[REVIEW] JILL STUART Lip Blossom - The lipstick fit for a princess!

Doesn't that gorgeous packaging just make you swoon?!

Jill Stuart is an American fashion designer, who also launched a cosmetics line in 2005. While Jill Stuart cosmetics is super popular in Japan and also fairly easy to purchase in Asia, it is definitely much more difficult to go to a Jill Stuart retailer here in America. Which is a shame, their products are known to be very Sailor Moon-esque and princess-like, right up there alongside Les Merveilleuses de Ladurée cosmetics (...which is also not easily available in America). I've had my eye on this product for a while and I was super excited to finally purchase one! 

 I took a picture of the little Jill Stuart section in SOGO, Taipei, where I purchased this product from. Isn't everything super pretty?! I really wish I could've brought home some of their other little goodies! 

For their Lip Blossom line, they have a total of eighteen available colors (three are limited ed. and are not shown here) from their 2014 and 2015 Spring collection to choose from. My purchase of one Lip Blossom was 900TWD, which is about 30USD. 

Claims (from their their website):

･Lipstick that gently, lightly spreads across your lips, as though melting, providing a fresh luster and pure, bright color.

･As refreshing as the dew from a flower, leading to you soft lips that feel as though moisture is welling up from inside.

･Provides beautiful, popping color yet with a highly translucent, pure appearance, for full, plump lips that look like delightful tulips.

･A single application can provide lustrous lips, while subsequently tapping your lips with your finger also allows a matte finish to be enjoyed.

･The design is themed in a mixture of Thumbelina, born from a flower, and vintage jewelry. An overall arabesque design of winding vines, and the surface of the lipstick is cut with a diamond shape.

･Crystal Floral Bouquet Fragrance.

I definitely think this product is very "soft" (you can easily make dents in it if you're careless) and moisturizing. Because it's so glossy, I'm guessing they're saying the reflecting light can make your lips look more "plump". It's not true that you can make this matte by tapping your lips with your finger though, it's way too glossy. You need to blot with a tissue or use powder to achieve a matte look. I think there's no questioning that the packaging is just amazingly elegant pretty. And finally, it does indeed smell like flowers!

Packaging:

The color I decide to get is #01, Ranunculus Veil. My lip product collection was missing a light, pink coral color and I thought this would be perfect. While the packaging looks very reflective and made of metal, I think it's just plastic, as it's very light. It's still quite durable though. The top of the cap is a flower with a jewel in the center, and has a clasp which enables it to be opened. You can lift it up to reveal a "J" motif and a teeny tiny mirror! The mirror isn't very useful because it's so small, but it sure does make the product feel fancy. I also love the decorative lining on the side, it reminds me of a carousel. Personally, just about everything about the packaging it enough to justify its slightly steep price point!

Here it is twisted up all the way; seems to have a good amount of product! The top of the lipstick is cut to look like a jewel (which my camera did not capture very well, unfortunately). This little detail is easily forgotten once you start using it, though. As stated in one of its claims, it has a very light floral scent. 

Onto the swatches on my wrist!

These are all just one coat. It's a bit on the sheer side, but has a decent amount of color pay off. It glides on very easily and looks glossy.

Here is the aftermath of the above swatches once I washed it off. You can see a very, very light stain. I don't know how the darker colors fare, but since I purchased a lighter color, this stain barely makes a difference on my lips.

Bare lips after using a lip scrub!

One coat applied!

 Thoughts:

The shade Ranunculus Veil is quite sheer, and it seems like the Lip Blossom line is more like tinted, jelly-like lip balms than lipsticks. I really love this particular shade because it's very suitable for spring/summer. It looks natural, girly, and has a bit of shimmer in it. It's very slippery, glossy, and moisturizing though, and I found it lasts maybe up to two hours if you're out and about and talking. It also comes off completely if you're eating or drinking anything.

I do have one gripe about the Lip Blossoms, and this trait is what makes me not use it very often. They're so moisturizing and glossy to a point where the product sinks into the lines of my lips immediately. Although this could probably be fixed with a lip liner or dusting powder to make it matte, I expect a product as expensive as this is to be able to hold up well on its own without having to do other things to make it work better. It's not too obvious in the photos since using a lip scrub helped a lot, but you can sort of see how it sinks into the lines of my lips in the rightmost (smiling) photo, which does bother me a little bit.

I have also worn this without exfoliating my lips, and it looks so much worse, as it tends to also accentuate dry patches. It is moisturizing, but if you have dry lips off the bat, this particular shade just ends up making that more obvious. These problems are all more prominent when smiling. As beautiful as the packaging is, I personally do not find it conventional to bring out with me for touch ups because of this. As the shade I chose is light and pastel, I'm thinking there's a possibility that the shades that are darker might perform better, or at the very least, leave a nice looking, more noticeable stain. 

I don't know if my problem applies to everyone as I don't see it mentioned very often. And despite my one gripe with it, it's still a really nicely built (and extremely pretty) lip product to have in your collection, and I definitely plan to purchase other shades in the future. I am collector of adorable things, so I don't really mind that I don't end up reaching for this lipstick very often, and its purpose is more like serving as a cute display item in my room. 

