The Makeup Box

Meet the Purrr-fect Barbie Pink Lip Liner.

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You guys know I love my hot pinks and bright pinks. But just awhile back, it suddenly hit me that I couldn’t find a good strong liner to match these lipsticks. 

(My unglamorous but well-loved MAC Pink Nouveau stub, above.)

Most pink lip liners on the market are either too pale, too nude, too beige, too red, too coral, or too deep. 

To illustrate it, I lined up the pink pencils I owned and swatched them all beside Pink Nouveau. No go. 

MAC Pink Nouveau swatched beside liners (R-to-L): NYX Dolly Pink (pale blue-pink), Rimmel 018 Addiction (nude-pink),  Rimmel 005 Pure (coral-pink), NYX Fuchsia (blue-based magenta), MAC Chromagraphic in Process Magenta (true fuchsia)

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After searching high and low through high- and low-end brands, I was amazed that all these companies (MAC, Make Up Store, NYX, etc,) with huge color ranges didn’t cater for this particular color tone. 

And then I found it. 

Barry M has a lip pencil called #12 Fuchsia, which I had dismissed time and time again because the color representation online was totally inaccurate, and because I associate the word “Fuchsia” with a much deeper pink.

Now let me tell you, this is not a perfect match to Pink Nouveau. But it is the closest to perfect that I have EVER found. (Cle de Peau apparently has a liner that is a 100% match but I’m not about to shell out that amount of money on a pencil to find out.)

Lip match: MAC Pink Nouveau lipstick swatched with Barry M #12 Fuchsia Lip Pencil

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Perfect Matches

If you own Pink Nouveau, you will know it’s a bright pink, but it’s not quite neon. The real perfect matches with Barry M #12 Fuchsia Lip Pencil are the more fluorescent pinks such as Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent and Barry M 62 Vibrant Pink.

So if you’re wearing it with a slightly softer shade like Pink Nouveau or Dolly Pink, make sure to fill in your lips rather than just outlining them, as you don’t want it to catch the light when a camera flashes and give you a neon ring around your mouth (tried and tested by yours truly). 

Texture wise, it’s smooth and pigmented to apply, and when you color in your lip with it, the color is not streaky or clumpy. It’s also vegan-friendly, and costs a VERY fabulous £2.99. 

I totally stocked up, and Ihighly recommend you check it out if you can!

Barry M 62 Vibrant Pink Review and Swatches: Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent Dupe!

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I’ve always considered Lime Crime’s Countessa Fluorescent the Queen of Barbie Pinks. It’s different from hot electric pinks and fuchsias like MAC’s Candy Yum Yum in that it is a truer pink (as opposed to blue-based), not as deep, and almost highlighter-bright on the lips. 

Imagine my delight when my Barry M package included one that was extremely similar in shade. 
 Meet Barry M Vibrant Pink (left) and Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent (right).
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Barry M Vibrant Pink is something of a satin finish (similar to MAC Pink Nouveau), which means it is opaque and tacky, with a muted sheen - which I love. This is my favorite texture of all MAC lipsticks because it imparts great color, lasts really long, but doesn’t feel as dry as a full matte lipstick.

Swatch comparison; Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent (left) and Barry M 62 Vibrant Pink (right)

The right side of my hand is a little more shaded, or the two swatches would look even more similar. I was quite surprised to realize the Barry M was actually more opaque and intense than the Lime Crime, which is more of a creamy Amplified finish. If you like demi-matte finishes that last a long while, get Barry M Vibrant Pink. If you want a bit more moisture, get Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent.

The other difference is also that if you want to be really picky about it, the Barry M is just a hint deeper and more cool-toned. But just worn on the lips individually, the difference is not visible at all.

Barbie Pink vs Hot Pink: Barry M Lip Paints in 62 Vibrant Pink (left) and 52 Shocking Pink (right).

Just for purposes of comparison, here is Barry M’s Vibrant Pink swatched against Barry M  Shocking Pink, the widely-acknowledged Candy Yum Yum dupe. As you can see, Vibrant Pink is more lustrous and reflective, whereas Shocking Pink is a deeper, cooler-based, more intense matte-pink. 


Do note that all the neon pinks do stain the lips, without exception. (If you’ve found any of these neon pinks that don’t stain, let me know!) I believe it’s the nature of the liquid dyes needed to get that intense highlighter-pink effect, as more subdued pinks I own, like MAC Pink Nouveau, do not do this.
 
The main drawback for this lip shade? It can make teeth look dull and yellow, so watch out there!

Barry M Vibrant Pink can be purchased internationally on Barrym.com for £4.49 each.

Warm eyes, cool lips: Wet n Wild Greed Palette with Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent lipstick

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I often wear cool eyes with warm lips, but not the reverse, so I decided to try simple, coral-toned lids with super-bright blue-pink lips.

