Wild N' Wild Lip Stick Review.

Wet N' Wild Lipsticks

Wet N Wild is a brand that I'm extremely familiar with. I believe it was the first cosmetics brand I ever purchased back in my early teens in the form of nail polish. But we're not here today to discuss nail polish. Today we're looking at another lip product. Lipstick! These were a part of my haul from Dollar General, along with the Kiss Stick On Strips. I've purchased a lipstick from Wet N Wild in a "holy hell" pink shade (not the actual name, again I'm lazy and don't want to go find it right now) in the past, but it seems I've been on a lip product spree as of late and I bought some lip liners (Rimmel Londons Lasting Finish), so I needed some lipstick to go with them. 

First impressions, the packaging is pretty basic, black tubes with a clear plastic top with the brand logo stamped across it and stickers on the bottoms. Stickers eventually fall off, but I'm not all the worried about that, I rarely choose my lipstick based on the name anyways, as long as I can see the color. Which is where I like the clear plastic caps. Though it does seem a little cheap, at least you can get a good look at the "actual" lipstick inside. These do have a safety seal on when they're on the shelves in stores, so no need to worry about tampering, but you're still able to see the product. This is something I enjoy, so I don't have to play the "does this indicator match the actual lipstick" game. I can't count the number of times I've bought a lipstick with a safety seal (no testers available), have it be WRONG and be bummed out about it. My only complaint about the packaging is that the product doesn't retreat all the way into the black tube at first, so if you're not careful when placing the caps back on these, you can catch the sides and smear lipstick on the insides of the lids. Though once you've used the product enough, that issue will go away.

As for the product itself, these are great lipsticks, the pigment is amazing for a drugstore brand and for 2.00USD you can't go wrong and you get 0.11oz/3.3g of product for that price. Whether you're a beginner or a professional these are worth it. These are a cream lipstick, with no shimmer to them at all and no pearly sheen. 

Wet N Wild Lipstick Swatches

We're going to work from the bottom, up, starting with the swatch of Just Peachy (903C). I've touched very briefly about my natural lip color being more on the pink side and nudes tend to be very brown on me, even the fleshy colored ones. Just Peachy is a nice flesh like color with a hint of pink in it, where I'm able to wear it as a nude lip paired with a liner or on it's own.  The formula is very creamy and doesn't seem to dry my lips out, as long as I moisturize with my daily lip balm before applying. 

Mauve Outta Here, is a muted purple that leans slightly towards pink side. There's no glitter, shimmer or pearl like sheen, but it does pair nicely with Rimmel Londons Lasting Finish Contouring Pencil in Mauve Shimmer. I haven't worn this one much since it was purchased, not because I don't like it, I don't think I've done a look that would do this color justice. 

Cherry Picking was my impulse buy. The photo above shows it being a medium pink when in real life it really isn't. I wouldn't go to say it's the color of a real cherry, since it does appear darker pink on the lips and cherries are red. It reminds me more of a highly pigmented red raspberry juice stain...which is a gorgeous color, but not a cherry. It's a bolder berry color, that I wouldn't necessarily wear all the time, but would pull out if I was feeling sassy or wanting more focus on my lips. I don't regret purchasing this color, I didn't have any "berry" shades in my collection and tastes change, so perhaps I'll feel bolder in the future. 

~Lipstick Tips~

And because I like to toss in tips and tricks about products or certain types of products, I have some tips about lipsticks for you today. I don't know how advanced my readers are with makeup, some of you guys may already know this, some might not, but we'll touch on it anyways.

1. You can use any lipstick as a BLUSH! Cream blushes are out there, but if you're working on a budget makeup can get costly. Use you're lipsticks as blushes, whether it's shimmery, pearl, matte, or cream. Blend out with your fingers or makeup brush. This also applies to contouring colors or bronzers if you prefer creams to powders. Just because it says "Lipstick" doesn't mean you can't use it for other things. 

2. Sanitize! Keep your lipsticks clean and bacteria free. Not only will it prolong your lipsticks, but it'll keep everything germ free. Cora at Vintage or Tacky as a great video on sanitizing lipsticks Click Here For Lipstick Sanitizing Video and say Simply Dark Pleasures sent you if you enjoy the video. 

And I do believe that wraps things up for this post. 

Remember to check out my Influenster profile where I try to update brief reviews daily. Feel free to like me on Facebook at Simply Dark Pleasures, follow me on google plus, Twitter @Blog_SDP,  or send an email at simplydarkpleasures@gmail.com . All links to those are displayed as tabs or there's buttons floating around the site.

