Lipstick Latitude - truth & (luxury) beauty

  I’ll be the first to admit that I own waaaaay too many neutral eyeshadows. As in, enough to last me the rest of my life. Then if my brain is ever cryogenically frozen, there will be enough left over to last my new immortal lab-grown body into eternity. So what I’m trying to say is, I got a new eyeshadow palette. Normally I can resist shadow releases without too much fear of missing out, but when I saw that the Charlotte Tilbury Instant Eye Palette was on pre-sale for a day, I went from ‘omg’ to ‘your order is confirmed’ in under five minutes. You see, I love Charlotte Tilbury eyeshadows, or at least I love the Rock Chick quad I got when the line very first launched. The textures and finishes are very close to the famed (and much more expensive) Tom Ford eyeshadow quads, and did I mention I’m a huge fan of neutral colors? I don’t usually get too wild with eye makeup, so the chance to get a dozen shades in one of my favorite formulas for less than the price of two CT quads was way too good to pass up. I’ll go ahead and tell you now – I’m very glad I clicked that ‘add to cart’ button. Packaging The Art Deco-inspired, vintage glam of this palette really speaks to me. Even the shiny gold (usually not my favorite) looks nice, even if it does show fingerprints like crazy. The compact is slim and lightweight […]

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Lipstick Latitude - truth & (luxury) beauty

  ArtDeco is one of those European makeup brands I’ve been pining for off and on for years. Our friends in Canada have had it for ages, of course, but they don’t have any stockists here as far as I know. How then, did I not realize until a couple weeks ago that their web store now ships to the US? This discovery coincided with a 30% off flash sale on their site, so I took the chance to try out a little bit of something new. Despite all the praise I’ve heard for the brand, after trying out my new goodies I’m feeling some pretty mixed emotions. Buying online is always a little bit of a gamble, so maybe I can save you some trouble. Here it is, the good, bad and the ugly. Perfect Color Lipstick #16 Soft Coral I’ll just go ahead and get the biggest disappointment out of the way. I’m a major lipstick addict, so I spent quite a while poring over their lipstick selection and eventually settled on the Perfect Color lipstick in #16 Soft Coral ($16). I love corals, and the picture on their website is so pretty – a bright, pinkish one. Welp, the lipstick looks nothing like the color as it’s displayed online. In real life it’s a light orange sherbet color that does my complexion no favors at all. I could forgive the color issue, if it were only that. After all, things can go seriously weird with white balance, monitor […]

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Lipstick Latitude - truth & (luxury) beauty

  This post has been sponsored by Grande Cosmetics via ShopShare Network – all opinions are mine & based on my personal experience with the products.  Several months ago I posted about my new obsession with liquid lipsticks, and girl, that train is still rollin’! Now that the weather is turning cooler and the furnace is kicking on, I’ve been switching over to fall colors and formulas. On top of that, I’m going to Las Vegas soon – sure, it’s for work, but I still plan to have a blast while we’re there, and no-fuss lip color is required. My pick for a fall trip to Vegas: GrandeLIPS HydraPlump Semi-Matte Liquid Lipstick. You know me – bright pinks and corals are my usual shtick and I have no problem wearing them year round, but it doesn’t hurt to have at least a couple seasonally appropriate colors. With that in mind, I’ve been testing out the HydraPlump lipsticks in Smoked Sherry and Red Delicious. Red Delicious is a bright apple red that’s just a hint on the cool side, and Smoked Sherry is a gorgeous deep wine shade. Both are gorgeous, but of the two I prefer Red Delicious because I think it’s more flattering on my skin tone. I’ve also got my eye on Strawberry Rhubarb because it looks like it would be a great everyday color for me. In all there are a total of 8 shades right now, in a variety of depths and undertones.     And […]

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  A quick peek into my makeup drawers would prove to you that I’ve been a big fan of Hourglass Cosmetics for a long time now, but seriously guys, what is up with the constant changes in eyeshadow formula & packaging? First we had the duos, which  were nice, but on the pricey side and discontinued almost before I even got my hands on any of them. Then came the Modernist palettes. I love mine, but I know a lot of people weren’t fans of the extremely soft texture or the $58 price tag. Well, it seems those are going by the wayside too – there are only two colors left in stock at Sephora and they aren’t showing up on any of their other stockists, including the Hourglass website. Now, instead, we’ve got the brand new Graphik eyeshadow palettes, which I only happened upon by chance. At this point I’m just really fascinated by the constant changeups, so I ordered the Expose palette from the brand’s website. As a side note on that – I was not impressed with the purchasing process from them. I made my order on 1/4, got an order confirmation email and then… not a peep. I finally emailed customer service on 1/9 (3 business days, or five actual days later) to see what was going on. Only then did I get a shipping notice. These are in stock on Beautylish now, so I highly recommend ordering from them if you’re going to, since their turn […]

