I've Got the Vapours

I am a sucker for makeup in a stick. I love the texture, the portability, the fact that it won't spill. I am also a sucker for new stuff. So imagine my my pathetic giddiness when I saw an article in WWD about a new makeup brand that is entirely made up of stick products.This is where I would write, "I know, right?" if I said things like that, but I don't.

The brand is called Vapour. Its website boasts products containing "70% organic ingredients" which seems somewhat random (the other 30% is what, Twinkies?). Actually, the "education" section of the website where the company's philosophy appears is pretty much full of mumbo-jumbo, which is a shame, because the products are very nice and I'd like to know more about them, not that makeup gets carried to "our kidneys and liver." Which is patently untrue. So let us skip all that and go straight to the products I bought.

Stratus Instant Skin Perfector: This is an illuminating primer in a fat stick (about the size of a Nars Multiple). This made absolutely no difference to my skin. It seems slightly moisturizing, but I got no wrinkle blurring, no brightening, no nuthin, when I wore it alone (over my regular sunscreen--this stuff has no sunscreen built in). It has a slightly fruity fragrance. The tube it comes in, I must say, is EXACTLY the same cheap plastic tube that my Jane (rest in peace) cream blush stick came in. The Jane cost about five bucks. This cost $44. For that kind of cash, I want nicer packaging. And for it to do something.

Aura Multi Use Blush: This comes in a skinnier stick than than the Status primer, it's about the size of a Bobbi Brown foundation stick. I got the color Torch, which is a kind of a weird bright pink. It's very sheer, with texture that is more dry than it is creamy. It's got almost a metallic sheen to it, but looks very nice on your face. It's a bit too 1985 of a color to use on your lips, though. $28

Mesmerize Eye Color Treatment: This eyeshadow is the smallest stick of all, about the size of a lipstick. It's very sheer--even the color I got, "Storm," a deep charcoal grey. This stuff did not last the whole day, but it didn't crease, either. It just disappeared! This one didn't have any fragrance at all. $16

This seems to be perfectly nice makeup, and a great choice if you are freaking out lately about parabens and whatever other unnatural whatnots you are putting on your body. It's not tested on animals, and it's made in the USA (which is a rare, rare thing). I do think Vapour is outrageously expensive. The website indicates this is because of their natural ingredients, so maybe that is worth it to you. Even if they are using the hand-harvested dandruff of magical elves, I find it hard to believe that the primer stick I tried had $20 of ingredients in it (and they're charging almost $40 for it). These are Chanel prices. And Chanel is too expensive. I personally have no problem with toxic chemicals if they make me look cute. Vapour is having a deal right now where you get a free lip conditioner if you enter the code freelip-launch at checkout. They weren't running this special when I ordered so I can't review that one for you!