Gumball Lippie Discussion Thread

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kinjali22
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Re: Gumball Lippie Discussion Thread

Post by kinjali22 » Sun Jun 13, 2010 2:51 am

I have the same problem with lippies turning pink on me. The only ones that don't do that have some brown in them. The ones that don't turn pink and look good with my tan skin tone are Negligee, Modern Poet, Truly and St Tropez. There is a growing community here of women with tan skin so it would be nice to see a variety of products for all :)

As for the gumballs, I really love St Tropez. It a milky neutral pink on my lips. It's not as nude as Modern Poet but pretty close. I love the consistency too and it doesn't dry out my lips. TV lip balm - LOVE! At first I couldn't tell if it was working since it doesn't have the sticky feeling when applied. So to test it, I wore it to sleep and woke up with super soft lips. Love this formula! I really love the feel of the new butter cream formula's but the colors did not work out for me. Barcelona started off as an orange shade on my lips but quickly turned into a corally pink. And Stockholm is too cool for me. I can actually wear My Pretty (probably the coolest purple I can pull off), but Stockholm was a bit too much.
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lilychemgirl
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Re: Gumball Lippie Discussion Thread

Post by lilychemgirl » Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:59 am

Gah, I so hope I get my gumball order tomorrow! I can't wait to try everything, although it sounds like stockholm might be too cool, as I can't even wear my pretty!
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Cupcake
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Re: Gumball Lippie Discussion Thread

Post by Cupcake » Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:02 am

It's kinda funny, I often thought that SN had too many browns and peachy colours as I struggle to find colours that are pink enough on me (without being too bold)! The very opposite problem! :shock:

The very warmest, brownest or peachiest colours that I could get away with are Breathless, Aria, Precious and Sweet Nothing! Yet I'm a Buttery Gold gal (ex-Sandy Fair / Golden Fair) and by no means cool... (in any meaning of the word :lol: )
aud
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Re: Gumball Lippie Discussion Thread

Post by aud » Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:09 am

lilychemgirl wrote:Gah, I so hope I get my gumball order tomorrow! I can't wait to try everything, although it sounds like stockholm might be too cool, as I can't even wear my pretty!
Same here, same here. I was hoping the mail would arrive on Friday with SN to make my weekend a good one with gumballs. but noooo.

There was a time last year when SN orders would get here within 3 working days after SN ships out, not bad at all for an international purchase. But with all the flight reductions, it takes around 7 working days now.

Fingers X-ed for both of us!
Current SN foundation mix: 4 Buttery Gold: 2 Yellow Boosters: 21 Medium Ivory: 8 Original Ivory: 3 Glow
Favourite SN lippies (currently): Darling, Barcelona (Gumball), Menage
Favourite SN blushers: Carnal, Satisfied
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Oxana124
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Re: Gumball Lippie Discussion Thread

Post by Oxana124 » Sun Jun 13, 2010 10:10 am

Cupcake wrote:It's kinda funny, I often thought that SN had too many browns and peachy colours as I struggle to find colours that are pink enough on me (without being too bold)! The very opposite problem! :shock:

The very warmest, brownest or peachiest colours that I could get away with are Breathless, Aria, Precious and Sweet Nothing! Yet I'm a Buttery Gold gal (ex-Sandy Fair / Golden Fair) and by no means cool... (in any meaning of the word :lol: )
I'm the same way, most of the SN colors I find too dark or too brown. I do like peaches though. I also am an ex-Golden Fair :)
Two colors I am really hoping for is a milky pink and a milky lavender.
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superwahz
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Re: Gumball Lippie Discussion Thread

Post by superwahz » Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:29 pm

lilychemgirl wrote:I always thought of black dahlia as the dark and mysterious older sister of bobbi (which is nothing like it looks on the site, it is not pink, it is a ylbb (although who knows, it might turn pink on your superwahz, I think you have more trouble with stuff turning than me even!)

