Anastasia Lip Gloss... New Favorite!

Hi everyone! So if I'm bringing the blog out of hibernation... it's gotta be some good material, right?! Well, that IS the case. Plus, I've got 4th of July company here who I don't want to wake by shooting a video right now, so I'm opting for blogging. Let's hope I can keep this up with some regularity- because I miss writing! Anyway... my point: I tried this new Anastasia Summer Mini lip gloss set (ordered it from the ABH website along with the Modern Renaissance palette and a couple of other things)... and it REALLY impressed me.  

I've never tried the Anastasia lip gloss before, and I've only tried one of the line's very popular liquid lipsticks. Sometimes social media hype surrounding a product actually makes me run in the opposite direction. I don't know whether it's skepticism, doubt, or just not wanting to be ga-ga over the same stuff everyone else is ga-ga over. But when this kid sees a $28 6-piece lip gloss set with what appears to be "my shades"... you can bet I'm going to give that a go. SO GLAD I DID. Here are the reasons, in a nutshell: 

• CONSISTENCY: Non-sticky, comfortable glosses that still manage to have full color... and assuming you've applied them pretty evenly and haven't gooped on too much, the wear-down of these is pretty even on the lips & actually looks quite nice, even without the shine of the gloss. And the applicator is perfect for this texture (I'll explain more in a minute). 
• COLOR INTENSITY: I love what-you-see-is-what-you-get types of lip colors! Glosses tend to have an ESPECIALLY hard time pulling this off, and if they do, they end up being a super thick, near-liquid lacquer type of texture. These maintained a comfortable feel while looking exactly how I expected them to look on my lips. The shine is also FANTASTIC.
• SCENT: I feel a bit nostalgic whenever I twist one of these open... because it smells like one of the first lip glosses I ever really started using. Does anyone remember Bonne Belle Lip Lites? I believe there was a color called Cappuccino- a brownish-neutral gloss. I think that's exactly what these smell like. It's the sweet vanilla scent that so many lip products have-- plus something a little extra/more complex. 
• COLOR SELECTION: The assortment of colors in this kit is just PERFECTION. A couple of neutrals, a classic pink, something with a pearly sheen that I actually don't hate, plus stunning berry colors that you KNOW I love. According to the ABH site, these are "all-new summer shades"... so I'm not sure if they're being adopted into the regular line or not, but whatever the case, this is a great bunch of shades.  

Swatches left to right: Toffee, Caramel, Blushing, St. Tropez, Tango, Grape Jelly 

Unlike the typical doe-foot applicators in many glosses, the applicators for these are more flattened-out. In the picture above, I'm holding it at a 45 degree angle so hopefully you can see that. The center of this little paddle seems to hold the most product, while the sides get nicely cleaned off when the applicator is pulled from the tube. I think this makes application really easy because the non-goopy sides let you get nice clean edges on your lip line. With shades that are so full color, I'm extra impressed by the quick, non-fussy application. 

(click photo to enlarge)

Top, L-R: Toffee, Caramel, Blushing

Bottom, L-R: St. Tropez, Tango, Grape Jelly

There's not a dud in this group, in my opinion. And it might be that they happened to include a bunch of colors that I would truly be prone to wearing on a regular basis... I know not everyone has the same taste as me! But I really appreciated how full color those lighter neutrals across the top row managed to be. Not sheer at all! And the really cool thing about St. Tropez, which has the pearly finish, is that it doesn't actually have identifiable flecks of sparkle. So you don't run into that awkward situation where the color wears down and your lips are still plastered with glitter. It's just a creamy, yet pearly gloss that I actually really like. Still, be aware that St. Tropez looks best when freshly applied (the wear-down just seems more obvious with that one). But then not one, but two berry shades. Tango is a bit deeper, practically fall-like, and then then Grape Jelly is my JAM (pun intended)... it's a bit more adventurous but I love the amount of purple in that shade. Ultimately I'm fascinated by the fact that I can wear these bold shades and not feel an uncomfortable amount of stickiness/cling on lips... yet they don't bleed outside my lips or get sloppy. I'm not sure I can explain how that's happening, but it is. 

Bottom Line: I think this little kit of glosses was well worth the $28 price tag. One of my favorite recent purchases, for sure. What's kind of odd is that the only place I've found them online is the actual ABH site (anastasiabeverlyhills.com). The amount per gloss is .07 oz, but being the lip product junkie that I am, I really don't mind a downsized lip product... it's still seems ample to me. I hope this review was helpful, and let me know if you've found any must-try shades from this line!
(FYI: This set was purchased by me and this is not a sponsored post) 

♥

Daily Nuggets...

• Even though the 4th of July weekend was pretty rainy, we still had a great time with some amazing food. Life has been pretty busy lately so it felt like the 4th crept up on us before we made much of a plan for it. But we pulled a little something together and Bub made the best ribs I've ever tasted!
• We do have a lot of leftovers, so to everyone who asked on Twitter- come on over! haha!
• My makeup all weekend was pretty low maintenance, but I'm thinking about sharing the look and the products I enjoyed.
• Hoping to have a new video up tomorrow. Thanks for all the awesome feedback on the Singles Cruise challenge video! It was great to put those eyeshadow singles to work!
• How is the weekend over already??