Whoa! Stop the train! Pacifica, a Portland-based company that makes perfumes I really enjoy, is offering an expansion of their color cosmetics, as well as some skin care products. Neat-o! I’ve heard a rumour that you can find some of these things at Target, so I’ll be checking that out in the coming weeks. Look at the pretties!

This Enlighten eyeshadow quad looks nice. $14 isn’t a bad price, either, if the quality is nice. The colors look really pretty, a nice multi-use palette – I love these for travel.

I’ll have to look at the ingredients before I’d commit to buying, but I’m really interested in the Alight Multi-Mineral BB Cream. As long as it’s not too emollient, it sounds like a nice tinted-moisturizer type product for summer wear. I wish it had sunscreen, but can’t have everything…

The Radiant Shimmer Coconut Multiples look awesome for lips and face! This one is really calling my name.

There is a face wash, a face moisturizer, and face wipes that are new too. I love the packaging, it’s well done! Hopefully these products will turn up locally at places where other Pacifica products are sold, and I’ll definitely be scoping out Targets to see if I can find them!

I’ve never tried a Nivea lip balm before, but I needed something cheap to toss into my Drugstore.com cart on my last order to get free shipping. I tossed the Nivea Olive Oil & Lemon Lip Balm into my cart, and have been giving it a whirl.

I’ve tried Nivea’s shower gels before (and really liked them) but I haven’t tried the lip balm until now. The formula contains a lot of synthetic ingredients (although no petrolatum or mineral oil) and the olive oil and lemon are towards the bottom of the list. But whatever, man, at $2.99 a tube I’m not expecting much. It’s got a lot going for it!

The stick is one of those easy twist-up style balms. It’s a pale green color, but doesn’t impart any color to your lips. It’s silky-smooth going on your lips, and it’s got some decent hydrating power. Lasting power is on par with my favorite lip balms, which is to say, during the winter I’m applying some about every hour. The scent is interesting. It reminds me of lotion, but fresher. It’s really hard to describe, but I will say it’s not particularly lemon-y. If you want something that screams LEMON, don’t buy this. It doesn’t taste like much, and I like the scent, so it’s all good. If they made a lotion with this scent, I’d totally buy it. As it is, it’s pretty decent for a lip balm, but it’s not at all food-like, which may put people off.

I bought mine from Drugstore.com, and it arrived looking just like the picture – which is to say, just the tube with shrinkwrap around it. I’ve seen it pictured on other blogs with more packaging that emphasizes the words “pure & natural” and makes it look more “organic” than it is. I hate it when companies do that. The bottom line is, if you want something all plant-based and organic, this isn’t it. If you just want an affordable lip balm that’s a step up from Cherry Chapstick (which I pretty much loathe, by the way, it’s so waxy and greasy and ICK), than Nivea Olive Oil & Lemon Lip Balm is totally your friend. I give it one solid thumbs up.

As soon as they were launched on December 1st, I ordered the new Shiro Cosmetics Holiday Lipglosses because HELLO!?! don’t they look gorgeous? I was really happy with the Halloween gloss, so I definitely wanted to get the holiday set too. The colors will work year-round, so don’t hesitate to check them out!

Based on A Christmas Story, the colorful trio features a red color, a gold color, and a purple color. They’re all metallic, but quite sheer compared to the color in the tube. I like the sheerness, since this makes them quite versatile. You can wear them alone for a nice wash of color, or layer them over a stain or lipstick for extra oomph. I really love the Shiro gloss formula. It’s very smooth and not at all sticky, and also moisturizing.

Red Ryder is the red color, named for the Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time. It’s bright candy red with silver sparkle and peppermint bark flavor. It can be layered for extra color.

Leg Lamp is probably my favorite, because I love gold. It’s a shimmery true gold with toffee flavor (yum!) and looks awesome by itself or over other colors. LOVE IT!

Triple Dog Dare, named for the iconic flagpole-licking scene, is a dusty shimmery plum with beigey undertones and a sugarplum flavor. It’s a bit tricky to pull off, but I really like it – especially over a berry lip stain for a nice vampy look.

Here’s how it looks over a berry lip stain, specifically NYC Smooch Proof Lip Stain in Berry Long Time. (This stain is an EXCELLENT value, btw, I highly recommend it.)

All three of these colors are really fun, and I highly recommend you get them. Buy them as a setand save some money! Which color do you like best?

I’ve been meaning to write about this lip balm since I bought it, and keep forgetting. I was reminded of it again when I used it today, so I decided to sit right down and right this review. I was not really familiar with the brand Kuumba Made before I bought this. I found it at a Whole Foods Market in Oakland, California, and decided to buy it.

I was mostly interested in it because of all the helpful herbs that they infuse in the olive oil. The list includes comfrey, calendula, plantain, chickweed, echinacea, goldenseal, and myrrh, which are all supposed to be great for healing and protecting your skin. It also has shea butter, beeswax, and vitamin e. I picked the almond scent/flavor, because I love almond-y stuff, and it doesn’t disappoint.

It’s a very firm lip balm, but softens up when you apply it to your lips. It won’t get squishy in your pocket from body heat, which is nice for long hikes and walks. It has pretty decent staying power as well – you don’t feel like it just disappears within minutes, like with some lip balms.

It was pretty inexpensive, I think it was like $2.50 a tube at the Whole Foods. I haven’t seen it locally in Oregon, but I could probably get my local Whole Foods to start carrying it if I asked them. Overall, I’m pretty happy with it! The company is based in Arizona, so probably you can find it at Whole Foods throughout the Southwest.

