Bright Lips for Summer

There are so many beautiful blossoms out right now, as spring turns into summer. The trees and gardens are bursting with flowers in all kinds of colours. Beauty too - spring and summer always means bright lip colours. 

I thought I'd go through my lip collection and give you some inspiration for lipstick and glosses that will give you that bright pop of colour and take you through the warmer months.

Most of my lipsticks are featured here. Bright lip colours are a staple of my beauty look. There are only a handful I didn't swatch because they're neutrals or nudes. 

L-R: MAC Relentlessly Red lipstick (matte)
MAC Force of Love lipstick (matte)
MAC Made With Love lipstick (lustre)
MAC Costa Chic lipstick (frost)
MAC Love Goddess lipstick (satin).

I think I might have a problem. The first step is admitting it, right?

So how do you wear bright lips in the summertime?

Bright lips are an easy way to wear colour. In summer, makeup needs to look and feel lighter, so switch from a foundation to a tinted moisturizer or a BB cream, and use a cream or liquid blush. Go lighter on the eyes and use a primer to keep your eyeshadow from melting. Use water-resistant mascara. Keep everything other than your lip colour soft and neutral.

L-R: MAC Catharina lipstick (cream)
Lush Liquid Lipstick in Believe
NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Mexican Rose
OCC Lip Tar in Queen
OCC Lip Tar in Anime

So what lip colour should you wear?

It depends on your skintone what colours will give you the bright lip look. You can find bright lip colours in orange, coral, pink, red and purple and combinations of all kinds. Or if you're feeling adventurous, go with blue or green or yellow! Knowing your skin's undertone is the best place to start. You're either cool, warm, neutral or olive. Here's how to determine what your undertone is. My undertone is cool, so cooler colours look best on me. 

L-R: OCC Stained Gloss in Meta
OCC Stained Gloss in Jealous
OCC Lip Tar in Vintage
MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Red Dwarf
MAC Lipstick in Prepare for Pleasure (cremesheen)
MAC Lipstick in Absolute Power (matte)

If you are a bit shy about wearing a bright lip, brightly coloured lip glosses can give a pop of colour with far less drama than a lipstick or a lip tar. A bright lip colour brings light to your face.

L-R: OCC Lip Tar in Grandma
OCC Lip Tar in Trollop
Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Crush
MAC Plushglass in Plus Luxe
MAC Lip Glass in Aleydis
Bare Minerals Lip Gloss in Birthday Cake
Make Up For Ever Super Lipgloss #21 

I hope this has helped you get inspired! Wearing a bright lip colour makes you feel just as colourful and lively as the summer weather. Try it tomorrow!

C.

NARS Final Cut Collection: Final Cut Blush Review and Swatches

Continuing with my NARS Final Cut collection blush review I have Final Cut for you today (LE, $33.00 CA). NARS Final Cut collection is exclusive to Holt Renfrew (in Canada) and Nordstrom (in the US.) Photos and swatches in natural light on NC 35 skin.

NARS Final Cut Blush in Final Cut

Final Cut - Is described by NARS as a "peach coral". Final Cut is a medium toned coral that leans on the orange side. It has a matte finish and like it's sister blushes, good pigmentation and a smooth, powdery texture. Final Cut pulls more orange on my yellow toned skin, but not in an overly yellow way. It has an underlying beige base which keeps it from being too orange.

Grade: A

J

Links to reviews of the other NARS Final Cut blushes:

• Sex Fantasy Blush
• Love Blush
• New Attitude Blush

Pari Beauty Mineral Highlighter Bronzer Duo: Review and Swatches

Pari Beauty recently sent us some of the 2013 Summer Collection. One of the items they have come out with is their Mineral Highlighter Bronzer Duo. 

Here's what the Pari website has to say about the Mineral Highlighter Bronzer Duo:

This mineral highlighter bronzer duo combines a soft and silky bronzer colour with a hot, fresh and luminous highlighter. The silky-soft bronzer glides effortlessly onto the skin and provides skin conditioning, long wear and anti-oxidant properties. The soft and luxurious highlighter provides a satin smooth finish and is designed to be worn by all skin types. It also provides skin conditioning and give a flawless look with long wear. 

