Kiss My Sass Cosmetics Lip Glaze Lip Swatches, Review, and Photos

I Purchased This Affiliate Link

I recently polled my Twitter and Facebook about how to format my lip swatches and most people said they preferred having my lip swatches in a side-by-side format as opposed to my previous column format. I hope you find the change to be a good one and hopefully it serves as a better way to compare the lip product to my bare lips.

As part of a recent Kiss My Sass Cosmetics order, I picked three lip glazes, two pigmented and one sheer. As the names imply, The sheer lip glazes are less pigmented than the Pigmented lip glazes and are good for layering or a subtle shine. The pigmented lip glazes have more color and can be worn on their own. By the way, Kiss My Sass has some pretty dang accurate lip swatches of the glosses on their website (always a plus from an indie company!!)

The three I chose were Glamorous, Pink Rush, and Summer Lovin.

Where to purchase: Kiss My Sass*(affiliate link) 
Price: $2.50 for 1 gram by weight and $8.00 for 10 grams by weight of product
Do they test on animals? They do not test on animals. 
Packaging: The sample comes in a 5 gram jar and the full size comes in a squeeze tube with a doefoot applicator.
My Thoughts on the Formulas: These are all Marshmallow flavored which is a light vanilla scent. The lip glazes have a light but not runny formula. These do have some weight to them so it feels like they cover the lips well. These spread evenly on the lips and I didn't think these were sticky at all. I found them to be moisturizing on my lips as my lips felt softer and smoother after wearing them. Wear time on the colors was quite good, about three-four hours with no eating or drinking.

Glamorous

Glamorous: "Clear to sheer white with pink sparkle" In the pot, Glamorous looks like a pearly white-green but when worn, the pink/red sparkle shines through. This would be great for adding a bit of sparkle to a shimmerless lipstick. I did find that the sparkle settled slightly into lip lines.

Pink Rush

Pink Rush: "Rosy pink with a strawberry pink shimmer" this was my favorite color of the bunch, it is slightly brighter in person. It's great as a wearable color and the pink shimmer subtle enough that it doesn't overwhelm the color. If you had to get one color, I'd pick this.

Summer Lovin

Summer Lovin: "Fuchsia with a green shimmer" I think I liked the idea of the color more than the color in person. There's such a strong green shimmer to it that I think is a little too strong for me personally. The base color itself is bright and gorgeous and the fact that it's not a color for me doesn't detract from it. Just be warned that the green shimmer is quite strong.

Final Thoughts

I like these lip glazes because I feel like there's a good variety of colors (both sheer and pigmented) ranging from beiges to brighter colors. I think with indie lip glosses, one can't help but compare them to other brands since it does seem like a lot of them use similar bases. If you're familiar with Darling Girl Cosmetics (DGC) Holo Gloss/Liquid Kiss Luxe, the Lip Glazes in comparison aren't as slippy and feel a little thicker in texture, making them adhere to the lips better in my opinion. Color-wise, none of the lip glazes are holographic in nature like the DGC Holo Glosses but they still do carry colors that are just as unique. Considering that they sell samples of the lip glazes, I'm always inclined to try out more colors!

Have you tried anything from Kiss My Sass Cosmetics? Is anything intriguing?

Disclaimer: I purchased these samples myself as part of a blogger pack. I'm not being compensated for this review and all opinions are my own. The link marked with an asterisk is an affiliate link that gives me a commission based off your use of the link. Feel free to use a nonaffiliate link to make your purchase!

High Voltage Glamazon FOTD

Gift

About a month ago, I entered to win some Milani Cosmetics on Aprill/Glitter.Gloss.Garbage's blog in her Milani Cosmetics Beauty Stylist of the Month Giveaway. She styled a "High Voltage Glamazon" look around a red lip with a "less is more" mantra though the look in question can be worn with any bold lip color.

I won the giveaway and was one of ten who got an amazing box of goodies to recreate her look. Inside was a Milani eyeshadow primer, three eyeshadows in Pearl, Caramel Brown, and Brown Stone, an Easybrow Automatic Pencil in Dark Brown, a Liquid Eye Liquid-Like Pencil in Brown, a Runway Lashes Instant Volume Mascara in Black, a Baked Blush in Rose D'oro, a Easyliner for Lips Pencil in Cherry Pie, and Color Statement Lipstick in High Voltage. All of this retailed for about $60.00.

