For those of you who don’t already follow @theNotice on Twitter: I finally, finally got a haircut! Have yet to decide how much I love it, but you’re welcome to pass judgement on my behalf…
The product: Clinique Almost Lipstick (all shades)
The story of Black Honey: Clinique tells this tale much better than I ever would, so:
“Black Honey made its debut in the US in 1971 and this deep, blackened rasin hue became an instant success. In 1989, when Black Honey was later launched as an Almost Lipstick, no one realized how quickly it would become an iconic lip colour. A precise blend of red, blue, orange and yellow pigments in a sheer base allows Black Honey to look beautiful and different on virtually every skin tone, making it a cult favourite.”
L-R: Tender Honey, Chic Honey, Luscious Honey, Lovely Honey, Shy Honey, Spicy Honey, Flirty Honey
L-R: Tender Honey, Chic Honey, Luscious Honey, Lovely Honey, Shy Honey, Spicy Honey, Flirty Honey
The formula: Like the classic Black Honey, Clinique’s range of Almost Lipsticks are best interpreted as gloss sticks, or sheer lipsticks, rather than… well, rather than lipsticks. They feel balmy going on, completely smooth and almost entirely scent-free (they do smell a bit waxy when applied, but the smell fades in a matter of minutes), and deliver wearable colour with a natural-looking finish.
The Almost Lipsticks are essentially glamorous tinted lipbalms, so they have a bit of a shine to their finish – think “fresh and hydrated,” rather than “sticky and vinyl.” All in all, while I’d like a bit more moisture out of the formula, I’m quite happy with them: they’re practically impossible to botch up (even without a mirror), and I’ve been wearing them non-stop since swatching them.
L-R: Tender Honey, Chic Honey, Luscious Honey, Lovely Honey, Shy Honey, Spicy Honey, Flirty Honey
Top to bottom: Flirty Honey, Spicy Honey, Shy Honey, Lovely Honey, Luscious Honey, Chic Honey, Tender Honey
The shades: In addition to the classic Black Honey, Clinique has added seven new shades to the Almost Lipstick line. They’re all varying degrees of “sheer,” but (ironically enough), I find all seven of the new shades more wearable than the “universal” Black Honey! For photos of each shade individually, don’t miss this post. (Fixed; two of the photos were switched earlier. Apologies!)
Black Honey (01) is a warm brown-red, one of the darkest and most pigmented Almost Lipstick shades. Tender Honey (35) is a medium nude with subtle microshimmer and just a hint of yellow-pink undertones. Chic Honey (36) is a (super-chic) berry shade; think “Black Honey for cool skintones.” Luscious Honey (37) is a sheer, juicy bright red .
Clinique Almost Lipsticks swatched heavily.
Lovely Honey (38) is a violet-berry with faint brown undertones and gold microshimmer – super pretty in the tube. Shy Honey (39) is an extremely sheer baby pink. Spicy Honey (40) is a wine red, not quite as dark as Chic Honey but somehow more sheer than Flirty Honey (which is lighter in the tube). Flirty Honey (41) is a bright fuchsia-pink.
I managed to somehow swatch Tender Honey fifth, rather than second, so I thought it best to label the swatches above directly onto the image – hope the order isn’t too confusing! There’s another small swatch set under the cut, with the correct order, if you need it.
The verdict?
As a lover of Black Honey in formula and theory (but not in shade), I’m really pleased that Clinique has built on their Almost Lipstick range. As promised, these gloss sticks ($18.00 CAD, available Feb 2012 onwards) deliver transparent, lightweight colour, and while my super-dry lips would like to see a bit more hydration from them, I’m quite impressed with the colour range & the feel of the formula.
If you were hoping for something a little more more pigmented than Clinique’s Chubby Sticks (I was, initially), then these aren’t going to cut it – but if you’re looking for sheer, scent-free, paraben-free colour, I think you’re going to like these!
More photos & swatches »
The review for the new Clinique Almost Lipsticks should be up later today (with swatches, of course, calm down!) but in the meantime, I thought I’d share photos of all eight shades up-close. Somehow, I feel like no one would appreciate twenty photos in the review itself, yeah? :P
Hope your Thursdays are off to a lovely start!
01 Black Honey
35 Tender Honey (sorry, this was mislabeled earlier as “Lovely Honey”)
36 Chic Honey
Keep reading for the rest of the shades! »
How cute is this? ;)
Clinique’s new Quickliner for Eyes Intense will be available in six shades, on counters this month, and promise non-fading, intense colour payoff with up to 12 hours of wear. (For those of you who are curious, the six shades are: Intense Black, Intense Plum, Intense Chocolate, Intense Charcoal, Intense Ivy, and Intense Midnight.)
Like the current Quickliner pencils, the Intense formula will retail for $19.50 CAD.
One more photo »
I don’t have a post ready for you because I keep researching things that I find interesting in my should-be-blogging time.
-.-
(Ahh!! If you switch out the period in that emoticon, you get the face of a tiny, adorable animal!)
(-,-)
(Maybe it’s a bear or an armadillo or something. Or a tiny sleeping earless puppy.)
