Sephora 2012 Birthday Gift: Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment Duo

For those who are members of Sephora's Beauty Insider, a free points card loyalty program, you can pick up a free gift (no purchase required) during the month of your birthday. The gift is the same each year but does differ from year to year. The birthday gift is not full sized but it's still quite generous.

Last year's was a bottle of Philosophy's 3-in-1 Shampoo, Shower Gel, and Bubble Bath in Vanilla Birthday Cake and there was 6oz worth! This year was even better. Although smaller in size, this was just what I was hoping for. Fresh's Sugar Lip Treatments in original and rose.

I've always wanted to try Fresh's Sugar Lip Treatments but at $26CDN ($29.38 after tax!) I just cannot justify it. So this was a really nice treat, to try something that I wouldn't buy but at the same time really want.

The Sugar line comes in a handful of flavours/colors now:

Original - clear
Coral - dark peach
Honey - warm nude
Passion - crimson red
Plum - berry rose

All are sheer and lightly scented. The formula includes real sugar and a blend of oils including jojoba, grapeseed, avocado, blackcurrant, and meadowfoam. The formula is supposed to be ultra moisturizing, nourishing, and smoothing.

I've been using both lip treatments on and off during the last few days and I'm really enjoying them. Both have a lightly sweet scent (of course, the rose one with a hint of that as well) and go on buttery smooth and weightless. There is no grittiness from the sugar.

I did find them to be quite moisturizing but not particularly long lasting (approx 2 hours without eating/drinking) which is usual for lip balms that are more buttery than waxy like say, Burt's Bees.

That being said, I prefer waxier lipbalms as I find that they "coat" the lips and last longer during the winter months when I really need that extra layer of protection against the elements. If I were to re-buy the full size, I would instead use this layered under more drying lipsticks.

But instead I'll spend my $26 elsewhere and just enjoy using the rest of these mini ones as is...because thankfully, we aren't battling old man winter yet!

REVIEW: Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter (Part 2)

This will be a quick one since I've already reviewed the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters (click here for review).

Just to recap, Revlon describes the Lip Butters as:

- Buttery balm with beautiful shiny color to give you baby soft, healthy glowing lips 94% of women felt lips were softer, smoother, and instantly hydrated.
- Hydrating mango, shea and coconut butter formula boosts lip moisture by 156%
- Pampering gel formula provides super charged hydration and glides on lips buttery smooth
- Sheer to medium color

A month or so ago Shopper's Drug Mart had a crazy deal on these. It was only $3.99 when the regular price is $9.50. Since the Lip Butters are pretty amazing, I had to add to my collection.

I tried to pick shades that are still wearable for me (the others were either too brown or too pale) but different from what I already had. The end result was Tutti Frutti, Berry Smoothie, and Sugar Plum.







Swatches from left to right:

Sugar Plum is a beautiful mauve. This may look a little purple to some (my photo is a little more red than IRL) but once on the lips, it's very natural. The pink and brown dominate so you are safe from purple alien lips. And its pink enough not to wash you out with the brown but brown enough to be muted enough to be a MLBB for some and the perfect color for more
conservative settings.

Berry Smoothie is another super wearable color. This one is less purple-berry and more rosy pink although it is on the cooler side of things. It's a color that's very versatile and goes great with a silvers and golds if you're looking for eyeshadow or lip gloss ideas.

Tutti Frutti is a beautiful coral. It looks quite bold in the tube and after a few coats on the lips, it can be. But those for whom this is just a little too bold or orange? A lighter application with a clear or shimmery gloss overtop would look beautiful for the summer.

I'll be keeping an eye out for Cherry Tart and after that? I think I'm done with the current line. I would absolutely love it if they came out with more finishes. Currently the line is more creams with a few shimmers but I'd like to see pearly and glittery ones, too. Perhaps not as wearable but I think it would add variety to the line up.

How many do you have? Which colors are your favourites?

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters are available wherever Revlon is sold - mainly drugstores and discount department stores. It retails for approx. $7.50US/9.50CDN.

REVIEW: Fusion Conditioning Lip Balm in Bitten

I've been slowly adding Fusion Beauty products to my collection over the past few months.

Fusion Beauty first came on the market in 2005 with their lip plumping gloss. Remember DupWop's Lip Venom? It was a little after that but definitely still during that lip plumping craze. I've never been interested in their products because while the packaging looked all sleek and modern, plumping this and that just didn't interest me. It seemed too gimmicky.

But recently I've noticed that they offer some really nice non-Angelina products. I now have a primer, tinted moisturizer, two lipglosses, and this lip balm. Reviews for the others will be coming shortly.

The Balm was purchased from Winners of all places for a mere $5! That's 80% off the Canadian retail price! Who can pass that up especially when the packaging claims "conditioning" and "balm" and the sharp wind is howling on the other side of the store windows?









I absolutely LOVE the packaging of this balm and wish more brands would do this! You can't tell from here but the cap actually screws onto the base so you'll never have an accident and open your purse to find red goop smeared all over.





The key ingredients in the Conditioning Balm are*:

Saliporene: Increases the water content of the skin by 6000% in four weeks. Increases/reinforces NMF (Natural Moisturizing Factor) in the skin. Derived from the Salicornia plant, a coastal plant growing in a salt environment

Amplifat™: concentrate (derived from a perennial sea fern) works with the skin’s own triggers to help naturally increase two key proteins that occur naturally in the skin (ADFP and FABP5). These two key proteins help induce diffusion and storage of fatty acids

Marine Filling Spheres: Help plump up the appearance of lips.

