Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Lip Balm - Swatches & Review!

Hello there! It's certainly been a while since I last posted...and I'm slowly trying to get back into the swing of things :)

Today I wanted to bring to you one of my most recent finds in the drugstore that was personally quite exciting. Rimmel London joined on the "Chubby Lip Crayon" trend and released its "Colour Rush Lip Balm" as part of its new Lasting Finish collection in UK towards the end of 2013. A couple weeks ago, I finally spotted them at Shoppers Drug Mart! However, the price tag of $6.99-8.99 (different Shoppers Drug Mart prices varies slightly) was bit high for my liking, so I decided to wait until Target or Wal-Mart stocked them in hopes that their price will be lower.

The waiting did pay off (sort of)! About a week later I found the display at Target for $5.99 each and I was able to purchase with my Target RedCard for another additional 5% off, so I picked up the following 4 colours:

L to R: 120 All You Need Is Pink // 220 Rumour Has It // 300 Viva Violet // 200 Keep Mauving

This product is your standard twist up jumbo crayon, packaging look and feel is basically identical to the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain, Jordana Twist & Shine, etc. It contains 2.5gm (0.095oz) of product, just slightly under Revlon's 2.7g, so there is hardly a noticable difference. The colour of tube is more or less an accurate representation of the lip balm so that's certainly handy.

The full display consisted of 10 colours in the range, apparently that's 3 more colour's than UK's original release of 7 colours.

Permanent display found at Shoppers Drug Mart

Let's jump right into the colours that I picked up :)

120: All You Need Is Pink: Originally I thought this colour was going to be more red because of the colour of the tube, however, once it is applied to the lips it becomes this bright pink colour. It is not a type of barbie pink, it is more like a muted hot pink colour but still carries a hint of fuchsia to deepen it slightly. This colour is definitely one that I will reach for often during the summer months because it alone does such a good job of brightening my complexion, perfect for when I want to keep my makeup to a minimum. Creamy colour with no shimmer particles.

220 Rumour Has It: Everytime I see this shade name I can't help but start humming Adele's awesome song...anyone with me? Anyway, because of its undeniable tie to the famous tune, I imagined this to be a deep dark red colour. But nope, it's still a pink colour, just deeper than "All You Need Is Pink", definitely more opaque lips. This pinky red colour is rather blue-based, and in general can make your teeth appear whiter, which I love. This is one that I'd reach for on a night out :) Creamy colour with no shimmer particles.

300 Viva Violet: A pinky violet/purple colour. Usually these colours, once they have too much purple tones in them, becomes a tad bit too dramatic for me to where on a regular basis. However, because the pink tones are much more prominent in this shade, this colour compliments wintery makeup trends beautifully. Perhaps I will not wear this much during the summer season, but as we are still in the Winter months here in Vancouver, this colour pairs beautifully with my smokier eye shadows and neutral tone cheek colours. It hasn't left my makeup bag in my purse since the day I got it! Creamy colour with no shimmer particles.

200 Keep Mauving: This colour is one of the more neutral in the line up. For myself, my natural lip colour is quite pigmented so this colour perfectly deepens the natural tones of them becoming a great "my lips but better" shade. For people with lips that are less naturally pigmented, this colour leans brown with hints of pinks that I think will be very appropriate for school or work because it's not such a bright colour, but rather able to help achieve the put-together look. Creamy colour with no shimmer particles.

Texture: These lip crayons are very comfortable to wear! They feel light and thin, but the colour payoff is amazing. It glides nicely on the lips with no tugging. However, it does tend to become patchy on any overly dry places on your lips so if you happen to have any of those you might want to add a basic lip balm underneath. All the colours applied creamy and shiny without any detectable shimmer or sparkly particles. I did not find that these dried my lips out at all, but don't expect them to be able to hydrate your lips if they are feeling a bit dry.

Scent & Taste: Straight from the tube I can detect a very faint but distinct sugary sweetness on the product, but it is not quite noticeable once you apply it on your lips. There is no minty scent or tingly feeling to these, so all in all I find them very comfortable to wear.

