Makeup Monday: Hourglass Aura Lip and Cheek Stains Spring 2011

I'm still super behind on all my reviews... Who knew that two weeks off would put me so far behind? I have tons of stuff still waiting to be posted (and emails to answer, eep)... I'm guessing that the only way to catch up is to just post as much as possible, and I'm thinking that I'll try to make Monday my makeup reviews day, hence the "Makeup Monday" in the title.

So! Here's the latest creation from Hourglass Cosmetics.

There are two new stain products: a cheek stain and a lip stain.

The Aura Sheer Lip Stain comes in such a pretty box. Reflective metallic packaging always catches my eye.


The product packaging itself is gorgeous, too. A heavy, luxurious feeling dark metal tube.


When the cap is removed, you can see the color of the stain through a clear plastic section in the neck. It's a click pen style dispenser with a fuzzy plastic applicator.

If you look closely, you can see the little holes that the product comes through. Though the tip looks soft, it's actually just a fuzzy coating over solid plastic.



It takes quite a few twists/clicks, but once you get the product flowing, it comes up through the tip of the pen.


The Aura cheek stain comes in similar packaging, just on a bigger scale:


A big, chubby tube with a soft cotton domed applicator.



Like the lip stain, it looks soft and spongy but it's really just a cloth coating over plastic. The cheek stain applicator is different from the lip stain one because the cotton covering absorbs the stain to help you blend and disperse it.

Twist the base of the tube and the cheek stain comes up through the top.


Here is what they look like swatched heavily on the skin, directly from the tubes, no base. The shade is Flush in both the cheek and the lip stain. Flush cheek stain is on the left, Flush lip stain is on the right.

The lip stain has a very light texture. It's thin, but thick enough not to be runny, which I suppose could be considered a gel texture. It's not thick or sticky at all. When you apply it, it feels cold and wet with a slight menthol tingle, and within seconds it's completely dry. It leaves almost no residue on the lips, it just sinks in and disappears.

It lasts a super long time. That's the beauty of a stain. You apply it once and it just stays there. No touchups. It doesn't transfer at all. The only thing it doesn't last through is eating.

The lip stain has a subtle minty scent and a very slightly bitter flavor. It's a taste typical of every lip stain I've ever tried.

It's not moisturizing and it's not glossy. It's just a matte natural tint on the lips. Because of this, you may need to apply balm afterward, or if you want a glossy look, apply some gloss on top.

As for the cheek stain, it's extremely similar in almost every aspect. Same light, cool water-based texture. Same super fast dry time. It only lacks the minty tingle of the lip stain.

The light texture feels really nice, but being so light also has a downside. It dries so fast that it can be hard to blend. You have to work very quickly. It stays wet longer if you apply and blend straight from the applicator, but you get better color and control if you blend it with your fingers.

The cheek stain is easiest to blend over bare moisturized skin. It blends well over tinted moisturizer or over a tinted primer. It gets harder to blend over traditional liquid foundation and almost impossible to blend over a powder mineral foundation. The slicker and smoother the base, the easier it is to blend and apply.

Once it's on, it lasts all day and looks extremely natural. Because of the water-based formula, it sinks into your skin and looks like a natural flush. The shade I have- which is actually called Flush- is a pink with coral tint, and in my case, looks a little too natural: it's the exact color my face is when I get sunburned.

It's nothing like a creme blush or a Tarte cheek stain, so it took me a few tries to get the hang of applying it. It's not slick or oily, not creamy, not sticky, not powdery. It's very light and thin and wet like water, unlike any cheek stain I've used before. It dries very very very fast. It doesn't look shiny and there's no sparkle or shimmer. It's sheer and lets your skin show through, but at the same time, the color is intense.

Though, I think my favorite part has to be that gorgeous packaging. The shiny metal tube that feels cool and heavy.... It feels expensive. Because, well, it is expensive. The Aura Cheek Stain is $45 for .27oz and the Aura Lip Stain is $26 for .1 oz. Just for reference, here's the ingredient lists for both products:

Aura Sheer Cheek Stain
All shades contain:
Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Diphenylsiloxy Phenyl Trimethicone, Peg-10 Dimethicone, Dimethicone, Neopentyl Glycol Dicaprate, Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Sorbitan Sesquiisostearate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Tocopherol, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Diisostearyl Malate, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Citrate, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Mica (Ci 77019), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Ultramarines (Ci 77007), Red 30 (Ci 73360), Barium Sulfate (Ci 77120).

