Review: Rimmel Provocalips

I know there are tons of blog posts and video reviews about the new Rimmel Provocalips 16Hr Kissproof Lip Color. 

Everyone's experience is different. And everyone's lips are different. Some lipsticks do better on some and not so good on others. That's why I enjoy doing these reviews despite the countless reviews out there.

THE COLORS:

Make Your Move, I'll Call You, Little Mynx, Heartbreaker, Play With Fire, Kiss Fatal

Make Your Move, I'll Call You, Little Mynx, Heartbreaker, Play With Fire, Kiss Fatal

My faves are Make Your Move and Play With Fire. I wore Kiss Fatal once and I did like it too, but I don't remember how much I liked it. I do remember it not being as purple as I had hoped, definitely not like the packaging color. I also see myself wearing I'll Call You throughout spring.

Little Mynx was way too bright for my taste. Heartbreaker reminded me of a more mature red. I gave both away.

THE PROCESS:

It is a two step application process:

1. Apply color

2. Apply clear coat

MY LIPS LOWDOWN

Before I talk about the wear power, I just want to give you the lowdown on my lips. My lips are weird and annoying. They cannot take lip products for a long time. Take the NYX Matte Lip Creams for example. Within 30 minutes, the lipstick is peeling in my inner lips. Then there are others who can wear this for hours and eat and nothing come off. "Long wear" has never worked for my lips. You know how people say their lashes can't hold a curl? Well, my lips can't hold lipstick.

WEAR TEST: Make Your Move

9am - Pretty glossy, pretty fresh

1:20pm - The glossiness has disappeared (which I prefer), but you can see peeling on the top of my bottom lip

1:20pm touch-up - I only touched up where lipstick had worn off

5pm - It looked worse in person. I ended up dragging the color off the bottom lip and applying a similar lipstick color

FINAL THOUGHTS

Wear time: It does last longer than normal lipsticks (and definitely longer than the coveted NYX Matte Lip Cream). 

The pros: It is long wearing, so long wearing that you need makeup remover to remove the lipstick. I definitely need it to remove the pigment on my upper lip.

The cons: Because you do need makeup remover, it makes touchups challenging. It gets pretty cakey and chunky after reapplying. However, the longer the lipstick is on, the more apt I am able to wipe it off but with great pressure. I try to wipe off (usually my bottom lip) the lipstick and start over. Because Make Your Move is a "your lips but better" color, I can get by with the fading color as it is less noticeable. If I were to wear a more vibrant color like I'll Call You, the signs of wear would be more prominent because there would be chunks of color missing. You would be able to see it even on my top lip with a more vibrant color. I do not wear this lipstick if I am not able to take my time touching up just because it does get cakey. For an event that's a few hours, it would be perfect.

Drying?: Yes and no. If I apply a lip balm beneath the lip color, I will be fine. I do not know if this is just me, but the more vibrant the color, the more drying it felt. Applying lip balm on top helps for a few hours. I do recommend lip balm before application.

Mess-free: I love that I can kiss my nephew and my boyfriend and not see remnants of lipstick on them. I do see pieces of color on my straw or food (like bread, for example), but definitely not as much as it would have been with normal lipstick. 

Would I repurchase? I would say yes. I do want to try other similar lipsticks, but I am a fan of the Rimmel Provocalips. It's not perfect, but it will do for now. This is definitely the longest wearing lipstick I have ever worn. 

Have you tried these bad boys?

If so, what do you think?

<3<3<3

Winter 2014/2015 Favorites

I don't know if it has anything to do with global warming, but Los Angeles has not had a proper winter in the last few years. I am so very sad that I didn't get to maximize the use of boots, scarves and light peacoats this past winter.

We've had some chilly nights and maybe two weeks tops of real cold, wintery days. However, we did experience a good week of rain - so good that it knocked my power out the day before my 8:30am job interview. Other than that and the occasional sporadic rain, winter in LA was winter in LA.

Here are my favorites:

FACE

Rimmel Stay Matte Primer

This with the NYX setting spray (featured in my Fall Favorites 2014) is a match made in heaven!! It definitely keeps me as matte as possible during the warmer, sweat-worthy LA weather. After using this primer with the NYX setting spray, I found makeup to last longer! My bronzer and blush are still prominent on my cheeks by the end of the day.

