L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick

Hello, Beautiful!

I've recently come to love L'Oreal's Colour Riche Lipsticks. I'm not a huge lipstick girl (I'm a gloss-aholic), but these lipsticks come in a wide range of very wearable colors. When I say very wearable, I mean it! Even some of the darker shades, that I normally would never go near, look pretty on the lips.

My favorite shade is Nude, followed by Tawny, and A Lighter Shade of Hope.

I own 12 shades, from pinks to nudes to plums. What do you think of these lipsticks? Have you tried them?

If you'd like to try them, or if you already love them and want more, you can purchase them at ValentineKisses.com for just $2.49 each! We currently have them in 10 shades, but there are very limited quantities, so get to them before someone else does!


Now onto the swatches....

Shade: 118 A Lighter Shade of Hope

Shade: 124 Pink Lady

Shade: 220 Earth Rose

Shade: 339 Red Rhapsody

Available at ValentineKisses.com for just $2.49!

Shade: 732 Designer Plum

Shade: 847 Sable

Shade: 853 Coffee Bean

Shade: 861 Taffeta

Available at ValentineKisses.com for just $2.49!

Shade: 862 Nude

Available at ValentineKisses.com for just $2.49!

Shade: 863 Organza

Shade: 875 Dune

Available at ValentineKisses.com for just $2.49!

Shade: 845 Tawny 

Do you own these lipsticks? If so, what shades do you own and what do you think of them?

xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.

- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com

Smashbox Classifeyed Palette - $15 at Sephora.com!

Hello, Beautiful!

I probably should have made this post earlier, but I've been neck deep in new inventory for the website and I'm just now getting around to posting this.

Sephora has weekly specials now, which is something that is draining my wallet (so please keep ordering from ValentineKisses.com so I can afford my Sephora addiction... I kid, I kid... sorta LOL).

This week one of their specials is the Smashbox Classifeyed Eyeshadow Palette for $15. When you read this post that link may no longer go to the product since they've been known to remove these specials (like the $5 Smashbox lipgloss) once they sell out, but I figured I'd post the link incase you're lucky enough to grab this.

This palette was actually a part of a Smashbox set (which is sold at Ulta for $47 and includes a few items - which in comparision to this deal of a price makes the set seem way over priced). The palette includes 6 full sized eyeshadows. For the price, it's a great deal. One Smashbox shadow is $16 (unless you buy it at ValentineKisses.com - we sell them for $5.99 each).

(Now I will copy/paste part of my Sephora.com review and insert swatch pictures. Oh and  incase you're wondering, which nobody is, my nickname on Sephora is valentinephoto).

The compact has a nice big mirror and includes a mini duo-ended brush. I normally toss any mini brushes that come with compacts/palettes but this brush actually isn't awful (it's not amazing either, but it's usable).

The colors themselves are a hit or miss when it comes to pigmentation. Some are highly pigmented, others not so much. I've also noticed that different people are reporting different degrees of pigmentation with each shade. So you may get a good palette or you may get a bad one. Use a shadow primer and you won't run into any issues and it will be worth your money.



If numbering them 1 through 6, going left to right, here is my opinion on each shade:

Top Row:

1. This is a shimmery warm sand shade. The pigmentation is just so-so with this one.

2. A really pretty medium brown shade that has a copper undertone. The pigmentation on this one was really good.

3. A milk chocolate brown. The pigmentation on this was not good. Just to get a swatch of it took more shadow than other shades. 2nd worst pigmentation out of all of them.


Bottom Row:

4. This is a light vanilla shade. This actually had the worst pigmentation out of all of the shades.

5. LOVE this color! This is a pretty shimery violet with good pigmentation.

6. LOVE this color too! This is a beautiful eggplant purple with great pigmentation (probably the best pigmentation out of all shades).



Over all I really love this palette. The price is unbeatable for what you're receiving.

You can wear the shades by themselves or together. Wear the darker shades (3 and 6) as liner if you don't want to go dark all over the lids. I actually really like wearing the dark brown (3) as a liner, which gives a nice smoky effect.

