Thursday 31 July 2008

Crazy Rumors Perk Lip Balm


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I absolutely love coffee. Coffee candles, coffee body lotion, coffee soap and of course coffee lip balm. I'm constantly on the hunt for coffee flavored and scented lip balms. Crazy Rumors balms are amongst my favorite lip balms. They have two different ranges, Perk which are coffee flavoured balms, and Brew which are tea flavoured balms. I haven't tried any of the Brew balms, and have only tried 1 of the Perk balms, but I'm planning on trying them all once I get through my current huge stash of lip balms.

Both lines have 6 different flavors. Flavours for the Perk line are: Mocha, Amaretto, Irish Cream, Hazelnut, French Vanilla and Coffee Bean. Flavours for the Brew line are: Plum Apricot, Orange Bergamot, Apple Spice, Peppermint Lemongrass, Ginger Peach and Spiced Chai.

I purchased a Perk Lip Latte in Mocha and I love it. The scent isn't sweet like other mocha balms that I've tried, it's more true to life, in fact it smells exactly like a mocha really does. As it contains stevia it has a nice sweet taste. The balm is creamy and moisturising with a slightly shiny finish, and lasts a few hours before I need to reapply. If it didn't taste so good it'd probably last even longer, but I lick it off cause of the great taste.

Crazy Rumors balms are all natural and don't contain petrolatum. The ingredients are: jojoba oil, shea butter, candelilla wax, soy wax, olive oil, avocado oil, grape seed oil, vitamin E, carnauba wax, mica, natural flavours and stevia.

Each tube of balm costs $4 (USD) or you can purchase a 6 pack of each different line for $22 (USD).

Wednesday 30 July 2008

Shizen Lip Balm

Shizen (pronounced Shi-ZEN and meaning what is natural, existing as formed by nature, not artifical) is an all Australian company that make products containing 100% natural essential oils and ingredients with nothing artificial.

Being the lip product addict that I am, on seeing a new Australian product in David Jones a few years ago, I couldn't resist buying the lip balm, and I'm very glad I did because I love it. I've gone through so many tubes and pots, and it's something I always restock as soon as I start to run low. I'm really fickle with my products, so the fact that I've repurchased this balm countless times is amazing.

Shizen lip balm is thick and moisturising, it's perfect to use on really dry, cracked lips. It does a great job of healing sore lips, and then once they're healed, it keeps them soft and smooth. This balm doesn't contain petrolatum or any other nasty chemicals.
One of the great things about this balm is that it applies with a soft shine, so can be used alone for those days when your lips are really dry but you still want to look made up. It also works well over lip liner. It has a fresh, lemon scent but no flavour. The scent fades quickly after application.

The ingredients are: Castor oil, organic lanolin, leatherwood honey beeswax, shea butter, lemon myrtle essential oil, sweet almond oil, lime essential oil, vitamin E, Herbalox-o (rosemary leaf extract), gymea lily essence and rose geranium oil.

The stick lip balm can be purchased for $14.95 or the pot balm for $15.95.

Tuesday 29 July 2008

Look what I found!

It's a constant annoyance to me that there are so many amazing products overseas that we don't have access to and that the ones we do eventually get we have to wait at least 6 months until they're released. So I was very excited when I went to Target in Perth city and during my wander through the cosmetics department found Maybelline's Volume Seduction XL Lip Plumper. I've been dying to tell someone about my amazing find, but had no-one around who would appreciate the excitement of my find.

I only noticed these because they have a dark brown case. They had about 5 of them sitting there next to the Shine Seduction Glossy Lipcolours. As soon as I realised what they were, I grabbed one and excitedly headed to the checkout.

There was only one shade available which is 105 Born With It. It looks like a soft, sparkly pink in the tube, but goes on clear with a pretty shimmer to it. It's a little bit sticky, and has a pleasant, soft cinnamon scent to it, that fades pretty quickly. Like most plumpers, it makes my lips tingle, but only for a few minutes.

