Category Archives: Makeup

BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflés (Review & Swatches)

BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflé

Oh BECCA. You put out so many gorgeous products, how am I supposed to resist you?

BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflés
BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflés

BECCA‘s Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflés aren’t anything new really. They’ve been around since 2014 and yet people still talk about them because they’re just so darn pretty.

BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflés in Fig/Opal, Lychee/Opal and Guava/Moonstone
BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflés in Fig/Opal, Lychee/Opal and Guava/Moonstone

The Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflés are a mix of coloured pigment amid their signature highlighting colours (Opal, Moonstone, etc.). The Shimmer Soufflé formula is intended to brighten your cheeks while also adding colour (and side note, I totally thought they were eyeshadows too, but they are not billed as such!).

These are one of the easiest blushes to wear because they’re so darn easy to blend out. The pigments swirl together to create an illuminated blush that you can either apply with a brush for a soft effect, or with your fingers for even more contrast. (I prefer finger application!)

The texture amongst all three was oddly different, but I’m wondering if I got a few shades where the lid hadn’t been closed tightly. One of the three was incredibly emollient: it was spongy and squishy to the touch. Kind of gelatinous! Another one was so soft and supple, but nowhere near as squishy. And the last one… well it was kinda rock-like. I could apply it to my cheeks, but it was very clear that most of the softening ingredients had been exposed to too much air. All that to say – make SURE you close your containers tightly!

BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflé in Fig/Opal
BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflé in Fig/Opal

Fig/Opal is the rose gold shade that I’m sure everyone is swooning over. It has a deep rose base with a ton of golden sheen.

BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflé in Lychee/Opal
BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflé in Lychee/Opal

Lychee/Opal is a fun one. It looks super neon pink in the pot (mixed with gold), but when you blend the two shades together, the colour turns quite a soft pink with a soft golden sheen.

BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflé in Guava/Moonstone
BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflé in Guava/Moonstone

My favourite of the bunch is Guava/Moonstone – a coral base with golden sheen.

BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflés on my face
BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflés on my face

Above is a side-by-side comparison of all three shades. The only thing I’m wearing in the shots above is each blush (no foundation, no concealer, no bronzer, etc.).

Final Thoughts

BECCA‘s Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflés are the kind of product you want to wear all summer long. They’re easy to wear and apply and they have a beautiful sheen to give you that sunkissed healthy look. And even moreso, because of the marbling in the product, they’re also stunners to look at! In addition, the packaging is compact – just make sure you seal them tight after every use.

If you’re looking for something easy going for the cheeks for the warmer months, I don’t think you can go wrong with these. The colours are quite subtle, which makes them a perfect match for many eye looks. I’m already eyeballing these as something to bring on me with vacation just because they’re sooo easy to use.

The BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Soufflés can be purchased from sephora.ca for $33 CAD each or from sephora.com for $27 USD.

The products featured in this post were sent to me for review.

Swatch Sunday: Smashbox Santigold

Smashbox Santigold

Smashbox Santigold
Smashbox Santigold

I got the Smashbox Santigold in a blogger swap via Julie of Swatch & Review. At first I was like “looks okay, but whatever, I have those shades”. Wrong. So wrong. The green and the navy are INCREDIBLE, and the plummy shade on the right that has gold sparkles? They actually adhere to the lid. What is this sorcery?!?

Seriously though, look at this photo from my Instagram from ages ago (disregard my phone’s quality as best you can, because you can still see how pigmented the shadows are!):

 

Smashbox Santigold
Smashbox Santigold

Smashbox Santigold Swatches

Smashbox Santigold - green
Smashbox Santigold – green
Smashbox Santigold - navy
Smashbox Santigold – navy
Smashbox Santigold - plum with gold flecks
Smashbox Santigold – plum with gold flecks
Smashbox Santigold - cream
Smashbox Santigold – cream
Smashbox Santigold - emerald
Smashbox Santigold – emerald

QUO Prismatic Collection Spring 2016 (Review, Swatches & Look)

QUO Prismatic Collection Spring 2016

Spring collections are everywhere at this point, so what’s going to make them stand out one from the other? I mean… brights, pastels, florals… spring collections pretty much run all the same don’t they?

EXCEPT THE PACKAGING ON THIS QUO COLLECTION. Holy smokes! QUO is a brand I haven’t had a lot of exposure with, but they are actually killing me with this mottled graffiti-esque holographic packaging. It is GORGEOUS! (Caps for impact guys… it’s happening!)

