The Face Shop Black Label Lipsticks review + swatches

The Face Shop Black Label Lipsticks  더페이스샵 블랙라벨 립스틱

The Face Shop is an extremely popular makeup brand originating in Korea, but they have locations all around the world. Their products are extremely easy to find online.
I own three of their black  label lipsticks in shades 217 retro orange (레트로 오렌지), 10 Fashion Red (패션 레드) and 11 lovely pink (러블리 핑크) . Disclaimer, I think these are being discontinued in Korea but they are still available on ebay and other sites. I am going to stock up just in case.
All of these I ordered off of ebay for around $7 Canadian Link to where I purchased them 


Packaging
 I was worried at first that the shiny gunmetal silver finish on these lipsticks would chip and get scratched easily, but I have had one of these kicking around in my makeup bag for over a month and it looks the same as the day I got it. The finish on these is surprisingly resilient, I am smacking it on the edge of my table and nothing is happening. The over all packaing is sleek and pretty classy looking, which is a tab surprising for a Korea brand as many of them tend to have over the top cute packing that can look a bit tacky. The only possible flaw is that the lid tends to wiggle a little if you shake it, not enough that it could come off too easily but enough to suggest a not completely air tight package.
 4.5/5
Formulation
Definitely the key point to these lipsticks is the formulation. I find them to be quite comparable to Mac's cremesheen lipsticks, but perhaps a tad softer. They go on very smoothly and are quite pigmented, they do tend to smudge a bit if you aren't too careful with them. Not at all drying and just a bit moisturizing. They have a tiny bit of a sweet almost candy-like scent. You can barely notice the scent when you are applying it and I can not sense it at all once its on the lips. Even if you could, it would not be a problem, its a very non offensive scent.
They are not the longest lasting lipsticks in the world, but they do last a decent few hours.
5/5



11 lovely pink (러블리 핑크)
Lovely pink is a soft everyday pink, not a nude but not at all bold.
Very similar to Maybelline's Pink Me Up only a tiny bit pinker.  It has the smallest hint of shimmer running through it which is imperceptible on the lips.

10 Fashion Red (패션 레드)
Fashion Red was extremely hard to photograph true to colour.
Shows up less cherry a little darker in person.
It is a bold,slightly deep true red. Easy to apply and wore off
evenly. The definition of a classic red lipstick. Lights up the whole face and makes teeth look amazing this lipstick does everything a good red should,
 Similar in colour to Mac's Russian red.

217 retro orange (레트로 오렌지) 

Retro Orange is hard colour to explain, It is definitely orange, but with a neutral side to it. The perfect everyday orange if there were such a thing. It isn't bold, but its anything but boring. Really easy to wear with other colours without clashing like a brighter colour would. Doesn't make teeth look yellow either like similar colours tend to. All around one of my favourite lipsticks.... ever.... I love this shade and its usually kicking around in my bag. Just in case the faceshop is discontinuing this line, I am going to order another of this baby.

NYX soft matte lipcream- San Paulo, Istanbul & Amsterdam review + swatches

After hearing a billion and one things about how great the nyx soft matte lip creams were, I finally bit the bullet and picked one up... then picked up two more (Istanbul and Amsterdam) immediately after. The internet was right, these things are amazing. I am not a huge fan of matte lip products but these blew me out of the water. Highly pigmented, gorgeous colours, decent packaging, great wear, NO SHIMMER, a great light scent (somewhere between honey and a vanilla cupcake without being overbearingly sweet) and a soft creamy texture that dries to a lovely matte finish. They all have a pretty generic doe foot applicator, and are pretty easy to apply. That being said you do have to be careful with Amsterdam as is is a red and any mistakes you make are going to show. So cheap. around 8-9$ in drugstores here in Canada, but definitely cheaper everywhere else.

San Paulo is a fairly bright rose/berry colour, that photographs much brighter in that is shows up in real life, it is easily wearable. I feel like this would be a really flattering colour on most skin tones and shades. I actually find it to be a bit whitening for my teeth as it has a slight blue undertone (i think who knows really I am bad at this).
For me after about 3 hours outside this started to feel quite dry on my lips,I just popped the tiniest bit of clear gloss on and it added a little sheen to it and made it more comfortable to wear. If you have any qualms about matte lip products, definitely don't ignore this as you can just put on some gloss or a lip balm to change the finish how ever you please.

pigmentation 4.5/5 longevity 4/5 colour 5/5 packaging 3/5

 Istanbul is a creamy light blue toned pink. Similar is colour to mac's Angel lipstick only a more pigmented, no shimmer and matte. I usually tend to shy away from light pinks like this, but I thought it was worth a shot and boy was I right. Just enough colour to not erase my lips, but still light enough to be nudey pink. I love this paired with Angel on top to give it a little gloss and to give a good base for Angel as it tends to wear quite quickly. If you are looking to get into baby pinks or safe nude pinks, this is definitely one to check out.

Alone

With Angel on top

 Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a bold, bright, cherry red. Depending on your skin tone and how you apply it this can look a little berry toned. Blue based and an instant teeth whitener. Just a tad darker than Mac's Ruby Woo.You have to be a little more careful with application compared to the two above, but it is relatively easy to work with. With a little red lip liner you can create the perfect red lip. Richly pigmented and super flattering this is really great if you want to try wearing red lips but are worried about the tedious application. This does dry to a matte finish but takes much longer than the other two.
(this application was a tad messy sorry about that)

nyx amsterdam on top, mac's ruby woo on the bottom.


pigmentation 4/5 longevity 3/5  colour 5/5 packaging 3/5

Introduction!

Hello everyone! I figured it was time to bite the bullet and start a beauty blog. My name is Amber, I am 19 and from Canada. I'm a Psychology  major and a sales associate at Forever21. Most importantly here, I love makeup and anything beauty related. My favourite beauty companies are Mac, the Body shop and a bunch of Korean brands (something I will post up a big overview/haul/where to buy /everything on when stuff i have ordered has come in).Oh and I should probably mention, I am about an nc15 in the winter and a nc20 in the summer, I have blue/green(ish) eyes and slightly acne prone skin that isn't particularly oily or dry.
So here is hoping I don't completely neglect this blog and leave it at this!
 -Amber
“The most beautiful makeup of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.”
Yves Saint-Laurent