Juicy Beauty
So recently, I went on a bit of a clean green beauty binge. While I was out at the beginning of the week running errands, I visited my local Blue Mercury beauty store. Not looking for anything in particular, I happened to see that they carry a few clean beauty indie brands now. There was RMS as well as Tammi Fender and Juice Beauty. Usually, when I visit Blue Mercury, I always make my way to the Nars display and to the skin care and fragrance areas. But instead, I went over to take a look at Juice Beauty.
I’d actually never paid much attention to the line, but have read things about it online. As a creature of habit, when trying a new (to me) beauty brand, I always go for the lip products. And seeing what Juice Beauty had to offer was no different. I picked up what I believe is a new product for them, the Phyto-Pigments Liquid Lip. I picked up this very deep chocolate brown/burgundy lip color and swatched it on the back of my hand. I was instantly smitten! I’ve been into all the dark colors lately and I just fell in love with the way the color looked against my skin. One thing I noticed was that the color was highly pigmented. That was another plus in my book because I’ve tried “clean” beauty products before (lip products in particular) and they didn’t do anything for me. The shade I grabbed is called Chelsea. Without even thinking, I put that in my cart right away.
Another shade that grabbed my attention was called Reese. This shade is another winner. A deep cherry red with an undertone wasn’t not too blue against my skin. After I swatched that shade, I fell in love again! Needless to say, I purchased both.
As soon as I got in my car, I wiped off my existing lipstick and put on Reese. I wanted to see what it would look like in natural light. Reese is kind of reminiscent of Ellis Faas Blood Red Glaze Lips. I also tried on Chelsea afterwards and that color looked more deep reddish brown against my lip than a burgundy, but I still liked it.
I like how you can build the coverage and the texture is good, but it did seem a wee bit gritty. I don’t know if that was because I had a lipstick on earlier and maybe that I didn’t wipe the color off as good as I thought. The color and texture reminded me of many lip stain products that I tried in the past and never liked. Since these are not stains, they do leave a hint of color on the lips once it’s wiped off, but not the kind where you have to rub and scrub your lips raw to get a stain out.
I did wear Chelsea the next day to give the lip color a full run. It did wear all day, but I would say that a lip liner would have to be worn. The color did bleed a bit. Other than that, it’s a good lip products. My next way of testing will be mixing and laying these shades over other colors to see what I come up with.
According to what ingredients are in the Phyto-Pigments Liquid Lip, they are a “Moisture Plant Blend of glycerin, betaine and phospholipids to increase skin hydration and it’s the Juice Beauty Phyto-Pigments exclusive blend of cape lilac and coccinia gourd.”
Hourglass Cosmetics
Hourglass Cosmetics is a vegan line of makeup with a small cadre of skin care items. For a vegan beauty line, the aesthetic is very modern and clean. Most would never guess that it is a vegan line because when you think of clean beauty products, for the most part, it always has that very earthy, grassroots feel. Nothing wrong with that, but I do like to have nice items to display on my bathroom counter and Hourglass does just that.
So what makes Hourglass Cosmetics a “vegan” beauty brand?
According to what’s posted on their website, there products are…
- Parabens
Many Hourglass products are produced without the use of parabens, phthalates, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes, GMOs, Triclosan, and nanoparticles. Please consult Hourglass packaging for the complete list of “free of” ingredients. - Gluten
Many Hourglass products are produced without gluten (wheat, barley and rye) extracts. Please consult Hourglass packaging for the complete list of “free of” ingredients. - Animal Testing
As a cruelty-free brand, Hourglass does not incorporate animal testing into our development phase or at the production level. We do not provide authorization to any third parties to perform animal testing on our products. In addition, Hourglass does not retail within any country that requires animal testing. - Vegan
Many Hourglass products are produced without animal-derived ingredients. Please consult Hourglass packaging for the complete list of “free of” ingredients.
So, with this knowledge in hand, I decided to try their foundation range first. I chose the Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation in Chestnut. It’s the darkest shade in the range. I also decided to try the Veil Mineral Primer, too.
As far as the Veil Mineral Primer, the texture is so soft and silky. It’s has an SPF of 15 and it almost feels like air on the skin. The only problem is that it makes me look like a ghost because the my skin looked so ashy after putting it on. Even when I warmed it up as much as I could, I still had an ashy look. It’s better suited for someone with fairer skin.
The Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation is a very lightweight foundation that goes from a liquid to a powder as soon as it hits the skin. It dries down to a lovely matte texture and just as soft and smooth as the Veil Mineral Primer. Now as far as the shade is concerned, it seemed like a close match to my skin, but has a bit of a pink undertone to it. When I wore it alone, it too was a bit ashy. I used bronzing powder to warm it up so it could be wearable.
Although the color was a bit off, as the day went on, it started to look better. The thing about the formula is that it kept the oil in my skin under control all day. Because it contains a Cashmere Kaolinite Clay, it absorbs a massive amount of oil without drying out your skin. Another perk is that the foundation is great for someone with acne-prone skin. The only draw back is that it does not come in an extended range of shades.