Coffee Break: Lip I.V. Hydrating Gloss Stain
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I am so curious about this hydrating gloss stain from NYX, and just need to pick a color to try. A few years ago I randomly had a lip gloss like this from Sephora's brand — it applied like a gloss, but once it wore off was a really pretty stain, and my lips were actually hydrated. They, of course, discontinued the product, and I was so sad.
The hydrating gloss stain that I loved had one problem, though: it was a really garish raspberry pink, which felt like a lot of look on a regular day. So I'm thrilled to see that the NYX stain looks like it has a lot more muted colors.
Ulta first brought me to color “Bubblegum Burst,” pictured here — and I do think that would be my first pick after looking at the swatches on the arm. “Drippin in Rose” also looks great, as does “Hydra-Honey” if you want a much more subtle MLBB look.
The gloss stain is $12 at Ulta, but keep an eye out at drugstores near you. Of the 1,200+ reviews, 788 are 5-star reviews — even the lower-starred reviews like the hydration (but not the saturated color).
As of 2025, these are some of our favorite MLBB tints (“my lips but better”) — a super easy office makeup look! Also check out this $20 option from Amazon; it's a great Dior Addict Lip Glow dupe. Other recent favorites, both very affordable: this NYX gloss, and this Peripera glowy tint. (Burt's Bees lip tint balm in Red Dahlia or shimmer in Fig are both great, too!)
Sales of note for 9/5/25
- Nordstrom – Summer sale has started, up to 60% off top brands
- Ann Taylor – Friends of Ann Event: 30% off your entire purchase, including new arrivals
- Anthropologie – 30% off clothing and accessories
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- J.Crew – Everyday styles from $34.50 — see our full roundup of what to buy for work at J.Crew
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off fall faves + extra 60% off clearance
- L.K. Bennett – 20% off all new-season
- Nordstrom Rack – Season Closeout: extra 40% off select clearance dresses, sandals, shorts, and swimwear(ends 9/11)
- Rothy's – Up to 50% off last-chance sales
- Soma – 5 panties for $39 + 35% off 3+ styles + buy 2 get 3 free panties — readers love these PJs and these no-VPL panties
- Talbots – 25-40% off select fall styles + extra 30% all markdowns — here are all the reader favorites at Talbots
- White House Black Market – 50% off all sale styles (ends 9/5)
Did anyone read the surrogacy article in Wired? It was…cray. I don’t even have more words to describe it right now. I’ve been against surrogacy for a long time for ethical reasons and it still affected me.
It was insane. One woman’s descent into madness.
Its not “one woman” she may be an extreme example but its pretty common for people to be abusive and predatory towards surrogates. The power imbalance of rich people renting poor people naturally results in this.
Agreed. And any situation where two people have an interest (especially a legally cognizable interest(!!!)) in one person’s body is asking for trouble.
I would be surprised if many people can top her particular degree of craziness.
“Litigation is her ‘grieving process'” (!!!!!!!)
Tell me you haven’t lived in Silicon Valley without telling me you haven’t lived in Silicon Valley. This woman’s personality type is soooo common there.
I’ll never forget reading an article about a rich CA couple that hired a Ukrainian surrogate, made her get a preterm induction when the war started, made her own husband drive the fragile newborn and the American couple over the border (against medical advice), and then left, just like that. Used and abused.
Yes that stood out to me too.
It’s horrific.
I don’t think you’ll get much support here given how pro-surrogacy people are (Kat even had a guest writer on the topic).
Personally I think it’s gross and predatory.
I hope Bi has to pay every cent she has to that poor woman she defamed. One of the most upsetting things I’ve ever read.
Hope that women start being educated about the risks that surrogacy poses to their health…
I had no idea about the placenta issues – that’s a huge often undiscussed issue way beyond the specific case of Bi who is clearly nuts.
do you have a gift link by any chance?
I don’t, unfortunately, but the reader mode trick worked.
Here’s an archived copy
https://archive.ph/YL5CD
Anyone have a gift link? Bi sounds unhinged from the short paragraph I glimpsed.
I think surrogacy should be like organ donation. No financial incentives.
I don’t think surrogacy should exist under any circumstances. Children, especially those with the ‘right’ DNA are not a right.
