lipsticks – Karissa Talks Beauty

Hello friends!

I am of the opinion that theBalm is a pretty underrated brand in the beauty sphere! They have their popular products like the Mary-Loumanizer or their eyeshadow palettes, but everything else doesn’t seem to get quite the same hype. Today I’m sharing my review on one of their lip products; their creamy lip stain.

Color: Namaste is a deep, warm pink. It looks slightly more neutral upon application, but wears into a fuchsia throughout the day.

Finish: As the name suggests, this lip stain’s finish is definitely a cream, similar to that of a bullet lipstick but with less opacity. It’s not quite shiny like many glosses, but does hold a similar vibe to one.

Packaging: theBalm is definitely known for their cute, vintage looking packaging featuring various people, and this isn’t an exception. The tube is a matte grey plastic, with a cute sticker in it featuring a red head saying the shade name. Each shade has a different character on it, which is a nice touch.

Applicator: The applicator is your standard doefoot. I didn’t feel like the shape helped or hindered in applying this product.

Application: I found getting an even application with this color to be a bit tricky, as it’s not fully opaque. I had to be careful to not swipe back and forth too much, or I would risk pulling up the product I’d already put on my lips and making it look patchy. One layer was the best bet for getting an even application, however I still wasn’t completely happy with the evenness of it.

I also had a bit of difficulty with getting the edges of my lips, as product would want to bunch up and leave a thick line – with many other products it’s easy to fix, but with this one I had to carefully dab it away or risk a more patchy appearance. I found it easiest to press and rub my lips together to disperse excess product.

Continue reading “theBalm theBalmJour Creamy Lip Stain “Namaste” | Review” →

bullet lipstick, lip products

MAC Electric Wonder Collection Matte Lipstick “Life in Sepia” | Review

April 27, 2020October 20, 2022 Karissa

Hello friends!

Last year, MAC came out with arguably the most beautiful collection known to exist, a.k.a the Electric Wonder. With gorgeous packaging and popular, wearable shades this was sure to draw the eyes of anyone interested in traditionally feminine, “instagramable” packaging. I, of course, was no exception!

Color: Life in Sepia is a cool, mid-toned brown. On the lips, it definitely has a grey undertone – this is the kind of color that most people either love or hate. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a vampy color, but it is definitely darker than a traditional nude.

Finish: As the name suggests, this is a matte finish. Even when it goes on there is very little shine, which quickly fades into a flat appearance.

Packaging: Unsurprisingly, the packaging of this lipstick is its selling point. It is a gorgeous pink marble, with veins of metallic gold scattered throughout. The inner portion of the tube is a matte gold, along with the small bit that peeks out and the MAC printed on it. The actual shape of the tube is a traditional MAC bullet lipstick.

Applicator: The shape of the actual lipstick is basic – just like any other lipstick shape with a traditional tear drop shape and a point.

Application: Applying this lipstick was as easy as any other bullet lipstick. Even after wearing it down a bit, I didn’t have problems with getting straight lines. One thing I will point out is that this particular shade is one that shows my natural lip colors on the edges if I don’t cover them completely. That just meant I had to be a little extra careful to make sure I got all the edges otherwise you could see pink, which looked a bit strange.

One other thing that is incredibly important to point out is the strong vanilla scent that MAC lipsticks have. This one is no exception – I could smell it upon application and for about 5 minutes after.

Continue reading “MAC Electric Wonder Collection Matte Lipstick “Life in Sepia” | Review” →

bullet lipstick, lip products

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick “Fire & Ice” | Review

March 30, 2020October 20, 2022 Karissa

Hello friends!

One thing I love about really popular, classic brands like Revlon is that they’ve been around long enough to establish cult products. One such product, though less popular than another red of theirs, is Fire & Ice!

I was fortunate enough to find this color on clearance, and knew I needed to snatch it up right away!

Color: Fire & Ice is a warm red that leans a bit coral – there is a strong orange-pink undertone to it.

Finish: This lipstick is a cream finish. I’d say it would lean a bit more towards matte than lustrous like a gloss, but it’s not quite satin. Interestingly, it’s also relatively sheer.

Packaging: The packaging looks incredibly classic. The tube is a glossy black, with a clear window on the top of the cap so you can see the lipstick color when looking down at it. When you pull the lid off it’s a shiny gold with Revlon printed on it.

Applicator: This is a standard cut bullet; there’s nothing special or unique about the shape.

Application: I found application on this lipstick to be as easy as any other traditional bullet lipstick. The point is just sharp enough that you can get a crisp line relatively easily, though I imagine that the more you wear it down the harder it will be to get that even line.

One thing that I struggled with was needing to build up opacity on this particular color. I would typically swipe about three times to get the opacity level I wanted. While it would look opaque from normal talking distance, when looking up close you could definitely see the darkness of my lips poking through still.

Continue reading “Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick “Fire & Ice” | Review” →

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New at Ulta | July 15 – August 4, 2019

August 5, 2019August 4, 2019 Karissa

Hello friends!

Once again, we’re here to talk about the new beauty at Ulta that’s caught my attention! Unfortunately this is another month where there wasn’t a ton that really looked interesting to me, but we do have a lot of eyeshadow palettes and listicks!

