theNotice: a beauty blog

This year’s Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year collection has been out for a few months (since March), but I haven’t really been “feeling it” — until now, that is.

With the weather finally warming up & the sun coming out from behind the clouds, 2013′s vibrant collection of Emerald products is (finally!) in-season and on-trend. Perfect for creating a summer smokey eye, or adding just a touch of bright green, now is the perfect time to pick  up a couple bold green products to add to your summer makeup kit.

Blogger’s note: so, this post ended up at around a thousand words. Click here or scroll past all the pretty pictures for a two-sentence rundown of each product.

The product: SEPHORA + PANTONE UNIVERSE Color of the Year 2013, Emerald (assorted products)

Color Watt Highlighting Mascara

Sephora + Pantone Universe Color Watt Highlighting Mascara ($22 CAD)

Funnily enough, I thought this was the best and worst-performing product in this year’s Color of the Year collection. Dry, matte, and intensely pigmented, the Color Watt mascara really does show up green on the lashes — even short, dark, sparse lashes like my own.

There’s a lash photo of this at the end of the post, but in a nutshell: yes, it absolutely does show up, but the gorgeous green pigment is its downfall, too. It sits in tiny, dry clumps on the lashes, adding neither length nor noticeable volume, and stains for days if it touches the skin.

The stain can be avoided if you carefully remove your mascara with an oil-based or micellar remover on a cotton pad, rubbing down the lash against a halved cotton pad covering your undereye area, but it’s a hell of a hassle for a single effective-but-kitschy product.

Lightspeed Glitter Dust

Sephora + Pantone Universe Lightspeed Glitter Dust ($17 CAD)

On the polar opposite end of the spectrum is the Lightspeed Glitter Dust, which is dry, loose, and milled just large enough to stay on this side of shimmery. The green base is very sheer, and the plentiful sky blue shimmer really predominates, giving it an almost turquoise tone overall.

Like any glitter dust, this really needs a base to stick to, so be sure to have one on hand! On completely dry skin, it comes right off, but on primed or even just freshly-moisturized skin, it adheres like a charm.

L-R: Color Watt Highlighting Mascara, Lightspeed Glitter Dust, Color Cube Lid Liner Stain (x2), Color Code Prismatic Shadow, Graphic Sculpt Waterproof Jumbo Liner

Lightspeed Glitter Dust

Sephora + Pantone Universe Color Cube Lid Liner Stain ($19 CAD)

May I please introduce you to the Sephora + Pantone Universe 2013 cream of the crop? The Lid Liner Stain (which, despite its name, absolutely does not stain) is gorgeous – a well-pigmented shimmery-or-metallic emerald, it makes me think of all the best parts of the Emerald City.

The smooth, light texture of this Color Cube “stain” blends out easily as a wash of green with finely-milled shimmer, but works as a seriously stunning metallic emerald liner, too. Basically, it’s everything the Color Code Prismatic Shadow (below) hopes to someday be.

Color Cube Lid Liner Stain

Keep reading! »

The product: L’Occitane Immortelle Brightening Mist

So, I wrote a fifteen page paper earlier this week on prefrontal cortical damage and its intersection with tactical communications, mostly between the hours of eleven at night on Tuesday and two in the afternoon on Wednesday.

I’m still kind of dazed.

Despite the lack of sleep I’ve been getting this term, though, I think I’ve been presenting a pretty glowy base… but maybe my perpetually-dry skin just has me biased. Either way, L’Occitane’s limited edition facial spray has been high, high up on the list of things I’ve been loving!

What it is: Part of L’Occitane’s Immortelle Brightening range, the Brightening Mist is an alcohol-free toner & make-up setting spray. It’s enriched–of course–with floral water from the Immortelle flower, an anti-ageing “golden sun” (Helichrysum arenarium) sourced by L’Occitane from the island of Corsica.

Also formulated with Bellis Perennis (a common European species of daisy), the range is made to increase collagen production, protect against free radicals, and reduce the appearance of pigmentation marks.

The product: Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm

↳ in 01 Curviest Caramel, 02 Chunkiest Chili, 03 Mightiest Maraschino, 04 Heftiest Hibiscus, 05 Plushest Punch, 06 Roomiest Rose, 07 Broadest Berry, and 08 Grandest Grape.

Psst: before you start in on this one, have you read our Chubby Stick Intense posts with full-face swatches & shade name mockery coverage?

The formula

Now, the shades and packaging of these are super-cute (of course), but what actually has me head over heels for them is the formula.

Rich, moisturizing, and shockingly pigmented, the Intenses apply with buildable colour and settle well into the lips — I find the colour “sets” once applied, going on a little slippery but wearing with more of a satin-gloss finish (and without any colour displacement!) after 5-10 minutes.

(Ingredients behind the cut.)

The wear

I do find the formula of these varies a bit by shade, but not enough that I’d recommend some wholeheartedly and others not at all. Chunkiest Chili is a little gritty, for instance, and Grandest Grape is a little more slippery — I prefer a drier formula, which I found in Curviest Caramel, Heftiest Hibiscus, and Plushest Punch. (The latter two have much more opaque colour).

On the whole, however, the Clinique Chubby Stick Intenses last much longer than the original Chubby Sticks, starting off glossier and wearing into more of a stain, visually. I don’t find they really stain the lips, though — a bonus, if you want to be able to switch between colours through the day.

