theNotice: a beauty blog

The product: Physician’s Formula ”pH Matchmaker” pH Powered Lip Gloss in Light Pink

(We’re three lines in, and already this post has an overabundance of pHs. Oh dear.)

So, basically: this is the most unexpected have-to-have-it product that I’ve come across all year. Possibly in the last few years, to be frank; my expectations were low at best (er, sorry, Physician’s Formula), but the product inside knocked my socks right off.

Let’s start by talking about the packaging, shall we? Because it’s the little miscreant that set said expectations so low.

The packaging: Lots of pink, a mirror, and a light-up applicator. It’s… well, it’s a lot of things, and not one of them is up my alley. Pink? LED lighting? It all seems rather tacky, to me, and it turned me off this product in the beginning.

Admittedly, people who are less picky about their products are going to find the mirror quite handy, but I carry a mirror in my purse anyways – I’d rather ditch the bells and whistles, if it means a lighter, sleeker product. And the LED is useful, if you’re standing in a completely dark room, but if you’re standing in a completely dark room, no one can see your lipgloss anyways.

(I’ve never really understood the need for light-up beauty products in this regard.)

Swatches, ingredients, & why it’s quite possibly a Holy Grail product… »

Most ladies pull out the neutrals for their go-to look. Maybe a little flick of black liner here; a bit of a cat eye there. But, well – normal was never an option, now, was it?

For those of you still searching for an easy Holiday look, try this one. A touch of Marcelle Lux Diamond Liquid Eyeliner in Pure Gold has been my default since the summer, and not just because Marcelle and Annabelle do some seriously gorgeous glitters. Sure, a bit of glitter liner is pretty, but their formula is also easy to apply, but it’s also subtle – and it wears all day, with zero fading, smudging, or flaking, even on the oiliest of lids.

Pair with a bit of mascara, a natural lip, and fresh, satin-matte skin. I’m partial to Imju Fiberwig, a mascara that’s both tubing and fibrous – it holds a curl all day long, doesn’t flake, and wears right from 6AM to 12PM without smudging. Y’know… for those extra-long long days.

For the cheeks, I usually go with a light, cool pink – think MAC Well Dressed (what I used), NARS Mata Hari, etc. Any one of these pink pressed powder blushers would be perfect! The trick, I think, to pulling off a really simple eye look is to pair it with winter-fresh skin: that bare flush, plus a base that’s not quite matte, but not quite dewy. Marcelle’s powders are perfect for this, loose or pressed.

I typically don’t add shimmer to my skin or cheeks — the glitter’s enough to steal the show! — but if you wanted to, go with one of the gorgeous pressed powders that came out this Holiday season (rather than a creme or liquid). This would be perfect for a bit of flush and hilight.

More Pure Gold here and here, & a Lux liner review here.

More photos & products used »

Have a bit of a re-review for you today, rather than an… actual review. Of, um, new things. That we haven’t already covered to death. (Stay with me, I promise this’ll start making more sense in just a sec.) Anyhow, I’ve been wearing theBalm Stainiac more or less every other day, for the past few months, and I wanted to give it a re-review in time for this weekend’s US sales! So, um, yes.

The product: theBalm Stainiac cheek and lip stain in Prom Queen. (Which, incidentally, is phenomenal on the lips but only sort-of-okay on the cheeks.)

I fall in and out of love with lip products on a pretty frequent basis, so when I find something that I actually stick to, through multiple seasons? It’s a pretty big deal.

Prom Queen, described as a “light rosy pink,” gives just the perfect natural flush of colour to my lips. It looks rather coral in the tube, and even in the swatch, but for whatever reason – it really doesn’t read coral on my lips. The colour is very much just an intensification of my natural lip colour, and it’s by and far the most natural-looking lip product I own, both in the shade and the bare-lip finish.

theBalm Stainiac swatch: Prom Queen on dry, bare lips

With the number of stains on the market today, I guess the most important part of this review is not how is the formula? but, rather, how does the formula stack up?

