Time for Ipsy‘s February glam bag! Gotta say, not keen on the super pink (and rather bland, I might add) bag, but to each their own. As a new subscriber though, I have to wonder what the heck does one do with all of the bags that you end up accumulating every month?
J. Cat Beauty Eyelashes ($3.99 USD)
I haven’t tried these J. Cat eyelashes yet because I really only wear false lashes maybe once a month. They do, however, look very similar to the Ardell102 Demis that I wear so I’ll be happy to try these out.
J. Cat Beauty Eyelashes – EL13
They look a tad bit thiner than the Ardells, but that’s fine by me as I’m not overly fussy in the fake eyelashes department.
Pop Beauty – Plump Pout in Fuchsia Freesia (4g for $7.50, full size is $16 for 8.5g)
There’s no doubt this is a beautiful colour. Pop Beauty‘s Fuchsia Freesia is a very vibrant fuchsia (duh) that goes on the lips fairly opaque. Unfortunately the lasting powder is on parr with other lipglosses and for that reason I’m just not that drawn to it. I haven’t got the patience to be fiddling around with my gloss every damn hour during the workday.
Pop Beauty – Plump Pout in Fuchsia Freesia
As you can see from the shot, it really is gorgeous. I just wish it stayed that way! The top right shot is right after I’d applied it. The bottom right is after an hour of wear time. It’s almost completely rubbed off and I wasn’t even eating or drinking anything! Way too high maintenance for me. I’ll end up bringing it to work and leaving it there for those days where I forget to pack a lipstick or something. It does have a weird burnt cinnamon/plastic taste and smell to it too, but not as bad as some things I’ve worn.
Tini Beauty Eyetini Cordial Cream Shadow + Base In One in Violette $18
I didn’t have much hopes for a cream shadow that I had to apply with a wand applicator, but this one surprised me. Tini Beauty is a company I’m completely unfamiliar with, so $18 for a cream shadow seems kind of steep. It is, however, quite beautiful on the eyes.
Tini Beauty Eyetini Cordial Cream Shadow + Base In One in Violette
The product does indicate that it has a built in primer, but since I always wear primer I can’t let you know how this holds up by itself. Shot on the left is the Eyetini alone over NARS‘ primer. And the shot on the right has MAC‘s Blackberry blended into the crease with nothing over the Eyetini itself. The texture of this product is very smooth on application (I even used the built in applicator and didn’t bother with another brush!), but it does dry to a very paper-like texture. It’s not necessarily bad, it’s just a bit odd. It feels a bit similar to a Maybelline Color Tattoo in that sense. When I wore this eye look, I didn’t put anything over the Eyetini and it wore for a solid 14 hours. I experienced minor creasing and a very slight bit of bunching/flaking. Overall though, two thumbs up on this product!
Skyn Iceland Fresh Start Mask ($~6)
Face masks don’t really make my heart go pitter-patter, but it was in the bag (and apparently I’d filled out my profile to indicate I wanted masks… go figure) so I may as well give it a shot.Skyn Iceland‘s Fresh Start Mask did… nothing. Sure, it made my skin really uncomfortably hot in an oh-my-god-I-want-to-scratch-it-off kind of way, but did it actually really DO anything for me? Not that I can see.
Skyn Iceland Fresh Start Mask
I used it once a week as the instructions indicated (I got two uses out of the foil packets), and mixed them how they said to (“blue” clay first, then the gooey gel one on top”). And uh yeah. I did a face mask. It didn’t make my skin worse, or better. /shrug
Zoya Dot Nail Polish ($9)
I was eager to try Zoya for the first time! I have a friend who swears by them but I’d never owned a bottle before. Zoya describes Dot as a full coverage pink-petal cream.
Well.
No.
No, it is not full coverage. Or opaque. Have a look:
Zoya Dot Nail Polish
Aside from my painted cuticles and the random cat hair, you can see that it took four coats before I got opaque, streak-free colour. That’s without a base coat or top coat too. I don’t know about you, but if I have to apply six coats of nail polish to my nails, that stuff is never going to dry and it ends up going all mushy. Definitely not pleased with this one. For those people it does work for, this is at least part of Zoya‘s Spring 2014 collection so it’s a very recently released shade.
