Swatches: New KleanColor Madly Matte Lipstick Collection (30 Shades, $1 Each)

Today, the website Miss A (shopmissa.com) announced that they are now stocking the new KleanColor Madly Matte Lipstick line (a whopping 30 shades). Everything on the Miss A website retails for $1 each (fashion accessories, jewelry, hair accessories, sunglasses, bags and beauty products) and they also offer free shipping on orders $35+. The cosmetics brands available on the Miss A site include KleanColor, e.l.f., L.A. Colors, Santee, Nicka K., Starry, Princessa and more.

I have yet to order from Miss A, but I have heard from several of you over the years who have, and I've heard nothing but positive feedback so far in terms of customer service (if you're ever ordered from them, please comment below and let us know about your experience!).

image source: shopmissa.com

I thought you might want a look at all 30 shades in the KleanColor Madly Matte range, so keep reading for some swatches and my thoughts about KleanColor lipsticks...

NEW Kleancolor Triple Dimension 3D Effect Lipsticks: Fail or Game-Changer?

So I saw this on the Kleancolor Instagram page moment ago:

image source: Kleancolor Instagram page

NEW Kleancolor Triple Dimension 3D Effect Lipstick in 06 Candy Parlor

Achieve an ombre lip look...with just one tube of lipstick? Before you start shaking your head, hear me out on this one...

NEW Kleancolor High Drama Matte Eyeshadow Palette

Kleancolor posted some swatches of their new High Drama Matte Eyeshadow Palette today on their Instagram page, so I thought I would share with you:

image source: Kleancolor Instagram page

NEW Kleancolor  Your Highness Collection Matte Eyeshadow Palette in High Drama 

(retail: $4.99)

Look at the pigmentation of these shades! Impressive, even if they're over primer, right? Just FYI, Kleancolor didn't specify that in their post.

For those new to Kleancolor, it's an affordable brand that can be found at many independent beauty supply stores across the nation. You can also find many of their products at Daiso (Japanese dollar store), if you have a Daiso store in your area. You can also purchase their products directly from the Kleancolor website (click here to view all of the Your Highness collection palettes) and you get everyday free shipping on orders $40+. 

Thoughts about this new palette?

Review: Kleancolor Femme Lipstick in After Hours (Navy Blue)

Purchased by Me 

I know that a lot of us are anxious for the release of the NYX Macaron Collection of colored lipsticks this year but if you aren't already aware, there's another affordable line of boldly-colored lipsticks already on the market by Kleancolor (retail: $1.99 each).  Last year, Kleancolor introduced some very bold shades into their Femme Lipstick line, including olive green, lime, kelly green, several blues, gray, bright yellow and more. You can view some nice photos of all of these shades over at the 10dollarmall website here.

I finally saw a full display of the Femme Lipsticks at Diaso, a chain of Japanese dollar stores, a little while ago (many thanks to some kind readers on Instagram for letting me know that a Daiso opened up in San Diego recently) and the navy blue shade came home with me. Now that I've had some time to play around with this one, here are my thoughts!

Kleancolor Femme Lisptick in After Hours

(retail: $1.99, 0.12 oz)

My 10DollarMall.com haul (with a special alert for San Diego readers)

A little while ago, one of you either tweeted me, sent me a message on Facebook or left a comment here on the blog about 10dollarmall.com. If it was you, please leave a comment here so I can thank you! I meant to post your tip when I received it but, as often happens around here, thing got crazy with the new LE releases and I proceeded to lose control of my in-box. My apologies, and again please leave a comment here if it was you!

For those who don't know, 10dollarmall.com is a discount website for clothing, accessories and makeup. Right now they have a ton of NYX products on their website, and shipping is only $1.99 (free if you spend $50 or more).

And if you live in San Diego (like me), you may not be aware of this already, but all of the Everything Under $10 stores in the San Diego area have changed over to 10DollarMall.com retail locations! I visited a few of them here in San Diego over the weekend and I thought I'd share my haul with you in case you're in SD too.

Note: the items I'm about to show you are not on the website--they're in-store only. Sorry for those outside of San Diego, but you can get some of these items at other retailers and beauty supply stores, so hopefully it's still helpful!

Kleancolor Nail Lacquers in Chunky Holo Black, Chunky Holo Clover, Chunky Holo Bluebell, Nail to Toe Nail Art in Popping Green

(retail: $0.99 each at 10DollarMall.com retail locations)

I have no idea why that first shade is named Chunky Holo Black since there's no black in this color (as you will soon see). But anyway, the 10DollarMall.com locations in San Diego have a nice selection of Kleancolor polishes and a separate rack of Kleancolor Nail Art polishes in lots of colors and finishes. All of the Kleancolor polishes are $0.99 each.

Keep reading to see what else I got (and some swatches)...

My Halloween Manicure

Before I actually tried a manicure like this (gradient-ish/melty/drippy), I thought it was probably going to be extremely difficult and time consuming, and that it would require lots of skill, precision and maybe even some tools (sponges, etc.). But once I actually tried it, I realized that it's basically the easiest thing EVER. And today's a perfect excuse to wear black and orange, right? (Not like you need one--I love orange and black combos any time of year!)

 

 Polishes used:
Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris

Kleancolor Holo Orange

Jordana Copper Blaze

Keep reading for pics of my Halloween gradient/drippy/melty glitter mani:

My Weekend Manicure: Kleancolor Aurora

Weekends are the time when I really cut loose and have fun with my nails, and for this weekend I chose what is probably my all-time favorite glitter polish (strong words, I know, but I really, really love this one):

Kleancolor Aurora

(retail: around $1.99 at indie beauty supply stores across the nation, 0.5 oz)

Here's a macro shot:

Aurora contains irridescent medium hexagonal and small hexagonal glitter (no chunky hex glitter here), and also medium pink star glitter. This wonderful glitter cocktail is floating around in a light pink jelly base (not really visible on the nail unless you do multiple coats).

