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Here at Neon Bible we aspire to be fashion- and beauty-forward (budget permitting). Sure there are times when a black lip is edgy chic and avant-garde. But for times when stuff like that is too WTF-srsly?, here are some failsafe glosses I’ve used over the years. These shades are conservative and should work with a majority of skintones. Plus they’re easy enough to apply in a moving bus at 6:30am half-asleep.

MAC Lipglass in Nymphette
Supposedly this is one of MAC’s best sellers. I’ve gone through tubes of this stuff since high school! Pinky-gold and slightly frosty, but not over the top. It really brightens up my face, adds a nice sheen to my lips, and isn’t too cool for my skintone (medium yellow-based tan). It’s sheer enough to apply without a mirror. Nymphette works on a variety of skintones too! I gifted this to my friend who has a peaches and cream complexion, and it looked great on her.
$16.50 CAD at MAC Cosmetics

NARS Lip Gloss in Sweet Dreams
Ah, Grade 9. Besides the catfights, boys attempting to grow facial hair and general awkwardness, I’ll never forget my first NARS purchase. It was my 15th birthday and I went to Holt Renfrew for the first time. I instantly fell in love with this gloss, a midtone pink with gold shimmer. The shimmer really takes it up a notch yet it’s very wearable. I kept “nonchalantly” pulling this out of my makeup bag and showing it off to the uneducated masses. Then I realized most of the girls in class didn’t really care…anyways…
$28.00 CAD at Sephora

Victoria’s Secret Beauty Rush Gloss in Passionfruit Pop
I gotta say, the Beauty Rush glosses are my FAVOURITE “budget” glosses. I have a couple of these but Passionfruit is the one I reach for often. It’s a medium blue-pink with silver shimmer in the tube but is very sheer on the lips, giving a nice pink tint. I love the consistency of these glosses; they’re thick and moisturizing but not ridiculously sticky (Juicy Tubes I’m looking at you). And OMG the smell! They smell so yummy.
2 for $10.00 CAD (or $7.50 each) at La Senza

Rimmel Vinyl Gloss in Snog
Woo, finally a drugstore brand. I bought this one just for the name because I love British-themed things. It’s another muted medium pink creme with a plum undertone that’s great for everyday neutral looks. A sort of “my lips but better” colour. Personally I like the orange cremesicle flavour but I know a lot of people are put off by it. I’m not keen on the thin texture but regardless it’s a nice one to have.
$8.99 CAD at Shoppers Drug Mart

What are your favourite everyday lip glosses/products?

– Jacks

I, along with thousands of other Vancouver girls and boys, waited in line and braved the crowds at the Sephora grand opening in Pacific Centre last Friday. Even after 6:30 pm it was PACKED; I’d never seen anything like it! Pretty exciting. As I wriggled through the displays I focused mainly on looking at brands that previously hadn’t been available in our neck of the woods.

Now if ya didn’t already know, Sephora teamed up with celebrity tattoo artist Kat von D and released a line of cosmetics. She’s pretty much the only reason I watched Miami/LA Ink (do people really think Ami James is hot…seriously?), and I love her heavy metal persona and style. Okay, so I’m not gonna walk around in a ripped t-shirt and gold lamé bra but I can at least take a cue from her signature makeup look: sexy, smoky eyes and red lips.

I snagged the True Romance Eyeshadow Palette in Beethoven. It comes with 8 shadows, housed in a slim black case adorned with silver roses. Cute! You also get 2 double-ended brushes but they’re useless for eyeshadow application. They’re stiff and flat…hell, I’d use ‘em for gel eyeliner, lipstick or concealer.

The shade descriptions on the website are bang-on: there’s Lucifer (matte charcoal black), Speed Blue (dark metalic blue), Razor Gray (warm gun steel shimmer), Tequila (metallic cornsilk shimmer), Sinner (metallic purple black shimmer), Rad Purple (matte purple black with purple glitter), Leather (matte dark brown), and Galeano (metallic medium plum shimmer). Everything you need for glam, smoldering eyes like Kat’s is in here. Or try pairing the cream or silver with the lighter purples if you’re not in the mood for full-on smoke. The shades don’t run too cool so warm-toned ladies like me can rock this palette. I gotta say, the quality of these eyeshadows is excellent! Pigmented, creamy, and easy to blend.  Colour me impressed.

Currently there are 3 palettes available: Beethoven, Ludwig (muted greens and browns), and Gypsy (bright green and yellow). They retail for $44 CAD at Sephora, which is about $5.50 per shadow. Not bad. I will definitely come back and explore more Kat von D products.

Have you tried this palette or anything else from the Kat von D line? Share in the comments!

– Jacks

After months, nay years of waiting, Sephora has finally come to Vancouver.  Today at 10 was the grand opening of the Pacific Centre location.  I was there at 9:15 with my mom, waiting in line with dozens of other girls, waiting not so patiently to spend money I don’t have.

I’m going to let the pictures speak for themselves.

So, I’m probably going to get lynched for this review but here we go…

I decided to hop on the mineral powder foundation bandwagon a couple of months ago, and I thought if I was going to make the switch I would go with the best: Bare Escentuals.  For the first two weeks I used the minerals with a regular powder brush, and not with the Buki Brush like you’re supposed to.  The problem I had with this method is that the powder just didn’t blend well and you could really see how much makeup I was wearing.  A few people at work even commented that I had been wearing more makeup than usual.  That was when I decided to suck it up and buy the right brush. 

It should also be noted that there is in fact a “correct” way to apply mineral foundation that I was unaware of initially.  Expert Village has a set of video how-tos that I found helpful; you can find them here.

After I started using the Buki Brush (I bought the Handy Buki Brush from Bare Escentuals because it was the cheapest at $20), I did see a difference.  The minerals blended better, and my skin really did look smooth and perfectly even.  Still though, my major issue is that it looked (and felt) like you were wearing more makeup than usual.  From far away, and in photos, my skin looked amazing.  Up close though, you could actually see the powder and I’m not into that.

My recommendation is that if you are someone who finds that liquid foundation or concealer sinks into crevices in their skin, mineral powder may prove to be a good option because it kind of creates a layer over top of your face.  Just make sure you use the right brush!!

If you already have pretty smooth skin, mineral powder, at least for me, was too heavy and much more visible than any liquid foundation.

Bare Escentuals products are available at Sephora, and the basic mineral foundation retails for about $25.  They also offer a number of starter kits, which include foundation, brushes, blush and other things.  They’re a pretty good deal, so if you’re serious about the minerals, they’re worth a look.

Now I know a lot of people love mineral foundation, so have you tried it?  If so, did you like it?  Comments are welcome!

~ Roni