Bésame, Bésame smoocho...
I have yet to bite the bullet (haha, because they're bullet shaped! GET IT?) and purchase a full-sized product, but I am really quite chuffed with the Bésame Cosmetics samples I purchased from their lovely website. (Seriously, spend a lazy afternoon puttering around the site - it's really lush, save a few typos, and offers some light how-to content.) If you're addicted to, or even just passively intrigued by, retro glam, look no further - this is a company that is all about the Classic Red Lip.
I'm wearing Cherry Red today - a little bold for the office, but hell, my coworkers are used to my habits by now. It's a deep rich cool cherry red, just as the name implies - not TOO berryish, but not fire engine either. The finish is something of a satin-matte hybrid that can be made to look ultra-retro-matte with a bit of blotting and translucent powder (which I don't bother with - this is absolutely matte enough for me). I've been wearing it since 8am and though they certainly don't feel JUICY, my lips also don't feel unbearably dry. It survived through lunch and needed only a bit of touching up afterwards. Oh, and I'm not wearing primer or liner underneath - and it still looks good. It isn't even coming off much on my water glass. This is capital-L, serious-biznizz LIPSTICK for the uncompromising.
As for color choice, Bésame offers deep wine shades, bright classic reds, and an orange-y red called Carmine that would look striking particularly on warm skintones. The color selection isn't limited to reds, though that is clearly a specialty... the site also offers champagnes, pinks, roses, and a chocolate brown shade, most of which have earned raves on Makeup Alley. Clearly, the company is doing something right. I have less experience with their other cosmetics - I sampled some loose powder and blush as well as an eyeshadow, but nothing really jumped out at me the way the lipsticks did. That said, the packaging on the full-sized products looks absolutely adorable... I'm not a total retro fiend, but I do have an honest-to-goodness vanity in my bedroom, and I could see the pressed powder compact looking lovely on top of it.
And oh yes, they provide samples! At this point, that is all I have taken advantage of. HOWEVER, it does seem as though they've changed their policies... awhile back I was able to make an order that consisted solely of samples (similar to my dealings with Fyrinnae), but now it appears that, instead, you can select three free samples with each order of any full sized product. Still a pretty good deal... perhaps the CEO realized that a little chunk of lipstick with color payoff this intense lasts for AGES and she shouldn't give 'em away. If you have a lip brush and you've been wanting to try to find your ideal red, this is one economically viable way to do it: take a risk on one that looks really promising, and sample the rest.
Caveat: once you fall in love with a lipstick shade and order the full sized version, be prepared to be a bit surprised - apparently, they're TINY. Like, smaller than your pinky finger tiny. And they're by no means cheap ($18 apiece for the lipsticks). Now, my own little sample chunks are barely dented after a couple of trial wears - unless I started wearing one regularly I suspect they'll last quite awhile, as would the puny full-sized ones. Bésame is definitely a company for those that appreciate the product quality as well as the packaging and overall aesthetic (and/or those of us who are indie cosmetic snobs - heh). It's makeup for romantics. I'm usually a pragmatist, but I'm definitely a sucker for stuff like this.
Here are the Bésame products I have sampled thus far:
Top, left to right: Merlot, Bésame Red, Red Velvet, Cherry Red
Bottom: Plum Dandy eyeshadow
Here's Merlot on my lips (I didn't do a great job applying, and it's darker in person):
And here's Bésame Red:
I wasn't a huge fan of Merlot... it felt very dry, didn't stand out to me color-wise (I'm too big of a fan of MAC's Dubonnet for my brownish red needs), and it took a long time to get it on my lips more or less evenly. It's quite possible my little sample chunk has dried out a bit (hard to tell with mattes). But the other three applied very smoothly and creamily, and the colors were so flattering! OK, Bésame Red is BRIGHT (I'm told Red Hot Red is even brighter), and there's no berry in it to take it down a notch, but it still looked quite striking.
Plum Dandy didn't really blow me away. It's a perfectly nice shimmery medium plum shade with some gold, but it takes a lot to make me stray from my staple eyeshadows these days.