In short: it stacks up well. Very, very well.

Of all the lip stains I’ve tried, be them gel or liquid or cream, this one measures up the best in all categories. There’s no flavour, scent, dryness, or stickiness in the resulting colour; it’s never a fight against the clock to get it on in time (I accredit both the formula and the the doe-foot applicator for this one); and, of course, the colour looks really natural – not overly bright, like many lip stains.

Oh. And did I mention: it barely catches on my dry bits, and fades like a watercolour? That is: it fades in the centre first, of course, but does so in a very ombré sort of manner. There’s never a hard line of demarcation, and it can bet me from breakfast to lunch without touchups, no problem.

L: theBalm Prom Queen only // R: theBalm Prom Queen + Annabelle Coralicious (seen also in: this pink lip comb)

How to apply

(or, “if you’re not doing it this way, you’re not allowed to bitch about the results!!“)

To start, I’ll 1. exfoliate my lips, making sure they’re free of any lip balm or gloss. Then, I’ll 2. carefully apply a layer of product with the doe-foot applicator. After maybe 10-20 seconds, I’ll 3. take a damp q-tip over the entire lip area. It picks up a lot of the colour, yeah, but it’s integral in 4. leaving you with an incredibly even, long-wearing wash of believable colour.

To finish the lip, 5. top with some lip balm, sheer lip stick, or gloss (petroleum-free works best to keep the colour on), and you’re good to go. (The formula isn’t stripping, but it’s like having bare lips! You’ll want something on them, for sure.)

theBalm Staniac in Prom Queen + Annabelle Volumelip gloss in Coralicious

A few last-minute notes…

Stainiac usually retails for $17US, but theBalm is doing 40% off sitewide for Black Friday. Use code BLACKFRIDAY from 9AM PST to 11:59 PST to pick up your Prom Queen for a measly $10.20. That’s practically drugstore prices, people! (Actually, in Canada, I’m pretty sure we have some drugstore lipstains that cost more than that.)

The ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Triethanolamine, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Propylene Glycol, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract, Methylparaben, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Parfum, Benzyl Alcohol. (+/- pigments and dyes)

(P.S. Check out this theBalm Stainiac review for more photos, swatches, plus my initial impressions!)

The product: Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum

Up until about a month ago, I was completely certain that the hilight of the Fall 2011 launches would be Balenciaga L’Essence, the flanker to the original Balenciaga Paris (one of my all-time favourite scents).

And then the Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum came creeping out of nowhere, like some incredibly stealthy ninja cat, and I think it’s safe to say that it blew us all away. I mean – I wasn’t even aware that the house was doing a fragrance until their videos went live, and now I can’t get it out of my head.

See? Stealthy.

The fragrance

Made to capture an elegant, austere villa in the Venetian countryside, the Bottega Veneta scent is just perfect: classic without inundating your olfactory glands with aldehydes, leathery without coming off as too masculine, and distinctive enough to make you go hmm, okay, I like that without a discordant shock of contradictions.

It features naturally-sourced Italian bergamot, Indian Jasmine Sambac, and Indonesian patchoulli at its heart, and is accented by leather, Brazilian pink peppercorns, and the suggestion of mown hay, flowers, earth, and wood.

My thoughts on the scent

Particularly in the drydown, I get a lot of peppercorn and leather from this – perfect for fall, and exactly (exactly!) what I had wanted this to be. They’re two of my favourite notes, and I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect leather for years. (The closest I’d come being Hermès Kelly Calèche, which was a bit too sharply green.) To put it simply, this is well worth the wait.

Like a luxe leather handbag, the drydown is smooth and supple, with the sillage and tenacity you’d expect from a leather-based EdP. One spritz is enough to create a sheer veil of fragrance that lasts throughout the day, and it wears just close enough to the skin: noticeable to those around you, but miles from headache-inducing. It opens with fresh bergamot and patchouli, and wears with a dry warmth – no syrupy stickiness.

