Glossy New Year

In the beginning, there was this box, which arrived from SisMei in Honolulu:

And in this box, there were several lip glosses:

And Meimei, who opened the box, was so amazed by what she saw in it that she thought to herself, "Ten lip glosses in a single box, with promises of lip-plumping action? Plus a full-size tube of Buxom Full Color lip polish? Hey, this must be the blog-writing opportunity that I've been waiting for all year! I MUST TEST-DRIVE THEM ALL! "

And so, she started researching what other folks have said about each gloss. Full color saturation? Annoying mintiness? Definitive lasting power? Then she noticed that the weather was getting cold - no thanks to La Nina and whichever cold front was threatening to come down from China -  which meant lip gloss was going to be a necessity in this household.

Thus, a series was born: Glosswatch 2011. 


(What can I say? Pump and Lift was already taken.)



Here are the basics: I will test-drive each gloss from the Sephora box for at least two wearings before writing a review. Each gloss will be evaluated in terms of their color saturation, lip-tingling sensation, stickiness factor, and hydration capacity. (Please note that I'm not including "lasting power" here, since - in my personal experience - the only way for lip gloss to have any lasting power on me is to wear it on a long stretch of time that does not involve eating, drinking, or blotting.) After my final assessment, I will give a recommendation as to which lip gloss will work best at any given situation, which will lead to a discussion of the following questions:

• Which product is suitable to wear in crazy cold weather? 
• Which product can you wear to work? 
• Which product does not live up to the incredible hype?
• And finally... if you were to make out with a celebrity while wearing this particular lip gloss, which one would it be? (Clue: One of these products would be perfect for planting a big wet one on Adam Lambert.) 

There will be pictures accompanying each post - but beware: Not all of these pictures will turn out to be of especially high quality. There may even be some significant editing to disguise the fact that I might not even look absolutely perfect in many of these photos - like, say, cropping to hide the dismal state of my hair (see: last entry), or a failure to hide the fact that I sometimes wear these glosses with - horrors! - no makeup on the rest of my face. But I promise you that I will be honest in my assessments, and willing to give recommendations based on each trial session. 

Let the glossy games begin.