The packaging has a kaleidoscope quality to it, hence the rainbow effect that comes across in the photos. 

Photos of the compact.

The compact is on the thinner side and comes with a mirror inside. No applicator is included.

The Mineral Highlighter Bronzer Duo comes in only one shade, but inside there are two colourss in the compact. A creamy warm champagne shade and a deeper copper-gold shade. 

Both shades are highly frosted. I wouldn't use either of these compact as a bronzer since they're so highly shimmery, but they definitely work as highlighters. Bronzers should be matte or with little shimmer to look natural, which is how your skin would look if naturally tanned - not sparkly. 

Here they are swatched on the back of my hand (NW15 skintone). The darker shade is VERY orange and eeeek, this isn't an easy shade for most of us to wear. It'd work as an eyeshadow colour or on the lips, but it's not a very natural colour for the skin. The lighter shade is pretty - a gold-pink shimmer that makes an easy shade to wear for many skintones. 

Texture-wise, these are both fairly heavily pigmented and frosty. Blended down, they're wearable but definitely for evening, not for daytime. It feels light on the skin and is easy to blend. They're pretty colours, but the orange-gold is just not natural-looking. Bronzer mimics the sun's effect on the skin and Oompa-Loompa tans are not natural-looking. Just say no to orange tans!

I like the idea of a duo bronzer, since you can blend the two shades for multiple colour options, or use just one, depending on what effect you want. This is best applied with a brush, or with your fingers in a pinch.

To sum up: the lighter shade works fairly well as a highlighter, but the darker shade is not wearable.

This duo would suit medium to medium-dark skintones best. 

The Mineral Highlighter Bronzer Duo costs $24 and is available on the Pari Beauty website, as well as at Sears stores in Canada. 

Grade: C 

Catherine

MAC All About Orange Preview and Photos

Orange. Its vibrant energy and modern edge ignites fashion and beauty big time in Korea, Asia and the world. It's on of the new global super shades that pops with sizzle and cool sophistication. MAC love a colour with international impact and has translated the trend into a makeup collection for face, lips and nails. From nail lacquer in Sweet Pop to sizzling Tangerine Dream lipstick - it's an homage to orange.

Available online May 30, 2013.

Available in stores June 6, 2013 through July 22, 2013.

Cremesheen Glass in Double Happiness
Frosted light nude (cremesheen)
$23 CDN/$20 US

Cremesheen Glass in Imperial Light
Frosted light peach (cremesheen)
$23 CDN/$20 US

Cremesheen Glass in Rising Sun
Frosted bright orange
$23 CDN/$20 US

Eyeshadow x 4 in Rainy Season
Arctic Grey - Frosted mid-tone gray (lustre)
Courtly Grey - Matte cool gray (matte)
Typographic - Asphalt black (matte)
Rainy Season - Light warm gray frost (satin)
$47.50 CDN/$40 US

Lipstick in Flamingo
Light milky bright coral (lustre)
$18 CDN/$15 US

Lipstick in Neon Orange
Bright clean orange (amplified)
$18 CDN/$15 US

Lipstick in Razzledazzler
Light cream peach (lustre)

