Luminous Lips-- Christina

Christina here!  This is a review of all of my favorite lipstick brands and shades that I have experimented with over the past year or so.  I've gotten into lipsticks recently because I'm finding that they are less maintenance and upkeep when wearing them.  They're not slick and sticky like glosses, but are more controllable.  You can control the darkness/lightness of the color based upon your application.

Most of these colors I usually wear at night because they are pretty vibrant, so I feel more comfortable wearing them that time of day.  I also like to layer them with a sheer balm or gloss to give it some extra shine.

This is a medium pink color with some sparkle.  It has a slight lemony scent.  This brand stays pretty moist and creamy without that chalky/dry feeling.

This balm has a minty scent.  Its very easy to apply and is long-wearing.  Even after the balm has been removed, my lips are slightly stained.  

I really like this line of L'Oreal balms-- this is my second one.  They are very wearable, sheer and glossy.  I layered this with the nude gloss stick because I still wanted the nude color, but I find the gloss sticks to be a little dry, so I added some moisture.

This gloss stick is also layered with the L'Oreal balm for the same reasons.  I love the bright pink color!

I love this color for the summer!  I bought it when I had red hair and found that it really popped at night.  I have some photographs of myself wearing this color, and I always get compliments on how pretty my lips look.  Its more purple in person and has a light vanilla scent.

This Maybelline lipstick is also a repeat purchase.  In the tube it looks very sparkly and frosty, but once on your lips it becomes pretty nude and pretty.  I layered it with the L'Oreal balm afterwards to add some glossy moisture.

Most of these products you can find at your local drugstore (Maybelline, L'Oreal, Rimmel).  The Pur Lip Gloss Sticks were purchased at Peebles department store around Christmas time, so you may still be able to find them in stores.

Balm Stains

For my first post, I thought I would review something that has recently caught my eye. Now, I'm sure everyone is familiar with Clinique's Chubby Sticks, maybe even Tarte's LipSurgence balm stains. They have caught on quite quickly, due to their ease of use awesome color payoff, and moisture! Traditional stains, in a felt tip pen form have been popular for quite some time. Us girls who favor stains know how dry they are.

I have tried the Clinique version and was not that in love with it, it was moisturizing but I actually like some scent to my balms (especially with names like mega melon)and Clinique is scent free. I have never actually tried the Tarte one. I was not a fan of the prices of these stains either, the Clinique one retailing at $16; the Tarte $15. I thought all was lost, and I sort of gave up on balm stains.


And then...dun dun duuun!

 Enter Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain (quite a mouthful, yes.) The company recently came out with their own line of balm stains, and OMG, are they amazing. And at only $8.99 they are a serious steal. Last week, I picked up one in Crush, a beautiful deep plum shade.

It looks different on my lips, which is a good thing in my mind. The shade on my lips is a deep, vampy red, with a plum tone to it. The balm has a wonderful minty scent and taste, and is cooling on the lips. I am sure this might be something that is not attractive to some people, but I love it. There are so many great shades to choose from, I am sure that anyone can find one that they love. The lighter shades are sheerer, while the darker ones go on quite opaque. The stain lasts a decent amount of time if you don't eat anything, less time if you do. If you come across one you like, pick it up. You won't be missing out.