Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm

Swatches & Review

A few days ago, my boyfriend found the new Revlon items I have been searching for. In addition to the ones he purchased, I also purchased Striking for a total of five out of the ten new matte balms from Revlon. I was super excited to try these since I love a matte finish lip products so I just had to dive in as soon as I could and test some out, as well as swatch the rest in the collection.

The new matte balms are packaged like their Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain's, however, these are on the Colorburst line instead of the Just Bitten line. Since these are matte, the packaging has a matte look & feel to it. These twist up so that you would not need to sharpen them as well.

From left to right: Showy, Sultry, Striking, Standout, Shameless

Unlike the Balm Stain's, these are not shrink-wrapped. They have a small piece of tape and I don't like it because it makes it easier for people to open it to tamper with it. I tried to peel it off & seal it back to see if it is noticeable if it has been tampered with & I was not really able to tell because it just taped right back on to how it was before.

These are the lip swatches I have also posted on my instagram.

Full-face with the lip products.

Showy: Bright candy pink. Although in the full-face picture it shows more as a bubble-gum pink, I feel like it looks a lot more like the lip swatch in person where it has a slight lavender tint to it. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like bright and light colors like these normally shows up a bit lavender on me while it does not to many others (such as Candy Yum Yum) so it might be different on me depending on my skintone/lip pigmentation. This applied a lot lighter than I thought it would because it looked like it would be a magenta from the packaging. This shade definitely shows the dry patches on the lips a lot more than the other shades so I would recommend exfoliating before using this.
Sultry: Mauvey-pink. This was very pigmented and one of my favorites. It is a nice shade for everyday wear because it is like a neutral, but not very neutral.
Striking: Tomato Red/Red-Orange. This was a surprise favorite because I thought it would be more of an orange, but after trying it, it kind of reminded me of Maybelline's Vibrant Mandarin, but this is more on the red side. This is very wearable.
Standout: Classic red. This is similar to many reds that I own so this is not a "must" have if you have a lot of reds, but it was very nice.
Shameless: This shade was the shade I was most excited for because I absolutely love purple lip colors! However, this was not as pigmented as the others I have tried because it required more swipes and it applied a bit patchy. It definitely reminds me of one of the recent limited edition Maybelline purple lipsticks.

Overall, these dried into a nice matte shade, but nothing that is super matte like MAC Cosmetics Retro Matte, but more of a regular matte where it is not very drying. Although it is not as moisturizing as the Revlon's Balm Stains since these are not balms, they did not feel drying the first two hours of wear, but it felt drying a while after that. It has a very lightweight feeling so that is good because sometimes, mattes sit weirdly on my lips. Like the Balm Stains, these have a minty scent to it and it has a slight tingle to it, but nothing that tingles too much, so if you do not like the Balm Stains for the scent, these would probably not be for you. I find that after these set, they do not transfer much. The formula was also pretty consistent with all the ones I have tried except for Shameless, which was a bit patchy. They glided on smoothly without tug & it was perfect! The only thing I would have liked better is if these were shrink-wrapped rather than it having just a piece of tape over it.

My boyfriend picked them up for me from Bed Bath & Beyond for $6.99 each and I am still unsure if these are supposed to be a part of the Holiday/Winter collection or Spring because when I first heard about these, they were supposed to be a part of the Spring collection. Since these are already at Bed Bath & Beyond, these may pop up soon at local drugstores that usually carries Revlon, but the price may vary. I would also like to note that six out of the ten of the matte balms only have one of each color per display, while the lacquer balms have two of each color in the display. The ones with only one each are Shameless, Standout, Mischievous, Elusive, Striking & Complex.

What do you think about these Matte Balms from Revlon? Are you a fan of mattes? Are you looking forward to the Lacquer Balms more?

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Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm & Lacquer Balms;Maybelline Gilded in Gold

Best Boyfriend EVER:

Since NouveauCheap has mentioned that these had landed, I HAD to look for them. Although I spent all weekend hunting, they were nowhere to be found. When it's the weekdays, I have no car, so I have no access to stalk products & normally by the time it's weekend, the things I want are sold out. Well, my boyfriend is the sweetest ever! Knowing that I have been looking for these & after showing him pictures while I was hunting over the weekend, he ended up going to look for them for me himself so I would not miss out on them. This morning when he told me they had it in & I was SO excited!

