Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Lipsticks and 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencils in Firebird, Wonderland and Plaid - Review and Swatches

I have been promising this review for what seems like forever. Finally, we are going to talk Urban Decay and Gwen Stefani lipsticks. If you want to hear me go on and on about how much I love Gwen Stefani, please feel free to read my other post on her eyeshadow palette. Out of all of the things that Urban Decay launched with Gwen, it was the lipsticks I was the most excited about. I mean Gwen is known for her lipstick!

There were 8 lipsticks released in this collection along with 6 of the 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencils. I told myself to chill and just buy a couple. So I did, then I saw the swatches online. To die for. I ended up buying 6 of the lipsticks and 4 of the lip liners. So much for self control. I knew damn well though that I might never see the likes of these babies again. The two lipsticks I didn't buy were Ex-Girlfriend and Phone Call. Ex-Girlfriend is beautiful but it's a nude and I owe a million nude lipsticks. It also doesn't scream Gwen so I showed some restraint and passed. As for Phone Call, it was a bit too bubble gum pink looking for me so I passed as well.

Six of the 8 lipsticks can be purchased at Sephora. Two of them, Phone Call and Plaid must be purchased directly from Urban Decay as they are exclusive items. It appears Phone Call and Plaid are sold out on Urban Decay Canada's website and I am not sure about the U.S. website. I believe some Shoppers Drug Marts in Canada sell UD so you might want to check there as well. I ordered a few of these from UD directly as they were released there first (I was too desperate to get my hands on them) and they ended up not sending me one lipstick in my order. I called them and they said it was sold out. It still said it was available on the website even a week later so I am not sure what happened there. The lipsticks are $21 Canadian and $18 U.S. at Sephora and they are worth every penny.

Today I thought I would show 3 of the 6 I have. These are the colours that lean a little more to the pink or violet side of things. In the swatch below I have from left to right, Firebird, Wonderland and Plaid. Firebird and Wonderland have their own lip pencils as shown beside. The colours are bang on to the lipsticks. Plaid does not have a matching lip pencil but UD recommends using the lip pencil 714 from the same Gwen Stefani line with it. I can tell you they go awesome together. I will review that lip pencil with the matching lipstick shortly.

Firebird and Wonderland are cream lipsticks and they are extremely comfortable to wear and are a hint glossy. They look like a million bucks, seriously. I believe all of the lipsticks are the UD Revolution formula as was reported to me by someone who checked with UD directly. Firebird reminds me of a 1980's pink purple chick firebird. How awesome is that on your lips?! It's described as a deep fuchsia cream and it is a colour you don't see very often in lipstick. None of the three of these colours are for the faint of heart. They are bright, they are beautiful, but they are not obnoxiously so. If you love red, pink or purple lipstick, these are not to be passed up. All 3 of these are also long lasting and feel luxurious.

Wonderland is described as a dark-pink red cream. This colour is also gorgeous. I should add that the lip pencils in this collection are top notch and I had no bleeding or feathering issues when I used them. They are some of the best lip pencils I have ever owned. They are $24 Canadian and $20 U.S. Why they cost more than the lipsticks are a mystery to me. They too are worth every penny.

I love Plaid. So far it is my favourite. It is sheer, but with the 714 lip liner it doesn't look sheer at all. Every time I wear this lipstick, I think it looks so pretty and it makes me so happy. It makes me feel like a million bucks. I am totally rocking it on the weekends currently, but boy oh boy is this going to look like the bomb come summer time. I will likely cry when I use these products up one day. Just thinking of it makes me sad.

If you haven't got these and you are interested, please run, do not walk to Sephora. The 6 Sephora carries are all still in stock online as I type this. I was waiting for these lipsticks like no other lipstick launch ever and they did not disappoint at all. In fact, they are better than I could imagine in my wildest of dreams. My only criticism of these is that the packaging for the lipsticks is cheap on the outside. The inside is better. No issue with the packaging for the lip pencils.  

Packaging: 7/10 

Pigmentation: 10/10
Easy to Work With: 10/10
Longevity: 10/10
Texture: 10/10 (like silk)
Price: 10/10 (worth every penny)
Ingredients: 8/10
Travel Worthy: 10/10
Attractiveness of Product: 10/10
Would I buy this again? YES, YES, YES!!!!!!!!! If I should be so damn lucky as they are limited edition!
Overall Rating: 9.5/10 (0.5 off for packaging)

Benefit Cosmetics They're Real! Push-Up Liner in Beyond Brown - Review and Swatch

The reviews for this product on the Sephora website are deplorable. It rates at 2.8 out of 5. One of the recent reviews is entitled "Hot Mess". That just about sums it up for me. This product is such a fail, I don't even know where to begin. Okay, let's start with the pros. This will not take long. The packaging looks cute and the colour itself is nice is you like the colour of poop. A full sized tube is $31 Canadian or $24 U.S. and you get 0.04 oz. of product. I happen to have a travel sized version that I got for free from Sephora. You can buy a 0.01 oz. travel one in black so I am guessing that is the size I have but in the colour Beyond Brown.

I don't know what is worse, the product itself or the applicator. The product itself is thick and goopy. It reminds me of a gel like crayon. When you spread this on your eyelid, it's thick, chunky and waxy. Parts of the line are thicker than others and you can even see the thickened areas as they look waxier than others. The applicator is not precise and very hard to control. It's like working with hot glue, only it's not hot and is more tubular as a result of being cold. You try to paint it on in strokes but this chunky mess will not cut you any slack. It's heavy on your lash line. Not super comfy. The actual brown of this shade is the colour of poop as I mentioned. Sorry, no way to put it delicately. Please see the swatch below.

