Review: NYX Macaron Lippie

Hello there you lip junkies,
I have some new lipsticks to review and share with you today. On my birthday I didn't really want all that much since I already buy things out of my own pocket. This year I decided to treat myself to the new NYX Macaron Lippies. Even though I wanted a real box of Macarrrooowwns! These are in more ways better and longer lasting. These came out the month before and I had my eye on them, though I couldn't justify buying them for over 50 bucks then some added shipping fees the NYX site loves to slap on cause of Hawaii. Hate it when they say shipping is free for US then go -Oh except you Hawaii go suck on a fat one :(.
I was originally going to get just 4, but thought it was a better deal to get six since I could include them in the same shipping. (From a seller on E-bay who sells NYX cosmetics.) Could they be fake? Would I be duped? Should I even try? Well, its either do or do not there is no try. They are real, and awwwesome!

So here we go with some pics and reviews <3

List of lipsticks:
1. 11 - Coconut
2. 10 - Black Sesame
3. 08 - Earl Grey
4. 04 - Blue Velvet
5. 07 - Citron
6. 03 - Key Lime

NYX Macaron Lippies.

Photos & Reviews:

NYX Macaron Lippie in Coconut.

11 Coconut: In a nutshell this is a chalk white creamy color. This lipstick was difficult to work with even after I buffed my lips with my Lush lip scrub and set them with the Too Faced lip insurance. It caked, buckled, and creased. That being said it's not your every day or every night color, unless your in the arts, because it photographs well. You may think you'd never use a white lipstick ever, just think about all the many colors you could make up. By adding them to an everyday red or orange or pink. I'd use this particular while lipstick to mix with, yet not personally wear it on it's own.

NYX Macaron Lippie in Coconut.

NYX Macaron Lippie in Black Sesame.

10 Black Sesame: At first this reminded me of Chinchilla by Lime crime. This is a different color all on it's own. Being a lot brighter, more of a cool tone and seems like a true gray. Funny thing is, this is exactly what black sesame tofu looks like minus the tiny black specks. Hard to work with when it came to application and even later seem like a regret to get. Only because it began to clash with my skin tone. Chinchilla seems much warmer then this. Of course you could still use this as a mixing media with a different color, like a purple. So there is some use to this lipstick shade, I wouldn't recommend it if you already have Chinchilla.

NYX Macaron Lippie in Black Sesame.

NYX Macaron Lippie in Earl Grey.

08 Earl Grey: This was an fantastic surprise, the color is nothing like I've ever owned or seen. The perfect pastel blue, not too green not too blue. Sure there are probably similar lipsticks out there but this is one of a kind. The application was a little hard but not as hard as Coconut. Seems like a color that can mix with both warm and cool undertones. The gray and blue in this shade cohere so well together to make the perfect pastel macaron lip color.

NYX Macaron Lippie in Earl Grey.

NYX Macaron Lippie in Blue Velvet.

04 Blue Velvet: Woah woah woah! This is a brilliant lovely color of a lipstick. I was holding out on buying Lime crime's - No she didn't. Even though it probably could be better quality, this was the better price. They might be similar in more ways then none. This is a hot blue color with a bright flash back. Perfect if you are a raver, or go to black light parties. Its a good application and not hard to work with. Can crease a little but overall a good creamy shade. It brought out the warmness in my eyes. I liked this color a whole lot.

NYX Macaron Lippie in Blue Velvet.

NYX Macaron Lippie in Citron.

07 Citron: Yeah :/ this wasn't such a great idea. Though there were other colors that were a safe choice I decided to enter the danger zone. A yellow lipstick, these are so hard to apply and get a good consistency going. The sunlight definitely brought out the color much better then the indoor lighting or flash did. Yet just like New yolk city it was rather frustrating to get a good thing going. I couldn't see this on it's own unless you used a lip liner of the same color or a white one. It's not pastel like New yolk city, just a tad darker.

NYX Macaron Lippie in Citron.

NYX Macaron Lippie in Key Lime.

