Intro
I’ve been using lipstick for over a decade, every day and every night. I’ve become something of an expert, in case you are still reading this and not sure what I am talking about.
I have worn lipstick from the time I was a teenager. In fact, when I was 12 or 13 and my friend gave me her old lipstick tube – the one that had already been used once – it was like discovering a treasure trove of childhood memories. She had been wearing it since forever, but at some point she lost it; and when she started looking for it again, we both realized that we had both used it at some point too, so we were both really lucky to have found it so quickly.
However, now that I have reached my mid-twenties (and age is nothing but a number), having discovered that there is no shortage of lipsticks on the market today and certainly no shortage of reviews on them as well (or any review for that matter), at least in English… I thought why not write my own review?
So what is lipstick anyway? It is simply lip color applied on the lips or under the eyes or anywhere else where you want to look your best! It is extremely versatile: you can wear it alone as a sheer light color (for those who prefer keeping things simple); you can wear two colors together (for those who like more drama); you can apply two colors together to create an intense look; you can apply three colors together to create a bold look; you can apply four colors together to create something outstandingly original; you can apply several kinds of lip color in combination with one another…
It’s the most convenient choice to go with if you want something other than just a lip gloss. So how do they do all this? They use high-tech ingredients combined with innovative science-based packaging materials which allow them to perform many functions simultaneously without clogging their tubes. And since they are produced by professional makeup artists and not by drugstore brands – just like your favorite products are! – this means that these items are going to last much longer than anything in your own house if only because they are made from materials which will never become brittle or breakage prone.
Get ready! Here comes the review!
I love my hourglass refillable lipstick!
There are a lot of review sites out there for lipsticks, but I don’t think you would have heard of them unless you had tried them. Vanish might be the most popular one, but there are some others that exist and it is surprising how many people have reviewed them (I wouldn’t have known about these sites if I hadn’t used one myself).
So, which do you think is better? Vanish or NARS?
I honestly don’t know. I do know that I like Vanish better than NARS. And Vanish seems to be good quality too. The only thing I find odd is that the reviews say they feel their lipstick doesn’t last long enough on my lips and they also say they feel sticky when they try to remove it – which adds some confusion to my mind as well as makes me wonder if they aren’t being honest with their scores and ratings because then, why pick on a lipstick?!
So… why didn’t you post a review of your own?
It was never an option for me: the reviews are too good and subtle for me to justify spending time on it. But if you did post a review of your own, do you think our scores would change in any way?
I guess it depends on what kind of experience you have with the product in question: If your lipstick lasted long enough (which is what matters to me), then yes, I think your lipstick score would change. If your lipstick didn’t last long enough, then no, not really (the scores wouldn’t be affected anyway). But either way, this is a very superficial way of thinking about it. In fact, we do hundreds of reviews every single day! I try not to focus on this stuff because we just want to get our products through the market as efficiently as possible – but sometimes we can get caught up in these superficial things and forget that other people might buy into them too!
The color is perfect.
It is not easy to pick the right color for your lipstick. I know, because I tried it and it didn’t work. But then again, I am a big girl and my lipstick is a spirit gumball container. You may have heard of the term “Spirit Gumball” before? It’s a reference to the way gumballs are made: very carefully in a very small space, with almost no room for error. This is why there are so few colors that can be purchased in bulk by gumball manufacturers – there are only about 10 colors that will fit inside an entire ball of gumballs, so even if you can conjure up all 10 colors at once on your own, you will end up losing money on shipping (unless you have an outsourcer that makes bulk orders for you).
But don’t worry: you don’t need to be a gumball chemist to customize your lipstick color yourself! The world is big enough for everyone. The most difficult part of this process is finding the right shade within the range of colors that can be purchased in bulk (and even then, it isn’t as simple as finding an exact match).
To make it easier: here are some general tips:
• Look at the filling color as a hue (the primary hue) rather than an additive color. A typical lip gloss has three main hues; red, orange and yellow — with each being referred to as its own shade of red or orange or yellow respectively. It doesn’t matter much which one you choose; but if you get at least two out of these three hues onto your lips (at least one from each primary hue), the resulting look is going to be fantastic!
• The application should not be too thick or too thin — it should give a good amount of coverage but not be too thick or too thin. If done properly, it should look like soft plastic against your lips. Too thin and it will disappear after 30 seconds; too thick and it will just sit on top of your skin instead of hiding behind them like they need to do anyway! In general, wet lips = better coverage; dry lips = lower coverage – don’t do both!
• Tinting should NOT make the lipstick glossy — neither lightening nor dulling that effect — neither brightening nor darkening its color by making its base paler or brighter than what was intended from the
It has great staying power.
I thought I was done with reviews for a long time — I let the Dollar Shave Club and the Gilette Jumbo Pack review go by — but, I recently discovered a new product that is way more interesting than most of what’s out there.
I’ve been using Hourglass Lipgloss for about two years now. It’s my favorite lipstick, period. It’s extremely hydrating, which is great for winter, especially since I live in Alaska and it tends to be pretty dry and cold.
The only thing I don’t like about this lipstick is that it doesn’t last very long on my lips. It can be quite drying if you try to use too much, but even then the wear time isn’t bad at all.
I tend to use this product every other day, but you can find some pretty good reviews online so if you want to know how well it will hold up over the long haul, look for them.
I highly recommend it!
I am in love with the Hourglass Lipstick Rollerball! I use it every day and it has become my favorite lip balm, which I use for a variety of reasons. There are a lot of great reviews out there, but I love how you can customize the colors to match your skin tone very easily.
My only complaint is that the colors aren’t very opaque — so as a result, if you aren’t using enough product, your lips feel dry and you need to reapply more often. But overall, this is a great product and I highly recommend it!