Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Glossy Shine Stick

Loooooong post ahead. You've been warned.

Now this is what I call a freakin' lip stain!!! These Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Glossy Shine Sticks are definitely lip stains in stick form (with the exception of a couple of colors), and they are so f*ckin' fantastic I went back to buy multiples of each and am still planning to go back again to try the rest of the other colors out too!

It started out with a $10 off coupon I had. After proving myself correct on the demise of the VS Beauty Rush Pool Party Lip & Cheep Pop, I saw online that they made a newer version called the Lip & Cheek Tint. Armed with the coupon, I made my way into a local VS Beauty store, knowing there will be some damages. Of course, VS always has evil ways of tempting me, this time with their current promotion of mix and match any Beauty Rush item 5 for $20. I wasn't about to pay the retail price of $7 for the Lip & Cheek Tint, and there are only 3 colors available. Even if I were to buy one of each color, which I did, I still needed to get another 2 of something to make it 5.

That was when I spotted these Glossy Shine Stick and proceeded to play with the tester on the back of my hand. And ooh, they felt goooood on the back of my hand, very thin but shiny veil of color, think Clinique Almost Lipstick, only glossier. Out of the 6 colors available, I picked the 3 I would most likely wear: the Lemon Twist was too violet, Citrus Sorbet too beigey, and Colada Love too mauvey, so I ended up with the Mango Tango, Melon Out, and Strawberry Fields.

Mango Tango


Melon Out


Strawberry Fields

Maquillage Pure Lip Base

Oh man, 2 consecutive duds in a row, first with the recent Canmake Jewelstar Eyes, and now this useless Maquillage Pure Lip Base. DOH.

Having loved the Maquillage Lip Essence, I dove for this Pure Lip Base when it came out. And plus looking at that translucent juicy red from the pictures, how I can not drool? Seeing that it's called a "Lip Base," I was expecting for it to have a gloss-like texture even with that odd looking, flat trowel-like plastic tip applicator. I had good experience with a spatula plastic tip applicator through another Maquillage product, the Glossy Gloss, so I was looking forward to trying yet another new type of applicator.



Unfortunately, however, this Pure Lip Base was a total let down. It turned out to have a gel-like texture and was more of a lip stain than a lip base, but mind you, this was not what disappointed me. I like lip stains, even if I don't have much experience with them. While this lip stain applied clean and dried down quickly, it was so drying I was wondering where they got the lip base part! I thought a lip base was supposed to be, well, a base, not to dry out your lips! And hell, it wasn't even much of a lip stain anyway! It gave me barely ANY stain at all, just a sad sad hint of color and I wouldn't say my lips are that particularly pigmented in any way.



So you're probably thinking, but Dalenna, you said many times in the past you like sheer lip colors. Yep, I sure do. I usually like sheer lip glosses because they provide either moisture or shine or both, and I'm super lazy most of the time and don't want to be bothered with colors. If I wanted color, I'd use, well, a lip tint or a stain underneath a sheer gloss, a lip stick, or a more pigmented lip gloss. If I wanted just plain moisture, I'd use a balm. But this Pure Lip Base, I can't think of a damn thing it'd be good for. It wasn't glossy, moisturizing, in fact it was drying, and it had no color. So why was I using this thing again? Yeah, I'm not too sure I'd use it again actually. What a piece of crap!

Canmake Jewelstar Eyes

Here is a cream eye shadow I did not appreciate at all - Canmake Jewelstar Eyes in 01 Crystal Silver.

Canmake is a lower end drug store brand, but their products aren't always gimmicks. Sure, they have terrible duds like Highlight Gradations, but fortunately there are more gems than duds, like the Lip Essences and the Cheek Gradations I love. And more often than not, they have really decent and affordable items like the Cheek & Highlights (I've got quite a few of these, will review later!), the Highlighter (heads and shoulders above the Highlight Gradation I tell you!), and the Metallic Eyes (these are sheer, you've been warned!).

Fusion Beauty LipFusion Color Shine

I've always been *suspicious* of lip plumping products. Frankly, I don't really care for them, and I don't really know what the rage is all about. May be one of these days, I'll be crying while eating my own words, but right now, whatever. At least that was my attitude with this Fusion Beauty LipFusion Color Shine. Until I try it, of course.

