Review and Swatches : L'oreal Paris Color Riche Les Vernis Boudoir Rose (204) & Top Coats Collection Matte (915)

Ever since I got the Faces Candy Floss Matte Nail Polish, I’ve been in love with the idea of matte nail polishes. Candy Floss is a vibrant pink color & as much as I want to wear it all the time, its not always office appropriate. It was hard to find subtle colored matte nail polishes at an affordable price. I had heard of the Bourjois Matte Top Coat but it was pricey and I wasn’t sure it was good or just a gimmick so I was vary of spending as much on it. Then this year, L’Oreal launched the Color Riche Les Vernis Top Coats Collection which had a top coat called 915 Matte, and no one was more happier than me when it was launched! Luckily I was able to get it at a discount on Nykaa (there’s a sale here every month).

L'oreal Paris Color Riche Les Vernis Top Coats Collection Matte (915)

This top coat is in one word, superb, for a matte nail polish maniac like me. It transforms any nail polish to a beautiful matte finish. The texture is thick and it looks cloudy in the bottle. It is easy to apply when the polish is new, however with time the quantity of polish in the bottle reduces and it becomes slightly harder to apply coats quickly. 1-2 coats per nail are enough. It also acts like a proper top coat, my nail polish lasts longer and chips less frequently. I’m very delighted with this top coat! On the downside, it becomes a bit harder to take off your polish if you use the nail polish wipes.

Price: Rs. 299 (available on discount online)

Qty: 5ml

Availability: Nykaa | Amazon | Flipkart 

(7 shades)

 Matte top coat over Faces Frosty Ice Blue 

L'oreal Paris Color Riche Les Vernis Boudoir Rose 

Boudoir Rose is one of my favorite pink colors evaaaa. It is the most beautiful subdued darkened baby pink color which is suitable for our naturally tan Indian skintones. In simpler terms, it’s a nude pink color. It’s one of those must have pink shades, it goes with any colored outfit – gold, black, white, blue…I can go on & on. It requires two coats for opacity. On its own it looks lovely but I couldn’t resist adding the Matte top coat over it & I love the effect! On its own it lasts for 2-3 days on me without chipping, with the topcoat its good for 4-5 days.

Price: Rs. 250 (available on discount online)

Qty: 5ml

Availability: Nykaa | Flipkart | Jabong

(39 shades)

 Matte top coat over Bourdoir Rose

I love the look & sleek design of the L'oreal Paris Color Riche Nail Polishes but the packaging isn’t as sturdy as it looks. The cap always separates from the applicator and makes it difficult to hold & apply the color properly without streaks. That’s why I avoid buying from this range. Both polishes tend to try out if kept in one position for long periods so I make sure to change the way I store them (horizontal to vertical & vice versa) every 7-10 days.

Overall Verdict :

L'oreal Paris Color Riche Les Vernis Top Coats Collection Matte (915) : 4.5/5

L'oreal Paris Color Riche Vernis Boudoir Rose (204) : 4/5

I want to give them full marks but the price combined with the below average quality of packaging is holding me back! But I do recommend both the shades, I will definitely be repurchasing them. You should definitely check it out during sales, currently, they are on sale on some of the sites mentioned above.

Maybelline Baby Lips Spiced Up Tropical Punch Review n Swatches

The Maybelline Baby Lips Indian versions with their not-so-cute packaging have not managed to impress me much so far in terms of a “lip balm”. The shades available are pretty great but when compared to other lipbalms like Eos & Carmex they fall short. The new India exclusive Baby Lips Spiced Up range however, is pretty mind blowing. The pigment packs a punch, the formula is waxy so it actually sticks to your lips and keeps them moisturized, and to top it off, it has an SPF 20 & claims to give 12hrs of moisture to your lips.

My experience with Maybelline Baby Lips Spiced Up Tropical Punch:

Does it actually give 12 hours moisture ? Well, no. I think it keeps my lips moisturized for a good 6 hours which is pretty great imo. The other versions of Baby Lips barely moisturized my lips. This range is formulated with coconut oil & Vit E which maybe the reason behind the difference.

The formula is waxy & very similar to the Carmex Moisture Plus & Ultra Hydrating Balm range (minus the tingly feeling of the latter) which is why it sticks to the lips for a longer time. Even after it gets wiped off my lips feel moisturized.

I have the shade Tropical Punch which is a deep reddish pink color. I absolutely love the deepness of color – it covers my lip pigmentation completely – its actually deep enough to be a lipstick but it has a distinct balmy texture which lipsticks lack. It is 10000 times better than those ridiculously overpriced L’Oreal Rouge Caresse Lipsticks (a waste of money imo) and less than half the price ! It survives snacks. The color leaves a pink stain on my lips.

This range gives a close competition to the Carmex Moisture Plus tinted lipbalm range i.e the performance is very similar. The only difference is that the Carmex one is more hydrating and the Maybelline one has higher SPF. For Rs.175 and no hassle of international delivery & customs, the Maybelline Spiced Up range wins, hands down.

As with every Baby Lips balm, I have the same complaint. The packaging is quite weak and the push up mechanism doesn’t work properly after I’ve dropped the lip balm. I tend to drop all my lip balms at least once :/ On the plus side, the packaging color matches the shade, so if you own multiple Baby Lips Lip Balms you won't have trouble finding this one in your collection. Also, the colors seem camera shy, they just don’t look as pigmented in the lip swatches, trust me they are very pigmented off camera.

