Saturday, January 23, 2016

Review and Swatches ::: OFRA Cosmetics X Kathleen Lights "Miami Fever"!!!

I never knew of OFRA Cosmetics until earlier this year! It mostly caters to professional Makeup Artist’s needs. Their liquid lipstick suddenly had become quite popular among the general consumers as well. They recently had collaborated with a very popular YouTube Vlogger Kathleen Lights to bring out two limited edition shades! Today, I am talking about “Miami Fever” which was the first instalment in this collaboration.


OFRA is mostly online only (or I am not aware of any stores that carry OFRA) and they don’t offer free shipping. The regular price of these lipsticks is $19 which I consider a bit steep! For these two reasons I decided not to get it when they first released around the onset of Fall, ’15.

But then, there was the 50% off Black Friday sale and I gave in to the temptation :-) The shade looked quite unique and intriguing to me and I thought if there is a time to try it, this is it! With 50% off and 3.99$ shipping (which is a lot by the way) it cost me a total of $13.90. But I am sure there are some other discount codes.

After refraining myself for long, I finally tried a few liquid lipstick formulae this year. I also have realized that my lips are a bit too matured and wrinkle-y for them :-) Kat Von D liquid lipstick is the only one that does not show up very dry and that flaky. A lot of people love OFRA Cosmetics liquid lipsticks mainly because of the formula but I had mixed experience. It is quite a thick formula but still easy to apply evenly and put on a second layer without looking patchy. But most of the time I am happy with one layer application. The applicator a typical one and it is easy to get a sharp line around the edge of the lips. It dries down within a minute but not completely; basically it is not transfer proof!  But it does have incredible staying power, except very rarely I have seen it disappearing in patches from my lips but otherwise it stays on until I remove it. Every time I wore it, I had at least 2-3 cups of tea or coffee, good heavy Indian meal and multiple cups of water. I am amazed to see how strongly it adheres to my lips. I have to admit though that it does show all my fine lines and makes me realize that my age shows up on my lips. I am quite torn as I cannot decide if I love it or not.


Let’s talk about the packaging. Considering they are retailed at a regular price of $19, the packaging is not at par. It is a glass tube, but it does not look quality material! The product name etc. are just wrapped around with a glass sticker - not at all worth $19. The applicator is ok though!


Miami Fever is a unique shade. It’s a burnt orange with a strong hint of red mixed within. Does not appear much unique in description but it has a lot of warmth to it. It is a tricky shade pull off though. It has a slight milky-looking aspect to it and on some unfortunate days it looks quite “washed-out” on my skin tone. But for the other days it looks quite flattering! I also have noticed that I need to prepare my skin; wear some base makeup, a bit of bronzer and blushes along with a defined eye-look, than it looks much better. I love bold lips; my beloved Ruby Way or Quince looks equally flattering when I wear them on bare face. 


Considering everything, I am not still able to make up my mind! I feel liquid lipsticks are quite personal! So, on you they might perform much better. While I don’t repent my purchase, it does not encourage me enough to check out the other shades!

What’s your thought on these?

Love,
~Arrru

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