Ipsy February 2014 Breakdown
J. Cat Beauty Eyelashes – $3.99 USD (full size)
Pop Beauty Plump Pout in Fuchsia Freesia – 4g for $7.50 (full size is $16 for 8.5g)
Tini Beauty Eyetini Cordial Cream Shadow + Base In One in Violette – $18 (full size)
Skyn Iceland Fresh Start Mask – $6.50 (full size is 6 masks for $39 USD)
Zoya Dot Nail Polish – $9 (full size)
BOX TOTAL: $44.99
My Thoughts
It’s funny… while writing and editing this review, I can see that I was pretty displeased with a lot of these products. However, my lasting impression from the bag isn’t a bad one. I was happy to try out the stuff that was new to me, and even though it didn’t work out, or I didn’t notice much of a difference in my skin (looking at you Fresh Start Mask), I was still happy to give these products a shot.
The only real hit for me out of this bag was the cream shadow (love it) and I hope to like the eyelashes when I get around to trying them out.
I know what you’re going to say. “You said last month you weren’t going to buy anything makeup-related until March!” I know I did, but I’ve got an excuse! My birthday was this past month and I was gifted almost everything I’m about to include in this post. Everything will have prices just so you’ll have an idea if you’re interested in some of them, but I’m only taking blame for some of these items! 😉
On with the loot!
Make Up For Ever – Glitters 13 ($20 CAD)
This item was actually a replacement (in my eyes) for my returned Illamasqua palette. I’ve been wanting to pick up a 3D, disco-like glitter for ages now. I had wanted MAC‘s 3D Silver Glitter, but never got around to picking it up. I saw this while at Sephora and decided why the heck not and picked up MUFE‘s Glitter in 13. I am eternally in love with this kind of silver glitter with a rainbow sparkle to it. This is the kind of glitter I always have painted on my toes and I definitely wanted something similar to use on my face. I’ve not had the opportunity to use it yet, but I’m excited to!
Joe Fresh Beauty – Rose Gloss in Peach ($6)
I picked up this Joe Fresh Beauty Rose Gloss in Peach while I was out one day and didn’t have a lip balm on me. THIS THING IS AWFUL. Run away. Run FAR away and never ever buy one of these. First of all, it smells horrible. Fake, plastic and completely unpleasant. It also clumps up on the lips and causes horrible strings when you open your mouth. This gloss has no redeeming factors whatsoever. I mean, just look at this horrible picture. It looks like something out of a horror movie. Ugh.
Joe Fresh – Rose Balm in Peach
I quickly depotted it and threw the contents out. I’ll use the pot for something else. Bleugh.
I spotted these Neutrogena wipes on sale so I snatched them up. Adding to my stack of four other unopened packs of wipes in my bathroom linen closet. /facepalm
Ally’s Orange Whip Body Butter
This stuff is amazing. A dear friend of mine made some body butter for me! (You can find her at www.alidoesit.ca, or you can find a direct link to her recipe here.) The label rubbed off, but I believe she said it was Orange Whip Lotion. She also indicated she “messed up” the recipe and it came out thicker than she intended. Well to hell with her mess up, because I really love just how thick this moisturizer is! It’s far closer to a body butter, which is just all the better in my opinion. To me, I don’t get so much of the scent of orange, but I do get the scent of a million wildflowers rolled into a single mason jar. It’s as if you got dumped into a field of flowers and sniffed them all up at once. The smell is incredible. Not to mention it feels wonderful on the skin. Because the ingredients are all natural, it won’t last as long as some storebought lotions simply because it doesn’t have all the chemical additives in it. That being said, it won’t matter because I’m about halfway done the jar already!
Physicians Formula Shimmer Strip in Sunset Strip ($9.96 CAD)
This is definitely one I bought with my own money. This Physicians Formula Shimmer Strip in Sunset Strip was marked down 60% off and the tag indicated it was on clearance and their stock wouldn’t be replenished. Having always wanted to pick up one of these but had always balked at the enormous price tag in Canada (seriously, these are over $20 at the drugstore here), I panicked and purchased this because I was worried I’d never get the opportunity to test it out since it was on clearance.
Living Proof – Full Thickening Cream ($32 CAD)
Having a rather nice gift card to Sephora, I picked up a few items I had been lusting over. The first was this Living ProofFull Thickening Cream for hair. I had used a small sample of it and loved the effects and the smell of it. I then went into the Sephora, picked it up, brought it to the counter and was floored at the price tag. $32 for this thing and it is SMALL. I should’ve photographed it against my hand to give you an idea of size… but seriously, it is really dinky. I do love it, and I’ll use it up, but I’ll have to see whether or not it’s worth repurchasing at that steep price.