I agree. It’s inherently exploitative, IMHO. The few rare circumstances in which it isn’t don’t justify the madness.
Agreed, not when response articles are saying things like “who should have control over the carrier’s body if something goes wrong?” So chilling.
I think it’s ok within first or second degree blood relatives. Say, a sister or cousin. With no financial incentives, prioritizing the health of the mother.
Outside of that, what is so wrong with adoption?
Do wealthy people secretly believe they have superior genetics compared to the general population? Therefore they must procreate and demonstrate their reproductive fitness? Oh wait, yea Bi does.
What stood out to me (in addition to being on her ninth attorney and sixth live in nanny), was that she noted GC was tall (so the baby should be in a higher percentile for size), and how the baby looked white like her husband. All babies come out pale, esp the gone ones. And GCs height has no bearing on the height of her kid.
Litigation happy + crazy + low medical literacy.
@Tomatoes I generally agree with you, but I think her happiness about the carrier being tall was because it was seen as a sign of the carrier’s good health, not a sign the baby would be tall. There is some correlation between height and childhood nutrition, and anecdotally people who grew up in countries like China where food insecurity was prevalent seem particularly aware of it. (I’m 5’11”, know a lot of Chinese immigrants and they all go on and on about my height as a positive thing in a way people raised in the US do not.)
You are entitled to your opinion, but know that it means that certain people will never be able to become parents then. The only people I know who have used surrogacy are gay couples. They have no other choice if they want kids.
And, no, adoption is not always an option. It is incredible hard to adopt a baby. One of the two gay couples I know tried to adopt a baby for three years without luck before turning to a surrogate.
Having a child is not a right, unfortunately surrogacy is unethical and some people can never become parents.
Having a child is not a right. It’s unfortunate that there are people who’d be great parents who can’t conceive or adopt, but it doesn’t give you the right to someone else’s body.
Yeah, it does mean that some people who would be wonderful parents won’t get to be without adopting. It’s truly sad for them and surrogacy is still wrong.
“It’s truly sad for them and surrogacy is still wrong.”
Exactly this. Two wrongs don’t make a right as the old cliche goes.
Strong agree. It’s such a horrendous thing for women’s rights and children’s rights.
Oh my god. Bi’s behavior is absolutely horrific. Like you I have very serious ethical qualms about surrogacy and this is just a tragic illustration of all the reasons why. Just awful.
Well that was more bananas than the Elizabeth Gilbert article and the kind of thing that keeps me coming back here.
I had no idea surrogacy was such a grey area but was supportive for situations like same sex male couples or when the woman physically can’t carry a child due to medical reasons (thinking of Senator Duckworth). I’m deeply uncomfortable with it now.
FWIW Senator Duckworth carried her kids. (We delivered in the same hospital in the same day).
Same. It’s not less awful if you are sympathetic to the identity of the IPs. And the IPs stories can be sad and tragic and yet that doesn’t let you get the privilege to be like Bi.
Yeah, I am really conflicted about it. I follow this really lovely gay couple on Insta who are having two babies at once (one with sperm from each), using surrogates in Mexico. Even though they are saying all the right respectful things, it just gives me the icks because it is so inherently exploitive.
A good friend of mine is a gay man and he and his husband made a point of adopting domestically and not using a surrogate. Made me respect him a bajillion times more.
Even if you were dealing with the cleanest-living family member as a GC, it is amazing that IPs expect to be able to demand stuff beyond The Handmaid’s Tale with no consequences.
I didn’t know about the increased complication rate. That one poor woman now has no further ability to have children. There is a new fertility clinic by me that is full of very shiny happy people and I’m curious about how it is if you scratch the surface just a little bit
Placenta accreta is one of the most serious complications you can have. I couldn’t believe my eyes reading that section and how the purchaser reacted.
I only read about 60% of the way through but it just sounds like a bad contract — even from the mom’s skewed perspective it sounds like surrogate did nothing wrong, and the agency should have better contracts that would have protected both. I’m not morally opposed to surrogacy but it clearly needs much, much better regulation and rules, especially because stillbirth and pregnancy complications are so common. What if the kid is born but disabled? You know this crazy mom would be suing even if it was clearly a genetic problem.