Speaking of staples, here's how the Bésame lipsticks look next to basically ALL of my MAC lipsticks in the red/wine/berry family:
Top row, left to right (all MAC): Sexie, Rebel, Dubonnet, MAC Red, Red No. 5, Rougette, Berry Boost, Fresh Moroccan, Miss Dish, Alta Moda
Mmm, Dubonnet and Berry Boost. You do not disappoint. But I have to say that Bésame Red definitely out-reds MAC Red! (It's not as evident in the photo - it's so hard to get color-accurate photos of reds - but MAC Red looked positively fuchsia next to Bésame Red. Weird! It has always looked nothing but red on my lips, but it's definitely pinker.) These are solid options for red fans, and I'm sorely tempted to order full-sized lipsticks, even though they would be entirely unnecessary.
And just for fun, here's the carnage after wiping them away with a tissue (notice that Alta Moda is still standing) - it took quite a bit of washing to get all this red off of my arm! THE THINGS I DO.
I'm wearing Cherry Red today - a little bold for the office, but hell, my coworkers are used to my habits by now. It's a deep rich cool cherry red, just as the name implies - not TOO berryish, but not fire engine either. The finish is something of a satin-matte hybrid that can be made to look ultra-retro-matte with a bit of blotting and translucent powder (which I don't bother with - this is absolutely matte enough for me). I've been wearing it since 8am and though they certainly don't feel JUICY, my lips also don't feel unbearably dry. It survived through lunch and needed only a bit of touching up afterwards. Oh, and I'm not wearing primer or liner underneath - and it still looks good. It isn't even coming off much on my water glass. This is capital-L, serious-biznizz LIPSTICK for the uncompromising.
As for color choice, Bésame offers deep wine shades, bright classic reds, and an orange-y red called Carmine that would look striking particularly on warm skintones. The color selection isn't limited to reds, though that is clearly a specialty... the site also offers champagnes, pinks, roses, and a chocolate brown shade, most of which have earned raves on Makeup Alley. Clearly, the company is doing something right. I have less experience with their other cosmetics - I sampled some loose powder and blush as well as an eyeshadow, but nothing really jumped out at me the way the lipsticks did. That said, the packaging on the full-sized products looks absolutely adorable... I'm not a total retro fiend, but I do have an honest-to-goodness vanity in my bedroom, and I could see the pressed powder compact looking lovely on top of it.
And oh yes, they provide samples! At this point, that is all I have taken advantage of. HOWEVER, it does seem as though they've changed their policies... awhile back I was able to make an order that consisted solely of samples (similar to my dealings with Fyrinnae), but now it appears that, instead, you can select three free samples with each order of any full sized product. Still a pretty good deal... perhaps the CEO realized that a little chunk of lipstick with color payoff this intense lasts for AGES and she shouldn't give 'em away. If you have a lip brush and you've been wanting to try to find your ideal red, this is one economically viable way to do it: take a risk on one that looks really promising, and sample the rest.
Caveat: once you fall in love with a lipstick shade and order the full sized version, be prepared to be a bit surprised - apparently, they're TINY. Like, smaller than your pinky finger tiny. And they're by no means cheap ($18 apiece for the lipsticks). Now, my own little sample chunks are barely dented after a couple of trial wears - unless I started wearing one regularly I suspect they'll last quite awhile, as would the puny full-sized ones. Bésame is definitely a company for those that appreciate the product quality as well as the packaging and overall aesthetic (and/or those of us who are indie cosmetic snobs - heh). It's makeup for romantics. I'm usually a pragmatist, but I'm definitely a sucker for stuff like this.
Here are the Bésame products I have sampled thus far:
Top, left to right: Merlot, Bésame Red, Red Velvet, Cherry Red
Bottom: Plum Dandy eyeshadow
Here's Merlot on my lips (I didn't do a great job applying, and it's darker in person):
And here's Bésame Red:
I wasn't a huge fan of Merlot... it felt very dry, didn't stand out to me color-wise (I'm too big of a fan of MAC's Dubonnet for my brownish red needs), and it took a long time to get it on my lips more or less evenly. It's quite possible my little sample chunk has dried out a bit (hard to tell with mattes). But the other three applied very smoothly and creamily, and the colors were so flattering! OK, Bésame Red is BRIGHT (I'm told Red Hot Red is even brighter), and there's no berry in it to take it down a notch, but it still looked quite striking.