Lipstick in Sushi Kiss
Mid-tone coral cream (lustre)
$18 CDN/$15 US

Lipstick in Sweet & Sour
Soft peach cream (cremesheen)
$18 CDN/$15 US

Lipstick in Tangerine Dream
Warm orange cream (lustre)
$18 CDN/$15 US

Lipstick in Tart & Trendy
Bright neutral orange cream (lustre)
$18 CDN/$15 US

Nail Lacquer in Sweet Pop
Peach cream (cream)
$19 CDN/$16 US

Nail Lacquer in Feistaware
Mid-tone orange coral (cream)
$19 CDN/$16 US

Nail Lacquer in Ke Ai
Soft pink frost (frost)
$19 CDN/$16 US

Nail Lacquer in Morange
Bright cream orange (cream)
$19 CDN/$16 US

Nail Lacquer in Sweet Pop
Peach cream (cream)
$19 CDN/$16 US

Powder Blush in Royal Sunset
Soft cool peach (satin)
$25 CDN/$21 US

Powder Blush in Immortal Flower
Bright peach (satin)
$25 CDN/$21 US

Powder Blush in Honey Jasmine
Soft warm coral (satin)
$25 CDN/$21 US

MAC Hayley Williams Preview

Hayley Williams, lead singer of the platinum-selling band Paramore, stands out with vibrant flair as unmistakable as her vocal ranger. Since breaking onto the scene, paramore won the world over with their chart-topping singles and Hayley's singular style - inspiring an online-exclusive collection with MAC. Features limited-edition shades that ranger from the orange pops of Riot Gear nail lacquer and Sounds Like Noise lipstick to the shimming coral frost of Daydreaming eyeshadow and Lightscapade Mineralize Skinfinish. 

Available online on April 9, 2013. 

Lightscapade Mineralize Skinfinish

Soft candlelit beige with multidimensional shimmer 

$34 CDN/$29 US

Sounds Like Noise Lipstick

Bright true orange (matte) 

 $18 CDN/$15 US

Daydreaming Eyeshadow

 Frosted mid-tone coral (veluxe pearl) 

$18 CDN/$15 US

Riot Gear Nail Lacquer

  Bright true orange 

$19 CDN/$16 US

Kevin Murphy Colour Bug Review and Photos

Kevin Murphy Color Bugs are like eyeshadows for your hair. This is a simple, inexpensive, temporary way to play with the ombre/colour-dipped hair trend. 

It's pigment for your hair, a coloured chalk that adheres to your hair and washes out with water. How genius! 

Currently, Color Bugs come in three colours - pink, orange and purple - with more in the works. I was intrigued with them and wondered how they'd work on shorter hair as I'd only seen it applied to long hair.

I did some research (the orange and pink work best on darker hair and apply the colour like a highlight on short hair) and picked up the orange one at my hair salon (Parlour). It cost me $20 CDN. 

Color Bugs are little half circle plastic containers with a cap on one end. 

Once the cap is removed, there is the pigment, stamped with a k. The orange of this Color Bug is distinctly pinkish, it must be noted. I actually wondered if I'd grabbed a pink one by mistake. But no, it's an intense pinky-orange. It'd actually make a pretty blush colour.

Here's what my hand looked like after applying the pigment to my hair. Yup, the Color Bugs are messy. 

To apply, it's recommended that you wear something you don't mind getting dirty or drape a towel around your shoulders. Any chalky residue will wash off, but you don't want to be all dressed up to go out and get orange powder all over yourself. 

You apply the Color Bug to styled hair and what makes the pigment stick is product, such as hair spray, wax, glossing cream. Anything that'll dry after applied. A hair spray will give you a lighter application, while something thicker like a paste or wax will give you a more intense effect. You apply the product to the portion of hair you want to colour and then press and drag the Color Bug along the wet section. You can layer the pigment if you want a more intense effect or you can comb through the section if you want a watercolour effect. 

The Color Bug and my hang after application.

You should top the pigment with a layer of hairspray to lock it down. You don't want to wear anything light coloured on your shoulders as the pigment can come off. Again, it won't stain your clothes but it'll look messy.

And here's what it looked like in my hair.

It'll take a little practice to get the hang of applying it. I've worn the Color Bug a few times, sometimes as above and sometimes in little sections all over my hair. It's totally fun and fantastically non-committal. Sure, it's a little messy to apply but compared to what I go through each time I dye my hair, it's nothing. I can't wait to see what other colours they'll come out with. I'd love to see a blue, a teal, a tomato red, and a green. 

Grade: B+