Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss in Siren: Swatch, Review, and Photos

I got my first taste of Hourglass Cosmetics in the Sephora Favorites 'Give Me Some Lip' Set (swatches and review) and though I decided to return the set, the Hourglass Extreme Sheen Lip Gloss in the set was my favorite.

When Sephora's Friends and Family Sale came around, I had accumulated lots of credit that I wanted to use in the sale. I wasn't sure what to use my gift card on until I checked out some of the colors of the Extreme Sheen High Shine and came across Siren. I was immediately reminded of Temptalia's and Anna's posts of this luxurious gleaming metallic red and I got hooked. If you were curious, this was the lip product I previewed a few days ago (one of you guys guessed it right!)

Hourglass Siren

Where to purchase: Sephora*

Cruelty Free? I noticed that they mentioned that they do not test on animals and the product says it is not tested on animals so I believe they might be.

Price: $28.00 for 5 grams/.17 oz. No doubt, this is a splurge but look at the color and you might be drawn in enough to purchase it. You can be like me and get it during a sale so it's not so harsh on the wallet.

Packaging: Flattened sleek tube with a doefoot paddle applicator. The paddle is quite flexible at the end and combined with the longer wand, it can err on the side of floppy. Much like how the tube is flattened, the doefoot is flattened with the sides cut flat at the lower 3/4s.

Product Description: "Pure pigment, pure shine, pure luxury: this intensely-hued super lustrous lipgloss is formulated with active ingredients that hydrate and restore lips for an immediately soft and smooth effect"


Hourglass Siren

Hourglass Siren

My Thoughts on the Color/Formula/Wear Time:

Siren is described as a "metallic red" and damn is it a perfect warm metallic red. It's not a straight metallic red (the way Irony from Portland Black Lipstick Company is) as it has a copper sparkle that lends it more warmth and multidimentionality on your lips. The copper sparkle picks up so well in the sunlight, I got a compliment on the color when I wore it to school. 

This may be $28.00 but I urge you to get the color. Metallic red? I mean come on that's gorgeous. I will say though that it needs two-three coats to get opaque coverage so you have to work a bit to get the coverage you desire. It was much easier to get opaque coverage on the lower lip and required more precision on the upper lip. The formula is so glossy, the way it lays on your lips makes it look like you're wearing a clear gloss over a bright metallic red lipstick. The gloss just shines so well on top of the metallic finish. The product feels like a lip creme, thin creamy, and slightly tacky on the lips.

There is a downside though and it is unfortunately the scent. It's got quite the sweet vanilla scent; if you're familiar with the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams, then you'll know what they smell like because it's the same. I'm usually pretty particular about scents in lip products (light vanilla or mint please!) and it can be a deal breaker but I just look at the color and hold my nose.


When it comes to wear time, I wore it for about four hours and noticed feathering after that so I didn't wear it for longer than that. 

Swatch taken in daylight.

Hourglass Siren Swatch

Do you own any Hourglass Cosmetics products? Is Siren calling your name (isn't the name just perfect for the color?)

Disclaimer: I purchased this product myself. All opinions are my own. This post contains an affiliate link (marked with a *)that gives me a commission based of your use of the link. Feel free to use your own nonaffiliate link!

Radiate

Maybe I can finally consider myself a legit beauty blogger now because I finally own an OCC Lip Tar (in Radiate). I'll have a good and proper post extolling its virtues coming up soon so in the meantime, enjoy this look I did with Radiate that I wore to a Halloween Party on Friday. (If you've liked my Facebook page, this was the lip product I previewed on Thursday!)

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I know Hurricane Sandy is traveling through the East Coast so if you're in its path, please stay safe!

Silk Naturals Lip Products: Swatches and Review

I've done a few posts now featuring Silk Naturals eyeshadows but their lip products were a new foray for me. I had heard great things from Cait at Swatch Storm (click to see her links to swatches of their lip products) so I had to try them out myself. I bought these a few months ago and finally found the time to write my thoughts on them.

