Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain in Cannes Crush: Swatch and Review

I Purchased This

Revlon is jumping onto the bandwagon with their version of a balm/gloss/stain lip product with the Colorstay Moisture Stains. The hybrid product follows the footsteps of other items such as the L'oreal Caresse Wet Shine Stain, Wet n Wild Vicious Varnish High Shine Lipstain, Maybelline Color Elixir, etc etc.

I haven't tried all the reincarnations other than the L'oreal Caresse Wet Shine Stain which I personally wasn't impressed with. However, I am extremely pleased with Revlon's incarnation!

I purchased the shade Cannes Crush (always gravitating to my native France!), a watermelon coral.

Where to Purchase: Drugstores that stock Revlon, I purchased mine at Rite Aid
Price: $9.99 for .27 oz/ 8.0 mL of product. 
Do they test on animals?: The company does not.
Packaging: The Moisture Stain comes in a rectangular tube with a rectangular handle with a pentagon tip (square at the bottom, triangle on top). 

Formula:

The formula is a little hydrophobic so make sure your lips are patted dry so it'll apply evenly. The Moisture Stain gives off a stained translucent shine as if you ate a popsicle and added a clear gloss on top. It reminds me of the OCC Stained Gloss, that squishy jelly-like finish but with the ease of a tube and wand. I did notice some settling into lip lines in the closeup picture but it's not apparent from a normal distance. I do think the formula needs some working into your lips, it applies better when smoothed on.

Although you can get away with one coat, for this shade two coats gives it the most color and shine. Some of the other colors in the line look fairly pigmented so you may not need two coats. It's not watery or sticky on the lips; it's comfortable and feels like you're wearing a heavy coat of lip balm. It does appear more pigmented than the other similar products available on the market. The smell is slightly plasticy but it goes away very quickly.

After wiping off the remnants, my lips were slightly stained a light coral but it's not a super pigmented stain. My lips didn't feel dried out at all, I actually found it to be hydrating on my lips.

Wear time:

Wearing two coats, by the three hour mark the shine was reduced but the color was still there. I've gotten up to about four hours of good wear so it does wear like a typical lipgloss. It's not long-wearing by any means.

Swatch:

As always, the photos were taken in natural daylight with no flash. The swatch is two coats of the Moisture Stain.

Conclusion:

The wear time isn't extraordinarily long but I think it's average for this gloss/stain/balm hybrid. I'm also pleasantly pleased that there isn't a strong scent to the formula. I like that it's hydrating on my lips and the jelly-like look is beautiful. The rest of the colors in the line look to be similarly pigmented too. I'm very happy with it and am thinking about getting another one!

Disclaimer: I purchased this myself. All opinions are my own!

ipsy Glam Bag May 2014 Overview

I Purchased This Referral Link

I recently received my ipsy Glam Bag for May but I've been holding off on posting about it due to my feelings about the contents inside. Still though, I do want to cover it in case there are people who are interested in the subscription service!

This month's theme is "Fresh Picks", and seems to emphasize skincare and natural beauty for the Spring and Summer. Judging from the other picks that subscribers got, it was a skincare heavy month and I personally wasn't fond of the items I got. Last month's was makeup-heavy (which was what I signed up for) so the heavy skincare items made the bag rather lackluster. I did like the design of the bag the items came in with, it's a canvas bag with a leaf design that was much nicer than last month's record bag.

In my bag I received: Boo-Boo Coverup Concealer in Medium, Eva NYC Therapy Session Hair Mask mini, Jersey Shore Sun Sans Tan Anti Aging Sunscreen Mini, La Fresh Travel-Lite Makeup Remover Wipes, and Pacifica Mineral Eyeshadow Duo.

Swatches of the concealer and eyeshadow

Unfortunately, the Boo-Boo Coverup is too light for me so it's not very useable. The Jersey Shore Sunscreen is Zinc Oxide based which means it applies very white and light on my skin (and can cause flashback in photos), and the La Fresh makeup wipes have a displeasing scent. The Pacifica eyeshadow isn't bad but a tad powdery and since I don't have particularly dry hair, the hair mask was just okay for me.

What's the value of the bag?

Boo-Boo Coverup in Medium (Full Size): 10 mL/.34 oz valued at $20.00 

Eva NYC Therapy Session Hair Mask (Mini): 60 ml valued at $12.00
Jersey Shore Sun Anti Aging Suncreen (Mini): .5 oz valued at $12.50
La Fresh Travel-Lite Makeup Remover Wipes (Mini): 8 wipes valued at $2.49
Pacifica Mineral Eyeshadow Duo: Not available, value not assessed

Total Bag Value: $46.99.

I'd say that I'll most likely get the most use out of the Hair Mask and the Eyeshadow Duo. Despite that, it's still a pretty high valued bag.

If you'd like to subscribe to the Glam Bag, feel free to use my referral link*. Although I am a little disappointed in this month's bag, I'm hoping that redoing my quiz will make it so I receive more makeup items next month!

Disclaimer: I purchased the ipsy Glam Bag. The link marked as an referral link gives me points that I can use to redeem for products on ipsy's website!

PSA: Sephora Favorites Sun Safety Kit

I Purchased This Affiliate Link

Sephora is collaborating again with The Skin Cancer Foundation to offer their annual limited edition Sun Safety Kit. For $32, the kit contains 16 samples and minis of sunscreen, tanning, and bronzing products in a canvas bag. $20 of your purchase goes towards The Skin Cancer Foundation (I love it when companies are transparent about how much goes to a foundation/charity, as opposed to listing "proceeds" and not giving a defined amount).

It is available online (affiliate link) and it is also in stores (which is where I purchased mine). You can look up the stock in your local store and hopefully you'll be able to pick it up.

Here are the contents inside the bag! The retail value of the bag is $177 and it's an excellent value. 

Disclosure: The link marked as an affiliate link gives me a commission based off your use of the link. Feel free to use a nonaffiliate link!

Olay Fresh Effects Dew Over Hydrating Gel Moisturizer Review

Sponsored

A big trend in moisturizers lately has been the gel formulation so I was pleased to receive a sample of the Olay Fresh Effects Dew Over Hydrating Gel Moisturizer to review from PopSugar Select. Having normal to oily skin that's also acne prone, I think it can be a challenge to find a moisturizer that is hydrating enough to my skin (to prevent my skin from overproducing oil) without being too heavy that it causes breakouts. I think for oily skin, a gel moisturizer can be a godsend since it's light enough to hydrate but won't go too heavy.  

To read more, please click the link below!