Oh Mi Amor... Spring Colors: Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick Duo in Vivid

Ah, my beauty..past compare.. 

Remember Bianca Castafiore from Tintin comics, the diva who makes Snowy howl, singing [or yowling] this song from Faust? I am reminded of the song [not the yowl] here as I look at this beauty from Bite Beauty.

Bite Beauty doesn't need an intro - they are famous now for their high quality lippies & for me, the best part is they are from Toronto :) :)
I am tempted to visit their Geary Ave location,; they don't have an online store & as far as I know, they retail only through Sephora.

This lippie duo is available from Sephora for $15 CAD [Awesome right?].

What Sephora says about this lipstick : This mini duo of twist-up bullets offer neutral or vivid lips on the go. Wear them individually or layer to create your own custom look. With every application, antioxidant Resveratrol fights free radicals with potent long-term age-repair benefits. Each lipstick contains the Resveratrol equivalent of two glasses of red wine, reducing fine lines and wrinkles on and around the lip area over time.


My Experience:

I love this lipstick. Let me put that out 1st.

Okay, now here are some stuff I don't like, which I will clear 1st before I start gushing about it. First of all, I don't really care or believe about Reservatrol crap. If I am using a lipstick, I am using it for color, look etc, not for its skin care benefits. I use my lip balms or the new lip mask stuff from Korean brands for that. So, having Reservatraol which may be a wonder drug, doesn't mean a thing to me & I think to most lipstick lovers. Which makes me wonder why Bite has used it as the focus of their ads, instead of how awesomely pigmented their lipstick is! Talk about focusing on the wrong stuff!  Also if you read this article from Brightest Bulb in the Box [a must-read blog] , you'll get to know what the nonsense is about. Anyways, if that's how BBeauty wants to do their stuff, oh well!

Second of all.. for a brand that sells through Sephora, their packaging sucks! A boring greyish outer cover and a dull greyish-black case doesn't scream 'From Sephora' to me. Look at Too Faced, look at UD..come on, Bite Beauty, if nothing else go for the safe black!

Whew, now that is out of the way - let me talk about this gorgeous lipstick duo.
Palomino - my favorite of the 2- is described as a 'vibrant magenta' in the website & I agree. A stunning shade that will suit most skin tones & brightens up your look very easily.

Look at that color - I need this lipstick in my life.. Gimme more...n more...

Violet is described as a 'magenta violet' but I feel its more of a neon blue-toned pink rather than a violet. This is a more difficult color to carry for a day cos of its neon-ish look unless applied sheer; it looks great for at night.I have not tried this in full intensity as I feel it would suit me if I were 18 instead of 30!

Pigmentation - Awesome, Semi Opaque to full color in 1-2 swipes.
Staying  power - Decent, upto 4-5 hours without eating. Even if it fades, it leaves a color. Especially for Palomino which tinted my lips for some good amount of time.
Application - This is where I go nuts about this lippie. So soft and silky on lips. When ads talk about luxurious feel on lips, they are talking about this. It glides... and you wanna keep it gliding..
Comfort for wear - This is an important factor for me. It has to sit pretty and nice on my lips or else I don't wear it. This passed the test with full marks :)

Other factors- No harsh scent, no harsh taste, no irritation.

The lipstick bullet is small and I like it that way. Makes it easier to get it done precisely. In fact, I hope Bite Beauty will launch more of these shades!

Overall - Gal, run..go check if Sephora still has it.
Meanwhile, dear Bite Beauty, stop trying to make me a pauper. I saw your Deconstructed Gloss collection and with great difficulty I stopped myself from buying [God give me the strength]

Here is an interesting fact.
This Duo -> $15 for 0.1oz i.e. 150 for 1oz
A full size luminous lipstick - $28 for 0.13oz i.e. 215 for 1 oz

Aint that awesome? Hope they release more shades! :)

Spring Colors: Medusa's Makeup Lip Gloss in shade Bite Me

Medusa  - what comes to your mind? A nymph-like pretty lady from the ancient times or a screaming face with snakes for hair? 
For me, it is the latter, so I am not very sure why a makeup brand would adopt a mythical monster's name.. 
Oh well, at least it sounds better than Bitch Slap :)

 

Being a regular visitor to Urbanoutfitters.com , I'd noticed this brand; so when I did a recent lippie haul [haul post coming soon!] , I got this shade Bite Me from their range. I must say, the shade names are pretty uninspiring - I would expected something with a Greek touch to add some piquancy :)

About the product: Price is $8 USD for 0.25 oz.

"This rich and luxurious gloss glides on smooth and moisturizes your kisser.
We have also added delicious flavors for each of our vibrant 12 shades."

My Experience:

I like that MM team have marked the scent/flavor name against the shade - so helpful! Seriously! For me, scent/flavor for a lip product is a break-deal factor & there are items I've thrown out cos of the weird scent.

Bite Me is a shimmery cherry red gloss shade with a Watermelon [Yayyy, I love Watermelon!] scent. The shimmer is not very harsh, so it is quite wearable. One good thing I noticed is that unlike some shimmer glosses [ Expect a review on one from NYX soon], the shimmer in this gloss is not a stay-around-and-make-my-face-a-disco-ball type. When the color fades, the shimmer also mostly goes away with it. 

MM website describes this as a Red, but its more a cherry blue-toned red with hints of pink in it. This applies semi-sheer, so if you are looking for a full colored gloss that gives the same opaque coverage as a lipstick, this ain't it.

I must say, I am happy with this cos:
1. MM is cruelty free- 3 CHEERS!
2. I like my lip gloss to be just  a glossy layer over my lipstick & not a standalone product. I know, I am old fashioned., but if I apply a lip gloss over my lipstick, I don't want it to blot out the lipstick color!
3. I like my glosses glossy but not sticky and this one is not sticky at all!

This doesn't stay for long, hardly an hour or 2, but I like the cute packaging and I don't mind reapplying my makeup. 
It doesn't have any weird sharp taste, no irritation and leaves my lips moisturized.

If applied alone,this gives a very sheer wash of color. 
I like pairing it over paler peachy lipstick shades to give some brightness to the lips. 

Overall: This is an excellent lip gloss for the price [$32 for 1 oz, Revlon SL gloss is $60+ for 1 oz!] and if you don't mind reapplying gloss every now and then, this is something you can try.