Silk Naturals Provoke, Joy, and Maiden Lip Products/

I purchased three of their lip products in three of their formulas. I got an Amplifying Lip Glaze in Provoke, a Kissable Cream in Joy, and a Kisser Slicker in Maiden. I decided to swatch and review all three formulas in one post (as opposed to subjecting you to three posts)
Packaging: A slim line twist up tube containing .07 ounces. I do like the slim tube because the shape fits my lips much better than larger round lip balms or oval balm tubes.

Where to purchase: Silk Naturals

Do they test on animals? They do not test on animals.

Gluten Free?: The brand actually makes note of which products have gluten or not for those of you who may be sensitive to it. All three products are gluten-free. 

I'll talk about the price and my thoughts on the formula for each product. 

Siren Song

Just a bit of a preview of something coming up soon; bask in the glory of this metallic red.

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Beauty Blog Coalition Weekly Roundup: Week of October 21st

beauty blog coalition

Here's this week's best posts from the Beauty Blog Coalition! Be sure to check them out!

How's your week been and do you have anything exciting coming up? Yesterday I got to see Joel McHale perform his stand up routine (he touched my boyfriend's shoulder and  said his name throughout his act!), I've got a midterm on Friday, and I'm going to Disneyland on on Saturday. Busy busy this week!

New Sugarpill Offerings: @#$%!, Chromalust Trios, and Pillkitty Keychain!

Lots of stuff coming out from Sugarpill today to talk about!

First off, a few months ago Sugarpill came out with a Limited Edition eyeshadow at IMATS which they then had available as a Gift with Purchase of a Heartbreaker Palette when you purchased from Beautylish's Boutiques. I know many people were wanting to purchase it separately and weren't able to but now you finally can.

Head on over to Sugarpill Cosmetics (affiliate link) to get your hands on the lovely (but impossibly named?) eyeshadow but act quick because it's only available for 3 days, October 19th-21st! Feel free to check out my swatch and comparison of @#$%! with Love+ here for reference! I know it might be difficult for some to justify owning both so definitely take the swatches into consideration. I think even if you own Love+, @#$%! is worth picking up since it isn't as close to Love+ as you might think at first glance. @#$%! is $12.00 oh and it is not vegan.

@#$%! banner

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Next up, the Chromalust trios are here. I mentioned seeing them a year ago at the Beautylish Beauty Social, and they were available online on Beautylish's site and now you can get them on Sugarpill's site. There are four different trios available. 


The Atomic trio contains Lumi, Decora, and Royal Sugar, The Frostbitten trio contains Birthday Girl, Tiara, and Darling. The Reckless trio contains Absinthe, Starling, and Stella. Lastly, the Zillionaire trio contains Goldilux, Junebug, and Hysteric. 

The trios are $30.00 each, valued at $36.00

chromalust trios

Lastly, there's a new accessory out for the hardcore Sugarpill fans in the form of an adorable Pillkitty keychain! This costs $6.00 and looks super cute.

pillkitty keychain
Get to Sugarpill quick to snatch everything up!

As a warning, expect it to take a little while longer for you to get your package. I'm sure there's tons of people trying to get ahold of @#$%! and the Chromalust trios.

Disclaimer: The affiliate links are noted and there are also affiliate links in the picture. I'm affiliated with Sugarpill Cosmetics since I have an affiliate account with them though I wouldn't be supporting them if I didn't like the brand. My thoughts and opinions are my own. The affiliate links give me a commission based off your use of the link. If you don't feel comfortable using the affiliate link, feel free to use this nonaffiliate link. (Sugarpill Cosmetics)

Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Lip Sampler Set: Swatches and Thoughts

I've got quite a fondness for sampler sets, especially the Sephora Favorites sets. They're a cost effective way to try out offerings from some of the popular Sephora brands for essentially the price of a full size item. This Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Lip set called out to me because it was full of lip products and included products from Bite Beauty, Hourglass, and Tarte which were brands I've had my eye on for ages. I got the set months ago with the use of a gift card I had hoarded.

