Mary Kay Lipstick in Dusty Rose Review

There was a time, not so long ago, that Mary Kay lipstick in Dusty Rose was my go-to lipstick. I kept one at work. It's a very versatile shade for me. It's just a little big brighter and just a little bit More than my natural lip color. It's an unassuming shade of pink. It's not glittery or sparkly or very shiny. My first tube was great. My replacement, second tube? Smelled funny. I contacted my rep and she sent me a replacement. It was fine. Now, I'm on my technically fourth tube. Again... this one smells funny. Such a drag. I don't know how old this product was before I got it, but I didn't leave it alone too long before I tried it. And it's a funky one. This one was a gift, so I can't exchange it for another... but really who has the time for something like that? Certainly not a mom with a baby! It's really too bad. The color is good. I like that I can wear it with anything. I like the container as well. It's a pretty silver with gold trim in the middle, and it says Mary Kay on the inside barrel, after you open it. Aesthetically, I like it a lot. However, bad taste/smell is a deal breaker, and I scrunch my nose whenever I open this lipstick and get a whiff or put it close enough to my face to try to apply. Too bad. ... Oh well, I'm not extremely attached to this color, and there are definitely other lipsticks out there! And, quirky as I am, I tend to go either drugstore or all out department store. I like the gifts with purchase, otherwise, I will pay a few bucks. But a $13 price point, with this particular quirk, is not worth my time any more. Too bad, I like my Mary Kay lady, but not enough to overpay for a product that performs so inconsistently. I'll take my chances at the drugstore, or... pay up at the make up counter! (Or, more often than not, receive a lipstick as a gift with purchase anyway. And since it takes me a good 5 or 6 months of everyday wear to use one up, I don't think I'll need to purchase one for a very long time, if ever again, considering my addiction to GWP's!!!)

Estee Lauder Pure Color Lipstick: Ripe Papaya Review

I would never have picked out this color on my own. Thank goodness for gifts with purchase! I would never venture to wear an orange lipstick, which is what a name of ripe papaya would imply to me. However, this color looks great! It's a subtly brightening color. And it doesn't look orange, just a bit brighter than my natural lip color. It also has a bit of sparkle to it. It's not drying, very comfortable to wear. Average staying power for a lipstick, which would be 3 hours with the lots of talking that I do at work.

This will be my 'go to' work color for the spring, and likely the summer as well. I much prefer it to the Clinique Raspberry Glacee - just a color preference. The Glace is a very bright color for me and I prefer to be more subdued at work.

How many lipsticks does one need?

So, how many lipsticks do I need? Not that many...

I've decided that I need:

a light pink, something close to my natural shade for work (work-neutral, as I think of it.)
a sexy red for nights out
a darker/more vivid pink for those looks that require a bit more of a lip statement
a shimmery/lighter lipstick that is slightly glimmery, sometimes you need something very light & sparkly.

It is nice for me to have one more work-neutral as I keep one at work and it's nice to have one on hand at home to be able to throw in the purse.

So - 5 lipsticks is all that I need. Right now I have:
2 reds
2 darker pinks
1 work pink
1 sheer fuschia

I'm holding out to see if I can get a holiday blockbuster with 2 lipsticks and be set. I love those holiday blockbuster sets! I'm thinking of getting Estee Lauder's Tuberose Gardenia perfume anyhow. Mind as well live it up!

How long does it take you to finish up a lipstick?

I am more writing this as a reminder to myself. I, like many other women, end up with way too much make up in collection when considering how long a single product will last.

I used up a lipstick! down to the plastic, not past. It wasn't worth my trouble to fish the leftover product out of the tube. It took me 6 months of continuous wear. I'm talking daily at work - application three times a day, at least 5 days a week. 6 months!

6 MONTHS! Application: at least 5 Days a week, 3 times a day.

Nicole Miller Lipstick: Sienna

This is a mail order product, and the undertone turned out wrong for me. It's a great product, glides on smoothly, good pigmentation. It just didn't turn out to be the shade for me. Now they have their lip shades labeled warm, neutral, and cool which I think is very helpful as I don't think that ordering cosmetics from a website is a great idea in general.

ELF All Over Color Stick: Pink Lemonade

This is a nice color, slightly pink. I chose it to possibly use for travel, as a cheek/lip/eyeshadow in a pinch. However, I don't like it. I have sensitive skin and it sometimes makes me react. It just causes skin irritation, but who wants that? So it's in my beauty graveyard. I would recommend it if you do not have sensitive skin.

Clinique Lipstick Retired

I love this color but the texture has changed and I definitely do not NEED to hold onto it, as I realized recently that it takes probably 9 months of daily work use for a lipstick to wear down to the base.

I have retired my Clinique Gilded Pink. Beautiful metallic goldy-pink. I guess it's been discontinued but I'll find something. It's like Lancome Metallique in that I thought of it as neutral but kicked up a nitch, to be paired with stronger eye looks, or for work.

Goodbye, Metallique

This lipstick was hard to let go of because it was one of my first investments in department store make up and I loved it so. I remember Kieu going with me to Macy's and how she said I looked really happy when I decided on this color at the counter.

Lancome Metallique looked great on me. Similar to my lipcolor but metallicized. A nude Pinky-gold. I may have to repurchase this shade one day.