Before my holiday hiatus, the folks at NYX Cosmetics sent over a box with a few goodies for me to test out in the new year. The first thing I had to try in the box was the Color Lip Balm. It’s winter and chapped lips seem to be an epidemic and for me this year my lips have been even drier than normal since I have Invisalign retainers. I’ve actually had Invisalign since June but only a few of you readers and even my friends have really noticed. I’m not getting rid of my gap completely, just putting it back to it’s normal gap glory (I love having a gap, just not one that’s so big it changes my speech pattern).

Back to the balm…

There are 12 colors in the collection and I received a lovely red shade (Obrigado), a coral (Thank You), a pink (Grazie) and a nude (Spasibo). I started by trying out the color shade to perk up my lips and to just try it out. The balm has a glossy texture and goes on very smoothly with just the right hint of color. It showed up nicely on my lips and for me sometimes I find the browner you are the less color that shows. What has surprised me as a favorite in the bunch is the glossy nude, it’s a perfect nude glossy color that pairs beautifully when I do a crazy wild eye look.

I’m always about eye makeup so I admit that I neglect my lips a lot, so having a tinted lip balm is actually perfect for me. I should also mention that these smell a bit like candy, not too sweet but I didn’t mind the scent at all. And for the price of $3.75 each, I would definitely pick up 2 or 3 of these and leave one at my desk at work, in my purse and in my car.

Has anyone tried any other great tinted lip balms out there? Share!

With the cooler weather comes dry skin and chapped lips, ugh. I’m always looking for great hand salves and really moisturizing lip products. On my lunch break the other day I saw a display for the new Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters. Of course Revlon hasn’t put anything up on their website about them yet (as a Webmaster, that irritates me to no end). They have shea butter in them, that much I know but they’re a very creamy new lipstick and they’re not super sheer. I picked up Red Velvet, a brick red looking color in the tube that goes on as a really great red flush on the lips – LOVE! I also picked up Gumdrop, a lavender shade. I love lavender lipstick, I use it as a neutral all the time.

I’m going to wear them for the next week or two to see how they feel and if they get sticky, etc. But has anyone else seen these at their local drugstore? Picked any up? What do you think about them? Share!

As part of my 33 in 33 for 33 list I wrote that I wasn’t going to buy any makeup over the course of 33 days. Well, I failed. I blame Maybelline for my failure too.

I had to order the limited edition 40th anniversary tubes of Great Lash Mascara from Target.com (Target just redid their site and I cannot find them on the website but I have heard they’re in stores as well). They have 3 tubes designed by Tracy Reese, BCBG Max Azria and Vivienne Tam. And you all already know how I feel about Vivienne Tam, so i scooped up all three without even thinking about my no makeup ban. Oops!

And then when I ran into Walgreens the other evening I saw a display of limited edition Maybelline Color Sensational Lip Colors and Rockin’ Fuchsia was calling my name. I’ve been obsessed with bright pink lipsticks, so I HAD to buy this one!

Although in the picture it looks a bit more on the plum side, it’s a very cool deep fuchsia that I’ve been wearing nonstop. The display had a few other awesome colors, but I limited myself to the one since I already knew I was failing at one of my 33 items. But I will say, if you’re a fan of full lipstick, which is the big trend for this year, you should definitely check out Color Sensational lipsticks. They feel amazing on and the color pay off is fantastic.

It was all totally worth breaking my 33 in 33 for 33 list. Have you bought anything good lately?

Before Jess left for her new job in NYC we went makeup shopping at the Sephora in Georgetown to upgrade her beauty routine for her new life in the big apple. Of course I couldn’t leave Sephora empty handed and I knew that the Georgetown Sephora is one of the few that carries Illamasqua beauty products. I’ve been wanting to buy at least one product from their line just to see what all the hype is about so I decided to go with a lipstick.

I picked up Illamasqua lipstick in Drench, a berry matte red or at least that’s how it is described online. I like to think that it’s in the same vein as a great strawberry pink and I’m quite smitten with it. I’m always on the quest for the perfect lipstick and I haven’t really figured out what all that would encompass. Right now what I’m loving about Drench is that the color glides on smoothly but has a satin finish but still appears almost like a stain on the lips. The color builds up and the stain lasts and evenly disappears when you eat. It has been my summer beauty bag staple for the past month. Plus I love the cheeky names for their lipsticks (I totally tried to get Jessica to buy Climax, it was gorgeous on her).

Have any of you picked up an Illamasqua products yet? What do you think?

I think this might be a new series just for summer, there are TONS of things that I’m obsessed with right now. I know that I adjust my makeup a bit in the summer to accommodate the humid and hot temps along with my browner skin (oh yes, brown folks get tan too!) so I really look for products that are long lasting, sweat proof and bolder in color.

My latest obsession, Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain in Strawberry Kissed. I am in love with this color. It’s a bright pink/red combination that is so vivid and gorgeous on my lips.

The Cream Lip Stain is a fairly new product at Sephora, so I decided to give it a try. The texture is a creamy consistency but it dries fairly matte but with full color. It isn’t as drying as a traditional lip stain and the formula is really unique. My only gripe is that the moment I eat something, it all comes off – so it’s not 100% like a stain that will last all day long. I find that if I apply a lip primer first it lasts a bit better when eating, but honestly I have yet to find a lip product that will stay on for 8 hours including meals and drinks. So having to reapply isn’t a deal breaker for me. I do suggest applying this will a lip brush for a very precise application and look since the color is so saturated. I wish the color range was also a bit bigger just because I like this color so much. I’d love to see more options than just a bright red or a bright fuchsia.

So have any of you tried the Sephora Cream Lip Stain? Thoughts? Are you going to try it?