It seems like there is almost no disclosure to the surrogates about the health risks to them. The placenta growing from the intended parents and possibly more or less likely to cause placental abruption and yet nothing if the intended parents health history which is directly linked to the surrogate’s risk has to be disclosed!
I dont get how that’s possible. I did IVF and had to sign so many informed consent disclosures and watch so many videos about the risks.
First thought – yikes.
Second thought – the carrier’s lawyer should also buy a lottery ticket.
Yes and I hated it. People do be insane all
Over the place. Most families working with surrogates are not.
Surrogates have an almost 10% chance of severe complication. There should be no for-profit surrogacy industry. It’s as unethical as a for-profit organ marketplace.
It’s not ‘working with’ it’s hiring.
i wrote my note in law school about surrogacy law. this woman sounds unhinged. i have cousins who used a surrogate bc the mom has a condition that requires medications that were not safe for pregnancy. fortunately theirs went smoothly and their twins graduate from college in May. i also have another friend whose brother was conceived with a surrogate, not via IVF (like it was the surrogate’s egg) bc in those days gestational surrogacy wasn’t a thing. the parents had been trying for years and the mom was told she couldn’t get pregnant, so they sought out a surrogate and by the time she realized she was actually pregnant with her own child, the surrogate was also pregnant. The parents felt so badly that one child was fully genetically theirs and one wasn’t, that they paid for college for the one conceived via surrogate and not the one who shared their genes.
We purchased our house 18 months ago and since then the prior owners have had about 40 packages delivered here. Initially I would text them to let them know and they came to pick them up (after a few reminders). Then, they stopped responding, so I just started dropping off the packages at their house. A few times I opened their package accidentally, and I sometimes circle the address on the label before dropping it off so they realize they sent it to the wrong address. They have a ring cam so they must see me dropping them off. The packages are addressed to different family members (so it’s not just one person who keeps putting the wrong address). A month or two ago I sent a pretty curt message letting them know they should pick them up promptly and stop sending things to our home, but it keeps happening. They do not apologize or thank me for dropping off their packages. I’m at the point of being pretty annoyed. What would you do in this situation. I can’t just “return to sender” because they are not USPS packages…
Dumpster.
I’ve had this problem with the sellers of our house. The first Christmas, I had presents and Christmas cards for them to pick up. It was a pain in the a to get them to tell me when they would come by and pick stuff up, and they didn’t say thank you. A few things arrived during the first year, and I did the same thing with the same results (they’d finally pick up the stuff, but I felt like I was doing all of the work to make it happen). For the second Christmas, it appeared that Grandma sent a present, and I contacted the sellers who finally came and got it. After that, I was done. Either the stuff gets returned to sender or trashed. While I don’t know legally, it seems to me that you also could open the packages and then donate what’s inside if you’re interested. Yours and my experiences surprise me so much.
do you have a covered porch? or even an outside table that you can put somewhere accessible like your driveway? i would tell them that for the next 6 months all packages will be kept for one week at X spot (covered porch, outside table) available for their pickup; after that the package will be donated. after six months all packages will automatically be donated.
See, I’d be worried that approach would entice porch pirates or burglars.
If they care about their stuff not being taken, they should come get it quickly. It’s not OP’s responsibility to protect the packages from theft if they can’t be bothered to use the correct address. She’s given them plenty of time to update anything on auto ship.
I think Curly Fries means that porch pirates would learn that OP’s house routinely has packages left unattended and would steal OP’s packages too.
It’s less that I care about ex-owner’s packages and more that I care about my own. If people know that my house often has packages out front … they’re gonna come by even when it’s just my stuff.
That’s what I would do as well.
For 6 months?! Absolutely not. Six days, maybe.
Ugh, we are in a similar but less-bad situation with the former owners of our home – it’s just paper mail and they moved down the street, but still.
It looks like you can contact the customer service for the shipper and arrange a pickup.
One last text: “Y’all need to stop having stuff delivered to my address. I won’t be delivering to you or holding things for you any longer.”
And then not another peep to them about their packages. You got another delivery for not-you? Toss it in the recycling bin, donate, leave their abandoned box in a sidewalk puddle with a “free to good home” sign, whatever you like.
