Review and Swatches: Palladio--Tinted Lip Balm in Sangria and Matte Blush in Bayberry

As much as I love the look of matte lips or opaque cream lipsticks, and shimmering blush that looks so lovely in print ads, these textures and finishes just don't work for me.  I have oily skin and small, lined lips; any extra shimmer on my face makes me look even oilier, and high pigmentation on my lips just emphasizes the lines and makes my lips look smaller.  

It is getting easier to find matte blush formulas at the drugstore these days, and Palladio's matte blush is a welcome addition.  Tinted lip balms became "the bomb" a few years back and that has also been my good fortune.  Sheer formulas with a bit of shine enhance my lips, are comfortable to wear, and pretty idiot proof: just slick on and go, refresh as needed.

I am providing a swatch of the Tinted Lip Balm in Sangria (about $4 for a standard-sized twist up tube of balm, 4g/0.14oz) and Matte Blush in Bayberry (about $7 for 6g/0.21oz).  The products are swatched on a white note card to prevent any interference from skin color/tone.

Sangria, left; Bayberry, right

Tinted Lip Balm

Color and Finish: Sangria is one of the darkest colors in the Palladio range.  I bought this when Ulta used to have testers in the Palladio display (sadly now gone) and as I sampled the colors, Sangria was also one of the most pigmented as well.  I have rather pigmented lips and the lighter, sheerer colors simply disappeared.  Sangria seems an adequate name for this shade:  It is what I would call a neutral plummy red-wine color.  I would guess that just about anyone could wear this shade depending on how deeply the color was applied or built up.  A sheer wash makes me think of Clinique's Black Honey (the cult status of which I simply do not understand) but an IMPROVED version thereof.  The balm has a slightly thick texture which I like, because the wear is not as ephemeral as thinner balms.  There is the slightest hint of a flowery scent which I just can't place, but it is not overwhelming and it wears off quickly.  The balm has a subtle pearly finish which adds some shine and dimension to the color that is quite pretty.  It is not a long-wear balm, nor does it claim to be.  You'll need to reapply after eating or drinking.  This would be close to the perfect lip balm if it had adequate sun protection. But perhaps that is asking too much.  This is very similar to the now sadly discontinued Ulta Tinted Lip Balm in Raisin, which I also love.  The new Ulta balm is in a thinner, twist up tube with less-saturated colors.  Boo hiss.  Sometimes new and improved is not improved...

Quibbles:  The one thing that keeps this balm from Holy Grail status is how soft the formula is.  You must twist up the product the tiniest bit about the top rim to apply; if you go too far and use too much pressure, the product can smash down.  I suspect this is not a balm you want to stash in the glove compartment in your car in the summer for fear of it melting all over the place.  The softness also makes the product apply a bit unevenly, so I need to press and rub my lips together a bit to distribute it evenly, but that is not a deal-breaker.  As a "natural" brand, I suspect Palladio has avoided some of the fillers and hardeners that are used in lip products.  

Ingredients:  No ingredient listing is available at the Palladio website.  Copy for the product reads, "A unique emollient that contains natural UV filters such as Caprylic/Capric Trigyceride (a liquid derived from Coconut Oil), this exclusive formula protects against the sun while deeply penetrating the lips’ surface with intense conditioning."  However, with no listing of approved sunscreen agents such as titanium dioxide or avobenzone (and no SPF listed on the package), you must rely on another product to provide protection from the sun.

Matte Blush

Color and Finish:  Palladio offers 4 shades of this blush, two cooler pinks, and two warmer coral/peach tones.  Bayberry caught my eye immediately:  It's a gorgeous medium plummy pink with the slightest undertone of purple.  It comes in a plain but sleek and thin black compact with a clear cover.  It's a bit larger in diameter than blushes such as Colourpop and NYX and sort of is the odd-one-out in my simple storage area.   The powder is a little bit dusty so you only have to tap your brush in with the lightest pressure to pick up adequate product.  It is highly pigmented, so you need just the tiniest bit.  Go lightly and add more if need be!  It needs a bit of blending out on the cheeks to soften the bold color so perhaps I cannot say that this blush is effortless.  But oh!  It is so pretty!  As written above, a truly matte blush is hard to find on the lower end of cosmetics.  To my knowledge, only Jordana and NXY have accessible matte blushes at places like Ulta and K-Mart.  I would love to see Palladio add a few more colors to their matte blush line.  Matte seems here to stay in formulas for eyes, lips, cheek and face so there is clearly a market for such.  If you can find a shade you like and that works for you in the Palladio line, this is a true treasure indeed.

