I’m pulling my lipsticks to review from a specific organizer, which I thought had some of my very old lip products on it and that was it. I was surprised to see this lipstick when I grabbed it! It was a purchase from around the middle of 2022, so very recent compared to other products. I found this while on one of my many trips to TJMaxx, and obviously got excited because it was a unique formula in a nude color.
Color: With a shade name like “nude”, you wouldn’t be wrong in assuming that this is a neutral color. It’s a light brown with warm, peachy undertones that inevitably looks orange when applied to my lips. Still a lovely shade!
Finish: So I was curious to see what BH meant when they said liquid lip powder for their formula, and I can confidently say I understand now! The finish is a very soft matte; instead of the dry look of a standard liquid lipstick, this has a more blurred but still matte look that was incredibly popular a few years ago.
Packaging: I think the packaging of this particular product is really unique! It’s has a cylindrical shape with a rounded bottom. The product name is printed in hot pink, as well as the brand (though a bit hidden), and the rest of the product information including shade name is on the other side.
Applicator: The applicator is in a fun little chair shape, with a pointed tip that moves down into the “seat”, which is just a spot that holds product and hugs your lips as you apply.
Another old lip product that I dug out of my stash to review is this one! I’m sure I got this through one of the many Sephora lip kits I purchased back in the day, so it’s nice to finally be knocking some of these old product reviews out.
Color: Milky Way is a super interesting color! On my hand the swatch looks like a light peach, but on my lips it has a very strong grey undertone and looks much more cool toned. I was surprised with how different it actually looked! It’s just slightly warm enough to not make me look totally dead.
Finish: This lipstick has a cream finish; it’s not super shiny like a gloss, but has more shine than a satin.
Packaging: While this is a mini, I believe the packaging with the full size was the same. It’s a shiny black plastic, with a sharp rectangular shape. The brand name is printed on the cap in black as well, and the bottom has a sticker with information.
While I can’t remember exactly where/when I got this particular lipstick, I’m so excited! MAC’s Velvet Teddy has always seemed like a color that would be perfect for me. It wasn’t too pink, and was neutral and dark enough to look good on my lips.
Color: Velvet Teddy is described as a “deep-tone beige” on the MAC website. I actually feel like the website pictures don’t look quite as accurate to real life. It looks a lot more bright and peach; if I saw this shade just from their website I would actually say it was not a good color for me, so I’m surprised.
I would say this is a mid-tone neutral peach. It definitely has a pinky peach lean to it instead of the standard neutral, but it doesn’t go straight up orange like a lot of pinks and warm nudes can. It’s a great color for people with more pigmented lips who still want to rock a pretty neutral peachy pink shade, in my opinion.
Finish: While not as matte as the retro matte line, the regular line does still have a definite matte look. There is just the tiniest bit of a satin in the swatch, but on the lips it does look flat, with no hint of a shine.
Packaging: My particular lipstick is actually a mini and not the full size, but the packaging is identical to a normal MAC lipstick, just smaller! It’s a black tube and cap with small silver glitters throughout. The cap has MAC written on it in silver, and the mechanism to twist the bullet up is silver and has MAC printed on it as well.
Applicator: With this being a mini, the shape of the bullet is just a little different, as it’s not as wide as the normal MAC lipsticks. It still has a very distinct tear drop shape and the tip of the lipstick is a point. I actually feel like with it being smaller it would make applying this easier for some people, as you don’t need to worry about it going outside of lip lines.
One of my favorite happy accidents is buying makeup from TJMaxx and finding out that it’s actually something that you can still purchase! When I pulled this out to review, I was so excited to find that it was still on bareMinerals’ website as an option to snatch up!
Unfortunately, that’s the only thing that I was really excited about after having tried this out.
Color: The BareMinerals website describes this color as a “muted mauve”. It’s definitely a my lips but better shade! It leans a bit on the pinky purple side, but is still a neutral.
Finish: With a product name that contains the words patent and lacquer, you would expect this to be shiny, and it does not disappoint! It’s got that thick, shiny look on the lips.
Packaging: The packaging is a pretty basic acrylic tube with a shiny black cap. The brand name is written on the tube with a sticker on the bottom listing the color name.
Applicator: The applicator on this is a paddle-like doefoot, with a longer, thin shape to it. I don’t know if this is normal for the product, but only one half of the paddle had fluff on it; the other side was just the plastic paddle.