I recreated the High Voltage Glamazon look using all the products with the exception of the Runway Lashes Instant Volume Mascara and that's because I can't use nonwaterproof mascaras on my curled eyelashes. I substituted it with my Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Volumizing Mascara. I also modified the look slightly by blending Brown Stone over the eyeliner to soften the line. The foundation I was using is Wet n Wild's Coverall Foundation in Medium/Tan. Other than that, I followed the look to the t.

I didn't have the foresight to check if my closeup eye pictures were in focus so I've only got a closed eye picture. 

 I did have some trouble initially with the twistup mechanism for the Easybrow Automatic Pencil and Liquid Eye Liquid-Like Eyeliner Pencil where it wouldn't twist up but it eventually did. I had no problems with the twistup mechanism with the Easyliner for Lips Retractable Pencil.

If you want to recreate this look, you can purchase all the products and read the step by step information on Milani's website. Thank you Milani and Aprill for the giveaway!

I'd love to see you guys recreate this look!

Introduction to Kiss My Sass Cosmetics: Pout Perfector Plus Lip Scrub Review

I Purchased This Affiliate Link

To continue my effort to try more indie brands (for my sake as a consumer and yours as a reader!), I recently purchased a Beauty Blogger Pack from Kiss My Sass Cosmetics* (affiliate link) that included ten samples of my own choosing. While the brand isn't new to me as a reader (I'm fairly confident I heard about them first from Phyrra), they were new to me purchase-wise. I got a few product samplings from their entire line and I'll be covering their lip glazes, lip tints, lipstick, eye primer, and eyeshadow in separate posts (lip glazes in one, lip tints and lipstick in the next, eye primer in another, and the last on the eyeshadows). 

Since they are new to the blog, I thought I would share a bit of backstory on the brand before I get to my review.

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Brand History:

Kiss My Sass originally started out as Suds n Sass, selling bath and body products and they eventually evolved into Kiss My Sass selling cosmetics. They offer a wide range of products ranging from your typical eyeshadows to eyeshadow primer, lipstick, lip tint, blushes, and recently cream highlighters and cream blushes.

I do like it when indie companies offer more than just one product line, I feel like seeing a variety in the kinds of products they offer means that they're really interested in innovating their line. The website also has pretty damn good product pictures and swatches, one of the best I've seen from any indie company and as a consumer, I love seeing good and accurate photos.


The majority of their products have a vegan base though the colorants for individual colors may not be vegan. Thankfully, each product listing has an indicator of whether the product is vegan or not. The eye primers are not vegan but will eventually be reformulated to be. 

The website setup is one of the best I've seen from an indie company (maybe the best). The product pictures are dead on and there are pretty damn good lip swatches of their lip products (good swatches always make me weak at the knees). The trouble with indie companies in a sense is the inaccessibility for a consumer to touch and play with the cosmetics so when I see good swatches and product photos like this, I'm much more compelled to try them and also encourage others to do do.

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Today, I'm reviewing their Pout Perfector Plus, a sugar-based lip scrub. While winter is over, I still find my lips need TLC and this lip scrub fits the bill. When I bought this lip scrub along with the rest of my Kiss My Sass order, I didn't expect to like it as much as I do. I think there was a bit of a cognitive dissonance where I was thinking "If it's that cheap it can't be that good but if it's good then it shouldn't be that cheap" Well this is cognitive dissonance of the best kind and needless to say, I'm hooked. Mine is flavored with Peppermint which I adore and it brings a slight minty taste to the sugary sweet base. 

