If there’s anything I love about makeup, it’s a bold lip. I am that girl that will wear red, hot pink, and even black lip colors. As a child, I was always indifferent about my full lips. I now know that my insecurities stemmed from unrealistic beauty standards that catered to white features, so wearing a bold color is my creative way of taking back my power. It’s also my way of saying my full brown lips are beautiful, good enough, and do not need anyone's approval to be part of the beauty standard. My lips are my way of being vocal, loud, and unapologetically proud.
Although I love my beautiful bold lip colors, I felt it was time I took things up a notch. While shamelessly scrolling on the #beautytiktok hashtag on TikTok, I came across Stay Golden’s Glitter Lip Kit. The now-viral glitter lip kit is an electrifying vibrant kit that will have the spotlight on anyone’s lips. I believe in my heart this glitter lip kit is my spirit animal. I was captivated by the videos showing how the glitter flawlessly glistened in the sun or a nighttime setting. I’m not ashamed to say I fell for classic social media marketing and bought the lip kit to try for myself. Keep reading to learn more about my experience with Stay Golden’s Cosmetics Glitter Lip Kit:
A Little Tea About The Brand
Stay Golden Cosmetics is proudly island girl-owned by Danielle Edmond. The Jamaica-born model started her business on her living room floor in Brooklyn, N.Y. Her love for the city's nightlife and cosmopolitans infused her idea to create a beauty line that shined brighter than the city's night lights. She is now known for her super-popping glitter lip kits sweeping the TikTok For You page.
About My Lips
My lips are sweet, supple, and brown. Since the colder months are upon us, my lips are more prone to getting dry. My self-care routine for my lips consists of sugar scrubs and lip masks to keep them moisturized and smooth. I treat my lips with kindness when removing harsh lip stains or lipsticks. My preference is to use an oil cleanser to remove any bold lipstick of choice. I believe these treatment methods have helped to keep my lips healthy, helping me avoid over-drying, cracks, or sores.
Celeste Polanco
How To Apply: Easy... Too Easy
The only thing that made me nervous about this product was the application. I was worried the process would be pretty messy. Although I love glitter, the last thing I want is a sparkly mess in my bathroom. To my surprise, applying the look was easy and didn’t require any bathroom maintenance afterward. I credit this to the instructions, which listed steps that included using the lipliner, then gliding on the gloss bond, and finally adding the glitter on dry lips. All three items were included in the lip kit.
When I applied the gloss bond the texture surprised me. I would compare it to glue—which makes sense given the glitter must stick—but the feeling was a bit uncomfortable. It dried my lips more, but I guess that’s the sacrifice you make for beauty in this case.
Applying the glitter was easy and fun, and I used the applicator brush that came with the kit to gently apply it. I had full control of where and how much of the glitter I wanted to put on.
The Results:
I gotta admit, I typically don’t believe everything I see on social media, especially when it comes to cosmetics. You ever bought a beauty product because the hype on social media was too real, but then you get it in the mail and realize you’ve been bamboozled? I’ve been fooled by the algorithm and convincing beauty gurus one too many times. However, I am not a victim of buyer's remorse. I chose to spend my coins, and I've paid for my choices—literally.
Celeste Polanco
I'm happy to report the coins were not wasted! This product looked exactly how it did when displayed on social media, if not better. The glitter was unbelievably gorgeous on my lips! At first, I expected the glitter to fall throughout the day or to find bits of it on my face. The total opposite happened! The glitter remained on my lips the entire day as I drank water, caught up with friends, and went about my business.
Remember that drying feeling we discussed earlier? After I applied the glitter, I put clear lip gloss on for moisture and extra pop.
The Value: Worth It
The kit retails for $20 plus shipping. I have to admit I’m actually OK with the price. Why? Because it works! I personally do not mind spending a coin on Black- and Brown-owned brands especially if the product works. I love that this kit provides you with everything you need to achieve the best results. Best $20 I’ve ever spent!
