Revlon Lip Butter Review and Contest/Giveaway!

Hi guys!  Happy holidays!  Sorry for the absence, I was home with my family for Thanksgiving.  Here's my review of the Revlon Lip Butters with a contest for a lip butter in the shade Raspberry Pie (and some other surprises...maybe from the Stila warehouse sale or elf cyber monday? hmmm...)!  Contest rules will be below.

So, Revlon lip butters have been hyped and are still flying off store shelves, but are they worth it?

Short answer: maybe?  It really depends on what you are looking for.  It reminds me most of a glossy sheer lipstick.  If you like typical lip butters (think Korres lip butters), this is nothing like that.  I sleep in my korres lip butters to hydrate them (yes, even the pigmented ones, lol), but these are not comparable.  They also won't stay on for 8 hours while you sleep.  And I don't find them that moisturizing for that long because of the staying power.

These butters are .09 oz (smaller than a MAC lipstick) and cost $7.49, but just catch them at a drugstore sale whenever Revlon products are on sale in order to pay less.  I got it during the buy one get one 50% off and up rewards.

Cons:

1. Packaging! You open the tube by a small black square, which can be hard to grab...especially if you just applied a hand lotion!  I've heard this complaint from many others.  Revlon packaging fail!
2. Staying power.  You have to have the color handy to re-apply
3. If you want it pigmented...you will lose a lot.  I'm almost already 1/2 way done with Berry Smoothie.  If you think about it, if you are taking 3 swipes to apply it to your bottom lip alone and then 3 on top, you are using that much more product.  So, really, it's going to cost you more in the long run if you are looking for good pigmentation.
4. It's very hard to tell from the packaging which ones contain shimmer, glitter, etc.  Peach Parfait was too glittery for my liking.

Pros:

1. These are a great way to try new colors that you are a bit afraid of.  Want red lips?  Hot Pink?  Try candy apple or cherry tart for red and Lollipop for hot pink! They are more sheer with one swipe or you can build them up.  I'm always iffy about red lips on myself, but I've been loving candy apple and I think these are very wearable.
2. You won't need an additional gloss.
3. Want even more pigmentation? Just throw a lipliner underneath (that wasn't really a pro...just a tip!)
4. The top of the packaging has a little window that you can see what color you are grabbing and the tube color corresponds with the color instead.
5. They are nice for winter because during winter, lipsticks can be too drying, so this allows you to get pigmentation without having to wear a lipstick and then a gloss.

Overall, I would still repurchase these, but not in the millions of colors that I did or as quickly as I did.  I just get too excited! My top picks are still candy apple and pink truffle (mauvey pink/brown color, great for fall).  I still say Peach Parfait is passable, as is creme brule.  Berry smoothie is nice and an easily wearable pink if you don't want to stray too far from natural lip color.

Contest!

1. Must be a subscriber (duh!)
2. Must comment on this page with what color you are most excited to try and your contact info (either your e-mail, twitter, blog, etc.).  If you need to see swatches of your favorite colors, see my previous post.
3. Earn 1 extra entry by following me on twitter (MakeUpChicBlog) and retweet my contest post.  Or it's later in the week and you can't find it, just follow me and create your own post linking the contest and using the "@MakeUpChicBlog" so I see it.  For the extra entry just enter an additional post below saying "extra entry" b/c I'll be using random.org to generate for the winner.  (If you don't do twitter, but have a blog, you can substiture either doing a blog post or doing a side link to the contest, just follow the same instructions above with typing extra entry after your post in a separate post)
4. Contest open til 12/15/2011.  Winner will be announced on the blog and on twitter.  Will contact the winner for their address.
5. Prize: One tube of Raspberry Pie Lip Butter.  Brand new.  Other surprise goodies as well :)  This contest is open in the US and internationally.  Good luck!

(Raspberry Pie is the color on the far left--lovely berry for fall!)

Revlon Lip Butter Swatches!

After searching high and low in the drugstores (and 2 more trips to 2 other Rite Aids), I came across the new Revlon display for the Lip Butters.  I'll be doing a review and a contest later this week, but for now, enjoy the swatches and at the end, my best and worst picks.  Color names will be below the lipswatch

001 Pink Truffle

020 Brown Fig

025 Peach Parfait

035 Candy Apple

050 Berry Smoothie

080 Strawberry Shortcake

085 Sugar Plum

095 Creme Brule

Raspberry Pie, Cherry Tart, and Lollipop (2 are for a friend, 1 is for a giveaway!)

