The Makeup Box

A “Jelly Lip” Summer: Layering Lipstick over a Gloss Base

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I seldom apply gloss over lipstick because I find it makes everything thick and heavy feeling, and causes lipstick to smudge, fade, and wear away unevenly. On its own, Gloss usually has so little color that one shade looks like any other.

So I do the jelly lip.

This isn’t some amazing trick obviously. I just apply lipstick on top of a gloss base to just add some pigmentation without taking away the sheen and “jello-like” translucence. You also get the lightweight feel of a gloss with slightly better lasting power.

This is another quick way to stretch those bright lipsticks that you don’t quite dare to wear out!

Some favorite combinations are above. Try a:

• neon pink over a transparent pink gloss
• a soft blush-pink over a nude gloss
• a coral over an orange gloss
• a deep wine over a beige gloss (below)

And it’s not hard to maintain. A couple of hours in, if you need to touch up some shine, just apply more gloss. You don’t need to touch up with a slick of lipstick until after you eat or drink something.

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P.S. Lip Care

Someone sent me a message asking about lip care and how I keep my lips smooth and line-free. Well I don’t naturally have many visible grooves or deep lines in my lip so I can’t give any advise about it. But grooved lips are beautiful; look at Angelina Jolie. Don’t worry about what’s naturally yours (grooved, lined or not) and just keep them in the best state they can be. This means not flaky, cracked or chapped.

Mine do get flaky and chapped actually. Usually after I try on a new product and develop a sensitivity to it. You don’t see them cos I obviously don’t do any lip-related posts on those days when my lips are extremely sore!

[Requested] 5 Favorite: Neutral Shadows, Liners, and Mascaras

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Now my favorites do change ALL the time, so I didn’t want to list items that are “current favorites” until they really stand the test of time.

Here are things I’ve used mostly for years, and prefer over alternatives for various reasons.

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The Purple “V-liner” Look: Simple Work/School-friendly Makeup (Wearable for Girls with Glasses!)

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When you wear glasses, it tends to hide most of your eye makeup but the bonus is that you get to wear stronger colors than most people do.

This is a fun and straightforward liner look that works for most eye shapes, because it extends into the socket-line. It’s not going to look like too much straight-on if you wear glasses but from the side and every time you blink, there’s a surprising stroke of color that will show up.

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Beautiful New L’oreal Colour Riche Shades for Spring/Summer!

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L’oreal’s Colour Riche range has always had a great creamy and pigmented texture, but it hasn’t really been synonymous with fashion-forward colors.

They did try a couple of years ago but didn’t quite succeed in delivering on the beautiful shades promised in photo-enhanced publicity images. Most of the shades stained the lips badly, were a lot duller and nowhere near as bright as the ads showed, and contained weird chunky glitter that did nothing but feel odd on the lips.

I was VERY happy to see the new range, but these don’t seem to be available at every counter yet and I’m hoping it’s not an Asia-exclusive because these babies are GORGEOUS.

Meet the 3 that I totally recommend:

• Wild Tango (acidic coral with a slight pink undertone)
• Touch of Amaranth (gorgeous reddened fuchsia)
• Pink Retro (true medium pastel pink)

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L’oreal Color Riche Le Nail Art Trial and Review (Using 006 Python)

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Product Claims:

These are the typical stick on nail strips that L’oreal claims will last up to 10 days. The package also says “zero drying time, zero mistakes, zero remover needed”.

You get 18 stickers in a variety of sizes so you SHOULD be able to find a size for all your nails unless they happen to be extremely large or small.

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L’oreal 2012 Miss Candy Collection Top Picks - Infallible Shadows in Innocent Turquoise and Sassy Marshmallows

L’oreal’s new Summer collection is out in drugstores and after hemming and hawing over the colors, here are my recommendations.

L’oreal Infallible Shadows in 031 Innocent Turquoise and 032 Sassy Marshmallow. These are the 2 out of 3 shades that I find to be more “worth the dollar”. (P.S. I’m not a huge fan of glosses that aren’t intensely pigmented, so I didn’t pick any of those up.)

The swatches of the 2 shadows are as above; Sassy Marshmallow (left) and Innocent Turquoise (right). 

Sassy Marshmallow looks like a straight-silver here but it’s a little more dimensional than that in real life. It’s an icy blue-toned platinum with subtle specks of turquoise and pink. It might not look like it, but this is the most unique shade of the 3, and I recommend you check it out if you can. This shade can be worn translucent (the vari-colored flecks will show up more) or packed on strong.

The second shade, Innocent Turquoise is more of a straight-up bright, shimmery Turquoise. Despite the white and yellow flecks, this just pulls a pure turquoise, unlike Sassy Marshmallow. The beauty is in the fact that this is a true, intense aqua.

Recommended only if you’re on the market for just such a shade and don’t have anything equivalent.