Jing Ai Velvet Shine Lip Jewel In, "Pink A Boo"

I always love a lip product, it doesn't matter if it is a gloss of lipstick or even a lip balm! So, when I receive a lippy in my Boxycharm, which has been just about every month since I started subscribing, I have been so very excited! In February there was a Velvet Shine Lip Jewel included from Jing Ai, a brand that I had not ad the pleasure of trying before.

Let's check it out together!

You can find this lip pencil on Jing Ai's website here where you can find this lip pencil in four colors total, from pink to red! They claim that this is a highly pigmented hydrating lip pencil, and on a high note, this brand is 100% cruelty free!

I love it when a beauty product comes in a cute little box, it just makes it feel like I am unwrapping a pretty present. Oh, the anticipation!

This came in the color, "Pink A Boo", a pretty looking watermelon color from the appearance of it. With my skin tone, which has yellow undertones, it has to be the right shade of pink in order for it to look good on me, otherwise it comes off chalky.

I am one of those who doesn't mind a chubby lip pencil, because I find that they act as a lipliner and lipstick in one! I can easily and precisely line my lips with this and fill them in in a no fuss manner.

Don't worry, there is no sharpening required for this product (thankfully!), because all you have to do is twist it up from the bottom and you get more product! As you know, I despise sharpening anything!

This swatches so pretty!

Swatching this on my arm, this came off as such a pretty watermelon color, it reminds me of summertime! Immediately when swatching, I could tell that this was going to be glossy and full of color!

This is such a silky formula, it glides onto the lips like butter! I love how moisturizing this wears on the lips through out the day. Even though this is highly pigmented like a lipstick, this does not dry out your lips at all!

Jing Ai Velvet Shine Lip Jewel in, "Pink A Boo"
Before

When first applying this to my lips, I was shocked, only because this color comes off more like a strawberry pink on my lips. Unfortunately, I do not like the color of this on me personally, because it comes off too chalky. On others, this would be so very pretty! But, for reviews sake I did apply this to my lips as I normally would have so I could see how this product performs.

I did notice that the color did settle into the lines on my lips, which is not my favorite thing in the world, but I figure that is because the product is somewhat glossy, while still performing like a lipstick.

This lines my lips beautifully and feels so comfortable when I wear it throughout the day. I almost forget that I am wearing it, because it isn't goopy or sticky.

When I wore this, I drank tea and I saw that the color transferred onto the cup, as you can see in the picture below...

I also did snack on some tangerines and chips. Never once did I look in the mirror, but the whole time I thought that the lip color had completely come off, because of the lip prints I had seen on my tea cup.

But, four hours later, I did a check in the mirror and this is what I saw:

Jing Ai Velvet Shine Lip Jewel in, "Pink A Boo"
four hours later

Holy smokes! I was so shocked to see that the color was still there! True, the glossiness wasn't there anymore, but the color had "stained" my lips, if you will, and was noticeably still there. This lipstick hangs on strong, I love how long wearing this is! Even once it had somewhat faded, my lips still felt moisturized and comfortable.

I love this, it is everything a person could want in a chubby lip pencil. I would love to repurchase this in a different color because it performs phenomenally! Definitely, check these out for yourself, I promise you will not be disappointed!



Have A Wonderful Day! 

Modern Minerals Duo Fiber Mini Round Brush Review

In my Boxycharm box for February I was pleasantly happy to see that there was a makeup brush included in the goodies! I did not have a round brush in my collection until this moment, so trying this out to see if a mini round brush was truly a necessity was interesting, because I never had seen the need before...

This retails on modermineralsmakeup.com for $15.00, which is a good price for a higher end makeup line. I would compare the prices on their website in regards to makeup and brushes to MAC.

At first glance, this reminds me of an e.l.f. makeup brush because of it's white handle, but I can tell that this is much better quality than e.l.f.'s brushes, which have the potential to shed like crazy! I don't mind the appearance of the brush itself, it is simple and well made, and even has a positive message to share with it's user: "U R GORGEOUS". Aw, how sweet ;)

The brush is amazing, because it is so firm and dense it doesn't spread when it is being used. It keeps it shape, making application so effortless. While the fibers on this brush are dense, you can also be assured that it is soft!  I like to use this for smoking out the lower lash line, but their website also says this is a great brush for the inner corner highlight, which I am definitely going to try, it is the perfect size for that!

I haven't noticed any shedding with this brush, it has held up very well as it has been used daily since I got it in the mail!

I cannot believe that I never tried out a mini round brush before, because this has made smoking out my lower lash line way more efficient and precise! I honestly cannot leave this brush behind when I am traveling, because I almost feel like my small flat makeup brush won't cut it like this one does.

Overall, I really do like this brush and am so glad that this can be added to my brush collection. This is a keeper for sure!



Have A Wonderful Day!