Quibbles:  None, except for the limited color range.

Ingredients:  Mica,Talc,Kaolin,Zinc Oxide,Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Isopropyl Myristate, Mineral Oil, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Microcrystalline Wax, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Mineral Oil (And) Prunus Armeniaca  (Apricot) Kernel Oil (And) Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Butylene  Glycol (And) Aqua (And) Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Butylene  Glycol (And) Aqua (And) Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice. May Contain: Iron Oxides CI  77491, Iron Oxides 77492, Iron Oxides 77499, Yellow 6 Lake, Red 7 Lake, Red 28 Lake, Red 30 Lake

Special Notes:  I did not find Palladio on the PETA listing for cruelty-free companies and did a little Internet research.  I will add a link below to another web-log that contacted the company for their animal testing status.  This company is also listed as not testing on animals at Paula Begoun's Beautypedia.

http://www.thevegantaff.com/2015/01/palladio-beauty-animal-testing-policy.html

Review and Swatches: Becca Beach Tint in Raspberry

I love the idea of a colorful, sheer tint that will allow one to look fresh, dewy, and youthful.  Particularly when one is of an age... As I get older, I find that cosmetic textures and formulations that once worked for me no longer do, and I have been exploring new options that, I hope, work with these changes.  My work-life has also dictated what sort of cosmetics and skin care I need.  Formerly I was a pre-school and lower elementary teacher; I spent time regularly outside during playground duty in all types of weather and developed an affection for long-wear products such as Almay's TLC Foundation and Revlon's now discontinued Colorstay Lite.  Now, I'm in school again to become a Veterinary Technician and continue to need fairly tenacious cosmetic products to stand up to oftentimes hard physical labor.  Thus, I thought the Becca Beach Tint would be a good option to try. I have created a color swatch on a white note card to show the cool, sheer hue of the product without any interference from skin tone:

Copy for this tint states:  "An award-winning, editors' favorite and BECCA bestseller, this blendable crème stain tints lips and cheeks with a natural, believable wash of water-resistant colour."  I would say that this description is accurate.  The product comes in a tiny tube--0.24 ounces for $25--and dispenses as a slightly runny fluid.  I have noticed that if stored for a while unused, particularly in hot weather, the product can tend to separate and it helps to shake and squeeze the little tube before use. You only need a tiny speck to create a wash of color, so $25 seems quite reasonable for the amount of product.  There are currently 8 shades available; I chose Raspberry because that shade had the most appeal to me, and also seemed the best-suited to my skin tone.

Color and Texture:  The Raspberry shade is a lovely clear shade of... raspberry!  It is a cool, medium pink with a hint of plummy purple.  I love it when the name of a shade matches what I imagine the shade to be. Sometimes shade names seem to have no basis in reality, whether they seem to be literally descriptive (for example, "mocha" turns out to be a bizarre peach color) or purely fanciful (what shade, exactly IS "Concubine"...).  The tint has a creamy, serum-y texture that blends quite easily onto the skin and dries to a slightly moist finish. I find that a light dusting of powder over this product does not cling to the tint or become obvious, but I do need a very light hand in application.  I have also used this on my lips with some success.  I have fairly pigmented, mauve-toned lips, and the tint--applied with the pad of my pinky finger--supplies a faint wash of color that looks very natural:  My lips, but enhanced.  The product does leave a slightly moist, slightly sticky/tacky feel to the lips.  It is nothing distracting or unpleasant, it is just slightly unusual compared to lip balm or gloss.

Quibbles:  This tint has a strong berry scent  which endures for a while.  I prefer unscented products in my skin care and cosmetic choices.  Some people seem to love the various scents companies come up with for their products but for the most part, I find them distracting and I suspect if I ever have a reaction to a cosmetic formula, it is the fragrance component.  Still, the excellent color, finish and wear of this product allow me to overlook the strong scent.

Ingredients:  Cyclopentasiloxane, Isododecane, Oxidized Polyethylene, Cera Alba/Beeswax/Cire d’abeille, Isostearyl Neopentanoate, Polyethylene, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Nylon-12, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, SD Alcohol 40, Tocopheryl Acetate, Magnesium Stearate, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Benzoate, Linalool, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Parfum (Fragrance), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Carmine (CI 75470), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090). May contain carmine as a color additive.

Special Notes:  PETA lists this brand as not testing on animals.  The Beach Tint is not a vegan formula, however, if that is an issue, as it contains carmine and beeswax for example.  Ulta and Sephora both appear to carry the full range of colors for this tint, so it is easily tested and accessible to interested consumers.

