My favorite lip products!

Let's revisit lip stuff! So I wrote a few months back about all my lipsticks...here. For someone who doesn't wear a lot of lipstick I had a whole heck of a lot of lipstick, but the post was already so long going through them all that I had a friend ask me to go into more detail about my fave lip products- Okay! (she's also the friend who requested my Matte eye look walk through). So here I'll walk us through my lip prep, my favorite drugstore lipsticks and my favorite/only high end lipsticks.

Lip prep is really important. I am a chapstick/lip balm junkie. I hate when my lips get dry but one of the millions of things I've learned in the last year and a half watching beauty gurus is that your lips have to be prepped and primed just like your face to get the results you want.  So here we have two lip balms, a primer and an exfoliator. The ELF Lip Exfoliator is $1 and you could make it at home, but its cheap and comes in a lipstick format so it's just easy. It's little sugar grains surrounded by a waxy balm. Rub this on your lips whenever you start to get chapped and top immediately with your most hydrating lip balm. Whenever you exfoliate anything on your body always follow it up with a good moisturizer you just lost a layer of skin and a layer of moisturizer so tim to replenish.  After I exfoliate I need something kinda thick and that will really get the moisture back in my lips quickly- the Smith's Rosebud Salve is perfect for this. It's like $6 or $8 at Sephora and lasts forever...I've never known someone to go through one of the tubes or the tub...I'm gonna try. It's basically a lip mask it's so thick, but it's amazing and it comes in a tube now so you don't have to dig into the little tub or worry about it getting stuck.  I still have two tubs that I also use, but I love my tube! Leave this one overnight preferably or at least 1/2 an hour before applying anything on over it. My favorite chapstick right now is the Lypsyl I've already gone through a full one and am half way through the ones I have at home and work. I keep one at the office too- I told you I don't like my lips to feel dry.  I put Lypsyl on the moment I wake up and usually by the time I'm done with my makeup it's set enough on my lips that I can apply my lipstick right on over it without wiping any off.  This stuff has beeswax in it and it's amazing maybe $4 at Wallgreens and lasts me probably about 3 months.  Then the little pencil I have is Milani's Anti-Feathering primer maybe $4 too and I only use this when wearing red lipstick.  I'm not a big lip liner girl but with red lipstick it's really important and this acts as a primer/anti-feathering/liner so when I need it I use it.

Next up I have my favorite drugstore lipsticks! I'm a huge fan of chubby pencil lipsticks, they're easy to use and precise and Revelon's Colorburst Matte Balms are amazing they're $9ish each but you can always get them on sale at Ulta. I have shades 250 Standout which is a great brick red that works really well with my undertones and 225 Sultry thats a great everyday nude color.  These last super well and fade somewhat gracefully, when they start to fade I usually rub some lip balm over them and extend the life a little longer but these last through water drinking but not through eating. This is not a moisturizing lip product so chapstick before is definitely needed. Then I have a NYX High Voltage $6 in 05 Flutter Kiss. I really love this formula, very long wearing and very moisturizing. I think I'll love this more nudey brown in the fall, but I love the formula and while it does transfer a little bit to wears beautifully. Another nudey brown I love is Wet 'n Wild's Bebot Love $2 and amazing. Creamy, creamy formula very moisturizing but it doesn't stay on well. I maybe get 3 hours wear time if I put it on after I drink my coffee.  Another color that will be great in the fall.  Then the last drugstore lipsticks I just love everything about are the Kate Moss Rimmel lipsticks in Matte and Satin. I have numbers 08 a beautiful natural everyday color and 104 a gorgeous everyday light pink.  These are $5 and again you can get them on sale all the time at Ulta. But these have everything going for them.  They last forever, they don't transfer and they don't dry my lips out.  The Black tubed Satin in 08 is definitely the more hydrating one than the Matte but they are both very comfortable and smell delightful. I lost of my first 08 at work and had to buy another I enjoy it so much.