The Final Verdict
I mean, do I even need to say it? I love this product! I appreciated how bold the glitter was on my lips and how well it held up throughout the day. The removal process was also painless. Using an oil cleanser or coconut oil to remove this product will work just fine. Sure, the gloss bond was uncomfortable at first, but lip gloss took great care of that problem. The price point is appropriate, the product works, and it’s Black-owned. Seriously! What’s not to love?
10 out of 10, would recommend!
Featured image by Celeste Polanco
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Ding. Ding. DING.
A life coach by the name of Thomas Leonard once said that “Clarity affords focus” and, believe you me, when it comes to dealing with other human beings, if you don’t get clear on where you stand when it comes to your interactions with them, you can very easily find yourself “focusing too much” on those who don’t deserve it and too little on those who absolutely do. And y’all, this lil’ PSA couldn’t be more relevant than when it comes to what I call “casual friendships.”
Let’s dig — and for some of us, dig our way out of — what it means to have a casual friend, so that you can get clear on if you really need those in your life…and if so…why?
Article continues after the video.
It Can’t Be Said Enough: Always Remember What “Casual” Means
GiphyThere’s a reason why I decided to share two videos by mental health coach Isaiah Frizzle at the top and bottom of this article. It’s because a lot of what he shares in both of them complements a piece that I wrote for the platform last year entitled, “This Is Just What Purposeful Relationships Look Like.”
It’s the author M. Scott Peck who once said, “Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it” and please believe that the older (and hopefully more mature) you get, the more you tend to see just how valuable — and fleeting — time is; and that is what plays a huge role in motivating you want to only involve yourself with people, places, things and ideas that will honor your time — and when something is casual? In my opinion, it’s highly debatable that it’s worth much of your months, days, hours, or even too many of your minutes.
The main reason why is addressed in an article that I wrote back in the day entitled, “We Should Really Rethink The Term 'Casual Sex.'” The gist? When it comes to relationships, “casual” is certainly not a favorite word of mine because I know what it means. Have mercy — why would you want to invest your time, energy, and emotions into something that is, by definition, apathetic, indifferent, careless, lacking emotional intimacy, and/or is without purpose?
I don’t know about y’all but that sounds like a complete and total crap shoot to me — especially if you are going to go so far as to consider this type of dynamic a true friendship (check out “Ever Wonder If A Friend Is Just...Not That Into You?,” “6 Signs You're About To Make A Huge Mistake In Making Them A Close Friend,” “5 Signs Of A Toxic Friendship That Is Secretly Poisoning Your Life,” “12 Friend Facts That Might Cause You To Rethink (Some Of) Your Own,” and “Less & Less Of Us Have Close Friends These Days. Why Is That?” ).
To me, when you decide to call someone “friend,” it means that they are loyal, reliable, consistent, trustworthy and willing to be there to support you to the very best of their ability — even if it’s inconvenient to do so sometimes (check out “Life Taught Me That True Friendships Are 'Inconvenient'”). How in the world can you expect that from something that has the word “casual” in it?
And you know what? That actually segues into my next point about casual friendships pretty darn well.
Ponder the Purpose “Casual Friends” Serve in Your Life
GiphyA couple of years ago, Verywell Mind published an article entitled, “How the 4 Types of Friendship Fit Into Your Life.” The four that it listed were acquaintances (which I actually don’t consider to be friends; check out “6 Differences Between A Close Acquaintance And An Actual Friend”), casual friends, close friends, and lifelong friends. After reading the piece, I think they consider casual friends to be the “pleasure” friends that I mentioned in the article, “According To Aristotle, We Need ‘Utility’, ‘Pleasure’ & ‘Good’ Friends.”
And although I certainly get that, I think my “cause for pause” is calling those people “friends” when they probably should be called something like an associate or possibly even a buddy instead. Why do I feel this way? Well, I’ve shared in other articles that I think social media has jacked up vocabulary words and their true meaning on a billion different levels.
Take “friend,” for example. Facebook had us out here calling everyone we connected to on their platform “friends” when some of them, we’ve never even spoken to before — and I personally think that influenced, affected and perhaps even infected our psyche to the point where we will call folks, both online and off, “friend” even when they haven’t earned it and/or who possibly don’t deserve it.
