Review: NYC Ultralast Lipwear - Rose Gold & Red Flame

Price: Online, I find it for $1.99 but I'm pretty sure when I got this from Walmart, it was $1.79.

What they say: Super-charged color. Glide-on, stay-on lipstick! N.Y.C. New York Color Ultra Last LipWear gives you incredible color with real staying power. Beautiful high-fashion shades with a hint of berry fragrance give you the most luscious, kissable lips ever. Available in twenty long-wearing lipstick shades... build a wardrobe of lipcolor!

Benefits: Moisturizing formula conditions lips with color and shine.

Application tips: Apply N.Y.C. New York Color Ultra Last LipWear directly to the lips or apply with a lipstick brush.

Key ingredients: Vitamin E for conditioning.

Full ingredients list: Ricinus Communis Seed Oil Castor, Octyldodecanol, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Euphorbia Cerifera Wax Candelilla, Tridecyl Stearate, Neopentyl Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, PEG-4 Diheptanoate, Polyethylene, PEG-8 Beeswax, VP/Hexadecene Copolymer, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil Jojoba, Beeswax, Tocopherol Acetate, Propylparaben, Tin Oxide May Also Contain, Silica May Also Contain, Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Red 6, Red 7 Lake, Blue 1 Lake, Red 27 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Carmine. (from Ulta.com)

The good stuff:

• Inexpensive!
• Applies easily
• Sheer but buildable color
• Great for layering
• Semi-moisturizing
• Many shades to choose from

The low-down:

• Color doesn't show up well on me unless I use concealer first
• Average staying power

Left-Right: Rose Gold, Red Flame

ROSE GOLD
Shows up as a rosy (slightly coral-y on lips) pink with gold shimmer.

RED FLAME
Shows up as a blue-toned red with gold shimmer.

SWATCHESLeft-Right: Red Flame, Rose Gold

My take: I am so glad I picked up this lipstick after reading Angelique's review!!! They are such a steal too! I'll start off by saying that I bought Red Flame for my mom, so I don't use it. So sorry there are no lip swatches of that! I specifically wanted to try Rose Gold after seeing how it looked on Angelique, and I am happy to say that I LOVE IT : )

But -- yes, there is a but! -- On its own, it does not show up very nice on my lips. It makes my lips look slightly darker and a bit frosty (reminiscent of my last disappointing NYX lipstick haul). Sooo... for me, it takes prepping to make this lipstick work, but boy, does it work!What I have been doing lately to make lip color show up better is layering over DHC Rose Beauty Eye Zone Treatment Retouch Q10 (I have not reviewed this yet). Sounds weird, because it is meant for the undereye area, but it wasn't working too well for me and my dark circles. So on a whim, I decided to try it on my lips and lo and behold, it yields truly awesome results!

Once I prep my lips with lip balm and the concealer, Rose Gold layers on nicely and the color shows up a lot better. It starts off sheer but is buildable. It glides on lips easily and doesn't feel waxy. It feels somewhat moisturizing... prob. because I prep with lip balm first anyway, but still, it feels a tad moisturizing on it's own. Nothing super creamy or hydrating, but not drying, either. Also, you can feel a slight grit from the glitter; nothing bothersome though. Very similar to my Tsumori Chisato for Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited in Jupiter Brown. It is also similar in color, except more pinky. Another thing that I'd like to note though, is that despite the "Ultralast" name, the staying power for me is only average. A few hours at best, even less if eating/drinking.

Although layering over concealer makes the color show up better, the finish is still a little too frosty for my liking. Btw, I realize in the past couple paragraphs I sound like a total contradiction of my claims that I love this lipstick. But here's the kicker.... I layer over it again with a sheer gloss. And for me, that completely perfects this lipstick. Now, if you like frosty lipsticks, of course this is completely unnecessary and I'm sure you'll love these lipsticks. But for me, doing these extra steps makes the color more vibrant... just the right pop of color, but still natural and wearable, AND tones down the frosty-ness to a shimmery, glossy sheen... I love it ♥

Would I repurchase/recommend? Yes, I would definitely repurchase these lipsticks; I would like to try more shades. I hope they make new shades too! I would definitely recommend this lipstick to anyone wanting to add some drugstore gems to their lippie collection!

