Starlooks - March 2014

ASHLEY HACKMAN
SIGNATURE EDITION STARBOX

     

I am absolutely determined to catch up with my March subscription boxes! If you follow me on my Facebook page, you may have seen my latest status regarding why these posts are so late. I LITERALLY blame the weather, hahaha! I've been wanting to purchase a natural lighting photography umbrella, but I haven't as of yet, so the way I take my photos is with natural outdoor light filtered through a white curtain at my window. If the weather is horrible, dark and rainy, the photos never come out well, they're always blurry, fuzzy or too dark. I've tried using flash, but that never looks natural either. ANYHOW, we have had a huge bout of rain all this past week...."Oh April shoooooowers, may come your waaaaaaay, they bring the flooooowers that bloom in Maaaaaaay...." ok, well you get the idea. ::giggles:: So I have tried MULTIPLE times to take photos, and I've had to redo them on several occasion. HENCE.....lateness. To all of my lovely followers, I am SO SORRY! I should be able to catch up with them this weekend and also bring you some of the sneak peeks that have begun! Woohoo!....ok moving on....

"This classic, androgynous, Marilyn Monroe mix look screams “GIRL POWER! Everything you can do, I can do better. Everything you can do, I can do too! Show ‘em who’s BOSS this month with the March 2014 Starbox – featuring products chosen personally by Makeup Artist and YouTube sensation Ashley Hackman. Subscribe to her channel for sneak peaks and tutorials!" - starlooks.com

Another signature Starbox! The last one we had was in August of 2013, with Natalie Corona (SparklicityNo.6). Let's check out what is in this month's box...

     

Two lip products and an eye product

Not a whole lot in this month's box, but still, wait till you see the gorgeous color....

LIPSTICK

in LS69 Boss

"The most remarkable red lip you'll ever find. Starlooks' signature color "Boss" will complete your look with that perfect, timeless pop of bold rouge and satin shimmer that screams "Girl Power!", and it doesn't stop there. Our ultra-moisturizing lipstick formula leaves your lips feeling kissably soft." - Starlooks March 2014 Starbox card

Isn't that color sooooooooo, soooooo gorgeous! I tell you, it's stunning. At first I had the thought, ugh, no, NOT another red lipstick, noooooo! ::dramatic pose:: but then the more and more I swatched it, and used it, I just fell in LOVE with it!

   

The packaging is Starlook's regular lipstick style. A plain black shiny twist-up tube with a flat top lid. Boss is listed as one of their satin finish lipsticks (you can see the satin-shimmer effect really well in the photo above). The only difference is that this particular lipstick has Ashley Hackman's signature printed on it that says "By Ashley". I really want to go out there and find a lipstick that's called Cookie now. ::giggles::

      

Most gorgeous swatch EVER, am I right?! This lipstick is just crazy pigmented and superdupes stunning. On the bottom is TWO swipes, just TWO, mind you, and above is one swipe blended out. The lighter you apply and blend, the more rosy toned it appears, however when worn full-color with no blending, it's much more of a super bright bittersweet red that has quite a bit of orange tone. It's very soft, creamy, easy to apply and super easy to blend. 

     

I die. It's so gorgeous. You can see how it really is moisturizing and smooth, and let me tell you, that color will laaaaast. I applied this around 12pm and by 6:30pm the color was still holding strong! By 10pm I still had red lip and by midnight I had to use a makeup remover to wipe off most of the color I still had on my lips! (With eating and drinking). I love this lipstick! ::hugs Boss:: This really is a very flattering shade, because although it does have some warm tones in it, it doesn't pull TOO much orange so even on pale-skinned girls like me, it still works. It has enough warmth for yellow toned skin, and enough coral/pink for cool toned skin. I've already seen this shade on several different skin tones and faces and I think it's looked amazing on every single gal!

LIP PENCIL

in K200 Cherry Cedar

"Don't forget to prep those bossy lips with this classic, matte red liner. Our prestigious lip liner formula creates the ultimate canvas for any lasting lip look. Ashley specifically selected a deeper red to urge you to get creative and experiment with shading." - Starlooks March 2014 Starbox card

I am slowly building up my lip liner collection, really slowly but surely. I'm SO much more of an eye girl than a lip girl, so I've always been super lazy with my lips and never take the time to line them. ::sigh:: I know. The disgrace. 