Granted, I could make my own lip scrub using one of the numerous recipes out there on the internet but as cheap as that process could be, I'm much too lazy to go through the motions of making up a batch whenever I needed it plus this comes in an extremely convenient packaging. This was $3.00 and is customizable with an option of twenty different fragrance and essential oils (I picked Peppermint this time but I'm planning on getting Lemon Pucker next)

Where to purchase: Kiss My Sass*(affiliate link)
Price: $3.00 for 5 grams/ .17 oz of product
Do they test on animals? They do not test on animals. 
Packaging: The lip scrub is packed in a chapstick style lip balm tube with a pink cap.
My Thoughts on the Formula: The lip scrub is the perfect mixture of grainy sugar to lip balm base. The formula is quite firm and the sugar stays fairly suspended in the balm in a so you get the exfoliation you want without much sugar getting on your lips afterwards. I did purchase the "Plus" version which contains more sugar in the mixture than the regular "Pout Perfector". I do think there's the right amount of sugar in this "Plus" formulation, the level of exfoliation and roughness is enough for me but if your lips are a little sensitive or you're not used to lip scrubs, you might be better off trying the original "Pout Perfector" formula.The grains of the sugar are a medium grain, not too chunky that they'd hurt but not too fine that you don't feel them. I feel like the swatch on the website makes it seem like the grains are gigantic but they're really not. It's also an all vegan product.

How to use: Using the lip scrub is easy peasy. Simply rub it on your lips like a typical lip balm and let the sugar do all the exfoliating work. There will be sugar left on your lips that you can lick away or wipe off (I usually just wipe it off). Since mine's in Peppermint, it smells like a lovely chewing gum.

When you first open the tube, it'll look all smooth and rounded at the top because the sugar will have settled a bit beneath the surface of the balm. The first time you use it, you'll find that it's not very scrubby but after wearing through the top layer it'll start becoming scrubbier as the sugar starts doing its work.

Here's how scrubby it starts looking after you've used it a few times.

Final Thoughts:

You all know I do a ton of lip swatches and springtime is the best season for me to do them (there's the perfect amount of lighting with very little overcast) and that requires super perfect looking lips. This helps exfoliate my lips while providing some moisturization from the balm base. It may not necessarily be a necessity for everyone but honestly, for $3.00 you won't lose anything by trying it out.

Disclaimer: I purchased this product myself. The link contained in this post is an affiliate link that gives me a commission based off your use of the link to make a purchase. Feel free to use a nonaffiliate link to make your purchase (if you do decide to!). The commissions I make just help support the site.

PHAMExpo Giveaway: Win Two Tickets to Attend!

Hot on the heels of my post about the Professional Hair and Makeup Exposition (PHAMExpo for short), I'm bringing you the opportunity to win two tickets to attend the show (tickets courtesy of PHAMExpo!). You could easily keep one for yourself and bring along a friend to shop with!  If you'd like more information on the show, feel free to read my last post on PHAMExpo. PHAMExpo will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center June 29th and 30th.

You're entering to win the VIP two-day passes that allow you to attend during their Pro-Hours on Saturday and Sunday so you get to do your shopping early before the rest of the public is allowed access. Pro hours on Saturday are 8:30am-10:30am, regular hours are 10:30am-6:00pm. Pro hours on Sunday are 9:30am-10:00am, and regular hours are 10:00am-5:00pm.

I don't want these tickets to be wasted so please enter only if you live in the LA and surrounding areas or will be able to be in the LA area during the time of the convention. This means I will only have it open to US residents. You must be able to provide your own transportation, lodging, etc for the show. Please don't enter if you don't think you will go.

The rules are pretty simple, just two mandatory ones and several optional ones for you to do if you choose to. The giveaway will run for two weeks until 4/29 12am EST.

If you want to purchase tickets yourself, one day tickets are $35 and two day tickets are $60 (until May 26th) and price will go up to $45 and $75 respectively after May 26th. These are the prices for general admissions but if you're a student or a professional, there are discounts that apply. Even if you don't want to enter my giveaway here, still feel free to like PHAMExpo on their Facebook and Instagram as they often hold giveaways there.

Boost your chances by also entering to win two passes over at Phyrra's blog!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions: Open to US residents only. Retail value of the prize is $120 (each ticket retails for $60). Must be age of majority in your state to enter. Winner will be contacted by email after the giveaway ends. If they do not respond within three days, I reserve the right to pick another winner. If you have any additional questions - feel free to send an email (contact information is under the tab "Contact") Void where prohibited by law. The giveaway prize is provided by PHAMExpo. I'm not being compensated for this giveaway. 