Here's some display pictures:

Revlon's new Lacquer Balms & Matte Balms. My boyfriend had a full display, but he took the picture after he took the ones that he was going to buy for me, which is why it's not full, but he did good! I like how half the display itself is glossy, and the other half is matte!

The next collection he found that I was looking for was Maybelline's Holiday Gilded in Gold collection. Normally, I do not use their Color Tattoos, but the fact that the ones in this display are matte and limited edition, I just had to have them, so he picked all three up for me as well.

The few that he purchased for me:

A few of both the Revlon Lacquer Balms in Vivacious, Provacateur & Enticing, Revlon Matte Balms in Standout, Shameless, Sultry & Showly, as well as the three color Tattoos in Matte Brown, Just Beige, and Nude Pink.

One thing I would like to note is that 6 of the 10 matte Revlon Matte Balm shades only have one for each display, such as Shameless (the purple) & Standout (deep red), so they may be harder to find. I was lucky enough to have my boyfriend be able to go look for these everyday & for them to put them up when he was there.

I cannot wait until I get to see him later on this week so that I can see these in person! & I will definitely try them out when I have the time to if I am not loaded up with homework this weekend so I can have swatches & review up for you guys! :) Like I have mentioned before, I appreciate my boyfriend SO much and for him to understand and be so helpful with this makeup obsession of mine is amazing! I seriously do not know what I would do without him because he seriously is the best I have ever had.

Do you think you will be picking up some of these new Holiday Collection items?

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Budget Friendly Fall Lipstick Picks

Swatches

I have not posted in a while because of school, but since I was taking a break from all the homework assignments I have for the weekend, I decided to do a lipstick post for Fall. At first, I was going to mix up all the fall lipstick picks I have, but I decided to do one that's for drugstore lipsticks & I will probably end up doing one for the mid-range brands as well.

(This picture is on my instagram as well)

Revlon Pink Truffle: Creamy neutral pinkish-brown. This is lightweight and moisturizing. Not too cool of a nude for fall. Depending on location, this is sold for $5.50 - $8.99
Rimmel London 107: Berry red with a matte finish. This glided on very smooth on the lips, but has a fruity scent to it. This is sold for $5.00 - $7.50.
Wet n Wild Ravin' Raisin: Dusty purple with a matte finish. This is very pigmented, but is a bit heavy on the lips. This retails for $1.99 at many locations.
Maybelline Color Whisper Berry Ready: Creamy pink berry. This is very pigmented, lightweight & moisturizing. Since it's very creamy & lightweight, it wears out fast so you would need to reapply this throughout the day. It kind of smells like fruity pebbles to me. This is sold for $6.00 - $8.00
Wet n Wild Cinnamon Spice: Matte brick red. Like Ravin' Raisin, this is very pigmented & a bit heavy on the lips, but it is not too uncomfortable. This retails for $1.99 at many locations.
Milani Black Cherry: Creamy deep red. This applies a bit patchy and it has a strong fruity scent to it. I blot the first layer so the second layer will not be as patchy & exfoliating the lips before applying is also recommended. This is sold for $5.49 - $6.49.

What do you think about these lipsticks from my picks? What are your picks for Fall? :)

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Revlon Color Burst Lip Butter: Sorbet

Swatches & Review

When I first heard of the new shades from Revlon's Lip Butter line from Nouveau Cheap's blog, I had to find them. It has been over a month and I have finally found them. I have been stalking Target locations for these & yesterday, I found them as they were putting up the new displays. I grabbed Sorbet & Wild Watermelon from the display & they were purchased by my boyfriend so that I can review them.

Like all of Revlon's Lip Butter, they have a quilted cap & the cap is the color of what the shade is supposed to be.


In the tube, it looks like a bright pink.

When swatched, the color is like a sheer bright pink. For my lips, I used one swipe & it shows a bit bright already.
For the first lip picture, I took it in direct sunlight. The other two were taken indoor, with the middle one being in front of the window, inside the car.

Previous lip butters I have owned were very pigmented, but this was not as pigmented when compared to Raspberry Pie, however, it is still a very nice shade. I felt like the formula for these were a bit different because these feel a lot more moisturizing than the older lip butter shades that I owned. I also noticed that there was a slight sweet scent to these, while my older lip butters do not. After a few hours of wear, it starts to wear off & leaves a slight stain, which is pretty nice.