For high end lipstick I only have a two brands I think, but I only like my NARS Velvet Matte and Satin Lip Pencils.  These puppies are $26 each...I got my first two in my Sephora Birthday Gift in a bright red and a shimmery nude, I love the shimmery nude but the red was too blue for me.  So I bought these two guys (on different trips) The colors are not this similar in real life, but the first one I bought is a very dark nude- Sephora calls it a Warm Coral Red it's name is Walkyrie and it's going to be gorgeous in the fall. I love it and anytime I wear it I automatically feel fancier. I got this at the end of spring and always thought it was too dark but when I tried it on in the store I just fell in love with it so a few months later I went back and got a better everyday color Bettina, a pink mauve, is literally the color of my lips. My lips have a lot of pigment in them already and this just evens out the skin tone a little better and I can wear it and not worry about it wearing off unevenly because it's my lip color. Now the formula on these is kinda dry, it's not drying but I always need a lip balm under them usually my Lypsyl and I usually reapply balm a few hours after wear.  These have a great wearing time I usually get to lunch very easily and after lunch just a quick touch up is all I need.  I can drink water and coffee easily without them wearing off.  It does hurt my heart that they're so expensive but they're worth it- as I've found with most NARS products...

So the other day I was going through my back up stash and found my favorite lipsticks every in the history of life that I thought I had lost when I wrote my makeup madness lipstick post...

Very Sexy. Yes you are. My beautiful Victoria's Secret lipsticks from 100 years ago before they were discontinued.  I have two reds. One a brick red that closely resembles my Revlon red called Don't Stop and a sparkly fire engine red called On Fire- there is glitter involved. I love these lipsticks so much, I know they're expired but I can't throw them away they still smell good! And they're sooooo pretty. So they're bonus lipsticks just for fun since you can't buy them anymore.

So that in a nutshell is my lipstick post. I am not a big lipstick person but I try, I enjoy the look but I always end up with lipstick just on the edges of my lip so I feel like I have to check up on them a lot when I wear them.  But these are the lipsticks I reach for the most out of my vast collection and if I were to repurchase any of them again it's probably be the NARS and the Revlon, I do want to get a few more shades of the NYX, but I'm on a makeup No Buy for a while because I DO NOT NEED MORE MAKEUP. I have plenty for now and I want to save up some $$$ for the holiday palettes that will come out in the fall- I love those. So for right now I'm good. 

If you have any suggestions or questions you want answered about my life with makeup let me know! I love getting asked questions it's easier than me coming up with ideas all on my own! 

Makeup Madness Part 4! Lip Products!

I didn't think I had that many lip products...

For someone who very rarely wears lipstick this was kinda shocking to go through. And there are actually 3 missing from the picture! My cat Bellatrix loves to play with lipstick and lose them all over my apartment.  I know exactly which ones are missing too and they're ones I love...so she better find them and put them back with the rest of my makeup or I'm going to be super upset.  So what we have here are 59 lip products and I am getting rid of a lot. Like more than any other Makeup Madness yet...especially since Makeup Madness 3 was a huge failure...

So the criteria I used to get rid of lipsticks and lip products was if they were expired- 2 -3 years- ewww. If they smelled I got rid of them and then if  attacked my lips or made them too dry.  So here's what I got rid of.

25 products. Oh I also got rid of colors that made my lips look dead and that I know wouldn't work for my sister either. I got rid of some glosses because I don't like lip gloss and I got rid of all the baby lips because they were all retired last year when my lips had a horrible reaction to EOS lip balms and these. Every time I would wear these or the EOS stuff my lips would puff up and look like I had lip injections- seriously not a good look for me- it was also painful.  The lip balm in the upper left I got in an Ipsy bag and can't get it open, but I remember disliking it.  The ELF moisturizing Lip Color was really disappointing, loved the formula but the poor thing is frosted! Hello 90s, not the look I'm going for.  The rest were just old so bye bye.

So like the eyeliners and jumbo pencils before them I decided to put my lip products to the swatch test...

PS Lipstick swatches are much harder to get off than eyeliner... Anyways aren't they pretty. So yes the lighting is bad but you can see I don't really stray outside of certain color familys.  What I ended up keep were a variety of terracotta/my lips but better colors, some brownie nudes and some reds.

So as you can see I kept 34 + the missing three and three I have at work. I'll break these into categories.

