SO I've been MIA...

Hey!

SO, long time no see - five months to be exact. My bad! Anywho, these past few months have been pretty hectic for both academic, personal and blogging reasons, hence the lack of posts. That being said, I'm currently working to transfer this blog over onto Wordpress, so once I've got that up and running, that's where you can find me! And I promise, we'll get back to regular posts. Up until then, stay tuned!

Love, 

Arianna 

TLP Beauty: The Liquid Lipstick Collection

Being the beauty junkie I am, I've never been into using liquid lip products. The concept totally escaped me and I was completely fine with using lip products that came in tubes. That is, until recently. I'm still not into lip glosses, but liquid lipsticks? Man, I am all over those!

I don't exactly know what really brought it all on. My excessive YouTube views of beauty products? Or this rising trend in liquid lip products? I don't know. Either way, I'm so into them, it's insane. Not that I've neglected my other lip products, but I have noticed myself reaching more frequently for my lip stains and such. 

And it doesn't help that Sephora carries all these brands that are coming out with all these gorgeous shades that I feel like I just have to have! Someone, help me! I mean, I don't think my collection is excessive, but the fact that I feel like I need more isn't so healthy. Can anyone recommend a liquid lipstick rehab by any chance? 

(L-R): stila Fiore, stila Aria, Sephora Blackberry Sorbet (14), Rimmel Apocalips Celestial, MUFE 3 and MUFE 50

stila, I think, carries the best liquid lipsticks I have ever come across. Their Stay All Day Liquid Lipsticks are just top notch, and I am in love! They're super pigmented and creamy, and stay on for ages! I'll drink tea, eat, wipe my mouth and at the end of the day, it's still a bugger trying to get these off my lips! Super amazing colour range too that I feel suits all skin tones, and the best part is that they aren't at all drying! I love them so much, I've got four out of the ten colours available. Yepp, that's right. Practically half of the line. That's insane.

I've got Fiore (a bright, neon pink), Aria (a magenta plum), Tesoro (bright orange red) and Patina (dusty rose/mauve). My favourites have definitely got to be Patina for an everyday look, and of course, Aria cause I do love me some purple (and how could I not, the name alone is merely four letters short to mine!)

If you haven't tried out any of their liquid lipsticks, you better go and check them out!

Kat Von D's Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks have got to be my second favourite. Provided I've only got two colours right now (Berlin and Bachelorette), I definitely know I want more, specifically Outlaw (a true red) and Lolita (a dusty mauve) which is a b***h to find cause it's always sold out! Anyway, these babies are hella pigmented as well, and stay on for a long time. The colour range isn't one that exactly thrills me because I feel like I've got most of them in tube form and some colours terrify me such as A Go Go and Backstage Bambi. Nevertheless, love these lipsticks and they are relatively cheaper compared to stila's liquid lipsticks, so that's a bonus!

My third top favourite brand in terms of liquid lipsticks? Why Make Up For Ever, of course! Again, I only have two colours from the Aqua Rouge range, but I feel as though I need more - I particularly have my eye on the shades in 7 (brown pink), 14 (light rosewood) and 19 (pomegranate pink)! These liquid lipsticks again, are very pigmented and have great staying power, but I do find them to be pretty drying. I definitely need to pack on the lip balm before putting these on, but I love them nonetheless. I actually grabbed my ones in shades 3 (satin soft pink) and 50 as part of the 50 Shades of Grey lip collections last month, and I found the price to be so worth it then. Alone, I would say that there were better products available like stila and Kat Von D in terms of price. Then again, the MUFE colour range is wider, so whatever - I still have my eye on more shades.

(L-R): stila Tesoro, stila Patina, Too Faced Melted Chihuahua, Kat Von D Berlin and Kat Von D Bachelorette

The Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipsticks also have a pretty kickass colour range, and I'm still slowly figuring out which colours I like. Again, a substantial amount freak the crap out of me as some colours are pretty insane and out of my comfort zone, but I'm getting there. So far, I've got Melted Chihuahua (the name of which totally disturbs me, by the way) which is a serious peach nude lipstick, and I'm loving it for an everyday lip. I don't quite own anything like it in my current overall lipstick collection. I'm getting there in terms of incorporating these cult favourites into my collections!

Sephora's own line of Cream Lip Stains is top notch as well, both in terms of quality and price (hello, only $16? Yes please!) Like the name suggests, these lipsticks are super creamy and very pigmented! Again, I've only got one colour from the line in Blackberry Sorbet (14), merely because Always Red (01) and Marvelous Mauve (13) is always out of stock in store! I remember spotting those two shades during the time I bought Blackberry Sorbet, but I didn't pick them up! Wrong move, Arianna. Every time I walk into Sephora I always check to see if they're available, but no. Damn. Until then!

In terms of Drugstore brands that carry liquid lipsticks, the only one I've ever tried is Rimmel's Apocalips! I've got one in the shade Celestial (101), and I quite like them! The quality is pretty great (thought not as top notch compared to stila and Kat Von D), but I do like them! If you're not sure if you want to fully commit to the higher end liquid lipsticks, I'd definitely suggest trying out the Rimmel Apocalips range. Again, pretty wide colour range and you can choose between those with or without shimmers. But if anyone else can suggest a good drugstore brand of liquid lipsticks, hit me up!

What are your favourite liquid lipsticks and/or brands? Any recommendations?
Happy discovering!

TLP Beauty: Benefit Roller Lash Mascara

About a month before Benefit Cosmetics released their Roller Lash mascara, Sephora was giving out mini samples of it as part of their 100 point perk Beauty Inside program (or for free with a code online I believe), and being the beauty junkie I am, I jumped in to the opportunity to try out a new mascara.

Using the words of Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter, I am an absolute "mascara whore", and I've never really had any loyalty to a mascara. Granted, I do have ones that I love and reach for all the time, but I'm always on the hunt for something new. I have a pretty pathetic excuse for eyelashes in that they're pretty thin, stick-like and just not all that nice to look at. I've got friends, some of which are guys mind you, who have the perfect set of eyelashes and I envy them so. So you know, my constant change in mascara favourites is totally justified. Somewhat anyway.

So Benefit's marketing this mascara as a "roller for lashes" in that it's inspired by hair rollers and its "Hook N' Roll" brush is designed to catch, lift and curl your lashes. The full-sized product itself looks pretty awesome in terms of packaging as it legitly does resemble hair rollers, but what about quality wise?

I've been using these for about a month now, and I'd definitely say that it stays true to the whole lifting part. My lashes do somewhat look thicker and less stick-like and that thrills me to no end. As someone who likes to wear eyeliner which tends to drown out and hide my eyelashes, anything that makes them stand out more I give a two thumbs up! You can check out my before and after pictures below. In terms of curling, well I wouldn't necessarily say that it curls (I did still have to use eyelash curlers to really give it that oomph I need) but the Roller Lashes mascara really does hold the curl for a long time.

Before:

After:

The verdict? I'm in love with this mascara! From my experience, I think that it does deliver what it says on the packaging, and is everything I want in a mascara - staying power and making my eyelashes look less pathetic! For the price ($29 CAD), I would definitely say it was worth it, and when my mini runs out, I would definitely go out to Sephora and purchase the full-sized product. Love, love, love it!

If you're like me and have incredibly poor lashes, I'd say this could be a potential answer in making you look more awake in the morning and not be too ashamed in having such thin eyelashes. Try them out at the counters if you want before purchasing! I'm not entirely sure if these samples are still available at Sephora, but do give them a go if you're ever in store!

Happy discovering!