Thanks for reading my review! I hope I was successful in giving you some insight about Jill Stuart Lip Blossoms. Let me know if you have any questions!

See you!

[REVIEW] Kiss Me | Heroine Make Long and Curl Mascara Super Film

...Is a super long name for a mascara.

The Kiss Me Heroine Make series has built a strong reputation for having great mascara that give short, straight Asian lashes that "oomph" factor. From what I've seen, the most commonly purchased mascara are the Volume&Curl or Long&Curl. The one I have here seems to be fairly new, and I couldn't find much information about it to begin with. But the packaging looks really cute and implies the product is a fiber mascara that is airy/lightweight, so I ended up purchasing it. I was to curious to find out just how magical Heroine Make is. And what exactly "super film" might mean!

Ingredients:

Water, ammonium acrylate copolymer, beeswax, copernicia cerifera (carnauba) wax, propylene glycol, CI 77499, talc, stearic acid, nylon-6, nylon-66, triethyl citrate, triethanolamine, cetearyl alcohol, polyvinyl alcohol, sucrose tristearate, CI 77266, , PEG-20 sorbitan isostearate, phenoxyethanol, cellulose gum, acacia senegal gum, methylparaben, pvp, fragrance, propylparaben, argania spinosa kernel oil, camellia japonica seed oil, nylon-12, rosa canina fruit oil, polyethylene terephthalate, squalane, silica, titanium dioxide, royal jelly extract

I bought this in a store called Paris Strawberry in Taipei, Taiwan, and I've been using it here and there for two months now. If I remember correctly, it was about 930 TWD, which is ~$11 USD.

I found a short Malaysian commercial about this mascara, and it has clear statements about its properties in English.

Claims (from the commercial):

Contains lightweight fiber that will not weigh your lashes down

Keeps the curl for 10 hours

"Super dynamic lengthening effect"

Can be easily removed with lukewarm water

The cap reminds me a lot of Majolica Majorca mascaras

The wand is slightly curved, convenient for easier application

And you can definitely see the tiny fibers!

A swatch on the wrist. That's a good amount of product...

Oh hi there. My eyelids are hooded and a bit uneven! 

Here are my lashes with nothing done to them. My eyelashes aren't extremely short or sparse or straight...it's just the shape of my very hooded eyes that causes them to sort of "hide" at a lower angle. I'm looking to see if this mascara can actually hold my lashes up and keep them more visible.

The results after curling my lashes (right eye) with a Shiseido eyelash curler and applying one coat to the top, then two coats to both top and bottom. Applied with a light, upwards wiggle motion.

Thoughts

I'd say it succeeds very well in lengthening, and giving my eyelashes a slightly thicker appearance. The formula isn't too wet, which plays into how the mascara is supposed to feel lightweight (and it does!). I also thought it was fairly easy to apply even without wiping off excess product first. One coat already suffices in creating natural looking eyelashes with a bit of extra length. This is the perfect look I want to achieve for my eyelashes. However, I don't like the appearance of two coats as much because that's when it starts to create more obvious clumps and spidery lashes. Two coats and up is where it might become necessary to have a separate wand for the purpose of combing through your lashes to disperse the clumps. I also don't like applying it on the bottom lashes because of its lengthening effect. This is a just a personal preference, but I think super long bottom lashes look weird on me.

I wouldn't say the mascara can hold a curl for 10 hours. It does well enough for maybe 5-6 hours, but by the end of the day, I noticed my lashes were slightly lower and closer to reverting back to its original state. That might be my fault for maybe not using more product, but I usually prefer applying one light coat. At the very least, don't expect your lashes to look the same right after applying versus at the 10 hour mark. 

The mascara is pretty easy to remove with just lukewarm water; makeup remover isn't a must. Given this, I guess it's supposedly not waterproof, but I found that if I rub my eyes, it doesn't smudge or mess things up. I did also cry once while wearing this, and the mascara, again, did not smudge or run at all! AMAZING. Just make sure not to rub your eyes if you're tearing up.

Unfortunately, I can't compare this to the Long&Curl or Volume&Curl and I don't own any other Heroine Make mascara. But I prefer this compared to the Western brands I've tried and I feel like it does its job, especially towards the consumers it caters towards.

Conclusion

This is the start of a beautiful friendship...between me and Heroine Make mascara. I still don't know what "super film" is supposed to refer to, but it sounds like it's a reference to the fiberous aspect. Film refers to Japan's film-coating mascara technology, in which the formula doesn't smudge and warm water is enough for removal. Rub your lashes gently, and BAM! Comes right off.

 I really do love this product because it's easy to use, doesn't feel uncomfortable, and barely has any downsides. The fact that its so easy to remove makes it very convenient to use as well. And it's doing some justice to my eyelashes! I always reach for it on days I feel like getting a little dolled up. The packaging is also perfect for a girly girl like me. L&C Super film doesn't seem widely available outside of Asia at the moment, so I plan to try the other mascara before making a repurchase. 

Thank you for reading this far, I hope I was a bit helpful! Let me know if you have any questions or recommendations or tips...anything! :D See you next time!