Can you see how messy that line is? I used a delicate hand too. The applicator is like this narrow rubber or plastic nozzle that is super flexible and bends every which way. In theory, I can see why someone though this might be a brilliant idea. In practice, total disaster. The product gets stuck in the nozzle creating a bottleneck effect and there is always a balled up piece of product left at the end of every use at the tip of the nozzle. Sure you can remove it, but rest assured a new piece will be there again to greet you the next time you open it up. You can wipe that away too but then the first bit of product that comes out is extra tough and streaky. Chunks flake off as the day progresses off of your eye. It's a bitch to remove what is left too! Did I mention that?

So to summarize, the product is trash. Both product and applicator. This is hands down the worst product that Benefit Cosmetics has ever made in my opinion. They should hang their heads in shame. I am amazed that the product is still on the market. Lots of bloggers dissed this product and now you can add my name to the list. Thank goodness I didn't spend good money on this. Good grief! Please see the picture below of the subpar applicator head. Oh look, yet another chunk has risen to the surface rearing its ugly head. It even looks rude.   

Gah!

Packaging: 0/10  

Pigmentation: 9/10
Easy to Work With: 0/10
Longevity: 10/10 (sticks in some areas forever)
Colour Stays True: 10/10
Texture: 0/10
Price: 0/10 (for what you get)
Ingredients: 8/10
Travel Worthy: 10/10 (not that you would want to)
Attractiveness of Product: 0/10
Would I buy this again? HELL NO HELL NO HELL NO
Overall Rating: 1/10 (pretty outside packaging and that is about it)

Essie Muchi, Muchi Nail Polish - Review and Swatch

I have been itching to do my nails lately. This always happens to me in the middle of winter. I normally am not one to have my fingernails done because I get chips so easily it always seems not worth the effort to do them. Speaking of which, I did my nails last night and I just got a chip 20 minutes ago! See what I mean! Luckily, it's a light colour so I can patch it for another day or two. I actually want to do a darker colour next. So we will see.

I have had Essie's Muchi, Muchi for over a year and this was the first time that I have ever used it. I know this colour comes highly rated so I bought it at Target before Target high tailed it out of Canada a year ago. Muchi, Muchi is described by Essie as being a creamy, luscious pink with a kiss of mauve. I think it is a milky pink. In the picture above I am wearing two coats. It is streaky and can look sheer if you are not careful. I really needed to do 3 coats in order to do the colour any justice and make it look more pink. The polish does seem a bit sticky and thick so I am not sure if 3 coats will be a recipe for Chip City, U.S.A. This is a very neutral pretty colour though and it`s appropriate for wear anywhere.

On a side note, I tried out 3 coats on one nail later in the week (then took it off of course) and the colour is a lot more pink when you apply three coats. I finally saw some of the "mauve" in it.

Bits and Bites

• That Benefit Cosmetics disaster product that I have been teasing you about will be up tomorrow. I am going to start working on it right now. 
• UD Gwen Stefani lipsticks and lip liners is next along with a bunch of blushes I need to review.  

Moroccanoil Frizz Control - Review

This product is the worst Moroccanoil product I have ever tried. I`m just going to cut to the chase. It is the worst because it is a horrible value for your money and it does practically nothing for your hair. I got the 3.4 oz./100 ml bottle. I paid $36 Canadian for it. You can get a bottle half the size for $18.50. If you are remotely interested, I beg of you to get the smaller bottle and see how you like it before you splash out the bigger bucks. It's $34 U.S. for a 100ml bottle and $17 U.S. for a 50ml bottle.

The first thing that ticks me off is how fast I went through the bottle. I kid you not, I used this maximum 5 or 6 times and the bottle is gone. Hell, I didn't have a chance to do a review for you and the bottle was gone. The only pro to this product is it's in a glass bottle so kudos to Moroccanoil for that. Every spritz or pump from the bottle turns into a foaming liquid. It seems to go everywhere when I spray it so I started squirting it into my hand. I had a good half an inch of the bottle left yesterday and within 3 sprays, the contents were gone!!! Just like that. It's so crazy. It's as it is evaporates...I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't of seen it myself.

So $36 for 5 uses is ridiculous in my book. Even if this product gave me the nicest hair ever, you just can't justify it. Ok, so let's talk about the product itself. It only seems to work in wet or damp hair, so it isn't a touch up or Day 2 hair product. As a quick disclaimer, I have naturally curly hair that loves to frizz.


When I this product, my hair feels sort of soft and a bit crisp, but not crunchy if you follow. My hair doesn't feel silky or nice. This product is called "Frizz Control". I still get the frizzes with this. My hair looks a bit flat, with some texture, but it's doing whatever the hell it wants to, and is sticking this way and that. If you want a cowlick in your hair, try this!


Other than the glass bottle, this product is a total bust for me. Never again. I cannot begin to tell you how much better of a product the regular Moroccanoil Treatment Original is in comparison to this. I cannot believe Frizz Control is still on the market. Pass, just pass.


Packaging: 9/10 (point off for the spray it goes everywhere)
Easy to Work With: 0/10
Touchable Hair: 0/10
Humidity Resistance: 0/10
Hold: 0/10
Volumizing: 0/10
Price: 0/10 for what you get in return
Ingredients: 7/10
Value for Money: 0/10
Would I buy this again? NO WAY IN HELL
Overall Rating: 0/10