EOTD: Fyrinnae Witchy Woodland Creatures

I purchased this Press Sample

I may have finally figured out how to better take EOTD photographs in natural daylight. I was never quite able to get them focused when I took photos without a flash but I may have figured it all out. I think the could still be better but it's a work in progress!

This is a simplistic eye of the day using Fyrinnae's Witchy Woodland Creatures. I was inspired to get the color because of Mandy so I had to replicate the EOTD (it also shows how slightly different the color looks on my skintone versus hers!)

Products Used

Senna Totally Transforming Eyeshadow Primer in Tan
Fyrinnae Witchy Woodland Creatures Eyeshadow
Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Medium Brown and Dark Brown (the dark shade from the Medium Brown duo and the light shade from the Dark Brown duo)
Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Volumizing Mascara

Anyway, I hope your week has been as good as mine! Good news on the grad school front plus the boyfriend found out his application for an apartment was accepted. Change is a good and scary thing.

Disclaimer: I received the Senna Primer and Anastasia Brow Powders as a gift from The Makeup Show LA. Everything else I purchased.

Sephora Chic Week Wishlist

Affiliate Links

While I won't be partaking in the Sephora Chic Week sale (If you're a VIB, use the code CHICWEEK starting today thru Monday April 22 for 15% off and if you're a regular BI, use the code BICHIC or CHIC starting tomorrow thru April 21st also for 15% off), I thought I'd still share my wishlist of things I want to get (but will be attempting to restrain myself against). I have affiliate links set up in the widget but if you'd like, feel free to use nonaffiliate links. If you do decide to use nonaffiliate links, at least use Ebates (for an additional 4% cashback, you can sign up via the banner in the Affiliates section of the Sidebar)

Silk Naturals Spring 2013 Hot in the City Collection Promo Pictures and Swatches

Here are some promo pictures and preview swatches of Silk Naturals' new Spring 2013 Collection, Hot in the City. The collection features new cream eye colors, cream blushes, lip products, and a new monthly Gift with Purchase Club!

(All images taken from Silk Naturals)

This collection will premiere their new cream eyeshadows, the Chromatics Cream Eye Colors! These are packaged in a lipgloss tube with a doefoot applicator for easy application. These will retail for $4.99 for a 4.5mL of product. 

These don't contain any parabens, silicones, oils, or petroleum based products.

Swatches

The Slick Sticks featured in the collection are new; they are actually same formula as the Amplifying Lip Glaze but without the lip plumper and minty tingle and with a vanilla scent. If you liked the Amplifying Lip Glazes but weren't into the tingle, this may be right up your alley! These retail for $3.99 now but will increase in price May 1st.

Swatches

The collection rounds off with some face products, a cream blush and cream bronzer. You get a slim line tube for $4.50.

Swatches

Fun Stuff! This section includes a new black blending sponge (similarly styled like the Beauty Blender/Sonia Kashuk sponges) and a GWP monthly club. The blending sponge is $4.99 and there are several options for the GWP clubs.

The chromatic cream eye colors look potentially interesting; cream eyeshadows aren't usually offered by indie colors much less ones that are paraben, oil, silicone and petroleum by product-free. I might not get anything yet but maybe in the future!

Is anything catching your eye?

Beauty Trade Show Announcement: PHAMExpo 2013

Hey everyone, I wanted to share this announcement of a new beauty trade show coming to Pasadena in June. I'll be attending this show so I hope to see you guys there too! I think everyone was previously used to the idea of IMATS LA in June so this hits the spot for anyone wishing to attend a trade show during the summer when the weather is warmer (though it never gets too cold in January).

Stay tuned and follow their Facebook and Instagram! They often do giveaway for tickets (and you may want to keep following me!)

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PHAMExpo Professional Hair and Makeup Show - Pasadena June 29th-30th

Beauty Extravaganza Open To Experts and Non-Professionals Alike

(Pasadena, CA) – Thousands of makeup artists, hair stylists, vendors, manufacturers and enthusiasts will descend on the Pasadena Convention Center on June 29th and 30th to discuss, display, discover and learn from internationally famous beauty experts. Completely new this year, PHAMExpo, a two-day hair and make-up show, is poised to take the world of beauty by storm. PHAMexpo promises to be the ultimate place to discover the latest and greatest products, cutting edge technology and up-to-the-minute hair and makeup trends. Highlights include discounted shopping opportunities, seminars by the industry’s top experts, and demonstrations by some of the world’s most talented artists and stylists.