Below, I used: EOS Lip balm, then DHC Rose Beauty Eye Zone Treatment Retouch Q10, then NYC Ultralast Lipwear in Rose Gold, and then YSL Golden Gloss #10 - Golden Peony (sorry for the bad lighting).

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Review: NYC Lip Sliders Tinted Lip Balm in "Sugar Coated"

Price: ~$3.00 (I got mine from Walmart)

What they say:Delivers a sheer pop of color with an intense gloss finish. Hydrating and conditioning formula with rich botanical oils & vitamins leaves lips extra soft. Sweet flavor makes this a yummy treat!

Benefits:Hydrating & conditioning formula protects lips
Gives lips a sheer pop of color and intense shine

Application tips:Apply a thin layer of balm to lips as often as desired.

Key ingredients:
Rich emollient oils and butters
Infused with vitamins

What's in it:(click to view larger)

The good stuff:

• Inexpensive
• Sheer but buildable color
• Very glossy
• Feels conditioning/moisturizing on lips
• Tastes/smells good
• Relatively long lasting
• Cute packaging

The low-down:

• Very sticky/tacky texture -- use a lip brush!
• Packaging is a tad flimsy
• Limited shade selection

My take: I was interested in trying this lip balm for awhile but never got around to buying it until recently. I must admit, it was the packaging that hooked me -- it's super cute! And the product inside is a lot better than I expected it would be ;)

Another look at the cute packaging and product:

I do think the packaging is a bit flimsy though... I've accidentally slid the entire lid off a few times... don't know my own strength, eh? XD And I'm not really a fan of products in tubs / pots / tins because they're unhygenic and I'd rather quickly apply & go from a squeeze tube, rather than dip my fingers/brush into it; if I had the choice. However, since this product is so cheap, I can't complain.

The texture of this lipbalm feels very moisturizing and conditioning on lips. It is thick, however, and I personally feel it is borderline "goopy" ...but still feels nice on lips. The more layers you add though; the "goopier" it starts to feel. So I usually settle for 2 layers, which gives me enough color to cover my medium-pigmented lips. I do suggest you use a lip brush to apply this because if you get it on your fingers/face/hair, it is SUPER sticky/tacky. I actually also mainly use this as a "night treatment" because it lasts overnight on my lips and I wake up in the morning with softer, smoother, hydrated lips.

"Sugar Coated" is a very light baby pink. The color is sheer but buildable and has a glossy sheen to it -- it's a balm that looks like a gloss AND has better conditioning properties! This balm smells/tastes like artificial cotton candy IMO... it is sweet but does not bother me THAT much. I kind of like it. I'd rather it taste good than like medicine. But if you are sensitive to scents/flavors; this might bother you a bit.

According to Holly Ann-AeRee, this is also a dupe for MAC's Boy Bait Cremesheen. I wouldn't know for certain because I don't own it. But here are some swatches of Sugar Coated, if you'd like to compare:

No flash

Flash

Flash ------------------------ No flash

From the swatches I get from googling; I'd say they are pretty similar.
Would I repurchase/recommend?: I suppose I would repurchase this product, but I would want to try different shades. I would recommend this to anyone looking for an affordable and cute lipbalm -- that doubles as a gloss. I would also recommend this particular shade if you're looking for an inexpensive dupe of Boy Bait.

The Rundown:

Packaging: 4/5

Cute little purple slidey case. Not so hygenic and a bit flimsy but still pretty darn cute.

Product: 4/5

Sheer but buildable. Feels conditioning; just don't like how sticky/tacky it is if it gets on anything other than your lips. Use a lip brush.

Price: 5/5

Good value for the price.

Overall:

[ click here to read about my Review & Rating System ]

NOTD: NYC East Village and French Tip White

Hello loves! Just here to share two NOTDs, both featuring NYC polishes.

NYC Color In A Minute - East Village

A metallic/shimmery blue (it has a pretty green tinge IRL).

Unfortunately, this is THE SHEEREST nail polish I own. It took 4-5 coats to get it this opaque. I suppose it does dry decently fast, but the only downside is that it gets a lot of air bubbles. I also noticed this with another one of my NYC polishes. But overall, since it's less than $2, it's a nice polish.

NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel - French Tip White

(layered over with Ulta Super Sheer Nail Gloss in "Princess," to create a soft gradient-french manicure effect)

It is a really nice, bright, white. This is 3 coats. It goes on smoothly and slightly thick, but it didn't give me too much problems while applying. Dries decently fast as well.

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ELF Haul & Swatches + NOTD ft. NYC Longwear Nail Enamel - Big Money Frost

First off, I just wanted to note how pleased and surprised I have been with ELF lately. I ordered this on Wednesday, and it came in TODAY. TWO DAYS! Amazing! I think my last order came in 3 days, in fact!

This is quite awesome, and I think ELF has come such a long way from when I first purchased from them and shipping took around a month, my order was wrong, and I was disappointed with everything I got. Now, I feel like their products are very much improved, the Studio line is pretty awesome, and I have not had any problems with my orders and shipping time is great! While I do think they could use a little more quality control (see below for example :P), for the most part, I feel like ELF has really stepped their game up!

Anywho, this is what I ordered with the $1.98 shipping promo. So my entire order was less than $22!

Brightening Eyeshadow - Day 2 Night
I love these quads, as every one I've tried so far is very pigmented and smooth!

Brightening Eyeshadow - Brownstone

Luscious Liquid Lipstick - Perfect Pink
This is the third one of these I have, because I really like the formulation; it's smooth and creamy. Perfect Pink is well... really pink! It's more pigmented than Baby Lips and less pigmented than Natural Blush, but it just makes my lips look reddish. Not something I'd wear on its own.

Studio Blush - Tickled Pink, Fuschia Fusion, Gotta Glow
If you've been reading my recent posts, you'll know that I'm currently OBSESSED with blush! I already own Candid Coral and Peachy Keen, and I LOVE them! Of course I had to add 3 more of ELF's Studio blushes to my collection! This set is much more pigmented than the first 2 I got, but they are still ALL gorgeous blushes ♥

I am going to do a full review of my entire ELF Blush collection, with swatches, soon! : )

Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder - Sun Kissed
Figured I'd try this just for the heck of it. LOTS more product than the Natural Radiance Blusher, and WAYYY better packaging! It is really powdery but the color is super nice.

Will be reviewing and swatching these soon!

Studio Contour brush
Soft soft soft. But firm! Have not tried it out yet. Hope I like it!

ELF Nail polish - Mint Cream, Lilac, Desert Haze, Smoky Brown
I was really interested in trying these new colors! I already have 3 ELF Nail polishes and I love them all. The colors are gorgeous, and the polish dries really fast and lasts a week on me without chipping. Definitely worth a dollar!

I currently have Mint Cream on my toes and it is lovely! Very true to color. I was wishing Lilac would be a little lighter, but it is still nice. Desert Haze is also a little darker than I expected, but I've been lemming some taupe-ish polishes so it's okay.

As for Smoky brown... I was hoping it would be a light taupe-brown but it's a lot darker than I expected. Also, it had some weird blackness floating around in the polish when I opened it (oh yeah, it was also in the box, BACKWARDS :P). After shaking the bottle a bit, it dissipated a bit but you can still see blobs of black in the polish. Strange, but it doesn't seem to be altering the color.

Needless to say, I will be updating with a whole slew of ELF reviews in the next few days : )

NOTD

And here's what I've been wearing on my nails lately:
NYC Longwear Nail Enamel - 118A Big Money Frost

The name is definitely fitting. It's a nice, bright, metallic green. I'm not sure if the "Frost" part of the name is supposed to be part of the name, or if it supposed to indicate the finish. Both, maybe? I guess the finish is slightly frosty.

The polish is really sheer but buildable without getting goopy. This is 3 coats.

But what I love about this polish is that it was only 99 cents, and IT DRIES SOOOO FAST. I usually have to wait hours for polish to completely dry, and it's such a pain when I want to get up and go. However, this polish dried in like... 5 minutes! Fully dried, even with 3 coats! Amazing! I have 2 more of these polishes that I haven't tried yet, but I hope they have the same formulation! If so, I definitely will be buying more of these : )

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