Marc Jacobs Beauty
Lust for Lacquer Lip Vinyl
8/19/13

It's finally arrived! The highly-anticipated Marc Jacobs Beauty line launched exclusively at Sephora and select Marc Jacobs stores on Friday, August 9th. Marc's Instagram account showed him proudly holding his Sephora bag...followed by lots of photos of his brand new Marc Jacobs Beauty store on Bleecker Street (his accessories space). We all saw that coming, as Sephora has a lower-end stigma, and Marc's ego is as big as his bank account. The good news is that the products are very reasonably priced, and just plain fun. I think most beauty bloggers and beauty enthusiasts anticipated a potential letdown of cheap packaging and mediocre product. Well ladies, color me impressed (no pun intended). 

I have to say that I'm wildly impressed with the packaging. It's substantial in both design and weight. The sleek rounded corners, clean silver lines and quality glass would not look and feel out of place at stores like Nordstrom and Saks. Ok. I'll dive deeper into the other goodies in upcoming posts, so onto Lust For Lacquer Lip Vinyl!

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I decided to start with Boom Boom (above left) and Studded Kiss (above right). Boom is a full coverage sexy hot pink, and it's quickly becoming a fashionista favorite. This is one of the six full offerings. It only takes a couple of coats to achieve full coverage, and pow! Foxy lady! Immediately after touching my lips, I could feel the awesome tingle. Lip plumping in effect! The staying power is fair. I mean, we're talking about lip gloss. It will survive a cocktail or a cup of coffee, but you'll need to reapply after a meal. Who cares?! It also layers incredibly well on lipsticks and lip pencils like NARS Schiap. As if that weren't sexy enough, adding this shiny little number is perfection. Boom Boom exudes confidence, so rock it out, girl! I can't wait to scoop up No Regrets and Truth or Dare. 

Next up was Studded Kiss, which is one of the six sheer offerings. Noticing a trend here? Marc took inspiration from his favorite songs for the lip glosses. Love that. I didn't love the sheer as much because it's, well, subtle. It felt great on and had the same lip-plumping tingle and yummy scent, but it just didn't wow me. Another thing I noticed was that it actually began to feather on my lower lip which was a first. I'm obsessive about both lip exfoliation and hydration, and didn't experience any feathering with the full coverage gloss. If you enlarge the photo, you can see the side-by-side comparison and where the sheer gloss began to feather. Feathering aside, they're great for ladies working in a more formal office. 

Both the full and the sheer Lip Vinyls are offered in six luscious shades, ranging from virginal to vixen. Oh, did I mention that the glosses are champagne-grape infused? As if I needed another reason to love them. They're practically calling my name! The packaging for this product is slim yet sophisticated and modern, with an easy to use pillowed applicator that's already patented. 

My verdict? An instant hit. While I think I'll be sticking to the full Lip Vinyls, I can't imagine a better start to Marc's foray into beauty. At this price point and with products this great, I can't wait to see what's next. Stay tuned for more Marc Jacobs Beauty posts. Up next? Enamored Hi-Shine Nail Lacquer! NB: Marc is a fellow Parsons alum. Color me proud- literally. 

Marc Jacobs Lust For Lacquer Lip Vinyls in Full & Sheer are $28 each. 

Available exclusively at Sephora, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Marc Jacobs online, & select Marc Jacobs stores. 

Sisley
Nutritive Lip Balm
8/16/13

I love my lip balms, and this particular balm had been on my wish list for quite some time. Its hefty price tag, much like all Sisley skincare, kept me from procuring it sooner. I lived on Dr. Hauschka Lip Balm for years, and was quite happy with it. Then I made a typical Wendy move, and ordered up. La Mer was first on my luxury lip balm list, and it was love at first minty shine. Then I moved up to By Terry Baume de Rose, and knew I'd found the one. While I've been more than happy with Baume de Rose, curiosity got the best of me and I upped the ante and snagged the Sisley Nutritive Lip Balm. 

While I love many luxury brands, I don't subscribe to the notion that the most expensive products are the best. I like what works, and what feels and smells good, regardless of price. That said, I'm somewhat obsessive about lip and eye products, because they show signs of aging in frightening ways. Ways that make me test these products for preventative measures. A couple of ill-maintained faces were like my beauty boogeymen, assuring I continue taking excellent care of my skin. 

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As you're aware if you've read my recent posts, I'm in need of extra nourishing, healing, and soothing products for my currently inflamed and irritated skin. This happens to include my lips. Sadly, my beloved Baume de Rose which usually works wonders hasn't been healing enough for my chapped and parched lips. La Mer wasn't cutting it either. Both of those balms are generally incredibly soothing and effective lip treatments. They're just not true "balms" in terms of healing and consistency, which I desperately need. 