My favorite way to wear Aurora is over a plain black creme, as I think this really brings out the rainbow of colors in the hex glitter. Aurora is one of those polishes that can mirror the color of the base you're using, and you can see that in these swatches here.  So I prefer to wear it over black because it provides a striking contrast, but it's also gorgeous over lighter shades for a softer look.

Lots o' swatches after the jump...

A little Kleancolor haul...

If you take away just one thing from this post, please let it be this: 

Don't ever be afraid to check out your local, independently-owned, mom-and-pop dollar stores.

I can never find Kleancolor products in my area (aside from the same core-collection polishes I seem to see at every beauty supply store in San Diego), but then one day I spotted a brand new independently-owned dollar store and I pulled the car right over to check it out.

I was AMAZED at all the Kleancolor products they had, and they also had close-outs of long-ago discontinued drugstore makeup (so old I couldn't bring myself to purchase any of it) including Wet n Wild Twist-up Blush Sticks (remember those??).

So anyway, my focus was really on Kleancolor because it's probably the one super-inexpensive brand that I have the least experience with. Check out what I bought!

Kleancolor Wicked Witch Gothic Nail Lacquer Mini Collection

(dollar store price: $2.99)

I've seen this collection retail online for anywhere between $6.50 and $9.99, and it retails for $8.99 on the Kleancolor website, so I was VERY happy to snag it for just $2.99!

I haven't played around with these colors yet, but I'm so excited to try them!

I also purchased two Kleancolor Everlasting Lipsticks for $0.99 each (these retail for $1.99 on the Kleancolor site):

 Kleancolor Everlasting Lipsticks in Tea Rose (left) and Coco Malt (right)

(dollar store price: $0.99 each)

My camera has been acting up lately and I couldn't get a sharp photo of me wearing Tea Rose, but I hope you can see that this shade is much paler on my lips than it is when swatched on my arm. Coco Malt was more pale on my lips than I expected it to be as well, so next time I know to go a shade or two darker when I purchase Kleancolor lipsticks. 

Both shades are just too pale for my skintone and they REALLY wash me out. I'm so bummed because Tea Rose also settles into the fine lines on my lips (my lips are chapped to begin with though) and it looks really unflattering. I would definitely exfoliate before attempting to wear this shade!

As for the texture of these lipsticks, I was pleasantly surprised by how they glide across the lips. They feel so silky during application, with no pulling or tugging whatsoever. These lipsticks feel very light and weightless on my lips--I can barely feel them at all once they're on. I don't think the formula is too drying--they're very creamy, actually. But since they're so light and creamy, the staying-power isn't the greatest, but who cares for $0.99, right? I also like both the fragrance and flavor to these lipsticks--it's kind of a fruit-punch type of scent and the flavor is barely detectable.

My biggest qualm with these particular lipsticks is that they don't fully retract into their cases, so I know I will nick the lipstick with the lid eventually. Other than that (and the paleness of the shades I selected), I can't find anything wrong with these, and I would certainly give them another shot in the future.

What are your favorites from Kleancolor? I really hope my dollar store starts carrying the new Kleancolor crackle polishes. I really want the green and purple ones! Anyone try those yet?

Fun with KleanColor and Santee polishes

Last weekend Mr. G and I went to the local swap-meet here in San Diego called Kobey's. I hadn't been there in a while, but I remembered that the last time I went, there were beauty-supply vendors who sold cheapie polishes, so I kept my eyes peeled for some.

To my surprise, there was a vendor who had tons of KleanColor and Santee Plus polishes (I included a link to the KleanColor site, but I don't believe Santee has a website. I did find a decent assortment of Santee polishes on this site, though. FYI, I have not ordered from that site--I'm just including the link for reference). Both of these brands are impossible for me to find in local beauty supply stores and they were all $1 a piece at the swap-meet, so, SCORE! I picked up two KleanColor polishes and one Santee polish, and I wanted to show them to you in case you have access to these brands!

The first is a neon mint green by Santee:

Santee Plush Vikini Green

I sometimes have a horrible time applying light neon shades (they can be so streaky) but Vikini Green was a delight to apply. In these swatches, I'm wearing three coats, but I totally could have gotten by with two. This is by FAR the brightest light green of my collection.

On my ring finger, I'm wearing an "accent" color, which is a glitter by KleanColor:

KleanColor Sparkle Emerald (on ring finger)

I couldn't capture in photos what this glitter is really like in person. The glitter is so fine and delicate--I love it. In real life, you can see more violet blue glitter on the nail, as opposed to just gold, which is pretty much all you see in my pics.

Next up, I got a pretty rose-colored metallic foil from KleanColor:

KleanColor Pearl Fuschia

I just love foils--I can never have enough. And like most foils, this one dried in an instant. I was also very happy with the application--not too streaky at all! I only had to apply two coats for perfect opacity.

And because of the current crackle craze, I decided to put a coat of Barry M Instant Nail Effects (click here for my review and video of this crackle polish) over both the Vikini Green and Pearl Fuschia, just for fun:

Not too bad for $3 at the swap-meet, right? I think it will be very fun to wear Vikini Green on my toes this summer.

Do you own any Santee or KleanColor polishes? I'm pretty new to both brands, so I'm definitely open to suggestions!