NARS – Mediteranee ($39 CAD
Another one I picked up from Sephora and my very first NARS product is an eyeshadow duo in Mediteranee. I’m curious to see how NARS compares to other brands I’ve used especially when I consider the sticker price. I’m a sucker for oranges and the shade on the left is slightly gold tinted so I’m excited to use this one.
NARS – Pro Prime Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base ($29 CAD)
Annnnd my next item from NARS (from Sephora). This one was absolutely necessary – allow me to explain. In the last two weeks, I don’t know what the heck has happened, but suddenly my Urban DecayPrimer Potion doesn’t seem to be working as well as it used to. I’ve had a few days in a row where my eyeshadow almost completely creased off by the end of the work day. I’m in kind of a slight panic about it because I’m used to being able to put on eyeshadow at 7 am with UD‘s primer and have it last until midnight if it was a particularly long day.
I’d heard that NARS‘ primer was the absolute best for oily eyelids so I figured this must be a step up from UDPP. I don’t have an especially oily face really – I don’t powder my face, I don’t even usually have to wear foundation or anything mattifying, but I figure I must have oily eyelids to cause all my eyeshadows to crease. I’ve only tried it a few times with inconclusive results (some days it didn’t crease, some days I had minor creasing). I really, REALLY hope this works for me because having to worry about creased eyeshadow after having had years of no problems with UDPP is making me really, really nervous.
Nemo checking out my new Real Techniques brushes
I was in Winners one day and stumbled over some Real Techniques with amazing price tags attached to their shiny packages. I’ve mentioned my lack of brushes previously and had intended to pick these sets up while in the US, but when I saw that these were cheaper than even what they sell in the US, I decided it wasn’t worth waiting to spend the money.
Real Techniques Travel Essentials ($16.99 CAD)
Everyone’s seen these, so I’ll be brief. This is Real Techniques‘ Travel Essentials set. It includes a foundation brush, an eyeshadow blending brush and a large powder brush.
Real Techniques Starter Set ($16.99 CAD)
RT‘s Starter Set includes two eyeshadow blending brushes (seriously, they’re too fat to do anything other than blend stuff on your face), a very small detail brush, a liner brush (there’s no way you can use this one for liner by the way, it’s way too big) and an angled brush that they’ve labeled as one for your eyebrows.
I love my other Real Techniques brushes so I’m excited to use these!
Bath & Body Works – Violet Lily SKY Diamond Shimmer Mist ($6 CAD)
The Summer, Sky and Air scents from Bath & Body Works are a new addition to their regular line although I’m not sure if they’re limited edition. As a result of them being so new, they’re all on sale for roughly half price. I’m not sure how long this promotion will last, but snatch them up quickly if you like the scent. I really love the one I grabbed which is the Violet Lily Skyscent. I’m not even going to try to describe it other than to say that I really like it. I picked up the diamond shimmer version because I’m a sucker for anything with sparkle or glitter. Unfortunately, I’ve been wearing it the past few days and the scent disappears really quickly which is frustrating (it seems to be gone after an hour or two). The small sparkles stick around for a while on your skin though, so that’s quite nice.
If you’re familiar with B&BW‘s previous shimmer mist, then you’ll wonder if the new bottle (this time labeled Diamond Shimmer Mist) is actually bigger. I know it sure looked bigger to me, but as it turns out both bottles have 236ml of product, so you’re still getting the same amount, despite the change in packaging. I will say that the previous Shimmer Mist I had, the Warm Vanilla Sugar one, lasts a lot longer on the skin and I think the shimmer particles are slightly larger than the new diamond mist ones. Either way, it’s a fun product to have!
Bath & Body Works bottle comparison
For a “no buy” month I sure did end up with a decent number of products!
This is my first month as an Ipsy subscriber. Being in Canada, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pay the additional $4.95 USD just for shipping (the bag itself is $10 USD which includes the cost of shipping if you’re in the USA). However, after seeing years worth of Ipsy haul videos on YouTube filled with so many good things, I finally decided it was worth it.
When I originally looked at spoilers for my bag, I was little “meh” about it all, but I have to say I’m pretty happy with what I got in my first bag! I had the opportunity to test out all the products before I made this post, so you’ll not only see what I received this month, but you’ll also get an idea as to whether the products are actually any good.
Enough talking, on with the goods!