Do not drop the packages off for them! They are not fixing it because it’s not an inconvenience for them, since you are doing all the work. The very most I would do is text them that a package arrived. If they don’t bother to pick it up, then just open it and donate the item. After a few months, I wouldn’t even bother to text them a package arrived.
If it’s just a handful of couriers (like FedEx or UPS), I’d try to call them to see if I can block packages with that surname from being delivered to my house. I absolutely would not go out of my way to deliver the packages to the former owners of the house.
The next time it happens, send a text saying that the package is on your doorstep and they need to pick it up. Further communicate that in the future, you will not even be texting them to let them know of the error; it will be on them to see that the package was delivered to your home and they can pick it up. It will wait on the porch for 5 days, and then be thrown out.
This sounds like the easiest and best. And maybe put a limit of 30 days or so on holding it on the porch for 5 days. After that it’ll be tossed immediately.
I would text (and email, if you have it) one more time, and remind them that you have received and delivered 40+ packages since they moved, that you cannot continue to drop the packages off at their new house indefinitely, and that they need to update shipping addresses ASAP. I would then say that for the next two weeks (or X amount of time) you can drop off any residual packages that are delivered to your address, but after that, you will be donating (or trashing) anything that is received at your house.
For paper mail, I would just trash it.
Actually on second thought, I would say that for the next two weeks, you will text them when packages arrive (but NOT deliver), and after that, you will donate or trash.
Yeah, do not deliver. Make them pick them up from your porch. If the packages go missing from your porch, as many packages do, oh well.
The thing I’d be worried about with this approach is that it would attract porch thieves and your own packages would start to go missing.
Certainly, OP should be on top of her own package deliveries, as we all should be. But she should not have to deal with anyone else’s, including bringing them inside or putting them elsewhere.
Toss ’em! Or keep them if it’s something useful.
Return to sender. Stop dropping stuff off.
Ugh. My MRI said that I needed an MRI needle-guided biopsy. I got the results TH. Today, I got tired of waiting for my doctor to send me any follow-up via MyChart and messaged them did I need them to order the follow-up or call the MRI place to schedule. I got a huffy note back to call the MRI center to schedule. Which I did and after being on hold for half an hour, a person there said not only did I need an order but that my doctors office should have known that (I tend to agree — they are all part of a hospital owned medical practice and imaging facility, not a rando in the healthcare space). I just wanted to cry: this is my first major health scare and the doctors office fumbles things out of the gate. I messaged the doctors office back and fuming and just feeling helpless. Should I trust these people if they can’t manage this? Why am I playing monkey in the middle? What would you all do? They are part of one of two big hospital-affiliated chains in my city and IDK how you even find good people when you may have something serious going on. (I also feel like the OB-gyn practices focus heavily on OB and don’t really care about gyn patients, especially ones older than any of the doctors and staff).
I’m really sorry about all this and hope that there will be nothing of concern once you get your biopsy results.
In my experience, unless one or more of them happens to be really stellar, you probably cannot just trust the random front desk people at your doctor’s office unfortunately. Even the nurses don’t do a great job making sure that MyChart messages that only the doctor can address make it to the doctor’s inbox. Great doctors can still have office staff that block access in all kinds of ways!
It’s messed up, but patients regularly end up playing monkey in the middle. You can try to make friends among the office staff, you can try to learn how to put the right language in MyChart messages to get it routed to the doctor, you can set aside more time for making calls. It’s even worse when trying to deal with prior authorizations and insurers; it’s so hard to get two people on the phone who don’t contradict each other. “It’s a broken system” is truer than ever but has also become an excuse.
Pick up the phone and call the doctors’ office.
If only! At every doctors office I have, you talk to someone who then has to type in a message that may go to someone who is likely not your doctor to assess while multitasking 500 other things that take priority because someone live in the office is asking. It’s no way to get attention (even coming in without an appointment wouldn’t likely help).
At least with MyChart, there is a digital trail of everything, even if you have to keep on it.
I’m sorry, I know this is stressful, but it’s not obvious anyone really dropped the ball here. You got the result Thursday, most doctor’s offices are closed Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then you tried to jump the queue today. Just call again and ask for them to submit the order, or wait a day or two and then call if you haven’t heard anything, whichever is more convenient for you. Good luck.