Review and Swatches: Mehron L.I.P. Color Cream in Fiesta

I decided to place an order at Camera Ready Cosmetics for the L.I.P. Color Cream in the shade, Fiesta, after some Internet research.  I found very few swatches and descriptions of the color and formula and ended up doing pretty much a blind buy.  I will say that I was very impressed with the color and formula of the lip product overall; still, the matte texture of the product did not work for me, and the color was a bit too bold for me to wear comfortably.  The very things that made this product a "miss" may very well be things another person loves; cosmetics are very subjective.  For those who love a bold lip and can pull off the matte lip trend, this is a must-have item.

I decided to swatch the color onto a blank white note card and the photo is taken in natural sun light.  I do like to look at color swatches on real skin, but in some cases, the tone of the skin can affect the appearance of the shade.  A white background may help to highlight the warmth or coolness of a color which might not be apparent on skin.  I have also decided not to add product pictures to the posting.  Rather, I will add a link to the Mehron site so anyone interested in further exploration can do so.  I will add the ingredient list wherever possible; I find that as I age, my skin becomes more sensitive and I cannot tolerate highly-perfumed formulas and I know I have some real sensitivities, particularly to bismuth oxychloride.  So on with the review and swatch.

Color and Finish:  In  one review the Fiesta color was described as a dusty rose.  Nope.  Not dusty at all; dusty suggests muted and this is NOT a muted color.  This  is a bright, medium raspberry color with no shimmer.  It is a blue- based, cool color.  The product is a cream formula in a small plastic compact.  The cream feels initially thin and a little slippery if you use your finger to apply it to the lips.  The cream offers full coverage with one thin layer, and sets to a matte finish.  While it is not transfer-resistant (and this is not a product claim), it wears very well for several hours and leaves a stain.  I find that it was more comfortable to refresh the color with some clear lip balm rather than to reapply the product.  This is just a personal preference.  Adding balm sheered out the color so it wasn't so KaPOW on my lips, which I preferred.  Sadly, the matte finish just doesn't work well with my small, lined lips.  You can see how matte the formula is on the note card and how saturated the color is. You can also use a tiny speck of this on your cheeks as a cream blush for a gorgeous flush of color.

Ingredients:
Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, Isopropyl Myristate, Ozokerite, Mineral Oil/Paraffinum Liquidum/Huile Minérale, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Ethylhexyl Hydroxystearate, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Kaolin, Silica, BHA. May Contain [+/- CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77489, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 15850 (Red 7 Lake), CI 15850 (Red 6 Lake), CI 73360 (Red 30 Lake), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 45370 (Orange 5 Lake), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake)].

Special Notes:  This brand is listed by PETA as being one that does NOT test on animals.   Prices seem very reasonable for the color intensity and size or volume of the products sold.

Where to Buy:

http://www.mehron.com/

Does the world need another blogger?

Probably not, but it is high time to drag myself into the 21st century.  I have conceived of a blog with very limited scope and content. Short, and one hopes, sweet, and to the point. I want to write little snippets about makeup and skin care, mingling the enchantment of lotions, potions, pretty colors and textures, with no-nonsense evaluations of formulation and efficacy.  The blogging world is full of hauls, unboxings (when did that become a word exactly?), lemmings (ditto), and stashes.  Almost never discussed is whether or not a product is well-formulated.  Minty-freshness is OK in aromatherapy, but it isn't good skin care.  "But it's NATURAL," people will clamor.  Yes, but mercury, lead, crocodile dung and black nightshade are all natural, too.  Do you want those in your beauty balm or latest lippy?  I thought not.

I also write from a position of change and a commitment to more mindful living.  After 20+ years as a teacher, I quit my job and went back to school to become a veterinary technician.  I have a semester and an internship left, and then I shall be out job-hunting.  What I have learned about production animals (cows, goats, sheep etc.) has convinced me that the way we "produce" animal-derived foods is cruel and unsustainable.  In fact, the way we farm most foods these days is unsustainable.  Please see The Omnivore's Dilemma for a discussion of what and how we eat.  As I work up a format for my entries, I will be posting information on food, books of interest, and links to raise awareness, educate, and inspire.

It is entertaining and instructive to browse the blogging world out there, when I am interested in finding out more about a yarn, a craft pattern, a shade of lipstick, or if it's safe to bring in my potted sage for the winter with 3 cats in the house.   It is wonderful when I find just that bit of information I was searching for!  And the information is comprehensible, clear, easy to understand, and the accompanying pictures are in focus and well-lighted!  I will eventually add links to those bloggers whom I admire for their concision, clarity, uniqueness and compassion.  

As for this first post--off you go now, out into the world...