I really don't know how it's already been a month since my first entry in this series, but here we are. As summer has crawled on I've tried some new products from recent launches as well as products that are new-to-me and, as usual, have lots of thoughts to share. Let's jump right in.
Made the Cut
Glossier Ultralip
It seemed the moment Glossier hinted they were coming out with a new line of lip color their fanbase couldn't stop peppering every one of their social media posts with questions about when we'd see swatches, sneak peeks, or any info on a release date. Finally, just a handful of weeks ago Glossier dropped Ultralip, their glossy, balmy, summer-ready lipsticks that have the buildability of a lip tint.
Speaking as someone who absolutely loves matte lipsticks and very, very rarely wears gloss or dewy lip color, I wound up liking Ultralip more than I expected to. The color Trench is a very wearable, flattering toffee brown that shakes up my normal lip color routine and helps me achieve a fresh-faced look. Cachet is a deeper walnut brown that is nice for a more dramatic look and will be especially great for the fall. Not every color was a winner on me; I also ordered Villa, which is a described as a dusty rose (a color I normally really like), but it pulled too pink on me and I didn't love it. Definitely recommend checking these out ($18 each), especially since they hydrate the lips nicely, too.
Jones Road Beauty Miracle Balm | Dusty Rose
As I mentioned above, dusty rose is a shade that I usually really like, and while it didn't work out so well for Ultralip it works well for Jones Road Beauty's Miracle Balm. In yet another example of "I discovered this product from an Instagram ad," I got lured in by a product video showing the model wearing and using this balm on her cheeks. I decided to look into it more and really loved the rosy flush and dewy glow this product gives the skin.
The price tag of $38 seems a bit steep, but a little of this product goes a long way. Seriously, you don't want to use too much because the product doesn't dry down on your face and instead remains a bit tacky to maintain that glowy texture, which means even in a slight breeze your hair will be sticking to your face. There's a bit of a learning curve to using this balm; it's pigmented but not intensely, so I found that layering was necessary, but I also had to find a middle ground between getting color to show on my face and not looking too greasy. You also have to "break the seal" on the top layer of the balm to get to the more pigmented color. Once you get used to this balm, it's a nice one-and-done product for no-makeup-makeup looks and achieving a natural, healthy complexion with a touch of color.
VIOLETTE_FR Petal Bouche Matte + Yeux Paint | Tout Doux
A couple of microinfluencers that I follow posted about VIOLETTE_FR recently, a brand I'd never heard of but decided to look into. This brand actually just recently launched and has a curated selection of products (many of which are unfortunately sold out and have been for weeks now, though supposedly a restock is happening sometime soon). Red lipsticks can either be crazy good or really bad, so I was intrigued by the formula for VIOLETTE's Petal Bouche Matte liquid lipstick ($25), which claimed to mimic the texture of rose petals. The color — a deep, blood red — looked stunning online, so I decided to give it a shot along with the brand's Yeux Paint matte liquid eyeshadow in the shade Tout Doux ($28). I wear eyeshadow extremely rarely and when I do I tend to just blend out a single shade onto my lids as a wash of color, so this seemed right up my alley and so did the very wearable nude shade.
Petal Bouche has become my very favorite shade of red lipstick. It's beautiful, rich, and deep, and at least visually it successfully mimics the texture of rose petals. Many people on VIOLETTE's Instagram account have claimed the product is drying or crumbles on their lips when too many layers are applied; while I haven't experienced those issues myself, I have found that the only downside to this lipstick is that it bleeds. Badly. Yes, reds and dark shades tend to do that without a liner, but this formula seems prone to it more than other liquid lipsticks I've worn and it's disappointing. I'll have to try this with a liner to see if it helps, but otherwise that's the only gripe I have with this otherwise perfect liquid lipstick.
Tout Doux is THE perfect shade of eyeshadow for me. This product is EXTREMELY pigmented, however, and I'm not sure when I'll be needing to buy another tube of this given the minuscule amount needed for a wash of color on the lids. Just a tiny dot is all I need to blend the color out with my finger. For anyone that isn't a human oil slick like me I'd imagine this would be a pretty long lasting product; for me, my oily lids break down any eyeshadow even with a primer, but even despite that the color sticks around all day on me, albeit less intensely by the end of the day.
