Maybelline Colorsensational Lipsticks: Ruby Star, Iced Caramel

I think this wraps it up for my lipstick swatches!

I actually didn't like the texture of Ruby Star, it felt almost gritty.  I like Iced Caramel but I feel like I've gone from having one or two nude lipsticks to more than I can use.  

Maybelline Rocket Volume Mascara Review

I used to buy a lot more Maybelline mascaras, but they don't seem to put a new one out as often as they used to.

I thought the brush was a little short, but it didn't effect the performance at all.  In fact, I liked it because sometimes the longer brushes put product where it's not supposed to be; this one gave a little more control.  

Here are my results:

My other eye, with 2 or 3 coats:

I'm impressed!!  I have to use a mascara for a while sometimes, until I reach a good conclusion on it (the Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro turned out better for me than I previously reviewed) and I've been using this a couple of weeks with good results every time.  I really liked it- not clumpy or flakey, and really boosted my lashes. I don't know about the brush being 'jet-glide' but it was such a wet formula that it really did glide on.

I'm taking a break for a few days.... I'm going to catch up on stuff and hopefully be back to wrap up all the things I have left for 2013.  Wishing everybody good health and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Maybelline Colossal Kajal Eyeliner

It was almost as though I couldn't not buy this, the displays are just everywhere.

Swatch: 

On eyes: 

I do like this eyeliner, but I can't use it on my waterline, although this is typical for me- I can only use a waterproof standard type pencil.  I've been wearing this daily for almost a week and on me, it lasts the whole day- it only starts to wear off around 8 hours, but at that point it's subtle, like the black is just a tad less black, and the line isn't as defined by 9 hours or so.  

Here is after almost twelve hours- I was wearing brown eyeshadow and it had basically disappeared: 

I do love the matte finish, it really is like a black charcoal, and I love the texture- it's softer than a lot of twist-ups I've tried, so it's easy to get it really close to the lash line.  If you've seen some of my other posts, you can tell I have a hard time getting my liner really close so it always looks weird having a gap- but I swear I can't notice it in the mirror, I only notice in the picture!!! 

The colour is really black, no doubt about it, but that's almost standard these days.  It doesn't go on completely dry, so there is time to smudge it if I want, which I can't do with gel or liquid liners.  I actually think this is an advantage over the gel liners, so I think I'll continue to use it until it runs out.   

Maybelline Super Stay 14 Hour Lipsticks

Since I did like the Maybelline lip stains a lot, I decided to purchase three of these without knowing anything about them.

The shades I bought were Stay With Me Coral (430), Infinitely Fuchsia (160), and Ravishing Rouge (540).  Here they are swatched in natural light: 

And indoors with flash: 

Lovely colours, right?  Unfortunately they work better on my arm than my lips.  Every problem that you try to avoid with a lipstick, these have it.  First, they are absolutely unforgiving and I would definitely recommend a lip liner. 

Here is Ravishing Rouge on my lips:

Stay With Me Coral: 

Here you can start to see the problem- the texture.  These are super pigmented and go on smooth (with a little effort), but they dry down super matte.  Then after a few minutes the lipstick starts to become intensely grainy, really uncomfortable because I could actually feel it doing that on my lips.  

They also bled very badly on me, not right away but after a few hours of wear but the effect was horrible.  They are so drying, so scratchy, plus they bleed?  No thank you.  One good thing I can say is that they are incredibly saturated, although this too can be problematic if you overapply, so using a lip brush helps, but I hardly find it worth the effort.  The last straw for me was the cheapo dollar store packaging despite the fact that they cost much more.  All of this adds up to a product I would assuredly pass on.  

Maybelline 24 Lipcolors: New Purchases

I really love these!  I've been trying to find more shades for a while, so I am happy to have found these. I got Timeless Brown, Grape Juice, Sparkling Fuchsia, and Burgundy.

Swatches:

Timeless Brown on lips:

Sparkling Fuchsia is my new favourite lippie!  I love how it looks like lip gloss but lasts forever, and how it looks glittery but feels smooth.  I got a lot of compliments on it too.  It's really nice but the sparkles are definitely noticeable so I wouldn't recommend it if you're not into a glittery lip.  Also, I definitely don't recommend priming or prepping your lips before you apply these, because this is what happens:

YUCK!!

This is Sparkling Fuchsia applied properly:

Much better!  It is a bit brighter in person though...

Finally, burgundy- not a shade I wear often but so pretty how could I resist?  

I tested this one through the entire day- eating, drinking, going to the pool- it did not budge.  This is how it looked 26 hours later:

I think we all know dark lipsticks can be messy, so this one is definitely my new fave!

The packaging is hideous but I don't carry these in my bag since now I know I don't need to reapply.