Review: MAC lipstick in 'Capricious'

Today's review is of my newest MAC lipstick purchase, 'Capricious.'

This lustre lipstick is a beautiful reddish berry color that I thought would be lovely for the Winter. First let's start with the packaging:

MAC lipsticks come in a little black cardboard box with the name at the end so you know what you're gettin! On the inside of the cardboard flap there's a reminder that lipsticks are part of MAC's recycling program 'Back2MAC.'  The lipstick itself is in a black, plastic, bullet-shaped tube complete with silver detail and the name and finish of the lipstick at the bottom  of the tube.

I just love the way MAC lipsticks look. The shiny silver and nice weight to the tube feels so luxurious and they look ultra feminine yet sleek.

Swatchy swatch. As you can see, this color is a reddish berry. I think this is far more berry rather than mauve and the formula (as most MAC lustres are!) is so luxuriously smooth and moisturizing. However, the moisturizing component of the lipstick does NOT effect the pigmentation as this puppy still has pigment!

Pretty berry :) This color kind of demands a lip liner (which I didn't wear in the photo) because since it is so soft and glossy like a lip balm, it can be a tad splotchy and wear off rather easily. It reminds me a lot of the color 'Syrup' in that sense.  A lip liner would help lock in the color, however, so this is an issue easily fixed!

Overall, I'm lovin' this color and think it was a great purchase for my pale skin and ultra dry lips.  This color is a clever way to wear red this Winter with out too much distracting contrast or brightness. It'll keep my lips moisturized and understatedly colorful through out the day with out too much fussing in the mirror. A+ from SJ!

MAC lipsticks are $15 for 3g of product. They can be purchased at maccosmetics.com, department stores, and freestanding MAC stores.

xxSJ

NOTD: Deborah Lippmann 'Cleopatra in New York'

Today's nail of the day features my first ever Deborah Lippmann nail polish! I was so excited to finally get my hands on one of these infamous polishes... infamous for both the beautiful glitters and the hefty price tag.  Deborah Lippmann glitter polishes retail for $19.00 so I couldn't wait to see if this baby was worth the price. I have the color 'Cleopatra in New York,' described as a 'gold-studded black.'

2 coats and a top coat, natural sunlight

As you can see in the picture, the nail polish shows up looking like the glitter is a bit green! That's okay with me though, because it still has a beautiful finish.  The glitters are very thickly spread through the polish so every stroke on my nail was full of it. When I added the second layer, the glitters on the first layer mixed with the top layer created a very cool almost 3-D effect. I thought the finished product was quite lovely and was not too chunky!

My frustration with this product lies in the fact that it chipped rather quickly for me. I used an old-ish bottle of Seche Vite Top Coat so perhaps the old formula didn't do a good job with sealing the color onto my nail.  Boo.

Deborah Lippmann nail polishes are truly unique and also have ingredients in the formula that are good for your nails such as biotin and green tea extract. It also does not have parabins, sulfates, or formaldehyde.  If you think this all warrants the $19 price tag then by all means, buy this polish! It certainly is nice! For me, however, I would only splurge on this polish if it is a glitter that is not dupable and something I simply HAVE to have. For instance, 'Mermaid's Dream' is on my Christmas list because it is that beautiful of a color and as far as I know, no known dupe exists!
Overall, I'm torn.  It's a beautiful color and apparently good for my nails, but is it really worth $19??? You can decide :)

xxSJ

Review: NARS Lipstick 'Dolce Vita'

It's happened. 

I have officially found my holy grail lipstick. The perfect lipstick that has the most amazing combination of all things necessary to appease this self-proclaimed lipstick snob.  I'm a brat when it comes to my lips, but I've been willing to put in the time and effort it takes to make me happy. What makes me happy? A mix of color, moisture, and wear time. I've found the perfect blend in NARS 'Dolce Vita.'

This color is a perfect mauve and creates that awesome 'my lips but better' look for me. It is also so luxuriously silky that it kind of feels like I'm applying a balm upon application.  

Even though this color is quite glossy, it doesn't lack at all in color.  One swipe across my hand left this trail of pigment and as you can see, it swatches true to the color in the package.

Speaking of packaging, this lipstick comes in NARS' famous matte black packaging with simple white lettering:

The packaging is classy and looks nice, but beware.  The matte black rubberized plastic is a magnet for dirt and grime! This stuff gets dirty fast if you don't keep it safely tucked away in your purse and keep any dirty phalanges off of it!

This color is perfect for deepening up my lips enough to the point that you can tell I'm wearing a lip product, but its natural enough that it isn't distracting.  The color perfectly matches the darker pigmentation I have in my natural lip color so its fantastic for masking those small imperfections.  This is one of those lipsticks that I could probably apply with out a mirror if necessary due to the fantastic color and silky application.
Dupe Alert: MAC 'Twig'  This lipstick is the same exact color as Dolce Vita, BUT it is not the same finish or feel. It is a satin finish but I find it to be rather drying on my lips unlike the moisturizing effect of Dolce Vita. For this reason, Twig is only a color dupe and not a complete dupe for Dolce Vita.

This lipstick is a fan favorite from NARS and now I can see why. This is a product I'll definitely be repurchasing despite the hefty price tag. NARS lipsticks go for $26.00 for 3.4g of product. Compare that to a MAC lipstick that costs merely $15.00 for 3.0g of product, and you can see that this lipstick is definitely not easy on the wallet. For that reason, I don't think I'll be investigating too many other NARS lipsticks, but this one will have a spot in my makeup collection indefinitely!

xxSJ

NOTD: OPI Teal The Cows Come Home

Today's nail of the day is OPI's 'Teal the Cows Come Home.' It is the perfect teal if that's what you're feelin for your mani:

The color was quite opaque after only 2 thin coats and had quite a nice light sparkle to it. I liked that this color wasn't too metallic!! The color is quite bright though, so even though the color was chip free after two days, I had to remove it from my nails because I grew tired of this bright blue on my fingertips.

xxSJ