Anyhow, I feel sort of bad for doing this because I did another filler post not long ago, but: here, have a pretty picture of Jasika Nicole’s face! (Source.) Fact: all pictures of Jasika Nicole’s face are pretty.
And then there’s this crazy, almost-physics-defying sofa-to-bunkbed contraption! (Here)
And, finally, something that’s at least a little bit relevant: Clinique Almost Lipsticks! (Review upcoming.)
Talk to you soon, lovelies ;) Sorry for the delays!
This round of Lipstick Bandit posts came with the challenge of the starter lipstick: your very first (for those of us who still remember what our first shade was), or a lipstick that would make a good gateway drug into a full-fledged lipstick addiction.
The lipstick I chose to feature wasn’t my very first lipstick, but it was one of the first that I really fell in love with. I hope you will, too!
The product: Lancome Color Fever lipstick in Rose Tempest
I feel a little guilty about featuring this one, seeing as it’s long since been discontinued, but, well – what can you do, right? It was “the one,” and memories don’t exactly grow on trees. (Though it would be fabulous if they did, wouldn’t it?)
Rose Tempest is an interesting shade; a rather plain-Jane my lips but better sort, but there’s something just so about it. Imagine if you crossed a yellow-based pink with an olive-brown nude, gave it a lovely satin-creme formula, and scented it lightly with rose petals and bright, juicy berries. You’d get Rose Tempest exactly; the perfect daytime lipstick, with an unexpected edge of versatility and luxury. (This would look brilliant on so many different skintones that it’s not even funny, and have you seen that tube?)
A single swipe of Rose Tempest
bare lips
One layer of Rose Tempest on lips
For a dupe, try something like Maybelline Warm Me Up or MAC Modesty. They’re not exact copies (I much prefer the Color Fever formula and scent to both, though of course it isn’t without its flaws), but the shades are almost spot-on.
The Maybelline is great if you’re on a budget, but I’m not fond of scent, and the formula feels much heavier on my lips; on the other hand, I’ve never been a huge fan of MAC lipsticks (I find most of their formulas too drying), and I prefer lip products that are lightly fruity than ones that smell like vanilla.
I don’t get a ton of wear out of Rose Tempest, because I’m rather afraid of what I’ll do when I run out, but, well. If either of these dupes are even half as lovely – you’re going to adore them.
Keep reading! »
3.1 Phillip Lim / Alexander Wang
Donna Karan
Donna Karan
DvF
Derek Lam
Derek Lam
Thakoon
Marc Jacobs / Anna Sui
all photos via {Style.com}
Jason Wu
I fell a bit in love with the gorgeous “Ming dynasty and 1940’s Hollywood” green lids at this Fall’s Jason Wu show – and, okay, that’s probably 85% because I’ve been hugely into dark green recently, but still. They were pretty! It’s admittedly not a combination that sounds like it would really work, but it totally does, right?
Head makeup artist Diane Kendal created the look using MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Tealo (lid) and MAC Eye Kohl in Minted (crease) to act as a base, then added Club and Kelly Green (pigment) on top. To finish off, she used Haute and Naughty on the lashes, Blooz Eye Kohl to the lashline, and Blacktrack to finish defining the cat-eye shape of the eye makeup. (source)
At long last – I’ve finally gotten my act together! As promised, here are full-face swatches (honestly, though, what are those called?! I hardly think they can be referred to as “swatches” at this point) of Marcelle and Garnier’s BB creams.
So, without further adieu…
Bare, freshly-cleansed skin!
Marcelle BB Cream Beauty Balm in Light to Medium
For my skintone, Marcelle’s Light to Medium was a good match – darker than I am, but not by too much. I really liked the neutral tone of the product, which did a great job of cancelling out both redness and sallowness, resulting in an overall illusion of evenness and “perfect skin.” (The satin finish is great, too, which also adds to the illusion.)
I was particularly impressed with the way it tackled my undereye circles and the redness I have in my eye area – I probably wouldn’t leave the house without concealer, just on principle, but I’d feel comfortable having forgotten to conceal if I was wearing this.
Wearing Marcelle’s BB Cream (both images)
Left: bare skin / Right: wearing Marcelle’s BB Cream
The weird little box in the left corner is a colour sampling of my skintone – the left side being bare, and the right, with BB cream. For consistency, I grabbed the colours from the same spot on my cheek in both photos. (Freckle-mapping for the win!)
As you can tell from the colour swatches, Marcelle’s BB adds depth of tone to my skin, and has a clever mix of yellow/greyish pigments to neutralize redness.
Garnier BB Cream Miracle Skin Perfector in Medium/Dark
I was less impressed with Garnier’s product, but I wanted to share photos for a very specific reason – I think it would be great as a Prtty Peaushun-like product (but, y’know, for your face.) As mentioned in the review, I was sent Medium/Dark, which really isn’t a match for me. However, it turned out to be great for faking a darker skintone, with results that are still very “real skin.”
As a BB cream in and of itself, though, I was less impressed – I found it left me overly dewy, a bit sticky, and while it did a good job of adding warmth, it failed to counteract redness.
Wearing Garnier’s BB Cream
Left: bare skin / Right: wearing Garnier’s BB Cream
A breakdown (with scribbles!) »