PHAMExpo is a great place to learn professional makeup secrets of top artists working in print, fashion, film, TV and theater industries. Talented artists this year include celebrity artist Valenté Frazier (Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum), Emmy winning artist Kevin James Bennett and YouTube sensation Kandee Johnson. These artists as well as world-famous hair stylists will be teaching classes and demonstrating techniques and styles throughout the weekend on three separate stages.

The show’s sponsors, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC), Lime Crime, Royal & Langnickel Brush Company and Naimies Beauty Center, will all have a major presence at the show.

Throughout the weekend, make-up companies will unveil new products and tools and offer discounts on must-haves. Cutting edge make up companies will be well represented by, Addiction NV Cosmetics, Eye Kandy, Sugarpill, Violent Lips, Yaby, Saucebox and Pursebuzz, as well as industry pioneers and popular favorites Stila Cosmetics, MAC Pro, INGLOT and Eve Pearl.

Providing inspirational demonstrations and information for those wishing to explore a career as a professional makeup artist, will be representatives from April Love Pro Makeup Academy, Empire Makeup Academy and Ruby Makeup Academy.

PHAMExpo will be held Saturday, June 29 from 8:30 am-5 pm and Sunday, June 30 from 10 am-5 pm at the Pasadena Convention Center located at 300 Green Street, Pasadena, CA. Tickets are priced from $35- 65. More details on speakers, educators, vendors and special events are at www.phamexpo.com or on Facebook @PHAMExpo

Fyrinnae Enchanting Otters and Witchy Woodland Creatures Eyeshadow Swatches

I purchased this Gift

With my recent purchase of the 50s Retro Eyeshadow, Finishing Powder, and Lip Lustres, I also got two eyeshadows, Enchanting Otters and Witchy Woodland Creatures. I asked to get Enchanting Otters as my free sample (since they usually give one with each order) but I think a combination of their kindness and perhaps my lack of clarity meant they gave me the sample as a free gift.

Both colors are amazing which is typical for Fyrinnae eyeshadows and this is just a quick swatch post so you can see how lovely they are.

(I usually like to photograph my products in alphabetical order but I totally forgot to set it up this way in the photo and I was too lazy to rephotograph >>)

Where to purchase:  Fyrinnae.com
Price: Eyeshadows: $2.25 for a 1/3 tsp mini, $6.25 for 3 grams (by weight) of eyeshadow for full sizes.
Do they test on animals? They do not test on animals. All their products are vegan.
Packaging: The eyeshadow minis are in a 3 gram jar with no sifter and the full size eyeshadows come in a 5 gram jar with no sifter

Swatch

Both eyeshadows were swatched dry over Milani Eyeshadow Primer and photographed in natural daylight with no flash.

Enchanting Otters: "Lush shimmering emerald green, filled with a rainbow of sparkle" I wouldn't call this a typical emerald green, I think there is a little too much blue when compared to other emerald greens that have been coming out. I think it could be considered more like a dark teal. Of course my camera didn't capture the amazing rainbow filled sparkle this has, it's very similar to the jar picture when worn!

Witchy Woodland Creatures: "Glimmering, multi-faceted cocoa taupe. Shades of copper and silver, with hints of pink, gold, and green shimmer on a neutral taupe-brown base". Not even a mention or a hint of purple in this description meant I automatically loved it. The color towards the top half of the swatch is more accurate. When the light hits it, it shines a brilliant cocoa with a hint of a pink sheen. I got it after seeing this FOTD/EOTD by Mandy (my worst Fyrinnae enabler)

I'm a fan of both colors and I think both are worth at least getting in a mini!

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I may have gotten a haircut this week during my Spring Break. My hair was getting a little too long (I defined too long as "being able to put it into a ponytail" and after this cut, it'll take some time to get back to that level!) so it was time for a cut. Feel free to check out my haircut with this picture from my Instagram.