Do note that the camera does bring out the white pigments in the lipstick and make it look paler and more pastel than it really is. It’s actually stronger and brighter.

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Step 1: Apply the matte coral-beige shade to the center of the lids, leaving the outer and inner corners empty.

Step 2: With a dark metallic grey (I used I Nuovi Dust in Titanium, but any deep grey will do), apply just to the outer corners, slanting in. Drag along the lower lash line as well.

Step 3: Apply black liquid liner to the upper lash line and end in a short flick at the outer corners. 

Step 4: Apply false lashes and/or black mascara. I’m using my trusty Ardell 120 Demi Wispies.

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Other products used:

• Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation #52
• Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat #2 (not recommending this; I’m just using it up)
• Make Up For Ever HD Powder
• NYX Silky Rose blush
• No 7 Extreme Length Mascara (definitely recommended!)
• Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent Opaque lipstick

LIME CRIME Opaque Lipsticks: Haul, Reviews, Swatches and Comparisons!

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My little turquoise package arrived, and in it were 4 shades of opaque lipsticks I’d ordered from Lime Crime. The packaging is shiny and bright mauve, with a sparkly holographic Unicorn and name stamped in. The packaging is just a little too kitschy and airy-fairy to be my kinda thing, but oh well, it’s fun.

The ones I chose were:

1. Cosmopop
2. Great Pink Planet
3. Countessa Fluorescent
4. Airborne Unicorn

I did not choose the rose-fuschia, red, bright orange, blue, lilac, or black, because I decided to go for the colors that were harder to dupe and actually wearable on weekends, if not for work/school.

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Texture: Creamy, and go on smoothly with a satin sheen, but they do contain more pigment content and less wax than most typical lipsticks. This means they

• can get slightly dryer than normal cream lipsticks over the hours
• are more opaque than most other lipsticks I’ve tried. This does not mean they are 100% opaque. You will still need to go over a couple of times to even out the color.
• break easier. My poor Cosmopop (creamsicle orange) slipped out of its box and hit the floor, so now the whole lipstick is deformed and wobbling despite my trying to heat and re-freeze. Be careful about carrying these tubes in your bag on a hot day or leaving them in the car.

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Look: I applied them 2 ways. Once really full-on, straight from the tube. Then once blotted and evened out with my finger for a sheerer matte finish. Scroll on to see! (The pictures are taken in artificial light, so in real life it may differ a little.)

1. Cosmopop full (top) and sheer (bottom)

Verdict: I love Cosmopop sheer. When applied full, it is a white-orange nude which probably belongs more at a costume party, especially if you are not uber-pale.

Applied sheer or with a finger, it’s a lovely bright-peach nude.

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2. Great Pink Planet, full (above) and matte (bottom).

Verdict: Photos are very much how they appear in real life. I really like this lipstick. The only thing is that it is very white-based, so if you have a very deep skin tone, this might look a little crazy. (But hey, if you really want that exaggerated baby pink lip, go for it!)

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3. Countessa Fluorescent, full (above) and sheer (bottom).

Verdict: Heart. This shade is an intense, fluorescent barbie pink. A bit much for work (all the photos don’t quite show how much these lipsticks pop), but definitely a fierce party lip.

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4. Airborne Unicorn, full (above) and sheer (bottom)

Verdict: Another shade I love. Blue does not show up that well in artificially-lighted photographs, so this shade is actually a little less pink and a bit more purple than it looks above. I totally don’t agree that if you have yellow or NC skin, you should wear yellow-toned shades and avoid blue-pinks, blue-reds, etc. That’s all hogwash. I’ve found that having some blue tones will contrast beautifully with your skin and make it glow.

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Swatches below (top 4) compared with other lip products I own that can give a somewhat similar - but not identical - look.

From bottom upwards: Revlon Colorburst Soft Nude lipstick, Etude House Strawberry Milk lipstick (much sheerer and a touch warmer than Great Pink Planet), The Face Shop Extreme Rouge Gloss PK102, Etude House VIP Girl #09, MAC Up the Amp).

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Pros:

• Great, fun shades
• High pigmentation (Sure it’s not 100% opaque, but lighten up. It’s still more opaque than most other brands, and it performs well enough for me.)
• Cheaper than MAC (in Asia). Here, MAC lipsticks cost upward of USD22 at current exchange rates. Lime crime is USD15.99.

Cons:

• Lipsticks are very soft and will smoosh against the sides of the tube or break off easily
• Limited shade range (but then the brand has always focused on slightly off-kilter colors that are hard to find elsewhere, and I like them for it.)
• More expensive than MAC (in the US).

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Verdict:

I really like the texture and the saturated shades, but I’m sure I won’t be wearing them on a daily basis. If you find it hard to get really bright or pale milky colors though, some of these are definitely worth collecting.

They ship world-wide for a flat rate of USD10 (at time of writing) and waiver shipping fees if you spend USD100 in an order.