Get Naked

I finally got my mitts on the Urban Decay Naked Palette. I love it. It is hands down the BEST palette I have bought--possibly ever! Every color is totally wearable, blendable and just down right pretty.
If I have to choose, Sin is my fave shade in the mix.
Besides the 12 eyeshadows you also get a mini primer potion and a double sided eyeliner with Zero (black) and Whiskey (rich brown) all packaged in a brown velvety box.

$44 on ulta.com

Beyond Lips: Black Mask

Now that I find myself (once again) in the pits of unemployment, I have decided to branch out and review other faves of mine beyond lip products.
The perfect thing to start with is Boscia Luminizing Black Mask. I received a sample with my recent Sephora order (it was a promotion code that has ended) and was so excited that it was a peel-off mask! I love peeling anything and everything-especially off my skin. I was the kid in grade school who would slather glue all over my hands and wait anxiously for it to dry just so I could peel it off.
Anyway, this mask has the same concept as the "glue hands of yesteryear." It has a very thick consistency and you spread it generously all over your face and wait patiently for it to dry, this took about 20 minutes. Then peel away my friends.
After peeling my face felt clean, tight and smooth. I will be sure to pick this up on my next Sephora trip.

$34 at Spehora and sephora.com

Staying Organized

How do you all store your makeup? I used to have a nifty set up of small drawered containers that I set up on a folding shelf, but just don't have the room for it since I moved out of my loft (tears) Any suggestions? Now I have random beauty supplies all over and in diffrent bags, baskets and containers. I need to get organized and STAT! Especially if I keep adding to my collection.

I think it is also time to go through my stuff and throw out anything that is old.
The shelf life of makeup depends on the product, but here are some good rules to live by:

Powders: 2 years
Creams: 1 year
Mascara: 3 months
Eyeliner: 3 months
Nail Polish: I year
Lip Gloss: 18 months
Lipstick: 2 years

If you can't remember when you bought it or the last time you used it--THROW IT OUT!
And obviously if it smells funky or the texture has changed--THROW IT OUT!

Summer Lips

Here is what I am currently loving for kissable summer lips:
Fresh Sugar Rose Lip Treatment
Just a hint of color and shine. One swipe and you've got healthy looking lips. Expensive, but a real treat. Sephora.com $22.50

Laura Geller Lip StripPut a dab on dry lips at night and scrub, scrub, scrub. Has a fresh and minty taste/feel and will leave your lips soft.

Summer Lips

Glossy kisses all! It has been a long time since I last wrote. Still loving all things lips. I have been twittering from my glossy account. Follow me! @glossypursuit

Summertime is no time for snarly lips. Keep 'em soft and supple with a lip scrub and a heavy moisturizer at night. I like the Peter Thomas Roth Lips to Die for set or Laura Gellar lip stip. I finish with a healthy dose of aquaphor before heading to bed!

Pout-A-Porter---AH-mazing

Chris Benz hooks up with Lancome to create magic. Seriosuly, the latest in the Pout-a-Porter Lipstick collection is delicious. Chris and Tell is the name (so cheeky) and it is the perfect peachy-pink inspired by Benz's Spring 2010 collection. (check out http://www.chris-benz.com/ if you are unfamilliar...he is brills)
This lippie is sure to sell out fast, as most of the pout-a-porters have. Call Lancome and get put on the list. I did. Or if you want to risk it, you can wait until February and buy it at your local Lancome counter. Either way--I can't wait for next year! I doubt any new lippie willl top this amazing color!

Magic Potion

Amazing....seriously I need a moment to tell you about something that just might be my most favorite lip product to be released in YEARS. Are you ready?
Urban Decay Lip Primer Potion. Silky, smooth and your lip color will not budge with this little gem!
As cooler weather draws upon us, I prefer to pull out my berry and plum colored lipsticks...and I guarantee Lip Primer Potion will be under it all.
No one who wears lipstick should be without this. It is that great. I can't say enough good things. Go out and buy it. You'll love it!
$20.00 for a tube
Sephora.com or Urbandecay.com

Thanks to Emily at my local Spehora for the amazing and awesome recommendation!