It feels so strange that in a little over a month, I'll be graduating and then in few months, I'll be starting grad school. It's a weird feeling because just two weeks ago, I despaired about the uncertainty of my future and now it's all set up for the next three years (two years of grad school then nine months doing a fellowship year). Two hours before I found out I got accepted, I was lamenting to the boyfriend about having to go through the application process again and spending all this money again to have a group of people judge me and my potential based on my past performance. Thankfully now I just have to get through this last month.

Beauty Blog Coalition Weekly Roundup - Week of 3/29

Here's last week's beauty posts from the Beauty Blog Coalition! I hope you enjoy reading them all!

Fabulous Awesomeness: Mina Slater shares how you can win 2 sets of the NAAT Brazilian Keratin Collection by nuNAAT! It's a GOGO (get 1, give 1) giveaway so you could snag a full set for you and a friend!

My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog: Laura from My Newest Addiction Beauty Blog shows us her favorite lipsticks from Rimmel London: Kate Moss Collection.

Lola's Secret Beauty Blog: Helen from Lola's Secret Beauty Blog is utterly smitten with the Maybelline Color Whispers, and loves them so much that she went back for two more in pink!

Mama Fashionista: March Julep It Girl Unboxing!

BeautyTidbits: Harshleen is celebrating her 3rd blog anniversary with a giveaway! Enter to win!

Confessions of a Sarcastic Mom: Destany tests out FEVERshadow from Wishful Bath & Beauty is the stunning Rue's Wildflowers!

TheFabZilla: Giveaway alert: Enter to win Too Faced Better Than False Lashes via TheFabZilla. Ends 4/7/13.

D.G.S.Beauty: LA FRESH is refreshing. You will be wanting these items in your purse today.

Painted Ladies: City Color Beauty's Elegantly Bold is a budget-friendly palette that packs a punch!

The Advice Sisters Beauty, Fashion & Lifestyle Website: PONDS has some user-friendly, really affordable and brand new skincare items that smell like roses.

In Her Makeup Bag: Stephanie shares an easy eye makeup trick to simplifying your beauty routine (or for days you're just feeling lazy)

Beauty by Miss L: This week Miss L showed one of her favorite daily look done using MUA Undressed palette.

Beauty Professor: The Beauty Professor discusses her way of using the Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate compact in Intensity 01!

The Lacquered Lady: Try your hand at this easy and fun nail art from The Lacquered Lady.

Pamm Blogs Beauty: The MAC Matters Challenge Continues!!! See how Pammy Blogs Beauty is continuing to build her MAC Core Collection with (less than) $21 a Month!!!

Peppermint Lips Beauty Blog: Nyx Angel Blush Review and Swatches!

Endless Summer: Elena opens, applies and closes Vault Lip Gloss with one hand!

Portrait of Mai: Mai swatches and reviews some choice eyeshadows, finishing powder, and lip lustres from Fyrinnae's 50s Retro Collection!

More Fyrinnae Lip Lustres Lip Swatches, Review, and Photos

I purchased this

As part of my Indie Lip Swatch series (more info here), I purchased a few more Fyrinnae lip lustres to swatch. I updated the page and have started compiling Sets of swatches according to color. I'll add these swatches to the sets when Flickr starts behaving! Feel free to give me more suggestions on brands to try out. I purchased Ghost's Kiss, Masala, Meloncholy, Ocelot, Visual Kei and received Dragon's Blood as a free sample.

Where to purchase: Fyrinnae.com 

Price: Lip Lustres: $2.00 for a 1.5 mL trial size, $7.00 for 10mL. I've gotten more than 3-5 applications in the trial sizes FYI.
Do they test on animals? They do not test on animals. All their products are vegan.
Packaging: The trial size lip lustre comes in a lilliputian clear gloss tube tube with a doe foot applicator. The full size lip lustres come in a larger clear gloss tube with silver accents and a doefoot applicator.

I did want to make a point to say that when Fyrinnae says "matte" when describing the colors, that doesn't refer to the actual finish but instead to the lack of sparkle. I neglected to mention this before but the mattes actually have a satin finish. Most are one coaters, the shimmery ones usually look better with two.

