Showing posts with label green lipstick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green lipstick. Show all posts

Monday, November 19, 2012

Milan Rowe Lipstick in Caribbean Queen, Lavender Lust, and Alter Ego Review and Swatches


Prepare yourself! The next few posts will be focusing on a great brand that i feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to review! This first post will focus on three lipsticks that are daring, bold, and beautiful!


Lately there has been an explosion of bright colored makeup from eyes to lips, more and more companies are popping up offering up their best, break the mold, trendy brights, and i have tried many of these brands (some which have greatly disappointed). When i was contacted about Milan Rowe the usual skepticism (that i feel about almost everything) was absent! I had a good feeling about this brand just from browsing the site (which is very user friendly and included a wide range of products). When i received the products, i loved how they were so neatly packaged in a sleek black box with Milan Rowe tissue paper. Its the little touches that wow me before the actual product.



In matte black tubes with silver bands, they reminded me a little of MAC.  The tubes are sturdy and classy.

I received Caribbean Queen, Lavender Lust, and Alter Ego. These three shades are very creamy, but not waxy, streaky, and do not feather, or bleed. There is no overpowering scent or flavor. These shades are not drying. They apply very opaquely and feel soft on the lips. I like that even though these are highly pigmented they do not feel heavy or appear chalky. To compare to brands that offer up similar products they do not feel grainy like Ka'oir or waxy like Limecrime. If you are looking for brights with a better formula, consistency, staying power, opacity, pigmentation, and presentation, you need to check out Milan Rowe.




 Caribbean Queen-
Bright, bold, opaque, and highly pigmented light green (can appear almost mint in some lights), is an excellent statement lip. While you may think this is an unacceptable color to wear this shade will get you noticed! If you wear Milan Rowe Caribbean Queen with a neural eye along with a trendy outfit with pops of this color, it can go together very well, and look more polished then you may think. It will definitely get you noticed! Non streaky and does not wash out your skin. Since the shade is light it wont come off as witchy or Halloween. This lipstick is very smooth, and drys to a matte finish (but isn't drying on the lips). Hides most lip flaws. While this shade may be different from red's, nude's, and pinks, sometimes its better to break the mold then go along with it!


Alter Ego-
Another bold and bright lip shade! Milan Rowe Alter Ego is described as an aqua sea frost teal but appears more medium blue against my skin tone. Highly pigmented, non streaky, non chalky, hides most lip flaws, non grainy, non waxy. This pretty much is a perfectly formulated high pigment lipstick. Goes on creamy with a semi-matte/matte finish. This is a statement lipstick that everyone should have in their collection. If you are going to go bold but have some reservations, do it with blue! If you are worried about over doing it choose a black or navy smokey eye, or even some navy eyeliner and pair with a neutral outfit! Overall this shade will get you noticed and is a nice pop of color from the normal range of reds, nudes, and pinks! Confidence is sexy, so let is shine through with this shade!








 Lavender Lust-
If the shades above aren't for you (though i do recommend you try them before you disregard them), Milan Rowe also offers some everyday shades. If you were thinking about going for a purple shade this might be the perfect one for you. This frosty lavender/lilac with a silver shimmer goes on so creamy and soft. This color is can be built up from just a hint of purple/shimmer to full coverage. Non streaky, non grainy, does not feather, does not bleed, non waxy, non chalky, and non drying. This will beat anything you find in drugstores and even some high end brands like MAC. In some lights this shade can appear pinkish so if you want something that you can wear to work or school or aren't ready to try super bright shades this is a great option!




 
Over all i would recommend this lipstick formula to anyone who appreciates a good quality lipstick. If you want to try bold and bright colors, Milan Rowe is a great place to turn to. You won't be disappointed. To see the whole range of shades and products please check out Milan Rowe Cosmetics. 

 

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Lime Crime Alchemy Collection Review and Swatches



Lime Crime, known for bright colors and unicorns, has taken on a darker side this month with the release of the Alchemy Palette, Poisonberry and Serpentina lipsticks. Shades that encompass not only the spirit of Halloween but of fall and the art of Alchemy. While these products barely fit into the image and line of products Lime Crime offers, it no doubt is a great addition to the overall collection

The Alchemy Palette contains 5 duochrome colors, meaning that, each shade has a shift of color. These shades are all shimmery and depending on how the light hits them you will either see the base color or the shift.  The names of these shades, inspired by alchemy and the dark arts, are (from left to right) Incantation (metallic copper with gold shift), Lucky Charm (forest green with a lighter green firefly shift), Love Potion #9 (purple with a mint shift), Spellbound (white with a gold shift), and Divination (slate blue with a peacock shift). These shades apply smoothly, aren't too soft, are opaque, blend easily, and last about 6 hours over primer. I personally did not find the color shift to be too apparent when applied unless i piled on the product. If the shift was a major factor for you then it will take a little bit of work to get it to look as it does in the swatches on the Lime Crime website. Aside from that set back these colors do go well together, have good pigmentation, and are of high quality (aside from shift). At $34.99 this palette is worth it.

Alchemy Palette from Lime Crime over primer with flash
Alchemy Palette from lime crime over primer in natural light
For comparison, the above are my swatches with flash, and natural light over primer and they look nothing like this swatch found on the Lime Crime website (in terms of vividness and shift). So as i mentioned above if you are hoping for these results be prepared to have to use multiple layers of product. This kind of makes me mad, since i like the colors and how they work together, but when compared with the expected swatch they seem to fall flat. I find the sites swatches to be a complete misrepresentation of these shades when applied normally.

Alchemy Palette from Lime Crime site.

The lipsticks from the Alchemy collection, Poisonberry and Serpentina, apply with a bit of shimmer. This is quite a change from the creamy colors you would expect from Lime Crime. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of application but these applied just as creamy as the other shades. These have a soft vanilla scent which is very similar if not the same to MAC. I didn't notice any weird taste. These shades do tend to bleed into the creases of the lips to make sure to use a lip primer, balm, or exfoliate before applying these shades. This problem may only be isolated to those who have a lot of creases in their lips. Since they are a bit shimmery they aren't as opaque as other Lime Crime Shades. If the other sides are a 5/5 for opaque these are like a 3.5/5. It isn't terribly different, or something to complain about, but depending on your natural lip shade you may need to do a swipe or two extra.

Serpentina: Rich, shimmery, emerald green.
Lime Crime Serpentina

Lime Crime Serpentina

Lime Crime Serpentina with flash
Lime Crime Serpentina with flash

Lime Crime Serpentina in natural light


Poisonberry: Deep, shimmery, purple berry.

Lime Crime Poisonberry

Lime Crime Poisonberry

Lime Crime Poisonberry with flash
Lime Crime Poisonberry without flash


The Mook-
Since i bought the Alchemy set i received a complimentary Mook. A Mook is a book which features pictures of Lola Blanc and Doe Deere's cat, along with recipes for homemade beauty treatments.



On a side note, i have had issues with Lime Crime in the past regarding non reimbursement for having to return a broken palette but this problem has since been made right. I am glad that i gave Lime Crime a second chance to impress me. I hate having a "Love/Hate" relationship with a company whose products i appreciate but whose practices and behavior do not impress me. So it is nice to know that while this company can be bumpy at times, they will always make things right for their customers.