Category Archives: Hauls

Ipsy – August 2014 Glam Bag

August 20, 2014Hauls, Makeup, ReviewsAbsolute!, Coastal Scents, Dr. Brandt, Ipsy, Lord & Berry, Urban DecayChelle

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Everyone’s already talked about how the bag of the month looks like a deflated beach ball… So now that I’ve stolen everyone elses’ much smarter observation than my own, let’s move on to the contents of the actual bag!

The theme was back to school, but as with all Ipsy bags, the theme never really seems to make any sense. I mean it’s all makeup at the end of the day… we wear this stuff year ’round!

The big hitting product this month was Urban Decay‘s brand new Perversion mascara. People were absolutely freaking out over the size of this sample on the Ipsy threads, but when I go back and compare it to previous deluxe size samples of mascara I’ve received through Ipsy before, it’s near identical in volume. Most deluxe size samples are between 0.1 and 0.2 fluid ounces (this one is 0.1 fluid ounce). There is nothing wrong with this sample – heck you can even tell they stuffed the tube because the darn thing makes a squelching sound every time I open it. If anything, I think UD just really knew how to package this sucker.

ANYWAY. On to the actual mascara. Plain and simple: I love it. It has a natural, “normal” brush and it coats my lashes wonderfully. It’s smooth, thick and wetter than most mascara formulas, which is something I like in particular. This one is a winner, and I may very well buy the full size when I finish this one.

Dr. Brandt – Pores No More pore refiner primer

I had amazing results with Dr. Brandt‘s microdermabrasion scrub, but unfortunately a primer just isn’t necessary for me. It smells heavily of tea tree oil, which is really nice (if you like the scent, of course!). It has a silicone feel on the skin, which I quite like, but I couldn’t tell you if this does what it’s supposed to do because I never notice a difference with my foundation whether I use primer or not.

LORD & BERRY Black SILK mini kajal kohl liner

This is a black liner that does absolutely nothing. There’s nothing remotely enticing about this product. Lord & Berry say it’s a kohl kajal, but the damn thing is so stiff that it’s hard to get colour pay off (as you can see in my eye shot above). It was difficult to even get that much on my lid. I tried tightlining with it and I swear it smudged off within 30 seconds. I’ve no use for this liner at all.

This one wigs me out. Absolute‘s You’re The Balm in Grape looks, feels and smells like a very cheap product. It’s a relatively clear, gelatinous balm with multicoloured sparkles mixed in. Normally the glitter would fill me with glee, but since it goes on the lips rather gritty, I really just feel like I’m wearing a Wet n Wild sparkly balm from the 90s. I’ve only tried it once and was too disgusted to try it again. It’s sitting in a corner on my makeup desk, waiting for the moment that I gather the courage to try it again…

These Coastal Scents blushes aren’t too bad actually. The pans are really tiny and I made the mistake of accidentally cracking the product on one of them while trying to get it out of the plastic packaging. It can be a bit difficult to get your blush brush into these products though since the pans are so bloody small. The colours, however, go on my cheeks rather nicely and have lasted throughout and entire work day, so that’s a huge bonus for a relatively inexpensive products.

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Ipsy August 2014 Breakdown (all prices in USD)

Urban Decay Perversion mascara (0.1 fl oz @ $5.50, full size is $22 for 0.4 oz)
Dr. Brandt Pores No More pore refiner primer (0.25 fl oz @ $11.25, full size is $45 for 1 fl oz)
Absolute You’re the Balm Lip Balm in Grape ($2.99, full size)
Coastal Scents Forever Blush Sample Duo (2.5g @ $2, full size is $7.95 for 10g)
Lord & Berry Black SILK Kajal Kohl-Liner (0.6g @ $7.50, full size is $15 for… double the size? – just a guess, I can’t find sizing info anywhere)

BAG VALUE = $29.24

My Thoughts

Kalyn basically summed up my thoughts in her own post on this month’s Ipsy bag, but in essence… aside from the mascara, this bag bored me. After such an amazing last month, this bag was just an absolute downer. It was so offputting that I’m considering whether or not want to stay subscribed to Ipsy. I think I’m at this point where I’m realizing that some of this is really just unnecessary products that I use, but never really fall in love with. I’ll see how next month goes and then make a solid decision.

