August and September have been crazy busy months for me: Zack and I bought our first home, and while it was technically move-in ready it was in bad need of a much better paint job, so almost every room in the house needed to be prepped, primed, and painted before we moved in, in addition to some other cosmetic changes I wanted to make. So perhaps unsurprisingly, the August edition of The Cut is coming to you more than a couple of weeks late, but that also means next month's edition will be right on its heels! Let's get right into the things I was loving — and not quite loving — in August.
Made the Cut
VIOLETTE_FR Bisou Balm | Calisson
Last month, I tried a couple of different VIOLETTE_FR products for the first time and really loved them, so I decided to try yet another product that I was interested in. When I made my first purchase from the brand, the Bisou Balm ($25) was almost entirely sold out except for one color that I didn't care for; after a number of weeks on the waiting list, it finally came back in stock in the color Calisson and I was able to place an order.
Bisou Balm is described as a sheer matte lipstick which gives a tint of color for a "just-been-kissed" effect (a very accurate description). Calisson is a pretty nude shade that gives a very natural wash of color, and the sheer matte formula is interesting and unique. I would definitely recommend moisturizing and exfoliating your lips before use, because the formula does cling to any dryness. But overall, this is a nice lipstick for natural, no-makeup makeup looks, and while it isn't super long-lasting (and doesn't claim to be), application is easy and doesn't require a mirror. A throw-in-your-purse-and-go type of product, which I love.
MERIT Beauty Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil | Taupe + Cara Cara
I much prefer matte lip color to any other finish, but sometimes I like to change things up and go with something with a fresher look. MERIT's tinted lip oils ($24) have a non-sticky, glassy formula with nice color payoff, but their original color lineup didn't really wow me. But for their A/W 2021 collection, they decided that instead of launching entirely new products, they'd release new colors of existing products, in this case their much-loved lip oils.
Four new colors launched: Taupe (neutral brown), Cara Cara (red orange), Falcon (deep brown), and Bel Air (warm clear). I bought all of them except Bel Air and loved Taupe the best. I gravitate towards nudes and reds, and Taupe is the brown shade that, frankly, MERIT should've launched with in its initial collection. My biggest critique of their original lineup of lip oils is that every color was in the pink family (one of my most disliked shades for lip colors) and just didn't offer a ton of variety; Taupe really filled a glaring hole in Shade Slick's color selection. Not too cool or warm and very flattering. Cara Cara is a very pretty red orange shade that's especially perfect for summer. As for Falcon — we'll get to that a little later.
NARS Soft Matte Tinted Lip Balm | Brief Encounter
I really like the concept of sheer matte lip color, so after having a positive experience with the Bisou Balm, and then seeing makeup artist Julia Adams do a look using NARS Soft Matte Tinted Lip Balm ($28), I decided I wanted to give it a try. Compared to Bisou Balm, the NARS balm is closer to a traditional lipstick and gives significantly more color payoff, but does have a balm-like formula. Brief Encounter is a beautiful neutral nude, though in my opinion it has a little bit of warmth to it. True to the product's claims, it gives a soft, diffused look to the lips. I've been reaching for this one a lot lately and will likely have to buy another before too long.
Didn't Make the Cut
MERIT Beauty Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil | Falcon
Of the three new Shade Slick shades I tried, Falcon was, unfortunately, a flop for me. The brown just looked muddy and not particularly flattering. This was actually really disappointing because it's such a beautiful color on all of the models on MERIT's site; in particular, one of the models looks almost as though the makeup artist blotted the color a bit onto her lips, leaving behind a soft, less glossy application of color that looks like a stain.
I'd like to play around more with this color before completely writing it off. It could be really great for the fall and winter for dramatic, moody makeup looks, so I'll try blotting it out or other methods of application to make it appear less muddy. But overall, this just didn't work out like I thought it would and left me kind of bummed.
J. Hannah Nail Polish | Compost
I've purchased a LOT of J.Hannah polish over the last couple of years and have found her nail polish to be really hit or miss. It's not just about the colors, either — the formulas seem to differ depending on the shade, which really sucks because I've found some of her prettiest shades to be simply awful to apply. Ghost Ranch, my all-time favorite shade of red from any brand, is really wonderful, but Agnes and Himalayan Salt had a very strange, thick, goopy texture that I just absolutely hated.
When I saw J. Hannah's latest color called Compost, an unusual shade of brown-green, it reminded me of another of my all-time favorite nail polish shades: Moss from OAK + FORT. Intrigued, I ordered a bottle the day it launched. Unfortunately, this polish was a massive disappointment, as it was seriously runny, watery, and difficult to work with. I noticed after the product had been out for a week or two that J. Hannah mentioned on Instagram that the formula is indeed runnier than the others and requires more than a couple of coats if you're seeking an opaque finish. I also felt that the color didn't look very nice in comparison to the product shots.
I get that this color is supposed to be "subversive" and jumping on the "ugly is in" trend, but this color and formula was just a fail for me and a major letdown. I'll stick with Moss from OAK + FORT as my favorite unusual, greenish-brown nail color.
Be sure to check back next month for another round of products that made the cut and didn't, and thanks for reading my monthly series, The Cut.
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