With Mary Kay‘s successful launch of their Gel Semi-Matte Lipstick range in the second half of 2016, we’re seeing them launch yet another range of lipsticks: the Gel Semi-Shine Lipsticks!
Gel Semi-Shine Lipsticks
The Gel Semi-Shine Lipsticks promise to:
Deliver radiant colour with luminous shine
Provide long-lasting wear without drying out lips
Cushion, feel-good formula delivers soft comfort
Highly pigmented shades provide intense, stay-true colour
Gel Semi-Shine Lipsticks
And you know what? YES, THEY DO, to ALL of the above! It’s really nice to see a claim by a brand actually end up being what you personally experience with the product. These are incredibly comfortable, they never dried out my lips and they did still feel cushion-y on my lips after five hours of wear.
Gel Semi-Shine Lipstick Swatches – Group 1
And the pigment? Oh yes,it’s definitely there!
Gel Semi-Shine Lipstick Swatches – Group 2
The only shade that is even remotely sheer is Luminous Lilac, but that’s partially down to the paleness of the shade.
Mary Kay Gel Semi-Shine Lipstick Lip Swatches
Mary Kay – Naturally BuffMary Kay – RosewoodMary Kay – Love Me PinkMary Kay – Red SmolderMary Kay – Raspberry IceMary Kay – Spiced GingerMary Kay – Haute PinkMary Kay – Sunset PeachMary Kay – Scarlet RedMary Kay – Luminous LilacMary Kay – Apple BerryMary Kay – Berry Couture
Final Thoughts
The Mary Kay Gel Semi-Shine Lipsticks are super easy and comfortable to wear. For a lipstick range that’s labelled as a “semi-shine”, I was so surprised (and impressed) with just how much pigment is in these. I suppose I was expecting more of a translucent sheen on them, but heck no – they’re full on pigment with a hint of sheen. They fit nicely into the cream category of lipstick, but with a little bit of an amped up sheen (some of them even seem a bit metallic – but definitely not overdone).
Fundamentally though? These don’t feel any different than the Gel Semi-Matte Lipsticks they launched in 2016. If you look at my lip swatches from my 2016 post on the semi-mattes, the sheen is really not that different on both sets lipsticks. So for me, this is mostly just a shade extension launch, and if you loved the semi-mattes, you’ll lose these semi-shines because they feel and wear the exact same way!
The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.
New for this season, and limited edition it would seem, Too Faced has launched their latest in the Chocolate Bar range of eyeshadow palettes: the White Chocolate Bar.
Too Faced White Chocolate Bar
Based off of their original White Chocolate Chip palette, this version gets a full sized launch with some added shades.
Too Faced White Chocolate Bar
I will have a review coming for this palette, but in the meantime, please check out the swatches!
Sometimes I just don’t get the labelling on makeup products. For example, these essenceMatt Matt Matt Longlasting Lipglosses. Matte + lipgloss? That’s not a thing. It CANNOT be a thing. By its nature, lipgloss is shiny, so therefore it cannot be matte. What a headscratcher.
essence matt matt matt lipgloss
Sooooo all that aside, essence says their matt matt matt lipglosses have a “creamy formula with a velvet matte finish”. Which is far more inline with what the product actually is! It’s a soft, moussey formula that has opaque coverage and smells absolutely wonderful. The smell is the first thing that hit me on these – it’s like cake batter and it is *glorious*!
essence matt matt matt lipgloss swatches – La Vie Est Bell, Beauty – Approved! and Girl Of Today
Because of the moussey texture, you’re really getting opaque coverage with these “glosses” in one swipe. Despite the weird shape of the applicator (it’s kinda like an arrowhead), you do actually get precise lines and one pull of the product is enough to cover your lips in their entirety.
Wearing La Vie Est Belle
It’s funny, I always say this, but I am never drawn to these baby pink shades, and yet I think they look quite nice on me in photos. The shade is La Vie Est Belle, and it was the only shade out of the three that needed a little finessing to get it completely opaque (which is probably due to the colour tint).
Wearing Beauty – Approved!
Beauty – Approved! is one of those every day, my lips but better colours. Full coverage and beautiful!
Wearing Girl Of Today
A little bit more up my alley, Girl Of Today is a beautiful deep rose colour.
Final Thoughts
First off, these aren’t lipglosses and they’re never going to be lipglosses, so let’s stop right there with the “matte lipgloss” shenanigans because it just ain’t a thing. That aside…
These are a moussey, cream textured lipstick formula that will eventually dry down to a satin finish. They are definitely not transferproof, as they will move around a little bit on your lips (although I had no bleed out even without a lip primer!). They are quite comfortable to wear as the mousse formula is flexible and forgiving. They also aren’t tacky, in case anyone was wondering. I think that’s covered by it not being a lipgloss, but just wanted to point it out as well. I love the cake batter smell, but you won’t taste it very much on your own lips throughout the day. As for wear time… it’s okay, but not as long as the “longlasting” in the name would lead you to believe. Since these are more moussey, you’ll find you need to re-apply every three hours or so. I lost the bulk of the colour on the inner rim of my mouth, but the outsides stayed intact.