I was thrilled to receive this gorgeous shade though, because I really think it's a fantastic addition and versatile enough to use with a few different tones!

   

The packaging is a standard lip pencil, made to be sharpened. Again, the only main difference is the addition of Ashley's signature, this time saying "Ashley hackman by Starlooks". This shade is listed as one of their matte liners, but from what I can see, only two of their twenty-two colors are satin finishes.

   

As you can see, the formula is nice and smooth. VERY easy to work with compared to another lip pencil I received from Starlooks in the past. I believe it's a discontinued shade, or possibly reformulated as I don't see the name anymore (Brick). It might have been reformulated or just renamed to Blasted Brick, as that is one listed now. It was just a little hard, pulling on my skin a little more than I would have liked, however, this Cherry Cedar is absolutely fabulous! You can even see with the swirly line and dots how soft it is. It has excellent pigmentation as well, look how rich the thick line is. I tried this along with a red lipstick, dark rose, burgundy and even a plum shade and it actually worked fairly well with all of them! What I really love doing with this is using it as a base all over the lips. As it's so soft, it doesn't completely dry out my lips or make it difficult to apply all over, however I recommend prepping your lips with a balm about 10 minutes prior, blot it lightly off with a tissue, then apply the lip liner. It's so much fun to see how it changes the tone and coloring of the lipstick I apply on top! Even applying a gorgeous medium pink over it gave me this beautiful almost fuchsia tone. Love it!

It definitely helps to have this liner as a base, let alone just for lining. It keeps my lips looking fresh, more vivid, giving me a crisper line and I had no problems with feathering, or smudging throughout the day!

LONGWEAR EYELINER POT

in ie4 Black Hole

"A must-have, staple product for every makeup lover. This creamy, quick-dry formula provides that time-honored, slick, black liner look that has kept every woman looking her absolute best for centuries." - Starlook's March 2014 Starbox card

I feel like I've been getting so many black eyeliner pots lately! I don't think it's really THAT many, but I don't know...I just want to see some color! I feel like I have enough black eyeliners, be they pencil, pen, marker, gel, etc. I know they're an important staple for every woman to have, but it's Spring, people, ::hands on hips:: give me some pretty shades! Haha, ok, enough complaining from me...let's take a look...

   

 The jar is a typical twist off cap gel eyeliner pot. The product has been set well and has a hardened, smooth finish on top. As with the Lip Pencil, the lid of the jar has the same signature - "Ashley hackman by Starlooks".

I used an angled eyeliner brush, and swiped it a few times in the product so you can see just how dark and smooth the formula really is, as the setting on top looks much lighter. It's very, very easy to pick up with a brush, and it doesn't glob up in large chunks on the bristles as other gel eyeliners have that I've used in the past. It's almost very light feeling, but still quite pigmented.

  
  

 A little humor for ya, as I said, I was using an angled eyeliner brush to work in the product and used it as well for these swatches. It wasn't until after I took the photos that I had the thought..."Oh, I know I actually HAVE a Starlooks brand angled eyeliner brush....drat, I should have used that." Well, turns out, I did, hahaha, without even knowing it! And I have a TON of eyeliner brushes. How crazy is that?

So as you can see, it makes a clean, precise beautiful thin line, as well as a thick line, both perfectly pigmented, rich and smooth. I probably should have used a pinpoint precise liner for the dots, so you could see how nicely the eyeliner applies, but instead I used the tip of the angled brush, so it's not as clean looking. But really, it applies like a dream. So soft, easy to spread, easy to apply and very pigmented.