Plum Dandy didn't really blow me away. It's a perfectly nice shimmery medium plum shade with some gold, but it takes a lot to make me stray from my staple eyeshadows these days.
Speaking of staples, here's how the Bésame lipsticks look next to basically ALL of my MAC lipsticks in the red/wine/berry family:
Top row, left to right (all MAC): Sexie, Rebel, Dubonnet, MAC Red, Red No. 5, Rougette, Berry Boost, Fresh Moroccan, Miss Dish, Alta Moda
Mmm, Dubonnet and Berry Boost. You do not disappoint. But I have to say that Bésame Red definitely out-reds MAC Red! (It's not as evident in the photo - it's so hard to get color-accurate photos of reds - but MAC Red looked positively fuchsia next to Bésame Red. Weird! It has always looked nothing but red on my lips, but it's definitely pinker.) These are solid options for red fans, and I'm sorely tempted to order full-sized lipsticks, even though they would be entirely unnecessary.
And just for fun, here's the carnage after wiping them away with a tissue (notice that Alta Moda is still standing) - it took quite a bit of washing to get all this red off of my arm! THE THINGS I DO.
lipstickness
I am an eye person, I play up my eyes a ton because I like them. I do not invest much in lipstick because my lips:
are tiny no matter how much I try to make 'em bigger
aren't shaped well and the skin where my lip meets my face is slightly pigmented and rough so even with liner, it's hard to get a good line
are in my bottom 3 things I like about my face
Add this to the fact that I like to make out A LOT and you can understand why I'm not a big lipstick fan. I stick with the everlast drugstore stuff that has to be scraped off with sandpaper at the end of the night.
But I want to change, dammit. :)
So...
How do you deal with the kissing? Can you give me a good explanation of how lipstick colors can enhance or detract from other features? Which color types go best with different eye combos?
Thanks for any help you can give. Although I certainly don't need another makeup obsession, I really do want more info. :)
Re: lipstickness
Kissing, though, is a whole other ball of wax. Plenty of lipsticks can stand up to a few smooches here and there, but, like, a full-on makeout session (and all that may follow)? Yeah you pretty much have to stick to the longwearing scrub-it-off-with-a-Brillo-pad stuff if you expect it to stay put - or skip it altogether. (I actually wrote a post about the MAC longwear Alta Moda, which I pictured above, here.) If you're not wearing a longwear or a stain, you kind of have to just kiss your lipstick goodbye while you're at it! But that's part of the fun. :)
(Although, admittedly, some people don't like feeling lipstick or gloss when they kiss you... certain sticky glosses, like lipglass, drive my partner CRAZY so I'm very strategic about what I use and when.)
i agree the makeup itself such as lipsticks are TINY, but the product itself is well worth it because all you really need is a dab for full opaque coverage and i have really full lips, so that's saying a lot! the tubes are about pinky finger sized and the compact is the size of the silver dollar. hella expensive? yes. but the quality is so superb and you don't find yourself using much product, so i'd definitely keep buying the $15 cashmere powder refill because the coverage is amazing for a powder.
haha, i sound like a commercial endorser for besame! ohh and the packaging the stuff comes in is sooo cute! they pack it in a pretty gift bag with red tissue paper and comes with a red velvet pouch for storing and i usually score three sample products as well as a freebie. i got the vanilla lip glaze, but it's too opaque for my pigmented lips.. but it smells divine and very moisturizing.
ok i'm done rambling. i just get so excited when i see other people rave about besamè!
Glad to see another Bésame fan! You're right; prices are high but the stuff lasts a good long while. (And it's nice to know it's actually going to an independent business owner rather than lining Estee Lauder's pockets. Of course, now that I've said that just watch and they'll get bought out.) I've been wanting to post about their products for awhile. I'll be sure to check out your reviews!
Ohh, and I have merlot as a sample, but mine is really soft.. perhaps yours hardened? I really want the full size to merlot, i think it's the perfect berry stained red for my skintone (C40) without being too purple or pink (if that makes sense)
You'd probably like the Mattenes a lot, too!