Wednesday, November 27, 2013

BA star Holiday Red lip pencil review

You might remember my last review of BA Star, here, which was of their mineral eyeshadow.
BA Star is a a makeup company mostly used by cheerleaders, dancers, and other performing artists.
When I think of cheerleaders competing, I think of bright, long lasting colors.

The mineral eyeshadow left me feeling a little bland. It wasn't bad by any means, it just wasn't anything GREAT.
Because of that, I wasn't sure what to expect when I was chosen to review the lip pencil. I was mostly excited for the chance to review a completely different type of product from them.

To put it bluntly, I was pleasantly surprised.


When you first look, Holiday Red seems to be your average chubby lip pencil. One thing I really like about the packaging is that the lid has little grooves in it that prevents you from accidentally pushing it up too far and squishing the pencil against the lid.
It seems dumb but somehow I do that a lot. Ha!

To avoid confusion I have to clarify that I know the silver part looks like it might be retractable, it is definitely a pencil you have to sharpen with your large sharpener.

As far as color goes, it's quite true to its name. This shade of red brings to mind the holiday season without a doubt. It's a true red, no orange or pink undertones to my eye.


One thing that immediately caught my attention was the golden sheen the pencil had. Definitely intriguing.

It may be hard to see but the top of the pencil in this picture is after it's been swatched... the golden sheen is just an over-spray of sorts, and disappears as soon as you swipe it.
Also, I don't know what the deal is with the color bleeding on the base...it's clearly not a big deal I just don't know how it got there. I'm unsure if it was like that when I got it or if it might have melted a little here in the florida heat.
Either way it obviously doesn't effect the product, just makes my pictures look kinda messy!


Here is the color swatched on my hand. I think you can see here that it is a blue-based red. Very opaque, no need to build for coverage, here!


And here it is on my lips! I honestly like this WAY more than I expected. It feels pretty waxy but that doesn't bother me at all. The color is so bright and like the name suggests, the perfect finishing touch on any holiday look!

It was also very easy to apply. Went on smoothly and since it's a pencil it is pretty precise.


Honestly, I can't wait to wear this during the upcoming holidays, and even after that. It's the only no-fuss true red I have so I am happy to wear it in the future.

I will be talking about this lip pencil more in my November Ipsy bag review as it's comparable to one of the products I received. And spoiler alert- it's a lot cheaper! Especially when......

You get hooked up with this 50% off discount for my readers! Just enter the code BBLIPS and you'll score 50% off!

This lip pencil sells for $8.75 normally so with the discount you'll get it for just 4.37! Definitely worth it in my opinion!

HOWEVER if you want this baby for even CHEAPER you can snatch it up during their pre-thanksgiving sale! The sale ends 6am Thanksgiving morning.

During this crazy sale ALL of their makeup is going for just $2.99


So be sure to go to to bastar.com during this 2 day only sale! Honestly I think 2.99 is a steal for the lip pencil and I'm going to probably pick up a couple of the other shades!

How do you like this Holiday Red lip pencil? Do you think you'll pick up anything during the sale? Let me know!

Follow your bliss,
Ember Darling

this post is sponsored by Brandbacker. 
All opinions are my own!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Halloween 2013: Pop Art costume

 {Warning: this is a pic heavy post!}

Nothing like posting about Halloween just shy of Thanksgiving!
But let's be real...Halloween is, like, my favorite holiday. I'd like to drag it out as long as possible.
Also, I'm slow. and lazy. but let's go with I love halloween!
pumpkins my friends and I carved...mine is on the far right, the disney castle symbol. No stencil!

Monday, November 11, 2013

October IPSY glambag: The Art of Beauty

I know. October? That was like, 2 weeks ago. I KNOW! The thing is, right after I got my October glam bag...I promptly misplaced it. Because of halloween I was tearing through all my makeup and it just got lost in the shuffle! 
But this weekend I found it, and now it's here in review in all it's belated glory!
 

Friday, November 8, 2013

September & October hauls

Yes you read that right...Yes it is embarrassing that I am writing this in NOVEMBER. Let's not talk about it.

Also, this definitely isn't everything I hauled in September & October. But it's all the stuff I made sure to take a picture of. Ha!

EmberDarling