theNotice: a beauty blog

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

The top and base note separate well, but I get a lot of bergamot and leather from this overall – perfect for fall, and exactly (exactly!) what I had wanted this to be.

Like a luxe leather handbag, the drydown is smooth and supple, with the sillage and tenacity you’d expect from a gently 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 without leaving you swimming in headache-inducing sillage. 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}

The product: Annabelle Volumelip Lip Plumping Gloss

I’ve reviewed and mentioned these many times before, but I did promise side-by-side swatches of a few of the shades – so you get to read about them yet again. Or, you know, you could always skip the text and just look at the pretty photos ;) The shades featured in this post are Cherryoké, So Sanguine, Coralicious, and Sweet Tweet. I don’t have any of the others, so I can’t feature swatches of any more – sorry! The dollops of colour on the Annabelle site are pretty accurate, though, at least for these glosses.

The Volumelip formula is one of my all-time favourites, and not just from the drugstore – they’re paraben- and scent-free, non-sticky, and come in a lovely range of colours. (Also notable: the shimmer, in the few that have it, is really finely milled, so these both look and feel really smooth). If you’re looking for something really pigmented, these aren’t the gloss to reach for, but they’re absolutely amazing if you’re looking for something with sheer to medium coverage.

For lip swatches and additional photos, please visit the reviews by shade: Cherryoké and Sweet Tweet (post includes a full review of the formula), So Sanguine, and Coralicious.

Swatches from L-R: Sweet Tweet, Coralicious, So Sanguine, Cherryoké

I’ve mentioned this a ton of times, but (while responding to comments in last week’s All About Brows post), I realized that I’ve never actually posted a photo of this little gem!

Smashbox Smoke, a discontinued matte grey eyeshadow, has been my brow product of choice for ages. The shadow itself is really lovely (smooth, soft without being crumbly, and very blendable), and the shade works well as a brow filler in combination with almost-black hair and cool undertones. I tried it for the first time out of frustration more than anything else – everything I had tested prior to this one just looked so burnt-red in EOTD shots – and haven’t looked back since!

swatched dry on unprimed skin (light/heavy)

As far as finding a dupe goes, I haven’t really looked for one yet. I can’t imagine it would be difficult to find one, though; it really is just a basic grey! Something like NYX Dark Grey or Bobbi Brown Steel should do the trick, or (if you’d rather use a product specifically designed for brows), NYX’s Black/Grey brow duo or Clinique’s Charcoaled brow powder would work, too.