My boyfriend purchased this at Target for $6.49 & these were found on the permanent display.

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Revlon Deal at Rite Aid 03/03 - 03/09

Deal Alert!

Last month, Rite Aid had 40% off Revlon Cosmetics TWICE in a month! Today is the last day for their 40% off, however, starting tomorrow (&throughout the week), Revlon Lip and Mascara items will all be $4.99!

I know a lot of Revlon's Lip items such as their Lip Butters and Balm Stain has been out for a while, but with the sunnier seasons coming up, I definitely recommend some of the bright shades from their Balm Stain because they are super pigmented & long lasting! The balm stains normally retail for $8.99 at Rite Aid locations, so $4.99 for it is almost half off!

Another good deal is at Target, where coupons.target.com has a coupon for $3 off a Revlon facial cosmetics item.

I have previously reviewed Revlon's Nearly Naked Foundation & I love it! The Nearly Naked foundation retails for $7.49 at Target and with the $3 off coupon, it comes out to be $4.49, which is an amazing deal for foundation! It is perfect if you have been wanting to try it.

Another coupon that has been up for a while from Target is $1 off a Maybelline cosmetic item. I have reviewed 3 Maybelline Vivids & I have been loving them as well. They retail for $5.49 at Target & with $1 off, it makes it $4.49, which is not bad for an amazing vibrant lipstick for Spring & Summer!


The coupons on Target will be on their site until all coupons are claimed & the Revlon deal at Rite Aid will begin tomorrow and will last until next Saturday! :)

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Comparison: Revlon Nearly Naked vs. Urban Decay Naked Skin

Foundation Comparison:

About a week ago, I purchased Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation & reviewed it (here). I have been testing it out for a week and I really like the wear of it. It does not have full coverage, but it is very lightweight, which is what I love about Urban Decay's Naked Skin foundation. Today, I purchased the Nearly Naked in Warm Beige since I felt that Medium Beige was a bit light on me without bronzer. Warm beige would be a nice foundation to use without looking pale when I am not using bronzer.

Both Revlon's and Urban Decay's foundation are 1 oz in size. Revlon's bottle is more glass-like, while Urban Decay's is plastic.

From left to right:
Urban Decay 5.0, Revlon Medium Beige, Revlon Warm Beige & Urban Decay 6.0

When it is not blended out, Urban Decay's 5.0 looks exactly like Revlon's Medium Beige. When comparing Warm Beige and 6.0, Warm Beige looks a lot more orange, while 6.0 looks more brown.

When blended out, they all look very similar. I could not capture it on the camera, but 5.0 and Medium Beige definitely look a bit lighter than Warm Beige and 6.0 does. Although Warm Beige looked a bit more orange when it was not blended, it looks very similar to Urban Decay's 6.0 foundation when blended. I blended the foundations over the orange writing on my arm and you can see that it is not full-coverage. However, if you add another layer, there would be a bit more coverage.

Both of these foundations are lightweight, but like I stated many times, they are not full-coverage. I have previously reviewed both of them in the past (Revlon, Urban Decay). I think Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation is a good drugstore alternative to Urban Decay's Naked Skin foundation because they are the same size and both are very similar to each other. Urban Decay's Naked Skin retails for $38, and I purchased my Nearly Naked for $9.99 at Rite Aid. For the Nearly Naked, the price may vary by the location and store because when I went to Target today, they had it for $7.49 instead of $9.99 at Rite Aid's & CVS, but it is still not a bad deal.

The only thing I do not like about Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation is that is does not have a pump or a spatula, you basically have to pour it out, which is quite inconvenient. Urban Decay's Naked Skin has a pump, which makes it easier to know how much product you are getting. I usually use one pump, but with two pumps, you get better coverage. However, Urban Decay's Naked Skin foundation does not have SPF, which is the downside to it and Revlon's Nearly Naked has SPF 20.

What do you think about these? Which would you choose? Have you tried any of the two before?

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Revlon Girly Nail Polish

Swatches & Review

When I went to purchase Revlon's new Nearly Naked foundation, I also found their new line of nail polishes right next to the foundations. I was super excited when I saw the nail polishes because I have been looking for them as well. Girly is a purple, pink & magenta glitter in a creamy, jelly pink base.

