Review: Marc Jacobs Beauty’s Glow Stick

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Welcome to a special post, reader! We’ve got a press sample! I was contacted by Influenster to review the Glow Stick highlighter from Marc Jacobs. It’s a wonderful product, I’m happy to say! I was pretty wary of this at first. In general, I don’t use highlighters. I’m quite oily, so I don’t seek out dewy skin, it just happens naturally (and then some). I always equate dewiness with oiliness so I skip this step in my makeup routine. Learning to use the Glow Stick has certainly been a long-due makeup lesson.

The packaging is sleek, almost to the point of sterility. It works like a deodorant stick; the cap pops off, and you turn the dial at the bottom to raise the product from the tube. Ease of use is definitely something Glow Stick has going for it. From here, you can apply it any way you wish: you can pick some up on your fingertip or favorite brush, or you can apply it directly.

The stick itself is pretty creamy, but it’s very blendable. I find myself avoiding anything that’s too creamy, not only because it’s oily, also because it tends to disturb any powder products I’ve already used. Glow Stick blends easily into my powder, going undetected to the touch, leaving behind only the white-gold shimmer. I’ll also mention that there’s not a very strong scent to it, that’s a huge plus for me as well. I’m really digging the formula.

For this look, I applied Glow Stick directly on my cheekbones, above the brow, and my chin, with my fingers on the bridge of my nose and my brow highlight, and with a lip brush around my Cupid’s Bow. I also used a clean brush to blend it out. As you can see, the coverage is buildable and you can use as much or as little as you need. As I mentioned, I used it very sparingly so as not to be lit up like Christmas morning.

When you have to get your boyfriend to take pictures of your makeup and the only good one is of your RBF

Don’t be frightened by this, I went over this four or five times for the full disco effect.

So here are the issues I have with it. The products I already use are pretty luminous, and I feel like it’s a little redundant, at least for the summer. In the winter when I’m not as oily and my matte foundation makes me look a bit flat, I might use it more then. Also, it only comes in this one shade, which works well for me, but may not be the best option for people of color. Lastly, I need to mention that it retails for $42 at Sephora, which probably would have deterred me if I were buying it myself. It is a Marc Jacobs product, so that’s to be expected. Seeing as how sparingly I’ll use this, though, it will last me virtually forever, so maybe it would actually be a pretty good bargain.

Glow Stick and other Marc Jacobs Beauty products are sold at Sephora.

Other products I used in this look:
Face:
Dr. Jart+ Premium Beauty Balm SPF 45
NYX Color-Correcting Concealers (yellow and green)
Revlon Photoready powder in Translucent
Benefit Dallas bronzer
Marc Jacobs Beauty Glow Stick
Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Browl Gel

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
Urban Decay eyeshadows Foxy and Suspect, found in the Naked 2 palette
Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Liner in Perversion
Maybelline Great Lash waterproof mascara

Lips: Burt’s Bees Lip Crayon in Sedona Sands

Earrings: ABC Stores

The Marc Jacobs Beatuy Glow Stick was provided by Influenster for an honest review. All other products were purchased myself.

Empties Roundup: June 2016

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Hello, reader! Today’s post is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I love reading empties posts, but I rarely empty products, and it’s not worth it to me to write about the one BB cream or the bottle of Seche Vite I used up this month. For this inaugural Empties Roundup, I have five whole things to talk about. Let’s get going!

OPI’s Expert Touch Lint-Free Nail Wipes

I picked these up out of a Sally Beauty Supply sale bin for four dollars. I wasn’t sure what they were at the time, but I grabbed them, just to try them out. The box says they absorb polish very quickly, and while this is true, they also absorb remover very quickly as well, and eventually gain this gross tacky feel to them, which I really disliked. The wipes themselves are small, so between the tacky feel and the size, I used a wipe or two per nail, or 10-20 for each manicure. They left lint on me, so they’re definitely not lint-free. They do remove polish, however, so it wasn’t a total miss. They even work in the foil method of glitter removal. I didn’t hate these wipes, but the day the box ran out and I could go back to regular cotton pads was a pretty good day. I won’t be purchasing these again.

Benefit’s Bathina “Take a Picture, It’ll Last Longer” Body Balm

jerbbm

This is truly a momentous occasion, because I’ve had this tin since 2010 and it is finally empty. The balm itself was a rosy gold with a soft powdery scent, and came with a puff for applying it to the skin. I didn’t use it continually since 2010, only in the summers, because this stuff looks amazing over a tan. It can be a bit much on very hot days, but I happen to like looking like I sweat glitter, so that’s okay with me. I loved this product, but I don’t know if I’ll ever re-purchase it. I’ve got other body shimmer products I need to work through first, and who knows how long that will take.

Maybelline Lash Sensational Waterproof Mascara

This wasn’t an empty as much as it was just time to toss it. I’d been using it since March. I really wanted to love this, but I couldn’t get past the brush. It was really big and unwieldy with a pronounced curve, often giving me too much product where I didn’t need it. There was one side of the brush with very short bristles, and that was the only way I could use it. Mostly I’m just sad this mascara isn’t the old Volum’Express in the red tube; that was my HG waterproof mascara, and now Maybelline has discontinued it and wants me to have scary spidery lashes now. I replaced it with the Great Lash Waterproof mascara, also from Maybelline.