Well, I still don't care for lip plumpers :P but I have to say I really really like this gloss! It has thinner but super smooth texture, similar to Majolica Majorca Rouge Majex, only it lasts longer. It is also very moisturizing, which is surprising to me since glosses sometimes can be drying. As for the plumping aspect, well, no comment. I didn't pay attention, and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to tell you whether or not my lips looked or felt "plumped". I don't really understand what it means to begin with! Anyway, the gloss is scented, but only very lightly, and the smell reminds me of Smarties (the American ones, not the chocolatey British ones). It's a tangy fruity scent that's polite and isn't intrusive, so I don't mind it. I don't know if all the LipFusion Color Shines have the same scent, I hope they do, because I am planning on buying more :)

Oh yes, I do have a complaint, though only a minor one. The gloss has the common doe foot applicator, but it dispenses very very little product. It annoys me that to apply enough gloss on my lips, I have to keep dipping back into the tube several times. But with all that said, I still reach for this gloss most often out of the bunch of random glosses I have in my bag right now.



The color I have is Bare, a deluxe GWP I got from Sephora a while ago. It's a nude color, but it's not thick and opaque. And by opaque I mean if your lips are not in tip top condition, i.e. dry and in need of exfoliation, wearing an opaque lip color will reveal or worse, emphasize every dry flake. Thankfully, this color doesn't do that. In fact, it evens out my lips and makes me look more lively (instead of purple - it's chilly outside you know!). Pretty much a fail proof color if you ask me!

Yep, I said above I am planning on buying more of these because I really like them. I also know that these costs an outrageous $38 each for a full size O.O So no, I'm not about to drop $38 on a tube of lip gloss, but I did find this little set below at Sephora, basically 6 tubes of the same deluxe GWP size I have, for $39. Still a bit stiff, which is why I'm waiting for a Sephora promotion :D I don't know though, I might just give in and buy the set for just that orange color on the far right alone...Very tempting.

***Picture from Sephora USA.

Bobbi Brown Lip Gloss

Just a really short review here. This travel size Bobbi Brown Lip Gloss in Crystal was a cute GWP I couldn't pass up. Plus I was curious to try a Bobbi Brown lip product since I've yet to have the pleasure.



I wasn't expecting much since it was just a clear gloss, but to my surprise, it was actually pretty good! The texture was thicker than Lancome Juicy Tubes, but it wasn't sticky and the lasting power was about the same. And it's unscented, so no risks to take here when it comes of yucky scents. This prompted me to check out lip glosses on Bobbi Brown Cosmetics' website. Wow, pretty colors, but I don't think I want to start down this road anytime soon :) There are still so many glosses I still haven't touched in my cabinet...

Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Minty Lip Shine Part III

More Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Minty Lip Shine :) I really love these, so I stock up a bunch of them. They are moisturizing, sheer, not sticky at all, glossy, minty and soothing, and last a decent amount of time. These are my work staples and I have one of each flavor, except for the Spearmint, on my desk at the office. I usually swipe them on and that's that.

I am reviewing the 2 new colors mentioned in my Minty Lip Shine post, the Bubblemint and Berrymint. Plus seeing how sheer these are I also gave in and bought Vanillamint, so I am reviewing that one too :)

- Vanillamint: I'm actually really glad I gave this one a chance. It's a really nice flavor, not too sweet and sugary, but there's definitely a hint of vanilla mixed in with the peppermint. Yum. Yep, it's totally sheer.


- Bubblemint: I think this one is my new least-favorite Minty Lip Shine, replacing the Cinnamint. Actually, I gradually warmed up to the Cinnamint flavor and like it a lot now! But I think I won't warm up to Bubblemint anytime soon. It's too...bubblegum. Very bubblegum. And I'm not a fan of bubblegum to begin with. Never was, even as a kid. And yes it's totally sheer too.


- Berrymint: this one is yet another winning flavor for me, sort of like a tangy berry plus peppermint. And even though it looks hot pink, it's all bark and no bite - it applies almost sheer with just a hint of pink. Much love.


See my previous posts:
- Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Minty Lip Shine
- Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Minty Lip Shine Part II

Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Pool Party Lip & Cheek Pop

I got these Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Pool Party Lip & Cheek Pop (what a long winded name!!!) last summer. It wasn't a hard decision on my part, since these copied the super cute Stila Color Push-up's packaging. Also, prior to spotting these VS ones I found out Stila Color Push-ups have been discontinued (at least I don't see them on Stila's website anymore...), so yeah, I went for them and bought all 3 colors available, thinking they might make decent substitutes.