Girly is similar to Whimsical, which is sheer. On the first coat, you can definitely still see the nail line, but it is build-able. Since my nails were already painted, my boyfriend actually let me paint his nails so that I can blog it :)

Middle finger: Three Coats
Ring finger: Two Coats
Pinky: One Coat

The swatches of Girly reminds me of Candy Shop from Claire's, but it has purple, pink & magenta glitter instead of rainbow. This would be a nice nail polish to use as layering.

What do you think about this nail polish? Do you like glitters with sheer jelly bases? (It's a Trap-eze, Whimsical, etc..)

Here is a picture of my amazing boyfriend, who let me swatch Girly on his fingers! It's been raining really hard all day in my area & I heard it's been cold in many places, so stay warm everyone & happy holidays! :)

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Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation: Medium Beige

Swatches & Review

When I heard about Revlon's new Nearly Naked foundation, I decided to look for it to try it. For a while now, I have been using Urban Decay's Naked Skin Foundation and I am almost out of it. Since hearing about Revlon's new foundation, I decided to try it because it is a lot more affordable than Urban Decay's ($9.99 vs $38). I went to about three drugstores and finally found it at the third one, except the display was so high, I had to find someone to help me look for the shade I wanted.

Before looking for it, I went online and looked up my match. The online match matched me as Medium Beige, which is the color I purchased.

On the left, I have no foundation on. On the right, it is with Revlon's Nearly Naked Foundation.

Without the foundation, you can see the redness and some acne scars on my cheeks. The foundation covers up the redness and some acne scars well. The coverage of this is not full-coverage, but a sheer coverage that is build-able.

Along with the foundation, I also purchased their Nearly Naked Pressed Powder in Medium.

The powder matched well with the foundation and my skin, but I felt like it looked a bit cakey on the face after applying it (which is what normally happens with pressed powder for me). With the pressed powder, it shows some of the dry patches on my skin, so I could definitely do without the pressed powder.

Overall, I like the foundation. It is lightweight, but like Urban Decay's Naked Skin foundation, it is not full-coverage so if you are looking for that, this is not for you. This also has SPF 20, which is also a plus because Urban Decay's Naked Skin foundation does not have any SPF in it at all. I feel that Medium Beige is a bit light for me so if I were to purchase this again, I would go with Warm Beige. The powder was okay, but not needed for me since I prefer to use Urban Decay's All-Nighter spray to set my makeup. Both the Nearly Naked Foundation and Pressed Powder retail for $9.99 each and I purchased mine at Rite Aid.

This is with some blush and bronzer on so my face would not look as pale as it did with only foundation & powder.

What do you think about Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation? Are you thinking about trying it? What do you look for in foundations?

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CVS Beauty Sale: December 2012

Beauty News:

CVS normally runs beauty sale on select items twice a year & since it is now December, it is time for their Winter beauty sale!

I have taken pictures of some items from the sale, but not all because the sale associate was kind of weird about it, so keep in mind that there are more items.

Almost the whole Kardashian NOPI collection is on sale for 50% off. They normally retail for $7.99, so it should be about $4 after the 50% off.

The older line of Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure is on sale for 50% off, along with some Salon Effects.

The whole line of Milani Holographic finish nail polishes is on sale for 75% off, making them around $1.40 each.

The whole line of Wet N' Wild's Wild Shine is 50% off, which makes them $1.50 each since they normally retail for $2.99.

The two sets of Physicians Formula gel liner sets are 50% off.

All of the Wet N' Wild's single eyeshadows are 50% off, which makes them $1 each.

All of Milani's Lip Flash are 75% off, which makes them $2 each.

The whole line of Milani Lipsticks are 75% off, which makes them about $1.70 each.

Other sales that I have seen that are not posted are:
Revlon's Age Defying Foundation 75% off - $3.49 each after sale
Wet N' Wild's Bronzer in Princess for 50% off
Wet N' Wild's Pressed Powder for 50% off, which makes it $2.50 each
All of Wet N' Wild's line of Foundation for 50% off
Selected shades from Covergirl lipsticks for 50% off
L'Oreal's Magic Smooth Souffle Foundation for 50% off - around $8.50 each after sale
Select Revlon nail polishes are 75% off (from what I remember, Minted was one of them)
Revlon's Mineral Blush are 75% off
Select Physicians Formula eyeshadow palettes & pressed powders for 50% off
The whole line of Revlon's Colorburst Lipstick (black quilted caps) for 75% off - $2.65 each

Those were most of what I remember from the sale, but there are a few more left. If you are interested, you should definitely check out your local CVS. Some items are not marked on sale, but you can always price check it at the scanner to see if it is on sale!

