Lipstick | Beauty and Fashion Tech

Givenchy Holiday Collection 2009

The Givenchy Holiday Collection has a really pretty looking eye palette and some nice limited edition lip shades. If you haven’t tried Givenchy lip items before, you should! They have great pigment and feel great. Below is information on the Holiday Collection. You can also shop the entire collection at the Givenchy Shop on Holiday Makeup.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Fall Makeup Trends with M.A.C. Cosmetics

With their involvement in so many aspects of the beauty industry and multitude of runways shows, M.A.C. Cosmetics is always on top of the trends. Actually, they often set the trends! So I was happy to meet up with M.A.C. representative, Heather Park, and M.A.C. senior makeup artist, Konstantine Mironychev in Chicago a while back to take a look at what is in store for fall.

One of the top runway trends from M.A.C. that I have already seen on the street is the rich and dark lip. It is often worn with little else to make a statement on its own, or for a twist that is new this year, it can be coupled with a rich smoldering and stand-out eye color, as seen from the Cult of Cherry Collection pictured to the left.

The collection has some of the most interesting and gorgeous eye quads that I have seen from M.A.C. in some time and, the mattene lipsticks in the collection are fabulous. this is my most recommended fall collection.

Another trend for fall is the brightly colored eye, with neon themes from pop art or punk-rock glam looks inspired in part from the 80’s. For some particularly dramatic pigments, look to M.A.C.’s Overrich collection .

Pretty feminine looks with a bit of an artsy eye or almost nude or androgynous looks with a pink lip are also around. So if the deep dark shades are too much for you, pair a neutral mineralized skinfinish duo from the New View Collection with a pinkish nude lipglass for a simple, yet classy look. Or do the same thing but with more color on the lip if just the overdone eyes are too much for you.

Shop for M.A.C. Cosmetics

Popularity: 3% [?]

Introducing GirlGloss.com: A New Blog Dedicated To Lip Products

I have a pretty serious lip balm addiction, and I love, love, love lipgloss. My lipstick collection is starting to grow as well. As a result, I started a new site devoted solely to lip products!

I will still review lip products on Beauty and Fashion Tech as well, but for more of all things lipstick, gloss and balm stop by Girl Gloss and say hello!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Review: Rimmel Cosmetics Lip Products

Rimmel London Cosmetics is a drugstore line that makes some of my current favorite lip products, especially when used in combination. Unfortunately their website is difficult to operate and would not let me get to the product sections, so I am not linking to there. The newer Rimmel lip products also are not really easy to find online. But I did find links through a mix of sources. You can also find Rimmel products at various drugstores. I find that Meyer stores seem to carry the full line, while places like Target and Walgreens carry a smaller selection.Rimmel Vinyl Jelly lip liner pencil is a top favorite of mine. I imagine when I am doing top new product lists for the year, this will be on it. Unfortunately it is hard to find, both on and off line. The product comes in a pencil and applies like a pencil, but it really is a thick jelly/gloss like substance, that glides on, colors well and looks great! I love, love, love it. It also comes in some really nice colors that are brighter and more vibrant than many standard lip pencils. My favorite is number 004, sorbet, which is a bubblegum pink shade that looks great under other pinks, corals, or neutral mauves and plums. If you can find the Rimmel Vinyl Jelly pencil, I highly recommend that you buy it!

LoudMouth Lip Gloss (pictured right) is another new favorite of mine. The “gloss” is really more like a buildable, moisturizing, sheer lip stick. I have it in the shade pout, which is a light neutral pink. I tend to apply it in a couple of layers with a brush to build it up. At that point, it stays on pretty well and has a nice color to it. Otherwise, it is pretty sheer. LoudMouth comes in some deep shades as well that I imagine would also be buildable to the shade as seen in the pot.

Rimmel Gloss Over (pictured at top) is a pot with five strips of different gloss shades. It comes in a good variety of colors and is a pretty standard gloss. Most of the shades have quite a bit of glitter or sparkle in them, so I like it for adding that over otherwise matte lips.

R i mmel Jelly Gloss Sheer Lipgloss is a nice gel tube type of gloss that I think is pretty comparable to a bunch of other drugstore glosses that are out there. It is perfectly good and quite affordable. But I prefer Rimmel Vinyl Lip Lipgloss (pictured left). Vinyl Lip is high shine with a good amount of shimmer to it. It is pretty long lasting for a tube gloss, is not at all sticky, and tastes good to boot. I have it in the shade surreal, which tastes a bit like strawberry. The shade works well both alone and over a number of other colors. This is another product that I just love. Fortunately it is also a bit easier to find. More Rimmel Vinyl Lip Gloss

Take a look at Rimmel the next time you are at the drugstore. It is a quality, yet affordable line that is well worth exploring.

