Sparkled Beauty

Hi guys, I'm back from vacation, now catching up with posts and in store shopping. We have a winter storm tonight, it is snowing like crazy as I type at 2am (yes, it is the jet lag talking).

If you haven't rewarded yourself some goodies for the holidays, try this Buxom Time to Shine 6 pieces mini lip collection.

This collection contains lip products in different finishes and shades, infused with vitamins A and E, offering the tingling feeling like that of a plumping gloss.

I heard so much hype about a certain Buxom lip cream colour (do you know which one?) but never get a chance to get it (or anything) from the brand. This is a perfect opportunity.

Check out the display inside - a two-tier plastic case to hold the tubes so that you can see all six colours of them through the clear packaging.

Although the plastic is not very sturdy, I might keep this display method for the gloss in my makeup area, until I find a perfect lipstick/ lip gloss holder. I think these tubes deserve an awesome showcase, as they are awesome themselves.

If you haven't noticed, the glass tubes have two different finishes, coordinating with the finishes of the products inside. The two on the top right corner are frosted, the other four are clear.

On to the products.

- Buxom Big & Healthy lip cream (creamy and smooth, no shimmer) in Berry Blast (fuchsia, left) and White Russian (nude pink, right - yes it is THE one)
- Buxom Big & Healthy lip polish (sheer, shimmering and sparkling) in Sugar (rose beige) and Katie (pale pink), with original formula; April (icy pink) and Gina (hot pink), diamond formula.

I gotta say I enjoyed the tingling effect more than I thought I would. It subsided gradually, and I didn't even feel it after awhile. Regarding the plumping effect, it is not very visible on me (like almost all plumping glosses).

Swatches in the same order, with indirect lighting.

The hype was killed when I swatched, as White Russian looks just like a nude gloss with light pink tint. On my lips, it is almost invisible. Berry Blast has a bit more pigmentation, and fuchsia colour family is on trend.

I didn't keep my hopes up with the lip polishes when I heard that they were sheer. The regulars do have some shimmers but less sparkly than the diamonds.

Sugar impressed me more than Katie as it offered some colour (and it's dark, totally on my radar this season) while Katie disappeared after leaving the lightest tint of pink.  

April is the next step up in pigmentation from Katie and White Russian but a pink like this doesn't agree with my natural lip colour. Gina could be my daily bff if I were not in an office environment.

Swatches with direct flash. You can see the shine better here.

All in all, I prefer the lip creams for their opacity when not layering (great for work), but prefer the lip polishes when I need to add some shine to my lipstick or lip stain (the weekend cheer).

Both lip creams and lip polishes feel comfortable on the lips, not drying. Staying power is reasonable like a gloss (a few hours, fades when I eat or drink).

The tubes are 0.07oz each (half sized), parabens, synthetic fragrances and dyes free. I can't justify the $23 price tag of a full sized Buxom lip cream or lip polish, but the set with 6 mini (equal 3 full size) retailing CAD35 on Sephora is quite a deal in comparison.