What do you think about CVS's Beauty Sales? Do you usually get anything from their sales?

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Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain: Sweetheart

Swatches & Review
I have previously reviewed Adore, Precious, and Honey (Click-able links). Originally, I was not going to get anymore, but while I was at Ulta yesterday, I ended up picking one up. Initially, I went to Ulta to get some NYX products since they were 40% off and my boyfriend asked if I wanted another Balm Stain. At first, I said no, but after a while of browsing, I found a stack of $1 off Balm Stains or Lip Butter coupons on the display so I ended up picking it up since it was 40% off WITH an additional $1 off coupon! They had a whole lot in stock or all the colors and I ended up picking Sweetheart.

Can you tell that it is very bright?

Sweetheart is a very bright pink. On me, it definitely looks like a highlighter hot pink. When I picked this, I expected it to be bright, but not THIS bright. It is very pigmented and it lasted me about two hours before wearing off into a lighter, but still bright pink stain.

By the swatches, it seems bright, doesn't it? I have seen many swatches online of this and I really thought it would be lighter, but I am so wrong! Looking at it, I do not see any shimmers in it like I did for Adore, so if there is any shimmer, it may be very subtle.

For me, I felt like Revlon's Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie was already out of my comfort zone and this is even more out there for me. I like how it looks on me in my room right now, but as of now, I do not feel like I am comfortable wearing this out on its own. Since it is so bright, I am probably going to combine it with Revlon's Precious Balm Stain to tone the color of Sweetheart down so that it will be wearable for me at a more comfortable level. This balm stain glided on smoothly and had a faint minty scent to it. I think if you are comfortable with bright shades, or always wanted to try something bright, this could be the color for you! What are your thoughts on this? Like it? Hate it?

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Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain: Adore

Swatches & ReviewI have previously reviewed Honey and Precious, which was the two I only wanted when they first came out. After a while of using them, I decided to buy another one. This past week, CVS had them on sale for $6.49 with $4 ECB for your next purchase. I went to a few CVS stores and 8 out of 10 stores were completely wiped out of them! One of them only had colors I already had, and another one only had Adore left. Since I have been more comfortable with wearing red on my lips lately, I decided to pick it up.

Adore is like a brown-red to me. It is not like a deep full on red. It has some gold shimmer in it, but it is not too noticeable. Although the swatch on my arm for it does not seem too pigmented, it is definitely more pigmented on the lips. I did not have to go over it multiple times for the color to show up.

I like this shade a lot more than I thought I would. Unlike Precious and Honey, the wear of the color still stayed the same after a some time, while Precious and Honey both turned into a bright colored pink. I don't mind Honey, but Precious was just disappointing for me. I was also a bit hesitant to buy this since I already have Candy Apple from Revlon's Lip Butter line, but this is definitely a lot darker than Candy Apple. What are your thoughts on Adore?

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Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain: Precious

Swatches & Review
Revlon's Precious balm stain is a "nude" colored balm stain. This balm stain took even longer than Honey to find because Target does not sell this shade in stores. I don't know why, but when I went to Target locations, I noticed they only sell the balm stains in 10 out of the 12 shades that are available. However, they do sell it online on Target. Anyway, the only reason why I call it "nude" is because when you first apply it, it does look kind of nude, but after a while, the stain is not so nude. I tried it on yesterday and even though it looked nice in the beginning, I realized it became more of a pink-ish shade a while after. This shade also applies on sheerer than Honey did. On my swatches, it was kind of hard to see it on my arms because it somewhat blended in with my skin, so I put arrows on it! :)

Overall, I was pretty disappointed in this shade. This was another shade I was looking forward to the most & I literally screamed when I finally found it in stores. I wish the stain was more of a nude stain than a pink stain. Although the pink colored stain does look nice, it would have been better if the stain was true to the color of the tube. Now, I kind of wish I tried another shade because when I just look at it, it just seems like I'm wearing a lightly tinted lip balm, and this is way more expensive then a simple lip balm. Maybe next, I'll just try their Creme Brulee lip butter (which I have been holding it off for a while).

Anyway, what are your thoughts on Precious? Have you purchased any other shades from Revlon's Balm Stain line?

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