The Quest for a Holy Grail Semi-Matte Lipstick Stops Here: Givenchy Le Rouge Reviews, Photos, Swatches

May 8, 2013 | 28 Responses

Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen. Here come today’s pretties!

Givenchy Le Rouge 102 and 301
Givenchy Le Rouge 102 Beige Plume and 301 Magnolia Organza

Givenchy Le Rouge (CDN $38 / US $36, exclusively at Sephora) is a modern semi-matte lipstick. It is silky, lightweight and reflects light to bring dimension to the lips. Both shades I tried are packed with pigment so they cover the lips in one swipe. This is the best semi-matte formula I’ve ever tried. Its velvety texture is something I would liken to Giorgio Armani’s Maestro Foundation. It doesn’t migrate out of my lip lines after I apply; it just sets to a beautiful silky, almost powder-like finish. This lipstick is longer lasting than most of my lipsticks. It may or may not have outlasted a McDonald’s combo of quarter pounder with cheese and french fries. Ahem.

Givenchy Le Rouge Packaging
Givenchy Le Rouge — Packaging

Givenchy did not only make a great makeup product here, but they also cased the bullets in hefty, soft leather and chrome covers. Meow! So sexy. If the packaging was fugly I probably would still want to buy all the lipsticks! anyway.

Givenchy Le Rouge 102 Beige Plume

102 Beige Plume is peachy brown. On me, it is a warm nude colour that is a safe bet for the office. It’s sweet and demure, and so perfect.

Givenchy Le Rouge 102 Beige Plume Swatch

Wearing Givenchy Le Rouge 102 Beige Plume

301 Magnolia Organza is a vibrant reddish pink. It’s hard not to feel a little bit sassy with this one on. Work it, baby!

Givenchy Le Rouge 301 Magnolia Organza

Keep reading to see swatches and full face photos!

Click here to see swatches and full face photos!

OMG You Need This! MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Brow Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector Review, Photos, Swatches

July 3, 2012 | 61 Responses

Imagine you’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Zombies are trying to bash your front door in, but they haven’t discovered the back door (yet). You need to think fast: grab your absolute essential makeup to take with you, so that your friends and family cannot mistake you for a zombie. GO!

Concealer.

Lipstick.

Mascara.

Brow filler.

What’s that? You never fill in your brows? But why? Former makeup artist Jeremy Renner (!!!) agrees with me. This requires another (!!!).

source

Properly groomed and filled in brows polishes and completes a makeup look, however simple or dramatic it is. I recently picked up MAKE UP FOR EVER Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector in No. 4 Dark Brown Black ($22) and damn! This is powerful stuff. I first read about and saw this product on gorgeous Jenny of My Funny Valentine. UPDATE: These are currently being phased out for the new Aqua Brows. It is the same formula with more shades. No. 4 Dark Brown Black is the same shade as Aqua Brow in #40 Brown Black.

MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Brow Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector in No. 40

The eyebrow corrector is a creamy liquid formula. I put a very tiny dab of it on the back of my hand (you need less than you think), pick up the product with an angled liner/brow brush, then fill in my brows as usual. Be careful about shading in your brows; try to “stay within the lines” because this is difficult to take off without a makeup remover.

MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Brow Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector in No. 40 Dark Brown Black

I usually fill in my brows with pencil and/or powder eyeshadow (click here to see my tutorial on how I fill in my eyebrows), but they no longer perform well for me when humidity and sweat is in the picture. Hello, that’s Toronto summer for you. I need my brow product to stay with me through my sweaty bike rides, and sometimes, rain. Today was one of those days. Insanely humid and I was a big ol’ sweat ball. This did not move at all. Perfect brows, baby! All day long.

MAKE UP FOR EVER Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector in No. 40 swatch

I actually wanted to buy the shade No. 3 Dark Ash Brown, but it was sold out. No. 4 Dark Brown Black is darker and cooler than No. 3. I went back to make the exchange, but realized that No. 3 is too warm toned and light for me. I’m keeping this shade!

MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Brows in 10, 20, 30, 40 swatches

I went to another Sephora today to swatch the rest of the shades to show you the other options. No. 10 is a great shade for lightest blondes to light brunettes. No. 20 will work with auburn hair. Both No. 30 and No. 40 are great options for medium to dark brunettes. Sorry guys, I swatched these the wrong way (too heavy), but this shows you the difference between the shades.

Although I have a lot of brow hair, they are an awful shade of grey that just doesn’t work for me. A little bit of brow corrector and boom! I look like a normal human being.

Before and After MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Brow Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector in #40 Dark Brown Black

This is a game changer, you guys. I don’t say that often. Waterproof, sweat-proof brows with zero crunchiness. Hallelujah!

Now… say it with Jeremy!

Brows. Lashes. Lips. Frame the face.
(Hi, muscles.)

Big Hair is Only Minutes Away with GS Professional Dual Pro Iron.

January 9, 2012 | 25 Responses

How would you describe party hair? For someone who has straight, fine hair, my answer’s easy: big bouncy curly hair. For my birthday last month, naturally I curled my hair. I did it with my GS Professional Dual Pro Iron 2-in-1 Flat Iron and Curling Iron ($189.95) and just loved the results.

GS Professional Dual Pro Iron 2-in-1 Flat Iron and Curling Iron – plates

It took 42.1 seconds to heat up to the default 360F straight setting, which is the recommended setting for in-between easy-to-straighten and thick, wavy hair. You can toggle between three modes — Straight, Curl, and Straight+Curl — with a quick press of the power button, and you know exactly what mode you’re on because the words light up. Also, the exact temperature is shown in the LED screen.

GS Professional Dual Pro Iron 2-in-1 Flat Iron and Curling Iron – LED screen

I know I should’ve taken pictures of these components lit up, but just imagine red light for straight, blue light for curl, and a pretty blue LED screen. #bloggerfail

GS Professional Dual Pro Iron 2-in-1 Flat Iron and Curling Iron – lock

When you want to use the curling iron only, you can also lock the plates in place. Since I’m used to curling my hair with a flat iron, I do my hair by clamping it in place with the flat plates, then twist the iron away from my face to curl the hair. The iron does come with instructions on how to get spiral/corkscrew curls, loose curls and waves, and volume or flip, so if you’re a total hair appliance n00b (technical term), I think you can still use this iron easily.

GS Professional Dual Pro Iron 2-in-1 Flat Iron and Curling Iron – size

I do have a complaint about this iron: I find that the titanium plates tug and pull on my hair more than my previous flat iron. I think this might be a deal breaker for someone who has a sensitive scalp, so beware! My personal motto when it comes to my hair is “no pain, no gain” and I have a pretty resistant scalp anyway, so this doesn’t bother me too much.

Behold my super straight hair, curled with GS Professional Dual Pro Iron.

My next-to-impossible-to-curl hair, treated with my trusty Aveda Phomollient, was still bouncy and tight on day 2 right before I took a shower, so I am absolutely ecstatic about this. Oh yeah, I used it to wave my hair in this FOTD as well. All-in-all, the GS Professional Dual Pro Iron is a awesome hair tool and a life changer for this Glitter Geek.