Review & Swatches ::: Kat Von D Beauty Studded Kiss Creme Lipstick - Lolita II

Do I need a new lipstick?
-Absolutely No!
Do I want a new lipstick?
-Yes, Yes & Yes!
Should I buy a new lipstick?
-No, why would you? You have hoarded too many lipsticks.
Did I buy a new lipstick?
-Hell YES! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

The lipstick that I did not need to buy but I bought anyway, is the new and improved Studded Kiss Creme Lipstick from Kat Von D Beauty in the shade Lolita II. I wanted to get an everyday shade so that I get more use out of it, and Lolita II did not disappoint me. As found in Kat Von D website -

Introducing the new and reborn Studded Kiss Crème Lipstick, the creamiest, most cushiony and unbelievably pigmented lipstick to ever cross your lips. Discover your new go-to color from Kat Von D’s biggest, boldest shade range—40 shades, 3 finishes and never-before-seen shades made to match Everlasting Liquid Lipstick bestsellers.

Price & Availability: These are available in Sephora and Kat Von D. The lipstick contains a total of 0.12 oz (3.4 g) of product and will cost you $19. Compared to a lot of high-end brand available at Sephora, this is a much better price. What I love about Kat Von D is that she puts such tremendous effort in continuing to make vegan and cruelty-free products without compromising on pigmentation and vibrancy. She has beautiful and unique shades! There is a pure black shade, a white shade and bunch of other cool colors like Seafoam green, navy and lavender. And look at this beautiful packaging, I love it.

Formula & Quality: This formula, as mentioned before, has been reformulated from what has been the studded kiss formula. The main promise here is a much smoother, creamier formula and the immense color payoff. Color payoff is absolutely there! I can get very even, opaque application in just one layer, but I still like to apply two layers. However, I was just a bit underwhelmed with the formula. I am so very used to very creamy Bite Beauty lipstick formula but this was not as creamy as those! In comparison to them, this dragged just a little bit. It was however very light wight on the lips; after 4-5 hrs of wear I see that it starts to wear off. It is also gets a bit drying at that point so I need to put a balm over it as well. I did not really feel the formula is anything extraordinary! May be I expected a lot! I would not mind the dryness, if it was absolutely budge proof. The finish however is very matte. I can see how it will appeal to a lot of people.

Shade: I took a bit of time to decide between Lolita, Lolita II, OG Lolita and Cathedral. Lolita II is described as a terra cotta nude. I am very happy with the shade. It is the perfect everyday shade for me. You can see from the pictures here - it is such a nice flattering shade on my skin tone. It works perfectly with crazy colored eyeshadow looks as well as absolutely no makeup just-moisturized face! I have a lot of my-lips-but-better shades from different brands but I am glad that I added Lolita II to my collection.  

Here are some comparison swatches of my everlasting liquid lipstick in Lolita and Double Dare against Lolita II from this new line. As you can see it is more closer to Double Dare than Lolita.

What is your most recent purchase? 

Love

~Arrru

Sephora Birthday Gift - 2018!!!

Unlike the last 3 years (or 4 may be?), I took a few days this time in order to get a hold of my free Birthday rewards from Sephora! Otherwise, I try to order it as soon as it is available on the website. I love talking about this reward in the first two weeks of the year; it is one of the few nice-to-have perks of being a January born!

Sephora no longer adds an extra item for VIB Rouge but like last year, there are 3 options to choose from - a Lip Set from Bite Beauty, a Skincare Set from Glamglow and a Haircare Set from Bumble and Bumble. Read more here. 

I, of course picked up the Bite Beauty set! I have always reviewed the makeup option in this blog, so it made sense :-) If you are interested - 2017 gift (from Tarte) is reviewed here, 2016 gift (from Marc Jacobs) is reviewed here, 2015 gift (from NARS) is reviewed here & 2014 gift (from Make Up For Ever) is reviewed here.

Bite Beauty is a Canadian Brand founded by Susanne Langmuir and it is exclusively available in Sephora. They have lip labs in Toronto, New York and San Francisco where you can go and create custom lip shades. I really wish to visit one of these one day! Anyway, I am no stranger to Bite Beauty products. Ever since I bought Cin Cin, I have fallen deeply in love with the brand. I am positive that almost 25% of my embarrasingly big lipstick collection is from Bite Beauty :-) It is almost a miracle that I did not already own the shades in this set! I have reviewes quite few products from Bite Beauty. 

This cute little set comes with the following products -

• a deluxe size Matt Lip Crayon in Glace
• a deluxe size Amuse Bouche Lipstick in Chai
• samples of Agave Lip Mask and Agave Sugar Lip Scrub 

I know that the sizes for the lipsticks look very small, but I am telling you from my personal experience that you will get a lot of usage out of these.

I absolutely love both Matt Lip Crayon and Amuse Bouche formulas. I have been using both of these formulas in different shades for a long time now and I really, really enjoy them. I was a bit sour when they discontinued their Luminous Creme Lipstick to be replaced with this Amuse Bouche formula but I have made my peace with it. These are some beautiful formula; highly pigmented, extremely moisturising and has incredible staying power! What more do you want from your lipstick? :-) Additionally, they claim that their lip products are made of food grade ingredients. I am not sure if I will be able to point out major differences between the two formula, they are kind of same but also different! The point is, I love them both :-) 

Here are the shades -

Glace: The color on the packaging looks a bit grey-lilac; I was very concerned that it would be quite pale and unflattering on my skintone! But the actual shade is much deeper; it is described as "dusty mauve" in Sephora website. On my skin tone it appears a bit pink than mauve. For those of you who loves a real, hard-core matte finish, you may not like the final finish from this lip crayon. As you can see, these is a still a satin type look. I personally have no problem with it though. If you have lighter skintone than me, you will adore this shade.

Chai: This is an instant LOVE! I have heard a lot about this particular shade but I never relly wanted to try! The moment I applied it, I knew it is going to be a perfect everyday shade for me. Have you ever tried the oh-so-famous shade "Lolita" from Kat Von D? Chai is like a demure sister of Lolita, in a much cremier formula. I absolutely enjoy this shade and I am sure I will wear it a lot!

Shown below are some of the similar shades I have from Bite Beauty in different formulas. I think this year, Sephora did a great job in selecting the shades; both Glace & Chai are going to be flattering for a lot of different skintones. Of course, both of these shades will appear a bit different on different skintones but I am very hopefull that they can be easily worn by all Beauty Insiders!

I am quite happy with this year's gift. I was not extremely happy with Tarte set last year but this year, I know for sure that I would love and use both quite a lot. And if ou fall in love with these colors, you can easily buy the full-sized ones, as these are permanent shades.

Are you excited about this year's gift? You have to be enrolled in their Beauty Insider program to be elligible for this reward. If you still have not enrolled, this might be a good time. Read more here to enroll!

Love
~Arrru