  
   

Unfortunately, that's where the dream ended for me. As far as it's setting, and staying power...::sigh::....it has a low, low grade from me, I'm afraid. After applying to my hand with the angled brush, taking photos, etc, that whole process took about 10 minutes. I BARELY swiped with my finger and it took nearly swiped half the product off (as you can see from above). That was with NO water, NO makeup remover, just my dry finger. I don't know, I feel like after 10 minutes, it should have set a bit better than that. If that's with a DRY finger, imagine what it would do if your eyelids tend to get oily or your eyes water. Hmmmm. ::shakes head:: I wore this at least four times since I received it and each time, I get transference from where I applied it, up to the top of my eyelid because I do have heavy-lidded eyes. One time, I even made sure to tilt my head up and keep my eyes looking down for about 15-20 minutes to let it set and it STILL smudged within an hour of wear! Such a shame, because it really is so fantastic to apply! I guess the creamy formula is just too soft, but it certainly wasn't the "quick-dry" formula that Starlooks promotes it as. I did hear from a few other ladies, a friend of mine and a gal from Makeuptalk, that they had a lot of trouble with it smudging and transferring to, so I know it's not just me! I guess I'm just going to have to stick to their Eye Liner Pen, which I absolutely adore!

WORTH AND PURCHASE:

1) Lipstick in LS69 Boss - $12

2) Lip Pencil in K200 Cherry Cider - $12

3) Longwear Eyeliner Pot in ie4 Black Hole - $13

Total Paid for Box:  $17.68  ($15 monthly fee + $2.68 shipping)

Total Worth of Box:  $37

I'm pretty darn happy with my worth for this month! Even if you count out the Eyeliner Pot, which was a bust for me, it's still worth $24, so it's STILL over what I paid. I always love that I'm getting full sizes, as well. Awesome!

FINALE

Well, I absolutely MUST have a BOSS finale, don't you think? Haha, funny enough, exactly a year ago, Starlooks sent me my March Birthday Box (a free box you receive during the month of your birthday IN ADDITION to your monthly Starbox) and the products were almost EXACTLY the same as this. A red lipstick, a red lip pencil and black eyeliner (the Birthday Box was a pencil, though). So I know the looks I created are going to be similar, but there is only so much a girl can do with black eyeliner and red lipstick without adding a huge amount of other products! I prefer to just use what they send me and not add a whole bunch, though! 

So here is my "BOSS" look! -

 I am so happy I don't look like death warmed over in this photo, teehee, I was actually feeling quite ill! I was in the process of getting over something, but I knew I HAD to get the photos done. Although, it just goes to show you what a little red lipstick and black eyeliner can do!

If you look carefully, you can see where I had to wipe off some of the black eyeliner that had already transferred on my upper eyelids! I kept using a tissue to wipe off, then had to reapply some eyeshadow, repeat, etc. It was a pain. It's so frustrating though, because really, look how gorgeous that black is! It makes such a gorgeous wing! I even used primer and a setting spray!

For the lips, I did use both products. I used the Lip Pencil Cherry Cedar all over my lips as a base, then swiped on Boss over it. It changed the color to a rich, vibrant deep crimson red that my Hubby just ADORES. Oooh lala! 

My special finishing touch to my look? Why, my makeshift boss tie, of course! You may recognize my blouse, as I've worn it before, but I usually tie that ribbon into a simple, loose bow on my neck, however for this look, I actually did a Four in Hand tie! Because, you know, Boss has to have a Boss-looking tie ::winkwink::

All in all, I liked this month's box! Although, I do really wish I could stop seeing red lippies and black eyeliners go out in beauty subscription boxes, I know they're staples and universally flattering but still. However, I am ENAMORED over Boss and I think Cherry Cedar is an absolute must in every makeup stash. I'm super pleased with those two products. Black Hole is, sadly, a big bust for me. I WANT to love it, I really do, I just can't! I still do think this was another great month from Starlooks, though!

   

Well that's it for January's Starlooks Starbox review! I hope you enjoyed it! Thinking of trying out Starlooks Starbox for youself? Please do use my referral code to sign up! Just CLICK HERE and it'll get you started! For every sign up with my referral code, I get a free gift box! If you sign up for Starlooks Starbox you can share your personal referral code for a customizable gift box as well!

Starlooks Starbox is a monthly beauty subscription box for $15 plus $2.68 for domestic USPS First Class shipping. Each monthly box contains 3-4 FULL SIZED pieces of Starlooks brand makeup plus some fun little beauty extras! Past Starboxes are also available for purchase for $25 each while quantities last. Starlooks also gives their subscribers a free Birthday Box ALONG with the monthly Starbox during the subscribers birthday month! What are you waiting for.....you know you want to sign up!

 

 

 

Happy Boss Makeuping! Work it, girl!