Nude Lip Favorites

Today I thought I would share some of my favorite options for nude lips. I am including a couple of different formulas and price points, so hopefully everyone can find something that works for them. Some of my personal preferences for a nude lip are colors that do not wash me out and also having a formula that I like. Please note that these are colors that work for my complexion - your nude may be entirely different from mine.

Starting with the glossy formulas, the YSL Glossy Stain is a formula that I absolutely love. I reviewed the formula more here, but I really enjoy that the gloss stays shiny, even though it is a drier finish. I have several of the colors, but my absolute nude favorite is 106 Beige Anarchist.

I picked up a L'Oreal Infallible Mega Gloss Cream in shade 103 Protest Queen at Boots when I was in the UK for vacation a couple months ago.  I really like that it does not settle into lip lines, as many lighter shade cream glosses are prone to do so. The gloss has nice lasting power and a great sheen. I really wish this formula was available in the US.

NYX Butter Glosses are some of my favorites. Tiramisu I feel that the formula is a good quality and very moisturizing. I have a bunch of these glosses and really love the color selection. to me, these are the best glosses for a budget price. My favorite pinky-nude gloss from Nyx is in the color Tiramisu.  

Swatches outdoors in direct sunlight (L-R: YSL, L'Oreal, Nyx):



Indoors:

Onto the lipsticks/balms, The YSL Rouge Volupte Shines are a fun swipe and go lip formula. They are not super long lasting (usually around 2 hours), but they do feel hydrating when they are on the lips. I have quite a few of the colors but shade 09 Nude in Private is my favorite. It is such a pretty and easy shade. It blends seamlessly with my lip tone and is a color that I usually have in my purse. 

I jumped when Charlotte Tilbury launched her Hot Lips Collection a couple months ago. Very Victoria is the nude shade that I picked up. Even though it technically was a re-promote and not a new launch, I really love the color and was not sure how some of the other colors would look on me. I love the formula (reviewed here) and the taupe color is very flattering. 

Tarte Park Avenue Princess is one of their Amazonian Butter lipsticks. It is a paler shade for me and probably the lightest color I can wear before it starts to wash me out. I also like the minty scent (something to keep in mind if you are not a mint person). 

Swatches outdoors in direct sunlight (L-R: YSL, Charlotte Tilbury, Tarte):



Indoors:



What are some of your favorite nude lip colors and formulas?

Current Loves/Wish List

Here are some of the items that I have been getting a ton of use from lately:

Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips in Miranda May. Full review here, but the bright color has been a staple for me recently.

Natasha Denona 5 Eyeshadow #02 has been my go to formula, as it has the most amazing pigmentation and staying power. Full recap with swatches here. I definitely need to get another of these palettes soon.

By Terry Baume de Rose (review here) has been helping with the hydration issues my lips are having with the 90+ degree weather we are currently experiencing. I am very ready for fall or, at least, some relief from this heat.

Freida Rothman's Indigo Armour Collection. The whole collection is beautiful and I was so excited and very grateful to receive the rectangular ring (shown above) as a gift from my family.

It seems like there are tons of new launches happening in beauty right now. Here are a few I have my eye on:

Anastasia Foundation Stick. I love stick foundations in general and the lower price point of $25 has really piqued my interest in these. They are currently available from Anastasia's website, but I will most likely wait until I can see them in person at Sephora to ensure a good match.

NARS Velvet Lip Glides. These are described as a lipstick and lipgloss hybrid and I am really looking forward to trying these when they launch in early September. Temptalia already has some swatches up of the colors and the formula looks amazing. 

Elizabeth and James Nirvana Bourbon and Rose fragrances. I checked them out in person this weekend and they are amazing. I love the White (reviewed here) and Black versions, so I am sure that as we move into fall, these two will be purchased and added to the collection. 

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Beauty Palette - The Dolce Vita Look

As promised from earlier this week, here are my thoughts on the Charlotte Tilbury Instant Beauty Palette - The Dolce Vita look. The palette is easy to apply as a concept - you basically just paint your face by number. It took about 5 minutes to get all of the colors on. I think that the palette is very convenient for travel and touchups, as the colors are nice neutrals that will get you through most situations. The palette seems a little small when you first look at it, but the pans are mostly decent sized. My only complaint in relation to the pans would be the size of the blushes. It was harder to dip a brush in those (they are the same size as the eyeshadows) and I wish they were larger.



