Musings of a Muse

A few years ago Bourjois Paris introduced Bons baisers de Paris (Kisses from Paris) which the Muse absolutely fell in love with. These cute little pens that looked like a marker were actually a stain that gave a blush of color to lips! I’ve used many lip and cheek stains in my time but none were every compared to these! The color was soft and not overpowering, they didn’t dry my lips out, the application was simple, and the packaging was ideal! Sadly, somewhere along the line Bourjois Paris diced Bons baisers de Paris from it’s line up and the Muse has never seen them again!

T’was a sad day indeed!

Until now.

I recently came across a similiar style of pen from a Korean brand entitled Missha. The Missha Tinted Lip Marker is pretty much a perfect duplicate of the Bourjois Paris version so the Muse of course needed to try them for herself! Turns out these little markers perform the same functions as the Bourjois Paris and are a perfect dupe plus accessible in the Missha main catalog! Joy! Bless be! The Muse’s excitement can be heard far and wide.

I recently asked a friend to pick me up the two available colors and I was so excited to finally get them I nearly cried…just nearly…

The only thing I could possibly rant about would be the lack of colors. Sadly the color selection is narrowed down to two shades where as the Bourjois Paris version had a total of four shades but aside from that they function pretty much the exact same way!

The colors available are a red pink and a pale pink which match perfectly with my lip shade. They don’t overpower my lips are making them look abnormal. The color is a simple, natural stain that adds a bit of pop to my normal, natural lip shade. I simply smooth onto my lips with the felt tip and I’m left with a beautiful flush of color. They don’t dry my lips out and they color literally lasts for hours at a time! With a bit of gloss I have a very natural looking lip that’s flattering and pretty!

I know of quite a few brands who have done a similar style stain such as mark, Pixie, Sephora, even Urban Decay and believe you me I’ve tried them all but none have successfully created such a great product as Missha and Bourjois Paris has! The lightness of the stain creates such a natural flush that’s not quite been duplicated by these other brands!

I paid retail for these so they cost around $8 USD or so but I have seen them on E-bay for about $12 USD or so and truly they are well worth it!

The Muse loves ‘em and approves ‘em for purchase! Try looking on E-bay or ask a mate in Korea to nab you some! Well worth your cash!

Muse Approved for purchase all the way!

How about you?

Love lip stains?

What do you use to stain your lips?

Tell the Muse!

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Etude House Kissful Tint Chou Review

Pop Apple the Cheeks Lip and Cheek Stain Review

Tarte Berry Couture Giftset Review

Benefit Posietint Review

Rimmel Lip Bloomer Review

Japan’s Answer to Benetint

Albion Eprise Water Face Color Review

The Muse is a bit tired of all the holiday coverage! It’s the end of the week and she isn’t really up for doing more holiday collections and just feels like concentrating on the lovely Fall weather and maybe a Fall collection too!

How about you?

I’ve had the Visee Fall Collection for a while now but haven’t had a chance to take advantage of it but this week I decided to crack open both and give them a whirl. The new Glam Hunt Palettes are quite different from previous releases from Visee but have no fear they are just as good. I was playing at being a good Muse so I only ordered two of the five color combinations released.

I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the Visee Glam Hunt Palettes as I do have a love affair with the Visee Jewel Crush Eyes Palettes and as I mentioned these are vastly different. Although the Glam Hunt Palettes contain some shimmer it’s not a whole lot when compared to previous palette releases from Visee.

The Glam Hunt Palettes have five strips of color that you’ll be using on various parts of your eye. I always find it interesting that the directions for application instruct you to use the lightest shade of shadow on the crease instead of the lid. I normally contrast my shades of shadow by applying a darker shade to the crease and a lighter shade to my lid however most Japanese brands recommend contrasting them in the opposite way!

The shades included in the palettes are two contrasting shades of eyeshadow, one liner shade, one base shade, and a sparkling powder which can be used in the inner corner of the eye to add a bit of sparkle and shine to your look! The palettes I got were G1 and G4. G1 consists of green shades which are comparable to my favorite KATE Glamtrick Eye Palette GN-1 and the G4 palette contains dusky rose shades. Out of the two palettes G1 was my favorite simply because I really adore how a smoked out green eyeshadow look makes my eyes sizzle! The G4 is very nice as well but I thought the liner shade made my eyes look slightly tired.

G4

G1

The shadows are all quite pigmented and blend wonderfully well. I thought the formula and texture was comparable to KATE palettes. As I mentioned above these are considerably different from the palettes you’ve seen Visee release before and I’m hoping they’ll actually continue with the line as it’s quite good.

All in all I thought the Visee Glam Hunt palettes were quite nice with a good selection of Fall friendly colors. I’m not Muse Approving for them purchase simply because they are quite similiar to many Japanese brand palettes you might already own! If you don’t have a considerable stash of Japanese palettes I do recommend trying these out as they are quite lovely!

Visee Fall Collection 2008: Glamorous Hunter

Visee Spring Collection 2008: Featuring a Review of the Visee Jewel Crush Eye Palettes

Visee Aqua Shining Eyes Review

MuseTV: Visee Spotlight

Did you know the Muse likes a bit of sparkle, shimmer, and shine? Obviously right?