Application: Unfortunately, application of this was not easy. The product is so thick and sticky that the doefoot wouldn’t want to move across my lips easily, making getting an even application as well as a decent lip line incredibly difficult. I couldn’t get into the corner of my lips nicely, and had to make a lot of touch ups after. I found that it seemed to sink into and emphasize my more prominent lip lines, but sat on top of the less obvious ones.
A few years ago I remember the Makeup Forever liquid lipsticks launching to some hype, but it died down quickly and I really haven’t heard much since. Spoiler alert, I have no idea why, because I think I’m obsessed with this formula!! Read on to find out my specific thoughts!
Color: 105 is labeled as “Rosewood” on the MUFE website, which sounds like an accurate description to me! It is a cool toned neutral with a purple undertone.
Finish: As the name states, this is a matte finish. It goes on with a bit of a cream finish but does dry down quickly.
Packaging: I have a sample size, so the packaging is a bit different, but overall the look is the same. It’s a shiny black lid with an acrylic tube that shows the color of the lip product, with the name and information printed on the side.
Applicator: The applicator is your standard doefoot, but mine is a bit fuzzy! I don’t know if that’s because it’s an older product or if it came that way, but it doesn’t really make any difference in terms of application.
Application: The formula has a kind of soft, mousse feel instead of the usual liquid. Application for this is pretty simple, as the wand works with the size of my lips perfectly. This is definitely an opaque-in-one-swipe formula, so I easily pulled the wand out of the tube and coated my lips without having to wipe off excess or dip in again.
I did have a tendency to get a little messy around the edge of my lip, so needed to do cleanup, but it was so easy to just wipe excess product away without it smearing or staining. There is a soft, sweet scent that doesn’t linger once the product is dry, and it dries quickly.
Transfer: With the formula being a more mousse, silicone texture I found that there was more transfer than there normally is with a liquid lipstick. There was lipstick left behind on my straw and my hand if I kissed it, but as the top layer of product wore off the transfer did lessen.
Fading: Despite there being more transfer than usual, I found that there wasn’t too much fading and the color did maintain itself decently well. I would definitely consider touching it up after a messy meal or just checking up on it after about half a day if you want it to remain perfect, but I was comfortable with letting it fade naturally as it remained pretty even as it went.
Comfort: This liquid lipstick is so comfortable! The formula is more mousse then liquid, which lends to it drying down without sinking straight into my lips and pulling all the moisture out. Wearing this two days in a row without putting on any sort of balm did leave my lips feeling a bit dry about 5 hours into day 2, but this is easily remedied by just taking care of your lips (shocker!).
Overall: As alluded to in the intro, I’m in love with this formula! The color is lovely, it’s super easy to apply and isn’t patchy, and lasts while still being way comfortable. This is definitely one that I’d buy full size and encourage anyone who loves a high quality liquid lipstick to do the same!
Price Point: This lipstick can be purchased for $20, but only from the Makeup Forever website. I was surprised that I couldn’t find it anywhere else, and I think that this formula might actually be discontinued in favor of their new liquid lipstick formula. I can’t say that one is better than the other since I haven’t tried the new one, but I can say that if you love the idea of a comfortable, long lasting liquid lipstick, it’s worth shopping directly from the site!
I know, there’s a lot of shocking things happening right now! First – a new review, two weeks in a row?! Second – a product that’s actually still available for purchase??! I know, wild times, but I am feeling quite the rush of motivation to keep working through my makeup collection and sharing my thoughts with you all!
Color: Caramello is described on the Stila website as a “neutral nude”. This seems somewhat accurate, but looking at it on myself I actually consider it a cool-toned peach. It looks pretty grey on me, but still has an almost peachy color to it. It’s so hard to explain, but spoiler alert: I love it!
Finish: If you guessed that the finish of this product is matte, you’d be correct! It goes on shiny but dries down in about a minute to its flat matte finish.
Packaging: The packaging of this liquid lipstick is a traditional acrylic tube, but with a satin gold cap. The Stila logo is printed on the tube along with other product information, and the bottom has a sticker with the color name.
Applicator: The doefoot for this product looks pretty standard, but is a bit longer than a normal paddle and doesn’t have any flair.
A bittersweet review – as will all of my Bite Beauty reviews be from now on! One of my favorite lipstick brands, Bite Beauty, has announced that they will no longer be producing makeup, and instead solely focusing on their Lip Labs.