Price : Rs. 175 / ~$2.7

Qty: 4g / 0.14oz

Availability: Amazon | Flipkart | Nykaa | Purplle

Overall Verdict : 5/5

At first the new Baby Lips Spiced Up range seemed pricey but the pigmentation, formula and longevity made up for it. This is definitely a must try especially for college girls & office-going gals. There really is nothing bad about the new Baby Lips Spiced Up range, if I had to nitpick, I’d say the packaging is flimsy but a lot of lip balms have the same problem. Do try out at least one shade from this range!

Bourjois Paris Twist Up the Volume Mascara Review + Demo

For the longest period of time, I’ve been a stern Maybelline Mascara user! I’ve tried all variants (right from my teens) & because they were so good & affordable, I’ve repurchased them over & over again. However, one fine day in March, I decided to branch out a little and try some other mascaras, and that’s how I ended up buying the Bourjois Twist Up the Volume Mascara. I originally wanted another mascara from them, but it was OOS :(         Just FYI, Bourjois products are not sealed, so be careful when you’re buying their products. If you see the SAs open any product – BB cream, Mascara, lipstick etc. make sure that you report them to the store manager! Bourjois is considered as a drugstore brand even in India, but actually its not. Drugstore products are those that you can literally get at your drugstore (general store) like Health & Glow or New U, but I’ve never found Bourjois products there! Anyways, lets get on with the review.

Price: Rs. 830 / ~$12.7

Qty: 8ml / 0.27 fl. Oz.

Shelf life: 6 months after opening

Company claims:
Two transformable brushes in one!
Use position 1 to lengthen and separate lashes
Use position 2 to volumise and intensify lashes
Its intense black formula quickly builds full coverage and volume on every single lash.

Lashes look visibly lengthened and perfectly volumised!

My experience with the Bourjois Twist Up the Volume Mascara

Packaging: The Bourjois Twist Up the Volume Mascara comes in a simple black case which actually looks pretty cheap (for the price!) . The top part of the cap is twistable – you can twist it to change the shape of the wand. Twisting it to the right gives you a shorter & conical wand with bristles slightly densely packed for adding more volume; at least that’s the intention. Twisting that back to the left gives you a straight, longer wand with bristles slightly wider apart than the volumising wand, this is supposed to give your lashes a defined length.

volumising wand

lengthening wand

Product vs Claims:

For the first many times when I used the Bourjois Twist Up the Volume mascara, it honestly felt quite gimmicky & hard to use.  I’m accustomed to the Maybelline mascaras & those have a drier formula. The formula of this mascara is runny. On top of that, both the wands are pretty different to the Maybelline mascara wands. I feel like the Maybelline wands actually have hairy bristles and this mascara has plastic bristles. I don’t know if the material is indeed plastic (can’t find the details anywhere!) but it takes a bit of adjusting at start. You really have to spend time figuring out how to make the wand work best for you (though this is true for any mascara!) and since there are 2 wands here it takes double the time.

just with lengthening wand

The color of the mascara is jet black. Honestly, the difference between the Lengthening Wand & the Volumising wand isn’t much. The Lengthening Wand does make my lashes look a longer than they are however it gives absolutely no volume. It separates each lash without clumping (see pic above). The volumising side of the Bourjois Twist Up the Volume Mascara is not the most impressive volumising mascara that I’ve tried(see pic below). I mean, Maybelline Falsies Volum’ Express is the winner any day, hands down! As you’ll see from the pics below, it does curl up my lashes and gives them volume. But its not as dramatic as I’d like it to be. There’s isn’t much difference between the effect both wands give my lashes. Both the wands curl my lashes a bit.

just with volumising wand

The Bourjois Twist Up the Volume Mascara is suitable for everyday office wear. But I could definitely do with more volume, that’s why I sometimes curl my lashes before I apply it, this gives a more dramatic effect.

Legthening + Volumising wand :

To get the best of both worlds, you can also use both these wands together. In the pic below, I haven’t curled my lashes & I’ve used both the wands one after the other, going back and forth as needed. I’m pretty happy with the effect, the volume is definitely to my liking & my lashes look quite wispy! I recommend not putting too many coats because the formula is wet and can make your lashes look very sparse.

lengthening & volumising wand combined

Weartime: 
Bourjois Twist Up the Volume Mascara has a very impressive weartime. It stays on my eye lashes without making the lashes droop for 12 hours straight, after which I had to remove my makeup. One thing I really admire is that the Bourjois Twist Up the Volume Mascara doesn’t smudge at all, this is something that some of the Maybelline washable & waterproof mascaras lack! It also doesn't flake during the day.

Removal: 
the Bourjois Twist Up the Volume mascara I have is not waterproof (another first for me!)so it is easy to remove with any makeup remover, even Bioderma.

Overall Verdict: 3.8 / 5

I won’t consider the Bourjois Twist Up the Volume Mascara as a must have, but it’s good for everyday wear if you don’t like heavy volume. I like that it easily separates lashes, doesn’t smudge at all & wears for a really long time. However, there are definitely cheaper mascaras in the market that can do the same task. The formula has never irritated my eyes so that’s another plus point.