[Review] Laneige two tone lip bar in #2 Red Blossom & #3 Pink Salmon

Gradient lips! It’s the lip trend in Asia now hailed from Korea and I find it really clever and flattering. It’s basically the technique of focusing more intense colour in the inner lips and gradually fading into the lip line with a nude / skin / another lip colour. The effect is gorgeoussss. Clever marketeers cuz we now have to get more lip products – lip concealer, at least two lippies, maybe a lip stain as a base omg. 

Today I’m going to review the Laneige two tone lip bar created for the very function of gradient lips that has two lip colours in 1 lipstick! Gradient effect in one swipe, it claims. I was so intrigued by this and it is still the only product in the market like that. Let’s get down to the review!

Brand: Laneige
Product: two tone lip bar
Shade: #2 Red blossom & #3 Pink Salmon
Type: Lipstick
Price: SGD34 (or around USD30 online)
Origin: Made in Korea
Website: Laneige website

THE PACKAGING

  

A rectangular lip bar packaging, different from the typical round lipstick. 

 
 See the little button at the side? Slide that down to get the product up. 

 
Innovative yea? It is retractable by sliding the same button up. But guess what, after photographing these, one of the sliders malfunctioned and it won’t retract even with sliding up! Gosh! Had to use a tissue to push the product back in so the cap can close. Thankfully it wasn’t too hard but don’t play with the sliding up and down unnecessarily!

THE PRODUCT

  

Song Hae Kyo is the prettiest!

   

They have 10 shades. #2 red blossom and #3 pink salmon suited me well when I tried it at the counter so into my bag it goes! 

THE SHADES

      

#2 Red Blossom has a bright red-pink and a nude pink-beige colour. 

# Pink Salmon has a bright true orange and a baby pink colour. 

Love these two lip bars as the colours are really complementary and brings out the gradient very nicely. Some of the other shades have more contrasting colours if you like, and some not even much contrast (like 7 cashmere nude) which defeats the purpose.

On my lips!

   

I find both shades brighten up my complexion in different ways! I don’t own any red red lipstick yet but I find #2 red blossom works on me! 

The texture is smooth and glides on easily. It also feels comfortable on lips, just like a moisturizing lipstick. The lighter colours may accentuate lines so lip balm or scrub first. 

The gradient effect is not achieved in one swipe though. Although I like the diagonal slant which helps create a softer effect, you need a Q-tip to blur out the harsh line between 2 colours. Fingers (even the last finger) don’t do the job as it ends up smearing the line too much that you lose the gradient and end up with one mixed colour on your whole lip. I also tried to use the lipstick edges to blend but then you kinda get both colours onto your lipstick, which you need to clean before your next use so you waste product. 

Staying power is so-so, maybe 3-4 hours? I haven’t found any lipstick which can last beyond 3-4 hours. Except Etude House play 101 pencil #11 with a very matte/dry texture. 

MY VERDICT

Pros:

• Gradient lips with less fuss! No need two different lip products. 
• Innovative design, fun product
• Sleek and light packaging 
• 10 shades, each made with complementary colours and good range from light to dark colours. 
• Comfortable moisturizing texture and wear on the lips

Cons:

• Still need a Q-tip to blur out the gradient line. Fingers too fat. 
• Need to be careful with button sliding thing as mine malfunctioned before using!
• Find the size of the product quite little (only 2g) for the price. It is not as wide as typical round lipstick due to its small rectangular design. 

Overall, I had fun! I’m especially happy with #2 red blossom since I could finally add some red to my lipstick collection. I put #3 pink salmon in my pouch and it is great for daily use and the bright orange really brightens my face with one light swipe. 

You don’t exactly need these lippies to create a gradient effect. Sometimes I actually prefer to use different products and play around with my collection, but for something to carry out and you want gradient lip as quick touch-up, then this is great 🙂

[Review] Etude House Play 101 Pencils in 1, 6, 11, 15, 41, 43, 44, 47 & 50

After watching PONY’s YouTube demo, I was amazed at how she could only use pencils to do a full face makeup! That thought never crossed my mind~ although the video was also sponsored by Etude House (ie. it is an advertisement), I was still inspired to try and eventually got myself…9 of these. Power of YouTube. 

Brand: Etude House
Product: Play 101 pencils
Shade: 1, 6, 11, 15, 41, 43, 44, 47, 50
Price: USD$6 (official website) but can be cheaper on some websites or if you buy in Korea
Type: everything! Can be eyeliner, blush, lipstick and even concealer
Origin: Made in Korea
Website: Etude House website

 THE PACKAGING

  

I bought mine in Jeju Korea while on a holiday and they had a lovely promotion that if I buy 8, I’d get this gorgeous pink pencil case made to house 8 pencils! It was love at first sight with the pencil case, and of course I had to get 8! Not a difficult task lol XD

  

Keeps 8 pencils perfectly. I have 9 🙂

    

Laying the boxes like that make it look pretty, no? Colours of the boxes match the shade of the pencils. 

