Lord & Berry

I first was introduced to Lord & Berry during the mid-1990s at the time of my first marriage and the initial start of my makeup obsession. They used to carry their products at CVS and I still to this day have some of their pencils from that time. There is no smell, they still go on just as flawlessly as they did 25 years ago. I honestly cannot say that for any other makeup item. I have items in my collection that are considerably younger and they've obviously gone bad. They're made in Italy and obviously the Italians did something right with this formula. I recently ran into one of my originally purchased pencils in the color nude. They used to be in a square wooden pencil (fantastic for not rolling off, but potentially tricky to sharpen if someone doesn't understand that you can sharpen a square pencil in a round sharpener as long as the pencil diameter doesn't exceed that of the opening). The formula was so creamy and lovely. There was no tugging, it went on smooth, really helped my color stay in the lip lines (this was prior to the trend of coloring in the entire mouth with the pencil), and I was really saddened when I could no longer find them in the drugstores. Fast forward into the early 2010s and I ran into them again. They were on one of those flash sale sites, like Zulily or something. I bought a few to see if they would be good. A couple of observations. I only spent about $5 on my liners back in 1994. I'm not sure how much they would be with the rate of inflation now comparatively speaking. The size of the liner has changed too. The original liners had 0.06 ounces which is better than the standard drugstore and department store lip liner on the market today (most are 0.04 or 0.05 ounces), but the newly released liners are even larger. The new ultimate lip liners ar 0.07 ounces. Several observations to compare the original formula for the nude to the current which you can purchase at lordandberry.com for $19 each are as follows; 1) The nude color runs more orange than the original nude. The original nude was a pinky brown nude which was incredibly good and explains why it's still my favorite, 2) The new formula is not as creamy as the original formula, and 3) Related back to my second observation is that the new formula seems harder to rub off once applied. I tested them both on my hand side by side, and while you can still rub off the new formula, it would probably take more doing. That said if you want an all day base for your lipstick, this pencil is ideal. It's a sharpenable pencil that first into any standard pencil sharpener. I do not sharpen mine to a crazy precise point because I do fill in the entire lip with it and I find it easier to do that if the point is not as fine. MAC's liners are currently $18, and I think this liner would give MAC's liners a run for their money. MAC currently makes most of their lip liners in Germany. I've run across a few that were manufactured in Italy and the formula is creamier and less draggy on my lips. There are 8 shades available but honestly pretty much any "normal" colored lipstick would have a decent match with their assortment. I have it in the nude #3035, also in blush (to die for plummy pink) in 3034. I went on the site and they don't seem to have the nude but you can get it on Lookfantastic.com for less than the $19 retail. It's highly pigmented, better than anything in the drugstore. If you are looking for a new pencil, give this one a go.

Wasn't expecting much from this, but I'm so glad I bought it! It's a twist up stick concealer with a blending sponge on the other end (haven't used the sponge yet, but useful to have). I bought Ivory and it works well on my fairly pale skin & covers redness quite well. I mainly use this on spots, scars etc. Haven't tried it undereye. Very easy to blend. Nice chunky stick.

Smudged everywhere. I tested it with my normal eyeshadow, and within an hour I had a black line in the crease of my eyelids. Definitely not for use for anyone with oily lids!