New Product: Wet N Wild Megalast Liquid Lip Color

Hello lovelies! While walking through CVS a few days ago, I spotted a small WnW display on a shelf and just had to have a better look at the assortment of color that was bombarding my eyeballs. Upon closer examination, I saw that the megalast lipstick that I know and love so well, was now in liquid form!!! YAY!!! And if it was in my power to do so, I would have gladly done back-handsprings through the store once I saw that they are only $3.19 AND they came with a $1.00 OFF coupon. Yes, that was NOT a typo... I got these bad boys for $2.19 a piece!!!

Now, the new Megalast Liquid Lip Colors come in 13 shades that range from nice, universally flattering nudes, to deep, rich wines. I kid you not when I say I was in the store hovering over the display like I found the crown jewels sitting on a diamond encrusted gold tray waiting for my perusal. After some serious consideration, I only grabbed 5 of the 13 shades, since a lot were already sold out. The shades I grabbed were: Click on my Hyperlink, Back to the Fuschia, Red my Mind, Cherry on Top and I Can Bare It.

Wet N Wild Megalast Liquid Lip Color

Top to Bottom: Cherry on Top, Back to the Fuchsia, Click my Hyperlink, I Can Bare It, and Red my Mind.

Now here's my take on them. The pigmentation is sssssuuuuupppppeeeerrrr!!!! I mean you have full coverage in one swipe. and what you see is exactly what you get. Some might have a problem with the applicator, which is broad and flat, but I actually like it. I was able to use the broad part to distribute the color quick and even, and then turn it on it's side to get a pit of precision to line the edges. And they took the idea of Megalast to the next level with the formula for these! They apply very wet, similar to the OCC Lip Tars, and dry down to a nice matte or satin finish. And once set, these things are HELL ON WHEELS to take off! I had to scrub with a textured baby wipe for a couple minutes to get the color off, and the lipstick peels off in little balls as you remove it. I must mention that they also left my lips really dry was well; walking through the desert without water for weeks dry... severely parched is an understatement. You need some heavy duty exfoliation and a great lip balm for these.

What I didn't like was the feel of the finish. While I dig the idea of the ElastiSilk technology, I hated the feel of these lipsticks on my lips. While fairly matte, they dried to a sticky finish, that made me cringe every time my lips touched. I really wanted to love these, but the finish could use a bit of a tweak! But honestly, for about $3.00 a pop for some fabulously pigmented lip colors, I'm going to find something to dab over the lipstick to make the finish not so tacky.

Overall, I'd say these new Wet N Wild Megalast Liquid Lip Colors are a no brainer as far as bargain and quality. I have some high end lipsticks that WISH they could pull off the intense pigmentation of these babies!!! Definitely worth the price, regardless of the finish.

Has anyone else tried these new lippies? I'd love to hear what you think!

-Miss Brina

Birchbox is having a DREAM GIVEAWAY!!!

I don't know about you guys, but I could dang sure use a trip to the DR right about now... and that's exactly what Birchbox is offering to one lucky person. Who wouldn't want a chance to spend 5 days at the Oscar de la Renta styled TORTUGA BAY RESORT, and if that isn't enough, they're also throwing in the entire SOMETHING BLUE fragrance collection! If you want to try your luck at the ultimate luxury experience, then enter here.

Review: Portland Black Lipstick Company + GIVEAWAY WINNER

I'm a lipstick woman. All colors, formulas, brands... I'm not too picky. I see a shade I like, I buy it... it's very simple. That being said, I stumbled across some bee-yoo-ti-ful lipstick swatches a few weeks ago on Portrait of Mai, and fell in instant lust with all things Portland Black Lipstick Company. The swatches were so unique, so creamy, and soooooo pigmented that I HAD to head on over to their website to cop a few of my own. After much back and forth about what colors I wanted, I ended up placing an order for 8 lipstick samples, in an attempt to try out the brand for myself and narrow down what shades would suit me best before I made a full size purchase.

Now, there are 22 lipstick shades currently offered in the line, that run for only $10 a pop! That's certainly affordable. And honestly, the color payoff you get from these bad boys are better than a lot of the "popluar/it" brands that are on the tongues of the masses nowadays. And being an indie company, the customer service you get is great. I was very pleased with the ease of ordering, and the personable communication that was provided. I even received an email from the owner Kim letting me know my order had shipped (got it in 2 days!!!), apologizing for an overlooked inquiry AND giving me a very helpful and unexpected tip regarding carmine allergies. You can tell that she, and the staff of Portland Black really have a passion for their craft... and the extra samples that were included in my order were great!

Now more about the actual products I ordered. I found that they were all very creamy, absolutely non-drying, and had excellent slip and adhesion. All of the shades I ordered, with the exception of Lux et Voluptas, offered full coverage in one swipe. Some of the samples had small bits of unmixed pigment in them, but it wasn't a biggie, and they blended into the lipstick easily with the help of the lip brush I was using. While I truly LOVE all the colors I picked up (so much for the narrowing down lol), I have to say I was more partial to the application and wear of the flatter shades (the ones without any/much shimmer or metallics). My favorites in the bunch were This Corrosion, Blood Red and Artificial Amethyst.

Overall, I have nothing but good things to say about my first purchase from Portland Black Lipstick Co. and am looking forward to trying out the rest of their shades and their various glitters/powders. If you're into full coverage and unique  yet wearable shades, then I'd strongly suggest you head over to Portland Black Lipstick Company and check out all they have to offer.

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

And last but not least, the winner of the 30 Eyeshadow Rainbow Palette Giveway is...  ANN RAYE! Congratulations, I'll be emailing your shortly. 