Aura Sheer Lip Stain
All shades contain:
Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Polysorbate 20, Triethanolamine, Carbomer, Alumina, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Alaria Esculenta Extract, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract, Capryl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hexylene Glycol, Flavor, Tetrasodium Edta, Allantoin, Tocopheryl Acetate Mica, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Fd&C Yellow 5 (Ci 19140), Fd&C Blue 1 (Ci 142090), D&C Red 33 (Ci 17200).


I have one more Hourglass product to review and I think you'll freak when you see it. I know I did.

(These were sent to me for review.)

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Makeup Monday: Hourglass Aura Lip and Cheek Stains Spring 2011

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LORAC Ulta-Exclusive Box Office Hit Palette

This LORAC palette came out around Christmastime and it's one of those blockbuster-style value sets, though this time it's a more manageable, travel-friendly size.

The case has Lorac's signature faux-croc finish, this time in a deep glossy wine shade. This is one of my favorite palettes to look at, just for the finish. Shiny and pretty.


It opens like a book with a snap closure. It has a quarter-size mirror and the palette can stand up on its own, so this might be ideal for travel. Note the lipglosses below the mirror- they are covered with a see-through door- genius! No more powder and gloss mingling in the palette. I hate when that happens. There are eight glosses, twelve shadows, two eyeliner pencils, a blush and a bronzer.

The glosses with the door flap lifted. They range from light to medium and they're all in pink based tones. Some are creme finish, some are shimmer, and the texture is light and glossy.


Shadows on the top. A good sized eyeliner pencil in black and another in brown. See the ribbons hanging down? Those are so you can easily remove the pencils which fit quite snugly in their compartments. Another detail that I really appreciate. The blush, which looks very washed out in this picture, is a super bright pink. The bronzer is a warm terracotta.


Closeup of the shadows. Feel free to enlarge and view the shimmer in some of the shades. These shadows are all on the neutral and conservative side. Good office-appropriate shades or for a quick, subtle smoky eye. Nothing very dark or dramatic or super colorful in here.


The shadows: Top row, middle row, bottom row. See how the colors morph when applied to the skin. The pan colors are a little deceiving; they look quite different when applied.


Blush, bronzer, eyeliners. It looks too washed out in this lighting, but the pink is insanely bright and almost neon. It can be toned down by blending or applied more heavily for extreme candy color. The bronzer is too orange for my skintone, but might be better on someone warmer. Black and brown eyeliner pencils, average pencil formula, nothing noteworthy.


The glosses. They're on the sheer side and a bit lighter than they look in the pans. I feel like they should have included a lip brush in this palette because they're a little hard to apply with the fingers. They are halfway between lipstick and gloss; a little thick feeling like lipstick but lightweight, glossy and sheer like gloss.

The shadow formula seems the same as other Lorac palettes I've used in the past. They're light and sheer and very powdery and soft. They apply sheer but can be used wet for more coverage. The colors do seem to change after they are applied, I don't know if it's because of my skin chemistry or pH or just my skintone, but they don't look the same as in the pan. They blend easily but the sheer, powdery texture makes them easy to over-blend. None of the colors are super pigmented. I find that this palette is best for sheer, natural looks.

This palette might actually be a good gift for a younger teen girl because it's hard to overdo it with the sheer colors. The packaging is really luxe looking and it has a lot of different colors to experiment with. The only wild color in the bunch is that neon pink blush.

This palette is an Ulta exclusive and it costs $35. It was still available last time I checked, so I'm not sure if it is limited edition or not.

(This was sent to me for review.)

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LORAC Ulta-Exclusive Box Office Hit Palette

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Milani Lip Flash Pencils

One of the newer items on the Milani display are these awesome little gems called Lip Flash. Well, I'm assuming they're seen on the Milani display because I've never actually seen them locally as every Milani display in my area is chronically empty... But nevertheless, these things are completely awesome. They're like a cross between a lip pencil, a lipstick and a gloss and they come in eight gorgeous shades.

From the bottom up: Lip Flash, News Flash, Flash Light, Photo Flash, Hot Flash, Flashy, In A Flash, Star Flash.


01 Lip Flash. Bronze-plum metallic with gold duochrome.






02 News Flash. Raisin with duochrome shimmer.



03 Flash Light. Bright coral orange shimmer.


04 Photo Flash. Magenta red shimmer.



05 Hot Flash. Orangey red shimmer with gold duochrome.


06 Flashy. Hot fuchsia shimmer.



07 In A Flash. Bright purple shimmer with blue flash.



08 Star Flash. Pastel baby pink shimmer with blue flash.






Left to right: 01 Lip Flash, 02 News Flash, 03 Flash Light, 04 Photo Flash, 05 Hot Flash, 06 Flashy, 07 In A Flash, 08 Star Flash.



