Buxom Time to Shine Full-On Lip Collection

Swatches & Review

Last Holiday, Buxom came out with an exclusive Time to Shine collection, which I have reviewed here (link). About a few weeks ago, I noticed that Sephora had a new set of the Buxom Time to Shine Lip Gloss set up. At first, I thought it was similar since these sets normally does not come out until around Fall, but after looking at it, I realized this set has different colors in it.

Like the collection last Holiday, this set includes six mini lip glosses. Three of the glosses have a creamy finish, and the other three have a diamond finish. Each mini lip gloss are about half the size of full-sized Buxom lip glosses.

Kir Royale: Creamy wine red. It looks a bit dark, but when applied to the lips, it sheers out to a nice red without it being too dark.
Cherry Flip: Creamy bright red.
White Russian: Creamy nude pink.
Tiffany: Shimmery red.
Gabby: Shimmery maroon.
Amy: Shimmery beige.

Out of these six shades, one is a repeat shade from last year's Time to Shine collection, which is White Russian. I actually prefer this set more than the one I purchased before because it seems like the cream finish ones will match well with the diamond finish ones because the colors are similar, but with a different finish, such as Kir Royale & Gabby, and Cherry Flip & Tiffany.

Buxom lip glosses are my favorite because I like the tingly feeling from them, but one thing to note is that you should not put too much onto your lips because the feeling will become a bit overwhelming, and a bitter taste comes with over applying, so it is best to not use too many layers of them. This set retails for $32 and can be found at Sephora (online & in some stores).

What do you think about Buxom lip glosses? Do you have a favorite brand of lip gloss you always stock up on?

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bareMinerals: Moxie - Hot to Trot Lip Gloss Set

Swatches & Review

I have previously reviewed the other Moxie set, Cool as Ice. After trying out Cool as Ice for a while, I finally decided to get Hot to Trot as well. Hot to Trot is similar to Cool as Ice, but it has warmer shades than Cool as Ice does.

This lip gloss set contains six lip glosses that are almost half the size of full-sized Moxie lipglosses. Unlike Cool as Ice, all of the shades in this set are shimmery.

Maverick: Shimmery Mauve/Rose
Crowd Surfer: Shimmery Cotton Candy Pink
Smooth Talker: Slightly-shimmery Golden Pink
Smarty Pants: Shimmery Light Beige
Dreamer: Shimmery Golden-bronze
*I did not include Firecracker because I am planning to give it away to my friend.

I like this set. I feel like this set is more neutral than Cool as Ice is since Cool as Ice has a bit more bold colors, but the formula is the same. When I smelled it, I originally thought of Cherry Coke, but now, I think they smell like Root Beer (something is wrong with my nose!). These have a slight tingling effect, but nothing like Buxom's tingling effect, which is a bit more intense. The only complaint I have for this set, like the other set, is that it gets sticky after a few hours of wear. When it is wearing off, it feels uncomfortable on the lips, so unless you reapply it, you would probably need some makeup remover for your lips to wipe it off.
This set retails for $25 for 6 lip glosses where each contain 0.07oz of product, which is a little less than half of a full-size Moxie. The Hot to Trot set is sold at Ulta (both online and in-store), Nordstrom Online & BareMinerals (both online and in-store).

What do you think about these lip glosses? Have you tried any of BareMinerals Moxie line?

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Urban Decay Lip Love Lip Therapy: Stung

Swatches & Review

Urban Decay's Lip Love Lip Therapy is supposed to be a moisturizing lip tint. From the tube, Stung looks like it will be a dark berry shade, but it is definitely not as dark when it is applied to the lips.

When you first squeeze the lip tint out of the tube, it is a gorgeous berry color, but when it is sheered out, the color is not as noticeable.

With the first layer blended out, the tint is not really noticeable. It looks like a clear gloss on my lips, but it builds up a bit with two layers. When applying the third layer, it seems like it would be darker, but after blending it out, it just becomes a tiny bit darker.

Overall, I thought this was okay. I purchased Stung because I thought the tint would be a bit darker like how it is in the tube, but it is not. It is supposed to smell like honey, but it smells more of a floral scent to me and I do not really like the scent, but it tastes a bit sweet on the lips, which I do not mind. This is supposed to make your lips feel softer, but I felt like this was a bit drying after it starts to fade off, and it does not last too long. However, it is not sticky, it feels slippery on the lips like Benefit's Ultra Plush Glosses do. I do not recommend using more than two layers on the lips like how I tried on a third layer because it feels heavy on the lips and the scent is very strong with three layers, but I tested it out to see how the tint looks. This would be nice if the tint was a bit darker and the scent was less strong. This is currently on sale on UrbanDecay.com for $4. If it was not on sale I would not have purchased this, but I think this would work as a gloss to layer on top of lipstick shades.