Flat Top Kabuki by Beauty Junkees

I heard about this from Youtube's saaammage. She mentioned it in one of her videos and offered a discount code via Amazon. The brush ended up being $6 pre-tax, pre-shipping fees. I am so happy with this brush. It works just as well as Sigma's $18 flat top kabuki and 1/3 of the price. I've experienced no shedding in the last 3 months that I have had it. It blends smoothly, is dense and very soft at the same time. 

LIPS

Wet N Wild's Sugar Plum Fairy and NYX's Aria were both in my Fall 2014 favorites as well, but I could not help rocking it all Winter long too. I am going to miss these colors during Spring as I tend to gravitate towards my pinks.

Rimmel London Provocalips in Make Your Move

For those that like/love this lipstick, consider this to be the "Your Lips But Better" lip color and I must agree. It is long lasting which makes me gravitate towards this product. This product is not completely perfect and I'll talk more about that in an upcoming review.

Rimmel London Provocalips in Play With Fire

This is not my most favorite shade of red, but I love that it's red lipstick that will not get all over the place. I've heard great things about Sephora's Cream Lip Stain in 01/Always Red and can't wait to eventually try it.

NAILS

Zoya - Juno

I got this on clearance at ULTA for $4.50. What a steal! I love it and wore this soooo many times February and March. It's a beautiful purple with flecks of shimmer. Gorgeous :)

SHOES

Rampage Jaycer Booties

I got these online on Macys.com during the Black Friday sale last November. I have always wanted to own combat boots but thought they weren't for me. My new life goals are to just do what I want, dress how I want, without thinking too much about what people are to used to seeing me wear or what they would think. I got these bad boys on sale for $19.99. I can't remember the original price (I think it was $50. It is currently on Overstock for $54.99. I initially got brown in a size 7.5. They were way too big. I went to the store to exchange them and ended up getting a 7 in taupe. I love it! I wish it was chillier so I can still wear them. It is now flip flop weather in Los Angeles. 

PLACE 

Planet Fitness

I have been getting my workout on! I used to think this gym was a joke because it was $10/month. Boy was I wrong! It is legit! AND IT'S SO PURPLE INSIDE! It's amazing. I still have my 24 Hours Fitness membership which is set to expire in May. I am just totally digging this gym. The equipment is female friendly and amateur friendly. The staff are so nice and they are always (ALWAYS!) cleaning. It never smells. It's never dirty. I am so happy PF moved into town.

PERSON

Ben

We celebrated our three years in February. He's my best friend, my prince, and my boo boo bear. LOL. Just being in his company makes me happy. He also got his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in March. Way to go! He gave me a little shout out in his speech that made me melt into a pile of mush <3

I am really excited to see what Spring has in store for me :)

What were your go to products this past winter?

What do you look forward to in Spring?

<3<3<3

Obsessed: Floral and Red Lips

I know what you guys are thinking...my face doesn't match my chest...and you're right! No, it's not my make-up, I am just different colors all over my body...seriously! LOL.

If you've read my old blog post about Lupus or already know about Lupus or even if you have never heard of it, Lupus is an autoimmune disease. One of the things I must stray away from is the sun! I can get really really sick in the sun, so I avoid it when I can.

My face (and arms/hands) are tanned from all the driving I do for work (I'm a field-based social worker). My feet are tanned from all the walking I do from my car and to my patients' homes. Since my work is conservative in dress code, my chest is always concealed. 

Now that's all out of the way, let' get to the stars of this post!

These are my current favorites and obsessions:

• Floral kimono - F21, $14.90
• Floral sunnies - Ross, $4.99
• Rimmel Provocalips, Play With Fire - Target, $7.49 

I have an upcoming post on the Rimmel Provocalips so stay tuned.

So far, the floral on floral with the red lips is my absolute favorite! I can't wait to wear them together again. LOL

Do you ever find outfit combos that you always wear together and don't seem to work paired with anything else? This is who I feel about this trio ;)

<3<3<3

Ulta Haul: First-Time Products

Interesting fact about me: As much as I love makeup, beauty, and all that jazz, I am very wary of trying new face products in fear of a massive breakout...

HOWEVER, in my last trip to Ulta, I bought three never-tried-before face products. Look at me living on the edge...kinda...LOL

Rimmel London 

Fix & Perfect Pro Primer

I know, I know. I'm late to jump on this bandwagon, but I have always stayed away from primers because I did not want to add one more product to my face. When it comes to makeup, I want less on my face and more on my eyes and lips. Bold eyes are more my style. 

