Review + Swatches: Baby Lips Pink'ed Collection "Rose Rush" & Comparisons!

When I read the post over at Nouveau Cheap's blog about the new Baby Lips Pink'ed collection, I was smitten with every single shade. Baby Lips are like Pokémon, I gotta collect them all. The cute packaging, colors, and scents just get me ever time. Not going to lie, I squealed when I saw the full untouched display of these new Baby Lips at my Walgreens! My Walgreens is usually very slow about getting new collections. That was just the perfect Spring Break greeting, a week off and some new Baby Lips! I picked up the shade Rose Rush, and it has become my favorite Baby Lips out of my entire collection! I'm so bummed it's an LE color, so I might just head back over to Walgreens and buy a couple back-ups!

Packaging: The blister card Rose Rush comes in über cute, but the balm itself even cuter! The swivel base is a pretty coral, rosy color and the tube itself is a mega adorable lilac-y, baby pink color. I believe this is the first time where a Baby Lips has has a different color for the swivel base! 

Claims:

Ingredients:

Formula: The formula on Rose Rush feels like some of the creamier colors of the Baby Lips, like Pink Punch or Coral Crush. I feel because it's creamier, it goes on a bit thicker and not as greasy as some of the translucent colors in the collection. I'm one that has luck with the Baby Lips and gets a nice surge of moisture that lasts about 2-3 hours, like the balm itself. I don't mind reapplying it though because I just love it that much. 

Scent/Taste: Rose Rush has the most pleasant, delightful rose scent with a splash of a fruity hint to cut the edge of the floral. I was afraid this was going to have an overwhelming floral scent, but that's not the case at all. The scent doesn't linger on the lips, either. I typically find that Baby Lips have a strange taste to them no matter the scent, but this one is very tolerable. It just has a sweet, fruity taste. If you accidentally get some in your mouth, you don't have to worry about getting a mouthful of something disgusting.

Longevity: I typically don't find that Baby Lips last that long for me but the creamier colors do last a bit longer which was the case for Rose Rush. I can get about 3 hours of wear from this, but the moisture it provides does last a bit longer.

Color: BEAUTIFUL. This is such a gorgeous warm-toned rose color. I am so in love with this color and I can't stress this enough. I thought it would look like Pink Punch, but upon comparing them, Pink Punch is much more blue-toned and appears to have a white base that can look kind of stark or chalky on the lips. Because Pink Punch is so blue-toned, it clashes with my warm-toned skin. I did compare Melon Mania and Pink Punch to Rose Rush, and thankfully they are all very different. Check out below to see the pictures!

Availability: I found mine at Walgreens for about $4.29. They are much cheaper at Walmart, but Walmart doesn't carry LE collections to my knowledge. 

Swatches + Comparisons:

Rose Rush. It's a tad more pink toned in person.

L-R: Melon Mania, Rose Rush, and Pink Punch

Top to Bottom: Rose Rush, Melon Mania, and Pink Punch

Wow! My face! I assure you I'm not 14- I'm cursed with a "babyface". I'm wearing Rose Rush. 

                                                

Overall: Rose Rush is such a beautiful color that's perfect for the transition between spring and summer that I imagine would be flattering on all skin tones. For such a sweet price for the amount you're getting, picking this balm up won't disappoint!

Have you tried Rose Rush or any other colors from the Pink'ed collection? If so, feel free to leave a comment and tell me your thoughts! Thanks so much for reading. <3 

Review: Well at Walgreens Spherical Lip Balm - SPRING/SUMMER COLLECTION!

                                        

   GUYS, I AM SO PUMPED FOR THE NEW WELL AT WALGREENS LIP BALMS. Sorry for the caps overload, I just had to. It was the only way to express my feelings about the new Spring Collection Walgreens has put out! I saw an Instagram pic on Project Swatch's IG and since then I've been on a feverish hunt for these. I FINALLY found them after looking in four different stores. I seriously applaud Walgreens for putting out a collection of traditional and unique flavors. I was expecting the typical "Spring" flavors, but instead I got Pomegranate, Tangerine, Cherry, Blue Raspberry, and Melon Mint. I seriously recommend these! *these lip balms are currently BOGO50%! I'm not sure when this promotion ends, but if you want some, now is the perfect time!*

   I'm not going to write a full review because I already reviewed the formula and longevity on my original post; I'm just going to let you guys know the scent and flavors of the balms. I'll start with the more "traditional" flavors, and then end the post with my absolute favorites: the "weird" flavors.