Peach Pop


Pink Splash


Berry Cooler


Well, turned out they didn't make good substitutes at all. The two formulas were totally different. Where as the Stila ones were more of a blend-able cream-t0-powder, the VS ones were more like thin stains. They didn't blend well on my cheeks, and they dried really fast. So if I wasn't careful or if I didn't know exactly what I was doing, these VS Lip & Cheek Pops would make me look like a clown and I'd have to start over. These were not much better as lip stains either. Because they dried so quickly, my lips ended up with uneven colors. Let's just say eating a popsicle would have produced a better effect.

- Peach Pop: it looked more like neon orange in natural light, but somehow turned up neon coral in the picture :) Unfortunately, it also applied a neon coral too. My least favorite out of the 3 colors.


- Pink Splash: this was actually my favorite color out of the bunch. It looked a super hot and bright pink in natural light as well as in the picture, but it applied a demure and sheer bubblegum pink. This was the easiest color for me to wear with the lowest risk of giving me a clown face.


- Berry Cooler: this applied exactly as it looks in the picture, a translucent violet. It was pretty, just a tad too cool for me.


Anyway, upon application these VS Lip & Cheek Pop all had this cooling sensation, which led me to suspect heavy alcohol content that will dry the product out after a while. To test this, I didn't post the review for these right away after my several weeks of use last June. I just rotated them out and planned to check back on them after a month or so to see if they would dry up, then I would post my review with conclusion. Mind you, I didn't purposely leave them out uncapped to dry or left them in the boiling sun or anything. I simply put them back into my cabinet with all my other cosmetic items.

So why is this review appearing now, half a year later? Because I forgot :X Yeah, I left the post as Draft and totally forgot about it. Sorry...

But hey, at least my theory is correct and all 3 VS Lip & Cheek Pop are shriveled up and as dry as dough now! I had to rub pretty hard, crushing 2 of them just to get some color on my finger. The bottom of the tubes say they should last 12 months after opening, but nope, they didn't even make it past 6 months. So yeah, my conclusion is that these are crap, unfortunately. And just so you know, the Stila Color Push-ups are still doing just fine. Considering I bought them back in late 2007, that's impressive! It's just really really too bad Stila discontinued them, or I would have collected one of every color.

Anyway, so here's the fate of the VS Lip & Cheek Pop after 6 months. Sad, huh?

Peach Pop


Pink Splash


Berry Cooler


Guess what, I checked VS's website the other day and found that they have newer versions of these called the Lip & Cheek Tint. To check them out in person I even made a trip to the store and was told they were actually reformulated to work better on the lips this time around. We'll see about that, but I'm happy that at least they are still in the same super cute Stila knock-off packaging. And being super curious to know how the new formula will perform, I bought them again in all 3 colors :D I'm a total irredeemable sucker, am I? I guess I'll update this post after another good trial of the new ones.

See my previous reviews on a similar product:
- Stila Color Push-ups
- Stila Color Push-ups Part II

DHC Olive Virgin Oil

For the past few months, I've been using the tiny little Olive Virgin Oil from the DHC Olive Essentials Travel Set, so I thought it's about time I review it. Yes, the Olive Virgin Oil is pure extra virgin olive oil. Yes, it is meant for use as a facial moisturizer. And yes, I have been putting it on my face.

Wait, wait, before you conclude that I'm a total nutcase for rubbing oil on my face, you might want to check out my OCM - Oil Cleansing Method post first :) I used to be averse to the thought of putting oil on my face. Not anymore, thanks to OCM, which opened my mind up to try other oil-based skin care products, including this DHC Olive Virgin Oil.

The DHC Olive Essentials Travel Set includes (from left to right) travel sizes of Deep Cleansing Oil, Mild Lotion, Olive Virgin Oil, and Mild Soap.


This is what I do: right after I get out of the shower, when my face is still soaking wet, I take 1-2 drops of this oil, rub it to spread among my fingers, and then massage onto my wet face, including the eye area, until all the water on my face dries up. I only use this oil every 2 nights as a treatment for my dry skin, and I don't put on any moisturizer or eye cream afterward.