Colour Payoff: I would have to say colour payoff is perhaps one of the most impressive feature of these lip crayons. Even the light colours that I tested out at the store were able to provide opaque colours in one swipe! I don't have to go over the lips again and again to achieve the colour in the tube for any of these.

Lasting Power: These are not necessary advertised to be super long lasting, but the darker colours did leave a stain on my lips. Wear time is normal, most likely it will need to be reapplied if you were to eat and drink. Without eating or drinking, the original shine wore off in about 30 minutes but the colour was around for about 1.5 -2 hours. Again, because the darker colours do give a teeny bit of a stain effect so you can likely get away with not reapplying until after the 3 hour mark if the lack of shine doesn't bother you much.

Overall: I think these are great value for your money in terms of the amount of product and the quality of the product! I am very happy with the colours that I chose, however I wish the colour range did include one that was more of a true blue-based red. The overall colour range leaned quite pink, even the neutral colours were pink based. That kind of limited the selection of colours so perhaps Revlon still wins in the shade selection department, especially since they added a matte (very impressive) and super shiny line to their chubby lip crayons not that long ago. I say give these Rimmel Lasing Finish Colour Rush Lip Balm a try if you are one who enjoys lip colours that feels almost weightless on the lips but still provides shiny full-on colour in a single swipe :)

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter - 4 NEW SHADES for Spring 2013 - Review & Swatches

Rejoice, Revlon Lip Butter lovers! :) Revlon has released 4 new shades in their The Pacific Coast by Gucci Westman Collection for Spring 2013!

L to R: Juicy Papaya // Pink Lemonade // Sorbet // Wild Watermelon

These 4 shades have very yummy names that are quite fitting for their corresponding colours, all of which appear to be excellent transition shades from Winter to Spring. I personally really enjoy the Revlon Lip Butter line of products because of the excellent colour payoff despite a relatively lightweight formula. I don't find that these lipsticks dried out my lips or emphasized lip lines much, so I have pretty high hopes for these 4 new colours. Consistent with the original line of lip butters, these 4 do not have much of a scent at all.

Let's take a closer look at each of the shades :)

027 Juicy Papaya: Juicy Papaya is the obvious coral colour in the bunch and it contains no detectable shimmer. The swatch on the arm was made with 3 swipes and the resulting colour is rather sheer, especially compared to my previous experience with the Revlon Lip Butters. When used on my lips, it managed to tone down my natural lip colour but the coral/orange colour is not too strong. The colour payoff disappointed me on this one but it still wore comfortably on my lips.

047 Pink Lemonade: Pink Lemonade has such a cute name and it appeared to be such a cute (almost)baby pink colour in the tube. However, once swatched on the skin it was obvious that this is another very sheer colour. If looked at closely, you will notice sparse specks of micro glitter in the tube but it is almost undetectable once applied on the lips. Instead, the finish is a nice glossy sheen of sheer pink. Pink Lemonade is still on the sheer end of the spectrum, but with its non-drying formula, I'd consider this a nice on-the-run, fool-proof, lip product. If you happen to have less pigmented lips than I do, the pink will definitely show up more true to colour of the tube.

053 Sorbet: Sorbet is one of the two bolder shades in the collection; it looks like a bright blue-based fuchsia in the tube. It has a slight see-through jelly-like finish to it, so although not as bright as it appears in the tube, it actually becomes quite wearable! It is a cream finish with no detectable shimmer or glitter, and once applied to the lips, not too heavily, gives a very fresh and healthy look to your lips. It's a great pick-me-up colour, and also pairs nicely with a soft eye makeup look, wonderful for Spring :)

063 Wild Watermelon: Last but not least, we have the final colour of the collection, Wild Watermelon. The name, again is quite fitting to what the colour looks like in the tube. This colour appears to be quite similar to Sorbet, especially on the swatch. Comparing the lipstick bullet side-by-side with Sorbet, Wild Watermelon is evidently more red-based. The extra hint of red is what makes Wild Watermelon appear different on the lips. The colour can also be built up to be stronger than what I have done in my photo, so that in itself makes it quite a versatile colour. This shade is also a cream finish with no detectable shimmer or sparkle.

