First I put in a Ten Three Labs order because I was down to one salve stick, and running out would be a disaster. At the last second, I added Dump Truck to my cart (which I'd been eyeing since it's release) and checked out before I could change my mind yet again. And I promptly forgot all about it.
THEN, I found out KaeQ's Color of the Month for August was Herbology. As it was a lovely looking nude that didn't seem like it would wash me out, I knew I had to have it. Of course they arrived on the same day. And they looked so similar in the packaging it was like Freaky Friday up in here.
To make it even worse, I'd picked up a few of Life's Entropy's new mattes earlier this month, and guess what? Yup, there was a pinky brown in there too! Clearly, I need to do a better job of A) updating my collection's spreadsheet and B) actually checking it before I order stuff. Now that I'm overflowing with mlbb options, the question is: What to do with all of them? I know! Let's have a good ol' fashioned Three Way Death Match to see who'll reign supreme!
It's gonna be a slobberknocker, King!
Buckle up kids, because Business is about to pick up!
Bare lips for comparison. All swatches were done in natural, afternoon light.
First in the ring we have KaeQ's Herbology. This is a nice light pink-brown that's almost a perfect match for my bottom lip. It goes on feeling more like a balm than a lipstick. Even though Herbology was August's Color of the Month, it (and all of the past COTM's) are still available on the site.
As much as I liked the old slim line tubes, I think the new tubes are much easier to use application wise. I also don't feel like I have to be careful not to turn them up too much in case the product gets stuck. Plus they're still cute, in their on little way.
See?
Next up we've got Ten Three Labs' Dump Truck. This one surprised me, in a good way. Based on the site swatch, I was expecting another color like Herbology. Instead, what I got was a golden peach based nude. I really like it and I can honestly say I don't have another lip color like it. Every other nude I've ever bought is a pink brown. Which means that I absolutely did need it and was totally justified in buying it.
Yeah...That's the ticket...
I know I already did a review of LE's Variable, but I'm still throwing it in so that everything is all in one place for all of your decision making purposes.
I'm considerate like that.
I did take a fresh picture of it at the same time so you can see how they all look in the same light. It's similar to Herbology in that it's another pinky brown, but A) it's slightly darker and B) it's matte. Therefore I needed it too. Yup.
Glass Breaking SFX...BADASS THEME MUSIC STARTS PLAYING
In keeping with my whole wrestling theme. Also I'm a dork :D
Is it bad that I completely forgot about my Shiro Nic Cage Nibbling Petit Fours In A Posh Victorian Tea Room? Actually, don't answer that. I got this in a gift exchange last Winter and it was my One True Love until it warmed up enough for me to start wearing corals. After that, I dumped it like a bad habit. I'm fickle and unfaithful like that. In digging around for where I put Variable during my swatching fest, I found it and thought I'd toss it in to the lineup.
This one is the darkest of the bunch. The site description lists it as a dusty rose and shows it as very pink, but it leans more of a warm brown on my lips. Shiro's gloss formula is my reigning Heavyweight Gloss Formula Champion: it has decent longevity (iirc I get about four hours if I don't eat anything greasy), the opacity is nice that it looks more like liquid lipstick, this Nic Cage smells like frosting, and best of all it's not at all sticky. In my opinion, there's nothing worse than that tacky (not the bad fashion) kind of feeling sticky glosses give.
I hope my scatterbrained overshopping tendencies helps you guys out. I know it can be a pain to find a nude when you have darker skin that doesn't wash you out or one that looks true to color or at all good when you have pigmented lips. Don't ask me which is my favorite. A case can be made for them all having their own individual niches: Herbology is great for days I can't bother to do more than throw on a little concealer and powder so I don't look dead. Dump Truck is different in that it's my only peach based nude. Variable is a nice light-without-feeling-dry matte nude. And Nic Cage is awesome for Fall and Winter.
Or I just have a makeup hoarding problem.
Nah.
~M.
I thought about tossing in my drugstore options, but I feel like it's been done to death. If you all are interested in that, let me know if you'd like to see them in a future post.
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