beauty

Review: KoyVoca Glossies

May 9, 2018May 5, 2018 MstldelanoLeave a comment

In late March, one of my favorite indie cosmetic companies, KoyVoca Cosmetics (you remember them – I reviewed them in this post and in this post) announce the upcoming release of their new lip gloss line. The product, Glossy, is, as the company puts it, “[…]the lip gloss you’ve been looking for! Its long-lasting formula provides a glass-like look to the lips.” The company launched 8 lip gloss shades in April and I, ever eager to switch it up from the matte lip trend, made sure that I preordered.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhPFWoRn0_C/

I ordered three shades: Panther, Princess Cut, and Rude Gyal. I got my glosses quickly after the release date and I’ve had a chance to play with all three, so I’m ready for this review!

For starters, kudos to KoyVoca for quickly shipping their products! Every time I order from them I’m impressed by the speed of order delivery. That being said, I also was very impressed with the size and presentation of the glosses:

(top to bottom: Rude Gyal, Princess Cut, Panther)

There’s a good amount of product in each tube. These also have a light fruity smell that I enjoyed. Here are the descriptions of the shades as written by KoyVoca:

Panther – a blue and purple duochrome with red and blue flecks

Princess Cut – a golden pink with holographic shimmer

Rude Gyal – a shimmery wine

I swatched the shades then I swooned. The colors are gorgeous, perfectly pigmented and thick without being sticky (basically, the glosses are perfect).

(left to right: Panther, Princess Cut, Rude Gyal)

Here I am rocking each of the shades:

Princess Cut

Rude Gyal

Panther

I find myself frequently reaching for Princess Cut because it’s such a wearable shade. But my favorite, by far, is Panther. It’s deep, dramatic and memorable.

But all that being said, there are still a few things I want to mention about these glossies. These are VERY long wearing! It takes a while for these to wear off, and they have some real staying power even as you eat and drink. The shine is INSANE: highly reflective! I love that these are true glosses and not semi-shine formulas like a lot of companies are selling right now. The smell is pleasant and the formula is nonsticky, so they are very wearable.

I highly recommend these! Check out all of the shades and see which one should be in your collection!

Review: KoyVoca Mini-Haul

December 31, 2017December 28, 2017 MstldelanoLeave a comment

After trying KoyVoca’s incredible Hi Life Highlighter in $1,000,000,000 Babe, I was eager to try some more of their products. I initially reviewed a few of their items in this post, but I really wanted to try their foundations and lipsticks. So I ordered two of the Classic Cream-to-Powder foundations in the shades Savannah and Mali. I also ordered the Nude Perfection lipstick in Vanity.

For starters, my products arrived fast, as in, less than a week. Kudos to KoyVoca for consistently getting their products out quickly! Next, I squealed when I saw the package: the products came in a gorgeous, festive envelope. Can we get into this shiny red packaging?

Next, I was impressed by the size of the foundation compacts. There is a lot of product in them! These also have really nice mirrors in the interior of the compact.

Wrappers on, wrappers off

(left, Savannah, right, Mali)

I’ve swatched the products below. Can you tell which foundation is Savannah and which is Mali? I’ll give you a hint: Savannah has neutral undertones and Mali is warm-toned. In person, I could clearly see that one foundation was warmer than the other.

I was really glad to see that Savannah (the shade that most closely matches the skin on my face, top swatch) is truly neutral: not too warm or too cool. Mali (bottom swatch) will be perfect during the summer, when my skin gets a bit warmer toned (even though I don’t necessarily tan every summer).

The product picked up easily with a swipe of my finger, though they work best with sponges (I wish the compacts came with sponges! Oh well.) I actually applied Savannah with a flat top powder brush and it buffed into my skin perfectly. It looked like my skin but better!

Now these are cream-to-powder foundations, so I was surprised that I had to apply powder on top of them to mattify the finish. Normally, cream-to-powders dry down and look flawless, but these still had a bit of shine to them. No matter: a good mattifying primer and a light application of translucent powder does the trick.

