UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: Bite Beauty Pastille Lipstick in Violet

Good evening! (or day - depending on when you read this!)

In this post I will be sharing my thoughts on the new Bite Beauty Pastille Lipsticks. These have been out in the US for a while but they have just started to surface here!

Bite Beauty pride themselves on producing 'food grade' cosmetics. This means they are safe to eat! (No parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances/dyes, petrochemicals or phthalates! YAY!). They also contain Reservatrol to fight free radicals (this is good!).

I managed to get my hands on Violet and Lilac (I found these colours the most appealing of the bunch - I love brights!).

Bite Beauty Pastille in Violet

This line is inspired by the French Pastille lollies. They are described as a 'Matte Creme' with a velvet finish. Bit of a contradiction because matte and velvet (in my opinion) are different finishes. When I think matte I think Illamasqua and MAC - no shine at all. Velvet is definitely more applicable. The colour is very intense like a matte lipstick, but it has a satin/velvet like shine. It's by no means glossy though!

Violet Pastille in action! (don't mind me looking half asleep!)

I am totally in love with this colour! It is so amazing and bright! (I did not expect it to be so bright actually!). I wanted to keep looking at myself to admire the colour! (is that vain? lol). It is super comfortable to wear too! Not drying at all! (This is fantastic, as most highly pigmented colours tend to suck the moisture out of your lips!). It's a great option if you are still after a bright colour but your lips are a bit under the weather! I did wear this with a lip liner (MAC's Heroine) because I wasn't in the mood for running lips! (Though from wear I tend to believe that it wouldn't be too bad!)

The packaging is simple - grey with a grippy outer. I quite like them because I don't feel like they are going to go flying out of my hands! They do have a fragrance, it's kind of a fruity type - it's a unique compared to any lipstick I've come across. If it was any stronger I would probably struggle to like it.

These are apparently limited edition (so if you are after any, get your hands on them while you can!). 

In Australia, at this stage you can get them from www.stylepatisserie.com. They will set you back AUD$36.95 for 3.7gms of product (reasonable value!).

This colour gets a big amazing thumbs up from me! (I haven't tried the Lilac yet but if it's half as good as this one it will still be awesome!). The other two colours available are: Lavender (sheer lavender) and Rosebud (pink/red).

Have you tried these? Or any other Bite Beauty products? What are your faves?

Love,

Your PM x

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencils

Under the microscope tonight (the theoretical 'makeup microscope' because it would probably be pointless otherwise lol) are the Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencils.

I was originally attracted to these because from the picture they looked very similar to the NARS Matte Lip Pencils (and hence I will be comparing somewhat). I have had a big crush on NARS 'Bolero' for aaaages and I was thinking "maybe they have something similar!". The colours I chose were Bouquet (thinking it would be similar to Bolero) and Zinfandel (because I can't bypass anything coral-y coloured! lol).

The second thing (that helped me hit the buy button) is that they are food grade... SAFE TO EAT! YAY! (not that you purposely go munching your lippy like you're on 'My Strange Addiction' but you do consume some while licking your lips/eating etc). They also contain Reservatrol (an antioxidant found in red grapes/wine!) - using up this lip pencil is the equivalent of 5 glasses of red wine! (but without the hangover! haha)

They finally arrived (yay!) and I have spent today testing them out to report on my findings! Weight wise they are 2.5gms (good compared to NARS which is 2.4gms for AUD$39). The cap is just a basic pull-off cap but it stays on pretty well (unlike the NARS one, which seems to get an air-pressure build up and pop off).



NARS Dragon Girl (Top), Bite Zinfandel (Middle) and Bite Bouquet (Bottom)

You can see why I thought they may be similar! (Especially when shopping on the internet!)

Zinfandel (Top) and Bouquet (Bottom)



Both feel very smooth and creamy to apply and have a glossy finish (but not lip gloss glossy!). After a few hours of wear, they do feel a little drying (but please take that statement with a grain of salt... my lips have been HORRENDOUSLY dry lately so everything feels terrible!). Bouquet seems to stay put pretty well (no touch up required after initial application and a choccy drink! lol). It left a bit of a pink stain too, so your lips still looked like they had a bit of colour applied, even though most had worn off. They also smell a bit fruity (only slightly) when you put them on, and have no noticable taste (lip products that have a strong taste/smell are a big dislike of mine!).



Bouquet (Top) and Zinfandel (Bottom)



In the interest of dutiful reporting, I have also worn Zinfandel to test it out. It is more red than I was expecting... I think it's one of those ones that will play a trick depending on the light you're in - sometimes it'll be more red, sometimes more coral (but that is ok!). It also leaves behind a decent stain so if you get to touch up straight away (I blotted mine off becuase I didn't want to end up with a coral coloured dinner!). I quite rate this colour too (but it doesn't suit today's eye makeup at all!).

Today, you also get the luxury of seeing the products in action! (a.k.a pics of me wearing them - proof I was testing them out!).



Bouquet



Zinfandel

Bouquet is a nice bright pale pink (I know bright pale is a bit of a contradiction but it really is a pale pink that has that bit of kick!). It's great if you want a plain lip but still want that punch of colour! Zinfandel, as you can see from the two swatches, seems to have a mind of its own. It comes up a bit more yellow in the photos, but on my hand, I would not call it yellow based! It's like a blue-toned red with a good streak of orange. It's pretty awesome! (and for those wondering... Zinfandel is nothing like NARS Dragon Girl - DG is darker and more pink based!).



What's also awesome about these (particularly compared to the Nars pencils), aside from them being food grade, is that they WIND UP... YES! THEY WIND UP!! I was ridiculously excited when I found this out... Why? Less wastage! (Worst part about the Nars pencils are that they need sharpening... More wastage! *sad face*). Because they are pencil-y shaped, you also get a bit more precision too! (I recommend these if you are a bit clumsy with a lipstick!). This makes them a great buy as a NARS alternative!

I purchased my HPP from ozsale.com.au (I had vouchers to burn... score!). They are worth about AUD$36 (I paid $21 each for mine though). You can buy some Bite Beauty products from lipstickrepublic.com.au, but at this stage they don't have the pencils! You may find other sites that sell them, but none that I have bought from (and can report on!). Ozsale (for those who don't know) have a heap of different brands on sale, but each only for a few days at a time (so no Bite at the moment but they may come back!).

Until next time, don't eat too much lipstick! haha.

Love,

Your PM xx