The texture and finish of these is like a mix between MAC Digi Dazzle lipsticks and MAC Dare To Wear Lipglass- it has tons of bright color but it's intensified with this large particle, semi-flaky metallic shimmer. Most of the shades have some duochrome to them. Instead of being matte or glossy, it's in between. There's a bit of shine but the texture is more like a lipstick. The shine wears off after a while leaving you with a matte shimmer finish, which I like, or you can add gloss to make them even shinier and more sparkly. They're actually really nice layered with the Milani 3D Glitzy glosses, and the colors in both lines even coincide with each other.

They're quite long wearing due to the lipstick-like texture of these. The fact that they're in pencil form gives you a more precise application without having to use lipliner. They have no detectable flavor or scent.

I absolutely adore the shade range. There's not a bad color in the batch. They're all bright and colorful and most importantly, interesting. Even the brownish-bronze shade, which is a color I'd rarely choose for lips, is beautiful- the duochrome on it makes it very wearable and not at all boring.

The only downsides I can find with this product are fairly minor. First, the packaging. Since it's in pencil form, you will have to sharpen it. Keep that in mind when carrying them in your purse. The caps also tend to come loose and this could be a problem, so also be aware of that. Secondly, the formula is very lipstick-like and long wearing so it can be a drying after a while. I'd recommend applying balm in between applications. Other than that, these things are awesome.

I really, really like these, especially the vibrant purple In A Flash shade. I only wish they were scented!

I've been out of the drugstore makeup loop for a while, but I'm really impressed with all these great quality and fun colored items cropping up lately. Brands like Milani and Wet n Wild have really changed my opinion of drugstore makeup and now I find myself being really excited to check the cosmetics aisle every time I go shopping.

(These were sent to me for review.)

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Milani Lip Flash Pencils

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Milani Fall Collection - HD Lipstick, Baked Bronzer and Lip Flash Pencil

Milani recently sent me some items from their fall collection to review. I'm still pretty new to Milani as a cosmetics brand. I already know I love their polish, but I haven't used much else from them besides their eyeliner, which, by the way, they do incredibly well. The Milani cosmetics displays in my neck of the woods are always empty and sad looking, with maybe one or two items left on the shelf... that usually have been opened by someone wanting to 'test' them. (Note to people: Stop opening the makeup and nail polish in the store and desecrating it! If it doesn't say 'tester', it's not a tester! Someone like me might have actually wanted to buy that eyeshadow you just left your dirty fingerprints all over.)

Anyway, what I'm trying to say with my endless rambling is that I'm always excited to try something new, and I have found that I really enjoy everything from Milani that I've tried so far. Here are my thoughts.


Here are the new items from the fall collection. Baked Bronzer in Golden and Soleil, HD Advanced Color Lipstick in Lovely Rouge, Rich Caramel, Sweet Grape and Vivacious Fuchsia and Lip Flash Pencil in News Flash.


The Baked Bronzers. Golden on the left, Soleil on the right.

This angle shows the baked texture and the gold sparkle veining. You can click all of these to enlarge and view more detail.


Closeup of Golden. You would think with a name like 'Golden' that it would be lighter and more neutral than Soleil, but it's the opposite. Golden is darker and a little blush-toned. Makes a good 'bronzer-blush' type color on my fair skintone.


Closeup of Soleil. It looks darker than Golden in this lighting, but it's lighter in real life. This one is more of a traditional 'Golden' bronzer shade. On the light to medium side with veins of gold sparkle running through it. Aren't they pretty?

Golden and Soleil, swatched over dry skin (no primer) and not blended. You can see the shade difference here.

Neat secret to the packaging:
The bronzer portion flips up to reveal a mirror and a fan brush. I actually really like the included brush for application of these. Normally the brushes included in drugstore cosmetics are completely useless, this one isn't.

My thoughts? These have a really light and flaky texture to them. Sounds like I'm describing some sort of pastry. They're both baked, I suppose... But anyway, when you touch them with the brush, the product has just a really light fine flake texture. The gold shimmer becomes very fine and doesn't appear as glitter, more of a sheen or a frost mixed with the bronze color. I'm not a fan of shimmery bronzer or blush unless my skin is absolutely perfect that day, but I noticed that if you blend and buff these enough with a brush, you can eventually blend away most of the shimmer. The little brush compartment under the product is pretty cool.

