The Gloss Over: Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in Insolence

✺✺✺

Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss combines bold color and longevity. As glosses go – majority rules – not very long-lasting. Chanel has designed it’s Rouge Allure to be a color-rich, high shine, gel-based that wears “for hours.”

One of the best features is the double-sided flocked applicator. The shape is beveled to deliver ultra-precise definition and easy application. Like all things Chanel – the packaging is pristine, high-quality and luxurious. As for the formula, I was quite surprised by the texture of the gloss. A “long-lasting” gloss would assume to be tacky and/or sticky. Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss is none of the above. The “jelly-like” texture is smooth, silky and comfortable on the lips. The shine is not dramatic – but subtle and makes lips look full and voluminous.  The formula lasts an hour or so – better than other gloss products but not as long-lasting as long-wear lipsticks and stains. I personally bought this product for the color – not its longevity – so the extra hour or so is a bonus.

The color: Insolence is a cotton candy blue-based pink with silver micro-shimmer. It’s semi-opaque but adds a substantial amount of brightness and pinkness to the lips.

Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss is a great everyday lip product.

Glow-T Reports: Lip Trends

⚡⚡⚡

Trending for 2013: saturated lip colors in matte reds, neon pinks and electric tangerines. Neons and bright florescent hues will still be going strong into summer. We will continue to see a ton of ‘pop of color’ on the lip – just exceedingly more bold and bright.

With new formulations and highly-pigmented hues, both high-end brands and drugstore brands provide the tools needed to wear these trends.

In early March, Givenchy is releasing a high-pigment, long-wearing matte lipstick – Givenchy Le Rouge Lipstick. Super chic, this lipstick arrives packaged in a leather and silver case.

The Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tars come in every color conceivable. A great way to create the color you want but just can’t find. Full Review: HERE.

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick delivers intense, vibrant color with exceptional longevity. Feels great on the lips and is available in a variety of wearable colors.

Drugstore brands are really stepping into the trends these days. They are creating innovative and quality lip products equal to that of their high-end counterparts.

L’Oreal Colour Riche Caresse Aqua Lacquer combines the power of a lip stain with the luster of gloss. These lacquers can be compared to, my favorite, Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain.

The Maybelline Colour Sensational Vivids Collection is one to swipe-up immediately. A limited edition line of  crazy bright, electric colors – and extremely affordable.

2013 will be a year of new categories in lip products. New Lip Oils, (explained in an upcoming post) colors and formulations will provide the consumer with millions of options to create their own trends.

Lip Lacquer: YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis À Lèvres (Glossy Stain)

⚜⚜⚜

Yves Saint Laurent’s Rouge Pur Couture Vernis À Lèvres (Glossy Stain) is a unique hybrid of a lip stain and gloss without the dryness of a stain and the stickiness of a gloss.

The Glossy Stain is available in 19 beautiful shades. The pigmentation is rich and true to color. One layer provides a perfect wash of color and two, reaches full opacity. It stains the lips for a long-lasting finish that will not transfer.

The doe-foot applicator makes for easy and precise application. The soft-slanted tip is controllable and accurate. The texture is a gel-like formula that feels comfortable, cooling and hydrating on the lips. The thick consistency plumps the lips and exudes incredible shine with absolutely no glitter or sparkly bits.

This is one of the most inventive lip products I have tried. It is like nail polish for the lips, lacquered and glossy. This is the type of product that you must branch-out and try an extraordinary shade. Skip the neutrals and go directly towards the bold and vibrant shades. My current favorite is #12 Corail Fauve – a pinky-coral shade that looks like sweet watermelon on the lips. However, I have my eye on the perfect red for fall –  #20 Rouge Enamel (Sephora Exclusive) as well as a bold orange – #8 Orange de Chine, my out-of-comfort-zone shade.

Holy Grail: Vitality Lip Flush 4-in-1 Anti-Aging Lipstick Stain

✺✺✺

An all-in-one phenomenon. Combine your favorite lip balm, lipstick, lip gloss and lip stain and you will have IT Cosmetics Vitality Lip Flush 4-in-1 Anti-Aging Lipstick Stain. 

IT Cosmetics by Jackie Kern stands for Innovative Technology Cosmetics. It is created with the help of leading plastic surgeons to infuse medical grade makeup with healing skin loving ingredients with cutting edge technology.

Unlike anything I have tried before, this lip product creates the most perfect stained lip.  The uber moisturizing formula glides on the lips seamlessly and resembles the feeling of a glossy lip balm. After application, lips are stained with a gorgeous “your lips but better” flush. This product comes in 3 different stains: Je Ne Sais Quoi (crystal pink), Love Story (mid-range pink) and Pretty Woman (berry).

This truly innovative lip product contains IT Cosmetics Hydra-Luxe™ Technology which features plum oil, cherry oil, shea butter, aloe, and jojoba that all work together to treat, hydrate, condition, and nourish your lips. It is also packed with anti-oxidants including acai, green tea, white tea, and vitamins A, C, and E to fight free-radicals and  minimize the appearance of lip lines and wrinkles.

IT Cosmetics Vitality Lip Flush 4-in-1 Anti-Aging Lipstick Stain is added to the Holy Grail list for two reasons: texture and color. It is the lip product I have always been looking but did not know existed. Until now.

Stain Sealer: Smashbox Limitless Lip Stain & Color Seal Balm

✯✯✯

Smashbox Limitless Lip Stain & Color Seal Balm

A general reaction to most lip stain products is dry and/or tight lips. Smashbox Limitless Lip Stain & Color Seal Balm remedies this problem by adding a moisturizing balm that seals-in color onto the double-ended marker.

The stains are extremely pigmented and bleed onto the lips smoothly. The vivid colors are available in six shades; Berry (dark raspberry), Cinnamon (red brown), Guava (coral orange), Nude (pink beige), Petal (baby pink) and Sangria (deep wine).

The Color Seal Balm glides effortlessly onto the lips and feels very refreshing. It matches the stain color providing a glossy effect on the lips. The balm can also be used on its own for a sheer wash of color.

Smashbox Limitless Lip Stain & Color Seal Balm is truly a revolutionary product. I recently compared this product to Revlon’s Just Bitten Lip Stain & Balm. The pigmentation and lasting abilities the Smashbox product provides is exceedingly superior, almost incomparable.