Aug 23, 2013

Two by Two: A History of Comparisons on Everyday Lipstick

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As one of the lovely loyal readers of Everyday Lipstick, you’ve probably noticed that I love comparisons. I love comparing one product to another and deciding which one is better and which one might be the lucky winner of a place in my makeup drawer.

Today, I thought it would be fun to take you back through the past comparisons from Everyday Lipstick! Also, to find these more easily, there is a new category called “Product vs Product”.  There, you can easily find all of the product comparisons!

Tale of two False Lashes, comparison of Urban Decay Lashes vs Sephora brand

Comparison of Two Cheek Highlighters, comparison between Smashbox highlighter and Benefit Watts up

REN Vita Mineral vs REN Hydra Calm, I reviewed two REN day creams to find the better match for me!

LaVanila Lipscreen compared to Jack Black Lip Balm, my favorite lip balm reigns supreme, despite a comparison to a product that is three times more expensive

Between the eyes: Comparison of two eye creams, which is better: REN gel or Shiseido bio performance? Read the article to find out!

If you love the comparisons you’ve seen on Everyday Lipstick, sign up to get a short little e-mail each time we post! It’s quick, easy and won’t fill your inbox. 🙂 Enter your e-mail on the right side of the page under “Follow This Blog” and you’re set!

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May 22, 2013

Dior Sunlight: Staple product

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Out with the old, in with the new. As you can see, it was time to replace my Dior Sunlight bronzer. But instead of replacing it with a new product, I replaced it with a new compact.
New Dior Sunlight

 

I’ve featured Dior Sunlight many times before, it was on my list of products to help you get a great fake glow, it’s on my list of Everyday Products, and I’ve reviewed it and answered questions about it on Sephora.com.

Since I love my lovely Everyday Lipstick readers, I put together a little Q&A, FAQ about Dior Sunlight below. Hopefully this helps you decide if it’s the bronzer you’d like to try!

Q: How much is Dior Sunlight?

A: $55, it lasted me more than 6 months

Q: Does it have any shimmer?

A: Overall, I would say no, it doesn’t begin to come close to the level of shimmer of any of the Bobbi Brown shimmer brick bronzers or blushes, but it does have a healthy sheen to it. You certainly won’t see “sparkle” in the product or on your face.

Q: Is it a bronzer or a blush?

A: While it does have a slight pink hue to it, it’s much more of a bronzer than a blush. However, it is a great combo product if you want to cut a step out of your routine. You could use it as both!

Q: What’s the difference in color between Sunset and Sunlight?

A: A lot. Sunset is much darker. So dark that it is for extremely tan or ethic skin. Sunset is too dark for me even during the summer but Sunlight works for my medium beige skin all year. Also, Sunset has less pink it in than Sunlight.

What else do you want to know about Dior sunlight? Leave it in the comments!

 

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Feb 11, 2013

Valentine’s Day Makeup: It’s not what you think

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Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! And whether you’re celebrating Singles Awareness Day, Valentine’s Day with your long-time sweetie or a date with a newer love, it’s all about fun and romance. Of course, it’s time for me to think about makeup!

In my humble opinion, there are three keys to Valentine’s Day makeup:

1. Non-sticky lipstick

2. Glowy skin

3. Guy-friendly makeup

My husband has long-complained about sticky lipgloss. He’s just not a fan of getting a quick kiss and coming away with shiny lips and a nice shade of whatever I was wearing. And who can blame him! He even got me a Sephora giftcard for Christmas and gave it to me under the sole condition that I use it for only non-sticky lip products. 🙂

So on Valentine’s Day, it’s more important than ever to make your makeup a little easier on your man. I see women go wrong all the time on holidays with more makeup. More eyeshadow, more blush, more lipstick. That’s not necessarily the direction you want to go. “More” doesn’t equal dressed up.

Here’s my Valentine’s Day makeup kit:

1. Smashbox highlighting pen in either Gold or Pearl, depending on your look and skin tone

2. NARS matte lipstick (the most non-sticky lipstick I’ve ever tried)

3. An extra swipe or two of Dior Extase mascara

4. And, because it is a sexy holiday, Yves St. Laurent eye palette that does my favorite smokey eye.

Smokey eye + golden glow from the Smashbox = total winner.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Nov 27, 2012

Road Test: Eye Primers

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In my recent Sephora purchase, I bought the NARS Smudge-proof Eye Shadow Base. It was a test to see if I could replace my Bareminerals Brightening cream eye shadow primer. I was looking for something faster to apply because, honestly, the Bareminerals cream is slightly time-consuming to put on and periodically I end up squeezing WAY too much out of the bottle and therefore wasting some of my $18 eye primer.

First, these primers are completely opposite and both great in their own regard. One is more of a true primer (NARS) and one is more of a pre-eyeshadow cream (Bareminerals). The Bareminerals has a pinkish sheen to it, as you can see on the left in the picture below. The NARS Smudge-proof Eyeshadow Base is on the right.

Here they are with a little bit of smearing. The NARS would be completely clear if rubbed just a tiny bit more but even when blended, Bareminerals keeps a pearly sheen.

So here’s the down and dirty of the review:

Price: NARS is $24, Bareminerals is $18

Application: NARS wins. It’s faster to apply due to the wand and it can’t be wasted by over-squirting like Bareminerals.

Crease after long wear: They are very close, but I’d say NARS wins by a slight margin. There was absolutely zero crease after 10-12 hours where with Bareminerals, there would be a slight line.

Ability to work with all shadows: Bareminerals wins. Because it’s creamy and doesn’t dry as matte, Bareminerals works better with both cream and powder shadows. Pressed powder was a little dry when applying on top of the NARS.

Which one will I keep for everyday use? NARS. I like how it doesn’t have any color but I will still continue to use Bareminerals when I don’t have time for a layer of shadow or I want the pearl undertones. But overall, NARS is my new everyday product!

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Nov 15, 2012

Road Test: Makeup Sponges

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As you’ll notice in this photo, I got my box from Sephora! Woohoo! There are two everyday products in here, the Jack Black balm (it’s sold out on Sephora, go here to get it fast from Beauty.com!) and the Brown Sugar body spray, and two new products I’m going to try and review! The first of the newbies is a package of makeup sponges.

Here’s a picture of my Sephora brand make up sponge next to the Laura Mercier contoured makeup sponge. Pretty big difference, right? The Laura sponge is bigger, thicker and much more pourous. A four-pack of the contoured sponges is $15 and a two-pack of the Sephora sponges is $6.

Now if you’re applying liquid foundation with a sponge correctly (there will be a future post on this!) you know to wet the sponge and squeeze out excess water and then use it to apply foundation. Otherwise, the sponge will absorb your expensive foundation and you’ll go through it twice as fast. Plus, the moisture helps apply foundation more evenly. This trick is 10 times more important with the Laura Mercier sponge. It really absorbs foundation otherwise because the pores on this sponge are much bigger than the pores on the white Sephora sponge.

I loved the shape and the larger size of the contoured sponges. It was a faster foundation application than usual with very even coverage. It will be under scrutiny for a few more days before earning a permanent spot in my makeup drawer, but so far so good! In the near term, I could see it replacing the smaller more foamy (instead of spongy) Sephora sponges.

What do you use to apply foundation? I’d love to know! Leave it in the comments.

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