Etude House Dear My Enamel Lips-Talk REVIEW

Korean beauty is all the rage lately and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere or slowing down any time soon, so I figured what better way to make a come back to blogging by jumping on that bandwagon! I picked up two of these lipsticks in Chinatown in Chicago, and of course they're old, discontinued shades BUT the formulas are the same, so I'm running under the assumption that the new and current formulas and shades are pretty much the same product as well. I will try to locate bother of these lip colors on the internet for purchase but I can't guarantee that I will be able to find any legit sellers or whatnot. If you live in the Chicago area, I would suggest just going straight to Chinatown and if you do not, I suggest looking up reviews of the sites and whatnot. I didn't order these online, and I don't necessarily know how legitimate any of the sellers I might find are, nor do I want anyone getting scammed!!

Etude House is, from what I can determine, a pretty popular and relatively affordably priced (in Korea!) trendy makeup line. I am Korean, but I don't speak or read a lick of the language so I'm really not sure what exactly the packaging says, but luckily they have a English site now! I paid $16 per lipstick in person, which is much more expensive than it is on their site so go me. :( Anyway, if you want to learn more about these particular lippies, click the jump.

Circa Beauty First Impressions - Eyeshadow Trio & Lipsticks!

I have another Walgreens exclusive first impressions post for y'all! Circa Beauty is another "masstige" brand, sold only at Walgreens, similar to the Colour Prevails range (I posted about a couple nail polishes here). It's a pretty complete range for being so new; consisting of a decent selection of face, eyes, and lip products.

I opted to pick up three things because this brand is on the pricier side of drugstore; the shadow trio is $12 and the lipsticks are $10 each. This is not a full review; I've only had these for about three day now, but I will be posting an update and more comprehensive review after I've had a chance to fully play with these products!

FTC Disclaimer: I purchased these products with my own money. I am not affiliated with this company, nor am I being sponsored or compensated for this post. My opinions are, as always, my own.

Lipstick Queen Frog Prince First Impressions/Review

Lipstick Queen is a brand that I haven't delved too deeply in. I was so excited when my Ulta store first got it in store, bought six or seven things, and then promptly forgot about it for over a year. Which, in retrospect, is crazy because Medieval is one of my favorite casual red lippies ever. Sure, I joked about buying the $50 Velvet Rope lipsticks, but I've never bit the bullet.

However, when we got the Frog Prince display in, I was intrigued. Then my GM was telling about how, when she received it as gratis, it stained for 48 hours and didn't budge. Okay. I was sold. I am going to be typing this up in review format even though it is a first impressions post because if I continue to like it over the next couple of weeks I don't intend on editing this post. If, however, something crazy happens and I actually end up disliking this product, I will edit this post, add an ETA to the title, and update you. As of right now I really like this product.

FTC Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this company, nor am I being sponsored nor compensated for this post. All opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employer.

NYC Satin Matte Lipsticks - FAIL

I got SO EXCITED when I saw these in Meijer. I have five of the original Expert Last lipsticks and I really love them! But I'm a matte lippy kinda gal, and when I saw the "satin matte" label, I freaked out because these are so cheap ($1.99 at most stores) and easier to find than the Jordana ones. This post isn't going to have a jump, sorry for the potential inconvenience! THIS IS NOT A REVIEW. It's more of a mini rant!


From L-R: "448 Smooth Beige", "449 Creamy Mauve", "450 Pure Coral", "451 Velvety Fuchsia", and "452 Red Suede".
The original lipsticks are creamy and smooth and comfortable, which is rare for a long-wearing product. Personally, I don't find them to last the full six hours as NYC claims, but they wear for about four hours if you're not drinking, eating, or chatting a lot. They wear off nice and evenly and don't leave that dreaded outer ring of color that some lip products can do. Overall, I really like everything about this formula except for the scent and taste (it's REALLY strong and the taste is...not good) and I was so excited to see a matte offering, plus the colors all looked great!

So, why the fail? These aren't effin' matte. Not even close. Newsflash N.Y.C., I know most of your lip products contain that frosty shimmer that I'm not into, but taking out the shimmer and having a cream formula does not equal matte. Basically, I almost want my ten bucks back, I feel cheated! I even let them dry down for twenty minutes to see if they'd mattify. Nope. And I know I should have expected this from the name "satin matte", right? Because the definition of "satin" is of or like satin; smooth; glossy. Here's the definition of "matte": having a dull or lusterless surface. What a bloody oxymoron, right? I was expecting the matte, all they provided was the satin. Bummer! Don't call something matte if it's not, basically.