Most Pigmented: Strawberry Shortcake

Best Pinky-Nude Lip: Pink Truffle

Least Pigmented: Peach Parfait

Most Wearable for Daytime: Pink Truffle, Berry Smoothie, and Sugar Plum.  Brown Sugar for darker skin tones (I'm a bit pastey to pull off a brown)

Best of the Bunch: Candy Apple and Pink Truffle

Leave it at the Store: Peach Parfait (unless you like more glitter) and Creme Brule (dupable)

*At my store these were $7.49 each, but they had buy one, get one 50% and $6 back in Up Dollars for spending however much on Revlon.

Kat Von D True Romance - Angeles Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

This palette was one of my purchases from the sale section (with an additional 20% off, I paid $12) during the Sephora friends & family.  Half of it are neutrals (the deepest brown is a matte, the rest are either shimmer or glitters).  The other half is blue (last one is a cream shadow).

The colors are vibrant and pigmented, however, be careful with what primer you choose for your eye.  I started out using MAC's paint pot in Painterly and within about 4 hours, the shadows had faded and I had to reapply.  The staying power is however lengthened when using something like Shadow Insurance or UDPP.  I've been trying to use up my paint pot, so I have been using it as my go-to eye primer and it works great with almost all of my other shadows.  But these shadows? Not so much.

My 2nd complaint is that the cream shadow I received was extremely dried out and I had to press very hard to get the product.  I thought it was supposed to be more of a white highlighter color, but it definitely reflects as blue.

Here are the swatches without a primer.  The most pigmented (and my favorite of the palette) is the third brown shade (in the taupe family).  It's also easily blendable and easy to work with.  the matte brown, while not so pigmented in the swatch, is nice for crease work.

For the pros of this palette, the packaging is amazing.  I love the tattoo design outside and the large mirror inside.  As I said, I love the matte brown and I like the 1st coppery shade as I don't normally gravitate towards those colors even though I have blue eyes.

I had always admired this palette when it was full price, so I'm glad that I picked it up for $12.  I had been eyeing the new neutrals palette that has come out from Kat Von D, but after trying this palette, I think I will pass on the new one.

Overall:
Grade: 3/5
Repurchase: No (especially not at full price of $34)
Where to buy: Sephora stores (sold out online)

Sephora Friends & Family Haul Part 2 and BITE Review

Hi makeup fans!  This is part 2 of my friends and family haulage.  The other item, I didn't take pics of because I bought a Naked palette as a gift for someone.  The thing that I for me was...

This is the Bite Trio of Luminous Creme Lipsticks (sale section, $30, I paid $24).

Colors (L to R in photo below): Rhone, Bouquet, and Peppered

These lipsticks definitely stay put!  I was scrubbing at my arm with make-up remover to get these off.  Rhone is a great color for fall while I consider Bouquet to be more for spring/summer.  It's definitely not a color I'd wear in the office b/c it's a bit too pink for my office.  Peppered is the sheerest one and is more of a "your lips but better" lipstick.

Bite lipsticks cost $24 when purchased alone, so I'm glad that for that price I got to try 3 colors.  Honestly, I wouldn't pay the $24 because I tend to lose lipsticks and glosses!  But at $8 a piece, I thought it was worth a go.

They are each have a B on the side and the packaging is sleek, but they also have very unique tops...

Each lipstick has a different topper, which is slightly weird, but it works. They each come in a box and then those three boxes are in a larger box, so you could also break them apart and use them as gifts.

I had no problem with staying power during the work day (and then I wipe off lip products when I eat lunch, and reapply after).  But through out the day I drink water, etc. and I had no problems. I also didn't have any feathering problems.  It wasn't drying and the formulation is creamy.

The site also says they have anti-aging benefits, but I cannot speak to that as I believe you would have to use them for a long time.

Overall Rating: 4/5
Repurchase: On sale, yes.  Full-price, no.
Best for: Those that want a lipstick with good staying power.