Lipstick + Winter = Why I'm now a Lipgloss Convert

Winter sucks. It just does. When you need to start wearing waterproof mascara because your eyes water in the (-31C) bitter cold and wind, it's too much. My dry lips haven't been enjoying lipstick with this cold. Lipstick has been flaking off, and my lips peel every time I use it. I've never been much of a gloss wearer, but since my lips can't handle lipstick lately, I've kind of converted.

Here are some of my favorite lip glosses of the moment

From left to right, we've got: Marcelle Creme Lux Gloss in Rouge Velouté, Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Creme in Cherry Flip (recently reviewed here), MAC Cremesheen in Partial to Pink, Clarins Color Quench Lip Balm in Peach Nectar, Marcelle Creme Lux Glossy in Spicy Nude (reviewed here), and Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Creme in White Russian. 

Of these, I place my Buxom glosses and the Clarins as the most moisturizing. The prettiest shade goes to Marcelle's Rouge Velouté (seriously gorgeous on!) and the my favorite nude gloss is definitely Marcelle's Spicy Nude. MAC's Cremesheen in Partial to Pink is a great year-round neutral pink gloss - and it smells delicious. I've been wearing these un-layered, on their own, for the past month, with a light foundation, groomed brows, blush, and water-proof mascara. Eyeshadow is often skipped because my eyes water too much with the wind we've been having. We're all familiar with tailoring makeup to heat and humidity, but makeup in winter is a whole other story!

Lesson of the year: winter sucks. Do yourself (and your lips) a favor if you live in a wintery place right now - whip out your lip glosses, and apply generously. Bonus points if the glosses are moisturizing. Winter: 3 points (-31C weather, 30 cm of snow on Saturday, 25 cm of snow tomorrow), Annick: 1 point for lipgloss. Can winter be over soon please?! How do you change your makeup routine for winter?

A drugstore search for the perfect bordeaux lipstick!

I find inspiration in the strangest places.

This past week, I had to attend trade show for high school kids, in order to promote a scholarship we offer at my work. One of the high school girls was wearing the most gorgeous bordeaux colored red lipstick. It was absolutely stunning on her and sent me on a mad dash to find that exact color as my local drugstores (yes, plural, because I only buy on sale!). Here's what I came up with!

I tried to find the deepest reds, without leaning too much towards a wine color. It wasn't an easy task! My picks ended up being the Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Bordeaux (HA!) 124, the Marcelle Rouge Xpression in 851 Obsession, and the Revlon Lip Butter in 040 Red Velvet.

They kind of look like a little family in their silver tube!

Here they are swatched on my hand.

 Left to right: Rimmel Bordeaux, Marcelle Obsession, Revlon Red Velvet

And on ma face!

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Bordeaux

Marcelle Rouge Xpression in Obsession

Revlon Lip Butter in Red Velvet

The verdict?

Well, my favorite was definitely Revlon's Lip Butter in Red Velvet. It's so pigmented! It was smooth on application and the color is stunning. However, Rimmel's Bordeaux is the closest match to the color I was looking for - the color is stunning on. It was also the easiest lipstick to apply because the formula wasn't slippery at all. But it was a bit drying. My least favorite is the Marcelle Xpression out of the three. The formula was a bit dry, and not what I expect of the Xpression line which I'm already a fan of. It also applied a bit patchy.

If you're looking for a drugstore lipstick of the bordeaux variety, I highly suggest the Revlon Lip Butter in Red Velvet. The Rimmel lipstick was also quite good!

What is your favorite drugstore lipstick? Do you find any line particularly moisturizing? 

I hope you had a great weekend! I spent most of mine trying to finalize a light box for the blog since daylight is sparse these days! And then the rest of it pretty much relaxing. It was good!

Don't forget to enter my 100 followers giveaway here!

The satisfaction of a most wanted acquired: Estee Lauder's Crystal Baby is mine! (+ a dupe?!)

I was seriously beaming when I purchased Estee Lauder's Crystal Baby finally. Beaming, walking through the mall. I should probably be embarrassed about this fact. But I'm not.