03 Key Lime: More like the zest on a key lime pie. This was a great lipstick to get a hold of cause again I own nothing like this. Being bright and not a metallic shade takes it out of the ball park for me. Warm enough for my skin and light enough not to be Gothic. The lighting for this lipstick is key, pun totally intended. Flash and sunlight bring it out to play. A fun fresh lush color to own. What more can I say.

NYX Macaron Lippie in Key Lime.

Make your own:

This is the part where I played around with the colors mixing and matching. I came up with three ombre combos, you can make your own and even mix with reds, oranges, or other lipstick to change the consistency.

NYX Macaron Lippies - Citron & Key Lime.

NYX Macaron Lippies - Black sesame & Coconut.

NYX Macaron Lippie - Earl Grey & Black Sesame.

These were a great birthday present, and even better I own them n_n. They are affordable which is nice being that most colors like this are sold at 15 or more. If you want to get in on some of the Macaron action take your time because they aren't limited edition. Swoon! So if you missed out buying one color wait till next time to get it. Hope this helps you figure out which color suits your pout. Until next time Aloha.

-Val

Ipsy September 2013 bag review

Today I have my Ipsy September 2013 bag to review for you!

Now I am aware it's October but I must stress I am in Portland and my mail is being sent to the address in Hawaii so I have to have my lovely mother Fedex my subscriptions here. Which makes them late to review so be prepared for October to be the same. Now we all ready have seen Ipsy VS Birchbox and since I canceled the Birchbox there really is no reason to keep beating a dead horse. Personally I wanted to try Birchbox because some of the things in my past Ipsy bags were just not my cup of tea. But lately after they updated the personal quiz my bags have been tremendously better.

Lets get it on~ ohhh.

List of products:
1. Full sized, Skyn iceland: Hydro cool firming eye gels.
2. Full sized, Starlooks: Kohl eye pencil - K01 Obsidian.
3. Full sized, NYX: Single shadows - ES86 Lanikai.
4. Travel sized, Elizabeth Mott: It's so b!g volumizing mascara.
5. Full sized, Cailyn: Tinded lip balm - Big apple.

Woop woop!

Skyn Iceland: Hydro cool firming eye gels.

I have been wanting to try these for a while, since Michelle Phan had them in her travel video. It seemed like something I wanted to try so yay! Now when I read the reviews from other Ipsy fans they said it has a menthol burn on it. To reduce the puffy eye, which sadly I don't really care about. In fact an odd thing is I love it when I wake up to a puffy face just not a puffy nose. But if it takes care of dark circles I am all for it! Now if you have sensitive eyes like me it might not be the best because you will tear.

Starlooks: Kohl eye pencil - K01 Obsidian.

Now I have quite a few of eye liners just sitting in a pile, but you can never have enough eyeliner. This Kohl liner isn't my first, yet it's one of the better formulas I've tried. Not to dry but creamy enough to blend. Also I like the charcoal look, because it's a great base for a smokey eye. Even though I rarely do the smokey eye.

NYX: Single shadows - ES86 Lanikai.

Great job Ipsy for reading my mind! I just can't believe I finally have ONE of these. Yes just one, this one! Because I always see these in the drugstore but I never got one. I have been wanting to try them, yet never found a reason to get one mainly because some of the colors I can dupe with. The texture is smooth and just easy to blend. I would however use a primer or a base color under this since its pretty sheer coverage. What I like about this is that it's a simmer but looks matte in indoor lighting.

Elizabeth Mott: It's so b!g volumizing mascara.

Uuuggghhh, now when it comes to mascaras I just don't really care for the ones they send me in these bags. After the pixi fiasco I changed my beauty quiz so I won't get anymore. But I guess I was too late for this one. I have read some good and bad reviews on this, but since my sister interested in trying out a new mascara I'll just give this to her. The brush doesn't look like I'd be ok with the application process. So meh. That's my spheal on it.

Cailyn: Tinded lip balm - Big apple.