Next, I tried the Nude Perfection lipstick in Vanity. KoyVoca has only a few lipsticks, and each of them are designed to flatter women with deeper skintones. Vanity was one of the deepest shades available and looked like it would be a gorgeous hue, so I got it. I wasn’t disappointed.

First, the tube is magnetic, so the top of the lipstick tube is extra secure (it’s unlikely that the top will just “pop off” while in your purse). Next, the lipstick has a pleasant smell. It’s difficult to describe, but it doesn’t reek of the cheap chemicals that can occasionally be smelled when purchasing inexpensive lip products. And then there’s the color.

This gorgeous shade looks like a grown up nude hue on me. I love it! It’s moisturizing, smells good and looks great. It’s been my go-to “throw it on and go” shade. It may even be taking the place of my Liya Nude, since Vanity is a richer hue with a little more red to keep it from being a “flat” brown.

Overall, this KoyVoca mini-haul was a hit! I have 3 products that I know I’m going to enjoy using over the next several months. The prices are reasonable ($10 for each foundation compact and the lipstick is also $10), and the quality is great! I still highly recommend that you give KoyVoca a try!

beauty

More Product Reviews Coming . . .

December 17, 2017December 13, 2017 MstldelanoLeave a comment

When all of your products arrive (courtesy of Clipart Library)

As I mentioned previously, I bought a lot of products from The Ordinary, and I’ve been trying them all. Unfortunately, the cold weather has made my skin more sensitive, so two of the products – the azelaic acid and the alpha lipoic acid – seem to be a bit too strong for my skin right now. I’ll keep playing around with it until I know, for sure, whether my skin can tolerate brightening solutions right now.

Other than that, I recently received a KoyVoca order that I am SO excited to try out! Also, I’m deciding what other small beauty brands I want to support: I need to take inventory and see what kind of items are lacking in my beauty routine, and then find a small company (or two, or three . . .) that offers them.

If you all know any brands that you think I should try, let me know in the comments below!

beauty · luxury

Review: KoyVoca Highlighter

September 21, 2017September 19, 2017 Mstldelano1 Comment

As I mentioned previously, I went a little overboard (in a good way) while shopping for beauty products. At the same time that I purchased the Nicolet Beauty lip catnips, I purchased a new highlighter from KoyVoca. Like I’ve mentioned before, I love supporting indie beauty brands, and KoyVoca is another small business that specializes in cosmetics that flatter demographics that are traditionally ignored (primarily women of color).

For the record, I generally avoid highlighters. I don’t want to look like every other 20-something on Instagram. And since I have oilier skin, my pores tend to look larger and many products can amplify skin texture. Highlighters are some of the top offenders when it comes to putting the spotlight on textured skin.

But, in the interest of keeping a more modern look, I looked for a highlighter. I didn’t want a very warm, golden product, because I have cool/neutral undertones and warm tones tend to be unflattering on me. So this product needed to have neutral undertones, preferably cool ones, but I didn’t want it to make me look like a corpse (a pretty common occurrence with cool-toned products).

This highlighter had to come correct, or I would never use it again.

I took a chance on $1,000,000,000 (Billion Dollar) Babe.

I’m officially a highlighter convert.

This shade is the perfect neutral: warm enough to make my skin look alive, but cool enough that I don’t look sallow when wearing it. It looks amazing on the skin, too: it doesn’t make my pores look enormous.

Don’t let the swatch fool you: it is far more neutral than the camera is capturing. Here’s another view of the product in different lighting (it captures the cool tones a little better).

I’ve worn this product on my cheekbones, nose bridge, brow bone, and inner corner. I got so many compliments on my “glow”! I really loved how it looks on the skin. So, I ordered some more stuff from KoyVoca, including the face powders, foundations and another highlighter.

Aside from the actual product performance, I was pleased with KoyVoca. The product arrived quickly and were well packaged. I found the prices were extremely reasonable, as well.

Are you all enjoying the highlighter trend? Tell me about the highlighters you enjoy in the comments below!