The first item didn’t fit in the blue makeup bag, but was just sitting inside the foil packet.
Coastal Scents Small Foundation Brush ($4.95 USD, full size)
In spite of the fact that I absolutely love makeup, I’m really not one to purchase many makeup brushes. Reason being that I dislike spending my money on tools. I’d rather spend my cash on actual products! So because of this, while I have enough brushes to bust out a look, the reality is that I just don’t have a wide variety of them. All this to say… I was really pleased to see a brush in this bag (especially since my bag also came with foundation). The photo above makes it looks smaller than it actually is (it actually looks like a MAC 232 above, hah), although this IS a smaller face brush. Coastal Scents‘ Small Foundation Brush is a synthetic brush and this is full size, which thankfully means no shortened handle. It’s also pretty densely packed, which is not something I expected for a $5 brush.
As you can see in the shot above, it definitely is sized for the face. I do like how it applied my foundation, but I’m not a fan of flat brushes to apply my foundation. I tend to prefer larger buffing brushes if only because it takes me less time in the morning when I’m trying to get my butt out the door to work. That being said, I’ve only used it once so I’ll give it a few more tries and see if I can adapt to using flat brushes. If it doesn’t work out for me for foundation, I’m sure I’ll find another use for it.
MICA Beauty Cosmetics in Natural ($30 USD, full size)
I’m completely unfamiliar with MICA Beauty so this is an all new experience for me. The first thing I did was look up this tinted lip balm to find out how much this retails for and my eyebrows just about shot off my face. This little 4g pot sells for $30 USD. Now, I don’t know who is actually paying $30 for this because that is an extremely high end price for something being touted as a tinted lip balm.
But is this really a lip balm? Not so much. This is more like a potted lipstick. The sensation of this is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. It’s smooth and… well, it’s not slick, but it’s not creamy either. It’s not uncomfortable… it’s just totally different than anything I’ve ever worn on the lips.
MICA Beauty Cosmetics in Natural
I received the colour Natural and it looks pretty brown in the pot but goes on the lips rather rosy. It’s rather shiny when first applied, but it dries down to a satin finish. This does not feel remotely like a lip balm to me. When it dries down, it tends to make your lips feel like they’re shrunk a bit and yet it’s not utterly uncomfortable to wear. The dry down will actually help increase the longevity of the product. You’ll be able to touch your lips without transferring any colour – it isn’t until you actually rub your lips where you’ll notice a colour transfer. I don’t feel it’s particularly moisturizing, but it didn’t dry out my lips either.
I didn’t wear this for a great deal of time (only about an hour or so), but I do really like the shade. If I can get used to the sensation of the product, I’m sure I’ll end up keeping this in my desk at work for the days when I forget to bring in a lip product.
Nourish Organic Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion Argan + Rosewater (0.5 oz for $6.47, full size is 1.7 oz for $21.99)
Nourish Organic‘s Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion with Argan + Rosewater is indeed a pretty thin moisturizer. It feels incredibly liquidy, which doesn’t give me the feeling it’ll be moisturizing enough. It took a bit of rubbing to get the product into my skin, but it did sink in eventually. However, once it dried, it made my skin feel slightly tight, almost as if it had formed a shell over my skin and it needed to be cracked. I realize that sounds incredibly dramatic, and it’s not like it formed an entire plaster over my face, but it didn’t feel great. I’ll finish up the deluxe sample, but I wouldn’t ever purchase this product. Also… this smells like apricots even though the product says it’s the argan and rosewater variety. Odd.
Thin moisturizerAbsolute! Make-Up Cleansing Tissues in Pomegranate Extract ($2.49 for 10 wipes, full size)
I received the Pomegranate Extract scent/flavour of the Absolute! Make-up Cleansing Tissues in my bag. They claim to remove all makeup, including waterproof mascara. Since I wear waterproof mascara daily, I was more than happy to try these out after a day at work.
So I came home yesterday and swiped off my makeup. And rubbed at it. My foundation came off without a hitch, but I did have to rub a decent amount at my lashes, including a lot of wiggling of the tissue *on* my lashes. It’s not something unusual for a makeup removing wipe, but it’s not something I particularly enjoy doing. In the end, they did work, but not as good as some other wipes I’ve used (Neutrogena springs to mind).
