyeshadows in Chacalaca and Muse Marilyn

From left- Colour-Changing lipgloss in Muse Marilyn, and eyeshadows in Chacalaca and Muse Marilyn

This lip gloss is one of those that is initially one color but changes with the heat of your skin.  It goes from a blue tint to a pink.  The left swatch of the gloss is swatched thick to show the blue color and it is blended out on the right to show the color as it looks on the lips.  I actually liked this much more than I thought I would and even considered buying a backup. But this was before I realized that I NEVER use anything up, no matter how much I like it.

The eyeshadows are really pretty, but don’t really look all that pigmented over bare skin. (Sorry, forgot to take a pic).   But they look amazing over a sticky base shown over Pixie Epoxy here) or when used wet.  Here is a look I did with them over a glittery blackened base, MAC’s French Quarter.

Lipgloss when first applied

Lipgloss after 10 minutes

Lipgloss after 45 minutes

Now on to the next collection!

These are eyeshadows from Essence’s Black & White collection.  I don’t have a nice basic black or white eyeshadow and these were like 2 bucks each so I figured they were worth a try. 

Black Out and White Hype

I was really hoping that they would both be matte as it looked like they were in the pan.  However the white is a satiny frost.  It is still really pigmented and I ended up liking it after my initial disappointment.  I don’t own a whole lot of matte blacks, but I’ve swatched a lot and have never really been happy with them.  They always seem patchy and sheer.  But look at this one.  It is smooth, even, and pigmented.  My arm kind of makes it look shiny, but it isn’t.  It may not be the darkest black, but it is matte, and I’m really happy with it.  And you can’t beat the price!


Available:

• Everything in this post was somewhere between $2 and $3.  In general I don't think Essence has anything priced over $5 or $6.  Essence is sold primarily at Ulta in the US, but if you live in Texas you might be able to find it at HEB grocery stores.

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!