There’s no Lip Labs local to me, so I’ll have to just cherish the products that I already have! The good news is that I have a large assortment of Bite Beauty products despite my lack of reviews on them – that’ll have to change!
Color: Chicory is a warm toned brown, that leans somewhat orange on my lips.
Finish: The liquified lipstick formula is exactly as it sounds. The finish is creamy like a gloss, but more opaque than a lip gloss. It really does look on the lips like a cream lipstick that was never solidified into a bullet.
Packaging: The packaging is a grey soft touch shaped like a rectangle, with an acrylic spot on the bottom of the tube where the color is exposed. There’s a sticker on the bottom and the Bite logo printed on the cap.
Applicator: The applicator looks similar to a traditional doefoot, but is longer than is typical. This particular shape works very well with the product, as it is a bit thicker.
Application: I thought the application of this product was really nice! I love the shape of the applicator, and it made it easy to apply with one quick swipe and just a bit of cleaning up on the edges because I was messy with it.
There is a citrusy scent in this product – while it’s not super strong or offensive to me, it did linger for about 10 minutes after application before dissipating.
Transfer: Unfortunately, this particular formula is definitely one that transfers a lot. It never seems to set down and so drinking or eating definitely leads to lipstick on your cup, your food, your chin, etc. However, even something as simple as accidentally touching your lips will mean that you will definitely need to wipe it off of your finger or whatever might have accidentally touched it.
There doesn’t ever seem to be a point where it stops transferring, so it can get frustrating to constantly be checking your face or hands to make sure there’s not lipstick there.
Fading: Despite the amount of transfer, I felt like the color ended up staying pretty consistent throughout the wear. Part of that could be that the shade is close to my natural lips in depth, so that hides fading pretty well. Either way, it does end up looking like the color it starts with for a while. The glossiness of it does fade with the more product that transfers off the lips.
Comfort: This formula feels pretty hydrating, but I noticed that as it continued to transfer it got a little more sticky over time. Not sticky in the sense that your lips would be stuck together or that it was stringy, but it just got a little more tacky feeling and heavier instead of weightless.
Overall: While I enjoy the color and adore Bite as a brand, this formula just wasn’t a hit for me. I like products that are no fuss, and this is definitely not one of those if you’re out and about doing things, eating, drinking, etc. I will be moving this out of my collection to allow more breathing room for the rest of my makeup.
Price Point: Even before Bite Beauty was closed, this formula has been discontinued for a while now and there’s no way of getting ahold of it. It was $24 at the time of it being available.
A few years ago, I had the not so bright idea of purchasing tons of lip kits to bolster my collection – while it’s pretty cool to have a big collection, it also means that I need to eventually work through said collection and review them all, and then decide if they’re going to stick around or move to a new home.
This is one of those products that came from a Sephora kit, and now that I’ve tried it I’m so sad I waited so long to test it out!! Spoiler alert, I really enjoy this.
Color: The Urban Decay website describes Naked as a “nude-pink cream with a pearly pink shift”. For me, when this is on my lips it does look more nude than pink, but my lips are also pigmented enough that there’s not much color payoff for me either way.
Finish: The finish of this product is quintessential “gloss” – it’s exactly what you think it would be. It’s got a sheer color payoff and a lot of shine.
Packaging: The packaging for my sample does vary quite a bit from the actual lip gloss packaging. The sample is a small, round acrylic tube with a silver cap and silver printing with the product information and brand name.
The full size product is a large, square silver tube. It has panels that are acrylic and you can see the actual product through it. The cap is also silver, and has the urban decay logo embossed in it.
Applicator: This lip gloss has a standard doefoot applicator, which I don’t feel is the best for this product. It does appear that the actual applicator for the full size is a flat paddle that holds more product, which is more beneficial to this particular formula.
Application: Application of this isn’t difficult, but does take a little more time due to the applicator. The product is kind of thick, and when dipping the wand in and then taking it out there’s only enough product to cover one lip, and I actually had to dip back in twice to cover my top lip.
There is a minty scent upon application, and for about 10 minutes after I did feel like my lips had that cooling sensation that mint will provide. It didn’t feel too intense or like I was uncomfortable and had to remove it, but if you’re especially sensitive to mint I would suggest skipping on this gloss.
Milani is one of those brands that I hear lots of positive feedback on, and of course because of that I had to try it. If you couldn’t tell, I’m a bit of a nude lipstick fiend, so my product of choice was one of their most popular nude lipstick shades!
