Juicy Lips and Eyelet Shorts.

I have a confession to make: I have a small phobia of stains...of the makeup sort, of course. But that all changed when I read my sister's Seventeen magazine last month *embarrassed* ;) There was a photo of a model with juicy berry lips with matching, berry cheeks that looked like they had just been freshly pinched. I was mesmerized by the effortlessness and gorgeousness of her look and a few days later, I found myself at Sephora picking up the Stila Lip & Cheek Stain in Acai Crush in hopes of achieving a similar look.

I've applied it to both my lips and cheeks here. Since it's an extremely fast drying formula and I want to avoid the stain from staining pink spots on my cheeks and looking patchy on my lips, I apply the stain directly from the brush onto my finger, and then I apply it from my finger onto my skin and blend with vigorous speed.

I've used it on my lips several times and it has excellent staying power. It fades nicely and doesn't flake off or start setting into lip lines or anything like that, and for a 9-hour work day, I'd probably only have to re-apply it once. On it's own, it dries matte on the lips and cheeks. In addition to applying clear gloss on top, I've noticed that Dior Singuliere also looks amazing over it! It makes the look more shiny, bright pink than juicy berry, though.

As far as how it performs on my cheeks, I've used it three times and each time, despite blending with vigorous speed as mentioned above, I ended up with slightly noticeable pink spots because it began to dry down before I could blend it in properly. I apply it after foundation but before powder, in case you're curious. The good thing about it, however, is that it lasts all day on the cheeks without any fading whatsoever. The color at the end of the day will still be the same color it was when I applied it that morning.

Overall, I really, really like it because it was pretty much exactly what I was looking for, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it for beginners or for mornings when you're in a rush. If you don't have the time to give it the time and attention it demands for proper application, don't even open up this can of worms. Don't say I didn't warn you ;)

Compared to other lip stains I've tried in the past, this one isn't too drying on the lips, but I do still prefer to wear it with gloss on top. Especially for the look I was trying to achieve here, a bit of clear gloss really helps to add the 'juicy' factor to my berry lips.

Again with clear gloss

Stila Lip & Cheek Stain in Acai Crush with clear gloss on top.

I have no words for what I'm doing here.

And now onto my eyelet shorts from H&M...

I love them and they were only $15...score! I had to go with a size larger than I normally wear, though, because it was the smallest size they had so sometimes I feel like the shorts look kind of diaper-ish on me, but oh well!

Chambray shirt:: TJ Maxx or Marshall's

White eyelet shorts:: H&M

Brown belt:: Banana Republic

Gold bow necklace:: Etsy

Brown wedges:: Kohl's

Nail polish:: Essie Midnight Cami

Have a good weekend, everyone!!