Collection & Review: BITE Beauty

BITE has officially become my favorite line for lipstick. The lipstick crayons are so smooth and creamy, the color options are very on-trend and wearable, and the staying power is realistic for the working woman. I don't have time to be touching up my lips every hour during the workday let alone pull out a lipstick, a liner, and a gloss so these crayons are a perfect standalone product! What's even better, these pencils twist up so no sharpener is needed.

Best BITE Remix: Rhubard (plum rose), Sable* (peachy nude), Winterberry* (deep raspberry), Pomegranate (rich red)

*limited edition

Collection & Review: Buxom Lip Glosses

Buxom Winner-Takes-All Lip Set (left to right): white russian, berry blast, creamsicle, trixie, chloe, sophia

Lip Creams: mudslide, white russian, berry blast, creamsicle Lip Polishes: dolly, trixie, chloe, sophia, nicole (sample) Lip Gloss: sweet thing (sample)

During Sephora's VIB Sale I picked up a gift set from Buxom that included 6 deluxe sized lip glosses: 3 of the Lip Polish & 3 of the Lip Cream formulas (those w/ the gold tops). I already knew I liked Buxom lip gloss, as I have 1 of each formula and was curious to try out a few other colors. Buxom Cream formulas are my favorite, they aren't sticky, they have that warming tingle to them, and the smell delicious. I'm not a fan of glittery lip glosses so I tend to shy away from the Lip Polish formula since they range from having small micro-shimmers to chunkier glitter, but I do like all of the ones that came in this set. Yes, they are pricier than a drugstore gloss but they last on the lips and have a nice finish. I much prefer them to MAC or Stila glosses. 

Collection & Review: NARS Audacious Lipsticks

Bottom: Anita  Middle: Audrey  Top: Brigette 

The packaging of these NARS Audacious lipsticks makes pulling out this lipstick feel like a luxury - it better at $32 a pop!!! The metal bullet has a lovely weight, the lid secures on with a magnetic closure, and "NARS" is embossed on the lipstick itself. The satin formula is more forgiving than any matte lipstick, but I still prep with a lip balm beforehand. 

Left: Anita  Center: Audrey  Right: Brigette 

Anita is described as "antique rose" which is an interesting word choice but somehow works; it is less beige/brown than Barbara and less pink than Anna. I think it's a PERFECT mauvey-nude shade for the Autumn and Winter months. I love pairing this with a comfy white sweater, dark jeans, and brown boots. 

Audrey is described as "red current", but I think it wears more as a dark raspberry and is more wearable than the classic red lip. I would definitely recommend using a lip liner to prevent (minimal) feathering with this one - I use MAC's Half-Red ($16). To dress this down, I wear this color with a high bun, my dark-rimmed glasses and a loose, comfy cardigan. 

Brigette is described as a "nude rose"... when I think of rose I think of a much warmer pink, so I would say this is a more coral-pink with blue undertones running through it. VERY Brigitte Bardot! This isn't a shade I am typically drawn to, but I think it will be an easy way to work corals into my lip collection.

While NARS' Audacious Lipstick line has 40 colors, I feel like there are several tones within each shade so there is bound to be a nude, pink, and red that complements every skin tone... with some wild colors mixed in too. The quality of this lipstick is definitely worth the splurge but I'd recommend going into a Sephora or Nordstrom to try a few on and pick a go-to color that you'll get lots of wear out of.

XoXo, Be Beautiful.

Favorite Fall Lipsticks

With Sephora's Exclusive Holiday Shopping Event coming up (Nov 6 - 10), I figured I will do a little mini series of some recent purchases I've made over the last few months so you can pick them up at a discount! This first focus will be on lipsticks that I think are must haves for Fall.

(1) NARS Anita (2) UD Naked (3) Dior Swan #263 (4) NARS Audrey (5) UD Rush

Anita took my Audacious lipstick virginity - and every second blew my mind! The quality of these lipsticks truly are something to be raved about. Superb pigmentation + creamy satin/matte finish - the drying effect = luxurious lips. I really love how these wear throughout the day - they don't wear off patchy and leave that crusty Frazzled-Science-Teacher-look behind (no offense to those periodic table loving teachers out there!). This shade is the perfect every day shade for the modern girl in the non-Summer months (very work appropriate). There are definitely a wide range of shades in this line and I wanted to try one of the more bold colors too. While Audrey looks like a warm red-maroon in the tube, it has a berry pink undertone on my lips. It's a nice update to a classic red lip that makes it a bit more wearable, even in the daytime. 

Beautiful in the Nude!

(1) NARS' Anita   (2) NARS' Crusing  (3) FRESH's Petal & Tulip  (4) BITE's Leche   (5)  Tarte's Angelic Nude 

Warning: none of the lip products I'm going to mention are a true "nude". I have medium-light blonde hair and fair skin with a pink undertone which means nudes with a bit of pink is necessary.

