A Pleasant Product Surprise: Jane Iredale Lip & Cheek Stain

I confess- I am can be judgemental. Of people, and even more so, of brands. It is not one of my best qualities, I admit- but hey, I never claimed to be the nicest person on the planet.

When it comes to beauty brands, I can't help myself. There are certain ones that just never seemed very "me" for one reason or another. And with so many brands out there, I had to have some way to narrow down the landscape when I was shopping for myself or scouting for a segment, otherwise I would most certainly have a sensory overload meltdown. I think we all feel this way and whether we are aware of it or not, some brands don't "speak" to us because we choose not to listen. No judgements there, I completely get it. Shopping is more convenient that way.

One such brand for me, to be perfectly honest, was Jane Iredale. I thought of it as a mineral makeup brand, and, well, I am not a mineral makeup kind of a girl. So I left it at that.

Enter the Forever Pink Lip & Cheek Stain. Had my makeup artist friend Erica not already raved about it to me, I likely would have never taken it out of the bag it arrived in. But I sure am glad I did. Because it is amazing. It stains my lips the most perfect shade of pink (apparently it adjusts to the user so it is likely this perfect on everyone- woo hoo) and has a glossy finish rarely found in a stain formula. And on the cheeks, it is gorgeously glowy- the gloss factor on the lips translates into quite a nice dewiness situation on the skin.

So my makeup bag now counts Jane Iredale as a permanent resident. Who woulda thunk it? (I can totally see myself one day using this story to teach Alexa about the dangers of judging some girl at school for an unsubstantiated pre-conceived notion. As they say in the Twitter world- #beautygirlproblems.)

What brands have surprised you in a similar way? Because something tells me I am not the only beauty obsessed girl that has had this experience.