I decided to breakdown and open the jar of Sisley Nutritive Lip Balm I'd purchased weeks ago and hadn't touched. I was surprised that it was in a plastic jar at this price point, unlike By Terry which is $12 cheaper and in a pretty, frosted glass jar. It does come with a spoon to keep the jar germ-free which I like, but even that isn't high-quality plastic. Poor packaging aside, this is the most "balm-like" in texture. Its color is naturally yellow from its ingredients, giving it a medicinal look. Hydration is provided by hazelnut, plum kernel, and sunflower oils, in addition to shea butter and kokum butter. The consistency is smooth, but takes a minute to melt onto lips. It's not as hard as I expected, but it's also not jar to lip ready. It needs time to soften once it touches the lips. After a couple of minutes, it melts right in. There's no noticeable scent so that helps the sensitivity factor. It's incredibly hydrating if not a little boring, but it gets the job done. 

My verdict? I'm very thankful for this product while I'm tackling highly irritated, inflamed skin. But I'll be going right back to By Terry Baume de Rose and La Mer as soon as my skin is back to normal. This is only worth the money if you truly need healing from things like a really bad sunburn, very chapped and cracked lips, radiation exposure, and surface burns. A total waste of money for regular daily use. 

Sisley Nutritive Lip Balm is $72 for a .03 oz jar. 

Available at Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Neiman Marcus. 

Lip Scrubs
6/12/13

Until about a year ago, I thought I was taking pretty darn good care of my lips. I always make sure that I have SPF on my lips when outdoors, and liberally apply good lip balm at night, well outside my lip line. I've gradually increased the quality of my balms from Dr. Hauschka, to La Mer, to Baume de Rose (which already contains SPF). I began to notice products at stores like Nordstrom specifically designed to exfoliate and "treat" the lips. To be honest, I chalked it up as yet another marketing ploy designed to empty my wallet. But after more thought and product research, it made sense. I spend considerable time exfoliating and treating my face and body, so why not my lips? Lips certainly show signs of aging in various, unflattering ways. Clearly I needed to get on this. 

I checked out products online at every price point, from Macy's to Bergdorfs. Prices ranged from reasonable to ridiculous. If you're like me and in your 30's or early 40's and don't have visible signs of aging, the only products you need bother with are lip scrub and decent lip balm. There aren't a lot of products dedicated to lip exfoliation which made finding the best product rather simple. First there's Bliss, which I immediately passed up because I didn't like the texture. It's creamy and has walnut bits in it which I suppose are meant to exfoliate? Too weird. 

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Then I saw that Fresh makes a Lip Polish and got all excited. I really like the brand, and use several fresh products. Like all of their best-selling exfoliating products, the Lip Polish utilizes brown sugar crystals to buff away dead skin, and a combination of Shea butter and jojoba oil to provide moisture to freshly polished lips. I use this 3-4 nights a week as the first step in my nightly regimen. I put a tiny amount of the dense yet gentle polish on my index finger and gently rub all over my lips and the surrounding area, particularly above my upper lip. Then I simply wipe the polish off with a warm washcloth. After I complete my nightly skincare regimen, I immediately apply my lip balm to take advantage of my freshly exfoliated lips. I really dig this product, and imagine the jar will last about six months. 

I also tried Sara Happ's 'The Lip Scrub,' which is available in an odd number of flavors and colors. The jar itself is twice the size and a mere $1.50 more than the Fresh product. I purchased the Blood Orange "flavor" and tried it out. I instantly disliked it. The texture is super chunky and application is messy. Even the plastic jar and crafty label feels cheap. Chunks of the lip scrub flew on my chin, in the sink, and I seemed to need about 5x as much product to get some actually ON my lips for more than a second. The instructions also indicate using a generous amount. I'd guess this jar would last 3 months at best. Oh, and I understand the flavors now, because it's seemingly impossible to use this product without much of it ending up in your mouth. The instructions also mention wiping away with a tissue. I used a soaked washcloth and splashed water on my face. The container above on the left is after a mere four uses. I've used the Fresh Lip Polish on the bottom right a couple dozen times. Fail. 

There are quite a few other products targeted at women who already have more advanced signs of aging and are past the preventative stage. They can get quite pricey, like ReVive Perioral Renewal Cream Targeted Line Repair for $115. Others went up to $150 (Sisley). These treatments are intended to help women with set-in vertical wrinkles and aging skin around the immediate lip area. May we never reach this point, ladies. Prevention!

My verdict? Fresh Sugar Lip Polish is a winner. It's exfoliating, moisturizing, and prevents those scary mouth and lip wrinkles. It's easy and it works. I should also mention that my lipsticks have never looked better. Smooth lips and no bleeding. Sweet!

- Fresh Sugar Lip Polish is $22.50 for a 0.6 oz. jar
- Sara Happ 'The Lip Scrub' is $24 for a 1 oz. jar

Both available at Nordstrom.