Moderate Stash: Lipsticks and Glosses

Alright, it's time for me to start breathing heavily and sweating like crazy because I sometimes feel mildly embarrassed about this. I know having almost two dozen lip products is not the average person's idea of "moderate." But to be fair, this is not the mind-boggling 100+ collection I used to have, I'm finally at a place where I feel I love everything I own, and I hold firm in my belief that allowing yourself one "go crazy" area whilst you downsize is a good idea.

And I have a weakness for bold reds and bright pinks. I can't make excuses for that. :/

But before we get too engrossed, can we take a moment to appreciate how weirdly pretty these baby wipes looked after I removed some swatches?

The stupidest things excite me, I know. Moving right along!

For reference, I am not a gloss person, so there are only a few of those. Swatches are on the top of my hand, which is about NC10-15 on a MAC scale. For full reviews of some of these products, please check the product: lipstick, product: frankenlip, or product: gloss tags; for lip swatches and photos of me wearing these, try the FOTD and Lipstick Diaries tags. My ELF Gotta Glow Lip Tint is not pictured because my mother had it with her, but you can see it on my lips here.

NUDES AND SOFT PINKS,

plus my few glosses.

GLOSSES:

• Lipstick Queen Jean Queen. A sheer, soft, glossy watermelon pink. Perfect for everyday wear and for work. Applicator is a brush tip. I often keep this in my briefcase.
• Elizabeth Arden Crystal Clear Gloss. Completely clear, very glossy, and only a little sticky, with a minty smell and taste. This is my second tube. (Not swatched for obvious reasons!)
• MAC Viva Glam Lady Gaga lipglass. A pastel pink with a creamy opaque formula. It's not as sticky as most MAC lipglasses. The sharpie line shows how far I am right now--I'm going to see how far I can get before I chuck this in to my Back 2 MAC pile in May.

NUDES AND SOFT PINKS:

• MAC Faux. Midtone beige pink in a satin finish. It's a nice nude, but not my personal favorite; however, everybody seems to love it on me.
• MAC Huggable Bare Hug. A shiny and supple gel formula that's very comfortable and smoothing on the lips. This shade looks bright coral in the tube, but it applies as a soft, slightly warm pink. 
• Urban Decay Native. Super light and slightly pastel baby pink. This is one of my go-to shades if I'm wearing darker eye makeup.
• Kismet Elope. A mid-tone beige with some hints of pink. This is a glossy liquid formula. It's probably not that flattering on me, but for some reason, I really like it.

 Natural light on top, flash on the bottom.

MORE PINKS AND SOME PLUMS,

these ones just aren't "nude."

PINKS:

• Bite Beauty Velvet. The most perfect petal pink on the face of the planet, with a creamy finish. I think I've used about half of my current tube.
• Bite Beauty Bouquet. Another "flowery" shade with a creamy finish and the perfect mix of pink and peach. One of the few "nudes" that I think looks really good on me, probably because it isn't really nude. Don't judge me.
• Dior Kiss Me fluidstick. Funky gloss/lipstick hybrid with a cushiony texture, Kiss Me is a soft, cool-toned pink. I wasn't impressed with this formula the first time I tried it, but it's grown on me. Surprisingly good staying power for a glossy product!

PLUMS:

• NARS Audacious Anna. Looks like a cool, mid-tone pink on most people, but because I'm fairer skinned, it comes off quite mauve and plummy on me. Not 100% sure if it flatters me, but I do love it. Satin finish.
• Hourglass Empress. Matte liquid lipstick that smells like paint and wears like it, too! I love this stuff, though. Empress is a perfect plum shade; I wear it a lot on nights out.
• Kismet On Point. A great everyday shade with an equal balance of pink and plum; this is Kismet's shiny liquid formula.

Natural light on top, flash on the bottom.

REDS,

they are my weakness.