Bare Escentuals Buxom Lip Gloss in Clair

This is another oldie from my collection that’s finally going to the big vanity drawer in the sky. I really love the Buxom lip glosses for their minty tingle and sheer wash of color; I have dozens of these glosses but I’ve ever finished like two, including this one. Because I have so many, I probably won’t more, and even if I wanted to replace this one, I don’t think they make it anymore. That’s actually how old this lip gloss was.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Virgin

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Do you ever look at your eyeshadow palettes and notice there’s one shade that’s visibly more used than all the others? In my UD Naked palette, Virgin is that shade. You can tell because the pan is completely empty. And because no Naked look is complete without Virgin, I got a single to replace it. This is actually the second single eyeshadow I’ve gone through. I’ll definitely be replacing this.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder Sample

I actually forgot I had this in my makeup bag until I ran out of my regular powder. Finding this actually saved my life. I have no idea where this came from, since I don’t normally buy Tarte; it must have been a Sephora sample, or an ipsy bag offering. It was a pretty nice powder, though it felt a little creamy for a finishing powder; my skin didn’t feel 100% finished. In the summer, though, that’s not so important, because it ends up just disappearing into sweat anyway. I’m not sure I’d buy a full size of this, I’d rather just go back to my Make Up For Ever powder.

And there you have it, the first-ever Empties Roundup on wacie.com! Looking at these photos, I feel very accomplished. I rarely use something for so long that I actually use all of it, so to have this many empties at the end of the month is really special. Now all I have to do is avoid buying more stuff and setting myself back!

I bought these products myself.

Review: Bite Beauty’s Amuse Bouche Lipsticks

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Today’s post is a huge departure from the usual wacie.com fare. I’ve never written about makeup on this blog, and I’ve never posted my face here, though I’m sure by now you know what I look like. I’m both excited and nervous to share it with you. Please do note that these are press samples, I received them for free from Bite Beauty and Influenster, and I wasn’t compensated for this post. All opinions contained herein are my own and were not influenced in any way.

A little while ago, I was notified by Influenster that I would be receiving an Amuse Bouche Voxbox from Bite Beauty. Of course, I was ecstatic, because who doesn’t love lipstick? I am a huge fan of lip products, and though I own upwards of a hundred lipsticks, I don’t own any from Bite. I’ve heard great things from the makeup community, of course; I’ve had Sephora employees tell me about the great list of natural ingredients they use, and I’ve read about the custom lipstick creation process at the Bite Beauty Lip Lab, so I’m finally excited to try them out for myself.

These lipsticks made a great first impression on me, and I’m not exaggerating (much) when I say it was love at first swipe. The product just glides on effortlessly with tons of color and creamy, dewy shine. It has a very lightweight feel, so light I even forgot I was wearing it. The one concern I did have at first was the appearance of the lipstick bullet; in the photos below, you’ll see they have a bumpy and/or greasy look to them. They didn’t smell off — the scent was actually a pleasant citrus — so I just figured it was just sweaty from being in a mailbox in Florida. The product itself didn’t seem altered by it in any way.

The photo below shows each shade at one swipe, as well as an attempt at removal with makeup remover — Neutrogena’s Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover, in this case — and as you can see, it left quite a lot of color behind. This may be remedied with a lip color primer underneath the color.

From top to bottom: Pepper, Gazpacho, Beetroot

This first shade is called Pepper. This is probably the most universally flattering shade of the three I received, as well as the most suited for everyday wear. I also think it’s the most flattering one for my skintone. Sephora’s website calls Pepper a dusty rose; for me, it’s a neutral my-lips-but-better shade.

Next is Beetroot, which is a deep, bold berry. I feel like this one is a bit harsh on me, but I like how it looks anyway. I think I’d like it better paired with a dramatic smoky eye.

I saved my favorite for last! I write about how much I love red on the blog all the time; it’s my favorite color for lips as well as nails. It makes my eyes look their greenest. Gazpacho is a true blue-red, and it’s probably the one of the three I’ll be reaching for the most.

I have to say, I love these lipsticks. The color payoff and product formula are just unbeatable. If you’re someone looking for an all-natural lipstick made with natural and organic ingredients that has excellent color and wear, Amuse Bouche is going to be your new best friend. This lipstick really is the whole package, but with one caveat: the price. Amuse Bouche retails for $26 each at Sephora, and I’m a bit conflicted. I love the product formula, but color is the biggest factor in whether I buy a lipstick, and I don’t feel like these colors are unique enough to warrant a $26 purchase; I’m more likely to get similar colors and finishes from MAC.

As I mentioned, Amuse Bouche and other Bite Beauty products are available at Sephora.

These products were press samples and were sent by Influenster on behalf of Bite Beauty. I wasn’t compensated for this post. All opinions contained herein are my own and were not influenced in any way.

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