Simply Dark Pleasures does have a PO Box if there is something specific you want reviewed. Details are at the "About" section of the blog, you are never obligated to send anything.

Until Next Time,

Stay Creative.

Rimmel London Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses Stay On Lip Contouring Pencils Review

Rimmel London Lasting Finish
1000 Kisses Stay On
Lip Contouring Pencils

 This time we have some lip liners or "Lip Contouring" pencils by Rimmel London. I'm familiar with the brand, I've tried a few things, but I've never been very impressed. If anything, I've been more weary of the brand especially after trying one of their foundations that was horrible. When I was at Walmart, these caught my attention, as I was browsing Rimmel Londons section pondering whether or not to even give these guys another chance. In the end, I picked out three lip liners that I could possibly wear on a daily basis in the colors Natural, Rose Quartz and Mauve Shimmer. 

These are your standard pencil liners that you will have to sharpen with a makeup sharpening tool, but I found that pencils run cheaper on the wallet and work just as well as their self sharpening counterparts.

Lasting Finish Lip Pencil Swatches

I was actually quite shocked when I swatched these. The color payoff is really good and the formula is soft so you don't have to dig into your skin to get them to deposit color. Even the plastic color indicator on the bottom of the pencils are probably the closest I've seen in comparison to "true to color" of the actual product. Rimmel London you've pleasantly surprised me.

Natural

The lip pencil in Natural is a really nice nude shade. Generally, nudes are too brown for me to be able to wear them, since my natural lip color is quite pink, but this one has enough of a peach undertone that I'm able to wear it and not have it look like I've been rolling around in mud.

Rose Quartz

Rose Quartz is a light natural pink shade, which is only a few shades darker than my natural lip color. This one I find myself just filling my entire lip in with, then slapping on a little bit of clear lip gloss (though I'm not a huge lip gloss fan) and I'm my lips are ready. Again the formula is very soft and this pencil glides on with little effort.

Mauve Shimmer

Mauve Shimmer, makes me think of a muted wine color. There is a bit of shimmer, but it's not overpowering and it does add a little something extra. I like mauve's on me, for something a little more bold, but not as bold as say a bright red lip or even a berry color. So when I do my makeup and I want the focus to be on my eyes without sacrificing lip color, I reach for something like this. Or I don't care and grab whatever I want, but you get what I mean.

As for the 1000 kisses?

These won't last 1000 Kisses.  The husband was kind enough to help with this experiment and yes I did actually count to 1000.
.

 Even still, these do last throughout the day. Once the product has set they are smudge resistant. I haven't noticed any bleeding or feathering while I've been wearing them, though eventually it does fade. They do dry out the lips a little bit, but with any lip liners that is normal. Just make sure to moisturize with your favorite lip balm before applying and after removal. If you're lips are chapped, these will settle into those dry areas, so I wouldn't recommend filling the entire lip if you do have some dry patches.

I'd recommend these and will probably be going back to grab a few more colors. These were 4.95USD a piece I believe at Walmart. From what I've seen it's an average price for a drugstore brand. I may be brave and try the Lasting Finish lipsticks from Rimmel London, since this brand has slowly redeemed itself and I'm glad I gave these guys another go.

Remember to check out my Influenster profile where I try to update brief reviews daily. Feel free to like me on Facebook at Simply Dark Pleasures, follow me on google plus, Twitter @Blog_SDP,  or send an email at simplydarkpleasures@gmail.com .

Simply Dark Pleasures does have a PO Box if there is something specific you want reviewed. Details are at the "About" section of the blog, you are never obligated to send anything.

Until Next Time,
Stay Creative.

Kiss Stick on Strips Review.

Kiss Stick On Nail Strips
Satin (Left) Beach Bum (Right)

Featured in my Haul Post, I picked up some of these nifty little do-dads, after having my hopes crushed in finding the Sally Hansen Nail Effects Nail Strips. I grabbed these from my local Dollar General for 3.00USD a piece, so for that price I really didn't have much to lose, especially when the Nail Effects are closer to 8.00USD for one box.

So I'll be drawing a lot of comparisons between the two brands, bringing up some pros and cons for each and trying to weigh those to see if these would be a suitable replacement if I'm unable to find a retailer that sells Nail Effects.

Beach Bum

Nail Strips in Satin- Sheets.