That said, do I think that we all could use lighthearted interactions that don’t go very deep and are filled with not much more than fun? Sure. However, if we were to move this over into a sexual thing — those types of people would probably be called a sneaky link, and there is nothing significant or substantial about ‘em. In fact, if anything pretty much automatically comes with an expiration date, sneaky links would have to be it.
And that’s kind of the point that I’m trying to make about a casual friend — so long as you know that the word “casual” is being used to describe them, while you may enjoy the people who fit that bill, they aren’t really anything that you can or even should fully rely on. Instead, take them for what they are and don’t really expect much more than that. Otherwise, you could be in for some profound levels of disappointment. And who wants that?
Final point.
How a Casual Friend Can Become a Huge Red Flag
GiphyI’m telling you, y’all gonna quit clowning Tubi. LOL. To me, the best way to describe it is it’s the Cricket of current streaming apps. What I mean by that is, back when Cricket (the cell phone service) first came out, people, like me, who used it service got incessantly clowned because it was seen as a bootleg provider. Now it’s owned by AT&T, and as someone who has rocked with them since I was in my 20s, I don’t have one regret for doing so. Cricket has always been good to me, chile.
And Tubi? Well, when you get a chance, check out CNBC’s article, “CEO at 33, Tubi’s Anjali Sud on success hacks she learned at Amazon, IAC on way to top of Fox streaming” — take note of the moves the streaming app is making and the quality of programming that is transpiring in real time.
Anyway, I find myself bringing up Tubi more and more in my content because it helps to amplify some of the points that I like to make. This time, it’s a movie that’s (currently) on there calledRight Man, Wrong Woman. If you haven’t seen it before, I don’t want to give too much of the film away. What I will say is that the main female character, she had a casual friend and then she had a close friend.
That casual friend—the one who liked to kick it all of the time—was a lot of fun; however, dealing with her came with a ton of semi-unforeseen consequences. Meanwhile, the close friend? She’s what the Aristotle article (that I mentioned earlier) would call the “good friend” because she tried her best to hold her friend accountable.
And really, it shouldn’t be a shock that the casual friend turned out to be a plum trip because if someone is loads of entertainment and pleasure and yet they are indifferent towards you, they make careless decisions around you and/or they don’t really make known the purpose for you being in their life other than to pass some time — where really do you and that person have to go past drinks after work or dinner on a rooftop restaurant from time to time? And if that is all that the two of you are doing, again, why are they deserving of the word “friend”?
Hmph and don’t get me started on the lack of reciprocity that typically transpires when it comes to dealing with people like this because, while they won’t mind you spending your coins on them, taking their calls in the middle of the night or listening to all of their issues — when it comes time for them to show up for you, they very well may gaslight you into thinking that you are being dramatic, clingy or “doing the most.” Why? Well, it’s mostly because the two of you never really established what the hell the both of you are to one another.
And so, while you’re somewhere taking them seriously, they are out here seeing you casually, and as much as it might hurt to hear, that doesn’t automatically or necessarily make them a bad person. You shouldn’t expect much where no clarity is involved. After all, casual is just that: CASUAL.
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I’m hoping that you can now see why I entitled this piece in the way that I did. It’s because a red flag is pretty much a warning, and to me, a casual friend is about as big of an oxymoron (again, to me) as casual sex is. Friends and sex are both too intimate to be seen or treated casually. Oh, but if you step out and take that risk, you could find yourself getting far more involved than the other individual ever wanted to go, because casual is how things have always been. “Friend” was simply to get you more mentally and emotionally invested. SMDH.
American columnist Walter Winchell once said, “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” A wise person once said, “One good friendship will outlive forty average loves." Former President Ulysses S. Grant once said, “The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.” Does any of this sound casual to you? Yeah, me neither.
Again, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have people in your life who aren’t on deep levels. I’m just saying that you might want to consider putting them into another category than friend, because what friends do for people? There ain’t nothin’ even remotely casual about it, sis. Not even a lil’ bit.
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