IPSA Skin Beauty Lipstick S2 review/ swatch

IPSA is one of those Japanese brands that never seems to be getting much discussion other than outside of Japan...even though it's sold in Taiwan and Hong Kong etc, I still ever hardly read reviews on these.

So I felt obliged to introduce at least a few things I've tried at some point- this is probably from an earlier collection, it's the Skin beauty lipsticks, RRP3000 Yen and comes in a twist up tube a bit like Cle de peau's version which cost an arm and a leg, or the Dior serum de rouge.

Like the Cle de peau and Dior counterparts, it's a very soft, creamy and glossy consistency.

The shade "S2" looks like a medium muted pink in the tube:

However on the skin you can see how creamy and pigmented it is- it glides on like melted butter.

It has amazing coverage- however it's almost too creamy for me- it went on my lips a bit too opaque and because the color is probably not a great match to my skintone, it just looked a bit too mature/ serious- like a medium soft pink with a hint of maroon undertone.  It seemed a little bit darker applied than in the tube.

Actually my thoughts were the consistency and finish reminded me a lot of YSL's Rouge Volupte formulas (the original, super creamy opaque versions).

Compared to Cle de peau and Dior, those ones have a slightly more 'natural' finish (though I do have a CDP one which is shade 116 or something which looks a lot similar to this and a tad darker in shade that is equally not very wearable on me ). But my general impression is it's easier to wear the CDP and Dior colors. The IPSA skin beauty ones are just a tad too creamy on me and not a really 'natural' lip look I prefer.

It's unscented and fragrance free. I would recommend trying these before purchase.

Rating is 3/5.

Chanel Levres Scintillantes Brilliant Extreme Glossimer #217 Red Shine review/ swatch

 Chanel is probably one of my favorite makeup brands- the packaging is lovely, the products are nice, the colors are usually rather elegant and sometimes they can make certain common colors just look a touch extra nice.

Here's a review of the Chanel Glossimer in shade 217 "Red Shine".
This was a limited edition shade.

Like most glossimers, they have shimmers or sparkles. Red Shine is a glossy red with flecks of soft shimmers inside. The shimmers are subtle even though they look more obvious in the tube. They aren't chunky glitters or very different shade to the red gloss base to make it stand out on the lips in a bad way.

Typical sponge tip applicator:

Swatches: you can see the shimmers don't really get picked up in camera, instead it just provides slight extra sparkle.

Lip swatches under 3 different lightings:

Indoor no flash

under the shade in the sun:

Indoor flash in warmer light:

You can see it's a pretty true cherry red shade, a glazed sort of finish, glossy and spreads to a thinner layer if desired or buildable to a thicker glossier finish. Under certain lights it's really quite red and bright. However it is not a scary blood red or bright red. It has its usual Chanel subtlety and elegance about it.

Rating is 3.5/5. I think glossimers are generally slightly too thick for me (however they surpass MAC lipglasses by far since they don't have that sinking into the lip lines and highlighting every single flaky sort of effect). The pigmentation is very decent in this shade as well (some lighter glossimer shades actually have not much color payoff at all).

Stila Duo Convertible Color Lillium / Lip-gloss Petal Shine swatch/ review

Like most makeup users I once had a Stila phase a few years ago too- back when Stila was a cool, chic brand with great colors and gorgeous designs. (Until Estee Lauder bought the brand then it was all down hills).

Found this while I was cleaning up my makeup, this did bring back some good memories!

This was a limited edition Stila duo with half convertible color in shade "Lillium" and half is Stlia's lip gloss in Petal Shine.

Lillium is meant to be a soft pink creme blush (also usable on the lips) while petal shine lipgloss is meant to be  a pink shimmer.

It's basically a paper cardbox packaging with a plastic rim to make it more durable. Flips open but there's no mirror.

On the left is the Lillium convertible color, on the right is petal shine lipgloss.

Here are the swatches. Lillium convertible color is a surprise isn't it, looks dull in the pan but comes out as a soft creamy pink. And once you blend it out, it's a soft pink dewy finish.

The petal shine lipgloss was a bit of a meh for me, it's a mauvey-pink nude shimmer gloss,  bit thick and too much shimmers for my liking. 

Overall I can see why Lillium was always a convertible color that got good ratings on makeupalley.com, it's such a easy to use pink. I know once blended out, depending on your skintone, it may look a bit more generic. However if you saturate a bit more, it does give you that dolly pink cheek look. 

The convertible color isn't so brilliant on the lips especially as the shade does have that pink creme base to it. However it's nice on the cheeks.

Rating is 3/5 for the duo (given the gloss is a fail for me).

Laura Mercier Lip Kisses Pink Seashell Swatch/ review

Laura Mercier Lip Kisses are a cross between a lipstick/ gloss and lipbalm. 