This lip balm seems more like a lipstick formula to me, yet really lip balm was the original form of lipstick before the bullet so. Breaking down that knowledge for ya, I really was happy to see this in my bag and surprised even more after I used it. It's actually a nice matte lip balm and nicely pigmented. The only problem I had with this was the brush I used for the application made it patchy. Yet when I used this as a base for another matte lipstick it gave a nice bright effect. For example I used MAC's retro matte lipstick in Dangerous on the center of my lips and this as a base. It made me look aaamazing. Just fabulous.

Alright so that's my review of last month's bag. I got to say even though I didn't get somethings I wanted I still got some really great products to try and most of them are full sized products! Now even though I didn't get the Butter London polish I might get one later this year or next year. This month though, they are giving some of the subscribers Zoya fall color nail polish. Unfortunately the colors they are giving away are colors I already have AGAIN. Ughhh. I can't help it that I am ahead on the ZOYA fandom, they are an amazing company and have the best sales. Any way, this bag was good and even greater then my first one so that's saying a lot.

So here is the link for Ipsy: Ipsy.com
I would have out the discount codes for the products on here afterwards but since it's already October they probably don't work anymore.

Whether you're late in the game or ahead of the trend do it because it makes you happy.
-Val

Ipsy V.S Birchbox June2013 round two *FIGHT!*

Hey my wonderfuls! We have another V.S this month and it couldn't have come sooner. No seriously my Birchbox was being held ransom in Richmond CA again. I was waiting for it all month only to get it on the 28th so I haven't really got to test most the products to see if they are awesome. Ipsy on the other hand never gave me a tracking number and it came with in the first two weeks. I've written to Ipsy before about Richmond CA and their packaging process for Hawaii and maybe they have decided to go with a different company that doesn't go anywhere near that place. The fabulous news is they have re-opened their personal quiz so you can update it when ever you want and it has made a difference in my bags plus I seriously love the person who has been putting mine together. I don't know who you are but I like you. With out further adieu.

Back in action the classic beauty rivals are here:

In our home corner we have the explosive Ippssyyy~

Ipsy has started making their reusable bags in various color combos, prints, and even have made them better then before. I mean some come with an inseam. This packaging was no different the play of the Animal print trend with the neon is super chic, but I'm more of a snake pattern myself. Ipsy has been beating a lot of beauty subscriptions and for good reason.

List of Products:
1.) Full sized, J.cat - Sparkling cream palette.
2.) Full sized, Chella - Ivory Highlighter pencil.
3.) Full sized, NYX- Mosaic powder in Silk.
4.) Full sized, Starlooks - Lip liner in Bare.
5.) Full sized, J.cat eyelashes in EL20.

J.cat - Sparkling cream palette

I was not at all impressed or curious about this product. Glitter is pretty wild in it's self and even daring for those of use to wear it. But I have dealt with glitter creams before and I can say I don't care for them. They are messy, move around, and sometimes the glitter is too rough on the eyes. Though it is amazing that they would give us a full sized palette which is probably as much as the whole bag it's self. (Ipsy 0)

Chella - Ivory Highlighter pencil

Chella swatch.

The Chella Ivory highlighting pencil was what I was crossing my fingers for the most. I've been using a lot of matte beige cream shadows lately for my daily look. This was great to have and use, it highlighted my cupids bow perfectly and match well with my skin. The swatch is on my hand so you can't really tell. I was so happy to get this and use it mostly everyday. (Ipsy 1)

NYX- Mosaic powder in Silk

NYX mosaic powder has been a curiosity for me, I've always wanted to try it but could never talk myself into it. So glad I waited but now I'm knocking my head as to why I never went for it, because this is amazing. Blush should always have a light and dark side so you can mix it and get a different blush every time. (Ipsy 2)

Starlooks - Lip liner in Bare

Starlooks lip liners, there were three colors you could have gotten, Pretty in pink, Tangy, and Bare. I wanted Bare soooo bad, I needed to find a mauve type of nude to get this lipstick color that was limited edition years ago. It was the Illamasqua's Poison and it is dark and chic and uggh I love it. But it was way past the time I even started collecting my lipsticks. I combined it with NARS matte lip pencil in Train Bleu and it came pretty close. Needless to say I loved it! (Ipsy 3)

