theNotice: a beauty blog

I was chatting with my mum and sister the other day about (what else?) lipstick, and we got onto the topic of the painfully expensive ones. So, rather than the usual new-this-week spread, I thought I’d do a small feature on lipstick for this Sunday’s post.

(Because, seriously. Who pays $75 for lipstick, and don’t you think that maybe, just maybe, that’s a little bit insane?)

For me, there are the drugstore lipsticks ($5-$15, and isn’t it lovely when you accidentally fall in love with one of those formulas?), then the midrange ones ($15-$25), and finally the ones in the higher end of the spectrum: anything above $30–or, good lord, above $40. I just… I just try really, really hard not to get hooked on any of those.

It’s going surprisingly okay so far. I just have to put on my blinders when people start talking Rouge Gs and Lip Mists and look the other way. :P

What’s your price limit for lipsticks? Is it “anything goes,” or do you try to put a cap on it?

–

P.S. (And then there are all of those skinny little surprise!expensive lipsticks. You know the ones: they look just a little bit costly, but then they turn out to have a third of the usual amount of lipstick in them. Yeah, NARS Pure Matte, I’m looking at you.)

This Spring, L’Occitane introduces the limited-edition Pivoine Délicate fragrance & make-up collections. A tribute to the peony flower, the fragrance collection features top notes of citrus and white peach, heart notes of peony (from the Drôme region of France), rose, and lily of the valley, and base notes of white musks and light woods.

The fragrance collection

The fragrance side of Pivoine Délicate features an Eau de Toilette ($48/75ml), a Hand Cream enriched with shea butter, vitamin E, and peony extract ($23/75ml), a peachy Lip Gloss/Eau de Toilette Duo ($24/10ml), and a Shimmering Powder for the hair and body ($38 CAD/8ml).

Listed also in the release that I received is a 50ml Brume Tendre, but I’ve been unable to locate it online – my advice would be to check in with your local L’Occitane shop if you’re interested; it may vary by location. (The English name for the product should be the Pivoine Flora Fresh Mist.)

The makeup collection

On the makeup side of things, the Pivoine Délicate collection features two round-tin Lip Balms in Rose Pivoine and Pourpre Émouvant ($16/9ml), three Lip Glosses in Rose Pastel, Rose Fémissant, and Beige Gracieux ($18/8ml), and three Lipsticks in Brun Discret, Pivoine Délicate, and Charmant Corail ($22/4g).

Listed also in the release (but not on the English Canadian L’Occitane site) is a third Lip Balm – Pêche Subtile. We’ll just be covering two products from this launch on theNotice, though; keep an eye out for reviews of the Rose Fémissant Lip Gloss and Pivoine Délicate Lipstick (the two shades in the photographs here.)

And yes, before you ask: they really are just as pretty (if not even more lovely) in person! ;)

Keep reading! »

There is absolutely no way that anything, anything, has any right to be as gorgeously colour-coordinated as this Buxom Color Coreography Eyeshadow Palette (in Tango). I mean — neutrals! Shimmers! Mattes! Silver and burgundy! 

(A huge hat-tip to Jessica, of Beautezine, for the heads-up on these palettes.)

And an upcoming primer:

The new Buxom Stick Around Eye Primer looks pretty interesting, too. It’s not in stock online, yet, but the format has me souring the internet for reviews – all of my eye primers (or, at least, all of the ones that actually seem to work on my lids) are in doe-foot or squeeze tube packaging, so I’m curious to see how a jumbo pencil will hold up.

The ingredients

Color Choreography™ Eyeshadow Palette

Stick Around Eye Primer

Both products are free of parabens and synthetic fragrance.

The product: Burt’s Bees Refreshing Lip Balm with Pink Grapefruit

It’s not okay to eat your lip balm, Rae. It’s not okay. It’s not okay. It’s not okay.

But oh, how I want to! Burts’ (surprisingly tasteless) Refreshing Lip Balm smells incredible – completely evocative of a fresh, juicy pink grapefruit, a bit tart rather than syrupy-sweet. It would be an entirely convincing scent (save for the fact that nature rarely produces anything just this perfectly scented), and the balm itself carries absolutely no synthetic or waxy undertones.

New this April at The Bay (in Canada) and Burts’ online site, Burt’s Refreshing Lip Balm with Pink Grapefruit is 100% natural; free of petrochemicals, phtalates, and parabens. The not-tested-on-animals formula contains key ingredients of beeswax, sunflower oil, coconut oil, and pink grapefruit seed oils (rich in Vitamins C and E).

It moisturizes as well as the rest of the Burt’s Bees stick balm lineup, which is to say: it’s far from terrible, but still not enough for my super-dry lips. If you’re a fan of Burts’ Replenishing (pomegranate), Rejuvenating (acai), or Nourishing (mango) lip balms, though, then you’ll like this one, to – they’re all based on a sunflower seed & coconut oil formula.

Strangely, I find Burts’ un-tinted “fruity” balms to be less hydrating than their tinted ones - the latter tout a formula that’s mainly coconut and vegetable oil, without the sunflower seed oil.

The full ingredients 

The verdict?

Burt, my dear, you and your bees had me at “pink grapefruit.” It’s the one citrus scent that I’m a complete sucker for, whether it’s in a scrub, moisturizer, or delicious buttercream frosting, and finding it in the most recent Burt’s launch was like a Summer dream come true.

Despite not being hydrating enough for me to wear it on its own or as an intensive lip balm, I have still found myself reaching for this over the past little while. It’s alarmingly fresh, and with a price tag that’s less than a latté, you can’t really go wrong. 

So… this happened.

I’m not entirely certain when, or why, or how, but it was sitting in my “coming up” folder when I went rooting around for a look to post this Monday, and– well, that’s pretty much all I have to say here. It’s weird, and almost a complete 180 from the neutral lid looks I’ve been posting recently, but (or perhaps “so,”) I hope you like it!

Products used

The basics: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk, Smashbox Matte Eye Shadow in Smoke, Hard Candy Glamoflauge concealer in Light.

The pigments: MAC Pigments in Vanilla, Grape, and Fuschia; FaceFront Artistic Pigment in Steam.

Everything else: Annabelle Mono Eyeshadow in Lagoon, FaceFront Color Volume Blush in I Dream of Peaches, 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Mascara in Black Tea, La Bella Donna eyeliner in Black.