Deathmatch: L’oreal Colur Caresse Shine Stain vs YSL Glossy Stain

L’oreal Colour Caresse Shine Stain, $9.99 at most retailers, frequently can be found “Buy one, get one half off” at one of the drugstores–

Pros:  Good color payoff (like a regular lipstick), nice shine, nice initial selection of colors, very long wear time.

Cons:  Sticky on the lips, second day dryness.  I was red-rimmed and sore after two days in a row of wear even though I sleep in various shea butter lip treatments. The stickiness gives one a false sense of security that the lips are not dry, when in fact they are in worse shape than even a bare lip.  One would have to be vigilant about keeping the lips glossed with a second product to not have this outcome.

Edited to add:  Six days later I’m STILL sore and have a chapped feeling.

 

YSL Glossy Stain, $32 in department stores and online–

Pros:  Bold color payoff that was still sheer–sort of like looking at the lips through a bright piece of jello (could also be a “con” depending on your needs), good selection of colors with the new shade extensions available now, the only stains I’ve ever seen to offer shades lighter than natural lip color, very long stain time even after the gloss wears down, very light feeling on the lips.

Cons:  Once the gloss wears off, you will have the sensation of bare lips and will need to apply a gloss or something moist to the top to maintain supple feeling.  HOWEVER, the color is still absolutely there so it isn’t a total “con.”

 

Advantage:  It was nearly a tie except for the soreness that came after two days of wear.  The price point of the L’oreal makes it more of a contender but the YSL Glossy Stain is made with a quality that your lips will notice the day after.  They have the same parent company but the L’oreal is absolutely NOT an exact clone with a different label.  Neither are particularly glossy, though.  Just moist.  Gloss hounds will absolutely want to gloss on top of them.

 

Winner:  YSL Glossy Stain wins.

Game Changer For Glitter Nail Polish Fans

Although I’m not a nail tech, I saw this nifty little tip on Tumblr months ago and it has truly revolutionized my nail polish wearing life.

To easily remove glitter nail polish*, you will need the following–

–Cotton rounds cut into fourths

–Strips of aluminum foil, big enough to wrap around and over the top of your fingers.  I like to use strips that are 2 inches wide by 3 or 4 inches long but sometimes they are bigger/smaller.  Tearing foil isn’t always exact.

–Non-acetone polish remover

Soak a cotton fourth in remover and place it over the nail so that it covers all of your polish.  Wrap the nail in aluminum foil, pinching or twisting the tip so that there isn’t a lot of air that can get in from the top.  Party bonus here is that you can have big pretend claws to play with 🙂  Let it sit for about ten minutes or so.  When you remove the foil, most of the glitter polish will be on the cotton pad and will only need a little effort to get off. I find it easier to do one hand at a time.

I stopped wearing glitter polish altogether for a long while because it was so hard to remove.  This absolutely works.

Science!

*FYI, I have natural nails.  I’ve not tried this with artificial ones–your mileage may vary greatly.

Crisis Averted

Washing my face this morning, I was appalled by the awful texture of my skin. It was surprisingly rough, though it had felt fairly smooth when I had cleansed the night before. My mind raced. Did I forget moisturizer? Was it bad moisturizer? Was the damage irreversible?

Rinsing away the cleanser and reaching for the exfoliant, I opened my eyes.  In the mirror, I saw a few of my (very long) hairs had escaped my ponytail and had gotten swept up in my washing. The terrifying texture I felt was my own hair under my finger tips.

So…yeah. That happened.

Let’s talk about lash primer.

Rumor on the street is that Urban Decay has a new primer to go with its new mascara. Could it unseat my holy grail primer?

The team to beat: Diorshow Maximizer.

I spent about six weeks as a freelancer for Dior and the kindest version of the story is to say the best thing about it was the sample of the Diorshow Maximizer lash primer I was given. Before, I had only used your typical “every brand has one” primers.

“How special could it be?” I scoffed scoffily.

Apparently, very.
Ridiculously.

The majority of lash primers in the cosmetic wild are conditioning (of course) and lengthening. Dior’s does that, but it also thickens like the dickens. I was so impressed, I bought a full-size tube when my sample ran out–and I just keep on buying it. When I wear it with my favorite mascara (Le Volume de Chanel), my lashes are otherworldly. I still love falsies because, well, duh, but on days I don’t have time for glue, this one-two punch delivers quite nicely indeed.

Urban Decay has not impressed me over the last *looks at watch* 15 years or so with their mascara offerings, but the market has gotten tougher and their brand has become a bit of a powerhouse in its own right. If they are truly going all the way with this new Perversion launch of blacker than black liner and mascara offerings, I have high hopes for this attempt at mascara/primer domination. All the descriptions coming out make it sound like the new mascara and especially the new primer will be trying to give my favorites a real challenge.

Here’s to hoping–I don’t get a discount at Dior or Chanel either one!