Boxycharm Reveal February 2015

I signed up for Boxycharm back in December and have loved it ever since. I posted December's Boxycharm  here  and have meant to post every month's Boxycharm that I received since than, but I failed and did not post the one for January... So, please forgive me...

I feel that this months box came later than January's box, but that may be due to the horrible weather that the East coast has been experiencing lately. I just received this last night in the mail and took pictures of the opened box that night. This afternoon I took pictures of the products for you guys.

This month's Boxycharm was not as exciting as the last two months, in my opinion. For some reason, I just felt like it was lacking exciting products. Honestly, there wasn't one product in there that gave me a thrill when I unboxed it.

Let me share with you what I got:

Modern Minerals Duo Fiber Mini Round Brush $15- This brush feels soft, yet dense! I actually do not own this type of brush, so I am excited to add this too my collection!

Mullein and Sparrow Mini Facial Mask $15.00 - (Deluxe Sample) I do not use face masks often only because I don't have any interest to, not because I am opposed to them or anything. I was very intrigued by this powdered mask that you mix with water to form the clay you slather on your face.

I was very excited to try this out that I had to dig right into it last night! The issue I had with this is more of a packaging problem, because the cork was extremely stuck in the bottle that it would not come out! I had to take my tweezers to dig the cork out, and even then, it shredded apart and half of it fell into the mixture itself... Hmmm... Not a fan of the cork!

ncLA Nail Lacquer in, "Heart Attack" $16.00 - (Full Size) I love a nail polish, that's for sure! And looking at my nails from these pictures, I need a new manicure, badly! I am not much of an accent nail kind of girl, nor a fan of nail art in general, but this polish might serve it's purpose someday in my future!

Jing Ai Velvet Shine Lip Jewel $22.00 - (Full Size)  Lip products are always welcome in my world, and this is what maybe made me the most happy out of all the goodies in my box this month! Isn't this a summery bright pink!?

Mister Beauty Solutions C-2-P Complexion Corrector $36.99- (Full Size) Hmmm... From the picture above, you can see that this product was cracked in half... When I went to piece this concealer stick together again, I found that the top is shaped just like a lipstick and it is very soft and velvety! I have high hopes for this concealer, but as this retails for $36, it is kind of sad that it broke right down the middle...


There you have it! Here is February 2015's Boxycharm reveal! Reviews will be coming very soon, as I have reviewed almost all of the other beauty products that have been inside the other two boxes I received!

Tell me, does anything in this month's box appeal to you? Or if you received this box, tell me what you are loving and what disappointed you so far!



Have A Wonderful Day!

e.l.f. HD Blush In, "Headliner"

I have been a little intrigued by blush lately, liquid blush included! So, when I was at Target perusing the makeup isle and checking out the e.l.f. products figuring out what I should purchase to try, my eyes kept going back to their HD Blush. I figured for $3.00, I just had to try one! Honestly, e.l.f. has been a hit and miss brand for me, but the color, "Headliner", was so pretty, I had high hopes for this!

They claim that this is a highly pigmented lightweight creamy product that is long wearing. I assume they call this an HD blush because they say this will naturally sculpt and highlight your cheekbones for a soft-focus effect. Interesting!

The bottle is made of sturdy plastic, the kind that I feel would hold up well and not break easily. I always want my makeup products well protected and the cap clicks securely back onto the bottle and stays snug. I would feel okay packing this in a makeup bag and traveling with this.

You can see, it fits into the palm of my hand and is the perfect size for traveling! And if, you wanted to take this on a plane with you, you easily could, because this is only 0.51oz.

The pump on this is perfect, it pumps out a small amount of product so you never have to worry about a ton of product spilling out. There's no need to worry about wasting blush with this pump!

The color is a beautiful natural rose-pink that looked like it would add just the prettiest flush to the cheeks. This would be so wonderful for everyday wear and just an easy color that would go with any beauty look that you want for that day. You can see from the above picture just how consistent and bright the color of the blush is.

Before you pump the product out, make sure that you shake the bottle, otherwise the blush will come out watery. When it is shaken, the texture of this blush is so velvety-soft and creamy when you touch it with your finger.

You can see how pigmented the blush is when it is blended out! All I did was pumped out the tiny little dot that you saw on my hand in the picture above and blended that out. You can see that a little goes a super long way! I know the swatch above is still pretty intense, but you can blend it out even more if you prefer.

I do not notice this blush giving me any kind of effect that other liquid blushes don't. This applies just like a typical liquid blush and appears just like a typical blush. I believe their HD claim is more of a gimmick than anything because there is nothing very special about this blush.

What I do not like about this product is that this does not last long at all! I use a stippling brush to apply this and it gives me a pretty flush of pink on the cheeks. Yet, just three hours later, I notice that the blush has faded and is barely noticeable at all... The longevity of this product is horrible! Why bother with this blush when it doesn't stay?

