Monday, May 23, 2011

Makeup Monday: Hourglass Cosmetics Extreme Sheen Lipgloss in Siren


This is now my third test of an Hourglass product and it only reinforces my opinion. Their formulas are great. The first Hourglass review I did was of the shadow and the Prodigy lipgloss and I was quite impressed. Today I have the Extreme Sheen lipgloss formula in the shade Siren and I'm more than impressed, I'm blown away.


The tube carries that luxurious feel that is present in the line's packaging. The heavy black chrome metal cap and the substantial tube with a subtle logo at the base. That dark mirror-shiny metal they use on their packaging is so gorgeous.



It comes with a brush wand applicator. The brush is a little small, but with this gloss, that's a good thing. This is such a bold color that you need a precise application and this small brush can achieve that. Normally brush applicators like this tend to get very messed up after a while- remember the brush from my Too Faced Glamour Gloss, how the bristles just splay out in every direction? I've used this a whole lot and the brush is still like new, so hopefully it stays that way.

If you think the packaging is gorgeous, wait until you see the gloss itself:


This shade is called Siren. Appropriate. This is the craziest, most gorgeous red gloss I've ever seen. It's a warm coppery red, borderline duochrome, with an insane reflective, mirror-like chrome finish.

It's so amazing on the lips. Here's a first...

I never do lip pictures because I can never make them look normal. All you bloggers who do amazing, normal-looking lip pictures where you're not making duck face or doing macro shots of your nose hair, I don't know how you do it. I salute you. I took nearly 100 pictures of this on my lips and couldn't even get one that looked decent enough to post. So, yeah, I know these extreme lip close-ups are a little creepy, but this gloss is so amazing on the lips I just had to try to show it. Do you see how reflective it is? It's bright and shiny and it glows like a neon sign.

The formula is just as nice as the color. It's thin but pigmented, completely non-sticky and smooth as silk. It doesn't dry my lips and it doesn't seem to migrate or bleed, even with this strong of a color.

Do you remember MAC Chromeglass from a few years back? This formula is really similar to that. Slick and smooth thin texture, mirror-shiny reflective finish, even that subtle metallic smell. The Hourglass Extreme Sheen Siren has a vanilla scent and taste that's even similar to the Chromeglass. Hourglass seems to be a more creamy, subtle, custardy sort of vanilla and the MAC is more of a sweet vanilla wafer vanilla.

The color is opaque and wears really well, and once it's worn off it leaves a slight reddish gold tint behind. It does not seem to stain my lips. My lips don't feel dry or irritated during or after wearing this. This is such a strong color that a lip liner would be beneficial, but I always wear it without one and it's fine. You may also want to use a separate lip brush for an even more precise application, but I'm able to get a pretty decent application with just the included brush wand.

I haven't tried any of the other shades of Extreme Sheen to compare formulas, but I'm pretty sure this is the only shade with the chrome metallic finish.

The price is steep at $28 for 0.12 fl oz, but I think this color is totally worth it. For me, at least. It's more expensive than most glosses, but this color is so much more interesting and special. I wouldn't pay $28 for a run-of-the-mill pink gloss, but for crazy flaming bright shiny chrome red I would. The formula is great, the packaging is really great, the color is amazing and it smells like vanilla. Oh yeah, I'd definitelty buy this again.

This one's available online at Sephora, but I'm pretty sure all the places that sell Hourglass carry the Extreme Sheen line.

(This was sent to me for review.)

26 comments:

  1. I just got this on a sale off of Hautelook in a set of three. It is HOT!

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  2. Shoes and sunglasses are on, keys in hand, on my way to Sephora to buy this RIGHT NOW!

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  3. This is gorgeous! And I think your lip pictures look awesome :)

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  4. Bahahahaha...macro shots of your nose hair.

    :-D

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  5. Woah it looks like metallic paint. Sweeeet!

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  6. oh man. you just added yet another item to my lemming-list! this is perhaps, the most amazing lipgloss i've ever seen!

    and the best thing is that it doesn't seem to settle into the lines on your lips, which is a problem i have with heavily pigmented lipglosses..

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  7. I bought this at Sephora lst year. I only tried it on because it looked ridiculus in the tube (metallic and orangy) and i was being silly, but i loved it on so i had to buy it

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  8. wow, that is an amazing color!

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  9. I have this gloss and its one of my faves! Your review definitely does it justice.

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  10. Far out! I need this! Why don't sephora ship to Australia

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  11. Does anyone have an idea where to get this lipgloss in Europe (Germany specifically)? I checked out UK e-shop Zuneta, but they're not offering it in this color. And Sephora doesn't do international shipping. Bummed!

    Thanks for the review, Scrangie! Never been a fan of lipglosses, but this one I HAVE to make mine. :-)

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  12. Macro shots of nose hair, ha! All close ups of my lips remind me I'm losing the battle with time and facial hair

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  13. What an amazing colour! I'm seriously going to have to hunt this down.

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  14. Ahhh I hate the idea of blowing $28 on a lipgloss, but this one is so freaking cool. I've never seen anything like it! I'm definitely checking this out next time I'm at Sephora. :]

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  15. Just had to come back and look at pics again. SO HOT!

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  16. That is GORGEOUS! My issue with red glosses is that they are too sheer but this one just blows me away!

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  17. Wow! I need to look at the shades from this line at Sephora.com. Never heard of Hourglass before this. I cannot get over the shine - and sounds like it has pigment to boot so it should last.

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  18. @Profashionelle there are sephora shops in Spain and Portugal.. if you're going on holidays or have friends there... sometimes they don't have all the American lines (i.e. Phylosophy skin care line) but it's worth trying.

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  19. That's am amazing shade on you. I think I need this one. I only have Hourglass's concealor which is great. That's just one gorgeous shade.

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  20. Oh, yesterday I saw in town in lipgloss by "Alessandro" called "Cherry Red" that seems to look like yours. It was really sparkly, seemed well pigemented and bright red...haven't bought it tough...

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  21. I wear this over my Kat Von D Adora lipstick and it looks awesome!

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  22. I hope they still sell this at Sephora because I'm on a hunt now ! ;p

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