I think we should all petition Karen to bring back bonbon, it is one of those (very rare) lippies I can actually see myself finishing.
Haven't tried Bobbi, though to look at the swatches it does seem to be a lighter version of Black Dahlia! The difference between Black Dahlia and Sweet Nothing (besides the depth of color and gold shimmer) on me is that I can see a bit of pink in Black Dahlia after its been on my lips for a bit (wasn't sure if it was the actual lippie or my own lip color showing through) but because it's a dark plum it compensates for it so in the end you see "plum" not "pink". So you may be right, Bobbi might turn pink on me! But I bet it's worth a try anyway... ;)

Bon Bon would be great! The pic looks like a sheer form of a MAC lipstick my best friend wore all the time as a teen... Cappuccino. It was a beautiful light, light brown with shimmer, almost frosty. Looked good on both of us!
Taking joy in living is a woman's best cosmetic. ~Rosalind Russell
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karen
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Re: Gumball Lippie Discussion Thread

Post by karen » Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:45 pm

Thank you so much for posting this!!!! It's really good to know about some of the nudes turning pink. I've kind of dug around the recipe file, and I'm pretty sure I know what's doing it (with the exception of Skinny Dip- I'm still scratching my head over that one). There's a pink dye that I use in some of the colors, and I think it "blooms" on some folks. From what I'm gathering here, the following are the most likely to turn pink on you if you have the tendency to experience this phenomenon: Centerfold, Bloom, Berry Nice, Birthday Suit, Caramel, Damsel, Modern Poet, Mirabelle and Rapture

You should be fine with pretty much any of the 100% natural lippies- the oxides don't tend to shift around too much. Bobbi should work- there's no pink in it other than some red oxide which is more of a brick red color. This is my academic guess though- strictly from looking at the ingredients. Please speak up if it's happening to you with any particular color. There isn't much I can do to change the nature of a particular ingredient or color, but we can always add to the descriptions so you'll know which ones might not work for you. There's really nothing to be gained from selling you the wrong products- so let us know. I've sat through enough art school critiques to be able to accept things that are hard to hear sometimes. Email is probably best so I can route it to the appropriate person to help fix it.

It's kind of the way cosmetics manufacturing goes- one person's ack is another's HG. I agree with all of you- we don't have enough good browns, and we don't have enough good pinks. It pretty much translates into we don't have enough lippies...I'm working on it. Sometimes I nail a color, and other times I work on something and it just won't go- but know that if you've requested a color I've pretty much given it a shot, or tried- and didn't get anything that I felt was really super worthy of your time and attention.
"If it doesn't keep me up at night- it's not worth doing"- Ina Garten
kinjali22
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Re: Gumball Lippie Discussion Thread

Post by kinjali22 » Sun Jun 13, 2010 2:04 pm

Thank you Karen!!!! This is why I love SN so much :) I'll shoot this in an email to but the lippies that I've had the pink phenomenan for so far are - Barcelona, Soft. I've swapped away my other lippies so I don't remember which others this happened for. Birthday Suit actually didn't turn pink on me... I was an opaque dark brown. I don't really like to do bold lips so that's why this didn't work for me. I actually like the way Centerfold and Modern Poet bloom. Since they're nude colors, the pink isn't so pink. It's more of the non-nude colors that turn a bright pink ;)

I should put this in the wishlist section, but I would love a soft warm pink color that tan women can wear. My pretty comes to mind as a really soft color.

Thank you!!!
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Cupcake
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Re: Gumball Lippie Discussion Thread

Post by Cupcake » Sun Jun 13, 2010 2:58 pm

superwahz wrote:Ahhh Caramel, how I love you! Handy neutral lippie for me... Still gotta try Iced Mocha!

I think the problem is that many women with fair skintones tend towards the cool or neutral tones in their skin, so favor lip colors that enhance the pinkness naturally found in their lips and skin. On skin like that, brown lippies often look bad (kind of like they've been eating chocolate and forgot to wipe their mouth! :lol: ) There are also few orange toned colors which look fantastic on warm skin but on fair, cool skin, they often look garish.

