Review/Swatch: Maybelline Bold Matte lipstick MAT 1 & MAT 2

Bright matte lips are on trend right now and no matter how dry my lips are, matte lipsticks will always have a place in my heart. Unfortunately, ever since I had atopic dermatitis, I can't pull off any kind of lip product. Even lip balms are no match for my dry lips especially when my skin is flaring up. So whenever I feel like my skin and lips are in a "happy place" or at least normal in my standard, I go crazy with lippies...the bolder the color, the better.

So whenever you see me posting about lip products, you betcha those days are what I consider my "good skin days".

Purchased some Maybelline bold matte lippies to try out last January and I haven't even opened these two (among many other new products that is still in their pristine condition...yeah, I'm borderline hoarder hahaha!)

Maybelline Bold Matte Lipsticks

Packaging:

it looks like this when the seal is unopened. When the seal is removed you'll be left with a bare frosted plastic cap. Overall look is ok, with a decent weight to it. 

Price:

got these on sale for 20% off its original price of P399

Place bought:

SM North Edsa

I think when I was purchasing this, I only saw 5 or 6 different shades in the bold matte line. I checked reviews about this in the internet and saw that in other Asian countries, they have 7 or more different shades to choose from this line (no fair!)...don't know if they have added the "new" shades here 'cause I'm not up to date anymore and I'm not in the mood to collect this lipstick line as of now.

 Ingredients:

Scent:

no detectable scent which I prefer.

Pigmentation:

In my opinion, the pigmentation is great. It is very bright with a hint of neon in it (at least in these shades I got).

Formulation:

-It applies smooth on my lips which is surprising for a drugstore "matte" lipstick 'cause the ones I've tried dragged on my lips (but I still love you Wet n' Wild megalast lipcolor).

- Even though it does not make my lips look chalky or super dehydrated, it is still not moisturizing enough for me to wear without a lipbalm underneath which is understandable because all matte lipstick are like that.

- although this is a "matte" lipstick, other people find that this lipsticks give a very subtle satin look to the lips (which can be remedied by blotting the lips with a tissue to make it look matte). My lips are naturally dry already, so it looks matte on me from the get go. hehehe!

- I don't know about other people, but I like how it stains my lips after long hours of wear. I can wear this for 6-8 hours max.

MAT 1

bright, almost neon pink on my lips

unfortunately, when I opened the MAT 1, the tip of the lipstick was ruined. I don't understand how it happened because I made sure the lipstick was new and the seal has never been touched by anybody. 

Swatch:

I swatched this with a lipbalm underneath. It's no biggie since I'll just blot my lips with a tissue and it will looked completely matte.....if I don't wear a lipbalm underneath, this will look matte on me.

MAT 2

bright, neon orange red on my lips 

Swatch:

I find that this is a tad more pigmented than the MAT 1.

Pros:

- affordable and easily accessible (Maybelline is on sale most of the time.)

- decent amount of shades to choose from.

- great pigmentation.

- although it is not moisturizing, it still feels comfortable to wear for long periods of time and it does not give your lips a "chalky" look.

- I like that it stains the lips (I can wear this as a lip tint) and it does not look patchy once the color wore off during the day. 

Cons:

  - I can't think of any.

Review/Swatch: NYX Black Label Lipstick in Hot Pink and Citrine

I hope not everyone's tired of me doing swatches and reviews of NYX products. I just love their products because most of their products are of great quality for the price. I'm also trying to finish posting reviews about the NYX products that I haven't posted yet, so just bear with me.

NYX Black Label lipstick

This is a step up from their usual NYX round lipstick. From the packaging, design and formulation, this thing looks and feel way better. Of course, this has a higher price point than the former.

Current Price:

P250-P300 depending on where you buy it and if there is a sale going on.

Place bought:

digitaltraincase (they already have a personal website where you can shop premium, hard to find and makeup for professional artists online since multiply has closed down already)

at the moment, I don't see the lipstick from the black label line in stock from their online store.

carton sleeve

actual lipstick

Packaging:

When I bought this, it came with a carton sleeve with nice lace designs at the sides. The product has a good weight to it and it doesn't feel "cheap" as compared to their round lipsticks.

The colors that you see at the bottom of the tube is the same as what you see on the actual lipstick bullet so it's easier to navigate what color you want in your lipstick stash. 

Scent:

it has a nice, faint, fruity scent to it. It actually reminds me of a candy called Frutella.

Ingredients:

ingredients are both indicated on the carton sleeve and on the lipstick cap so that we don't have to keep the carton sleeve after.

Formulation:

it glides on easily, but unlike the NYX round lipstick, it has a better adhesion/staying power on the lips to avoid feathering or smearing which I have experienced with some NYX round lipstick in the past.