The other thing about these is that they smell kind of off. I don’t know if it’s just relegated to the pomegranate scent, but they initially smelled like an alcoholic froufy drink… and then the more I rubbed it on my skin the more nauseating the scent became. I’m glad there’s only ten in this pack because the smell of them would do me in if I used many more than that. I wouldn’t re-purchase these with my own money, but I was happy to try them out and I’ll finish up the package.
Yaby Liquid Foundation Natural Finish in Buff ($13.55 USD, full size)
This was incredible! I’ve heard about Yaby before, but didn’t own anything by them and don’t ever recall seeing them in stores. I was a bit skeptical about receiving a foundation because blind colour matches can be almost impossible. But this shade in Buff is a PERFECT match for my skin right now. It also looked and felt incredible on my skin. It was one of those moments where you step back from your mirror and go “whoa”. It was THAT good. I also like that the foundation is so small (although this is a full size tube) and has a nozzle end. This makes this the absolute perfect foundation for travelling with and I intend to save it for those occasions.
Keep in mind that ounce for ounce, this is a very expensive foundation. Since the full size tube is only 8 ml (versus the normal 30 ml in most foundations), if you were to buy a full ounce of product, as most foundations come, this would set you back about $50 which is on parr with high end foundations.
Yaby foundation in Buff under two different sets of lighting
To me, this foundation actually feels pretty similar to Revlon‘s Colorstay. It seems to have the same long lasting effect and it does make my skin feel a bit tight (not an issue for me now that I’m a bit more used to wearing foundation, but it is a bit annoying around the 12 hour mark). I love this and I would definitely repurchase this when I run out. As a side note, I was pleased to find out that Yaby is actually a Canadian-brand, developed in Toronto!
Ipsy January 2014 Breakdown
Coastal Scents Small Foundation Brush – $4.95 USD (full size)
I do have to say box’s overall monetary total is greatly inflated because of the tinted lip balm – I really don’t know who would pay $30 for that, it seems totally out of line. Regardless, I am really quite pleased with this bag. I enjoyed getting a new brush and I was SO HAPPY with that foundation that those two right there made the whole bag for me. The moisturizer wasn’t to my liking, nor were the wipes, but that’s really just a personal preference. The lip tint was interesting to play with although not a complete winner for me.
I’ll definitely be staying subscribed to Ipsy in the coming months. It really is a steal at $14.95 USD (for Canadians, $10 for Americans). If you’d like to sign up and would like to give someone a referral credit (I receive points I believe, not compensation of any kind), you can use my referral link.
If you received something different in your bag, let me know what you got and whether or not you like it!
Brace yourselves, this is a big one. I’ll include reviews for some of the products if I’ve used them long enough to form an opinion.
MAC Blacktrack Fluidline – $19 CAD
Out of sheer frustration with my Maybelline gel liner, I picked up MAC‘s fluidline inBlacktrack. I had used up an entire tub of it before, but had decided to try the cheaperMaybelline one to see if I preferred it. What a mistake. The Maybelline one had a nasty habit of smearing near the outer corners of my eyes, a problem I’ve never encountered with MAC‘s gel liner. The Maybelline one was also significantly stiffer and less fluid to apply. I certainly don’t intend to stray from this MAC product again!
Fantasy Makers Glitter Palette in Fairy Flight ($4.99 CAD)
This product absolutely enrages me. I love Wet n Wild (although I’ve never used any of their cream products) and Fantasy Makers is a derivative of that company. I picked up this glitter palette in Fairy Flight shortly after Halloween (as it was a leftover from their Halloween display at the drug store) thinking that I could use the glitters for something fun.
Wrong. So wrong.
These aren’t even GLITTERY! There’s an overspray of glitter, but it certainly doesn’t go any deeper into the product. That gorgeous dark blue with shimmer on it? It’s just black underneath. The first swipe removes all of the glitter and you’re left with nothing but a black base. The same is true of all the colours – any of the glitter that you see is just an overspray. So frustrating.
Not to be deterred, I thought I’d at least give the products a shot. I decided to use them as a base for eyeshadows (over top of my usual primer from Urban Decay). I tried out the pale green and the darker green, but within four hours of application my makeup was almost completely disintegrated. It got SO BAD that I actually took my eye makeup off at work. Which is something I don’t think I’ve ever done.
Here’s a look at it. The shot on the left was before I left for work, and the one on the right was taken around noon (so about four hours into wearing the makeup).