I feel like these are almost like a liquid lip balm The mango seed butter and jojoba oil add moisturizing properties and a pleasant mouth feel with that wears down into a plush finish after an hour though the color is still there (for about three to four hours total). I used to be weird about the plush finish after the lip lustres had worn down but I'm actually used to it now, it's kind of like wearing a satin lipstick. These are not lip gloss btw but a nonsticky lipcolour. The lip lustres are described as being a "dry" product because they pack so much color in them but they're not drying. I've found that the shimmery colors have a "drier" (as in thicker) texture compared to nonshimmery colors. The shimmery colors are less prone to feathering than the nonshimmery colors and that's mainly because of the drier texture. These aren't sticky like the description says.

You can stave off feathering with the nonshimmery colors by making sure to apply the thinnest layer possible at the outside edges and more towards the middle but if you're not up to wearing a lipliner or a product that helps prevent bleeding or feathering,  I probably wouldn't recommend getting the nonshimmery/matte colors. 

Swatches

All the lip lustres were swatched using the doefoot applicator and the number of coats needed are denoted under each swatch. All pictures were taken in natural daylight with no flash.

First here's an arm swatch and then there will be individual lip swatches afterwards.

Dragon's Blood

Dragon's Blood: "A deep, rich, cool matte maroon-red, inspired by the campy lipsticks of the 1920s". This was one coat. I know, the name probably doesn't conjure up the most appealing image regarding the color (and I'm sure the name could be seen as humorously incongruous considering the brand's devotion to producing vegan and cruelty free products) but it's beautiful, it truly is. Don't think that the word "blood" means it's synonymous with a yucky brown toned red, this is quite the sophisticated deep berry. This actually was my free sample and one of my favorites of the group.

Ghost's Kiss

Ghost's Kiss: "Slightly shimmery 'nude' with hues of copper and pink" This was two coats. Is it weird that the first thing I thought of when I read the name was Casper the movie? I watched that VHS so many times and had a major adolescent crush on the actor that played the human version of Casper. I wouldn't call this slightly shimmery, it is quite shimmery almost veering into metallic. Two coats is a bit much for me for daily wear but one coat is quite lovely.

Masala

Masala: "Deep tan 'nude'" This was two coats. I'll admit, I was a little disappointed in the color. I was hoping for a straight on beige but there's a pink sheen to this that I didn't expect. For some reason it looks kind of dated to me and I'm not sure it's a flattering color for me.


Meloncholy

Meloncholy: "A bright coral-melon shade with a slight shimmer" This was two coats. The pink shimmer peeking behind the coral/melon base is so beautiful. The base itself is quite orange but the shimmer helps add the hint of coral.


Ocelot

Ocelot: "Matte warm dusty-rose pink, very close to the soft pink of an Ocelot kitten's paw pads and nose" This was one coat. The color actually reminds me of Haagen Dazs Strawberry Ice Cream; there's a milky dustyness to the pink that doesn't veer into a pastel pink reminiscent of baby showers. I think this is a difficult color for me to pull off, it's too milky and pale for my skintone I think. It doesn't really sink well into my lips and I find that it does highlight imperfections. I think a lighter application or as a layering color would be better for it.

Visual Kei

Visual Kei: "A very bright pink, with a nearly matte finish". This was one coat. This is so bright and saturated, it'll stain your lips just by looking at it. The stain will go away with a good makeup remover though. I was inspired to get Visual Kei after seeing Mandy swatch it (her lip lustre swatch post is worth checking out btw). This was my favorite of the group, despite it staining.

Final Thoughts

The colors are lovely but I will admit that the formula may not be for everyone. While they are moisturizing, the nonshimmery colors are prone to bleeding and feathering (the shimmery colors less so). They do counter this by offering a variety of unconventional colors that you may not get anywhere else (including color changing ones!). For the super conventional colors (like Dragon's Blood), I think you may be able to find a similar color elsewhere (though not necessarily the moisturizing aspect). The wear time is pretty good though (it can last two to four hours total). I would definitely recommend Visual Kei (just beware of the staining!)

Disclaimer: I purchased these lip lustres myself. I was not compensated for this review and all opinions are my own and honest. None of the links in this post are affiliate links.