What do you think about Urban Decay's Lip Love Lip Therapy? Have you tried it?

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theBalm Plump Your Pucker: Cocoa My Coconut

Swatches & Review

I purchased theBalm's Cocoa My Coconut a while ago, but I haven't opened it until recently. After purchasing it, I was debating on whether or not I should keep it since it looks like it might be too "nude" for my lips. theBalm's Plump Your Pucker Lip Gloss line is slightly tinted and is supposed to hydrate and make your lips look fuller.

Cocoa My Coconut is described on theBalm's website as a Coco-nutty Nude. Before opening it, I was afraid that there would be a strong coconut scent to it, but it was not bad. It smells like coconut, but not too unbearable. It is kind of like a coconut scent leaning more to a slight scent of hot chocolate & I actually like it.

This shade of this is definitely not too nude, like a sand-ish nude, but it is more of a warm pink nude. This is only slightly tinted and it has a creamy finish so it does not have any glitter/shimmer in it, which I love!

Although these claim to be "plumping" and "hydrating", I did not really feel like my lips looked fuller after using this, and it was drying after about an hour of wearing it. There was a slight tingling effect and cooling sensation on my lips after applying it, but it went away pretty quickly. The tingly feeling of this is not strong like Buxom, so if you do not like how Buxom's are, this may be a good alternative lip gloss for you! I like that this lip gloss was not sticky. It reminds me of Wet N' Wild's Bare it All, but in gloss form. I have used this with Bare it All and it matches with it perfectly. This retails on theBalm's website for $15.

What do you think about theBalm's lip glosses? Have you tried it? Or do you prefer the other makeup they offer?

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Buxom Lip Polish: April

Swatches & Review

I received April in the Buxom Time to Shine lip gloss set that I have reviewed a few days ago. I also own another mini-sized April from their lip set last year.

April is a icy pink with shimmer. According to the box, April is supposed to have a diamond finish, which is probably why it is very shimmery. It goes on kind of sheer, and it packed my lips with a ton of sparkle. After wearing it for a few hours, the gloss wore off & shimmer was left all over my lips!

Overall, I feel that April is just too shimmery for me. I like my lip glosses to be creamy, and sometimes with a minimal amount of shimmer, but April was packed with shimmer. I did not like how the shimmer would not wash off my lips, it stuck to my lips like glitter glue! Since I wore this alone, it was probably why it stuck to my lips more, so I would probably use this to layer on top of a lipstick that I would like to add a "pop" to and see if it still sticks to my lips. Out of the set, I would have been able to do without this one.

What do you think about sparkly, shimmery lip glosses? Like it? Hate it?

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Buxom Time To Shine Lip Gloss Set

Swatches & Review
Buxom's Time to Shine Lip Gloss set is part of their Holiday 2012 collection. Every year, Buxom comes with with lips set with deluxe sized samples of their lip products. Usually, it is four lip sticks with four lip glosses, however, they only came out with a set of six lip glosses this year. Since I have been collecting Buxom's lip sets every year, I purchased this one. If you have previous sets, I think the only repeat in this set is April, which was in last year's set as well.

This set contains two Buxom Lip Creams and four Lip Polishes. Two are sheer, two have a diamond finish, and two are creamy.

April: Icy Pink with shimmer.. a lot of shimmer (diamond finish)
Berry Blast: Fuchsia cream, looks smooth
White Russian: Nude Pink cream
Sugar: Rose, not creamy or shimmery, but has a silver sheen to it
Katie: Pale Pink (same as Sugar)
Gina: Hot Pink with a lot of shimmer

Out of this whole set, only Gina is exclusive to this set. All of the other colors are permanent colors in their Buxom lip line.

