@bufferingbetty
Testing form over function
An IRL Makeup Test means taking beauty products, makeup trends, routines, etc. off of social media and bringing it into your real life.
Related: WTF is Happening on Instagram
Ya'll I'm a Virgo and practicality is the name of the game. There are a few beauty products on the market that seem like great ideas but lack all form of function -like loose powders of any type. I’m sorry, but you know having to hold your breath during application so it does not blow all over your vanity and clothes while praying you don't drop the jar causes stress-induced gray hair. Just press the powder.
The one type of product that seems totally non-functional to me is a lip palette. Of course, lip palettes are perfect for traveling makeup artists but what about for a traveling Danyelle? In using a lip palette, am I expected to concoct a color and then travel with the whole palette in my bag all day while trying to remember which 4 colors and their respective ratios I mixed to then blend together all over again so I can re-apply the color after devouring brunch. AND PACK A BRUSH TO APPLY IT. Nah. It just seems ridiculous. Sure, I could just wear one color but who does that.
My test subject is the BH Cosmetics’ lipstick palette, Nude Lips To Go, which, incidentally, is exactly what I am seeking to know: will this palette actually be ‘to go.’ The palette includes 6 shades of a rosey, plummy, and peachy tones of lipsticks that could work as a nude for a wide range of skin tones. There is a creme finish to these pigmented panned lipsticks. The shades don’t have a ton of longevity but wear down to a stunning stain on the lips. It’s actually my favorite thing about these colors.
The palette comes with lip brush that sits right inside the palette to get you out the door. Or so it wanted to be. The brush is tragic. Brushes that are included in a palette have a reputation for being of low quality and probably just a way to increase the price tag of a product. In the case of the BH Cosmetics Nude Lips To Go palette, it is a pretty spot on summation. All it did was leave my lipstick patchy and streaky. It isn’t the formula of the lipstick or my amateur application because when I used my lip brush, which also happens to be from BH Cosmetics, the lipstick went on like butter. Oh and the best part - it left little hairs coated in lipstick standing in spikes all over my lips. It was gross
I chose to wear the darkest shade in the palette. It isn’t nude on me but I just LOVED the color. Look at me feeling myself in this blurry selfie putting my dark circles on display asking for a nap. Yes, girl!
The lip palette is small. It fit in my makeup bag with no problem. It’s takes up no more space than a compact mirror. Since this product is ‘to go,’ I think that it should have come with a mirror. I would have preferred a mirror than the hot mess of a brush it came with. The packaging doesn’t close very tightly so I kept my fingers crossed that It wouldn’t pop open and make a mess of my bag. It didn’t!
It took the palette with me to a self love brunch where we had some of our merch for sale!
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This is a picture of how the lipstick looked after about 3hrs and a mimosa. It rubbed off on the center of my lips so I reapplied the lipstick.
The little gold lip brush is not the lip brush that came with this palette but I was not going to use the one that did ever again. After the first time I reapplied the lipstick, I noticed how messy this whole experience was gong to be. Even when I cleaned off the excess product from the brush before putting it back in the palette, there was still just smears of lipstick everywhere.
After brunch, it was time to reapply again. Shout out to me for yet another blurry selfie featuring a dirty mirror. I have way more confidence using a lip brush when I’m in the controlled environment of my vanity with my magnified, lighted mirror than I do in a single stall, poorly lit bathroom. I really didn’t like how messy the palette was getting. I was the only one using it but the smears of lipstick and the sticky brush just made me think of all the bacteria that could be collecting in the pans. I found myself wishing that this lipstick was just in a tube.
I cleaned most of the lipstick off with a tissue but it if you’ve ever gotten lipstick on anything, you know how lipstick just clings to everything it touches.
I am just an average biscuit who loves makeup. I’ve taken the palette out a few times after this event to see if I needed to get past the ease of just retouching lipstick from a tube. But I didn’t. Each time I had this palette out in the real world with me, all I wanted was the lipstick to come in a tube and call it a day. It is just too messy.