My Top Picks 

First of all, the formula of the new NARS Lipsticks is everything its made out to be, they are so creamy and pigmented that one swipe on the lips is all you need. There are a few nude shades, from which I picked Anita - it gives me enough color that it didn't wash me out, but has enough of a brown undertone to be my version of this new 90s / Kylie Jenner lip trend. The price tag is the one this that is deterring me from purchasing another one for now, as I'd really like to try the new Maybelline Mattes to see if they are a dupe. This is the deepest nude of the mix. 

In one of my first blog posts (see it here), I hauled this NARS Lipstick in the shade Cruising.The formula of these is so creamy and glides on beautifully. This shade isn't shiny, but it does have a natural sheen and the pigmentation isn't totally opaque (which is why I find myself reaching for this the the day time more than any of the others). This is the best every day daytime nude.

I can't say enough good things about FRESH's Sugar Lip Treatments. These are the most luxurious treatment you can do for your lips and still look good doing it. Petal wears more like a brown-y pink on me, while Tulip is a nice natural pink that is slightly brighter than your natural lip color. While these are insanely moisturizing, they can get very soft, very quickly so don't leave these in a hot car.

Unless you are living under a rock, you know about how matte lips are all the rage! I have found it to be an impossible mission to find a matte formula that isn't drying, until I found BITE Lip Crayons. I still only wear this on days when my lips look GOOOOOD (I can guarantee that by using the LUSH lip scrub and then coating my lips in the FRESH Advanced Lip Treatment before going to bed the night before). This product is so natural you can EAT it! No joke!  

Last but not least, the most budget-friendly of the bunch.  I love the slight minty aroma of the Tarte Lipsticks and the light, can't-feel-it weight of the formula that I love reaching for Angelic Nude. Check out the Tarte lipsticks, the range of colors is so great and the packaging is the cutest!

I love pairing any of these with Charlotte Tilbury's lip pencil in Pillow Talk or IT Cosmetic pencil in Buff Nude.

And the Honorable Mentions go to...

BITE Lipstick Duo in Lychee/Musk. What's better than one but TWO nude lip colors in a petite, cute little package. This was one of those little things in "The Green Mile" at Sephora (that's what I call all those minis at checkout - somehow something always jumps into my basket. Both shades are very wearable. 

I was disappointed in...

Retsina by BITE! So many YouTubers talk about this lipstick, I was very excited to find a beautiful nude. NOPE! It looks like concealer on my lips. This is definitely going back. (Although I'll probably look to trade it in for another shade, as I really like the formula.)

XoXo, The Nude Edition.

Products mentioned in this post

NARS Audacious Lipstick in Anita - $32   
NARS Lipstick - Cruising - $26   
FRESH Sugar Lip Treatments - Petal & Tulip - $22.50  
BITE Matte Lip Crayon - Leche - $24   
Tarte Lipstick - Angelic Nude - $16
BITE Lipstick - Retsina - $24
BITE Lipstick Duo - Lychee/Musk - $12
Charlotte Tilbury's 'Lip Cheat' lip liner - Pillow Talk - $22
IT Cosmetic lip liner stain - Buff Nude - $20

Oops I Haul'd It Again!

I took a trip to Sephora the other day to get a new fragrance for my Fiance's birthday... and accidentally had a mini-haul for myself (thanks honey!). Disclaimer, I did have 2 products to return, so that's how I justified it to myself, I'll talk about these in another post. Here's a little preview of what jumped into my basket (minus Nick's gift because I didn't know if I'd be posting this before I had given him his gift or not):

I began at the overwhelming wall of men's fragrances, gravitating towards the ones with the coolest bottles. Nick wears Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue everyday - which I really do like, but it has very soft, subtle notes - so I knew I wanted to get him a more "spicy" fragrance for nighttime. Here's a glimpse of the image I had in my mind:

I honed in on two fragrances, Viktor & Rolf's Spicebomb and YSL's L'Homme. While both have spicier, peppery notes, I decided on the YSL one because I felt it was a bit more of a middle ground. If Nick gets into switching up his fragrances, I would definitely like to add Spicebomb because it is so yummy! 

Foreground:  YSL L'Homme  Background: birthday card I made for him

Now onto my beauty finds, I have been looking for a nice pinky-nude lipstick for a bit now and found NARS' lipstick in Crusing and one from BITE in Retsina. The colors read similarly, but they do have different finishes, when swatched and on the lip. Retsina is more opaque with a satin finish, while the Crusing one has more of a semi-sheen/semi-gloss. Both look good with MAC's lipliner in Dervish (if you want to bring out the pink tones) or Whirl (if you want to bring out the brownish tones) and layered with MAC Nymphette gloss.

