maybelline

Nude Lipstick – Maybelline Stormy Sahara

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I tend to play up my eyes more often than my lips, so tend to stick to relatively neutral or muted lipcolors (despite my love for Kat Von D – Adora and Stila Stay All Day – Beso). Most often, I wear an, “MLBB,” or My Lips But Better shade, but sometimes I want something a little more neutral than that. Problem is, I feel like a lot of, “nude,” lipcolors match the skin too much (or, in my case, are too light!) and therefore lend themselves to a corpse-y appearance when applied.

Noooope (I hope you read that as Lana Kane from Archer. If you didn’t go back and re-read it that way.)

Maybelline has been pretty awesome with their lipstick formulations recently (if not their color names), and added some nude shades to their Color Sensational line – this new family is called The Buffs. Living on the edge again, I picked a color (sale + coupon, ha!) simply by looking at the chart under the display (where it gives you an approximation of the shade).

Maybelline Stormy SaharaI chose Maybelline Stormy Sahara

I twisted the bullet up and observed the tan hue and recall feeling skeptical. I slapped it on my face and was immediately pleased – it is nude! It is a tan-ish nude with just the faintest hint of pink – not light enough to make you look corpsey. Dark enough to make your lips still look like LIPS but not steal the show. The consistency feels creamy, and the lipstick glides on effortlessly (no stupid, annoying skips or tugging) and is a creamy-ish finish that is not super shiny – very natural. Maybelline Stormy Sahara does not have a strong smell or taste.

Lasting power is typical for this line, but I’m forgiving of lipsticks I have to reapply more often (2-4 hours) when they are neutral hues. This shade is universally appropriate – day, work (even in conservative professions/offices), night (just go crazy with the eyes!), etc. I cannot see myself going any paler with a so-called nude-lip, but I would go a bit more pink.

The Maybelline Color Sensational – The Buffs line can be found in drugstores, mass merchants, and online for $4-7ish, but frequently goes on sale and has coupons available. If you would like to see swatches of this shade, leave a comment!

Drugstore Gel Liner Comparison

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So as you may or may not know, L’Oreal has a diverse portfolio of brands under its control. They own some high end names that you would be surprised about, but also some drugstore ones aside from the eponymous L’Oreal, but also Maybelline.

When I first started playing with makeup like a child learning how to do my makeup, I decided to try a gel liner. Pencil liners always seemed odd to me, and liquids were too prescise – gel seemed like a happy medium. After a good bit of research into the gel options, I was torn between Maybelline and L’Oreal – both are well-reviewed. I happened to have a coupon for the Maybelline one and a sale was running (yes, why pay retail?) so I went with it and was content.

Later (aka recently), once I was on the verge of running out of usable product (my own error caused it to dry out prematurely), I decided to purchase both and do drugstore gel liner comparison. Here, you have the L’Oreal Infallible Gel Lacquer Liner 24 Hour on the left and the Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner.

Drugstore Gel Liner Comparison - L'Oreal Infalliable Lacquer Liner 24Hour and Mabelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel LinerDrugstore Gel Liner Comparison

This post is pretty photo-heavy, so please continue after the jump.

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Maybelline Shocking Coral

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Is, simply put, a lie. I wanted a coral because I did not own one. Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids came out with one, the I-wish-it-was-aptly-named-Shocking Coral.

Really quick – according to Wikipedia, the following are various coral colors. The latter two are what most of us think of:

corals

If we define it ourselves, most of us will say it is a light, orange-toned pink. Woo, sounds pretty! So I bought it a while ago to try because I am guilty of owning mostly MLBBs and reds.

Here’s the bottom. I’ve seen Shocking Coral as both 910 and 870; I got 870 – I’m not sure if there’s a difference, or if it is regional, or what have you:

870

Hmm. That doesn’t look too coral, but maybe it is just the sticker. Stickers have been known to mislead, after all, and that’s why we like swatches.

I’ll swatch it!

Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids Shocking Coral swatch

Granted, please note that this was taken indoors with flash – but this is absolutely, positively not a coral lipstick. It is more fuschia-y both in the tube, swatched, and on my lips than anything. It isn’t that the color itself is bad; it isn’t. But it is not coral. Maybe that is what is so shocking about it – it isn’t coral! This is what caused my to learn my lesson and to find swatches first unless I was in the fortuitous position of being an early adopter (and therefore provider of said swatches).

Otherwise, the formula is nice and I would recommend the Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids line (Electric Orange is fun) – but don’t get this one if you actually want a bright, vibrant coral because this is not it. You can find them anywhere that has Maybelline, including Amazon, for between $5-7.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links – this means I may get a very small percentage of the sale if you decide to buy something. I’ll only tell you that something is awesome if I have verified it myself!

Maybelline Baby Lips Dr Rescue

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Confession: I am a lip balm fiend.

I have more of them than I can probably count, ranging from the classic Cherry ChapStick to the L’Oreal Color Riche LeBalm, to the fun EOS balm spheres. When Maybelline was first taking a stab at their Baby Lips line, I was actually invited to a BzzAgent campaign for them. They were decent, but I wasn’t fond of the aftertaste they left. Recently-ish, Maybelline released its medicated Baby Lips Dr Rescue line. I picked one up at Target to check out.

Maybelline Baby Lips Dr Rescue packaging - front

The Baby Lips Dr Rescue is similarly-packed in comparison to its predecessors. It features a longline, clear cap (though the Dr Rescue has a label around the cap that allows the bullet to just peak through). The entire base twists to advance the product up through the tube.

Maybelline Baby Lips Dr Rescue

I meant to get Pink Me Up but accidentally grabbed this shade, called Coral Crave. It is medicated with menthol, which initially turned me off of it – I love minty things, but I am not such a fan of mentholated ones. Fortunately, the menthol smell/taste does not linger more than a couple minutes, so it won its way back into favor.

Maybelline Baby Lips Dr Rescue - cap off

Both on my lips and in the swatch below, the color is very very sheer. I did swatch with a light hand, but I can’t imagine it would be that much more opaque had I used more pressure or applied more coats.

Maybelline Baby Lips Dr Rescue swatch

Here’s the back, as per usual. I actually did not pay attention to the back until I was writing this post – it says to apply not more than 3-4 times per day.
Oops?

Maybelline Baby Lips Dr Rescue packaging - back

My lips were not chapped when I tried this product (remember that lip balm fiend part? yeah, they don’t get chapped often), so I am not able to confirm whether or not it helps in that regard – but I’ll update if I can confirm either way. (Also this is completely silly, but the name sounds reminds me of Doctor Girlfriend from the Venture Bros. and it just makes me laugh.)

Have you tried any of the Baby Lips Dr Rescue products?