ALL THE REDS:

• MAC Ruby Woo. The most traditional and chalky matte in the history of chalky mattes, Ruby Woo is a relatively neutral red (though some would say it leans a little blue). This is my second tube, so clearly it's been loved, but after I finish this one, I don't think I'll repurchase.
• NARS Audacious Charlotte. Swatches weirdly purple on my hand, but in reality is the most perfect oxblood color with a satin finish. My current favorite red.
• Stila Beso. A true red in a matte liquid formula. This stuff wears like a beast and I have next to no problems with smearing, so it's essentially replacing Ruby Woo in my collection.
• MAC Scarlet Ibis. A warm red with a soft matte finish. Makes me feel very chic and grown-up when I wear it. Technically a limited-edition shade, but MAC re-releases it from time to time.
• Bite Beauty Pomegranate. A blue-based red with a glossy finish. I purged a mini-pencil of this in the past because I had similar reds I preferred, but I got this one in a kit and I figure I'll try it out again.
• Dior Pandore fluidstick. As mentioned, this is a frankenlip formula with a glossy finish. Though it swatches pinkish on my hands, it's a warm red on my lips. I like this shade, but I won't repurchase--I don't generally go for very shiny reds.

 Natural light on top, flash on the bottom.

OTHER BRIGHTS,

from fuchsia to purple to orange.

FUCHSIA:

• NARS Audacious Michiyo. A blue-based fuchsia with a satin finish. An excellent alternative to red if you want to try something a little different in your pin-up look.
• MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus. A slightly warmer fuchsia with a bit of a glossy finish. This is a very comfortable and beautiful lipstick that seems to flatter me, but for some weird reason, I don't wear it a lot--I'll have to fix that!
• Kismet Flamingo. A very glossy and bright orchid pink. My mother hates it, I love it, life goes on.

PURPLE:

• Bite Beauty Lingonberry. A creamy bright purple lipstick. I don't wear it often, but when I do, I adore it.

ORANGE:

• Bite Beauty Tangerine. Technically more of a coral, but close enough! Not my favorite color, to be honest, but it's half of the Lingonberry duo, and if you mix the two shades, you get a great bright pink.
• Hourglass Riviera. As I mentioned, this stuff smells awful, feels thick, and wears for hours...and I love it. I think this is the only true orange I've found that I like on my skintone.

Natural light on top, flash on the bottom.

Natural Light vs. Flash Comparisons

Lipstick Diaries #9: Dior Fluid Sticks in Pandore and Kiss Me

When I reviewed these "frankenlip" sticks last year, I noted that the formula is amazing, but not entirely to my personal tastes. That review stands, even with a gorgeous shade like Pandore. It's a warm red that, in terms of color alone, works well on my skintone. But the Dior Fluid Sticks have a jelly-like formula, and I have to admit that the glossiness makes them feel especially formal and "done-up" to me. I don't wear this often, and I don't really enjoy it as much as some of my other reds. I'll probably finish this tube, but I won't repurchase.

My opinions on Kiss Me have changed a bit, however. I still think the formula for this milky pink is slightly different from the brights: it still gums up a bit at the corners and center of my lips, so I have to pat it out with my finger every few hours. But the tube I have now seems slightly cooler-toned, and it doesn't reek of perfume the way my previous tube did. I like this shade a lot for soft, tonal looks, and my mother absolutely loves it. Again, I'm not sure if I'd repurchase it because of the glossy formula, but I'll definitely use up the tube.

REVIEW: Dior Fluid Sticks

When I first dipped my lips in to the glossy waters of Dior's new Fluid Sticks, I wasn't too impressed with what I found. Inspired by the product's rave reviews, I purchased a soft neutral pink, Kiss Me, and hoped it'd be the perfect product for my sister's wedding. I described my lackluster experience to the ladies on Makeup Alley, who were really quite appalled by what I was saying.

"What do you mean they taste like perfume?"

"How are they only lasting an hour on you?"

"No pigment? Mine are really pigmented!"

Makeup is very much a "your mileage may vary" sort of thing, so I figured I was one of the few people these newbies wouldn't work for. I resigned myself to being awfully quiet about that, too, because they're generating tons of buzz and love, and it's kinda weird being the lone voice of dissention.

Here's Kiss Me in action (full breakdown and another FOTD posted here):

It's not BAD, but it's not inspiring. You know why? Because this shade was just an ordinary pink gloss on me. It didn't have great pigmentation, it gummed up at the corners of my mouth, and it barely lasted for an hour--definitely not the "fabulous wear" and "high-impact colour" the packaging promised. To make matters worse, it absolutely REEKED of perfume, and I could taste it the entire time I wore it. This product didn't live up to its official claims, let alone the hype. To date, Dior Kiss Me is one of maybe 5 items I've returned to Sephora. That's how much I hated it.