Can't wait to get my lips on this

Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss...amazing colors: think grape, rose, brick, magenta....I have been hearing raves about the formula. I am heading to Sephora this weekend and I am sure will be adding a few of these to my ever-expanding collection of glosses.
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P241719&categoryId=C7992&shouldPaginate=true

Answer: Celebrity Lips

It's Katherine Heigl! Know for Knocked Up, Grey's and now the Ugly Truth. Now while I might find this gal annoying, I do this she is stunning. BUT--not with that dirty dishwater hair and NOT with those pale lips. I would have loved for her to done a bright lip. What about you? Do you like her look, or wish she would have punched it up?

Celebrity Lips

Okay, which actress (I just can't bring myself to call her a star) needs to get some color on her lips STAT?

Glossy on Twitter

Follow The Pursuit Of Glossiness on twitter!
@glossypursuit

See you there!

Get Pink'd

Love this. At Sephora right now, you can buy deluxe samplers of Sephora's Favorites. As soon as I saw the one full of pink lip glosses and lipsticks I couldn't resist! Only $37 a pop and you will truly have everything you need to pink your pout. It is truly a great way to try out some different products without committing to a full tube.

This set contains:
- 0.34 oz Laura Geller Lip Strip. A wonderful peperminty scrub for your lips. I love lip scrubs!
- 0.1 oz DuWop Prime Venom. Feels just like the gloss, same tingle, but in a balm. Love it.
- 0.0676 oz Korres Cherry Oil Lip Gloss in Fuschia, a bright pink gloss that goes on fairly sheer. Very pretty.
- 0.23 oz Sephora Super Shimmer in Think Pink. Pink, sutble shimmer. Perfect.
- 0.02 oz Stila Cherry Crush Lip and Cheek Stain. This one I could live without. It is hard to control the color in the classic Stila twist tube. I prefer Vincent Longo Stains...
- 0.1 oz Smashbox O-Gloss, I have been putting off trying this for about a year now. BUT--I must admit I am impressed. This gloss starts off clear and turns into a light pink that is perfect on lips.
- 0.09 oz ck Calvin Klein Lipstick in Mesmerize, Holy fuschia! This is not for the lipstick faint of heart. Very bright, but I would love it for a night out with a LBD. Great formuala!
- 0.26 oz Urban Decay Lipstick in Jilted. I am on the fence about this color. It looks okay, the formual is okay...nothing too special.
- 0.17 oz ck Calvin Klein Plumping Gloss in Bloom. Love this. Beautiful! The name says it all. makes your lips look like a lovely flower bloom.

Are you ever to old....

So today I was lusting after the new MAC Dazzelgloss from the upcoming Euristocrats II Collection.
The colors are amazing. I stared at swatches and then it hit me. Am I too old to be wearing sparkles in my lipgloss? Now, I am only in mid-20's...but should I break myself of this sparkle habit right now? But, I also do think that MAC does sparkle right with Dazzelgloss.
So, I am seeking your advice!

Give me your opinions, do you think you can ever be too old for sparkles--or is it better left to younger girls?

I just wasted $17.50

I am going to put this under the most disappointing lip product I may have ever purchased.
Patricia Wexler Advanced No-Injection Lip Plumper. I got it at Bath and Bodyworks during their huge sale. But it was still $17.50 and it is still the worst lip plumper I have ever used.
I love lip plumpers, I love the huge, swollen Angelina Jolie look. I like it when my plumper burns and tingles my lips so I know it is working. With this---no burn, no tingle and the only pout I get is from pouting my own lips in disapointment.
This is one product no one should waste their money on. I expected way more from famous dermatologist Pat Wexler's line.