Chiming in to let you know that I have had 3 core needle biopsies done over the last 17 years and all have been benign. Also the procedure itself is not that bad at all. My last biopsy was a year ago and I found it rather fascinating to watch the needle go in on the screen. I could barely feel anything!
I can be a pansy about medical stuff but truly this is not a big deal. Deep breaths. Odds are you will be just fine:)
my iPhone screen has a few scratches on it. i’m still paying for apple care. would you take it to get the screen replaced, or just put a screen protector on top?
I got a new iPhone in June. I had a tempered glass protector on the screen — the protector shattered at one point, and I was still in the window to sign up for apple care so i did because i thought it was the screen that shattered, not the protector. i went to the apple store, they removed the protector and sent me home. (i had bought a pack of 3 so i declined to buy a new one at the apple store.) i forgot to put the new protector on, and now it’s scratched. not shattered or affecting my enjoyment of the phone, but definitely some scratches.
i’m inclined to just stick a new protector on it.
If it is still covered under apple care, I’d get a new screen and have the protector put on it that day.
Get it replaced before your apple care expires. That’s why you bought apple care.
any magic suggestions for what to wear during the evening/informal time at a conference in vegas in october. i want to go carryon and bring gym clothes so nothing too bulky. last time i went to a conference i just went out in my suit and everyone else was in casual clothes.
I also prefer to carry-on-only and wear my casual outfit on the plane so I can fit my shoes in my bag without foregoing the gym clothes. My giant feet are not one bag friendly.
Black pants, black top, repurpose your suit blazer. Flats.
Add jeans that you can wear with your blazer/top from the day, or a lightweight interesting sweater to wear with your suit pants and loafers.
Feeling uneasy about the direction my company is handling its involvement with the US federal government, but trying to find a new job in this economy is next to impossible. I’m worried that I’m going to end up compromising my moral values if I stay, but also I need to support my family and our emergency fund isn’t as robust as I’d like it to be. I’m stressed.
How do you think people at the electric company feel? Or the road department?
Stressed about the budget is also stressed, but it is a different kind of stressed. Some people would prefer to deal with the moral dilemma of whether they’re morally obligated to quit their job with nothing lined up and others would prefer to just lose their job so they didn’t have to grapple with the moral dissonance.
Is your company considering taking autism-related RFPs courtesy of RFK? Mine might be. This sucks.
Feel free to be the sand in the gears.
I’m sorry. Keep looking for a new job, keep saving, and consider identifying any hard lines you won’t cross and any actions you can take within your company to help steer it in a better direction.
Anon for this but dealing with something similar. My boss thinks we should stay and “fight the good fight,” but … I don’t know. I’m looking but like you said, it’s tough out there. No real advice but you’re not alone wrestling with this.
If you have minor dependents, your greatest moral responsibility is to them. You can stay in a bad job to support them as long as you’re working hard to get out of it.
do you think undertones and seasons are actually a thing? i feel like if they were, they should be obvious if you know a little bit, but the more i go down that rabbithole the more i see other people guessing.
Yes, it’s actually a thing, and yes, there is also guessing, because we all see color differently and there’s also no way one system can cover the vast array of combinations of hair, skin, and eye colorings. (Going too far down the rabbit hole in anything often just leads to people nitpicking the tiny variations and losing sight of the (helpful) broad guidelines.)
+1 Agree on this – it’s a thing, at least in terms of the broad guidelines.
I think the 12 season system is the most useful one, because the soft vs. clear and light vs. deep differences are as interesting and useful as warm vs. cool.
I think most people have some colours where you just know – like if wearing mustard yellow, soft grey or electric blue immediately makes you look fresh and alive in the mirror – or tired and in need of some sleep.
I mean, define “exist” or “actually a thing”. The color wheel is a very useful learning tool but it doesn’t actually exist. Things work in some context and not in others.
Yes, I do think we look better in some colors vs others and the seasonal analysis helps guide you.
