N.Y.C. Ultra Moist LipWear

During my 'mini haul' on Saturday I picked up 2 Ultra Moist LipWear lipsticks. N.Y.C. is a really 'picked on' and ignored brand and one I've never really even tried, but I was in the mood to buy stuff and broke so I went for the cheap stuff, $0.98 each. Sadly this lipstick only comes in 10 shades of the original 20 (see them here) and of them only 5 were in stock. It contains Vitamin E which is suppose to moisturize and condition and give 'a kissable shine.' I got it Violet Shine and Cafe.

I've heard some people complain about the cheap case (seriously, what do you expect for a dollar?) but I actually like the clear cap. Yea, it looks a little cheap and I suspect it could crack pretty easy in a bag, but I like the fact it's clear. I have so many lipsticks and I can never remember exactly what each shade looks like so this way I can just look without the hassle of taking off all the caps.

Violet Shine on the left, Cafe on the right (sorry about the bad quality).

Swacthed on my forearm. Cafe on the left, Violet Shine on the right.

Violet Shine on the lips. A rosey, red tinted pink.

Cafe on the lips. A light bronzey/coppery brown.

As you can see both colors are pretty frosted with a silver shine to them. Because of the frostiness it seems to accentuate any roughness or cracks in your lips so make sure to smooth them out and put some balm on first. Both go on a bit sheer and so creamy that you have to work a little bit to get color, but they are definitely moisturizing. As with a lot of cream based lipsticks I find it doesn't seem to 'stick' to my lips very well. Both are soft colors, a little bland, and not very sharp or defined like matte colors. Also due to the consistency the staying power is nothing special, the color seems to disappear quite quickly even without eating or drinking. Violet Shine is a misleading name, but a very pretty color and I find both are quiet wearable for me. Overall, they make good casual everyday lip colors I think, not for going out or special occasions, but for class, work, and to the grocery store. I think I consider them more of a tinted lip balm than lipstick. While they were nothing amazing they were dirt cheap and not absolute rubbish so no real complaints here.

Packaging: 3 of 5
Smell: N/A
Color: 3 of 5
Consistency: 3 of 5
Staying Power: 2.5 of 5
Buy again?: Probably not

N.Y.C. Light Beam Lipgloss

Several months ago my friend got several Rimmel Light Beam After Dark Lipglosses. They're slightly chunky squares with a small mirror on the side and an LED light in the cap that can be turned on but a small button in the cap. While they are a little on the tacky gimmicky side I really liked the idea and thought it would be handy to have one kicking around my purse is soley for the light and mirror. Yes I don't really NEED a light to put lip gloss on, but it could be useful in dark bathrooms and clubs etc. I've been looking (somewhat passively) so them ever since she got them but never manged to find one.

Rimmel Light Beam After Dark Lipgloss $6-8

Enter New York Colors (N.Y.C.). During my idle visit to Wal-Mart Saturday I saw a small display of NYC lipglosses on sale. The N.Y.C. Light Beam Lipgloss looks exactly like the Rimmel version, but only $2.50 instead of $6+. I have no idea what they normally retail at, they aren't even listed on the N.Y.C. site when I looked just now, so I take this to mean they are discontinued? Anyways, for that price I grabbed one, not even expecting much out of the lipgloss itself but just for the sake of having a little emergency light and mirror in my bag. A clear gloss would have been ideal but they didn't have any so I picked up a light pink shade called Runway Lights.

N.Y.C. Light Beam Lipgloss $2.50
Little mirror on the side

Small light power button on cap

With the LED light in the cap on

Small LED light in upper left corner of cap, not on.

Overall the packaging seems a little clunky for me. The square shape is a little thick and squat, but it's lightweight. The lipgloss smells wonderful, like bubble gum! Application is on the sheer side, but still a noticeable shine and a little sparkle without being middle schooly glittery. The consistency is a little sticky but not too thick. It doesn't spread well and it took me a lot of dips back into the bottle to apply a coat all over my lips. Between the tasteyness, texture, and fainter color the staying power is pretty limited, but once again I didn't really buy this for the gloss. Overall I'm happy with it and got exactly what I expected; a fun handy container and some run of the mill gloss.

A very sheer nude color on the lips.

Packaging: 4 of 5
Smell: 5 of 5
Color: 4 of 5
Consistency: 3.5 of 5
Staying Power: 2.5 of 5
Buy again?: For the same price, Yes.