Ellis Faas Milky Lips in L201 "Ellis Red"

Let me start off by saying I'm very picky about lipstick. I want it to either not smell at all or have a gentle or soft enough smell that I don't mind - soft mint sometimes works, vanilla is a safer bet. I want it to last most of the day, I don't like constantly fussing with my face when I'm out. I want the ingredients to be something I wouldn't mind terribly appearing in colored frosting for my kid's birthday cake. I want vibrant, versatile colors with nice pigmentation and easy application. I ask a lot from a lipstick. I want it to do all of that and generally be $20 or under - it's a tall order.

Ellis Faas had my attention because their Skin Veil foundation, while too dark for me, feels amazing on and lasts pretty well all day. I figured I'd try one of their lip products to see if they're worth the $35 price point - a Givenchy lipstick price point. The short of it? They're not.

Sleek packaging is great but you also need the color to be a reasonable approximation of the description (for this one, "blood red" - my blood isn't orange but maybe I'm doing it wrong.) It should also be able to last decently without transferring to everything in sight - this transferred to my hand, my phone, my face when my hair blew in the wind, my kid while we were shopping today, and every drinking vessel I came in contact with for the first few hours. As you might imagine, this meant that the lip... liquid? It's not really a stain if it doesn't last and it's not a lipstick. It's not a gloss, either. I have no idea what to call this stuff ... didn't last. It was a patchy mess an hour in and I sheered it out with my finger so that I didn't have to mss with reapplication and an hour later, that was a patchy mess again.

Here's a swatch on my arm:

Ellis Faas Milky Lips in L201 Ellis Red

On the left, as it applies.
On the right, what it looks like when you even out the application with the brush.

It's not what I'd call blood red once it's actually applied but it doesn't look terrible here, although the application is uneven by nature - you can't smooth this stuff out. Then I put it on and all of the orange tones came out to play:

Ellis Red on my face

Not what I wanted or expected from something described as "blood red." Worse, within ten minutes of taking this photo, I noticed feathering on the edges - even though I used a clear lip liner.

If you're looking for something that's more gloss than stain but it somewhere in between, this might be the thing for you. It had no discernable odor, which is great and rare in something gloss-adjacent. Beware the color descriptions - seek out swatches if at all possible.

This product is not vegan - it contains carmine. Have you noticed that the ingredients on higher-end products tend to not be as healthy or non-hydrogenated as some mid-range lines? The ingredients for this product:

Hydrogenated Polydecene, Isododecane, Hydrogenated Styrene/Isoprene Copolymer, Dicalcium Phosphate, Hdi/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Polyethylene, Propylene Carbonate, Octyldodecanol, Candelilla Cera, Prunus Domestica Seed Extract, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Silica, Tribehenin, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Sorbitan Isostearate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide. +/- May Contain: Mica, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491/77492/77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), Red 7, CI 15850 (Red 6/Red 7 Lake), CI 73360 (Red 30 Lake), CI 45410 (Red 28 Lake), CI 45380 (Red 22 Lake), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 15985 (Yellow 6 Lake)

Worse than all of that - at the end of the day, my lips feel like I've been standing in a wind storm. It's going to take some serious repair to make them feel soft and happy again and that's just with one wear!

For me, for the price, this just isn't worth it, sorry to say.

(I purchased this product for my own use. I think I've mentioned before that no one send me free stuff for blogging - all products so far are my own and nothing else. :) ) 

Ellis Faas website product listing - also available from Nordstrom and Sephora online. 

MAC VIVA Glam RiRi

MAC's VIVA Glam line has long been a favorite of mine. VIVA Glam was my first MAC lipstick purchase in the '90s, when it was the only shade and didn't carry a "I" to indicate which one. I tend to wind up buying anything from the line that remotely appeals. Then I heard that they'd be doing a frosted blue-red and knew I was in for it. (I don't know that I've mentioned this before but you're probably the only person who reads this blog, dear stranger, so I buy everything that appears here. :) )

First of all, the packaging on this one is gorgeous. I want a million lipsticks in this packaging:

Then you roll up the color and oooooooooh:

Unlike RiRi Woo, the product itself doesn't have Rihanna's signature molded in, the signature is on the interior portion of the tube. Honestly, the branding doesn't appeal or detract for me, this is a gorgeous package and a stunning lipstick.

Here it is on me - reminder if you haven't read my pale foundation posts, I'm very pale. I have a lot of trouble with red lipsticks either looking brown or orange or pink instead of red.

This is poised to become a favorite spring and summer color for me, which means I should probably back this up while it's available. (This is limited, like the previous Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, Cyndi Lauper, and so on VIVA Glam lipsticks. Folks at my MAC store say it should be available for six months to a year. It also comes in lipglass but I don't wear lipgloss - swatches show the colors to be very close.)

I know I promised Punk Couture lipstick swatches and photos next but I had to interrupt due to my excitement about this color (and it's still available!) I might also make a post about the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Ebony, which I'm wearing in this photo - it's amazing and easy to use.

Chantecaille Future Skin - Full Face Test (and what KVD looks like)

I'm losing hope, my pale foundation watchers. Here's the results of the full day skin test with Chantecaille Future Skin in Porcelain:

Day 1

Chantecaille Future Skin in Porcelain
MAC lipstick in Studded Kiss

Day 2

Chantecaille Future Skin in Porcelain

MAC Huggables lipstick in Rusty (lightly applied)

Pink, pink, pink and more pink. This oxidization appeared about an hour and a half after application, and to the credit of Chantecaille, stayed steady at this level for the rest of the day. I'm disappointed but it's closer than the Koh Gen Do. Unfortunately, I think it broke my face out - I had to go two days without foundation of any kind to clear up the bumpiness (I usually get rashes, so this was a new one for me.)