Anyway, so how did DHC Olive Virgin Oil fare? It is fantastic! It works pretty well, very moisturizing, not too greasy (I do try not to use too much), and it calms my skin on days when it's irritated. It even seems to help with occasional breakouts, believe it or not, and I don't wake up with oil slick t-zones.

So what's the problem? 1 fl oz. of this Olive Virgin Oil goes for $39. Yes, f*cking, absurd. For OCM, I used an organic grocery store bought extra virgin olive oil, and it worked wonderfully. As far as I'm concerned, there's really no difference between that store bought olive oil and this DHC one. Except for the price, that is. So as fantastic as this DHC Olive Virgin Oil, I will never ever buy it, unless it goes on sale for, like, 90% off. Yep, I would pay $3.90 for this DHC Olive Virgin Oil, all of its miniscule 1 fl oz., and not a penny more.

See my previous DHC Olive Essentials Travel Set post.

L'Occitane Immortelle Cream Mask

Somehow, I became a recipient of L'Occitane junk mails, but because of that, I ended up with a bunch of samples of this Immortelle Cream Mask. Of course I kept the goodies and recycled the rest :P Yeah, I'm heartless. Totally.



So being a cream mask, I'm supposed to goop this stuff on, leave it for 5-10 minutes and then tissue off the excess. Umm...no. While I'm sure this usage is beneficial for some, I preferred to use this cream mask like any other night cream, i.e. putting on a small amount, just enough to moisturize my face (and neck and decolletage). So just one sample packet lasted me 5-6 weeks, using once every 2 nights, and after finishing 2 packets, I...got sick of it...

Don't get me wrong, the stuff was nice. My skin felt super soft just after application, and the next morning it wasn't oily, which was very impressive considering how thick the cream was. Immortelle is an anti-aging line, so I had the expectation that this cream mask was going to be rich and greasy. And it was rich, but surprisingly was not greasy at all! In fact, it absorbed so quickly I couldn't spread it around fast enough and would often end up applying too much, which would then leave my skin with an odd dampness (thank goodness it wasn't sticky) that I didn't like.

Oh, and the fragrance. I must warn you that not only the cream mask was scented, it had a fairly unique scent I haven't seen among skin care items. It smelled like crushed dandelions. Given that the stuff contains immortelle flower essential oil, that fragrance made perfect sense, but that didn't change the fact that the scent was very different. So different, in fact, that according to the reviews I read, most people either hate it or love it. I happened to like it.

So why did I get sick of it? Probably because of the price. A 4.4 oz jar goes for a whopping $60! Yeah, that just sums it up for me - no thanks. I know that gigantic jar is probably going to last me lifetime considering one sample packet lasted 5-6 weeks, but I really don't feel like shelling out an outrageous $60 for a night cream, let alone wasting it as a mask. Why can't they make a smaller size and charge less? Hmph.

View my previous L'Occitane posts.

Maquillague Jeweling Palettes

I know I should have gotten over it, but until a year ago I was still mourning T'estimo and didn't let either Maquillage or Coffret D'Or tempt me with their many palettes. That was, until Maquillage unleashed its ultimate test of my loyalty, the winter 2008's limited edition of Christopher Kane's Maquillage Jeweling Palettes: 10 Noble Glamorous and 20 Princess Tiara. Yeah, let's just say I definitely failed that test because I bought both of these beauties :D

10 Noble Glamorous


20 Princess Tiara


Can you blame me? Just look at that absurdly gorgeous packaging! Normally, the pretty packaging trick doesn't even get anywhere near my consciousness (cute packaging, however, is a whole other story...). This time, however, it was a bull's eye on my wallet and I just had to have them both. Luckily for me, this was a first as neither Maquillage nor Coffret D'Or's other palettes and holiday offerings rarely register on my radar. Phew!

10 Noble Glamorous


20 Princess Tiara


Anyhoo, I must admit that although the compacts are beautiful and thin, they are quite long and wide. I think they are bigger than my hand! And yes, I didn't get around to using them until my trip to see my parents but, hey, what's the rush? If they wouldn't last a year then, well, I guess I'd be out of my money LOL!