I haven’t tried them again on my eye, but just for laughs, I thought I’d swatch them on my hand as I’m typing this to see if maybe I could use them as face paint later on. But ten minutes later, they’re still wet, and smudgy, which makes them pretty much unusable for anything at all. Straight into the bin with this one! What a waste.
MUA Matte Foundation in Shade 1 Soft Sand – £1.00 GBP
MUA is a company I’ve always looked at whenever I visited the UK, but not one I ever purchased products from. They were recently having free international shipping so I took advantage. I picked up their matte foundation in Shade 1 Soft Sand. I do especially like that even though it doesn’t come with a pump, it is at least a squeeze tube with a nozzle which makes it very easy for dispensing product.
MUA BB Cream in Light – £4.00 GBP
At £4, this was one of the most expensive items I picked up from MUA. Having never tried a BB cream before (I know, shock, horror), I decided the best idea would be to pick up a cheap one. (There’s some sarcasm in that statement!) At the moment, MUA‘s BB Cream inLight is just way too light for my skin. I’ll need to wait for the dead of winter before trying this one out again. Again with the nozzle – love it.
MUA Matte Lipsticks – £1.00 GBP each
I picked up a few of MUA‘s matte lipsticks since they’ve received quite good reviews in the beauty blogging world. They swatch semi decently (and I only say that because Wild Berrywas particularly awful to swatch, but the others were not). At a pound each, they’re quite easy on your wallet. So far I’ve only worn Scarlet Siren and I loved the colour of it on my lips.
MUA Matte Lipsticks – Wild Berry, Scarlet Siren, Peachy KeenMUA Pearl Eyeshadows in 9, 1, 26 – £1.00 GBP each
These eyeshadows by MUA are absolutely insane. They’re a single pound each and they wear like a dream. The colour payoff is unbelievable and the dimension to the shades is absolutely unheard of in a product that is just so cheap! These are definitely worth purchasing from MUA.
MUA Pretty Pastels Palette – £4.00 GBP
The other “expensive” product from MUA was their 12 pan eyeshadow palette in Pretty Pastels. While going through their palettes on their web site, this one struck me because it was unlike most colours I have in my eyeshadow collection. This palette has a lot of soft colours that will mix well with a lot of my brighter shades. The colour payoff is what you’d expect with pastels – very pale, sometimes sheer. As a total surprise though… that innocuous looking light shade in the top left corner? It looks boring as hell, but it has a beautiful pink duochrome to it. Very lovely colour.
MAC Prep + Prime Lip – $19 CAD
MAC‘s Prep + Prime for Lips is something that I can no longer be without. If I’m wearing a lipstick, I have to have this underneath as a base layer for my lips. I discussed it at length in my recent empties blog post, but, in short, this prevents bleeding, feathering and makes my lipstick stay on for hours. You need this in your life.
Real Techniques – Expert Face Brush ($6.74 USD) and Blush Brush ($8.98 USD)
I had a credit for amazon.com and decided to pick up some products that are not regularly available in Canada. The Real Techniques kits are sold at Walmart here, but the individual brushes are not. I don’t have enough face brushes, so I picked up the Expert Face Brush(which has been much raved about in the beauty community) and the Blush Brush. I’ve never actually owned a “proper” blush brush and have been using my MAC 130 dual fiber brush for blush. I’m loving the soft fluffiness of the Blush Brush and have used it to apply my blush every day since I got it (it does work better for softer products though. I find it struggles to pick up product with “harder” blushes). I do like the Expert Face Brush as well although it does feel rather small for applying foundation.
Maybelline Vivids lipstick in Neon Red ($4.97 USD)
Oddly enough, Maybelline‘s Vivids line in Canada does not include Neon Red. Why we get some shades, but not all of them (this goes for various makeup brands), I’ll never know. I love the entirety of the Vivids line and this is no exception. The shade does lean rather orange.
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Cherries in the Snow (Creme) – $6.92 USD
As one of Revlon‘s longest standing lipstick shades (from the 1950s), I’m really curious as to why Cherries in the Snow is not available in Canada. I searched many a drugstore for this one and was never able to find it. As I was making my amazon.com order, I made sure to include this shade. While I see a lot of pink to this shade, almost everyone who commented on this lipstick while I was wearing it referred to it as red. /shrugs All I know is that I love it!