It comes in a long slender silvery tube, it's quite small, smaller than most standard MAC lipsticks for sure.

They contain SPF15 as well.

In the tube Pink seashell looks like a medium rose pink.

However once applied it's a lot sheerer than it looks in the tube. On the lips I find it slightly drying and uneven, not to mention there's a very strong lipstick/ sunscreen smell and taste.

This is probably one of the few lipsticks I really couldn't finish because of the smell and scent (well overall performance was mediocre as well). The glossiness it leaves on the lips disappear quite quickly but it simply isn't moisturising enough.

score of 2/5. Would recommend skipping the lip kisses altogether.

Lancome French Absolue Rouge 308 Lily Rose review/ swatch

Lancome french absolue rouge were re-released in 2012. I'm not sure if this one is a full size or a mini size because it certainly looks very miniature to me!

I picked shade 308, I think the color name is lily rose.

Comes in a rather cute silver packaging with faceted surface. The base is gold.

#308 looks like a beige-peach-pink in tube. You can see the shimmers are really subtle and barely getting picked up by camera.

Close up:

A few different angles: 

Swatch:

It's actually a 'creamy' sort of lipstick and not really balmy like I expected. It applies with decent color payoff despite being a light shade. Once applied the beigy tone is not really there and you get a peachy-pink, more pale rose pink than peach though. It has a subtle shine but I would not call it like a glossy lipstick.

On lips I really like how it's just my lips but a shade lighter and more polished looking.

Malin + Goetz Mojito Lip Balm review / swatch

Malin + Goetz lip balm comes in original flavor or also the Mojito flavor. I haven't tried the original one yet (do have one somewhere if I could find it ...)

I decided to try the Mojito one first despite having a lot of other opened and unfinished lipbalms around, as I kept on reading wonderful reviews about this on a few Asian beauty blogs.

The lipbalm comes in a simple white plastic tube, minimalistic packaging which I like about Malin & Goetz. 

Whopping long list of ingredients, nothing sounds really all that natural...

It has a flat opening, not really designed to be applied directly on lips, so I just dab a bit on finger tip then apply. You can see it's a very interesting clear gel consistency. I'm not talking about those oozy lipbalm or lipgloss like finish, but it's a true gel!

You can see it actually can stand up on its own....true gel

Smeared a bit- it softens really quickly on contact with lips or skin, and applies like a lovely gel gloss. I think it's even more likeable than the ettusais lip balm I reviewed a week or two ago. 

It does have a very faint mojito scent, it's not really artificial or super sweet and sickening like I imagined, rather it's a really soft lime scent that dissipates really quickly on application, it doesn't linger. 

It's so comfortable on lips! it's not like anything I've tried so far, it's not 'oily' or slippery but it has such good spreadability yet doesn't drip. It never fully dries down either so your lips always have that slightly glossy look (not oily looking, just a subtle gloss). It's one of the few lipbalms that I apply before bed time and find it still in tact on my lips.

It retails for below 10USD in Asia easily, mostly found online though.

Overall 5/5 , thumbs up and can't wait to find my original one and try that one too.

Ettusais Lip essence SPF18 (

Ettusais Lip essence SPF18 is one of Ettusais star product over the years, you will often see advertising of it associated with 'baby lips', like the below:

It is also often ranked in the top lip treatment products on various beauty magazines, e.g. 2010 cosme award. It is often released in various limited edition packagings and there are also tube versions of this.

I finally decided to give it a try- it has SPF 18 PA+++, comes in a cute pink tube:

It contains 10grams of product and retails for 1200 Yen, which is about 10USD but sometimes on sale so you can find it below 10 USD quite often.

Has a nice slanted tube that doesn't have jagged finish so you can directly apply on lips.

Content is a nice gel consistency, slightly pink but comes up pretty much clear on lips.

On skin :

smeared out:

Bare lips:

After application:

I quite like the consistency, it's between a gel and a light oil/ gloss, but doesn't feel oily or really sticky. there's a minimal tackiness which is far less than most lipglosses out there.

Unscented and have no taste either. 

Now on the effect, I have really sensitive lips so I really prefer lip treatments to be non irritating and as moisturising as possible. It offers a consistent hydration, and lasts for a good few hours, has a lovely finish (slightly glossy but not oily looking), and best of all, layers well underneath a lipstick despite the apparent glossy finish. It makes an excellent lip primer at least on my Chanels or mac lipsticks.

It doesn't really have 'plumping' effect but because of its moisturising property and that slight glossiness, it does make lip lines appear less obvious.

Overall it's 4/5. I really like how it has SPF but doesn't have that standard SPF taste or scent to it. The generous 10g size more than justifies the price tag as well.

Not my best lipbalms but I would be happy to use this up.