Here, let me show you what it's up against, since I'm being so picky. Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation in Light 42:

Bright Outdoor Light:

KVD Light 42
MAC Punk Couture and Violetta (layered)

More indirect outdoor light:

(same as above)

Indoor lighting:

Kat Von D Light 42
MAC Punk Couture lipstick (heavy application)

That's after all day of wearing on that last photo. The other two were after several hours. No pink, no orange, perfect match to my neck and chest. Why, oh why, didn't I back up a few bottles of this?

Upcoming: Punk Couture Lipsticks general swatching and round up. I also caved and bought the RiRi VIVA Glam, so expect swatches and photos when that arrives - I'm hoping for a replacement for KVD's Adora lipstick, love the color, hate the formula. 

MAC Hautecore - Quick Black Lipstick Update

Long time, no post, right?

Well, with MAC's new Hautecore (from Black Friday 2013 and the upcoming Punk Couture collection on December 26th,) I'm sure you're all curious how it stacks up to the black lipsticks I posted earlier. I didn't do full-face looks for these because I recently had a jawbone/dental/sinus disaster repaired and am waiting for the swelling and bruising to go down but I wanted to get a swatch up for comparison for the curious. 

Here we have, top to bottom:
Make-Up-For-Ever Rouge Artist Intense in #50 Black Satin (1 pass)
Portland Black Lipstick Company in Black (1 pass)
MAC Hautecore (2 passes)
MAC Hautecore (1 pass)

As you can see, Portland Black Lipstick Company is still the clear winner - mint-scent and all. (I prefer the vanilla of MAC's lipsticks.)

Hautecore is pretty similar in pigmentation to MUFE's #50 but Hautecore is a little more matte and stays a little better with wear. It also has the bonus of not having MUFE's floral scent.

Just a quick post - sorry for the lack of detail.
What I'm hoping to post up next: pale foundation swatches from Sephora, Kat Von D, Urban Decay, and Jane Iredale - what's a pale girl to do when MAC no longer makes anything lighter than NC15?! (I mourn the loss of 5 and 10 shades.)

Black Lipstick Review

Finding a good black lipstick can be hard - some are too purple, too blue, too red, or just not right. My previous favorite black lipstick was MAC's Black Knight, which I sadly don't have any swatches of, nor any of said lipstick left. I tried MAC's Lipmix in black but it was far too glossy, when when mixed with another lipstick, applied lightly only had a very light effect similar to that of Urban Decay's (possibly discontinued?) Oil Slick and still feathered like I'd tried to use it as a gloss no matter what I did.
I previously tried Make Up Forever's black lipstick, 50 "Black Satin." It is horribly floral scented, has poor coverage, and didn't last at all. Worst of all, the migraine-triggering floral scent lasted long after the lipstick wore off.
Wet 'n Wild does a black lipstick that's usually available around Halloween but I was looking for something a little better and more reliably available. Mostly I use black lipstick to "blacken" other lipstick colors that are slightly too bright for what I'd like.
In my hunt, several people recommended Portland Black Lipstick Company, which had come up in my own searches already. I was a little wary of the white plastic chapstick tube (which is apparently now a black chapstick-style tube! It looks much better, even though it doesn't sound like it should make a huge difference.) I contacted the company and got a response from the owner/maker regarding scent - mint and it could be omitted if I needed a special order. Good to know! I paid my $9 and waited not-so-patiently for the few days it took to arrive in the mail.
The day after it arrived, I used it to darken some bright fuchsia lipstick I have and it did an amazing job - this lipstick mixes really well with other lipsticks. Well, at the least with Sephora's Rouge Creme and MAC's matte lipsticks. I've used it so far with four colors of Sephora's Rouge Creme and three of MAC's lipsticks.
Coverage is very, very opaque and even - no light spots, pulls or gaps in coverage. It's really smooth straight from the tube, which I wasn't sure was going to be the case. You can apply it straight from the tube, if that's your desire, but I think it looks better applied with a brush - I've included photos of both so you can see the difference.
Scent is definitely mint but it's clearly just enough to cover the scent of the lipstick's blackening ingredients. Speaking of ingredients - it's not vegan but they're working on it. I saw a blog post that indicated that they were test-driving some vegan formulas to see if they could get it just right.
Duration of wear is amazing - this stuff really isn't going anywhere. It comes off with waterproof makeup remover, but you want to be sure to check a mirror before you wander off anywhere after removal. I had to be extra-careful to get it all! You will leave little black lipstick marks on cups and things but I didn't find that it significantly impacted the look of the lipstick until after two meals - I'm a constant water drinker through a straw-and-cup, so my reusable straw definitely needed a good washing at the end of the day.
Appearance: somewhere between glossy and matte. It's not really a satin finish but it's close. Consider it somewhere halfway between MAC's satin and matte lipsticks. Black as black gets, no lean to another color at all; very 'neutral' black. Very opaque, full coverage. You can apply incredibly lightly for a darkening effect, if that's what you need but you can also get full-on black with a single swipe.
Onward to the photos! All photos taken in a natural-light filled room with an overhead compact florescent light on as well, no flash (and with a cell phone, sorry about that.)
The product itself: