Victoria's Secret Glossy Tint Lip Sheen - Review

I am an absolute sucker for lip products.  Whenever something new comes out I always want to try it.  Problem is, I am a nude lip kind of a girl.  I have dozens and dozens of nude lipsticks and have many favorites, but rarely do I spend money on other color simply because I don't wear them.  

Several days ago I was shopping at Victoria's Secret and while waiting to pay there were several beauty products for customers to browse.  The standard beauty products are only four for $20.  As I was browsing, I saw these pretty lip tints in great colors and decided to not by four different nude products but rather buy four different shades and start mixing up my mundane lip routine a bit.

I purchased the four colors offered.  They are as shown below and can also be found on the Victorias Secret website here:
1) Knockout Red
2) Better Than Bare
3) Manic Pink
4) Boudoir Pink

I was most impressed with the pigmentation of the Knockout Red and Manic Pink.  Although these are marketed as tints, I did feel that these did provide a light stain effect to my lips and could easily last at least a couple of hours without application.  The other two more nude colors (Better Than Bare and Boudoir Pink) are the ones I would most likely wear on a day to day basis, but did not have a very long lasting effect.  I did enjoy the ability to rotate the bottom to get more product, so no messy lip sharpeners needed.  This is especially good since the formula is very creamy and moisturizing.

I did find some of the following celebrities on the Glaamspot website with makeup that looked very similar to these lip tints.  Here are some similar looks:  

Olivia Palermo with a Boudoir Pink Inspired Lip

 Jennifer Lawrence with a Manic Pink Inspired Lip

Jenna Dewan-Tatum with a Knockout Red Inspired Lip

In a nut shell, I would not refer to these as a  holy grail (HG) product, but they are very good and worth a try especially for the very reasonable price tag.

Pros:                                                                               Cons: 
Low Cost                                                                         Product doesn't wear for a very long time
Moisturizing                                                                      Limited color selection
No Pencil Sharpener Needed
Pigmented

Review: L'Oreal Colour Riche Caresse Aqua Lacquer Lipgloss

I was at my neighborhood Rite Aid and saw these pretty glosses in gold tubes and was super excited to try them.  They had three pluses right away:  pretty colors, pretty packaging and the were from L'Oreal whose makeup I tend to think is consistently above average in terms of quality.  Rite Aid was having a BOGO deal on all L'Oreal products so I picked up three of these new glosses and one of my tried and true favorite felt tip L'Oreal eyeliners.

I have to say since swatching these and trying these on once, I haven't used them any more. I am not impressed with anything regarding these glosses.  Unfortunately they are one giant disappointment.  The two things I was looking for in these glosses - pigmentation and smooth feel, they just don't have.

Let's start with pigmentation.  I love me some Carmex and if I need a slightly glossy look my natural lip color is pigmented enough where with a bit of Carmex I am good to go.  If I see a lip gloss that looks to have a pigmented color I want some color payoff.  The coral color does give a bit of a color, but the two pinks are hopeless.  They will blend right into your lips and basically be unnoticable.  See here (the color I had on is Rose On and On):

The product claims are as follows,  "Colour Riche Caresse Liquid Lip Lacquer by L'Oreal is a water based stain formula with high shine. The luminous lip color is more comparable to a traditional lipstick, although this product too is lighter weight than a traditional lipstick."

Unfortunately I found these to be nothing like a true lipstick, just a watery, slightly sticky mess that did not apply with much pigmentation or last very long at all.

In case you were curious, here are the colors I tried on:

Hopefully I will have better luck on my next set of products.  Until then...

Best Brownie Recipe

My son came home the other day and begged for brownies.  Apparently one of his classmates had a birthday and the treat they brought in was a brownie which created a craving for him.  I completely get this as I have this reaction frequently when eating something yummy so I quickly did a search on the computer for a quick, easy brownie recipe.

The search landed me on AllRecipes.com to a recipe called, "Best Brownies" which had 4.5 stars out of 4,962 reviews.  Now, I always look at reviews but I have never seen a recipe ranked so high with that many reviews.  I knew I found my recipe.  I also love that everything is on hand and you don't have to use a mixer which is always a plus as far as I am concerned.

I made the brownies, they were fantastic and one of the things I liked best about them was the frosting you put on top of them while they are still warm.  The warmth from the brownies allows the frosting to ooze into this decadent treat.  Try them, if you don't believe me trust the 4,962 reviews.

Best Brownie Recipe 
(adapted from AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients
Brownie:
1/2 cup butter
 1 cup white sugar
 2 eggs
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
 2/3 cup chocolate chips (this is my own addition)
Frosting: 
 3 tablespoons butter, softened
 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
 1 tablespoon honey
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, chocolate chips and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Makes 16 brownies

The Perfect Winged Eyeliner

Celebrities have been wearing the winged eyeliner look for some time now.  It amazes me how a line of black ink can transform a look so much.  Ah, the beauty (no pun intended) of makeup.   Below are four of my favorites eyeliners to achieve a perfect winged eyeliner look:

1. L'Oreal Lineur Intense $8.99

2. MAC Liquidlast Liner $15 

3. L'Oreal Lineur Intense Brush Tip Liquid Eyeliner $8.99 

4. Lancome Artliner Precision Point Eyeliner $30.00

Items one and three are excellent dupes for their more expensive counterparts.  Truth be told I have only purchased a couple of Lancome Artliner's, to the countless Lineur Intense Brush Tip Eyeliners and I have found them to work exactly the same.   Not surprising since L'Oreal owns Lancome.   I have to say that when it comes to liners 1 and 2, I actually prefer the more expensive MAC cosmetic version.   The wand for the MAC eyeliner is much shorter and I find it easier to control.  However, the MAC version is so tiny that it tends to run out much faster than the L'Oreal version.  The brush tip on eyeliners 1 and 2 are also so fine it works best when creating a modest winged eyeliner look.  I find this to be especially perfect for the weekends when I am looking for a more natural look. 

So...for a more dramatic look I recommend liners 3 & 4, and for a softer look, I would recommend liner 1 or 2.   All are excellent, have amazing staying power and will provide you with the exotic cat eye look. 

Celebrities from Angelina Jolie, Rihanna & Taylor Swift have rocked this timeless look.  Checkout Glaamspot.com for more awesome makeup looks. 

Glaamspot - A New Venture, A New Website

If you have followed my blog for a while you may see a slight difference in the look and soon, a bit of the content.  I still plan on blogging about my favorite recipes, however I am also going to spend a bit more time blogging about beauty, makeup and celebrity makeup for my new website, Glaamspot. 

Glaamspot is a social website where visitors can see the latest makeup looks from professionals, celebrities or just beauty junkies like myself.  Visitors can create a profile, submit pictures of their work and grow their business and/or online following.  Those that post can easily share their work via various social networks with just a click of a button and if you are just browsing the site you can also post looks to your social networks or add them to your "Makeup Chair" (our version of Favorites) so you can save the look for later.  Perhaps you love her lipstick but just aren't ready to buy it or you want to see it in person.  Maybe there is a special event and you would love to take the image to a makeup artist so she can recreate the glamorous look you saved.  Whatever the reason is, the idea behind the Makeup Chair is to easily find the favorite looks you have tagged.

I have had the best time creating the website with my husband (who truth be told,  really was the one to manage the development and features) and have learned a great deal about what it takes to create a website.  I hope you enjoy Glaamspot and stop by to take a look.  I would love to hear any comments or answer any questions you may have.

My love of baking and cooking has not gone away, so the posts including my favorite recipes will still be included - just intermixed with some beauty blogging as well.

All the best,
Catherine