Tarte Off The Cuff palette – $50 CAD
Be still my heart. This is a thing of beauty. With Sephora’s VIB sale fast approaching, I knew I wanted to pick up Tarte‘s Off The Cuff palette since I had missed out on their holiday blush set the previous year by waiting too long. Of course, the first day of the VIB sale I discovered I wasn’t ACTUALLY a VIB member of Sephora and couldn’t get this with the 20% discount. At this point it didn’t matter, I just wanted to get my hands on it. Tarte‘s Blissful was the first blush I ever owned and they remain my favourite blushes to this day. I don’t have a lot of them as they are quite expensive individually, so this was a perfect opportunity to get more bang for my buck.
The palette comes with four blush shades (Crave, Dazzled, Darling and Dollface) and their infamous Park Avenue Princess bronzer. The texture of the blushes is consistent with Tarte‘s standards and I’m really happy I picked this one up while I did because that very same day they sold out online and in stores. Phew!
Laura Mercier Artist Palette – $48 CAD (regularly $60 CAD)
This Artist palette is my first introduction to Laura Mercier products. This is another one I waited for Sephora’s VIB sale to pick up. However, despite not actually being VIB status, the woman at the cash sold it to me at the discounted price anyway, which I didn’t even notice until after I’d paid! I had to make a mad dash between Sephora stores as the one near my office sold out before I got there (and this also sold out online as well). I’ve used it several times since I picked it up and I love the feel of these eyeshadows – they blend beautifully and the pigmentation is fantastic. (The matte shades remind me a lot of MAC‘s Matte2 formula.) The shimmery purple with gold in it, African Violet, is a particular favourite of mine.
NYX Butter Glosses – ~$4 USD each
Oh man, I’m not even going to pretend like I have a reasonable explanation for this one. A lovely friend of mine in the US sent me two of NYX‘s butter glosses after I lamented about how I couldn’t find them anywhere in Toronto. Being the wonderful person that she is, she sent me two as a surprise (Creme Brulee and Maple Blondie). I received them, freaked out, applied them, freaked out again, logged online and ordered the whole damn set from a vendor on Ebay. It was like instantaneous loss of willpower. I BOUGHT THE WHOLE SET AND I’M NOT (completely) ASHAMED! These smell like vanilla, cream and candy.
Since the numbering/colouring system of these glosses seems to be totally out of whack, I decided to put them in some kind of colour gradient order. Which certainly isn’t helping me now that I want to name them. Ugh. Well done Chelle. Anyway, as per the above picture, the colours are (left to right): Strawberry Parfait, Merengue, Eclair, Vanilla Cream Pie, Tiramisu, Creme Brulee, Apple Strudel, Maple Blondie, Peaches and Cream, Cherry Cheese Cake, Peach Cobbler, Cherry Pie. And that’s it. I’m so done with glosses. I don’t need ANY more.
GarnierCleansing Cloths were on sale for $5.99 (regular price is somewhere around the eleven dollar mark). I’ve never tried them before, but as I’ve said in the past, if it says it removes waterproof makeup, it’s worth a shot!
The Body Shop’s Body butters in Satsuma and Shea Butter – $10 CAD each
The Body Shop was having another sale on selected types of Body Butters. I already ownSatsuma, but I’ve been doing quite the number on it (and the smell is just absolutely amazing) so I picked up another one and grabbed a Shea Butter one at the same. Now, I’m not sure what Shea Butter actually smells like, but I thought it would be slightly nutty. I don’t smell any nuts in the Shea scented one. If anything, it smells slightly like a mens cologne! Lovely scent though.
Revlon Parfumerie nail polish in Autumn Spice – $6.99 CAD
I came across Revlon‘s Parfumerie stand in a Rexall by accident. Although they had been popping up all over US drug stores, I hadn’t expected to see them in Canada so soon (we normally get drugstore makeup releases very late in comparison with the US. And sometimes we don’t even get them at all!). The Parfumerie collection appears to be a permanent addition to Revlon’s range, so don’t feel you need to pick up all of the colours immediately!
I’d heard mixed reviews as to the potency of the scent, but I loved the look of Autumn Spiceso I wanted to give it a try. I had thought that this shade/scent was more reddish, but on the nails it’s definitely brown with sparkle. There may be some red to it, but there isn’t a whole lot that’s apparent. In the bottle, you’ll only be able to smell nail polish, but once you get it on the nails and it dries down, it definitely smells of spices. So much so that while I was sleeping at night, I had to change the position of my hands as they were far too close to my face and I was just constantly inhaling spices. I had several people sniff my nails over the next few days (and yes, asking them to do that is as awkward as it sounds!) and all of them said my nails smelled like cinnamon. I didn’t use a top coat to ensure that the smell would be as potent as possible. However, after this scent trial, I will definitely be applying top coat from now on as the polish was chipping within a few days.
