REVIEW: Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stain

Once I saw everyone trying these out, I wanted to try a couple as well. I went to Rite Aid first which didn't currently have them in stock. Then I went to CVS but they only had the dark uglier colors I wasn't interested in. THEN, I went to one of my local Wal-Marts (I have 3 that I go to), and they were all sold out, even the uglier darker colors... FINALLY I went to my second local Wal-Mart & found them all there! They must have just set them out or something because they had all the colors. I picked up the colors Charm & Darling.

Normally when it comes to balm, like the Revlon Lip Butters -- I tend to go a little darker than I'd normally wear since they are rather sheer. However, I really really wanted the Charm color which is a pastel peachy nude color. I thought this would be really sheer on my lips -- but it's not. It's not as pigmented as say a lipstick is, but you can tell I have some color on my lips. I got Darling since it was a rather odd lavender pinky color because I knew it wouldn't be true to it's color.. and it's not. Its really pretty and wearable. I really enjoy both of the colors I picked up.

 Me wearing Charm

 Me wearing Darling

What I Think: To be honest, I was scared to spend the money on trying these out. I thought it would be a rather odd product that Revlon invented. Balms and Stains are completely different from one another & to put them together is... different. But somehow, it worked. I really liked the sheer color payoff of these two that I picked up. I wear them to work a lot because they last for awhile and the color doesn't wear off so easily such as a lipstick so I don't have to re-apply the product as much. These are moisturizing, but not too moisturizing like a regular lip balm. The color of the stain is very lasting. But if you're looking for a really pigmented product out of these -- then you'll be disappointed. I knew these would be sheer though, and that's why I wasn't sure if I'd like them -- but i'm very surprised that I like them as much as I do. These are self sharpening by the way, which is very convenient.

I would definitely recommend you try these out. They are rather pricey (well, for my cheap ass anyway) at about $8 at Wal-Mart -- but I think it's a well spent $8.

Nail Polish Haul!

Okay so I've been kind of obsessed with nail polish at the moment. For the past few weeks I've been purchasing all colors & brands of nail polishes & keeping up with my nails :) I'm terrible at biting my nails, so keeping my nails painted actual help me not bite them so much. I still get a nervous tick & decide to nibble at my nails a little -- but not near as much :)

Anyway, back to the point of this post, the past 2 days I've purchased a few nail polishes & just decided to post a haul entry for you guys :)

Okay so I wanted to start with this polish -- and this is the only polish I took an individual picture for because I REALLY wanted this polish. It's the Claire's brand nail polish in 'Candy Shop'. Omggggg, this nail polish is great! I saw someone on YouTube who had the Deborah Lippmann 'Candy Shop' nail polish & I fell in love with it and just had to have it. But i looked it up on EBay and it was going for like $20 :( So me being the cheap ass that I am decided to look up dupes for it & I came across the Clarie's Candy Shop. This nail polish was $5 & they had a sale going buy one get one half off. It's a super glittery nail polish with a sheer pink base. I love it! 

I also picked up this neon sheer glittery nail polish from Clarie's called ' Hi-Lite Me'. I just got this because it was 50% off (org. $5) and there wasn't any other color I was really interested in. But when I swatched this -- I actually really like the color.

Next I picked up the Sally Hansen Smooth & Perfect nail polish in 'Sorbet' & the Revlon Colorstay clear Top Coat. I got these at Wal-mart. The Smooth & Perfect was $5.24 & the Revlon Top Coat was $4.97. I have yet to try the 'Sorbet' out. I've heard it's suppose to be more 'breathable' for your nails -- but I haven't tested it out yet. Maybe if I like it i'll do a review about it. It's a very sheer peachy color. It's a bit more sheer than I expected it to be, but I can layer it. And the Revlon top coat is -- well, a Top Coat lol. I needed a top coat in my collection, so I just decided to invest my money into Revlon because it's my favorite drugstore brand :)

Yesterday I picked up the Revlon Scented nail polish in 'Strawberry Cream' & Wet N Wild's 'I Need a Refresh-mint'. I got these at Rite Aid. I paid $4.79 for the scented Revlon one & $1.99 for the Wet N Wild one. The Revlon 'Strawberry Cream' is a really pretty color. I really like all the colors from the Revlon scented line & want to pick them up. When I smelled the polish to see if it actually smelled like Strawberry Cream -- it just smelt like nail polish to me lol. But I smelt it again once I did the swatch & you can actually smell the Strawberry in the swatch :) I picked up the Wet N Wild because I heard it was a dupe for China Glaze's 'For Audrey'. I really like the baby blue color of this polish. I have many Wet N Wild nail polishes & I personally love them all. They're very cheap & work nicely. 