Shop for more Rimmel cosmetics

Popularity: 2% [?]

Reviewing Popular Nars Products: Dolce Vita Lipstick, Nars Orgasm Blush and Nars Orgasm Gloss

I have been finding all sorts of new favorites recently. Fortunately, it seems like everything I try lately is a quality item. My recent Nars purchases were really no surprise in that department, since I purchased a couple of Nars’ most popular and well received products. Plus I tend to just love Nars all around anyway! NARS Sheer Lipstick, in Dolce Vita (pictured right) is a wonderful color for me.

This particular lipstick has often been touted in the magazines and from the PR folks as the most universally flattering color available, and I agree that it is pretty close, at least for my pale complexion. The shade is a neutral pinkish mauve that is not too opaque and not too sheer. And the Nars lipsticks always feel comfortable. There are no issues with caking or drying.

I also love the packaging of Nars products. Their containers have a soft, almost spongy feel to them, and the black tubes and cases look quite nice. My only complaint is that I don’t think the Nars lipsticks stay on quite as well as some other brands. I tend to find myself reapplying it a bit more often. I have had the same problem lately with Smashbox lipsticks, and hope it isn’t becoming a trend across my otherwise favorite brands!

NARS Lip Gloss, Orgasm (pictured below/right) is the lip gloss version of the hugely popular, cult classic NARS Orgasm Powder Blush (pictured left). Like the blush, the gloss is a peachy pink shade (more peach than pink) and it is gorgeous! I find that the gloss is a bit less shimmery than the blush, which is a bonus for me, since I always found Nars Orgasm blush to be a bit too much on the shimmery side for me. Plus, I like to avoid overly shimmery glosses and add a separate shimmer product if I want more. There is just more control that way. But if you are looking for a fully matte gloss, be warned, this one still is frosted/shimmery, just less so than the blush in my opinion.

This is quickly becoming a favorite gloss for me. I have read some complaints that it is thick or sticky. It is a bit stickier than some glosses, but I have been OK with it in that department. I would not categorize it as moisturizing though, so if you lean toward the moisturizing glosses, this one likely isn’t for you. If you like the blush, trying the gloss is a must do! Even if you don’t like the blush, the gloss is worth a look.

Want to try several of popular Nars’ products? Take a look at the NARS Artist Palette Compact, Cool, which I came across when putting together the links for this post. It has a nice selection of shades.

Finally, one more piece of useful info: If you are making an online beauty purchase anytime soon, right now you can get a free Beauty.com Train Case and samples with your $100 purchase - while supplies last (important note, drugstore.com purchases do not count toward the $100 threshold). The case includes a number of high quality samples, which I think makes it a pretty nice deal. It is tempting me to shop anyway!

Shop for Nars Cosmetics

Popularity: 3% [?]

Cargo Plant Love. Lipstick That Grows!

For the environmentally friendly gardener in you, check out Cargo’s Plant Love Collection. This environmentally friendly collection of lipsticks is packaged in biodegradable containers made from corn. A bonus for the gardeners is that seeds are embedded in the box. Plant the box and grow flowers!

What will the packaging gurus out there think of next?

Popularity: 1% [?]

(almost) Everybody (except me) Loves Proenza Pink

OK, so I keep seeing blog after blog raving about the limited edition Le Rouge Absolu, Proenza Pink from Lancome. The shade was designed for the Proenza Schouler spring runway and created by Gucci Westman Neville in consultation with the two men behind the Proenza Schouler name.

It is limited edition, it is exclusive to Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and four Lancome boutiques. It will likely be wildly popular, sold out, impossible to find, and cost a small fortune on eBay.

Why? Is it the fancy name(s), the limited edition, or both? Will people rave about it without ever actually trying it simply because it exists? I predict they will. But I have to say, I just don’t get this one. I like pink and I like pink cosmetics, but this shade is just too pale, and too whitish pink. To be fair, I did see one blog where the author did indeed wear it and liked it, but admitted that it might not be for everyone. She also described it as a zinc or milky pink: See blogdorfgoodman.

Anyway, I definitely agree with one of the few blogs that I saw questioning it: The Non-Blonde: Two Notes to the Good People at Lancome. She questioned how a person could wear the shade and still look alive. I like experimenting and I like fun colors, but with expensive limited edition stuff, why can’t they be more universally attractive????

Just a little rant for today…..