And that’s my beauty and makeup shopping done for the month of November!
One of the things I want to do as a regular post on this blog is to have a haul of beauty items I’ve picked up in the last month. Sometimes I’m sure there will be plenty of things to look at, and sometimes there might be not much of anything. I know I like looking through someone else’s purchases so I thought I’d share my own!
The Body Shop’s Body Butters in Coconut and Satsuma
The Body Shop was having a pretty massive sale on and I snagged these two body butters for $10 each (regular retail price is $20 CAD each). The Satsuma scent is one I remember clearly from my teen years, although back then it was in the form of a glycerin soap from what I can remember. While the scent is near identical to how I remember it over the years, there is a slight edge to the body butter that may be due to the shea and cocoa butter mixed in with it. The coconut scented one is new to me and I had a bit of an internal war over deciding between the coconut or the brazil nut one. In the end, I’m happy with my choice but may go back for others if I happen to spot them on sale again.
I’ve dipped in to the coconut one so far and I can say that it’s a very thick cream that feels slightly waxy/greasy. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but be aware that you may not want to put on your favourite pair of jeans right after slathering it on your legs. For me, it’s more something I apply when I’m lounging around.
Marcelle Cleansing Cloths
This was an easy, blind purchase. I needed makeup removing wipes for when I go to the gym after work and this double pack of Marcelle Cleansing Clothes was being sold at the price of a single pack ($12.50 CAD). I tend to go for wipes that indicate they remove makeup, in particular waterproof makeup… but oddly enough on the single package, it only says it removes makeup in French (although the pink binding package around the two of them does indicate it in English). I’ve not tried them yet as I’m still using up my Simple brand ones, but I do expect good things from these wipes as I quite like their waterproof makeup remover which I’ve been using for years.
L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara (waterproof)
While I do love my Covergirl Clump Crusher, there really isn’t a proper waterproof version of it (the water resistant version is the closest it gets and it isn’t anywhere near water resistant). I’m willing to sacrifice the waterproof formula in the summer, but not for the late fall/winter. I walk to work every day and it can be very windy, rainy and often snowy on some days which inevitably leads to my eyes watering like mad. So for the colder months, I’ve returned to “Old Faithful” – L’Oreal’s Voluminous Carbon Black mascara ($5.99 CAD on sale) in the (ridiculously fantastic) waterproof formula. I’ve been wearing this mascara as long as I can remember, so probably upwards of ten years or so.
Now these were an incredibly happy find. While visiting Ottawa over Thanksgiving weekend, my friend Alison (visit her amazing blog here: Ali Does It and be prepared to drool your way through her tasty pictures), her husband, and I stumbled onto a massive warehouse sale via a tip from my grandmother. Some of the makeup selection were duds (like the entire vat full of Maybelline eyeshadows in a single colour), but some of it turned out to be completely worth it. Right now, I’m kicking myself for not picking up the entire selection they had available of L’Oreal’s Infallible eyeshadows, although I’m sure my wallet is thanking me for maintaining some kind of restraint. These shadows are beyond incredible and were only $4 each at the sale (can you see why I wish I had bought more? These normally retail for $12 apiece here in Canada!) The colours I did snag, however, are Goldmine, Tender Caramel and Pepsy Coral.
Revlon Photoready Bronzer in Bronzed & Chic
Another find from the warehouse sale. Revlon’s Photoready Bronzer in “Bronzed & Chic” was a limited edition product from Revlon’s Spring 2012 launch I believe. I think it’s now a permanent product in the US, but in Canada it doesn’t seem to be anywhere on shelves. I had picked up this bronzer back in 2012 and loved it so much that I wanted a backup. So when I saw it for $5 at the warehouse sale, I snatched it up pretty quickly!
Revlon Colorstay Foundation (Combination/Oily) in 150 Buff
Yep, another win from the warehouse sale. With winter coming [insert Game of Thrones joke here], I needed a lighter shade, so I picked up Revlon’s Colorstay 150 Buff in the the Combination/Oily skin type ($6 CAD at the sale, whereas this normally retails for $20!). I was using 220 Natural Beige throughout the summer months but that shade will be far too dark for the dead of winter.