Put a tiny bit of sparkle into your looks with Eyeko Sparkle Powder! An ickle pink cardboard box holds a deliciously candy scented powder puff that’s loaded up with iridescent sparkling powder that can be used on face, cheeks, and if you so please puff some onto eyes!

I’ve been meaning to review this since I got my order late Summer sheesh can you see how behind I am with reviews? Bad Muse! But something good does come out of it considering that the holiday is upcoming and I think many of us like a bit of sparkle for this time of the year so here in is an ideal little solution.

The sparkle is in the puff so it’s pretty much mess free! Simply dab the puff onto the places where you’d like a bit of shimmer and you’re good to go! The scent is a vanilla cotton candy blend that’s quite pleasant and girlish!

I think for the most part the appeal is in the packaging in this case as the puff and little box is too adorable! I do think that the price tag is a bit expensive considering it’s price tag of £5. But hey I love shimmery bits and bobs so I’m happy to have this in my stash!

If you’re interesting in nabbing this you can get it now with Free Worldwide Shipping from Eyeko!

Eyeko Touch Up & Glow Highlighter Review

Eyeko Touch Up & Go Concealer Review

Eyeko Summer Collection 2008

Estee Lauder Shimmering Jewel Powder Review

Guerlain Midnight Butterfly Collection featuring a review of Guerlain Sublime Radiant Powder

Etude House Face Brightener Powder Review

Missha Shimmering Oven Blush Review

Aube Holiday Collection 2007 featuring a review of Aube Sparkling Color Powder

Aube Glamorous Jewel Powder Review

Remember I was telling you about Love Clover’s PopChu Gloss a few weeks ago? CLICK! The Muse couldn’t resist it’s evil lure for long and she ended up purchasing a Lover Clover PopChu Gloss in Strawberry Pink for herself.

Honestly, who can resist lipgloss that looks and supposedly tastes like a lollipop? Come on! What sort of willpower do you think I possess?

The Muse is here to say that she simply ADORES Love Clover PopChu Gloss but doubts that many others will. As great as the gloss is it probably won’t be too popular with those who do NOT love Sony CP lipgloss as the formulas are pretty similiar. If you love thick, sticky, and tacky glosses you’ll fall right into love with Love Clover Popchu however if you’re not a big lover of glosses with such a formula you might wish to avoid it.

Although I normally have no tolerance for sticky, thick glosses I actually really love the formula of this gloss. It’s thick, it’s tacky, and it’s sticky but it stays in place and manages to make my lips look fuller for 4 to 5 hours straight without touching up. You might be excited by the fact that finally Japanese lipgloss has a flavor! Wahooo! You may know already or know from reading my past reviews that many Japanese brands do not flavor glosses however this actually does have a flavor however it’s possibly not as pleasant as think. Lollipops? No. Strawberry? Kinda but not really. Sweet? Mmm sorta….honestly it kinda tastes like strawberry plastic if the Muse knew what strawberry flavored plastic tasted like that is! I don’t find the taste particularly thrilling but I don’t hate it either! It is what it is and I’m not particularly delighted or disappointed in the long run! The gloss is pink however that doesn’t make it pigmented enough to show through on lips. It applies rather sheer and gives just a tiny hint of the pink shade the gloss sports but that’s fine by me as it makes for ease of use over darker lipsticks! The applicator is the standard spatula style which 80% of Japanese glosses sport. I love this style of applicator as it allows for easy glide of the gloss across the lips and builds gloss up easily!

All in all I think it’s a rather nice little gloss and I imagine I will repurchase it when I run low. It’s a tad bit expensive at $13 USD or so which is the retail cost in Japan however I’m unsure if it’s really worth picking up if you find it online marked up. I do like it very much but the price is iffy for it’s size. If you can nab it at retail or cheaper the Muse thinks it’s worth checking out, especially if you’re a big lover of Sony CP lipgloss as the formulas and texture are quite similiar!

The Muse sporting Love Clover PopChu Gloss (Do excuse my lack of sleep and makeup! A tired Muse is not a pretty Muse!)

Latest Japanese Haul 2007

Japanese Fall Haul

MAC Devoted Poppy Lip Palette Review

Etude House 55 Kissful Tint Chou Review

Etude House Plumping Lip Tint Review

NP Set Lipgloss Compact Review & Swatches

Darphin Lipgloss Review

So it wasn’t enough that I tortured you today with one really crummy concealer but here I am again with another rubbish concealer!

Meet Bourjois Paris Anticerne pour Petits Matins:

Better known to the Muse as Bourjois Paris Light Diffusing Concealer, much easier to pronounce that, yes?

I’ve had this a few months now but never got around to doing the review! Bad Muse, Bad! Depending on how you see it you’ll be either really happy it’s not available in the US or really sad. This is exclusive to the UK and possibly the Netherlands and a few other European countries, honestly I haven’t checked all the site portals so I’m unsure but I got mine from England.

