Becca has so graciously let me write a guest post for her blog when I asked her if I could, which I am so excited about! I thought it was especially fitting since my name is Bethany and I love all things beauty, so keeping the Beauty with a B going!
I recently purchased the Give Me Some Lip set from Sephora. This is a kit with smaller sizes of 6 different lip balms, glosses, and pencils from different high-end brands. It only costs $30 so it is a great way to try out a sample size of a variety of brands and colours before you purchase the full-size product (for instance, the Bite pencil alone retails for $28). After having tried each one out over the past month, here are my thoughts:
6. NARS Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight (0.14 oz)
This was my least favourite of the bunch due to the colour, which was not great for my fair skin. It was a pale pink and made my lips seem to disappear and it felt a bit sticky. Unfortunately, it also has some not-so-nice chemicals in it, like parabens, which I’m not apt to putting on my lips if I can avoid it! It’s too bad, because I was really excited to try a Nars product, but this shade of gloss was not for me!
5. Laura Mercier Lip Glacé in Bare Pink (0.10 oz)
This lip gloss for me was just “ok”. Like the name suggests, this is a very bare pink colour, which was very subtle, so it is best paired as a gloss over a lip stick or pencil to add some shine. It wasn’t too sticky and lasted decently. But for me, I like my lips to have some colour, so I don’t think I’d buy this one again, at least not in this shade.
4. Fresh Sugar Rosé Tinted Lip Treatment (0.08 oz)
This is a lip balm that offers SPF 15 coverage. It applies with a sheer light red colour and definitely makes your lips feel great! It’s made with real sugar, currant oil, antioxidant grapeseed, and vitamins A, C, and E. It’s also free from parabens, sulphates, and a bunch of other nasty chemicals, so you know it’s safe to keep on your lips. It’s called a “treatment” because the product boasts that it has been scientifically proven to keep lips moisturized for up to six hours after your initial application. I didn’t find that it made a huge difference on my lips, but I also haven’t worn it daily because it’s been too much fun switching between all of these 6 different items! But the study was based on 4 weeks of continuous wear and 2 applications per day. Needless to say, it’s a great tinted balm to keep your lips looking and feeling soft. I’m just not sure it’s worth the splurge over your average drugstore variety lip balm.
3. Tarte LipSurgence™ Lip Luster in Glitzy (0.10 oz)
I love Tarte Amazonian Clay blushes, so I was excited to try out a lip pencil from them. It was a tough choice between this one and the Buxom lip gloss for 2nd place. I gave the Tarte pencil the 3rd spot just due to the bulky size of the pencil. This is the largest one in the kit and it’s quite a bit bigger than your average lip stick or gloss, making it not-so-convenient to carry around. That aside, it offers a great, subtle peachy colour with a lot of sparkle and shine to it. It’s definitely suitable for work or a night out. I found it doesn’t last long and needed frequent re-application. But the pencil style does make it easy to apply with no mirror and it’s a twist-up, so bonus! The “LipSurgence” technology that Tarte advertises promises to increase moisture by “an astonishing 6000%”. I didn’t necessarily find that, but it was a moisturizing lip pencil when other pencils can tug on your lips when applying and leave them feeling dry. It’s again free of those icky chemicals like most of the items in this Sephora kit. Verdict: great colour and application, but a bit bulky and didn’t offer the “stain” I like with lip pencils.
2. Buxom® Full-On™ Lip Polish in Dolly (0.07 oz)
Advertised as a “cult favourite”, I can now see why! This is a lip gloss that offers a minty taste and smell to it. It actually makes my lips feel tingly when I apply it, which I love, but I know others may not, so be warned if that’s not your thing! It offers a subtle, dark pink colour with a great shine and shimmer. I’m not sure if I’m imagining it, but it does seem to make my lips look plumper (score!). It looks great on my skin tone and helps pull a look together, especially when you’re playing up another one of your features, such as your eyes or cheeks. It’s not sticky, which I often find is a problem for me with lip glosses, and it makes your lips feel soft. It doesn’t have great lasting power, but it stays on fairly well for a gloss. Even better, it’s made without parabens and sulphates and offers the added benefit of vitamins A and E. It’s definitely going to be a keeper in my makeup collection!
1. Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Rhubarb (0.05 oz)
This was BY FAR my favourite from the kit. Before I even talk about the pencil itself, I need to gush about Bite. Bite is exclusive to Sephora (and Canadian, yay!) and their products are made with food-grade ingredients that are healthy enough to eat! It’s free of parabens, sulphates, synthetics, and much, much more. Ok, now for the pencil! It’s a high pigment pencil, so it applies easily onto your lips. The colour Rhubarb is a fantastic, matte, plummy rose colour, which looks ah-maz-ing on my skin tone, while not being over-done, making it a great every-day wear lip colour with a bit of pop. The lip product contains the antioxidant resveratrol of five glasses of red wine – great colour and antioxidant benefits? Double yay! It also lasts well throughout the day. I probably applied it twice throughout my eight hour work day and it stayed on well with eating and drinking. I found it did bleed a teeny bit without a lip liner, but it was minimal. Unlike other lip pencils I’ve tried, this one didn’t dry out my lips and left them feeling creamy and moisturized. The packaging is also great because it’s a twist up rather than a pencil that needs sharpening. I’ve now re-ordered the full-size version of this pencil from Sephora and always keep it in my purse!
Beauty with a B 