Wear time is excellent - I got a full day with no issues, migration or creasing. The eyeshadow colors apply nicely and have minimal fallout - there was a small amount after blending, but nothing major. The face colors are pretty, but the powders are very soft. There is a lot of kickup in the pan itself when you swish a brush in it, but the softness helps the powders to blend nicely. The only exception to that for me is the highlighter. I found the highlight shade harder to blend and it also emphasized pores more than some of my other highlighters.



You also receive a mini version of the Legendary Lashes mascara with the palette. The mascara for me was average. I did not see anything majorly special about it to spend $32 on the full size version. I did like that it helped lashes hold a curl better than some others I have tried, so if that is something you look for in a mascara you may like this one. As far as lengthening or volumizing lashes, I do not think that it is any better than my usual mascaras or others I have tried.

Swatches in order 1-7:



Reverse of palette:



Overall, I am glad I made the purchase. I can definitely see myself bringing this palette on trips or possibly keeping it in my desk at work in case I need to touch up or change my look to go out after work. I feel that the palette is good quality (although the highlighter is not my favorite) and the colors will likely flatter many skin tones.  The palette costs $75 and is available at Nordstrom as part of their Anniversary Sale. Have you tried this palette or the mascara that came with it? What are your thoughts?

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Beauty Palette - The Dolce Vita Look Sneak Peek

Charlotte Tilbury has launched a darker version of her Instant Beauty Palette 5-Minute Face on the Go. The color is called the Dolce Vita Look on the Nordstrom website, but the box itself says Seductive Beauty. I'm not sure which naming version is supposed to be correct, but for ease of finding it on the Nordstrom website, I titled this post based on their naming convention. The palette is exclusive to Nordstrom as part of their Anniversary Sale. Right now the sale is only open to cardholders, but will open to everyone on July 22. The palette also comes with a sample of Legendary Lashes mascara. Based on how quickly her last palette sold out, I suspect this one will do the same.

Close up of the pans in direct sunlight:

I wanted to give a little peak at the palette (I just got it last night) so that people could see it prior to the public sale. I will have a full review later this week once I actually use it. First impressions are that the palette has a great neutral color scheme that I think will work for more skin tones than the last Instant Beauty Palette did. The powders seem soft and blendable, but I will update with my thoughts once I put it to use for a couple days.

Below are swatches in direct sunlight. The swatches are palette pans 1-7 left to right:

The palette retails for $75 and is available exclusively at Nordstrom. What are you getting from the Anniversary Sale?

Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips - Miranda May and Very Victoria

Charlotte Tilbury just launched a new lipstick collection titled Hot Lips. The shades are inspired by various celebrities and the collection includes a few repromotes of previously released shades. The lipsticks have one of two formulas - K.I.S.S.I.N.G., which is a cream, or Matte Revolution, which is, as the name suggests, matte. I already own a Matte Revolution shade (Bond Girl), so I wanted to purchase a couple of colors in that formula since I already know that I love it. I chose the new shade Miranda May and also one of the repromotes, Very Victoria.

It was very hard to narrow down from the selection - all of the colors really are beautiful. My one complaint is that the shades appear very different on the Charlotte Tilbury website and press photos than they do swatched anywhere else. For example, the Super Cindy shade looks like a brownish nude on the CT website and is described by CT on her Instagram as a 90's Nude, but all of the blog swatches I have seen have described the shade as peachy and it appears that way in photos (see Temptalia, Beauty Professor, and The Beauty Look Book). I wish that the shades appeared more as they really are, as I really wanted some of the colors based on how they looked on the CT site (Super Cindy, Kidman's Kiss, and Secret Salma), but decided to pick up different choices based on real swatches.  If you are looking to purchase these, I highly suggest you do not go by the press photos and instead look at blogger pictures.

As I said, I really do like the Matte Revolution formula. It is not a matte in the sense that a lot of mattes do not have any shine or luminosity to them at all. These give the lips a nice glow despite not being a shiny product. I also like that they are not drying, as I tend to have drier lips and cannot wear ultra matte shades. I do prep the lips with a little bit of balm so that they go on smoothly and lasting power is decent (3-4 hours depending on how much I eat/drink).

Swatches in full sunlight:

Swatches in shade:

Lip swatch of Miranda May:



Lip swatch of Very Victoria:




Ingredients list:

Overall, I am happy with my two picks and think I may also purchase Secret Salma (even though it is not the exact shade I loved in the CT photos, I do still really like the color). The lipsticks retail for $32 each and are available at Charlotte Tilbury, Beautylish (where I got mine), Selfridges, and Nordstrom. $2 from each purchase does go to the charity Women for Women International. Have you bought any of these? Do you have any other Charlotte Tilbury lipsticks?