Overall, I am high unimpressed with e.l.f.'s HD Blush that I am not recommending this nor repurchasing this. This was another miss e.l.f. product once again...

Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow In, "Dusty Rose"

Awhile back, you might recall that I purchased a Glitz And Glam beauty bag from Sephora that included a Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow in, "Dusty Rose". I had heard a few things here and there about it on youtube before and all the reviews where mixed. So, I was intrigued and couldn't wait to try it out for myself!

Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow In, "Dusty Rose" 

Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow

These retail here for $32.00 on Sephora's website, and come in an array of fifteen beautiful colors. When you purchase one of these eyeshadows it comes with a deluxe Stay All Day liquid Eye Primer, which works to prep, prime and help the product stick and stay.

They describe this as a cream eyeshadow that can give you a variety of effects depending on how you apply this product, from a sheer, light to opaque metallic finish.

The directions are to apply one or two drops of the liquid primer to a mixing tray and add the shadow to mix them together. Press the mixture to your lids and apply additional layers to achieve the desired foil effect you want. They claim that this is a buildable eyeshadow.

So... the Glitz and Glam bag did NOT include the liquid primer, so I had to be creative... But, we shall get to that soon!

Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow In, "Dusty Rose"

When I touched this eye shadow it felt spongy and soft. It left an indent from my finger where I touched it. It was an intriguing cream eye shadow, thats for sure!

So, I tried this product a few different times, especially since I did not receive the liquid primer with this. The first time I tried this, I applied it dry without a mixing medium of any kind, and I applied two layers, which turned out patchy and chunky. The fallout was unbelievable; I had glitter all under my eyelids. It was a basic nightmare. After cleaning up under my eyes, I still hated the finished effect that this eye shadow gave me. Not to mention, it felt heavy and uncomfortable on my eyelids. I did not enjoy that experience.

I gave it one more try a few days later with just one layer and decided to try mixing it with just a drop of water to see if that would help the eye shadow apply more even with less fall out. I first applied Urban Decay's Primer Potion on the lid so I would have a sticky base for the eyeshadow to adhere to. Then I mixed the product and applied just one layer to my lids. This is the effect I got:

Stila Magnificent Metals Foil finish Eye Shadow In, "Dusty Rose"
One Layer

I found that when applying this with a liquid was way better than applying it dry. It spread more easily, but still had a few flakey chunky patches, which looked a little odd in my opinion. Unfortunately, there was still some fallout, but I suppose with a glittery product like that, there will be a certain amount of fallout. Just hold tissue under your eyes when applying so the majority of the fallout will land on the tissue and not the face.

Even with just one layer, I could still feel an uncomfortable heavy feeling when wearing this eye shadow. You definitely can feel the product on your lids. Not my cup of tea...

As I was applying this product it got all over the counter. Lets just say it was more of a mess than it should have been.

This isn't the best picture because it is blurry, unfortunately... But it gives you an idea of the consistency of this product. This is a cream product, but it definitely has a chunky flakey texture to it. You can see what it looks like when it is applied with an eye shadow brush. Basically, it applies unevenly, but maybe with the special liquid primer it applies like magic, although I still have read of others having the same problem as I did, even with Stila's liquid primer...

Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow In, "Dusty Rose"
Layer 1

Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow In, "Dusty Rose"
Layer 2

So, I despised this product and hated the application process and the effects of the eye shadow on my lids. I honestly tried to give this a good go, but it was just too frustrating to work with. So, I decided to pick apart the layers of this eye shadow to see what this was all about.

As I dug into this eyeshadow bit by bit, I could see how flakey this shadow is. The appearence of this  reminded me of a buttery flakey pastry. Seriously, the product has a crunch to it and crumbles like none other. And this is what you have to work with when applying. Not awesome.

Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow In, "Dusty Rose" swatches
Left: One layer
Right: Many layers

Above are a sampling of swatches applied with an eye shadow brush. Now, this is basically what you will see translated onto your eyelids depending on how many layers you apply. The heavy swatch looks just like a scabby wound, doesn't it? Anyone interested in this look?

On a side note, I have read reviews where when these eye shadows have been purchased and the liquid primer, which is included in the $32 price, comes half full. And the thing is, you cannot purchase Stila's Stay All Day Liquid Eye Primer separately. Just a heads up on that in case you are wanting to try this out for yourself at that hefty price tag.

Needless to say, I feel as if this is one of the biggest fails in the world of beauty. I threw it out and away because I knew I would never wear this again. I felt as if I was wearing patches of foil on my lids.

What has been your experience with this eyeshadow?



Have A Wonderful Day!