Overall, I enjoyed these new shades although they are quite different from what I have come to expect from Revlon Lip Butters. Evident in my swatches and lip photos, these 4 shades all run on the sheer side and that was almost unheard of for the 20 original shades released. Those of you who are expecting the colours to be as bright and bold as they appear in the bullet may be disappointed with at least 2, if not all 4, of the new shades. However, I think the fact that the colours are a bit more sheer than the original releases actually made the two bolder shades more wearable and unique as compared to the old Revlon Lip Butters.

Formula-wise, these are all on par with the 20 original releases. Lightweight, glossy, non-drying, and lasts an OK amount of time. The lighter shades, Juicy Papaya and Pink Lemonade tend to be weaker on the staying power, one problem being once they fade a little bit, I can hardly tell if they are there anymore, so I'd say probably 1.5 hours tops for those. The two bolder shades, Sorbet and Wild Watermelon, lasts about 2-3 hours without eating.

Finally, I'd like to mention that as far as I know at this time, these 4 colours are NOT limited edition, as they have been spotted with its own designated slots in permanent displays in the US. Although currently these are still only found with the special collection displays, I'd expect them to reappear in the Canadian Revlon permanent wall displays soon :)

Thanks for reading! What your favourite Spring time lip product?
Joanne

March 2013 IPSY Bag

Another month has gone by and I realize that I've missed both January and February IPSY bag posts, so I am going to try to get back on track again and today we'll start by taking a look at the last IPSY bag by myGlam!

How can we forget about the signature bright hot pink bubble pack envelope? ;) Certainly draws attention!

There appears to be a nautical theme this month and the bag is titled "The Big Escape". Definitely makes me feel like leaving this windy, gloomy, chilly, and rainy Vancouver weather behind and escape into a warm paradise! The contents of this month's bag are suppose to assist you in YOUR great escape and become your best travel buddies. Let's dive right in! :)

The first item that caught my attention was the red thing..

???

Oh it's a mini depotted item holder!

So this strange object turns out to be mini-sized Z-palette-like item that can come in handy when it comes to travelling and packing your makeup items for the trip. The mini palette is cute and sturdy, and I LOVE the name, GLAMRX, I mean, how cute is that? :) As for size, it fits 2 regular pans of MAC shadows (raound, 1.5g), side by side. 

Next, I found two tiny powder eyeshadow samples from a brand called YABY and chosen for me was a beautiful hightlight shade called "Seashell" and a plummy brown colour, great for defining the crease, called "Azalea Petal". The samples are no bigger than the diameter of a dime, but secure perfectly inside the previously mentioned empty mini-palette! Well played, IPSY, I like the continuity of products here :)

Next I found a pack of 8 Makeup Remover Wipes by LA Fresh, the line is travel-lite. Very fittingly names, as makeup wipes are much easier and hassle-free to carry with you a opposed to bottles of makeup removing solutions and cleansers.I didn't open this to check out the scent, as I did not want to risk the sample from drying out before I got a chance to use it. 

 

Finally, I found at the bottom of the bag, a 30mL spray bottle of a hydrating mist by JUICE BEAUTY. I have yet to give this product a try but my initial impression of it was quite good after trying out a small spritz on my hand. I haven't detected any strong or overpowering scents from it, but it does have a light fragrance to it. Hydrating mists, provided that they work as supposed, are excellent alternatives to cream moisturizers and are very handy on the go as you can simply take it out of your purse even as you are out for the day and touch up, rehydrate your skin on-the-go!

All in all, I am quite pleased with this month's IPSY bag! Although the products may not be as exciting at first glance, they are all useful and generous samples that would surely get some good use by me sooner or later :) The bag that it came in was also super cute and a great size and I can foresee myself putting it to some good use too! I will continue to subscribe to IPSY and if you are interested too, you can sign up at the following link: http://www.ipsy.com/

Thanks for reading!

Joanne

(This post contains samples sent via a monthly subscription service provided by IPSY, which I purchased with personal funds. This post DOES NOT contain any affiliated links.)