Each of the compact contains 4 eye colors, a highlighter powder, a powder brush, and eye applicator. And yes, the compact does have a mirror that runs the span of the entire compact lid. A rather big mirror, I'd say :) Pretty nice!

10 Noble Glamorous


20 Princess Tiara


Oh, and I almost forget that these compacts were actually my first encounter with Maquillage's eye shadows!!! I collect the individual Eye Colors but I haven't even touched any of them! I've read rave reviews of Maquillage eye shadows everywhere but I'd always get distracted from trying them. So yeah, these Jeweling Palettes were my very first experience with Maquillage eye shadows.

10 Noble Glamorous


20 Princess Tiara


And let me tell you, WOW. Those rave reviews were right! I was shocked at how soft these shadows were! They were buttery, as in spreadable butter, and I seriously couldn't tell whether they were a cream or a powder (I still can't)! On top of that unbelievably fine and smooth texture, they were pigmented, super blendable, had excellent staying power, and never creased on me. My thoughts after trying these? I was so glad I failed that loyalty test. I would have totally missed out if I passed these palettes by.

As for that highlighting powder, it was okay, which is really too bad because Maquillage clearly can do much much better as they had before with the Precious Design Powder. The texture of this highlighter was not nearly as soft as the Precious Design Powder, but it wasn't as dry as the Design Face Color either. It was somewhere in between, like Maquillage forgot that they had improved or something and took a step back in quality before the time of the Precious Design Powder. What a shame, as these Jeweling Palettes could have been unparalleled all-star knockouts, but instead they are just all-star knockouts. Don't get me wrong, I would recommend them wholeheartedly if you can find them still (Ebay?), but if you're listening, Maquillage, I want my palettes perfect, if that's not too much to ask.

May be that is too much to ask -.-

10 Noble Glamorous: the warm palette with a pale marzipan yellow highlighter with fine shimmers. This highlighter worked better for me than the pale pink highlighter in the 02 Princess Tiara palette. Also, it didn't really highlight but instead brightened my face.

The 4 eye shadows include:
- Top left: ivory, shimmer, medium intensity. It didn't turn frosty on me, but it was pigmented enough that I had to be careful of putting on too much.
- Top right: true gold, metallic, high intensity. I have yet to come across a gold truer than this gold! It's a beautiful metallic 24k gold that reminds me of the gold temples in Thailand! Being so...golden (lack of better word here), color intimidated me at first, but once I tried it, I fell in love with it. I was always afraid of true golds because they tend to turn a bit red/orangey/coppery on me. This gold did not. In fact, it complemented my skin tone really well.
- Bottom left: golden olive, shimmer, may be even semi-metallic, medium intensity. This is actually my least favorite color in the compact, not because it's not pretty (it's gorgeous if you ask me!), but because it was difficult for me to use. It was too dark for me to use as a crease color, but at the same time, it was not dark enough for me to use as a liner either.
- Bottom right: warm wine, shimmer, high intensity. This color has shimmers that didn't really show up, probably because I mainly used it as a liner color. It's kind of similar to T'estimo Color Eye WN-32, only the WN-32 is prettier (:P) being more vibrant with more violet, thus making this wine appears warmer and flat.


20 Princess Tiara: the cool palette with a pale powder pink highlighter that is a bit more shimmery than the pale marzipan highlighter in the 01 Noble Glamorous palette. I didn't like this highlighter as much because it can turn frosty on me if I accidentally apply too much.

The 4 eye shadows include:
- Top left: airy pink, shimmer, medium intensity. A very, very pale pink that's on the cooler side.
- Top right: cloud blue, shimmer, medium intensity. This color is actually quite pretty as it goes on me with some gray, though you can't see this gray at all in the picture due to the flash. Too bad I haven't figured out how to wear blues yet.
- Bottom left: taupe, metallic, high intensity. A beautiful taupe with hints of eggplant. Loved this color, even though it was another difficult color for me to use. Again, it was a tad too dark for me to use as a crease color, but at the same time way too light for a liner color. I tried using it as a crease color anyway (because I like it that much!), but as expected, it drowned out the liner color. May be I should try using a gel or a more dramatic liner.
- Bottom right: inky blue, shimmer, high intensity. Similar to the wine color in the 01 Noble Glamorous palette, the shimmers in this ink blue didn't really show, probably because I mainly used it as a liner color.