Did you pick this up? Will you be picking this up? Thoughts?


xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine Burhans
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com

Rimmel Vinyl Jelly Gloss Pencils

Hello, Beautiful,

I keep forgetting how much I love these pencils! They're not lip liner (although I guess you could use them in that way). They are a lip gloss in a pencil form.

I know what you must be thinking. How can the words "lip gloss" and "pencil" be in the same sentence? Normally when you think of a pencil the words that come to mind are "dry", even "creamy", but you never think "lip gloss". Well let me help you change the way you look at pencils forever.

The Rimmel Vinyl Jelly Gloss Pencils are amazing! They look like a regular lip liner pencil but are so soft, smooth and creamy. They deliver beautiful color too that lasts longer than a regular gloss does (since this has a stain-like effect).



Here are three of my favorite colors:

You can purchase the Rimmel Vinyl Jelly Gloss Pencils at ValentineKisses.com for $1.25 each while supplies last. We've already sold out of several shades and only have a very limited quantity remaining.

Shade: Starlet

Shade: Succulent

Shade: Fudge

Shade: Hot Spark

Do you own these amazing pencils? If so, what shades do you own and what do you think of them?

xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.

- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com

Make Your Own Body Scrub!

Hello, Beautiful!

I just wanted to post this quick and easy body scrub tutorial. This is really so simple you'll wonder why you've never tried this before.


What You'll Need:

1. Olive Oil
2. Sugar
3. Bowl
4. Spoon
5. Measuring Cups (just the half-cup)


How It's Done:

1. Pour 1 cup of sugar into a bowl. [I use the 1/2 cup measuring cup for this whole recipe so I don't need to wash more later]

2. Pour 1/2 cup of olive oil onto the sugar.

3. Stir until a scrub is formed and you're done!


Yes, it's that easy!


My Tips:

• I use regular granulated sugar - no name brands, just generic (whatever is cheapest or whatever I have in my kitchen).
• I use extra virgin olive oil, although probably any olive oil will work just fine.
• I did run into a little issues... it tends to separate rather quickly and you need to stir frequently to get it back to its scrub-like texture. I added a little more sugar and it helped a lot.
• I also had extra scrub left over, so you could probably half this recipe and still get good use out of it.
• I wouldn't recommend saving any left-overs only because it will likely separate.

The Verdict:

This scrub works amazingly! It feels a little gross at first, because when water meets oil it tends to do that greasy texture thing. But if you can get past that you'll be headed for great results!

It scrubs your skin perfectly. Not too soft and not too harsh. The olive oil does a great job at conditioning your skin. In fact, I didn't need to apply lotion after my shower and my skin stayed smooth all day (it also looked healthier).

The smell isn't wonderful, but it's not awful either. It smells like olive oil (of course).

After you use this scrub and rinse it off you'll want to use a body wash afterwards to get that oil-meets-water greasy feeling off your body.


So there you have it, a quick and super easy scrub you can make at home!

Bonus Tip: If you have darker elbows/knees cut a lemon or grapefruit in half and rub it into those spots for a few seconds. This will help a little, although it won't make an amazing change the first time you try it.

Also, be sure to check our website early next week (week of July 12). I'm super busy at the moment photographing new products for the website. We got in an amazing shipment of items including beautiful jewelry, cute hair accessories, and great L'Oreal, Maybelline and Sally Hansen cosmetics!



xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com

What Tutorial Do You Want to See?

Hello, Beautiful!

The Valentine Beauty Closet is almost ready. As we're getting things ready for the launch we want to know what tutorial YOU want to see.

Is there a certain celebrity look you admire? Maybe just the basics? What about a purple and gray smoky eye?

Whatever it may be, we want to hear it! Let us know by leaving a comment on our blog or getting in touch with us through our email (which can be found on our website, under the Contact Us page).

We can't wait to see what ideas you all have!

xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine-Burhans
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com