I would put the wear time of these at 3-5 hours; I can make it to five with most of these as long as I’m not eating or drinking (or talking a lot), but I prefer to touch up around the three hour mark for more even colour and added moisture.

The shades

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense swatches – hover for shade name labels

I’ve been getting the most wear out of 01 Curviest Caramel, a cream-finish natural lip shade with the perfect yellow-pink balance. It pairs well with both everyday makeup and a smokey eye (the sign of a truly great nude!) 02 Chunkiest Chili, on the other hand, gets almost no love; the the silver glitter adds a frosty finish to this understated, reddish base.

Next, 03 Mightiest Maraschino is a bright, shimmer-free red leaning more strawberry than vamp — perfect for both a lively holiday lip and a carefree summer pout. The real showstopper here, though, is 04 Heftiest Hibiscus. I hate most orange hues, but the pink-touched tangerine-hibiscus hues coming off on this one are so undeniable that I can’t help but pull it out again & again.

Clinique Chubby Stick Intenses, swatched L-R: 01 Curviest Caramel,  02 Chunkiest Chili, 03 Mightiest Maraschino, 04 Heftiest Hibiscus, 05 Plushest Punch, 06 Roomiest Rose, 07 Broadest Berry, 08 Grandest Grape

I think 05 Plushest Punch is going to fly off the shelves; a bright bold pink, it’s a vibrant shade that’s still easy to pull off, grabbing attention without verging on “obnoxious”. 06 Roomiest Rose is more subdued; darker, but still bright, it’s shot through with subtle shimmer that gives lovely depth (minus the frostiness of Chunkiest Chili).

For a much more subdued (but still very noticeable) shade, 07 Broadest Berry is the Curviest Caramel version of a lip with colour: with brownish berry undertones, it’s very wearable, but still gives a lovely, defined lip.

Finally, I found 08 Grandest Grape to be a little slippery at first (though, like the others, it does settle into the lips!), but it’s absolutely lovely — still very wearable; more of a crushed-berry stain than a theatrically purple lipstick.

Don’t miss this post for full-face & lip swatches of the Intense lineup!

The verdict?

The press materials for the Chubby Stick Intenses promise “the perfect marriage between a moisturizing lip balm and a full coverage lip colour,” and I think they absolutely deliver. Silly names aside, the shade range offers a gorgeous mix of brights with a couple great “everyday” shades to fall back on, and the formula is both intensely comfortable and high-impact.

(What, did you seriously think I was going to make it through this entire review without using the word “intense”?)

A few other things I love about these: the twist-up packaging (no product is lost to sharpening) and the scent-free, paraben-free formula.

Availability: $16 USD/$19 CAD at Clinique (US), Sephora, Nordstrom, & Clinique counters.

Additional photos, ingredients, & more »

I’m working on a Chubby Stick Intense review for tomorrow (finally!), but I just had to take a moment and say: seriously?! No one at Clinique could do better than these for names?

I say this as lovingly as possible, but as much as I adore Clinique, this is ridiculous:

• 01 Curviest Caramel
• 02 Chunkiest Chili, because that doesn’t make you think of chili that’s already been consumed
• 03 Mightiest Maraschino » this one, I love
• 04 Heftiest Hibiscus, seriously
• 05 Plushest Punch » this one, too!
• 06 Roomiest Rose
• 07 Broadest Berry when it could have been a fitting, relatable “Boldest”
• 08 Grandest Grape

I get that Clinique wanted to use big-sounding superlatives for the Intenses, but there is no excuse for Roomiest Rose. Or, for that matter, Chunkiest Chili!

Why couldn’t we have had a Cheeriest Chili? A Revival Rose? A Heidegger Hibiscus (yes, I am joking about this one, but this gorgeous shade is practically a way of being), or the aforementioned Boldest Berry? Boldest Berry, at least, should have been a no-brainer — why on earth someone would choose ”broadest” when you could go with boldest for such a gorgeous shade, I have no idea.

And for that matter, why is Oversized Orange not an Intense? It’s oversized!

If you have better names for these, come snark it up the comments!

Which names do you love, which do you hate? Can you think of any better names than these? I (and your fellow readers) would love to hear ‘em!

The product: Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm

↳ in 01 Curviest Caramel, 02 Chunkiest Chili, 03 Mightiest Maraschino, 04 Heftiest Hibiscus, 05 Plushest Punch, 06 Roomiest Rose, 07 Broadest Berry, and 08 Grandest Grape.

Clinique Chubby Sticks Intense: full product range (in numerical order)

The full review for these will be coming up next week, but I just had to slip them into the Week of Awesome — and understandably so, I think.

The new Chubby Stick Intenses pair everything I love about Chubby Sticks (comfort, packaging, and a scent-free formula) with everything I love about a great lipstick (wear time, colour, and intense pigment), and then adds some extra awesome (a gorgeous, smooth formula; colour that doesn’t move around; surprisingly great hydration.)

They’re… basically the best.

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense lip swatches

for reference

 01 Curviest Caramel / 02 Chunkiest Chili

03 Mightiest Maraschino / 04 Heftiest Hibiscus

05 Plushest Punch / 06 Roomiest Rose

07 Broadest Berry / 08 Grandest Grape

A few shades I think you’ll love

05 Plushest Punch

07 Broadest Berry

08 Grandest Grape

In the tubes & with the rest of a face

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in 01 Curviest Caramel (my favourite Intense — will be featured in a look next week!)

Keep reading »