I bought Shiro Cosmetics’ Color of The Month because, well, I had to. I mean, LOOK AT IT. It’s sooo pretty. I also know who inspired it, and that means it was a must have, since that lady is pretty much one of my best friends.

So, Nic Cage Raking Leaves On A Brisk October Afternoon is October’s Color Of The Month. It’s a deep, rich coffee brown-black loaded with gold and red sparkles. If you like browns, and you know I like browns, it’s pretty much a must-have color. It is quite sparkly, so use a sticky base to make sure all your sparkles stay on your eyes! I used it with Meowth (now called Whiteout), a shimmery cream color. I used Everything Is Bears with a damp brush to line the upper and lower lashlines. Black Rose Minerals’ Faye is the highlight.

The blush is Larenim Forbidden Flush. The lipgloss is from Shiro Cosmetics’ Halloween collection – it’s This is Halloween. It tastes like chocolate pumpkin cheesecake, is the perfect red-orange color (heavier on the red) and has a perfect texture. I’m so glad I ordered it!

I love eos (Evolution of Smooth) lip balms. I love the pod-shaped containers, I love the rounded shape of the balm itself, and I love the formula. I spotted this adorable Alice In Wonderland inspired trio online recently, so I had to snag it when I was in Target the other day. So cute!!

The set has three flavors, Blueberry Potion, Sweet Vanilla Nonsense, and Watermelon Wonderland. They are all three quite yummy. I’m especially pleased about the vanilla one, since it seems to be the same flavor as the vanilla bean stick balm, but in the pod shape I like better! YAY!!

All the eos lip balms are certified organic, and contain nice things for your lips like shea butter, vitamin e, and jojoba oil.

The packaging is really cute, with its tiny printed Alices, and a tea party scene inside. Also? The usual dimple on the side of the sphere has two extra indents to make the shape of mouse ears! SO CUTE. I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for the whole Mickey Mouse thing.

Anyway, the set was $7.99 at Target. It’s not available online yet, but will be in November. Two thumbs up!

Today I used another new Detrivore Cosmetics color from the Halloween Collection. It’s Absent, and it’s really stunning. I love wearing bright orange or bright red eyeshadow, so naturally I just had to have Absent. I used it with Joy, one of my favorite Meow Cosmetics colors.

So, Absent… it’s a bright orangish red satin eye shadow with gold shimmer, and it is just so pretty. I used it in the crease. Joy, a pale orange-y color with a pink shift, is from Meow’s Holiday Wishes collection. It’s on the lid. I used Shiro Cosmetics’ Badger on the upper and lower lashline. I put Bare Escentuals’ Firelight, a creamy buttercup shimmer, in the inner corners and under the brow bone.

The blush is Nars Luster. Luster is a sheer golden apricot color. The lipgloss is L’Oreal Infallible Lip Gloss is Suede. This is the new 8-hour formula, which in my opinion isn’t any longer-lasting than the old 6-hour formula. However, it’s still much, much more long-lasting than an ordinary lip gloss. It’s a great color, sort of a rose gold shade.

A few months ago, I noticed a new lip balm brand popping up in my local New Seasons and Whole Foods Markets. It’s called Portland Bee Balm, and it’s handmade in Portland (duh!) with locally sourced beeswax and honey. I checked out the label, and because it also has peppermint essential oil in it, I didn’t buy it immediately. I am just not a peppermint fan, so I resisted the temptation to purchase.

Fast foward a few months, and that Portland Bee Balm was still making its siren call… “Check me out! You know you want to! Try me!” See, I’m a sucker for all things local, handmade, and organic, and despite the peppermint, I just couldn’t resist. Also? It was cheap! At under three bucks a tube, I figured that if I really, truly hated it, I wouldn’t be wasting much money. Besides, HUSBAND doesn’t hate peppermint and I’d just make him use it. *evil*

It contains beeswax from Sauvie Island. First, about that beeswax. It’s hard to label beeswax “organic” because bees go where they want. But, this is probably as good as it gets. The beehives are located on an organic farm that’s surrounded by other organic farms. Next, it contains organic extra virgin coconut oil, organic extra virgin olive oil, honey, and organic peppermint essential oil. The honey comes from their own hives, that they keep in their backyard. Peppermint is also an Oregon crop, but I don’t know if their peppermint EO is from Oregon or not. I hope so!

I’m going to be honest – it’s not the best lip balm ever. If it were me making it (I used to make and sell lip balm, among other things) I’d probably decrease the amount of wax, because it’s a bit on the draggy side. All that wax does have a few advantages though. It doesn’t get too soft if you keep it in your pocket, even on a hot day, as I did all week on a camping trip recently. It also lasts longer on your lips than other lip balms I’ve tried, which is a definite PLUS. The peppermint isn’t super-strong, so even an avowed peppermint hater like myself will find it tolerable, even *gasp* fresh and pleasant. Overall, it’s nicely emollient, has good lasting power, and you can feel good that it’s about as pure and natural as lip balm can get.

If you live in the Portland metro area, you can find Portland Bee Balm in shops all over town – check out their Facebook for more info on that. You can also order it directly from their website if you’re interested in trying a little bit of Oregon in a tube. I’ll probably keep buying it because it’s inexpensive, gets the job done, and it’s local!