When I first grabbed these I assumed that they were strips of nail polish like the Nail Effects by Sally Hansen, but once I gave them a more thoughtful look I realized that, no they were not. Instead, they are just stickers, similar to the regular nail art stickers you can purchase from Kiss. You get 18 stickers, in multiple sizes separated into two clear backed sheets. The two I purchased are 3D designs, so they are slightly raised and not super smooth.

Satin- is a mixed animal print design in black and silver with filigree. The prints are broken a part by lines of gold with clear rhinestones or by the silver and black filigree pattern. There are different styles so that each nail on one hand is different, but flows together with the same theme. 

Beach Bum- is a silver background with multicolored rhinestones, all the same for a unified manicure. 

Nail Stick On Instructions

And Some Tips

Clean nails with alcohol (Be careful, can make your nails dry and brittle if done too often)

File and Smooth Nails ( A light grained buffer like on a buffing block works best, you only need to buff until the shine of your natural nail is gone. Be kind to your nails )

Select size that best fits your nail

Apply near, not on cuticle and smooth away from center

Fold down over edge and file excess.

I ended up deciding to try out Satin and when I opened the package, I was seriously surprised with how bad these things smelled. The Nail Effects smelled like wet nail polish when you opened the little foil sealed packages, but that was expected with strips that were ultimately just bits of nail polish already cut out to the shape of nail. But, these Nail Strips smelt horrible, like bad rubber/plastic. 

With that aside, I went ahead prepping my nails and finding the right sizes.

Kiss Stick On Strips In Satin Applied

To be honest, I struggled with these little devils and I've done a lot of these full nail strip kind of things in the past. Luckily, since these are stickers and not nail polish, if I didn't get them placed evenly I was able to peel them off slowly and re-situate them so they were as even as I was going to get. Unlike Nail Effects, once you set them on your nail it was pretty much where it was going to be. Now, the Stick On Strips have no give to them at all, they don't stretch, so if you're nail-beds are wider than mine, you may want to avoid these. I can deal with little bits of bare on the sides of my nails, but I mean just a tiny bit. With the Nail Effects, the warmth from your fingers made the strips more pliable and you could very carefully stretch them to fit the entire nail even it the size was a little smaller than your actual nail. They do offer a decent size selection, but I don't believe there would be enough of the larger sizes for those who have wider nail beds, than I do and mine are pretty average despite my freakishly small hands. 

As for the stickiness of these stickers, it's decent, but if you happen to be like me and have to fight with the first few to set right, they do lose they're tackiness and start not wanting to stay put. I remedied the mild lifting by apply a little of my top coat underneath the lifted areas, waiting for it to become mostly dry and pressing the sticker gently down, then they'd stay.

Getting these suckers to lay smooth was another issue...you can see from the photo above that my nails do have a little length to them. One of the reasons I struggled with these was I couldn't get them to lay smoothly on the nail. They would crinkle in one or two spots at the sides and they don't have much give, so I had to peel them back up to uncrinkle them. The only finger I was able to get to lay flat with one attempt was my middle finger and I coin that to it being shorter than the rest, since I broke that one earlier in the day. I never had issues with getting the Nail Effects to lay smooth against the nail...

The packaging says these are suppose to last up to a week, not recommended to be worn more than 10 days. On the instructions it says nothing about sealing them with a top coat for better wearing time, so on one hand I applied a top coat and on the other I left as is. I've currently been wearing the Satin set for four days. The hand with the top coat, I've noticed the stickers at the tips of my nails are beginning to deteriorate, while the hand WITHOUT a top coat I've already lost one sticker on my pinky finger and my thumb and pointer finger they're crinkled up at the tips.

This wear and tear is from normal hand washing and day to day activities, which is pretty much nothing, since the arm injury (again we're not going there) restricts me from doing too much with my right hand. So if you want these to last the seven days, I would definitely apply a top coat, especially along free edges. In comparison to Nail Effects, which I've worn for nearly a full two weeks, with periodic top coat touch ups. And I'm going to add that the smell of the stickers doesn't go away after a day of wearing them, again I'm on day four and the smell isn't as pungent, but it is still there.  

Are these a suitable replacement if I'm unable to find Nail Effects? Yes and No. For a less pricey version of nearly instant nail art, they're not bad. Would I buy then again? Sure, when I wanted something quick for only a couple of days. Would I recommend them? If you're a beginner and you're not experienced with nail art or if you just don't have the time, yeah. For three bucks, it's not a lot of money. They have a really good selection of designs, colors, 3D, smooth to suit everybody. Are there better brands out there? Yes, but for now they will do.

Until next time,

Stay Creative.