NUDE lips

Nude Skincare is a brand I am new too, I saw it on Beauty.com and just had to try it. I was very drawn in by the dusty pink cube packaging.
What did I get? Nude lips of course! This lip blam contains no parabens, sulphates, PEGs, TEA, DEA, propylene glycol, phthalates, GMO, mineral oil or silicones. Impressive! And it does a good job moisturizing parched lips. I like to use it at night, before bed..it is a little thick for day. And it is kind of hard, so you have to really rub and use the heat from your hands to make it spreadable for your lips. It is a like, not a love. I don't think I will get it again.
Cost: $14.oo
http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=213640&catid=119692

Gloss and Go...that is always how I do it

The Smashbox Gloss and Go Lip Kit is too cute for words. It is 8 mini-sized lipglosses, it says Limited Edition, and I hope they mean the packaging because the colors are fantastic! And when I say mini-sized, I mean miniature. Each gloss is only 2 mL.
Colors are,
Swift: a shimmery blackberry that looks scary in the tube, lovely on lips.
Pronto: a creamy nude. I love this shade over dark lipstick to soften it up.
Zip: another creamy nude, this one is slightly darker than Pronto.
Glide: a sheer nude with gold shimmer. Very pretty.
Go: My favorite of the bunch, a bright sheer coral with gold shimmer.
Rush: a gold shimmer. Not much to it.
Zoom: A sheer bright pink, my second favorite of the bunch. Very summery.
Snappy: A sheer petal pink.

The colors are great, the formula is not too sticky, there is no overwhelming taste or smell.
My only complaint? I wish they were a tad larger!
This set is $29, which is good, because a full sized smashbox lippie will set you back $18

looking forward

Upcoming entries about Nude, Smashbox, and more! Stay tuned!

Lipstick Love

I am in love with a new lipstick. Now I am usually a gloss girl, but I just might consider being a convert! The great things about this lipstick: the colors, the feel, the cost (available at Drugstores! gasp!) Honestly, I can't find anything wrong with it, and I have to say that is rivals my MAC and Dior and YSL Lipsticks. Yeah, it is that good.
Okay, so what is it?
Max Factor Vivid Impact Lipcolor
I can't tell you how amazing it is, well maybe I can. Consider this: I bought one tube from Ulta and 3 hours later I went back and bought 3 more! It is that good.
The colors are so smooth, perfectly pigmented, sleek, moisturizing and it lasts! I wore the first slick from my first tube through 2 lattes and lunch. Impressive.
So let's get to the colors I bought.
#04 Pin-Up Pink: A creamy, dreamy pink that I bought because I wanted delicious lips like my friend Dollbaby. :) It is not too bright, not too light, not too baby pink. It is my new favorite for a petal pink lip.
#28 Rose Rage: A creamy mid-tone rose that looks great on my lips. It is very close to my natural lip tone and looks great topped with a gloss.
#24 Ms. Terious: A great nude/natural lip. Looks great topped with a gold gloss.
#48 Bitten: A beautiful plummy wine color














Give me congrats for doing my first swatches!!

"ulta"mate pink

I love limited edition lip garb like nobody's business. I feel so special every time I pull out a tube and gloss my lips and someone says "oh that color is great! Where did you get it?" My reply? Limited Edition bitch! So I always pick up anything L.E. Right now at Ulta, Stila Lipglaze in "ulta"mate pink. It comes in the click pen like applicator that most Stila glosses comes in. Smells like bubblegum, it is the perfect sheer pink pearl and looks simply divine on my lips. And in fact I think it would flatter any skin tone. Downside? $22 a pop. Now in this ecomony that is some big clams to shell out, but this oh-so-lovely color is worth it. Now if Stila would just make it regualr.

Answer: Celebrity Lips

It's Katie Holmes! The pic is from the Independent Filmmaker Project 30th Anniversary party in New York April 25, 2009. She looks great!

Want Katie's lips? Well you can't have them, but you can recreate the look!
Try:
MAC Lipstick in Brick-o-la
Liner: MAC Soar Lip pencil
Gloss: MAC tinted Lipglass in Pop Mode and MAC dazzleglass in Goldy rocks.
Not exact, but very lush and lovely! I tried it and it is perfect for date night or, ummm....hosting the Independent Filmmaker Project 30th Anniversary Party...