Now, when I ordered Kiss Me, I added in the 4-shade sample packet Sephora was offering, figuring I could find another shade to purchase after I returned to work in the Fall. But when Kiss Me ended up being a major disappointment, I pushed it off to the side. Add in a rogue infection that made me sick for almost a month, and you've got a product that's WAY overdue for a re-evaluation.

I was hesitant to put a Fluid Stick near my mouth again after the Kiss Me fiasco, but I'm glad I gave them another chance.

Let's backtrack a moment and go over Dior's claims in more detail. While some bloggers and YouTubers have defined the Dior Fluid Sticks as "liquid lipsticks," Dior clearly wishes to state otherwise: most of the advertisements, sample packets, and sales associates shout, "THIS IS NOT A LIPSTICK!" But they are also not a gloss, in the sense that layering them over a lip liner or lipstick isn't all that effective or attractive. They also aren't designed to stain or soak in to the lips. What they are designed to do is look glossy, provide "coverage between a gloss and a lipstick" (huh?), feel like nada on your lips, and wear well without feathering or fading. Sounds kinda like a lipstick, right?

But Dior refuses! "THIS IS NOT A LIPSTICK!" And if it's not a gloss or a stain...well, fine, Fluid Sticks; I'm officially labeling you "Frankenlip." THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR BEING SO PICKY.

A full-sized frankenlip Fluid Stick retails for $35 and comes in elegant plastic packaging. The bottom is clear so you can see what color you've got. The applicator is a soft, spade-shaped sponge tip; I found it easy to control. (The sample pack came with a disposable sponge-tip applicator, which I cleaned and re-used for each application.)

Pandore, a warm pinky-red, and Wonderland, a cool fuchsia pink

The formula is, indeed, incredibly lightweight and comfortable; it has a unique gel texture that stays in place without drying out my lips. You can apply a thin layer for a more toned-down look, and most of the swatches I found online seem to be applied quite thinly. But, y'know, I'm a guady ho. So I applied these products quite liberally for opaque coverage. This can lead to some very slight gumming-up at the edges of my lips when I first apply (eek!), but if I pat it with my fingers, it smooths out and doesn't reoccur. The wear is not impacted by how much you layer on: once it's there, it's not moving unless you rub it off.

Speaking of:

Here's what Pandore looked like after I ate a Cup o' Noodles. No smearing or smudging, just some mild fading, primarily at the very inner part of my lips. This is actually more impressive than some traditional lipsticks out there, which will fade and smear as soon as you sip your morning coffee. The Fluid Sticks WILL come off if you kiss someone or rub your mouth against something; otherwise, they're decently resistant to everyday wear and tear, which is impressive for a glossy formula.

Aventure, a coral with strong orange undertones,  and Mirage, a soft peach

Also, while the perfumey-ness I detected in Kiss Me was non-existent in Pandore, Wonderland, and Aventure, it was definitely present in Mirage. Mirage didn't smell nearly as potent as Kiss Me had, and the taste faded away after about 15 minutes of wear. Still, it's strange that the fragrance is really only noticeable to me in these lighter/paler shades. Maybe it has something to do with the pigments? *pseudo-science*

While all of the shades were beautiful and performed about the same, the only shades I think I'd purchase in a full-size are Pandore (for everyday looks) and Mirage (for work). That may be confusing, considering I just raved about these products, but the truth of the matter is that glossy lip products are just Not My Thing, and I don't think most of the shades flatter me. (Hell, Mirage isn't even that flattering on me, but it's just so freaking cool!) But who knows? I could swatch a few more shades and fall absolutely in love.

And hey, I liked them enough to try preserving what was left in the sample packet for later use!

Alas, the little wells overflow shortly after you peel pack the foil. I could probably get a second or even third use out of each color, but it's gonna be a messy experience.

Personal preferences aside, the Dior Fluid Sticks are definitely some of the best new lip products out there. Their versatility and comfortable formulation make them a great choice for a wide variety of people. Just watch out for those fluke shades, like Kiss Me.

Rating: 5 out of 5