Smashbox lipstick and lip gloss
$28 at Nordstrom, Sephora and Bloomingdale’s stores and smashbox.com
Sometimes, it really is what’s on the outside that counts — at least when it comes to makeup. You spot a pale rose blush that looks like everything else you own or a perfectly adequate beige eye shadow. But it comes in a gorgeous tin or glitzy tube that makes you pick it up, decide you must have it and then drop $30. It’ll look fab on your dresser, right?
Such is the case with Smashbox’s limited-edition Photo Finish Lip Luxe lipstick, from the brand’s fall Decadence collection. It comes in a paleish, sandy-pink shade — lovely, but hardly as daring as this fall’s crimsons and plums.
Still, it has a shiny gunmetal-gray tube with sleek, seductive edges and a genius flip-top mirror and teensy pot of shimmering gold gloss for glamorous out-and-about touch-ups. Decadent, indeed. [ MICHELLE THOMAS, THE WASHINGTON POST ]
DKNY lip gloss
$16 at bloomingdales.com
If you believe everything you see on the runways, fall makeup is about a deep, dark lip a la Veronica Lake. But off the catwalk, dark matte lipstick can look severe, dry and ever-so-slightly goth — not exactly screen-siren-worthy.
So I was eager to try DKNY’s Delicious Night Lip Gloss, an extension of the fashion label’s Delicious fragrance. The high-shine formula packs a sweet blackberry-flavored punch, and the color is nothing short of divine: a rich, plummy eggplant shade that imparts a dark hue without the intensity and dryness of its matte lipstick cousins.
But a word to the wise: Sample the fragrance before slicking on the lip gloss, which is heavily scented with vanilla essence (think potpourri, not dessert). If you’re averse to it, this gloss’ luxe color won’t be reason enough to warrant holding your nose all day. [ HOLLY E. THOMAS, THE WASHINGTON POST ]
