An Ingredients Analysis of Colour Changing Lipsticks, Lipglosses, Lipbalms, and Blushes

Ever since Smashbox put out its O-Glow blushes and lipglosses, Dior put out its Dior Lip Glow, and Sephora put out its Color Reveal Lip Balm, it seems like colour-changing lipglosses have been exploding over the blogosphere. There are so many breathless reviews on how it's changing into the "perfect shade of pink", or how it "reacts with the skin's pH" to give you a customized shade, and there are also equally many reviews disliking the pepto bismo pink it changes into on them. And, there are (of course) a lot of comparison swatches between the various types of colour-changing glosses.

I've had a few of these - you can see one that I reviewed here. Back then, I had written that I was suspicious of all those lipglosses claiming to know my body chemistry and pH, and I had written, "in my experience these turn into some generic shade of super-bright pink." So, since all the hype has been going on, I thought I'd do a little bit of the ingredients-analysing that you guys all know and love, and explain just how it is that these glosses/lipsticks/lipbalms/blushes do their work!

With these products, you'll always have a PH-relevant/skin-chemistry-relevant/hocus-pocus-magic-quality relevant shade!

Of course, as the nice little graphic summary I did above shows, we know that these types of lipglosses, lipsticks, and lipbalms have been around for quite awhile. In fact, there are so many of them - in addition to the Dior, Smashbox, and Sephora versions, Mark by Avon, Duwop, Jemma Kidd, and NYX Cosmetics have all jumped on the bandwagon at some point in time. And it's not just US brands that are donig it - Essence Cosmetics and Barry M from Europe have done it too. And even outside the West, other brands have done it - there's Lipice in Asia, and even a strange Morrocan Hare brand from (where else) Morroco! And it's not just lipgloss or lipstick! Cheek products have also been given the special treatment, with Stila, Smashbox and Givenchy all have blush versions to give you that pH-adjusted cheek colour.

So yes, we know everyone loves a colour-changing lipstick/balm/gloss/blush. And who can blame us for loving it? The novelty of seeing the colour change on your lips and cheeks is quite something, I'll admit. The thing is, are they really all that different from one another? How on earth are they even changing colour in the first place? You know that if this post involves some ingredients analysis, there's no better place to start than the ingredients list!

So, for this post, I'm going to look at as many ingredient lists of such colour changing products that I can dig up, including lipbalms, glosses, and lipsticks, and blushes, and see what we can learn from there! In true geek style, there are 10 of them (yes, TEN!), so buckle up!

Stuff I'm Using Up: NYX Stone Blush

OMG, I'm actually using up a colour product! This lovely baby is NYX Stone Powder Blush, and man, obviously it's showing some wear. And why not? It's only showing wear because it's one of the best go-with-everything blushes I've come across. I bought this online a long while back, when Cherry Culture had a discount, and I'm so glad I did.

I mean, granted, it doesn't look like much in the pan - if anything, it looks kinda brown and muddy and blah. But once on your skin, it just amps up the wow factor so much. On my skin, it's a perfect neutral pinky-brown without any shimmer or glitter. This really makes it go with every kind of makeup look out there. It's also super massively pigmented, so if you apply too much you run the risk of looking like a sunburned clown, especially if you are fair. But that's not necessarily a bad point - I like how I can use a sheer wash of the colour on my cheeks for a barely-blushed nude look, or layer a tad more to give a more rosy flush.

I know my pan of NYX Stone looks really crummy and all smashed up, and that's because I've been bringing this blush with me whenever I travel (well, until it got smashed up anyway). Poor Stone baby got all messed up on a United Airlines long-haul flights from USA to Singapore. Damn. 22 hours on a plane (even with a stop-over) isn't any fun. Especially if the airline smashes your makeup! *Shakes fist at United Airlines*



Anyway, the good thing is that I do have a backup of my beloved NYX Stone, so all is still well (no, unlike these guys, I'm not going to write a United Breaks Blushes song and upload it on Youtube..but I am going to make sure that all my stuff is bubble wrapped the next time I have to fly with United). And if you haven't gotten Stone yet, don't wait! The fact that I'm almost done with this blush (okay, not almost done, but you can see pan) when I have enough cheek stains, blushes and tints for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren must surely tell you how awesome this is.

