The Body Shop Pink Grapefruit Lip Butter

Lovely!

I love the Body Shop like no other, but their lip balms were a little too hard to sort through. A lot of the scents were cheesy, overpowering, or just didn't appeal to my personal taste. After getting through them all, however, I found he Grapefruit fantastic! Scent-wise, I love it. It's perfectly sweet and fruity with just a little citrus tang, and not so overpoweringly "fruit-licious" that it becomes just another sweet-scented product. I'm not one for sweet things, and I definitely do not like anything "very berry" so this scent came as a pleasant surprise to me. I liked the scent so much I'd tell my partner I was giving them "grapefruit kisses." But enough about the scent, what about the actual Body Shop balm? Well, in "curing" chapped lips (which I have much too often), it does not do as much as any clinical balms, but it does wonders for soothing. I often find myself with bloody, painful lips (thanks to my very bad lip-chewing habit), and whenever it would get to be just too much, I would apply the balm, and in a couple minutes, the pain would be gone! Though that may come as no surprise (that is what a balm is for after all), but that just means it does it's job and does it well. Whenever I am applying it though, I have to be careful about how much I put on. It easily becomes pasty and leaves a strange sensation when too much is applied, but only in a "wow, that is way too much lip balm," sort of way. The bad part is that not very much of this stuff can cause the same all-too-much sensation as much more of other products. This is an indicator of a quality long-lasting product, but disappointing for someone who likes to apply a lot to my too-sore lips. One warning I have is try your best not to lick it! Though it generally stays on pretty well, it does not taste good, pretty weird actually, so if you are prone to licking lip gloss off like I am, try to be careful with this balm. The only actual qualm I have for the product comes from the way The Body Shop packages it. It is hard to get the actual balm out of the container, and it often gets stuck in my fingernail when I am trying to get it out. It is also somewhat of a surprise whenever I open the container to see what condition my lip balm is in, because the cold hardens it up and makes it extra-difficult to retrieve the balm, while the heat softens it up but also has the capacity to make the balm runny. Because of this, I say keep it in your pocket to keep it warm and soft for easy application, and don't worry if it turns somewhat to liquid - it always hardens back up. For this type of Body Shop merchandise (lip balms, that is), I would say definitely go for the grapefruit. It is sweet and always puts me into a better mood. I would also recommend the coconut (because who doesn't love that) and the mint (for a helpful refreshing zing), but my favorite is still Grapefruit. No matter what though, the balm quality is fantastic and I would say definitely worth the price.

January 15, 2017

Covergirl Katy Kat Matte Lipstick

Disappointing

In reality, I was probably more excited for this makeup line than I should have been. I'm all about bright colors and pastels, with my favorite eyeliner color being purple, but CoverGirl really did disappoint with these Matte lipsticks. Granted, I only tried the purple (given that I did not want to buy any more colors after trying the first one), but even then it just seemed...cheap. The quality reminded me of the makeup I would get from Claires or Justice when I was a little girl, and we all remember how bad those looked. It took a lot of pressure applying and a lot of lipstick for the color to even show up, and even then it was chalky and hard to manipulate. No matter how hard I tried, and how sore my lips were afterwards, I could not get an even coating. Its one redeeming feature is that it is a resilient lipstick - I could hardly get it off. All in all, I advise you not waste your money on this. Though the colorful mattes were exciting and a breath of fresh air for the all-too-seldom-visited pastel fashion, it was not worth the trouble in the end.

January 15, 2017