Battle of the Lip Crayons

I know, I'm so cool with the names of my posts (you're going to have to imagine my sarcastic tone).

Recently, I've been noticing lip crayons popping up left, right and centre. Covergirl, Revlon, Clinique and others have all taken a stab at this trend and I have to say, some do it better than others.  

Today I'm focusing on Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains (which I talked about in my lipstick alternatives post) and Covergirl's Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm.  I picked a bright pink for both of them first of all because pink is fun and lovely, and also because I find it's easier to judge lasting power and wearability of something with a little more pigment to it.

Here we have Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Lovesick and Covergirl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in (215) Watermelon Twist (which I only picked up recently and mentioned in my last haul post)

Lovesick is a stunning fuchsia that I find very wearable.  I know a lot of beauty gurus really love these balm stains and I totally agree.  They have great staying power and you really do feel like you're wearing a lip balm for hours.

Watermelon Twist is a bit more of a strawberry, milky pink.  Covergirl's offering to the lip-crayon world makes no claims at being a stain, but I find it does last fairly long on the lip.  However, the reason I don't have lip-swatches is that this formula really clings to dry patches on the lip and I find it much more difficult to work with.  The idea behind the lip crayon is supposed to be easy application but Watermelon Twist might just be a bad colour for me.  I think in the summer, with well-moisturized lips and a clear gloss on top, this could look really beautiful.

Here is Lovesick (top) and Watermelon Twist swatched on my arm, then again after I wiped them with a tissue

You can probably see that neither of them are fantastic stains but for the amount of moisture you get with both of them, I'd sacrifice a bit of lasting power.

I apologize for not having lip-swatches but honestly, I just couldn't make the Covergirl one work well enough to look presentable which probably says enough right there.

Just to be clear, I don't hate the Covergirl product and I probably will try this in another colour.  Buuut I think the Revlon Balm Stains have a great formula that is really difficult to beat.

In the end, it all depends what you're looking for.  I think Covergirl has a wider selection of pinks but the formula isn't quite perfect.

I hope some of you found this little comparison helpful. If there's anything else along these lines you'd like to see, feel free to let me know in the comments.

Happy almost-Friday!

Kendall

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I Was Bad Part Three

Happy End-of-Weekend my friends! Well that's a bit of an oxymoron as Sunday nights have got to be one of the most depressing parts of the week. So to make your evening (or more likely your Monday as I'm a procrastinator and this probably won't be up until late) a bit more enjoyable, why don't you have a look at the latest damage I've done to my bank account.

All of the things here have been purchased from Shopper's Drug Mart (again for the non-Canadians, as the name implies, it's a popular drugstore of the north).  I'm planning on doing reviews of a few of the newer products that I picked up, so if there's anything specific you would like to see, don't forget to let me know in the comments!

So I did a fair amount of damage as you can probably see.  Just jumping right into it, from left to right: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser in Fair (I've yet to try this but I've heard a lot of promising things about it and I'm still on the hunt for a great concealer), Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in (05) Candy Shimmer, Clinique Almost Lipstick in (06) Black Honey, Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate in 102, Rimmel ScandalEYES Waterproof Kohl Kajal in (008) Light Blue, Covergirl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in (215) Watermelon Twist, Revlon Photoready BB Cream in (010) Light, Benefit Hoola

Oh boy.

From top to bottom: Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate in 102, Clinique Almost Lipstick in (06) Black Honey, Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in (05) Candy Shimmer

You can probably tell I'm feelin' the pink-lip look for spring.  The Rimmel lipstick just struck me as such a beautiful spring pink; for some reason I want to call it a tulip pink but that can't be right.

As for the Clinique one, I think I actually bought the wrong colour.  I swatched it in Sephora and it  seemed a bit more berry-toned there whereas now that I've bought it, it looks a bit more wine-toned.  Apparently this is one of their best-sellers though and I've yet to actually try it on the lip so I'll keep you posted.

Now I know I've just recently posted about my recent Clarins lip gloss purchase (you can read that one HERE) but I just couldn't help myself.  Candy Shimmer is a sweet, shiny pink that's new for spring that I can tell is going to get a lot of use.

I also picked up a couple of skincare items

I know this might be a tiny bit boring but I partially just wanted to share that I managed to find two full-sized bottles of Bioderma! I've been hunting for this like mad as it still isn't consistently available in Canada but here it is.  I also picked up Vaseline Spray & Go Moisturizer in Aloe-Fresh which was basically just an experiment.  I liked the idea of a spray-on moisturizer that dries quickly, as I really can't stand that sticky-skin feeling while you're trying to get dressed.  I've only tried it once but so far I think it does a great job.  It's quite watery but I think it has to be in order to be spray-able.

Mercifully for my wallet, that's it! Please stay tuned for reviews because most of these products are first-purchases for me so I'm sure I'll have lots to say.

If you've tried any of these products, be sure to let me know how you feel about them in the comments.

I hope you all have a great week!

Kendall

x