The most useful thing for me was to think about what colors I feel awful in – most yellows, especially mustard. Oranges. Warm greens. Warm browns. That helped me realize that I gravitate toward cool tones. My natural skin color is quite pale, which can make it hard to identify any warmth, so I don’t find most of the undertone advice online helpful, but when I put my skin against a creamy yellow piece of paper, my skin looks decidedly pink in contrast.
I have an associate who just does not do The Things. Writing down The Things doesn’t help. Training on The Things does not help. It’s like she doesn’t focus or doesn’t care or just can’t master things (they are a day late or a dollar short or both).
Is it worth giving her a negative review? Can just stop sending her work but no one will PIP her out and will just keep her until she fails to advance in a year.
I guess she can sabotage things if I give her a bad review and stays. It’s just probably better to do nothing absent a consensus that she needs to go now?
Of course you start documenting this now. You need to put everything she doesn’t do or doesn’t do correctly in an email and cc her direct manager, if that’s not you. Talk to HR now. Don’t chicken out because it’s unpleasant. Follow the process.
Of course you can give her a bad review and/or stop sending work her way. If you work for the place where she could get a bad review, active sabotage future assignments (!) and you would still be obliged to send her work, you need a new job.
Are you in a law firm? What is the review cadence here? If she fails to advance in a year, does that mean she’ll be terminated? Don’t you think it would be helpful to have a document history of feedback? This will not get better if you just leave it alone. And underperforming juniors are unlikely to leave on their own promptly if they stop getting work. They hang out and collect a pay check will irritating you and everyone around them with inadequate work product. If she starts “sabotaging” things (how??), then you fire her immediately.
I received a job offer (based in Illinois) with 5 year confidentiality clause and 18 mos non-compete that includes all firm’s clients and prospects. It’s a big enough firm that I will not be able to be a janitor in many of my city’s largest firms. Would you push back or simply abandon this company? I have a second offer with a much more reasonable non compete but this job seemed like a better fit initially.
I would consult with an employment attorney in Illinois to understand the scope and validity of what you’re being asked to sign.
I would also be very concerned, because unreasonable expectations at the start, even if small, an be a huge red flag.
This second paragraph, OP.
You should hire an Illinois attorney who handles noncompete and recruiting issues. Many of these are negotiable or unenforceable under Illinois law.
I would have an IL employment lawyer review and suggest next steps! Noncompetes are a hot topic now, the employment lawyer will be able to give you feed back on enforceability.
Fluff question: I inherited a punch bowl several years ago, then COVId hit. I’m realizing: no punch cups. Do I need? Recommended? Would love to use for the holidays this year.
You can find the Roly-polys on eBay if it’s of that era. I’m assuming mcm but I bet you can find matching or close ones cheap. Or anchor hocking or fostoria if older. Sounds like a fun project!
Ebay or Etsy is probably your best bet, but you can also try Replacements Ltd dot com. Also I think the punch cups definitely don’t have to match the bowl so you can pick whatever you like and can afford.
Thrift stores have punch bowls and cups. Try that first
Does anyone have an intelligent take on these unsigned, brief opinions from SCOTUS that allow DJT to set fire to the constitution? It just seems so, so cowardly. I read a lot but haven’t seen anything but handwringing on them.
Unsigned (per curiam) opinions aren’t a new thing. I disagree strongly with many of the things the current administration are doing – and think some of them are *evil*, but I’m willing to accept that the supreme court can rule that they are *constitutional* even so
I read the dissents. Steve Vladeck’s commentary is good, and Adam Liptak’s coverage in the NYT is pretty accessible.
My husband and I have decided to retire at the end of the year. We have a financial plan, have investigated our retirement benefits, looked at our budget 100x, told co-workers, HR, family, doctors, friends etc. I am going through our current benefit plan and using up what we can (extra massages, trips to the dentist, etc).
We also have a plan for the winter (in Ontario so it can be brutal here). We are taking a month or so off to decompress then going away to Europe for another month. It wont be beach weather but it will be 20- 30 degrees warmer than here :)
Have we missed anything? Fellow Canadians or retirees, is there anything you wish you did or anything you missed arranging before you left? I am a huge planner and this is a big question for me.
You should try the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Tinted Oil Stains. Moisturizing, great texture, fades into a good stain, terrific colors. I adore them!