My mom can't wear brown or orange lip colors at all, she's classic cool toned with fair, sensitive skin. Since SN (I think) was started with that demographic in mind, it makes sense that most of the lippies have pink undertones in them. It makes them more wearable by those women, as well as some fair women with neutral and/or warm tones.

The foundation colors have expanded to suit more tones and there are some blushes and lip colors that suit darker and/or warmer tones as well, but if you notice many of those are the newer colors... I figure as product demand picks up more in that area (as it seems to be), Karen will make more colors with that in mind. But, she'll still have to keep the pace with making products for her original demographic, so that means there will still be more pink colors coming out. I imagine that all is quite the balancing act for her! ;)
Just wanted to highlight this post because I absolutely agree with it. I'm also in that demographic - brown lippy look wretched on me. Caramel most of all! Being pale and yellow-skinned, brown lippy looks like food stains and clashes, yet a bold pink looks trashy against the paleness of skin. (Very Berry, for example, even Pout was borderline for me).

I know it's Karen's business (as in the "none of my business" meaning) but yeah, originally making lippies that appealed broadly to everyone and nearly worked for all - i.e.a little bit pink, a little bit neutral, etc could evolve... It could be the basis of a new generation of lippies to specialise - say, some true browns which would be awesome for some and appalling on others, likewise pinks etc. Maybe I'm not wording this well, but what I'm getting at is rather than crafting colours that are a bit "one size fits all" so that everyone likes them at least a little, maybe craft some new colours for niche needs?

For myself, an example I can give - I found that Seedy, compared to Berry Nice, was slightly greyer and that made it more muted and wearable. Whereas other colours were muted by adding a touch of brown - and those, oh boy, those on me looked awful against the skintone. So maybe some browns with no pink, maybe some pinks softened with 'grey' and not brown... and so on. Hope that makes sense.
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karen
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Re: Gumball Lippie Discussion Thread

Post by karen » Sun Jun 13, 2010 4:19 pm

Yes, in the beginning we had a lot more bold or distinctive colors (as opposed to things like Eternal which are "ish" colors- like mauve-ish, pink-ish- the pasta of lippies- no one hates them, but as your sole diet it can be a bit bland)- the original lipsticks, and the Kiss Bliss colors were all pretty distinct- Barbie pinks, bold fuchsia, a deep chocolate brown. We didn't actually have a demographic (we still don't)- so I just kind of made colors. When we discontinued them and brought out the vegans I kind of went on an all-natural kick which is essentially nudes. The originals weren't strong sellers, but it's fashion- the trends come and go, and our customer base wasn't as large or as diverse. I think HDTV, and personal stylists we're seeing a lot more nuanced nudes, and "don't rock the boat" looks on actresses too, or really crazy "hey look at me" crazy looks that don't really "play in Peoria" as they say- so that adds to it a bit too. Back in the old days the resolution wasn't as good so you had to wear more distinctive colors to get them to show up on film (interestingly most of the big advances in makeup technology were spurred on by the photographic industry)- and we had Joann Woodward (Mrs. Paul Newman) who actually made her Oscar dress one year. Can you imagine that happening now?? Oh, and the economy tanked, so I think we were all taking fewer risks, and trying not to be so flashy with things. For a while it felt like we were all dressing for a funeral, and bright pinks were kind of out. Forgive my philosophical waxings...I'm just kind of thinking outloud.

I think lippies are the most transformational products- they change the look you're trying to project much more than something like a single eye shadow, and they have to work alone rather than blended like an eye shadow, they're tricky. I enjoy the challenge, but yes, there's a reason not a lot of indies make them.

What I find immensely helpful is pictures! Pictures of what you'd like is cool, but ideally pictures of YOU would be immensely helpful! I don't actually know what most of you look like...so it's kind of taking a stab in the dark. If you don't want to post directly to the forum, you could always friend SN on Facebook and I can checkout your profile pics! I don't send friend requests to customers as it feels a bit pushy, but I'm happy to be your facebook friend. Just search for Silk Naturals and friend us.
"If it doesn't keep me up at night- it's not worth doing"- Ina Garten
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