Lip Balms/Chapsticks- I love the plain generic Chap Stick I currently have Cake Batter (delicious) but Cherry is my favorite and I always have it on hand. I have another Cake Batter at the office.  I have two NYX Butter Balms that I'm undecided on, I may end up getting rid of these soon because i never use them but I'm going to give them a try before I make my decision.  I'm currently loving my Lypsyl I have one at home and one at work and it's a beeswax lip balm that has some good staying power. I'm almost done with one tube and will probably purchase more when it runs out. I have three rosebud salves- shoot it's missing from the picture too! I have two tubs and one squeeze tube. Thank god for the squeeze tube! I love it. It lives in my purse and I have a tub in my purse as well. Then a few assorted ones I'm not in love with but I leave them in every room of my apartment so I always have hydration for my lips if need be. I always have to have a balm or something on my lips or I'll go crazy.

I don't have a lot of lip liners because I'm lazy and don't like to line my lips.  The three I have here are all nudes one from ELF, one from Palladio and one from NYX. Nothing special about a single one, the Palladio is getting old so I am going to try to finish it up first, I want to wear more lipstick and notice a drastic difference when I wear liner...so goal.  I also have an ELF exfoliating lip scrub pictured here as well that I use infrequently. I like to have it around in case my lips do ever need scrubbing, but I usually use so much chapstick that I'm good. Another random one is my Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Chihuahua this is a gorgeous nudie brown that's a little darker than my lips, gorgeous and creamy but fades weird. I also have a baby sample of Palomino from Bite beauty, fabulous formula and it's a super hot pink...we'll see if I'm ever bold enough to wear it.

Regular Lipstick. So I don't have a lot of repeats in my regular lipstick stash. One of my missing ones is actually a pair of the Rimmel Kate Moss ones, I have the red cased one here but I have a black cased one too that I love and am heartbroken that it's missing.  I am also missing my two Victoria's Secret Very Sexy lipsticks from a hundred years ago, yes they're old and expired but I want to always have them because they're beautiful- don't judge.  So in here are most of my Red lipsticks, everything from brick red to bright hot red and then deep red burgundies. I have two beautiful brown nudes that are great for falls or when you want your lips to have that dead look that's a little special.  Two are YouTube Made me Buy it's- the NYX in Alabama and Wet N Wild's Fergie Bebot Love were YouTube recommendations and I love them. 

Jumbo and micro sticks. Man these have really piled up lately. Two months ago I had no NARS Velvet Matte lip pencils and now I have three! Two were my birthday gift from Sephora and one I bought in Walkyrie a gorgeous brick red that looks fairly natural on me...they last forever and are super easy to apply, I like them a lot. I have two Revlon Matte Balms in Elusive and Standout, these are gorgeous too and pretty hydrating. I also have a Revlon Balm stain in Honey another YouTube Made me Buy It. Then I have two L'Oreal Glossy Balms in Lovely Mocha (so pretty) and My Babydoll (which I haven't worn on my lips). I also have a coral-y color from Tarte that I haven't worn but it's a dark dark coral really pretty, but I got it in a winter kit and haven't had a chance to play with it yet, it also came with a gloss I'm willing to try. 

So that's about it. I love the jumbo stick format for lip sticks and clearly enjoy the ones that have more of a balmy texture. My biggest problem with lipstick is even if I don't wear liner after an hour or two it looks like that's all I have one. I drink coffee or water all day and so a lot of lip products rub off. I'd prefer to only have to touch up once after lunch. So I'm really picky about my lip products. This is why I usually don't wear any, but I do enjoy the way it looks so I am trying to wear them more often. So we'll see.  

These last few items are just not for me, so I'm going to see if my sister wants them. The two ELF products are a great texture but the lip balm is too thin for me and the lip color is all wrong, but looks like my sister. The Liquid Lip thing was in an Ipsy box and is fabulous, but messy. Also the color would probably look better on my sis.  Same with the Hikari lipstick I wore this once and it started off a gorgeous deep red but faded to a hot pink on me. It's a good brand so I felt bad getting rid of it so I'll see if Hail wants it. If not these will also see the trash.

I feel really good about this purge I feel like I'm really only keeping what I want/can use. So yay! I don't know what I'm going to do next but here are Blush, Bronzers & Highlighters and Eye Liners.