So here’s a few items from the QUO Prismatic Collection that launched this month at Shoppers Drug Mart:

QUO by Orly - Always Chic
QUO by Orly – Always Chic

Let’s start out with the less obvious item for me on this blog – nail polish! The QUO by Orly nail polish in Always Chic ($10 CAD) took me by surprise. I really do not care about nail polish – it just doesn’t excite me, you know? And yet this shade is a very pale pink-lilac with a teal duochrome.  It’s so, sooo freaking gorgeous.

QUO by Orly - Always Chic
QUO by Orly – Always Chic

You can see a hint of the duochrome here, but I really haven’t a clue how to capture that on camera. Regardless, if you’re in a Shoppers Drug Mart, check this one out so you can see it for yourself!

QUO Prismatic Brow Kit
QUO Prismatic Brow Kit

I’ll mention the Prismatic Brow Kit ($12 CAD) briefly, but I won’t be reviewing it because I didn’t try it out. It comes with two brow powders (too dark and warm for me, hence my lack of usage) as well as a very soft eyebrow gel and a mini brushes for application. The packaging is small, compact and the mirror is extremely appreciated in a product such as this.

QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk
QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk

I’m quite a fan of these all-in-one face palettes by QUO since they’re sleek, compact (zero extra space for a useless brush – YAY!) and the mirror is ENORMOUS. The Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk ($18 CAD) is the largest sized palette in this collection and the one I was the most excited to use.

QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk
QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk

This is the lighter of two palettes (the other one is moderately darker, but not by much) and each colour packs a significant amount of pigment. Each shade does contain a certain amount of shimmer though – there’s no mattes to be seen here!

QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk - swatches
QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk – swatches

The blush and highlight shades have the most amount of shimmer (although I really only saw tiiiiny glitter particles in the blush), whereas the bronzer on the right side is much more subtle and thankfully pale enough for me to use right now on my winter skin.

QUO Prismatic Collection Look

In the shot above, I’m wearing all of the items in the face palette and the shot was taken in natural light. You can see the highlighter is *definitely* doing its job on the tops of my cheek bones and yet despite the sheen on all of the products, I don’t feel like it’s total overkill. I love how the blush, bronzer and highlighter all worked together to create a gorgeous enhancement to my face.

QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life
QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life

Next up… eyeshadows. There are three QUO Prismatic Eye Palettes in this collection, but I only have the one in Colourful Life ($18 CAD).

QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life
QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life

I’ll start out by pointing out the obvious – this is not a standalone palette that you could use daily unless you like really, really subtle eyeshadow shades. The darkest colour in the palette is the purple in the top row and that’s really not enough in a palette of 10 shades. Additionally, unlike the face palette, these are all mattes.

QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life - swatches
QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life – swatches

Swatched out, everything is decently pigmented for a pastel collection (which is unusual because pastels are usually quite patchy), so this is a good addition to your collection if you’re looking for a bunch of soft colours to add to your arsenal. However, if you’re looking for a standalone palette to use on the daily, you’re going to struggle with only one deeper shade.

QUO Prismatic Collection Look
QUO Prismatic Collection Look

In the look I created from this palette, I’m wearing one of the softer pinks through my upper crease, the light purple on the lid, the dark purple in the outer corner and the white shade on my brow bone. I also have the pale green on my inner corner, but it’s not visible at all (not in person and not on camera). This is the absolute DARKEST look this palette can go, so keep that in mind! I also had to use a white base to make sure the colours popped as well. I’m not in love with the eyeshadow palette, but I do love how the look came out anyway.

QUO Prismatic Collection Look
QUO Prismatic Collection Look – studio lights

Here’s a side face shot so you can see the eye makeup from a different angle as well as the Face compact products (took these with a ring light). I love how subtle the bronzer is on my skin (temple, backs of my cheekbones and along my jaw line), as well as how the blush and highlighter work together.

QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life
QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life

The quality on the shot above is abysmal, but here’s a closer look at the eyeshadows. While the purple worked well together with a white base, you can barely tell I put that pale green on the inner corner.

Final Thoughts

The Colourful Life eye palette is a clear miss for me – there just isn’t enough mid-tone and dark shades in it to get enough decent looks. That being said, the quality of these shadows are good so I’d encourage you to check out the other two palettes in the Prismatic Collection since they look like they’ve got more shade variety.

My absolute favourite product that I tried was the Prismatic Face palette in Moonlight. It’s AMAZING and I’d jump on that sucker immediately if the shades are appealing to you. I love, love, LOVE each product in that compact as well as the packaging. Solid, solid winner there. The nail polish was equally amazing in terms of colour (although I did find I needed three costs for opaque coverage).

The QUO Prismatic Collection for Spring 2016 is available exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada (and it’s limited edition, so get it while you can!).

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.