First up is Cherry. The sphere for this balm looks exactly like the candy cane one, very red. The balm itself is such a cute, cherry red color. It actually does have a tiny bit of a tint, but you really have to build it up to get some color. This balm smells exactly like a cherry Starburst- it smells divine! If you're a fan of cherry, you NEED this one.

This is after about 20 swipes. 

Next is Blue Raspberry! This one immediately caught my eye because I love the color blue and I was hoping and praying it'd be blue raspberry. I'm so happy I was right! This balm is a really pretty blue color, and doesn't have a weird blue tint to it either, lol. This smells kind of like a Blue Raspberry Icee, but not as fruity. It smells a bit more creamy, if that makes sense. I can imagine this being really nice while hanging out at the pool.

Okay, now onto the "weird" flavors!

The most domestic of the weird flavors is probably Tangerine. Tangerine is probably the cutest pastel orange ever. While I'm not quite sure what a tangerine smells like, I imagine this smells like one judging off of other tangerine scented things I've previously had. This one smells really nice and has a refreshing citrusy kick to it! IT's definitely not overwhelming or overpowering, but it really does have a refreshing, exhilarating feel to it from the zestiness.

Pomegranate! Oh how I love thee! The packaging and the color of this balm are the same as the Berry Frost lip balm from the Winter collection, so I was automatically associating it with the weird scent of that one. Thankfully, this pomegranate smells nothing like that one! This one has a really pleasant fruity jam scent, if that makes sense. I'm not too sure what a pomegranate smells like, either, so I don't know if I could say it smells like one, but it definitely doesn't smell like a typical fruit or berry scent. There's almost a hint of acidity in there that prevents this balm from smelling overly sweet.

Last but not least, my absolute favorite, Melon Mint! I was seriously not expecting to love this one as much as I do! First off, yellow is my favorite color so the bright neon yellow instantly caught my attention, and secondly, the balm itself if the cutest mint color I've ever seen! I squee'd so hard when I opened this one. The scent of this balm has such a nice, subtle melon minty scent to it- it almost smells like a tropical drink you'd enjoy while laying in the warm sand on a beach somewhere in Boca Grande. There's an extremely refreshing feeling to this one because of the scent, but also because of the slight tingle you get when you apply it. The mint really has a nice soothing feeling. I imagine during the summer this one being perfect.

Hopefully you'll find these in your area and be able to pick a few up! If you could only pick one, I'd say go for Melon Mint. If you can haul a few, I'd say pick up the rest! Let me know what you think of these if you can find them. Thanks so much for reading <3

Personal Update + Upcoming Reviews + Target Beauty Box!

Hello everybody! I wanted to write a small update on what's been going on for my personal life, as it is having an effect on how often I'm able to post reviews. I've been experiencing some really bad intestinal pain and swelling, along with having issues with my muscles so I've been going back and forth to the Neurologists and GI. I've had so many doctors appointments lately and by the time I get home, I'm completely exhausted and don't feel like I have enough strength to get up, take pictures, swatch, and write a review on products. A couple endoscopies and an upper GI have been scheduled for me in the last half of March, so I'm not going to have much time at all to really be working on my blog. Because I've been so sick recently, I've also been missing school so I have a lot of work I need to make up rather than writing about beauty products. I do have a list of reviews, however, that I will try to crank out before all of the crazy appointments begin! I really don't want to write short, small reviews with no swatches to compensate for my lack of posting because I feel like thorough reviews with swatches are better for judging whether or not to purchase a product. Hopefully you guys will understand and continue to support me <3 Also, I have 1,550+ views on my blog! Thank you so much guys. It really makes my day to see that so many people have viewed my blog. Onto the review list!