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  I’ve been curious about the Pat McGrath Labs Mothership eyeshadow palettes ever since they came out. Stunning cover art, out of this world pigment in all the swatches I’ve seen, and a mix of everyday and editorial colors. Perfect, right? Unfortunately there’s nowhere remotely near me that I can try them out in person, so I’ve been trying to hold out until I could. There’s still not a store near me that stocks them, but the Pat McGrath Labs team was kind enough to send me one of their new releases to test out – the six-pan MTHRSHP Subliminal Platinum Bronze Palette. If you’ve been on the fence, these are a great intro to the brand’s eyeshadows since the price is a little less eye-watering – $55, versus the $125 price tag for the original 10-pan palettes. And I’ll go ahead and say it: yes, they are everything they’re cracked up to be. Packaging The palette comes in a trifold cardboard case with a really good-sized mirror inside the lid. It has an elastic loop and discs to hold it shut, but there’s also a magnetic closure that does a pretty good job of that all on its own. Cardboard isn’t usually my first choice when it comes to palette packaging materials, but there’s a lot to be said for reducing the amount of plastic in the world. In any case, it feels sturdy and wipes clean easily. The pans are 2g/.07oz each, which is a pretty decent amount […]

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  Can you guys believe it’s been over FIVE YEARS since I started this blog? To be honest I’m a little surprised by that. I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m a hobby hopper. I love learning about new things, so it’s not unusual for me to have short-lived projects and then move onto something else. I feel like I’ve really found my passion with blogging though. Not only do I get to combine my loves of writing & photography, it also gives me an outlet to talk about other things going on that I think might be helpful to other people. Of course I’m not saying things around here have stayed the same over the past five years. Nope! Lipstick Latitude has been through a couple redesigns, a name change and a serious expansion in topics. But not everything is different. Since this is a major milestone for my site, I thought it would be fun to take another look at some of my long term favorites.   Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation This was one of my very first makeup reviews on here, and it’s still my favorite foundation ever. I think I’m probably on my 3rd or 4th one – I lost count. I almost don’t want to link to the original post because I’m cringing at my photography & makeup skills, but I guess it’s good to see how you grow! The product itself has had a couple changes since then too, including updated packaging and […]

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  I am SO on board with the whole multi-tasking skincare/makeup movement that’s going on right now. Call it the cool girl look or millennial makeup or whatever you want – I’m calling it a dream come true. Right before my trip to NYC I got the chance to check out a new player on that particular stage, Onomie Beauty. They make a curated line of products that roll makeup and skincare into one. Refreshingly, all the products are scientifically-formulated – no anti-chemical scaremongering here! I also adore the fact that their product shades are all named after women in history. They sent me a few of their products to try out and spoiler alert: they’re now staples in my daily routine. They have a showroom in New York where you can check out the full line, and you also get 15% off while you’re there. It’s rare that I get the opportunity to leisurely swatch a brand’s entire product line, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity! My friend Kara went with me and kindly donated her arm so you can see the shade range on different skin tones. For foundation color reference: in MAC shades, Kara (on the left in the photos) is around NC42 – NC44, and I’m somewhere between NW20 – NW25.   A.C.E. Illuminating Treatment The ACE Illuminating treatment is my favorite of the whole bunch. I got it in Lovelace (the pink color) and it’s perfect for brightening up around my eyes even when […]

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Raise your hand if you’ve ever bought a beauty product just because of the packaging. Yeah, me too. The latest example: the Fenty Moroccan Spice eyeshadow palette. I’m an absolute sucker for pink and purple, so the case on this baby was irresistible from the first time I laid eyes on it. I occasionally try to be a responsible adult though, so I went to Sephora and swatched it before buying. Buy it I did, and here’s a review for you. Have I mentioned I love the case on this palette? Aside from the gorgeous artwork, it feels really sturdy and snaps closed with no worries about falling open. It has a slightly larger footprint that makes it less convenient for travel (if you’re into that), but at least it’s really slim. The pans are a good size for most eyeshadow brushes. They’re also separated enough that I don’t accidentally get my brush in two pans, which is one of my biggest pet peeves. The diamond layout isn’t exactly the most efficient use of space but it definitely is aesthetically pleasing.  My main hesitation in picking up the Moroccan Spice palette was the shade range. I wasn’t sure I’d get a lot of wear out of it since my style tends toward a more neutral eye look, but I threw caution to the wind and bought it anyway.  After some experimentation, I’m realizing I was right – this is not a palette I’ll reach for every day. And I think […]

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