Now honestly as far as I’m concerned normally concealers that come in click style pens with brush applicators are a NEVER go wrong item! I’ve tried so many I’ve lost count but I do know I’ve always been plenty pleased with them however, with much dismay, I have to give a poor review to this one.

I generally love everything and anything Bourjois Paris puts out however they really did a poor job with this concealer. Although I wasn’t expecting a miracle, I did expect that the concealer would at least cover my basic woes such as fine lines, dark shadows, and just make my eyes more awake and fresh. Sadly, this did nothing at all for anything in and around my eyes. I was secretly hopeful this would be a nice, thick, moisturizing, pigmented concealer that would replace my very expensive Dior Booster Pen however that’s so NOT the case.

I’m unsure why the product fails so miserable. One main problem is of course is it seriously lacks any pigmentation. It glides on well enough and the formula, although not thick, is nicely cooling and moisturizing however the lack of pigmentation causes the main problem. In Bourjois’ defense I will say that this isn’t really supposed to act as a concealer but more of a highlighter for deflecting off of dark circles and creating the illusion of a better rested you but…well..it doesn’t do that either. Honestly, it does a whole lot of nothing.

On top of not doing much in the ways of making the Muse appear rested and awake it also kinda lends a helping hand in making my already dry under eyes even more dry! Sigh! Rant! As you’re smoothing on and patting into place it feels quite nice and moisturizing however after the better part of the day goes by your left with major creasing and a dryness that only the Sahara could surpass!

Although the click style pen is a super plus for the Muse as is the handy dandy brush applicator…if I’m honest…neither of those features do much to impress me after my rather long list of wrongs with the product!

I know I wrongfully expected a miracle but at the very least I did want something that at least worked. This one is on the Muse’s do not buy list! I just couldn’t love it.

The good news is Bourjois Paris has introduced a new concealer which looks promising! The Muse thinks you should hold out and try this new concealer and avoid the Bourjois Paris Light Diffusing Concealer! I’ll try to get a review up of this one shortly!

Behold:

By the way since we are on the topic of jolly old England did you know that they announced the latest Doctor Who Christmas Special for this year! Lord knows, my Holiday isn’t complete without knowing the Doctor will make an appearance for Christmas! The Muse enjoys all that wibbley wobbley timey wimey stuff! If there wasn’t any Doctor at Christmas it would be like the Year without Santa Claus! GASP! Thank god David decided to take time off of Hamlet to grace us with his presence this Christmas! (Hint: The picture is a bit of a tip off for what to expect this coming season! You either already know what the episode will be about or what is coming thanks to the pic!)

Bourjois Paris Pastel Teint Essential Pressed Powder Review

Bourjois Paris Ombre Stretch

Bourjois Paris 10 Hour Sleep Effect Foundation Review

Beauty on a Budget: Bourjois Paris Mini Bourjois

Bourjois Paris Rouge High-Tech Review

Ho-hum! The Muse roped herself into purchasing a Maquillage Diamond Tear Gloss a few months ago and as she tested it she remembered why she avoids Maquillage like the plague.

Maquillage is a brand of make up exclusive to Japan that’s distributed by Shiseido, actually it’s one of several brands brought to you by our dearest Shiseido! Oh why oh why can’t the US catch up with this stuff?

Anyway!

I purchased Maquillage Diamond Tear Gloss on a whim in hopes that it would be better then Maquillage Neo Climax Lip Gloss but of course I should have known it’s about the same thing with very minor differences.

Now I originally didn’t like the formula of Neo Climax at all so I thought maybe by some slim chance that Diamond Tear Gloss had some sort of improvement on it but honestly I should have known better considering that Diamond Tear Gloss was released prior so if the formula was going to get better it would have gotten better with Neo’s introduction.

Diamond Tear Gloss has since left the shelves of Japanese drugstores I believe and has been quietly replaced with Neo Climax at least I believe it has however if you’re wanting it you can still nab it on E-bay or online shops. Mainly I hate the texture of the gloss because it has a bit of a silicon feel to it which in the long run actually allows the gloss to stay in place for hours but still feels very uncomfortable on which is my main beef with the product. Aside from the strange formula and texture the gloss does have a pretty good finish and nice shine plus is pigmented enough to wear alone as a lip color if you so please.

Dress down day for the Muse! Apologies for the hoodie

The applicator is the standard plastic tip which is very good as it fits well to the contour of the lips and glides the gloss on nicely without making a mess! Normally I prefer plastic spatulas however in this case the applicator is very good and not nearly as bad as the one on the Lavshuca Conc Rouge Gloss.

Many raves support the product including it’s great staying power but ado the Muse can’t get passed the uncomfortable silicon feeling on her lips and the raves just don’t hold up to that rant!

Not a stash for the Muse but sadly a trash! I don’t see myself making much use of this and I imagine it’ll end up in the same pile as my Neo Climax!

The Muse recommends nabbing yourself a nice lippie or gloss from Kiss or KATE and skip the Maquillage! You’ll thank me for it later!

Shiseido Maquillage Neo Climax Lip Gloss Review

Shiseido Maquillage Watery Crush Eyes Review