Sad Illamasqua News & Haul

August 13, 2014Hauls, MakeupIllamasquaChelle

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I don’t normally post mid-month hauls as I generally try to save all of my goodies for a big long post at the end of the month, but I had a slight panic attack today when I read Julie from Swatch and Review’s recent Illamasqua haul. She pointed out that Illamasqua was pulling out of the North American market and that all of their products were on sale at The Bay. If I had waited till the end of the month to haul this stuff, you guys would’ve been screwed!

So, I don’t know where the heck I’ve been, but when I started researching this on Google, I discovered this isn’t apparently news and the information has been out there since February. Colour me totally blind because I had NO idea. I only got into Illamasqua‘s products within the last year or so, and I’ve been a huge fan of their blushes (in particular Tweak and Hussy). Feeling somewhat panicked by the news, I stormed over to the Illamasqua counter at The Bay yesterday during my lunch break (a mere hour after I read Julie’s post) and snapped up a few products. ALL Illamasqua products are 25% while supplies last, which means you’ll be saving a pretty penny since they’re not cheap products to begin with. The woman I spoke to at the counter indicated that they were expected to pack up shop by the end of August. YIKES!

It’s worth noting that as far as I can see, Illamasqua is completely gone from Sephora as well. That being said, The Bay always carried Illamasqua at significantly cheaper prices than Sephora did, so you’ve still got a few weeks to pick up some nicely discounted products!

Here’s the loot I snagged. I may go back for more before the end of the month, but this will do for now!

Illamasqua Skin Base in shade 6.5 (on sale for $31.50 CAD, regular price is $42)

Skin Base. If there’s one thing that Illamasqua fanatics always talk about, it’s Skin Base. I first heard about their foundation through Pixiwoo, and kind of ignored it over the years because it’s expensive and I’m a cheapo when it comes to foundation. It’s not a product I wear every day, so it’s not really essential like eyeshadow is to me. But goddamn if I wasn’t going to get this at 25% off! (And even on sale, it’s still pretty pricey at ~$32!)

The makeup artist at the counter helped me pick out the Shade 6.5 which kind of surprised me. Despite having a decent summer tan right now, I wasn’t expecting to be so high up the line of foundations (this is good news for the super pale folk out there!). According to Illamasqua’s site, Shade 6.5 is similar to MAC NC25, so it’s not nearly as dark as I thought.

Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Alluvium (on sale for $19.12 CAD, regular price is $25.50)

Um hello there pretty! The Alluvium Pure Pigment is stunning in the pot (although the pots themselves are an absolute disaster packaging-wise. What a mess they make.). It looks like an incredibly dark navy blue with flecks of copper and gold sparkle. However…

What sorcery is this?!?! The swatch compared to the pigment in the pot is completely baffling to me. Honestly, I prefer the shade in the pot, and I’m going to see if I can try to pull more of the darker copper sparkles out of this shade by using a brown base. It’s still beautiful though. Despite the rather unexpected blue shade, you gotta admit that is one *stunning* shade of blue.

Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static (on sale for $19.12 CAD, regular price is $25.50)

The Static Pure Pigment looks an awful lot like Beguile (a Pure Pigment shade I already own), but it has far more of a pink flash to it (whereas Beguile ends up looking like snow although it has multi-coloured shimmer in it). I bought this because I don’t have anything quite like it. It reminds me of MAC‘s Transparent Glitters (teal being my favourite).

Out of focus shot to the right so you can see the pink flash to the pigment. It’s obvious in person, but man oh man is it hard to photograph straight on.

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Raindrops (on sale for $12.75 CAD, regular price is $17)

I wasn’t sure what else to pick up from Illamasqua, so I did a bit of research before heading over. One of the things that Christine fromTemptalia recommended highly was their Raindrops nail varnish. It’s a muted grey polish with flecks of silver throughout. It looks like a polish I could wear week after week. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m excited to try it out!

And what’s a product photographing session without Nemo checking out what’s going on? 🙂

That’s it for this haul – if you’re interested in Illamasqua, you’ve got until the end of the month to pick up some lovely products at some very nice prices. Good luck, and let me know if you got anything!