J.cat eyelashes in EL20

These lashed were usually not what I go for but I wore them a couple times as you can see and I like them. The glue is mostly what they wanted us to try and as much as I love the application process and the applicator. My eyes became overly sensitive and in a way were telling me that they don't like this glue. So Yay for the lashes booo for the glue. (Ipsy 3.5)



And now our former and still contending BiirchBoox~

Hmmm what can I say about Birchbox's packaging that I haven't already said before. Yet I found a good use for the boxes as storage for my cosmetics. They even stated that they were revamping the box look. Um it still seems the same to me, lets check out what they decided to hold out on us.

List of Products:
1.) Travel sized, CoolA classic cucumber spf30 moisturizer for face.
2.) Sample sized, Sukiface exfoliate foaming cleanser.
3.) Full sized, LAQA&CO Lil lip duo (Just one in a Pink fuchsia.)
4.) Sample sized, 100% pure coconut & vanilla body cream.
5.) Mini sized, Color club nail lacquer in London calling.

CoolA classic cucumber spf30 moisturizer for face

Hmm what to say about this, I haven't tried it yet and would like to. It's just the title online vamps it up a bit as to what it says on the bottle which to me is just straight sunscreen. So I pretty much got a travel sized sunscreen for 2 bucks. Riiight... but I guess when I use up my Loreal youth code daily moisturizer with spf I can open this up and give it a try. (Birchbox 0)

Sukiface exfoliate foaming cleanser

Again I have to state I never tried this yet but for this I think I might just like it. With a lemon grass sugar face scrub it might just be what I need this summer. I probably could fit two uses of this if I do a light wash but this sample size really won't give me enough to notice any change. I understand that Birchbox is mostly just sample sizes now but seriously. 2 bucks for this? (Birchbox 0)

LAQA&CO Lil lip duo (Just one in a Pink fuchsia.)

Finally we get a full sized product, of course it's a small full size product but none the less. This was interesting to get and usually I get sent the classic red lip but these guys sent me a bright fuchsia pink lipstick. It's creamy and just sits nicely on the lips. On the website it comes as a duo with a nice red. I liked this product. (Birchbox 1)

100% pure coconut & vanilla body cream

Ok seriously? What is this going to cover? Just my elbows or my knees maybe my feet? I have no idea about these, the product in full size is probably really good. I just feel like I got gypped, this is a little ridiculous for me but eh I love to collect samples of products in case I do travel then I can have more space in my makeup bag. The thing is, those samples were FREE these were 1 buck each. It also comes in green apple scent... I would have LOVED to try that instead. Maybe if these are ok on my dry spots I'll invest in the green apple scent. (Birchbox 0)

Color club nail lacquer in London calling

I was waiting for this to come in the mail, if there are things I love it's lipsticks and nail polish. At first I will admit I was expecting a full sized polish mainly because Ipsy had given every subscriber a full sized Zoya polish. If you subscribe to Birch you must know this...it's mostly small sized samples and one full sized product but it's usually a lip product. I loved this color it's just screams me and what made me think is if I did get a green apple scented sample sized lotion.. ohh yea. I like this play of pastel with neon. (Birchbox 2)


And the winner is.............

Ipsy!


Ok I mean really, this is probably just me being greedy but Ipsy gave 5 full sized items which is ridiculous for most companies. Maybe that is why Ipsy is becoming such a huge hit with everyone. I remember I used to bitch about some of the things with my co-worker. Yet some how over the span of a year Ipsy pretty much bitch slapped my face with amazing products and generosity. Even though Birchbox gave me two things I love getting Nail polish and Lipstick. Those lotions were silly and felt just plain rude. But that's how Birchbox makes their money other wise you wouldn't ever consider buying a full sized product if you already got it. Ipsy just took this fight with a straight super man punch knock out. I will keep trying Birchbox till I feel like I've had enough abuse, even though I know I deserve better.




Alright painters, whether your late in the game or ahead of the trend do it cause it makes you happy.
-Val