  

The back of the pencil tells you the shade and is also a sharpener! Another innovation from Korea cosmetics. This is really convenient although I realised I dun use it much – just lazy XD. 

It is also a roll-up system which is great cuz I hate sharpening. So I basically just roll the product up and and when I use them, I try to auto-sharpen it without using any sharpener. It won’t be very sharp but acceptable. 

THE PRODUCT

From Etude House website:

Easy and fast makeup pencil type eyeliner with 50 various colors and textures. Pencil for from beginning to finishing of makeup. 

 – Simply full makeup: Various pencils which could be used for eyues, lips, cheeks, etc.

– Rich color with a single drawing: Rich and pigmented colors that do not need layering over and over.
– 5 various textures: Creamy, matte, glossy, shimmering, and glitter types available. Pick your favorite texture and experience the easy and fast makeup
– Long lasting waterproof function: Made of ‘highly functional waterproof polymer’* for long-lasting makeup.
(*’Highly functional waterproof polymer’ is NOT applied to some of glossy type items)

Color System

– Creamy: Soft drawing texture with rich colors.
– Matte: Soft drawing but powdery finishing. Recommend to use as eyebrow, eyeshadow, concealer, and base.
– Glossy: Moist texture that can simply fill up crease. Recommend to use as blusher and lips.
– Shimmering: Delicate glittering color for urbane look.
– Glitter: Glittering texture for dramatic and fancy makeup.

PONY filmed a new video while in Etude House Singapore using shades outside the 50 classic shades and I was told those are like limited edition and available only in Korea 😦 

THE SHADES

  

• 6 – Glittery champagne pink. Good for inner corners or highlighter. 
• 11 – Creamy orange, for lips and cheeks
• 15 – glossy satin coral peach (my fav!), for lips and cheeks
• 41 – Creamy matte ash brown, good for brows
• 43 – Glitter rose pink and gold, good for all over lid shadow base or highlight 
• 44 – Shimmery bronze ash brown
• 47 – shimmery bronze orange brown
• 50 – Creamy dark brown
• 1 – Creamy black

I tried to use all the colours I have to create a look and tada!

All shades are used except black, as I picked dark brown to be the eyeliner. 

Close-ups!

 

For brows, PONY uses 41 or 42. Mine is 41 and it creates the softest brow look of all the brow products I own. Texture is really creamy and easy to draw. Lasting power is decent too. 

For eyes, it’s abit difficult to spread and blend pencils on lids, but they work great as liners – be it the typical liner or tightlining , inner corners and under eye outer corner lining.  The textures are really creamy and colours pigmented and true to its shade.  The highlight shade, 6 is abit dry and settles into fine lines 😦 

For lips, the pencils are kinda dry, especially 11. 15 is glossy satin texture so it’s better. Lip balm is still a must though. But I notice if you use less lip balm and more product stick to the lips, the lasting power is realllyyyy powerful! It’s the most long lasting lip experience I had, with 11 especially. Expect some product to stick to the dry parts, but both colours are gorgeous. Good as precise lip liners too 🙂

For cheeks and highlight, glossy satin texture like 15 is easier to blend than the others. But the warmth of our fingers can still do the work for other textures, you just gotta work fast. 

MY VERDICT

Good for:

• Many many colours (50 in all!) for you to play around. I recommend the creamy and glossy textures. 
• Eyeliner, tightlining, detail work around the eyes (1, 50 or other dark creamy eyeliner type of colours) 
• 41 for brows creates a really soft pretty look 
• Lipstick for glossy satin textures (15), lip balm recommended.
• Lasting power really awesome for 11 though abit drying. 
• Lip liner, can be really precise and pigmented 
• Cheap!

Not so good for:

• All over lids, not so easy to blend 
• Still need brush if you want a very sharp line for eyeliner. Tip is more suitable for smudged look rather than sharp.
• Glittery 6 abit dry and settle into fine lines in inner corners for eyes

Overall I really enjoy playing with these pencils. I use 1 and 50 almost daily as eyeliners and tight-lining, and also 11 and 15 as lippies. The other colours meant for eyeshadows are kinda ignored unless I want to line the crease or under eyes with 44 or 47. 

 

Which shades have you tried and which are your favs?  I saw Smashbox has a Always Sharp liner product that auto sharpens to a sharp tip (sharper than these play 101 pencils) every time u use it.  I really want to try them next! See how much I hate sharpening? Lol XD