Real Girl Beauty

For every girl who's imagined herself as Lucky Magazine's "Lucky Girl." Or who's conquered her addiction to the bitchier-than-thou style.com forums. Or who reacts every day to her Daily Candy email with the same: "Who can afford that?" Here are some heartfelt health and beauty tips from one Real Girl to another.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Is That A Lip Gloss On Your Phone?


Or are you just happy to see me?

This one's just for fun. Just for being a girl with a bag that maybe becomes too deep sometimes to find your lip gloss easily. I might speak from experience. Depending on which of the 10 lip glosses in my purse we're talking about.

Get this. Eight tiny lip glosses. That snap (one at a time) onto your cell phone. To be carried around cutely wherever you go. For FIVE DOLLARS. It's the e.l.f. Hypershine Mini Cell Phone Lip Gloss Charms.

I'll say this right up front: The Five Dollars part is what drew me here most. But I've gone through 3 tiny lip glosses now (5 to go!) in the past month, and I don't see these puppies vanishing from my Motorola Razr anytime soon.

First, how it works. Does your phone have something that looks like this? That's where the charm's string attaches. That cap is where the gloss will snap cozily in. Cute as a button, no?

Picture_018

Now on to the gloss itself. Let's reiterate: 8 little glosses for $5. Next, we'll approach color. If you're looking for a saturated gloss, with lots of tint, then this product isn't for you. The gloss colors are subtle--closer to sheer--but because of that, I can wear all 8. The pinks aren't offensive at all--just nice flushy blushy on the lip. The bronze and the red have probably the deepest tint, but both work well with my yellow-based skin tone. So for Real Girl at least, the colors get a Yay.

Shine: Well, I dunno about hypershine. But with a few coats of gloss from the wand applicator, yes, you get a nice shine. The product doesn't go on thickly enough to give you what I'd call a hypershine, but that's okay with me.

However, this adorable product has one significant drawback: texture. I wish I could tell you the gloss feels light and kissable on the lips, but alas...it's pretty sticky. On the plus side, that means it lasts fairly well. But if you're a gloss purist, and only like them free of that sticky feel, then do beware. I tend to stay away from sticky glosses myself. But I'm keeping this one around for a couple of key reasons:

1. Oh My God, gloss is now so much easier to find in a pinch. I have a special purse pocket for my cell phone. But most bag manufacturers haven't yet realized how very many little pockets we need for lip gloss.

2. Fun with colors: I wouldn't normally buy most of this color palette, but the colors are so barely there, touching the lip so nicely, that I do rather like the look of the glosses.

3. Oh, you know this one. Do I really need to say Five Dollars again? (Five Dollars.)

I remain your,
(ever in search of a bargain)
Real Girl
xx

P.S. I promised you something extra, now didn't I? Well, here's the early stages of the Beta version of the Real Girl Beauty boutique! Some of the links have turned into little Amazon logos, which I'll check out tomorrow. I'm also planning on rearranging the order of product categories. And on having a whole separate quick-stop Real Girl Favorites section. Not every single product I've written about is available for the Amazon.com commission program, but I'm getting close to having included every product that is available. Of course I'll keep you updated as she develops! What, I refer to my boutique as a "she?" Why, yes. Yes I do.