Upcoming Reviews:

• Wet n' Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in Dark Wine (522A) & Black Orchid (508A) *
• NEW Well at Walgreens Spherical Lip Balm Spring Collection (I am so in love with these new scents!) - Cherry, Blue Raspberry, Melon Mint, Pomegranate and Tangerine. *
• Wet n' Wild Wild Shine Nail polish in Here Comes Trouble *
• Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish Matte lipstick in 104 & 105 
• Maybelline Colossal Volum' Express Mascara 

The reviews marking with an * will hopefully be up very soon because they're on sale currently at Walgreens and you can get some really great deals on them! Any .99 cents Wet n' Wild product is .69 cents now, so I only paid .69 cents for the Silk Finish Lipsticks and the Wild Shine nail polish. Here Comes Trouble is an LE color so I think the sooner I get the review up, the better! The new Spring Colection of Well at Walgreens lip balms really blew me away and what's even better is that they're BOGO50%! These really blew me away so I really want to share my thoughts and opinions on these. All Rimmel cosmetics are 50% off right now, as well, so it's a good time to stock up or try out some new colors.

Some very exciting news came across my Bloglovin' feed when Nouveau Cheap informed her readers that the Target Beauty Box has been revived and features full sized products, such as the L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara, so as soon as this comes in the mail (which should be very soon) I'll try to get reviews posted ASAP.

I've been toying with the idea of starting a YouTube channel and using that as my main way to post reviews and share some hauls with you guys, as it will be faster and more convenient on my part, but also for you guys so you don't have to read a wall of text. I personally feel that making videos helps you to connect and become closer with your readers, so hopefully I can work on getting that set up <3

Thank you so much for reading!

Quick Review + Swatches: e.l.f Essential Lip Balm Tints in Nude, Grapefruit & Berry

                                           

   After hearing emilynoel83 rave about these e.l.f Lip Balm Tints, I've been on the hunt for them. Much to my disappointment, they've only been available online however, I saw these little guys sitting in a display at Wal-Greens in all their glory. I immediately hauled every shade I could find and promptly went home to take pictures and swatch! These definitely have lived up to the hype and are worth picking up if you see some! These have easily become one of my holy grail long lasting, tinted lip balm! I pray they release more colors.
    I have a new "quick" format of writing reviews so even when I'm busy I can still post more. These quick reviews will just be a more simplified version of a normal review. Onto the star of this post!

Availability:  I purchased mine for $2 each at Wal-Greens, and I only saw the shades Nude, Grapefruit and Berry. However, all four shades are available online for $2 as well on the e.l.f website

Formula: These balms have a thicker, tackier texture that is akin to a NYX Butter Gloss. These are very comfortable in the lips and are not sticky at all. While being thicker, they still have a weightless feel on the lips similar to the NYX Butter Glosses. These are VERY moisturizing, which is perfect for this cold weather we're having!

Scent/Taste: These have a subtle sweet scent and taste.

Longevity:  These last about 4-5 hours due to the tackiness of the balm. The color does lose intensity around 3 hours, but the tint left behind on my lips only begins to fade an hour later. The tint these balms leave behind are very beautiful and provide a nice, even flush of color to the lips. While the glossiness of the balm does fade, the hydration leaves your lips in a plush, silky state.

Claims: taken from the e.l.f website:

"This lightly tinted lip balm gives the perfect flush of color for a beautiful, natural look. The Coconut, Grape, Shea Butter and Rice Wax infused formula conditions lips on contact for long-lasting, hydrating comfort."

This product definitely does give a beautiful, natural flush of color but is buildable to acheive a more pigmented look. These are very conditioning and hydrating, and the tackiness of the formula definitely makes this a more long-wearing tinted balm.

Ingredients: taken from the e.l.f website:   

Polyisobutylene, Paraffinum Liquidum (mineral oil), Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Butylene/Ethylene/Styrene Copolymer, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina), Polyethylene, Butyrospermum Pankii (Shea) Butter, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Fragrance (Parfum), Propylparaben, Methylparaben. May Contain: Iron Oxides (CI 77491 , CI 77492 , CI 77499), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Mica (CI 77019), Red No.6 Lake (CI 15850), Red No.7 Lake (CI 15850), Red No.27 Lake (CI 45410), Blue No.1 Lake (CI 42090), Yellow No.5 Lake (CI 19140), Yellow No.6 Lake (CI 15985)

Packaging: These come housed in a simple, clear acrylic pot with a white plastic lid. I really dislike the pot packaging because dipping your fingers into the product is very unhygienic and just gross, in my opinion. I just "kiss" the product and rub my lips around a bit rather than stick my fingers into the balm.