Mally Liquid Face Defender Blush, "Carnation"

I don't have very many blushes, but I do adore them and cannot complete my face of the day with out any! Yet, I need a blush that is going to last throughout my day, not one that disappears halfway through. So, I was very pleased to receive Mally's Liquid Face Defender Blush in the color, Carnation in the Black Friday goodie bag she had for sale on her website.

This blush retails here on mallybeauty.com for $30.00, but as of this post, there are only two shades available in Mimosa and Passionfruit for $22.50 each. Sorry, guys, but this color, Carnation is no longer available it looks like, but you will at least get a good idea of how the product performs.

The packaging is small, compact and easy to throw in a travel bag, because it won't take up much space at all in your beauty bag. This is very lightweight, made from thin durable plastic and I really like the convenience of the size of this product.

The formula is a cream/gel that feels unbelievably velvety and soft to the touch as it is blended out onto the skin. What I love is that this doesn't feel like you are wearing anything on the cheeks, it has such an airy feeling. There is no heaviness to this product, you won't even remember you are wearing it at all!

Whenever a beauty product comes in a squeeze tube, I get very excited, because I just have to squeeze out what I need. There is no worry of product spilling out helplessly. So once again, this is a travel friendly item you can feel free to throw in your makeup bag!

Mall Liquid Face Defender Blush, in "Carnation"

Mally Face Liquid Face Defender Blush, in "Carnation"
Heavy Swatch

Mally Liquid Face Defender Blush, in "Carnation"
Sheered Out

At first glance, the color of the blush is a deep berry that would deter most people from even attempting to apply the color without fear of appearing like a clown! But, I assure you that a little goes a long way! Apply less than a pea sized amount, blend out, and build up as necessary to your own preference. It will give you such a gorgeous flush of pink to the cheeks that I adore!

Thankfully, there is zero scent to the blush, so you won't have any florally-makeup smell permeating from your cheeks, I promise! ;)

The longevity is delightful, because I wear this and at the end of the day when I get home, I can still see the tint of color hanging on strong. So, this will last you throughout the day; no need to worry about this sliding down your face or fading away!

What also impressed me, is when I took photos of the swatches above and than wiped them off with a makeup wipe, I went to wash the remaining product that hadn't come off with the wipes with soap and water. And where I had swatched the blush, water seemed to pool and trickle around the faded swatches! So, I have a really good feeling that this could hold up to humidity and rain! Awesome!!!!

I love this blush so very much and totally would purchase more! I hope Mally keeps this product around, but worry that these may be discontinued soon because they are discounted on her website. So, my advice to you, is snatch these up while you can, because you do not want to miss out on this beautiful blush!



Have A Wonderful Day!

Beauty For Real, The Perfect Lip Pencil

There are times when a lipgloss does need a lip liner, but it needs to be the perfect lip liner to go with it, and Beauty For Real claims to have the only lip liner that you will ever need, because they say it is a true lip tone and will compliment any shade of gloss that you apply.

This retails on Beauty For Real's website for $14 and of course, comes in only one color option! But, hey, they say it is the only color everybody will ever need, remember?

Interesting... Let's see how this lives up to that heavy claim!

I like how the product comes in a box, because for me it is a special touch that makes opening the package feel like a present waiting to reveal itself.  I must say, that this particular box has a lot to say about the lip pencil inside! 

I never loved a beauty pencil that comes in the form that you need to self sharpen. It is totally a personal thing, but I passionately dread sharpening eyeliners and lip pencils, so I use them until they are flat. And still, I wait a long time before I sharpen them again... For me, it is highly annoying to sharpen a beauty product. In the stores I tend to pass by liners that need to be sharpened by hand and will spend a little extra on twist up pencils to save myself from future woes.

As for the pencil itself, it feels very light weight, and the cap itself is made of plastic and pulls off the pencil with a good tug. Happily, it is very snug and doesn't feel as if the cap will fall easily off at all. So, you can rest assured that this will stay well protected!

This is a mauve-brown neutral color that I would describe as a deep nude color. When this is worn on the lips it applies extremely neutral, and is neither too dark nor too light. It gives just the right definition to the lips while remaining natural looking! 

You can see from the lined swatches you can build up the color to make it lighter or darker depending on your preference or lip color.

This does pair beautifully with lip glosses from neutral to deeper tones, because it adds that perfect definition to the lips without leaving a harsh line.

The formula is more dry than creamy, but it does not dry out the lips. Because it is more on the dry side, it stays in place and will last longer as you wear it throughout the day. 

Honestly, is this a unique color? Is this lip pencil a one of a kind that you cannot find anywhere else? Nah... I have lip pencils that are similar in color and texture, and they are cheaper in price than this one is. So, for me this does not stand out nor does it amaze me. I can find a lip pencil pretty similar to this at the drugstore. It's not worth the $14 price tag.

Thus, I am left a little underwhelmed with this lip pencil...

What's your holy grail lip product? 

Have A Wonderful Day!