Crystal Baby has been on my most wanted list for a really long time. My local Estee Lauder counter didn't carry it, and any other counters I visited never had the tester, so I just assumed they never carried it. When I arrived at The Bay in Toronto, they ALSO didn't have the tester, but I asked anyway, just in case they had it. And they did. Apparently the tester was stolen. Go figure. So anyway, I was a happy camper when I finally got my hands on this baby!

I've always been a fan of Estee Lauder packaging - a base that shows the color of the lipstick and a sturdy gold case. Love.

Here is the lipstick swatched on my hand.

And on my lips.

The texture of this lipstick is amazing. Soft but not slippery and lightweight but still pigmented. I think it's the best type of color for an every day brown smokey eye (which I wear often). However, this lip color is so neutral, it basically works with anything, even brighter looks.

Here are some comparison pictures:

From left to right: Marcelle Rouge Xpression in Sincerity, MAC Hue, MAC Creme Cup, Estee Lauder Crystal Baby, Estee Lauder Crystal Rose.

Notice any similarities?

Marcelle in Sincerity left, Estee Lauder Crystal Baby on the right.

Marcelle's Xpression Rouge Creme in Sincerity is almost the same as Estee Lauder's Crystal Baby. They also have the same texture and moisturizing feel. I'd say Sincerity is a tiny little smidge pinker than Crystal Baby. But that's unnoticeable on the lips. If you don't want to shell out for an expensive lipstick, Marcelle is a great alternative. And at a $20 + price difference, I'd suggest going with the Marcelle option.

Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase. Estee Lauder rarely disappoints me in its products, and this is no exception. Now if I could only get my hands on the Violet Underground palette, I'll be happy.

Do you have a go-to, foolproof lipstick?

Marcelle Lux Creme lipglosses

I tweeted about my new found love of  Marcelle Creme Lux glosses a few weekends ago and have since purchased more colors. I am truly in love with them. When I say they are not sticky, I really mean it. They glide on smoothly and feel as light as a balm.

From left to right, shades 42 Chiquita, 70 Lolita, and 30 Spicy Nude.

You can see the shimmer in the glosses clearly in this bottom picture. Chiquita barely has any while Lolita and Spicy Nude have a decent amount. Lolita has a golden/orange shimmer that is very complimentary to its base coral shade and Spicy Nude has a gorgeous silver/beige shimmer.

Something that often bother me with glosses is smell. I cannot stand NYX lip glosses' smell. I absolutely hate NARS lipglosses' smell. I have a hard time with MAC glosses. These do not smell of anything.

I'm not a massive gloss wearer so these are a bit of a novelty. I own maybe 5-6 glosses, all of which I never wear so my review should not be held to very high gloss standards. However, for a lip gloss you find at a drugstore, in Canada no less, this is as good as it gets.

From top to bottom: Spicy Nude, Lolita, Chiquita.

My favorite is definitely Lolita. I bought this shade on a whim one day because I was at my boyfriends' place and had not much makeup with me. We were going out to meet some friends and I thought, eh, why the heck not, a nice coral shade might be nice for spring! I was surprised to see that it was pigmented and quite flattering on me. Even better, it didn't feel sticky at all - it feels pretty much exactly how my Aquaphor feels when I've applied a bit too much. Basically, a smooth petroleum jelly feel - in a good way! As far a drugstore glosses go, Revlon is MUCH stickier than these. I cannot comment on how sticky Marcelle's regular glosses though as I do not own any of them. These are from their Lux Creme line, their regular line is simply called Lux. I also found that when the glosses wore off, it didn't leave any residues on my lips - they felt moisturized and content. The wear time was decent for a lip gloss (a couple hours) and it did not stain my lips.

 

I recommend you swatch these before you pick a color. I did find some shades were less pigmented than others. Like me, you might find a shade you absolutely adore (Lolita, I love you)! They did have quite a nice selection of colors available - I had a hard time picking! They retail for $9.95 in Canada and are available at Shoppers Drug Mart around the country.

Have you tried any Marcelle glosses? What's your take on them?