Also super exciting – Nabla Cosmetics is now being carried at Ulta! I added a couple of products that sounded really interesting to my list from them, especially because I’ve heard so many good things about their eyeshadows.

New at Ulta Graphic

Continue reading “New at Ulta | July 15 – August 4, 2019” →

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Where Are They Now? | Makeup I Reviewed Between April and June 2019

August 2, 2019July 28, 2019 Karissa

Hello friends!

I’m back to share a roundup of where the products I reviewed this quarter have gone! I ended up testing quite a few different products, so I thought getting a quick glance at my thoughts would be beneficial to you all!

A category that I wanted to add starting this quarter is “wouldn’t repurchase”. Since I’m expanding my reviews to cover more makeup products than just lip, I thought that this was a necessary section! It’s what I would consider the “it was okay” stuff – it wasn’t so bad that I would immediately declutter it, but I wouldn’t buy it again when I run out. So, if a product is in this category you’ll probably end up seeing it in my empties posts down the road! I don’t want to waste products by getting rid of them if they aren’t perfect, but I don’t want to mislead anyone by making you think I loved the product when I didn’t!

I do also want to say that lip products are a little different than anything else on this list. I try to hold them to higher standards and I own so many that I just consider keeping them to be the other makeup equivalent to “wouldn’t repurchase”. I just have such a love affair of trying new lip products constantly that I’m not sure I would ever use one up, let alone need to buy a replacement! I do want to be clear though – if it’s staying in my collection, it’s something that I think is a good product.

Continue reading “Where Are They Now? | Makeup I Reviewed Between April and June 2019” →

lip products, liquid lipstick

BareMinerals Gen Nude Matte Liquid Lipstick “Hemp” | Review

July 12, 2019October 20, 2022 Karissa

Hello Friends!

I have a habit of buying lipsticks from Marshall’s on the regular, and I thought that this was a really beautiful color to try! When this formula first launched, I heard a lot of buzz about how nice these were, so I wanted to test it for myself!

Color: Hemp is a pale peachy nude with a pink undertone. In some lighting it looks more nude, and in others it pulled very orange; almost coral. I would still consider this a bright peach nude though!

Finish: After first being applied it has a demi-matte appearance, but it did end up drying down to a very flat matte like a traditional liquid lipstick.

Packaging: I think the packaging of this is really beautiful! It has a black cap and stripe, with a tube that fades from frosted to clear.

Applicator: The applicator of this is a long, flat and rounded tip doefoot that works well to gather enough product for application.

Continue reading “BareMinerals Gen Nude Matte Liquid Lipstick “Hemp” | Review” →

lip products, liquid lipstick

Tarte Sugar Rush Sugar Coat Velvet Liquid Lipstick “Cupcake” | Review

June 28, 2019October 20, 2022 Karissa

Hello friends!

This year, Tarte has come out with a sister brand called Sugar Rush, which appears to be for a younger audience. The prices are cheaper, and the packaging is a lot more fun and childish-looking compared to a lot of their normal products (depending on which specific collection you look at!).

Color: Cupcake is a my lips but better shade! It’s a medium mauve color with slight warm undertones that look just a touch orange on me. The color is mostly brown.

Finish: True to it’s name, the finish of this is definitely a velvety matte. It doesn’t look like a traditional matte lipstick finish, but there’s not any shine to it.

Packaging: I really love the packaging of this! The entire tube is a soft material that feels slightly NARS-ish, but the color matches the lipstick shade and product information is printed directly on it. It’s very basic otherwise, and the logo is black with that cute diamond symbol that signifies the Sugar Rush collection. The top of the lid has a golden diamond.

Continue reading “Tarte Sugar Rush Sugar Coat Velvet Liquid Lipstick “Cupcake” | Review” →

bullet lipstick, lip products

Bobbi Brown Luxe Lipstick “Brocade” | Review

March 22, 2019October 20, 2022 Karissa

Hello friends!

As you read in my Year of Lipsticks post, I’m making it a goal of mine this year to test as many lip products as I can! I’ve had this lipstick for about a year now and have always admired it, but never tried it out.

Color: Bobbi Brown’s Brocade is described as a “bright purple plum” on the Sephora website. I would describe it as a bright warm purple with a reddish magenta undertone.

Packaging: First off, the packaging is so stunning and it looks expensive. It’s a beautiful gold with black accents, and has an insignia on the top of the lid. It’s feels heavy, and looks like it would be worth the $37 price tag from the packaging alone.

Continue reading “Bobbi Brown Luxe Lipstick “Brocade” | Review” →

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5 Cult Classic Lipsticks I Haven’t Tried Yet!

November 26, 2018December 5, 2018 Karissa

Hello friends!

Black Friday and all of the other sales going on right now has inspired me to make this post, especially because I was very bad and just spent a lot of money on more makeup that I certainly don’t need (according to everyone else, at least). That means I need to pretty strict in the coming months about using the products I own before going out and purchasing even more!

Still, today I wanted to share five different lipsticks that have been talked about in the beauty community for years that I haven’t owned or tried yet!

Continue reading “5 Cult Classic Lipsticks I Haven’t Tried Yet!” →