It is paraben-free, not tested on animals, and contains SPF 15.

I didn't experience any of the "plumping" qualities they claim but am not surprised. How can moisture be restored by 6000%?! What would that even look like? My head would probably be a giant water bucket if that were the case.

The moisturizing quality of the balm is really what I bought this for. It's lightweight and applies like butter without any stickiness. Yet, it provides hours of intense moisture and just enough shine for a dewy finish. It's really the perfect formula for a tinted lip balm.

For clear balms used as a base under lip color, I like a dryer solid formula that provides no shine but for a tinted balm that I would wear alone, the slight shine is welcomed.

Would I purchase this again? YES!!! But....

Only at regular price. I cringe at the thought of paying over $25 after tax on a lip balm. Even thought it's a great product, I would only repurchase this on sale. $5 is a steal (heck, regular lip balms from the drugstore cost the same!) and hopefully I can pick up a couple more at Winners but I'd probably pass it up at $10 or more just on principal alone.

The Lip Fusion Balm - Lip Conditioning Stick comes in 5 shades. It is 4.7g/0.17oz and retails for $22US/$24CDN, available at Shopper's Drug Mart, Murale, and Spaboutique.ca in Canada.

*description courtesy of www.spaboutique.ca

REVIEW: Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter

I first heard about the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters from Danielle's blog, Bloomin' Beauty.

If you couldn't guess from my various Colorburst reviews, this is one of my favourite drugstore lines. The Colorburst lipstick and lipglosses come in beautiful shades with great pigmentation and a smooth application. But these really caught my eye because it seemed like the best of both worlds.

I was sorely disappointed to learn that they were not available in Canada, at least at the time of Danielle's review. However, this past Friday I encountered them at Rexall Pharmaplus! I was ecstatic, especially because Rexall was having a Buy One Get One Free sale on all lip colors, including new arrivals!

Like a maniac, I hovered over the display for a good long while and finally emerged from behind my hair triumphantly holding 6 tubes of glorious new lippies!

Here's the official description from Revlon:

- Buttery balm with beautiful shiny color to give you baby soft, healthy glowing lips 94% of women felt lips were softer, smoother, and instantly hydrated.
- Hydrating mango, shea and coconut butter formula boosts lip moisture by 156%
- Pampering gel formula provides super charged hydration and glides on lips buttery smooth
- Sheer to medium color





The packaging of these lip butters are just beautiful! The quilting matches the existing Colorburst lipsticks and lipglosses but the translucent plastic appropriately reflects the sheerer lipbalm-like formula and pigmentation.

The clear top was very helpful when picking out the colors. There were only 4 tester colors and I only liked one, so begin able to see the actual color from the top of the tube was very helpful. I was even more delighted to discover that the lip butter when applied is true to the color it its solid state. This isn't always the case!



I picked Red Velvet, Candy Apple, Raspberry Pie, Lollipop, Pink Truffle, and Peach Parfait

Red Velvet is a cream darker red with a warmer tone.

Candy Apple is a cream bright red with a slight orange tinge.

Raspberry Pie is a cream reddish-pink berry tone.

Lolliop is a slightly shimmery cool-toned fuschia with barely noticeable specks of silver.

Pink Truffle is cream brownish pink rose shade. For those with medium-colored lips, this is definitely a your-lips-but-better shade.

Peach Parfait is a shimmer peach with noticeable but micro specks of gold. This is the lightest of the 6 shades I picked and also the sheerest. It is most similar to a tinted lip balm.









These lipsticks are very similar to releases from premium brands like the Dior Addict High Shine Lipsticks, Chanel Rouge Coco Shine, and Yves Saint Laurent Volupté Sheer Candy in both packaging and formula.

All are sheer-to-medium pigmentation, come in light and demure to bright and fun shades, and are a moisturizing formula similar to lipstick with the coverage of a light swipe of lipstick.




From left to right: Red Velvet, Candy Apple, Raspberry Pie, Lollipop, Pink Truffle, and Peach Parfait

I AM IN LOVE WITH THESE! At the risk of becoming a hoarder, I am considering going back for a handful of other shades.

My lips are incredibly dry in the winter and I always have a lip balm by my side even if I have a lipstick. These truly are like lip balm and lip stick mashed together. My lips are medium-pigmented so the darker shades stay pretty intense and true to their actual colors, like lipstick. At the same time, they are moisturizing and truly do have a buttery-soft application, like lipbalm.

The above swatches were taken in natural lighting but are a tinge more yellow than in reality, due to my skin tone.

If you are a A) lipbalm or lipgloss wearer B) want to try more dramatic shades but are afraid C) are too lazy to carry a lipbalm and lipstick or D) all of the above and then some.....HUNT THESE BABIES DOWN PRONTO!!

You will not regret it!

These were officially set to release in October 2011 in the US and January 2012 in Canada but there have been a number of sightings reported at Rexall and Shopper's Drug Mart locations across the country.

They retail approximately $9.50 and are now available at selected drugstores. I imagine they will be more widely available next month.

PS: If you didn't bother to read my entire review - the Cole's Notes version is...BUY THEM. YOU'LL LIKE THEM.