As I get older and as it gets hotter in our Los Angeles summer (we're going through a heatwave right now), my skin tends to get oilier faster. I know there's a Stay Matte primer, but I opted for the Fix & Perfect because I do want some fresh faced dewiness. 

I shall keep you posted on how it works out for me :)

L'Oreal Paris

Revitalift Eye Cream Moisturizer

Okay, so this isn't exactly living on the edge. I do have the regular Revitalift Moisturizer. I purchased this after reading an online article (I know, great source, lol) that said women in their mid 20s should start an anti-aging regimen. Whether this is legit or not, it prompted me to do the same. 

My mom is also a big fan of anti-aging products. Maybe I inherited it from her. When I was in high school, she bought me Estee Lauder's DayWear moisturizer which helped with anti-aging. Like mother, like daughter?

I've been using it for a week and have not noticed a difference yet. It feels like the regular moisturizer. I suppose knowing that it has a purpose is comforting enough to me at this point. 

Benefit 

The POREfessional Mini

To be honest, I didn't know what pores were until I noticed them on my ex-boyfriend's face two years ago. Haha. Then I saw them on my own face on a small patch of my cheeks by my nose. My pores, thankfully, are not big, but you can still see them when you look closely. 

I decided to try this out. I think it works? I always forget to use it and I'm not sure if it makes a big difference for me, perhaps my pores are not too big? Maybe I should try it on my ex. LOL. 

Eco Tools 

Skin Perfecting Brush

In my RIP Sigma post, I talked about my favorite face brush - Sigma F80 - being on its deathbed. Hairs were falling out in chunks. 

I decided to buy something much cheaper. I did my research and found that the Eco Tools brand was a good set and also good for the environment. So why not? The description read that it was good for BB/CC creams and tinted moisturizers, which I use on a daily basis when I step out of my home. 

My verdict: It's okay. It does get the job done. Cons: It is quite prickly which makes a smooth buffing motion difficult.

Sally Hansen

Miracle Gel in Street Flair

If you know me, I am a sucker for nail polish and even bigger sucker for muted purples. I heard great things about this nail polish and decided to give it a go. 

My verdict: LOVE! I only wore it for 3 days (instead of the usual 5 - 6) before taking it off. It was smooth and stuck on strong. I hear the Miracle Top coat does wonders to it. I'm thinking of trying that too because Ulta does sell them in a duo of a gel nail polish and top coat. I almost bought the set in store but I did not like the color in the duo. 

I just love Ulta and any makeup store really. What's going to kill my wallet is that Ulta is having a 21 Days of Beauty sales events. OH ULTA. WHYYYY +ULTA Beauty <3 

<3<3<3

Valentine's Day Goodies

Aloha! 

This past Valentine's Day, I was surprised with Valentine's goodies from my little Valentine, my little 17 month old nephew. AHHHH. He's so freakin cute! Of course, him being 17 months old meant his mama making the Valentine's goodies. Nonetheless, it is such a sweet gesture. Growing older and having kids around makes holidays a lot more fun.

Here's what I got:

 A cute little tin pail filled with chocolate delights, bath salts, a strawberry kit, and a Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick - my first Rimmel lipstick!

Here are multiple shots of the lipstick. Sorry, I was a bit too excited and had to take snapshots of this beauty in all kinds of angles! I LOVE IT. I'm not so much of a bold lip-wearer because I love bold striking eyes. I'm very much into the "Your Lips But Better" color. This color is definitely it!

Swatch

Definitely my new FAVORITE lip color right now. I am so happy my best friend knows me so well. She actually bought this for herself and when she tried it on, she knew she had to buy one for me. She drove to two different CVS'es to find it. THANK YOU! It's the perfect nude pink that I love. Before this, I was in love with the Wet n Wild lip color "Bare It All" (902C). That love came and went real quick. At first, I thought it was a nude pink then I saw (in better light) that it's actually a nude peach. Peach does not compliment my skin tone at all. It makes me look like I have orange lips. I still love my Wet n Wild lipstick. I wear it beneath my L'Oreal Infallible lipstick in "Intensely Mauve." To read more about my obsession with lipsticks and my current collection, click here. Wet n Wild lipsticks have great long wear which aids in keeping my lip color last for hours :] The only downside of the Rimmel lipstick is that it wears off too quickly. Boo. 

I hope you enjoyed this post about my Valentine's Day goodies. I hope your Valentine's Day was a lovely one.

<3 <3 <3