Bottom line: These Lip Balm Tints provide excellent color and hydration for only $2 a pop. My only gripe is the pot packaging. I would definitely recommend these to a friend or even gift them as nice little pick-me-up's.

These are the most color accurate swatches 

Swatches:

This is the shade Nude on the lips. It's a warm toned beige color that pulls a more peachier color on me. The settling isn't as apparent in person and is much prettier.

This is the shade Grapefruit on my lips. This is such a pretty red-toned coral that leaves behind a subtle coral-y tint. It's a bit more vibrant in person.

         

This is the shade Berry on my lips. It's a very pretty red toned berry color that leaves behind a soft pink tint.

    Sorry for the ever changing lighting, Florida was being temperamental and was sunny one minute and storming the next! Thanks for reading.
Note: e.l.f is cruetly free and vegan!


*I purchased the product(s) with my personal funds, and am in no way affiliated/associated with the company/companies featured in this post. I was not sent any products from the company/companies featured in this post to review.*

Review + Swatches: Forever 21 Love & Beauty Speckled Pink Nail Polish

  Winter is still going strong, but we're nearing the wonderful time when winter eases into spring and pastels become abundant. I'm greeting spring early this year with the Love & Beauty Speckled Pink nail polish!

  Forever 21 has revamped the packaging of the Love and Beauty nail polishes, swapping an oddly shaped bottle to a cute chubby squared one that fits much better in Helmers (you can see the old bottles over at this review by Vampy Varnish!) The cap is removable for ease of application, but some caps are quite difficult to get off while others come off with the lightest tug. 

  As this polish is unnamed, which bothers me, I'm dubbing it "Speckled Pink"! Speckled Pink is a nice, blue-toned pastel bubblegum pink color with matte black hex glitters. The formula was very nice- not too thick, and not too thin. It only took two coats to reach full opacity. I was scared about the brush because it was just a standard, thin long brush but it was very easy to work with. 

Two thin coats of Speckled Pink + One coat of NYC Grand Central Station

 The glitter was easy to work with and dispersed nicely amongst the nail. I didn't have to bother with placement or "dabbling" this polish on. Dry time was fairly standard, 5-10 minutes or so for each coat to fully dry. I just laid down a first coat and about 10 minutes later applied a second, and then followed up after a few minutes with the NYC Grand Central Station (my HG top coat!) There is also a mint counterpart to Speckled Pink called Mint Chip, which I also have and will swatch soon! ^^ 

  Speckled Pink reminded me of Illamasqua's "Scarce" from February 2013, which is also a pink with matte black glitters but Scarce contains larger and smaller glitters and isn't as cool toned as Speckled Pink. If you want the feel of the "speckled" trend for only $2.80, I'd say picking Speckled Pink and it's counterpart Mint Chip will be a fun way to greet spring! 

Bonus bottle shot! This is the most color accurate picture.

Note: I am unsure if these nail polishes are cruelty or Big-3 free.

Thanks for reading! Xoxo~ 

Review: Avon Ultra Luxury Brow Liner in Dark Brown B03

    I have a love-hate relationship with my eyebrows. They are unruly and grow fast. The hairs are a weird wiry texture, making them almost impossible to make an eyebrow pencil work with them. The ashy, gray tone makes purchasing brow products difficult because they're not brown, and they're not black. The darkest color in a brow product is always too dark for me, and the brown shades are always too brown. I picked up the Avon Ultra Luxury Brow Liner in the shade Dark Brown a while ago, almost six months ago, hoping that this shade would have the right amount of gray and brown to it. Thankfully, it did. However, there were a few technical issues I had with this product that doesn't make this product work for me.

Review: Montagne Jeunesse for Men Peel Off Deep Pore Cleansing Masque a.k.a The Spearmint Mask from Hell

   Hi guys! Today I have a peel off mask to review. I recently picked up the Montagne Jeunesse for Men Peel Off Deep Pore Cleansing Masque. The pores around my nose have been looking a little clogged lately, so I decided to give this mask a go and see if it could help with getting some of the dirt out and maybe even reduce the appearence of pores. However, the off-putting spearmint scent and discomfort during wear time made it hard to feel the results were worth it.