What I Bought This Month – July 2014 Haul

July 30, 2014HaulsBe A Bombshell, Elizabeth Mott, Kat Von D, NeutrogenaChelle

July’s beauty haul is slightly more exciting than last month’s no buy that’s for sure!

Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper ($22 CAD)

My mission to find a matte black liquid liner in a pen-style format with a brush tip continues! So far this is the best one, but it’s still not perfect. Kat Von D‘s Tattoo Liner brush tip applicator is absolutely perfect at distributing product – it continually amazes me that the product is ALWAYS at the tip of the brush (which is a slight problem I’d had with the Physicians Formula eye booster in the same style). It makes for super easy application, especially when you’re used to a gel liner and brush. However, it’s still not *completely* matte black. It’s nowhere near as shiny as Make Up For Ever’s Aqualiner in Black, but it still has the very hint of a sheen, which means it can pick up lid eyeshadow to a certain degree. However, this being the best one I’ve found yet, its ease of use far outstrips any shine it may have. I picked this up primarily because I’m going on vacation in September and since I wear a lot of winged out liner, the last thing I want to do is fuss around with a pot of gel liner and a brush while trying to get out the door to go sightseeing.

Neutrogena Make-Up Remover Cleansing Cloths – Hydrating (~$7)

Unlike every other Neutrogena makeup remover, the Hydrating version almost never goes on sale which is incredibly frustrating. I noticed they were slightly less expensive at Walmart this time round so I snapped them up while I was there.

Be A Bombshell‘s Last Call Girl lipgloss was a freebie from Ipsy. I had complained about the extremely horrible scent of the Be A Bombshell’s mascara I have been previously sent and they sent me two free products (next one follows this one) as recompense. I’m not sure when I’ll wear this, if ever. It’s not a colour I usually gravitate towards and it’s a gloss which leaves me feeling even less enthused. Ah well. Better than the mascara, that’s for sure.

Elizabeth Mott – It’s So Big mascara (free)

The other freebie I got from Ipsy was the Elizabeth Mott It’s So Big mascara. It works well on my lower lashes (where I want less product and less volume) but it doesn’t do much to boost up my upper lashes. I’ll keep using it for my lower lashes for sure though – I like how it deposits just the right amount of colour I want on them.

That’s it for July’s haul!

Ipsy – July 2014 Glam Bag

July 16, 2014Hauls, Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesbareMinerals, Elizabeth Mott, Ipsy, Marrakesh, Pür Minerals, purlisseChelle

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I’m going to blow the surprise right here, right now.

This bag was amazing. Hands down the best one I’ve had yet. There isn’t a single product in here I won’t use (aside from that hideous, HIDEOUS pink froofy makeup bag that everything came in) and every single one of the products performed way, WAY beyond my expectations. Here’s what I got:

bareMinerals READY eyeshadow 2.0 in The Inspiration

The most exciting product to me was the bareMinerals eyeshadow duo in The Inspiration in a baby-sized palette. The light pink shade is Muse and the purple shade, which has some lovely gold sparkle in it, is Passion. Having never tried any bareMinerals products before, I was super pumped to try these out. And man oh man, did they ever live up to their hype. These went on my eyelids like a dream and the colours were perfect combination to stick in a duo together. After the amazingness of this duo, I will *definitely* be looking into more bareMineralsproducts in the near future.

*GASP* I love this product so much. I’ve always oogled Benefit‘s lip and cheek tints, but never took the plunge, so I was downright squealing when I got the Elizabeth Mott version of it in my bag. And this product seems to work equally well on both my lips and my cheeks. I believe Cherry is their own colour so far, and it’s a stunner. It smells faintly of cherries, but not that horrific cough medicine scent that I usually associate with artificial cherry scented things.

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry on the cheeks

Much to my surprise, this lasted throughout the entire work day on my cheeks. The colour is just the colour I want for summer too – slightly pinky-red, so it looks like I’ve been running around and got slightly sunburned. I will say that it seems to eat a bit at my foundation since it’s a liquid product, so be aware when you’re applying not to be too rigorous with your blending. (I blended it in with a Real Techniques Expert Face brush.)