NYX Smokey Eyes Eyeshadow Palette: Awesome Neutral Colours!

The latest addition to my palette collection is definitely a kickass one - I officially have gotten my hands on the NYX Smokey Eyes Eyeshadow Palette! As you know, NYX Cosmetics is pretty hard to get here in Asia, so I just have to show off! By a stroke of luck, I won it on Makeup Merriment's giveaway awhile back, and, boy am I glad to have this!



Isn't this thing gorgeous? It's so pretty, I can't bear to touch it yet - but I will eventually!

It comes in the cutest paper box, with a very alluring photo of a smokey eye. The Smokey Palette comes in a simple plastic packaging.



Here are the colours all laid out for you in their beautiful glory. I love how there are a bunch of awesome TAUPES in there, along with the standard range of greys.



Have any of you used this palette yet? I'm so excited, I can't wait to get to use this palette and show you guys the awesome colours in the palette!

FOTD Fail: Attempt at the Christina Aguilera Golden Globes Look

I hate celebrities. Remember when I blogged about how NARS and Christina Aguilera were ganging up against me here? Well, someone told me that she wished there was a tutorial on this look. And that sparked off an idea. I may not have the makeup skills of NARS, and I may not have the gorgeousness of Christina, but what the hey, who's to say I can't attempt to dupe her look?

And so I did. And the result was a moderate FOTD success, but an major dupe-the-look fail. And this, of course, is why I hate celebrities, because they'll always look better than us minions who don't have money, time, personal trainers, diet planners, and (in my case, at least) a willingness to sweat. And they sell tons of products promising that you'll look like them, but of course there's no way I'm going to look like them, even if I try.

Nevertheless, I'm sure you're curious to know how the results turned out.

The key to this look is the eye. I know NARS India Song and one half of Cordura was used, but India Song, although a practical duo, isn't very unique - it's actually comprised of a very dupable creamy beige, and a dark brown that has golden sparkles (however I've read reviews that when you actually wear the brown, the sparkles don't show up on your skin, so you're left with just a blah brown). Easy enough to dupe. And the side of Cordura used for her lower lash line was just a bronzey brown. So, I thought, this can't be too hard. I have billions of beiges and billions of browns, I can find something similar. And her eye makeup isn't actually very dark. It looks more like a brown with a hint of taupe, more than a dark brown. And goodness knows I have plenty of taupes and browns.

And the cheeks were also similarly dupable. I know the description uses at least 3 products, the blush being Mata Hari, but Mata Hari is a bright lilac-purply-pink, and looks nothing like what it looks like on Christina, due to the layering of blush with bronzer and highlighter. The end result just looks like a nude blush. Easy enough to dupe, too.

And of course the lips were easy. Nude pink lips? Check.

So with that in mind, I assembled my dupey look colours, and began work on the eye. Of course I had to modify placement of some colours (like crease colour) to adapt the look to my tiny, hooded near-monolided little Asian eye. It turned out like this (ignore the brows, by the way):





Eye:
Milani Snow Frost for the highlight, Bourjois Brun Nylon for the Lid, NYX Iced Mocha for the crease (just a little) and outer V, and Urban Decay Bourbon 24/7 liner for the lower lash line. And Bobbi Brown No Smudge Mascara for the lashes (I know, I know, it's drying up and I need a new tube.)

So I didn't really look like Christina. Oh well, nevermind. Maybe with the blush and the lippie?



Cheeks: Stila Peony Convertible Colour
Lips: Jane BePure Mineral Lipbalm in Amber (I thought it was nude enough, but of course my lip colour was trying to stay in the spotlight that day. I should've used a more nude nude.)

OK, fine, Christina, you win. And that's why I hate celebrities. Obviously I look nothing like her, and will probably look nothing like her even if I bought everything she used. LOL. But that's my adaptation of the look for a simple girl.

And did I say, a really nerdy simple girl? (For the record, I really love my specs. I don't know why. I've never felt a desire to get contacts.)



But anyway, that's my FOTD Fail for the day. Although it didn't quite live up to it's lofty dupe-the-look goal, I don't mind it, actually. It's probably as close as I'll ever get to looking anything like a celebrity, considering that I have to get up at 7.30am and slap on my face in half-darkness while still in snooze mode.