While in the NARS aisle, there was a NARS rep there giving someone a demo of the Dual Intensity eyeshadows that got me so interested I became less and less nonchalant with my eavesdropping. She showed how to use it dry to get a more subtle wash of color, and wet for a more opaque, metallic finish. I threw the Himalia color in my basket figuring with it's brownish-taupe color would work well with my everyday neutral eye looks. I wanted to be able to get the most use of out the product because it's so frickin' pricey! After using it for only a few days, I have found it to be buildable and I'm already having dreams of what shade I would like to get next. Also, she recommended using a synthetic hair brush. 

I picked up Viktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb ladies fragrance in a rollerball on my way to the checkout. It has a very sweet, floral, and addictive smell. I spontaneously grabbed a mini size Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer

to give it a try. I've heard good things about this, I'll be interested to see if it's really worth the price and can replace my Garnier BB Cream (specifically the combo-oily skin one). This may be going back if it doesn't blow me away - $20 is pricey for only 1oz of product. 

Last but not least... I was looking around at Nordstrom for the Armani counter wanting to see what all the hype is about surrounding the Luminous Silk Foundation (which I couldn't find at any department store in my mall), I was stopped in my tracks. My eyes were drawn to the Illuminating Bronzing Powder at the Bobbi Brown counter. I don't know why it is considered a bronzer, but the Antigua shade gives a beautiful rosey, glow-from-within color to the cheeks. Sephora only seems to carry 2 of the 6 shades online. To me, these are much more wearable than the much obsessed about shimmer bricks, which I find way too sparkly. I definitely recommend checking these out!!! So that wraps up my haul for this time. 

I always have this internal argument with myself when purchasing from Sephora, I LOVE swatching the products to really determine whether I like them or not. However, I also REALLY love getting the cash back from Ebates (right now Sephora is offering 8% cash back!). If you can hold back from that "I MUST HAVE THIS NOW" urge, I recommend waiting to put your order in online using Ebates - Sephora online usually offers better samples and rewards gifts as well. In fact, I recommend checking out Ebates when purchasing from any store online for available cash back and coupon codes. Who doesn't want make money for shopping?  (That's another justification I make to myself for my online shopping habits.) 

Until next time... stay beautiful!

Products mentioned in this post:

Yves Saint Laurent L'Homme (2oz) - $65

NARS Dual-Intensity eye shadow - Himalia - $29

NARS lipstick - Cruising - $26

BITE BEAUTY Luminous Creme lipstick - Retsina - $24

Bobbi Brown Illuminating Bronzing Powder - Antigua - $40

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer (1oz) - Nude - $20.50

Viktor & Rolf: Flowerbomb rollerball - $29

Garnier BB Cream - light - $10

Hey There Sugar Lips!

I can't hold it in anymore... I have to share my favorite lippy with you! First, let me just put it out there early and say I had a mini anxiety attack in the store over the price tag. I can give you the over-used "it's totally worth the money, trust me" line but instead, I'll just dare you to go into Sephora tomorrow and swatch one. I'm warning you now, you will get addicted - you'll want MORE! Now that we've got that out of the way, let's move on.

These Sugar Lip Treatments are the only Fresh products I've tried so far and I'm extremely pleased with the quality - of both the formula and the packaging. I love how the cap screws on so I can throw it in my purse and not worry about it ruining my bag. I can just sweep this across my lips and get great moisturization, a nice sheen, and fabulous pigmentation for a lip balm!

Left to Right:  Honey, Petal, Tulip, Coral, Passion, Berry

I took out a lone and got 6 of the 10 colors Fresh has available and the untinted Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment (not shown). Tulip and Passion are my favorites, both give a pop of color without looking overdone. Honey and Petal both have warmer brownish undertones, so I find myself grabbing these for when I want a nude lip in the cooler months. Coral makes your lips looks like you just finished eating a popsicle, a very on-trend color for this summer. I was surprised by how wearable Berry is, with my light complexion I usually can't pull of these richer colors (or at least I'm scared to try), but it is gorgeous! Come Fall, this will be my go-to color.  I find the formula to be a little softer in the Coral and Honey tubes (perhaps I just got some lemons), so be careful and spin it up just a wee bit to apply or else your whole tip with pop off (that's what she said?!). Has anyone else seemed to experience this? 

If you are going to get an untinted one, I would recommend spending the few extra dollars and getting Advanced Therapy vs. "normal" Lip Treatment. I was using the Advance Therapy every night before going to bed and was loving it. Then I switch to try using a sample size I had of the standard one and I was instantly missing that extra oomph.

I've heard Fresh offers some top rated skin care products. If I were going to try one, which should it be?

Products mentioned in this post: 

Fresh Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment - $25

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 - $22.50