Color: Teddy Bare is a brown, midtone nude with a slightly warm undertone. I couldn’t find any descriptors on the Ulta or Milani website so this is my best guess! It’s mostly neutral, but there does appear to be just a hint of orange in the swatch. On my lips it looks like a neutral.
Finish: The Ulta website describes this color as a satin finish, however it is definitely a cream finish. There is a lot of shine starting with the application that doesn’t go away.
Packaging: The packaging of this lipstick is a shiny gold square shape, with “Milani” printed on in a matte gold/yellow. On the opposite side is a label with the product/color name and product information. The bottom has a clear section which shows the color of the lipstick and has the number/name printed in gold as well.
The shiny gold of the packaging does a very poor job at hiding fingerprints, so if messy makeup bothers you, you’ll want to be prepared to wipe it down on the regular.
Applicator: The shape of the bullet is just the standard pointed shape, with no special embossing on the actual product.
Application: I found application of this lipstick to be very easy. It is pigmented enough to go on in one swipe, and creamy, meaning there was no tugging on my lips and it applied smoothly. The bullet is pretty thick, so I was able to get all of my lips and the edges with little issue.
The scent of this lipstick is sweet, though I’m struggling to identify exactly what it smells like (there is a distinct possibility that this is just an older product and the smell has begun to fade). I couldn’t smell it after applying at all.
Today I’m reviewing a brand that I cannot believe I’ve never reviewed before, as I love them so much – Bite Beauty! I own a large number of their products, but none of them ever made it onto the list to actually review. Well, today I get to finally share my thoughts!
It is with a sad heart that I have to share that this particular product is no longer available for purchase, so this review is just for your entertainment and my own need to review everything I own.
Color: The Sephora website describes the new formula equivalent as a mauve brown, which I feel is the perfect descriptor of this color. It’s a really nice nude on me, with enough depth that I would consider it a brown but the undertone is neutral enough that I would wear it like a nude.
Finish: The finish of this lipstick is a satin – it’s not fully matte, but there’s not quite enough shine to consider it a cream.
Packaging: Bite Beauty’s packaging is a soft touch matte grey bullet, with the cap having a “bite” taken out of it.
Applicator: With this being a bullet lipstick, the applicator is just the shape of the product itself. The shape is a standard lipstick bullet with the Bite logo embossed on it.
The image below shows the lipstick after significant use – at least 1/3 of the product has been used up.
Application: Application of this lipstick was incredibly easy. It is pigmented enough that in one swipe my lips were evenly coated in product. I’ve also used this lipstick enough to have significant wear on it, and it holds its shape very well as it’s quite firm.
There is a citrusy smell when first applying due to the ingredients, but it dissipates quickly.
Transfer: For being a bullet lipstick that isn’t a matte, the transfer on this is pretty low comparitively. That said, there is definitely movement – if you drink something, the lipstick will end up on your cup/straw, or on your food if you’re enjoying, say, a sandwich. It’s just that the amount left on things that aren’t your lips isn’t quite as bad.
Fading: Being a neutral color, the fading is always more subtle than if it were a bold. With that in mind, I am still impressed with just how evenly this lipstick fades. If not eating or drinking, it could potentially last a full 8 hours with minimal wear. If you enjoy a simple meal or just drinks, or talk a lot, you’ll want to reapply after about 4-5 hours. It did wear off almost completely after a messy meal but I didn’t feel the need to reapply at that point – I just let it fade away completely.
Comfort: I would consider this a completely neutral formula in terms of comfort – I didn’t think it was especially hydrating, but I also felt like it wasn’t drying either. The comfort level was fine at first, I’d say if it did start to feel drying it was nearing the end of the wear time (about 4 hours in).
Overall: As mentioned before, I really enjoy Bite Beauty products, and this lipstick is definitely on my love list. The formula is long lasting without drying my lips out, and I never have to worry about having an obvious ring of lipstick if I do eat or wear it for a long time. This will absolutely remain in my collection as a staple product for every day wear.
Where you can purchase: The price for Bite Beauty lipsticks is pretty high end, but as you can tell I do enjoy these a lot. Unfortunately this formula is no longer available for purchase – instead, Bite Beauty has come out with the Power Moves lipstick to replace it. The price for this new formula is $28. The good news is there is a Chai in this formula, which I assume is going to be an exact color match. No promises, though!
Karissa Talks Beauty 