Overall, I like this set. Although I already have two of the shades in here, I do not mind it because Buxom is one of my favorite lip gloss brand out there. It is supposed to be "plumping", but I do not see my lips more plump with it. It has a faint vanilla scent to it, and when you put it on your lips, it feels very minty and fresh. A note to take about these is that if you put too much, you will start feeling the "freshness" inside your mouth, which tastes pretty disgusting after a while so do not put more than you need on your lips! The tingling stays around your lips for about half an hour so if you have sensitive lips or you do not like the tingling feeling, these are definitely not for you. Sometimes when I put too much on my lips, I feel a bitter taste in my mouth so I always have to be careful with these. If I put the right amount, that will not happen. Although it is a bit of a hassle, I like the shades they come in and these are not too sticky to me. This set retails for $29 and includes 6 lip glosses where each contain 0.07oz of product (which is half of the full sized product) so it is a pretty good deal. It is like getting 3 full sized lip polishes, but just in various colors! If you have not tried these, this will be a good set to test them out. I love this, but I know it is definitely not for everyone since not everyone likes the tingly feeling. What do you think about Holiday sets? Would you rather get mini sized items or full-sized?

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Benefit High Flyin' Gloss Set

Swatches & Review
Benefit's High Flyin' Lip Gloss set contains all of their Ultra Plush Lip Gloss shades. All of these lip glosses have blush from Benefit's line to match it with. I have always been interested in these glosses, but never got them so since they released a set for the Holiday season, I immediately jumped on it!

The six shades in this set are Dallas, Hoola, Bella Bamba, Coralista, Dandelion, and Sugarbomb.

When I swatched them, they seem like they would be pigmented on the lips. I thought that these would be similar to Buxom's lip glosses (since they are pigmented on the lips), but they sheer out a lot.

From left to right:
Sugarbomb: A light magenta with shimmer.
Dandelion: A light cotton candy pink with shimmer.
Coralista: Coral pink
Bella Bamba: Bright semi-hot pink
Hoola: Nude with shimmer
Dallas: Pink-brown

These small very sweet, it reminds me of cupcakes. I am pretty sensitive to scented lip items, but the scent on these wore off after a while so it was not too bad. Although I thought that they would be pigmented, they all only leave a slight tint to my lips, which were kind of disappointing to me. However, I do like that they are not super sticky. They are a bit sticky, but not incredibly sticky to where my hair gets stuck to my lips very often.

These are 0.22 oz each, when their full-sized ones are .5 oz, which is a little less than half. This is how it looks compared to a Carmex lip balm in a squeeze tube.

I thought these were a good deal especially since I have none of the shades yet, but I wish they were a bit more pigmented because I think if you were to wear these with the blushes from Benefit, the blush would show and the lip gloss itself would not even match up to the shade of the blush. If you are into lip glosses and do not mind if they look like a lightly tinted shade, this would be perfect for you. I think that these would make great stocking stuffers since they are small. This set retails for $26 and it is currently sold on Sephora.com and benefitcosmetics.com

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Sephora Haul

I have been waiting for this ALL week. Although Sephora claims their shipping is now "3 days", it still takes forever for them to process it & ship it! I guess it's better now though since I got it within 8 days. Before they change it to 3-day shipping as standard, it used to take me TWO weeks to get my Sephora items. Anyway, here are the items I purchased. (Which I'm kind of mad at myself for not waiting a few days later to make a purchase).

I purchased:
Benefit High Flyin' Glosses: $26
Tarte Fantastic Foursome Blush set: $35
Tarte 5-Piece LipSurgence™ Collector's Set: $34.

The Benefit set contains all 6 of their Ultra Plush Lip Gloss. They originally retail for $16 and you get 0.5oz of product each tube. These are mini-sized, which is 0.22oz and you get 6 of them for $26. They are a little less than half the size, but I think it is a good deal. It makes great stocking stuffers as well.

Tarte's Fantastic Foursome contains four blushes (although one is more like a highlighter). The blushes in this set are half the size of the original ones, so each of these are 0.10oz. They normally retail for $25, which is 0.20oz for a full-sized one, so this comes out to a $50 value for $35 (but they said it's worth $60 on the box). I think it is a good deal because I get to try many shades and I would probably never finish them anyway, so I don't mind it being small.

Tarte's 5-Piece LipSurgence™ Collector's Set is $34. Last year, they released a same set with different shades for $29, but even though they raised it by $5, you're still getting FIVE FULL-SIZED LipSurgence for $34. They retail for $24 itself so THIS is the best deal for Holiday sets so far (in my opinion).

What do you guys think about this Holiday sets? I personally LOVE the Holidays because companies come out with amazing sets with an incredible value!

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