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry on the lips

On my lips it comes out slightly more pink, but still… *amazing*! The colour is beautiful and settled onto my lips beautifully. It’s slightly drying, but that’s to be expected of a stain. It does look rather natural, as most stains do on me, so I find this really easy to wear.

I’m so pleased that this worked out so well on both areas it’s supposed to work on. Usually you hear about dual-location stains as really only being any good for one area, not for both.

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Another winner! I wasn’t expecting to like this (never mind love it) after the disaster that was the Be A Bombshell mascara from last month. Pur Minerals is a brand I’ve seen often at Shoppers Drug Mart, but never really looked into their products in depth.

First off, the brush wasn’t something I thought I’d enjoy. It’s bulky, rubberized and the mascara kind of clumped around the wand. And then I put it on my lashes and I shut right the hell up with my complaints. This sweeps on easily and coats all my lashes. It lengthens them. Thickens them. And from some angles I look like I’m wearing false lashes. AND it’s truly waterproof. Getting this off was hard work, but I appreciate that because when I need something to be waterproof, I need it to not. freaking. budge. And this definitely did not budge. No flakes throughout the day either, which is something I’m prone to. When I run out of this, and finish up all the other mascaras I have kicking around, I will definitely look into picking this up. (Side note: The top of the packaging has that bubbled on wet look that MAC just made famous with their Alluring Aquatics summer collection this year. Just thought that was really neat!)

Pur~lisse Pur~Protect Essential Daily Moisturizer

This product confuses me. It’s labelled on some sites as a moisturizer and as a sunscreen on others. Pur~lisse‘s Pur~Protect smells heavily of sunscreen (it does have 30 spf after all), so I feel like I’d use it more as a sunscreen than a moisturizer. However, I did use it as my only moisturizer under foundation yesterday and my face didn’t feel especially dry. I’m always happy to receive sunscreens, particularly ones for the face, so even if I don’t use it as a moisturizer I’m still happy with it. (Plus, this is an expensive product on its own in the full size tube.)

Marrakesh Endz is an argan and hemp oil therapy (but really, it’s a cream product) split end mender and preventer. I don’t truly believe that it can mend split ends (hair is dead after all, and if it’s split at the ends it’s sure as hell not going to re-grow back together again), but I do think it can help my split ends “feel” better.

At the moment I have some really “crackly” ends to my hair. I only get a haircut about once a year and something happened to my hair about two years ago that made it go really crispy (wish I knew what the heck it was). Most of the crispy-ness has thankfully grown out by now, but the last inch or two of my hair still has this horrible straw-like texture to it that I really need to get cut off. All that to say… this stuff actually helped make the ends feel better. Less crunchy, as it were. I think it’s a purely artificial feeling, but hey, I’m not complaining!

The smell isn’t bad either. It’s quite pleasant – the usual argan smell mixed with… cinnamon maybe?

Ipsy July 2014 Breakdown (all prices in USD)

bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow 2.0 in The Inspiration ($7.40 for 1g , full size is $20 for 2.7g)
Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry (full size, $22.99)
pur~lisse pur~protect essential daily moisturizer with 30 spf ($13.63 for 15ml, full size is $55 for 50ml)
Marrakesh Hair Care – Endz (smaller bottle size, $5.99)
Pür Minerals Big Look Waterproof Mascara ($13.60 for 3.4g, full size is $20 for 5g)

BAG TOTAL = $63.61

My Thoughts

This was the highest value bag from Ipsy so far, and the only one I’ve had to break $60 worth in goodies. As I said at the start, this one was an absolute winner of a bag. Get any of the products if they look like they’re up your alley and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

What I Bought This Month – June 2014 Haul

June 30, 2014HaulsNeutrogenaChelle

My haul this month is barely even worth writing about! But, I like to look back and see what I bought and when, and so I persevere…

This month? I didn’t buy anything interesting. Hell, I didn’t even buy any makeup, which is slightly shocking. (Not to mention supremely boring!)

So what did I get?

Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Make-up Remover ($7.99 CAD)

Yep. That’s it. Makeup remover. Terribly exciting.

Please tell me you picked up something far more interesting than me this month!