That being said, I wish I liked this set more, I really do. I had really high hopes but they were dashed when I tried the products on and got a whiff of the scents. The products themselves aren't bad and if you're in the market for work friendly pinks and neutrals with a range of opacity, then it's the perfect set for you. I felt really sensitive to the scents which just made wearing the products an offputting experience.

The set includes six lip products, two of which are full size but the rest are nearly are.

(The group picture isn't color accurate so refer to the individual item pictures instead!)

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Price: $25.00. The estimated value of the products inside is said to be more than $79.00. My math calculated the value out to be $96.67.

Where to Purchase: This is limited edition and available at Sephora online and it looks like it might be available in select stores!

Cruelty Free?: Bite Beauty, Fresh, Hourglass, Laura Mercier, and Tarte are cruelty free brands. Sephora Collection used to be until they recently started selling in China which means they are now not.

Product Description: "A set of six perfect pink and nude lip products from glosses, treatments, tints, and shines." I'll be talking about the individual formulas and my thoughts for each lip product.

Click thru to see pictures, lip swatches, and my thoughts on each product!

One Color Wonder: Darling Girl Jeweled Taupe

Since I haven't been wearing much complicated makeup lately, I thought I'd take the time to do features on my favorite "one and done" eyeshadows (cream or powder) that I wear when I want to have makeup on but want something with more "oomph". I've mentioned that Darling Girl Cosmetics' Persuasion was one of my favorites and here's another one from the brand, Jeweled Taupe.

Darling Girl Jeweled Taupe Eyeshadow

Jeweled Taupe is described as "an amazing, metallic, bronzey taupe with multi-colored shimmer like tiny little jewels". The multi-colored glitter within the base acts like a duochrome when you put it on. When it's on the lid, the glitter isn't as apparent but when you blend into the crease and the light hits it at the right angle, you get a great flash of the color.


This is one of Darling Girl's top selling eyeshadows and it is not surprising to see why. Because of the glitter, you do need to use a glitter fixative underneath but I think the color is most definitely worth it. I pretty much declare that if you were to own any of DG's eyeshadows, this would be it. You ain't a DG customer til you own this is all I'm saying. Do you already own it?


Life-wise, I'm really hoping to be less busy with school. I took the GRE yesterday (nailed it because I did better than average!) and studying for that was taking up most of my time lately. There are a few midterms coming up but I'm hoping to get those out of the way and get back to blogging (at least before I start grad school applications!)

(Belated) Birthday Giveaway Winners!

I didn't feel up for blogging for last week since I had a few major tests last week plus this week I'm taking the GRE (the dastardly standardized test for grad school) on Thursday (wish me luck!). I may have a few posts queued up for this week but I can't promise anything of substance.

Anyway, I finally finished moderating giveaway entries and am happy to announce winners.

The winner of the Sugarpill @#$%! Eyeshadow...

sugarpill winner

Alexis C of Smokin Colour!

The winner of the Portland Black Lipstick Company Giveaway is...


portland black winner

Shelli Z of Polish Follies!

The winner of the Darling Girl Cosmetics Gift Certificate and Mai Holo Gloss is...


darling girl winner

Nikki A of Confessions of a Makeup Addict

The winner of the Fyrinnae Cosmetics Gift Certificate is...


fyrinnae winner

Taura M of The Glam Kitty!

and last but not least, the winner of the OCC Lip Tar of their choice...


occ lip tar winner

Emily P of Makeup Fancy! (I've been reading Emily's blog for a long time so it made me super happy that she won!)

Everyone, email me within a week to claim your prize. My contact info and contact form are under the "Contact Me/PR" tab. Alexis, Nikki, Taura, and Emily, I will be sending your prize after you've contacted me. Shelli, I will forward your information to the owner of Portland Black Lipstick Company so she can send out your prize!