From L-R: "448 Smooth Beige", "449 Creamy Mauve", "450 Pure Coral", "451 Velvety Fuchsia", and "452 Red Suede".
Beautifully pigmented colors. Beautiful color selection. They wear the same as the original lipsticks. I still recommend these shades, don't get me wrong! They're great and this lipstick formula is quite enjoyable and they're so cheap that...how can ya not, right? But don't buy them because you're expecting a shine-free, comfortable matte finish. These are basically an extended color selection of their original lipsticks, nothing new or matte to be found here at all. If you would like a full review with lip swatches and the whole production, let me know because I have the pics edited and saved. I would like to reiterate - These are not poor quality lipsticks; they're actually quite nice! But I bought these under the assumption that they would be matte, and not an extended color range of the original formula, which they are. So, yeah, I'm kinda bummed out. Buy these if you like the shades or the Expert Last formula, don't buy if you're wanting a nice matte finish!


From L-R: "418 Sugar Plum", "440 Creamy Caramel", "445 Coralista", "446 Smooch", "447 Forever Fuchsia", "448 Smooth Beige", "449 Creamy Mauve", "450 Pure Coral", "451 Velvety Fuchsia", and "452 Red Suede".


From L-R: "446 Smooch", "449 Creamy Mauve", Jordana Matte Lipstick in "Pink Passion", Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in "Elusive", Milani Color Statement Moisture Matte lipstick in "Matte Blissful", and Jordana Modern Matte lipstick in "Matte Tease". The last four are way more matte, whereas the first two look like the same exact finish.

INFLUENSTER Uni Vox Box 2014! UNBOXING & FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Guess what I got in the mail yesterday?! If you guessed my Influenster Uni VoxBox, you are correct! :) I didn't read or watch any spoilers for this box, although I knew about one thing we were going to receive, and I'll get to that later in the post. Three of these products I've already tried and own. The other three are products that are either new or products that I haven't tried yet, so this box was a bit...eh to me, but you really can't complain about free stuff, haha.

FTC Disclaimer: I was sent these products for testing purposes by the Influenster program, which is open to anyone in the United States and Canada.I am not affliated with any of the companies who have sent products, I am not being sponsored or compensated in any way for these reviews. I have done a couple of posts on Influenster: general info, first two boxes I received, and the Holiday 2012 VB. Influenster is a completely free program and anyone is free to sign up! :)

Wet N Wild Fergie Centerstage Collection - Perfect Pout Lipstick REVIEW

Okay, so this review is kind of a long time coming, haha. I've been having some crazy life issues lately. Not that I'm trying to excuse my lack o' blogging, but...there it is. Anyway, I'm back and I'm getting down to work, hence why I've been pumping out the reviews lately! :) ANYWAY, this is a review on some new lipsticks from Wet N Wild and their Fergie collaboration collection. I guess she's the official spokeswoman for the brand now and they came out with some new (assuming these products are permanent since they have their own fixtures in the WNW planos at Walgreens now) products! I actually have a decent amount from the Centerstage Collection, but we're going to start with the lipsticks.

I've tried the MEGA SHIELD™ Lip Color SPF 15, the MEGA LAST® Lip Color (the matte finish lipsticks), and the SILK FINISH® Lipsticks (which are the dollar lipsticks) before and these are kind of...like a mix between all of them. They aren't totally matte but they're not super glossy or crazy hydrating either. That being said, I LOVE these lipsticks. In fact, I will probably buy the rest of them!

Make Up For Ever & Sephora Lip Kit Review

I'm pretty sure everyone and their mother LOVES value kits, right? Well, these are full size, permanent products, so I'm going to review them all anyway, okay? I found this set at a Sephora in J.C.Penneys, so I don't know where else this would be available (I can't find it at Sephora.com) but it's only $28 and it's a really good bargain, especially if you wanted to try out some Make Up For Ever lip products. I've only ever used the Glossy Full Couleur glosses and I do like them quite a lot. But as far as lipstick or liner goes, I've never dabbled in that before.

At my local Sephora, there were three different kits: berry, red, and pinky-beige. They come with a lip liner and a lip gloss and you get to choose your own lipstick. Considering all of the products are full-size and it's a $55 value for $28, I was all over that! I chose the pinky-beige kit, and I must say that I really like it. This review might get a little long...apologies! :/


Onwards! :)

Yves Saint Laurent ROUGE VOLUPTÉ Silky Sensual Radiant Lipstick SPF 15 Review

Have you ever gotten into a rut before? I often feel this way. Lately I've been making a lot of posts on cheap makeup - Wet N Wild, e.l.f., and Maybelline. I love drugstore makeup and I love cheap stuff, but I don't plan on being the type of blog that only talks drugstore, ya know? So here's a different direction - this is going to be a review on the Yves Saint Laurent ROUGE VOLUPTÉ lipstick in "01 Nude Beige".

This lipstick retails at Sephora, Yves Saint Laurent counters, and at YSL's website for $34. Yeah. That's a lot for a lipstick, I know. And since we're all aware that this is one expensive lipstick, I'm not going to be mentioning that in the actual review because, well, it's really bloody expensive, and if you don't have the money, you just don't have the money.

That being said, let's get on w/ this review.