Lastly, last night once I got off work my boyfriend and I went to Walmart & he told me to pick out a few gifts. So I picked out a couple of lipsticks & nail polishes. The polishes I picked out were the Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear in Grey Area & Revlon Colorstay in 'Bare Bones'. The 'Grey Area' was $2.58 & the 'Bare Bones' was $4.97. I really like the swatches I did of these :) 

That's about it for my nail polish haul! What nail polishes have you guys been digging lately? I love to see what other people are using & currently in love with :)

November Favorites 2011 !

I wanted to do a favorites for the month of November! I've had quite a lot, but I don't want to do a super long blog like I did last time, so I'm just going to be showing a few favorites ;)

 Yay for favorites! I also have a ton of new photo editing apps on my phone now where I can add cool looking bubbles on my pictures :) Makes me happy!

First up Benefit products!

As you know (if you read my blog that is) - I purchased a Benefit sampler kit a few weekends ago. So far, these are my favorites out of the kit! 

Stay Don't Stray -

is a concealer / eyeshadow primer base. This is a flesh tone color - which happens to go and blend great with my skin tone. I personally use this as a concealer primer and not an eyeshadow primer. I already have the Urban Decay primer so I don't need two of those :P But this works great for me as a concealer primer. It may not work great for others however due to the skin tone color. So I'd sample this before going out and buying a big bottle of it!

Posietint & Bella Bamba -

This is a cheek and lip stain. As a lip stain, not so much - it doesn't work nicely. But I do like this as a cheek stain! It gives you just that natural flush. It's a very nice natural flush - but I like my blush to be kind of noticeable. Not tacky -- I just like my blush to show up a bit more -- so I add Bella Bamba blush on top of the Posietint & it looks great! I love these two mixed together. And Bella Bamba smells soooo good! I'm not sure why they make their blush scented? But it smells like green apples :D 

The Dandelion one that came with the kit smells floral-y. 

Next up, a few Elf products.

 Elf Studio Blush in Berry Merry -

I have about 5 of these Elf studio blushes, and to be honest, I actually like all of them. But for the wintertime, I like this darker berry color the best :) I've heard a bunch of people say they didn't like these blushes because they're not pigmented enough, blahblahblah. But they're $3?! They are comparing them to Nars blushes which are $25-27. So I mean, of course they won't be as good as that - but I really like these and for $3 -- they won't break you$$  :) 

[ You can probably get yours on sale like I did mine -- I google coupon codes before I check out at Elf because they always have some good ones floating around - I got 50% off the studio line ;) ]

Elf Duo Eye Shadow Cream in Coffee & Cream -

This is from their $1 line. However, as an eyeshadow - this creases really bad and I wouldn't recommend using it as such! This does look really pretty if you use the two together as an eyeshadow - but it creases horribly. However, the 'cream' color is the prettiest sheer glittery white I've ever seen! I use this as a highlight. This makes the PERFECT highlighter for me on the tops of my cheekbones, bridge of my nose, and cupid's bow. It does have some glitter in it, and for a highlighter -- you're supppose to use like a matte highlight or luminizer more so than glitter to make it appear 'natural' - but I love glitter! & this is super super pretty. I've gotten a lot of compliments wearing this handy dandy stuff. Plus, it's only $1. 

You can also use the 'coffee' as a contour - it works. But I don't like my contour this dark, so I don't really use the brown myself.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Primrose -

I have a blog post on this already it's one of my favorite fall lipsticks :)

http://stfulaurenpack.blogspot.com/2011/11/favorite-fall-lipsticks.html

But this is a really pretty natural like rosey pink. It's not a crazy baby pink -- it's more of a dark rose, for fall/winter. Haha, i'm not even sure if that makes sense. It does in my head when I'm typing it - but to others, I'm unsure :P lol It's a really pretty and good lipstick! I really like Revlon lipsticks. I have added quite a few of these to my collection! :)

Now for hair/face stuff

Nexxus Ultimate Moisture Shampoo -

This was just a sample size I purchased at Wal-mart. The actual bigger bottle was $10 - and before I spent that much on shampoo, I wanted to test it out. This is the best shampoo I've ever used! It makes my hair feel super super soft! I really like this & definitely plan on purchasing the bigger bottle once I get paid!