I didn't notice any plumping effect with this gloss, even after wearing it daily for 2 weeks, but it's a nice gloss and one that I'll probably buy again, especially since it only cost $16.95 (AUD).

Since I found this I've checked other stores and haven't found XL anywhere, I'm hoping they'll get more colours in sometime soon, so I'll just have to keep on checking the city store.

Monday 28 July 2008

Beauty news for Monday

Up until Wednesday 30th of July Ole Henriksen will be answering questions at the Adore Beauty forum. If you have a question for him, log in to Adore Beauty by clicking on the link below.

Adore Beauty

I received an email today about Jurlique's new eye make-up remover. Like all Jurlique's products it's suitable for sensitive skin. According to Jurlique, it's a moisture-based cream that safely, gently, and effectively removes eye makeup and impurities without irritation.

You can purchase a 40ml tube for $28 (AUD).

Jurlique

Sunday 27 July 2008

Mac Select Tint Foundation










In my endless hunt for great foundations I have tried a lot of different ones. Mac's Select Tint is another one of my many purchases.

Whilst it's a nice foundation, there is nothing amazing about it, and I won't purchase it again. But, there is also nothing terrible about it, it's just not what I'm looking for.

Select Tint is more like a tinted moisturiser than a foundation. The coverage is very sheer, almost invisible. It takes at least two layers to even out skin tone and disguise redness. This foundation would be perfect for someone looking for a light, protective foundation.

It is very lightweight and once I've applied it I feel like I'm not wearing anything. As the coverage is so sheer, I normally use this with a powder over the top.

There is an SPF of 15. It is water based and oil free, so doesn't leave the skin looking oily or greasy. The moisturisation is light enough that I can wear it over moisturiser.

In my opinion this is somewhere between a tinted moisturiser and a foundation. It isn't moisturising enough to be worn as a tinted moisturiser and it isn't tinted enough to be worn as a foundation.

I purchased a 50 ml bottle for $48.00, used it for about 2 months, then put it on the back to Mac pile.

My Lip Stuff

One of my most recent purchases has been My Lip Stuff balms. I was very restrained and only purchased 6 balms, and got 1 for free. So far I've only tested out one, the strawberry banana flavour, and I love it!

I purchased the following:
Pink Ribbon Charitabalm $3 (USD)
Lip Tint $3 (USD)
Butterscotch Sundae Tinted Gloss $3.50 (USD)
Vegan Lip balm $3 (UDS)
Cocaramel Kick Gloss $3 (USD)
Strawberry Banana Tube $2 (USD)
Mixed Mystery Tube (this was free with orders over $15).

The regular tube that I got (Strawberry Banana) is so yummy. I can mainly taste the banana, it's a great flavour, not too strong, and tastes good.
It's a very light balm, which means I'm reapplying it a lot, which I'd do anyhow just because of the great taste!
I'm finding that it's fairly moisturising. It's not a balm that I'd use when my lips are really dry, but for everyday use when my lips are in good condition, this is perfect.
It has a great shine to it, so I've been using it alone or when I want a little more colour, over lip pencil.
My Lip Stuff have over 400 different flavours available.
I love their product and service, the only thing that I don't like is the shipping costs. It cost me $14 (USD) to have my items posted to Australia, and considering the actual postage charge to send the package was $5, even with packaging costs, I think $14 is too expensive, so I'm not sure if I'll be ordering again.
And as for the other products I got, I'll post more about them once I've tried them.

Welcome!

Welcome to the first post of my brand new blog. This blog will mainly be about lip products (my main obsession) and make-up, but no doubt I'll also throw in some thoughts about life, love and whatever else comes into my head during the day.

I'm intending to update at least 3 times per week, but we'll see how that goes.

Now a bit about me. I'm a 30 something woman living in Western Australia. I love make-up specifically lip products. I have enough lip products to last me 10 lifetimes, but still I collect more!
I have no formal qualifications to do with make-up, just a lifetime of experience :)