Category Archives: Milani

Drugstore Makeup Quick Reviews & Swatches, Part II

Milani Lip Flash gloss pencil in Hot Flash

It’s time for Round Two of drugstore makeup mini reviews (you can find round one here)! I seem to buy a lot of inexpensive drugstore makeup items, and never get around to reviewing them.  Rather than let them languish in my unreviewed drawer, I’m posting some brief thoughts and swatches.

When I bought Milani Black Cherry lipstick, all the Milani Lip Flash gloss pencils were also on clearance – though I stopped by the same Walgreen’s today, and everything was back to regular price. Perhaps it was some kind of mistake?  I picked up Hot Flash, an intensely pigmented and shimmery metallic red.  I rarely wear shimmer on my lips, so I’m not sure how often I personally will wear this, but I can definitely see the appeal.

Milani Hot Flash

The texture is nice – smooth, only the slightest bit sticky, and comfortable to wear.  If the color appeals to you, I think this is worth buying.

I’ve reviewed (and love!) several Jordana Easyliners for Lips, so I thought it was worth trying out a couple of the Easyliners for eyes. Like the lip pencils, the eye pencils are fully retractable, soft, pigmented, and creamy.  The colors are bright and pretty.  However, on the eyes, I found that they faded rather quickly.

Jordana Sea Green, Blue Devine, Purple Fusion

Overall, the Jordana Easyliners for eyes are nice choice to experiment with colors you don’t normally wear for a low price, but I’d go for something longer lasting if you plan to use them frequently.

ELF Matte Lip Color in Rich Red

ELF Matte Lip Color in Rich Red is definitely one of ELF’s better products.  It’s a “modern matte” – mostly matte, but with a slight sheen.  In an arm swatch, this pulled a bit pink on me, but freshly applied on the lips, it’s a true red, and a lovely one.

However, I found it faded fairly quickly to a pink-red color (keep in mind that most reds pull pink on me).  If that doesn’t bother you, this is probably a good choice – it’s affordable, comfortable to wear, and long lasting.  But, if the fading bothers you, I’d skip this one – the drugstore is full of affordable and fabulous reds!

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This post is from Project Swatch. All rights reserved.

Milani Black Cherry Lipstick Review & Swatches

About a week ago, I came across some lipsticks on clearance at Walgreens, and bought Milani Color Perfect Lipstick in Black Cherry half-off; a total impulse buy, with no research done at all.  I expected it to be a deep berry vamp, akin to how Revlon Black Cherry looks on me – but it’s much darker and more purple, which was a pleasant surprise. (And, despite being on clearance, it’s still on the Milani website with no indication of being discontinued).

Milani Black Cherry swatches very nicely – bold, pigmented color in just one swipe.  It’s creamy, but not too slippery, and feels moisturizing when worn.

However, on the lips, the texture is quite difficult to work with – it settles into lip lines, attaches to any dry skin on my lips, and makes my lips look like they are in really terrible condition – when really, they aren’t.  I applied it two ways; first, as a light stain:

And then full strength with a lip brush – I should have removed the stain first, you can see the soft edges of the stain still:

The color is absolutely gorgeous, and it definitely looks much better from a normal distance than up close – but up close, it looks quite bad.  The color is clinging to every single dry flake on my lips.

So, overall I (regretfully!) have to recommend that you skip this one unless your lips are in exceptionally good shape. It’s a gorgeous color for a great price, but the formula just isn’t good enough, especially for such an attention-getting color.

(Update! Milani reformulated their lipsticks, and rereleased Black Cherry with a new & improved formula: swatches & review here.)

Milani 02 Blue Definition Color Play Eyeliner Review, Swatches, Photos

I was at Walgreen’s earlier today, and stumbled upon an almost-full display of Milani’s new, limited edition Color Play felt-tip liquid eyeliner pens.  Having read Vampy Varnish’s excellent review a few days ago, I decided to buy the blue – 02 Blue Definition.  I think I paid around $6.

Here’s a three word review: I LOVE IT.

Milani Blue Definition Color Play Eyeliner

And the longer review: The tip is very fine, and it’s remarkably easy to get a thin, precise line, which doesn’t feather at all. The blue is a lovely shade, and completely opaque.  My current favorite black pen-style liquid liner is the Physician’s Formula’s Eye Booster Eyeliner, but I find this one much easier to use; I’m considering going back and buying the black.

Here is a sample look – this is Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadow in Bad to the Bronze, applied lightly, with Burberry Trench eyeshadow on top.  Lined, of course, with Milani Color Play in 02 Blue Definition. I realized when cropping the photo that I forgot to wear mascara and got blue liner on my eyelashes; oops!

And, in some personal news – Zoe’s surgery (my dog; see here) went very well, and she is now home, wearing an enormous cone, and fast asleep.  Picture of her glaring at the camera in her cone..

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This post is from Project Swatch. All rights reserved.