Organix Brazilian Keratin therapy Flat Iron Spray-

I don't really do much with my hair anymore since I work all the freaking time at the moment. But when I do straighten it -- I use this. This works really nicely. I spray it on in sections right before I straighten my hair - during straightening my hair - and just a little bit after I finish. This also helps my hair feel nice and soft. I personally don't like the smell of this stuff. It's all coconuty and what not :P If you like coconut smelling things - you'll love this!

Burt's Bees Citrus Facial Scrub -

Once again, if you read my blog, you know I don't wash my face - because I'm gross :) Haha, no I just feel like my face breaks out when I do wash my face because you're opening all your pores up and they get clogged up even easier than before. I'm not sure if that's true - that's just how I feel :P haha. But I got this while checking out on Black Friday at Target (yes, the line was backed up all the way to the freaking cosmetics). I really like this stuff. When you open it - it's not liquid - it's just a scrub - you get a little pinch out and mix it with water - then wash your face with it. It leaves my face feeling nice, clean, and fresh! It's tough (it's a scrub, so of course it will be!) - but not too tough - it's gentle enough for everyday use. My face has yet to break out when I wash it using this. So I love it!

That's all for my November favorites! I plan on getting tons of new stuff this month - so hopefully I'll have a lot of different favorites for December! I also plan to start makeup school by the end of this month / beginning of January. I'm really excited about it! My dad is paying for the first month for my Christmas - and then I have to pay the remaining 4 months - and i'll be super broke :( But, it's what I like doing and would love to do makeovers people to make them feel more confident & to teach them new things, etc, etc. :) Soooo excited!

Favorite Fall Lipsticks

My favorite fall lipsticks:

Lime Crime Coquette - $16

Revlon Super Lustrous - Primrose - $5-6

Covergirl - Sultry - $6

Nyx - Doll - $4-5

Nyx - Hebe - $4-5

Covergirl Queen Collection - Royal Plum - $6

Only one of these (Lime Crime) is a high end brand. But I love these!

The one that I wear the least is the Nyx Hebe just because it's red - and I don't really wear red. However, when I do - I wear this one! It's more of a wearable red more-so than a very bright and crazy looking red. I think it's wearable because it has like little shimmers of gold mixed with it so it tones down the crazy color a bit.

Also, if you like the color of the Lime Crime one - but don't want to spend $16 - I found a dupe of it & reviewed it here:

http://stfulaurenpack.blogspot.com/2011/10/lime-crime-coquette-lipstick-dupe.html 

 

I just got the Primrose & the Royal Plum ones over the weekend. I normally don't really wear dark colored lipsticks - but I loooove this Royal Plum one. I'm also not sure why it's called Royal Plum? It's more like a dark crimson color with blue undertones to me. But I like it. I got a lip liner to wear with this one & it's Rimmel London's Exaggerate Lip Liner in Epic. These two go good together.

The Primrose lipstick is more of a sheer darker baby pink - if that makes sense? Haha. It's not like a really bright baby pink like colors you'd wear in the summertime.

 

The Doll lipstick is a really nice dark pink shade. It has blue undertones & looks nice :D

And for messy lipstick appliers like myself, I recommend using this Elf Lip Lock Pencil. It's clear - and you put it on the outside edges of your lips so when you do put your lipstick on & press your lips together - the color doesn't get all over the outsides of your lips! Plus, it's only $3 -- and they always have sales going on at eyeslipsface.com -- so you may could get it for $1.50 like I did mine :)

I really want to try out some high end lipsticks, but don't want to spend the money on them :( I don't mind spending my money on them if I really like them & would wear them mostly every day but I'm afraid I won't like them after I purchase them & that's like $15 wasted. Blahhh. So if you have any recommendations please let me know! :D