Inspired by raw gemstones melted into liquid form, BECCA Cosmetics created the Liquid Crystal Lip Topper Glow Glosses and unleashed them on the makeup world!
BECCA Liquid Crystal Lip Topper Glow Gloss
While the term lip topper basically surfaced out of YouTube (and I really hate that term to be honest), these are really just a lip gloss. Suspended within the lip gloss formula are a kaleidoscope of pearls that really do reflect the idea of melted gemstones. Each shade has a tinted base with a more dominant colour reflect amongst the pearls.
BECCA Liquid Crystal Lip Topper Glow Gloss
The glosses come with your standard doe-foot applicator, but I do find it doesn’t actually pull enough product from the tube as I had to dip multiple times to get full opaque coverage on my lips. If, however, you are using these as a spot highlighter in the center of your lips, you’ll definitely pull enough product out in a single pull. The tubes kind of look like test tubes from science class to me (love it!) and contain a healthy 5g/0.17oz of product.
BECCA Liquid Crystal Lip Topper Glow Gloss swatched – Rose Quartz x Seashell and Topaz x Gilt
Rose Quartz x Seashell has a pale, translucent pink base with flecks of brighter, silvery pink.
Topaz x Gilt is basically MAC’s blue-brown pigment! The base is a toffee brown shade and the glitter flecks are blue, sometimes green.
These claim to have a coconut and vanilla scent… a claim that completely baffled me as I smell none of those things. To me, these are basically an unscented gloss that still retains some of that older lipstick smell. Not like the product has gone off, but more like it was never scented in the first place and still has some of that manufactured scent. It’s not intrusive for wear though!
Wearing Rose Quartz x Seashell
On the lips, Rose Quartz x Seashell comes off as a more milky pink.
Wearing Topaz x Gilt
Topaz x Gilt was easily my favourite out of the two shades I tried (there are six shades total in the collection). I love the look of the soft brown colour and the blue-green sparkle is really, really gorgeous.
In both shades, the sparkle is not really apparent from a distance (and you honestly can’t see it that much in the photos I’ve posted). I think it makes for an interesting illusion… from afar it looks like you’re wearing a regular gloss, but when you get up close you can see the facets of the coloured glitter (as you can see in my swatches) and it completely changes how you perceive the lip look!
Final Thoughts
The Liquid Crystal Lip Topper Glow Glosses are fundamentally a gloss at their core, so you won’t find their longevity to be on par with a lipstick. Which is fine by me, but I often feel people have completely unrealistic expectations for a gloss so I wanted to put that out there. Reapplication was necessary around the two hour mark as the gloss would start to wear away and you’d be left with glitter particles on your lips. Although I didn’t find the glitter to feel gritty or obvious in texture on my lips, if you really smush your lips together you’ll be able to feel it.
Over the years I’ve kind of grown out of lip gloss just because it didn’t suit my every day life very well as I need something that wouldn’t move around on my lips at work. These surprised the heck out of me as the gloss stays put and doesn’t travel around my lips! Although some people may not be into these kinds of shades for the office, for me these work really well. If you’re looking for a fun gloss with a beautiful, unusual shimmer to it, then you’ve found it! Maybe even grab one of them for the holidays to add some sparkle and shine to your look!
I know the front of this palette says “Best Year Ever”, but the name of the set that this palette comes in is actually called “Pretty Little Planner”. Since there’s another Too Faced holiday set that’s actually called “Best Year Ever”, I’m going to stick with calling this the Pretty Little Planner set. Phew…. still with me?
Too Faced – Pretty Little Planner set
The Pretty Little Planner set is one of Too Faced’s more pared down holiday sets, and honestly I think it might be the best one. This set comes with the palette you see swatched in this post, as well as an agenda and a mini Better Than Sex mascara.
This item is one that Too Faced created exclusively for Ulta, so if you want it, you’ll have to grab it from them!
Too Faced – Pretty Little Planner Set Swatches
Too Faced – Good GirlToo Faced – Rise & ShineToo Faced – Why Not?Too Faced – White ChristmasToo Faced – Secret SantaToo Faced – Silent NightToo Faced – WerkshopToo Faced – Coffee FirstToo Faced – Snooze U LoseToo Faced – Good As GoldToo Faced – DollhouseToo Faced – Wrap It UpToo Faced – Break The IceToo Faced – Elfie SelfieToo Faced – Booville
The Too Faced Pretty Little Planner set can be purchased at ulta.com for $42 USD.
The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.