What didn't I like about these? The packaging. The main problem is that the sticker that seals the product and tells you the shade name on the front (see the tabs that say "06" and "05"? Those stickers.) is connected to the label on the back with the shade name and ingredients. It's difficult to open the product without either leaving a lot of sticker on the compact or messing up or removing the ingredients label. The other flaw in the packaging is that the clear windows on the lid seem to cave in easily. Mine arrived with the clear lid actually inside the bronzer package, it had gotten pushed in in mailing somehow. So, be careful when removing the safety seal and also try not to put too much pressure on the top of the compact.


HD Advanced Color Lipsticks. Vivacious Fuchsia, Sweet Grape, Rich Caramel, Lovely Rouge.

Opposite order, different lighting.


Swatched! Vivacious Fuchsia, Sweet Grape, Rich Caramel, Lovely Rouge.

As you can see, these are more of a sheer lipstick than a full coverage lipstick. What strikes me about these is their slick, moisturizing texture- not what I think of when I think 'lipstick'- they're totally non-drying and not tight or dry feeling at all. They're actually more of a colored balm than a lipstick. You can build up the intensity of color by applying more, or you can wear them sheer (like they are on the back of my hand above). These are scented with a more traditional lipstick scent, though. You know... kinda vaguely perfumey-flowery-sweet? These have a floral candy smell. Not unpleasant. Brings back all kinds of memories of playing with "grown-up" makeup when I was really little.

And look at the packaging! It's so 80's fabulous. It's so retro, I kinda love it. The long tube, the shiny black with the metallic gold...

I'm trying to think of what I didn't like about these, but there's not much coming to mind. I guess that maybe Sweet Grape is a little frosty for me. The packaging is definitely bigger/longer than it needs to be, so they take up more space in your purse. I don't see what's particularly 'HD' about these. That's about it.

The Lip Flash pencil. This is what I was most looking forward to trying because they look so freakin' amazing in all their promo pictures. They are amazing. I have more colors to post, but Kelly just posted her review so I'll wait a couple days to post mine. Wow, I really get off topic easily, don't I? This is the Milani Lip Flash pencil in News Flash.


Closeup. Feel free to click any of these pictures, I leave them huge for a reason.

Swatched. It looks more brown in the tube, but against my skin it's more of a purple raisin color. Check out all those little purple and red sparkles. Note the glossy finish.

These are not lipliners. They are a full pigment gloss in a stick. They're really more of a lipstick with a glossy finish than a gloss, or maybe a fusion of both. They seem to be unscented and have only a slight lipstick flavor. They're not moisturizing- they do have more of a traditional lipstick texture and they're slightly dry feeling.

I like the precise application that the pencil provides. I love the great full coverage color accented with beautiful iridescent shimmer. I love the matching color of the tubes and all the little sparkles in the packaging.

The only downside I see to these is with the packaging. For one, they have to be sharpened, so if you keep them in your purse you might need to bring a sharpener with you. I can also see the cap getting loose over time and coming off in your purse. They fit pretty tightly, but it's not outside the realm of possibility.

Overall, I think these are all really nice, especially at drugstore prices. Drugstore makeup seems to have improved a lot over the years. The Lip Flash pencils are amazing and come in great shades, the bronzers are almost identical to a MAC Mineralize Skinfinish and the HD Lipsticks are smooth and non-drying. Aside from the products I showed here, Milani also has some of the most amazing eyeliner I've ever used. If my store would ever re-stock their display, I'd permanently switch from Urban Decay 24/7 to Milani Liquif'Eye pencils. They're that good. Well, they must be good because the display is ALWAYS EMPTY :(

Now I might have to try out some eyeshadow from them...

(These were sent to me for review.)

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Milani Fall Collection - HD Lipstick, Baked Bronzer and Lip Flash Pencil

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MAC Liquid Lurex Lipstick

This is one of the coolest, weirdest most gorgeous lipsticks in my collection. It's one of the Dazzle formula lipsticks from the Digi-Pops collection from this past summer. I love it.



Isn't that crazy? It looks like it's yellow-green with gold, white and copper. It is, actually. But it doesn't look as mucus-like as it sounds when it's on your lips...

The yellow-green part just becomes a sheer tint that mellows the red tones in my lips and the overall look is just frosty light gold with copper and pink glitter. It's a little too frosty for me on its own so sometimes I put gloss over it to tone down the white-frostiness.

Best of all, it has that amazing MAC lipstick vanilla scent. That's one of my favorite smells in the whole world (next to freshly ground coffee beans) and sometimes I wear MAC lip products only to smell the scent of them... I wish I had a perfume that smelled like it! I have about eighty bajillion vanilla perfumes and none of them have that same sweet, smooth vanilla of a MAC lipstick.

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MAC Liquid Lurex Lipstick

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