For what it’s worth, if I had to pick just one scent department store fragrance to wear for the rest of, um, forever – this may well be the one.

Keep reading »

If you were hoping this post would lay your lemmings to rest, you’re out of luck – it won’t.

Instead, this review is a bit of a love story. It’s about a girl and her Clinique Lid Smoothies, and it follows them through application (smooth and irresponsibly easy), then the promised eight hours of wear (without a single crease), and then through a rain storm, a run, a nap, dinner, and desert.

Sit tight, and please keep your arms and legs within the roller coaster for the duration of the ride.

The product: Clinique Lid Smoothie Antioxidant 8-Hour Eye Color

The shade range: Alright, so first and foremost, we’re going to talk about the shades. I have just five of the twelve shades available, but I’m 98% certain that these are not going to be the next big thing – and I’m pre-emptively blaming it all on the colour range.

Like most Clinique products, these shadows are really “tame.” That is, the colours aren’t particularly daring, and they’re all on the sheer side. They can be layered, yes, but on the whole? Nothing that’s going to stop traffic, and (let’s be honest) it’s the traffic-stopping shades that usually catch the attention of the blogosphere.

{check out the swatches}

The formula: Now, this is what I think makes these shadows phenomenal. Though sheer, these Lid Smoothies wear for well over eight hours with zero smudging, fading, or creasing. They live up to their water-resistant claims and hold up perfectly in the heat, but at the same time, you don’t need elbow grease to get them off – just warm water and makeup-removing cleanser.

I can get twelve to fourteen hours (!!!) of wear out of these with minimal creasing, both on their own and with powder eyeshadow overtop. The creasing (which, weirdly enough, was way more pronounced on my left lid) didn’t appear until around the tenth hour, so these definitely get two huge thumbs-up from me.

Honestly, I can’t rave enough about these. I know they’re not going to work for everyone, but I’ve only ever found one other product (incidentally, also cream eyeshadows) that wears on my lids all day without creasing, and that’s the Ellis Faas line.

Clinique vs. Ellis Faas: If you want colour, you have to go with Ellis – their products pack a major pigment punch, and these Lid Smoothies are ridiculously sheer. However, in terms of cost, ease of use, availability, and packaging, Clinique definitely has Ellis beat!

(In case you’re looking for them, here are our review for Ellis Faas Lights and Ellis Faas Creamy Eyes.)

Bit O’ Honey used as a primer (horizontally) under powder eyeshadows (vertically) – it really picks up and locks down the colour!

Top: indirect sunlight / Bottom: flash

Packaging and application: These are being marketed as “cooling” eyeshadows, which I was worried about at first. When it comes to my sensitive eyes, “cooling” is usually code for “DANGER; look out!” The cooling’s in the packaging, though, in this case: a smooth, sleek, metal applicator. It’s something I haven’t seen before (or, really, anything like it), and so I’m giving Clinique mad props for innovation on this one ;)

The applicator does indeed feel cool in the eye area, but more importantly, it does an amazing job of blending out product - no brushes or fingers needed. You know how doe-foots are supposed to help spread products, or built-in brushes are supposed to help blend, but they never actually work? Well, this one actually works, and the metal’s not only soothing on my eyelids (great for the morning, when they’re still a little puffy!) but it spreads the product out evenly and without any tugging at all.

The verdict?

Sheer or not, I’m crazy for these Lid Smoothies. They’re easy to apply, widely available, and well-priced, but most importantly? They have incredible wear time. For a girl who’s been let down by both Urban Decay Primer Potion and Too Faced Shadow Insurance, these are a godsend!

The only flaw I can think of for these is that there aren’t any super-pigmented colour options – but I’m willing to forgive and forget. Clinique’s Lid Smoothies not only make lovely washes of colour (I’ve been hooked on Born Freesia in particular), but they function fantastically as eyeshadow primers, too, intensifying colour and wearing all day (and then some) without creasing or fading.

{more photos}