EOTD: Keeping it Green

I'm still in love with my new 30 eyeshadow palette, so here's a look I did using the 1st and 2nd row greens (left side of both), the matte gray, black, both browns, the tan (end of 2nd row/right side), the yellow (right side), and the shimmery gold (1st row/4th column). The mascara is MAC False Lashes Waterproof, the black liner is my trusty L'Oreal HIP cream liner, the purple on the bottom lashline is the lilac shadow from the purples in the top row, and I have NYX Milk pencil in the waterline. The more I use this palette, the more I'm digging it.  

I also have been using some new brushes, full review on them coming soon.

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for your chance to win the 30 Eyehadow Palette here! And I hope you all have a happy Father's Day weekend everyone!!!

-Miss Brina

EOTD using the 30 Rainbow palette

I decided to post a couple looks from the last few days using the 30 shadow palette from ebay. Let me know what you think. And don't forget to enter the giveaway to win one of your very own 30 shadow palettes!

-Miss Brina

30 Rainbow eyeshadow palette review/ Swatches + GIVEAWAY

been a little MIA since the last post, but trust, I have not forgotten about you guys. Quite honestly, once you've seen what I was testing out all will be forgiven lol

Look at this beauty! I had been stalking this bad boy for a few months, not really knowing who it was by and what it was called, but me being the "google queen" that my honey likes to call me I found it on ebay and snatched it up! Now, when I bought this palette, I couldn't find many swatches or looks with it. Don't get me wrong, there were pictures of the palette for days... just hardly any swatches. After some extensive instagram hawking, I found a few companies who were selling this "rainbow" palette for 3-5X more than I paid on ebay, and my excitement over this palette (and my GREAT deal) grew that much more!

As with all of these  palettes, certain shades tend to swatch better and more pigmented than others. When I first opened it and swatched on bareskin, I surprised by the adhesion. Now, not every single color was super pigmented, but they ALL passed the rub test WITHOUT any base or primer. That being done, I noticed a bit on fall out from the shadows, but for the price and having dealt with similiar palettes, it was too be expected.

Color me impressed overall, I decided to do another swatch test, this time with a beige base underneath, just for comparison. And while you get a decent, and at times slightly chalky payoff without one, adding a base underneath these shadows made them come alive! A base will be your best friend with this palette. Check out the side by side comparison pictures, the photos on the right were done WITH a base.

  

 

 

 

 

 

If you want some great shadows, and don't mind a palette without all the neat packaging and bells and whistles, then you can go here to purchase this palette. But ONE lucky & loyal follower won't have to, because I am offering one of these LOVELY palettes as a celebratory THANK YOU GIVEAWAY. It's just my way of saying thank you for your support ;)

To enter, you simply have to be a follower of this blog and leave a comment on this post telling me what you'd like to see more of on Beautifully Flawed. One comment per person, but you can earn TWO (2) additional entries by blogging about the giveaway and linking back to this post, just leave the link in the comment section and let me know "I mentioned your giveaway."

Giveaway ends at 11:59 PST on June 21, 2013. Winner will be picked at random and announced on June 23, 2013.

Hope you all enjoy the post, and good luck!

-Miss Brina

THANK YOU!!!

I've recently reached 100 followers on this cool little blog of mine, and I want to take a second out to thank everyone of you guys! I know in a time of superbloggers and gurus, 100 followers doesn't seem like a great feat, but I truly do appreciate each and everyone one of you for rocking with me and Beautifully Flawed. And with that being said, stay tuned for more info on a special GIVEAWAY to celebrate!!!

-Miss Brina

MAC Hayley Williams- Sounds like Noise: Review/ Comparison

Hey fellow beauty junkies! I hope all has been going well with everyone. I've been on a bit of a makeup hiatus lately, but I recently picked up a new lippie from the Hayley Williams collabo with MAC and I have to say that I am impressed. Sounds like Noise is described as a "bright, true orange matte," but I can't say I wholeheartedly agree with that. SLN has more of a satin finish, and seems like more of a brighter, yellow-based, slightly more saturated pastel orange in my opinion, instead of a true/bright orange orange. I was a bit disappointed because based on the description, I thought I'd be getting a nice, matte orange... something bright and true like the orange in the AT&T logo... but this softer orange is beautiful in it's own right. I read on a few forums that it was similar to Milani Sweet Nectar (which I own), so I was kind of hesitant to make the purchase, but curiosity got the best of me and I dropped the $16.20 (after taxes) and picked this lippie up. And honestly, it isn't anything like Sweet Nectar, so I have no clue why anyone would compare the two as if they could be dupes. Sweet Nectar has a shinier finish, and is altogether deeper and more of a red-orange. Personally, I feel like Sounds like Noise isn't like any other color MAC has, and I hope they eventually decide to make it permanent, because it's a great everyday swipe and go lipstick. And I love that it's non-drying on my lips. I don't own anything like it, and since I've been wearing it daily, I think I'll have to get a backup while I still can.

I'll update in a few days with a lip swatch, but until then, here's a few swatches of Sounds like Noise next to Milani's Sweet Nectar for your enjoyment and comparison.

 (Sounds like Noise in natural daylight)

(L-R: Milani Sweet Nectar & Sounds like Noise in daylight)

(L-R: Sweet Nectar & Sounds like Noise... this pic gives the most accurate color for SLN)

(Sweet Nectar & Sounds like Noise outdoors)

(Milani Sweet Nectar & MAC Sounds like Noise outdoors/shade)

(Sweet Nectar & Sounds like Noise outdoors in direct sunlight)

(outdoors in partial sun)

All pictures (with the exception of the 1st three) were taken outdoors and in various lights WITHOUT flash.

What do you guys think of Sounds like Noise?

-Miss Brina