Saie Glowy Super Gel | Starglow
I knew nothing about this product before seeing it in Sephora and buying it on a whim, but it turned out to be a really successful impulse buy. This gel highlighter ($25) looks so natural and, well, glowy (as the name suggests), and has been the highlighter I've been reaching for the most lately. It's not glittery, oily, or greasy looking, just luminous and beautiful. Lasts well on my skin all day, too.
Victoria Beckham Beauty Bitten Lip Tint | Amour
Yup, Instagram ads got me again. I'll be honest, I haven't been at all interested in Victoria Beckham's beauty line and forgot it even existed before I got an ad in my feed for her Bitten Lip Tint in the new shade, Amour ($36). As I mentioned earlier, I'm partial to matte lip color, but the description of the texture seemed really interesting to me: neither stain nor gloss, transfer-proof semi-matte color.
I was pleasantly surprised by this product. The component is unusually heavy, the cardboard box for the lip tint is of nice quality, and the product came in its own mini dustbag. The dustbag is kind of unnecessary but major kudos for thoughtfulness of presentation overall. Amour is a really pretty brownish nude which is described as peachy, but it luckily doesn't pull peachy on me (which washes me out). This product claims to plump but I have naturally full lips so I didn't see much of a difference on myself nor did I feel the typical tingling sensation of plumping lip products. This product is semi-buildable but gets a bit weird if you try putting on too much product. Stick with two layers max and you should be fine. It goes on semi-glossy and dries down to a popsicle stain-like finish. Really nice product and great for changing up my typical lipstick routine.
LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask | [Peach Iced Tea]
LANEIGE's Lip Sleeping Masks are one of the best skincare products I've ever used and certainly the best lip treatment I've ever used. They leave my lips seriously soft and moisturized in the morning and nearly every scent smells incredible. Being something of an iced tea fiend, I instantly added the new, limited edition Peach Iced Tea scent ($26) to my Sephora cart the second I discovered it and wasn't disappointed. Much like the Gummy Bear scent, this product smells so good I want to eat it. (But please don't, it's not edible.) Typical deep moisturizing benefits of the Lip Sleeping Masks in a new, mouthwatering scent.
Didn't Make the Cut
Glossier Solar Paint
Glossier has a lot of great products and I've been using many of them for years. But Glossier also has a number of duds, and their new Solar Paint bronzers really missed the mark. No, I didn't buy them to test them out because I'm not going to buy something I know I'm not going to like. People have been begging Glossier for a bronzer for a really long time, so I was a bit frustrated by this product when it launched a couple weeks ago.
I'm not sure why beauty brands seem to think that adding glitter or shimmer is the only way for a product to replicate the look of a sunkissed glow, but Glossier has fallen into that trap with this product. Additionally, these bronzers look more like blushes on all of the models and all seem to pull some shade of pink or red. The liquid formula (which appears similar to that of their Cloud Paints) and doe foot applicator are cool, but I was really hoping for this to be a matte or luminous finish (without glitter/shimmer) and for the shades to more closely resemble bronzer. Because, you know, they're bronzers. Won't be picking this up.
Versed Sunday Morning Antioxidant Oil-Serum
I really don't know what this product is supposed to be. I grabbed it on a whim on a recent Target trip and figured I'd give it a go, but all this serum really does is leave my face looking oily shortly after application. It also reminds me of those oil-and-water liquid desk toys from the 90s; the oil and water parts of this product need to be shaken up before use and separate when not in use, because science. While it looks like a beautiful sunset in a bottle, ultimately this just feels like a gimmicky "Is it an oil? Is it a serum? It's both!" product that lures you in with buzzwords (antioxidants! sea buckthorn extract!) but ultimately doesn't achieve much beyond moisture, which you can attain with other products that actually provide tangible improvements to your skin.
It also feels like this product is trying to do too much. You can apparently use it as a highlighter, as a moisturizer and a serum (it can be your "one-and-done in place of serum and moisturizer"), and can layer it under a moisturizer if you'd prefer. Typically products that do one thing do it well, while others that make too many promises fall short of actually delivering much of anything at all. The "never greasy glow" part definitely wasn't true for me, as this product left me looking mighty shiny shortly after using. "Sunday Morning" is a good name for this serum, as I would only use it on Sundays when I'm not planning on leaving the house and don't have to worry about being a greasy mess in public.
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.
Note: None of the hyperlinks in this post are affiliate links. They're included merely for your convenience.
Comments