Pigmentation:

very pigmented especially for the bolder colors like "citrine" which can act as a stain as it wears off your lips.

Swatches:

Citrine

full-on application

applied sparingly

Hot Pink

full-on application

applied sparingly

Review/Swatch: NYX Matte Lipstick in Merlot and Sweet Pink

Just making a long overdue post about the NYX products that I have purchase in the past.


Remember these? I've already reviewed the NYX Matte lipstick in Sierra in the past, so I'll just babble on with the other 2 Nyx matte lipstick hehe! Most of the description about the lipsticks are just the same with he NYX Matte lipstick in Sierra, so you can skip the descriptions and just go look for the swatches.

Current Price: P250-P300 (depending on where you buy it)

Place bought: I bought this through Digitaltraincase

Packaging:

It is longer in length than the RL (round lipstick) but the weight is lighter which sometimes make it feel flimsy although it's not. 

Scent:

it has a slight pleasant scent (in my opinion), way better than the RL's soapy smell.

Ingredients:

Formulation:

it obviously feels matte (duh..) so be ready to prep your lips with some lipbalm/lip moisturizer. I find that I like this even better than the NYX Matte lipcream because it doesn't dry the edges of my lips (which is a staple problem for me) even if I wear this all day.

Pigmentation:

amazing! This is the reason why I love matte lipsticks because of the great pigmentation in one swipe and if you're like me who likes to purse their lips every now and then, matte lipstick is great because it also lessens the risk of it budging or feathering.

Swatch:

Merlot is more of a deep berry wine color.

Full on Application:

It may look like a bright berry color in the picture, but in person, it looks more like a deep berry red.

Applied sparingly:

Applied in dabbing motion

Sweet pink is a cool toned pink.

 Full on application:

 Applied Sparingly:

also looks great as a tint.

Who says pigmented, matte lipsticks are only good for special occasions?

Reasons Why I Prefer Making Reviews on the Not-So-Latest/Less Reviewed Product Out in the Market

I know I'm very late in the game when it comes to reviewing the latest beauty and skincare products out in the market today, but that's ok with me. Why?

1. Ever since I've had AD (atopic dermatitis), I'm more concerned with the products that works for me rather than what works for the majority of people. Don't get me wrong, I still read reviews of other people about a certain product that I'm interested in, but I only read about the description of the product rather than how it performed on the user. Most of time, I even just read the ingredients in the product to know if I could risk using the product on my skin with less possibility that it will give me adverse reactions.

2. I get tired of people saying that they have "sensitive skin", but they use a crapload of products that a person with "true" sensitive skin would not believe you. In general, everyone should treat their skin as sensitive because it is still a big part of our body, but the word "sensitive skin" is so abused in beauty/skincare reviews that it is getting out of hand. I guess that's the power of insensitive marketing strategy. I've been in and out of the hospital for more than a year for my immunotherapy and the amount of people coming in and out of the hospital with the same problem (or worse) as I have is ridiculously too many to count.

        The amount of blogs I've read with people that truly has sensitive skin are only few. So just be careful with what to believe in the internet...people rely on the references in the internet so much that everyone feels like a professional or a doctor of some sorts over night. Always ask the people who have studied and are licensed to whatever problem you have. It is also ethical to ask for their advice rather than ask Dr. Google.

3. I prefer reviewing products that have passed the "hype period" because this gives me a clearer, unbiased perspective about the product I'm using. I'm also the type of person who takes their time using the product before saying anything good or bad about it. I don't know if it's just me, but sometimes, I feel like there's a rat race going on with reviewing products that are just out in the market and everyone wants to be in the "first place" of everything...it's like you have bragging rights of some sorts...

4. I prefer trying the "underdog" products or things that the beauty minority usually use. Sometimes, I discover my staple products by doing this. I also feel like, I'm at least contributing a reference for people who would also like to try the same things that I have tried, but are scared to because they don't see a lot of reviews about it. Don't worry, I still use products that are very popular to the beauty community, as long as it works for my skin.

5. I save more money with my purchases since I'm not following the usual "what's new" crowd and focus on what I really need or want when it comes to skincare and cosmetics. Having this kind of perspective is liberating. I guess I've found my happy place in this.

6. The "organic hype" that's out in the market. It's not that I haven't used products that claims to be organic, but so far, I've had more adverse reactions with products that claims to be, or are "organic", "herbal" or "paraben free". Don't even get me started with the phrase "parabens are not good". Everything in excess are not good. It's same with all the "organic", "herbal", "plant based" hoopla that people recommend. That's why everything is formulated below the "lethal dose" or within the "standard safety margin" of a certain ingredient.

I guess that's about it for now.