Category Archives: Reviews
BECCA Dreamsicle (Review, Swatches & Comparison to Champagne Pop)
The latest launch in BECCA‘s Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed formula is Dreamsicle! What initially confused me about this launch was why there’s a big “?” on the box – but maybe I missed the build up to it? However, the back of the box indicates that “100 lucky BECCA Beauties will find a Glow Ticket inside – follow the directions on your Glow Ticket for a BECCA surprised & a chance to go to our next BECCAscape!” So maybe the “?” is an “are you a winner?” type question?
The “mystery” BECCA shade comes in white plastic packaging with their signature gun metal round sphere on top. It’s an interesting choice from the brand, but I do like the summery vibe it gives me when combined with the shade on the inside.
The new Dreamsicle highlighter is a “a soft, tangerine shade infused with white gold pearls”. It’s a limited edition product thought… or at least it’s listed as such. BECCA is renowned at this point for creating a limited edition highlighter, testing the market with it, and then re-releasing it several months down the road as a permanent product. That being said, you can’t always rely on them to go that route, so it’s always worth picking up asap if you’re super into the shade.
Of course, I love the imprint on the powder – I’m an absolute sucker for embossed powders! It adds a little extra flare to an already gorgeous colour.
When I first saw Dreamsicle, my initial reaction was that it was incredibly gorgeous, but I had to wonder just how similar it was to Champagne Pop. I was also really curious if this would work on my skin tone too. I love colourful highlighters, but there’s something about this shade that made me think it might not work so well on fair skin but may be better suited towards medium-deep.
Swatched out, you can see that Dreamsicle is definitely more orange and deeper than Champagne Pop. Champagne Pop has a paler cast, and I can definitely see more gold in Dreamsicle. While they are different, I wouldn’t call them dissimilar really. Dreamsicle is the bigger sister with more experience when compared to Champagne Pop.
The real test was on my face though. Fundamentally, Dreamsicle lacks the amount of reflective power that Champagne Pop has, and I think it’s just because on my skintone is fair, and Dreamsicle is deeper than my skin tone. The colour is beautiful, and it does impart a tangerine hue to my cheeks, but it’s a softer, subtler look than I’m used to with Champagne Pop. I feel like deeper skin tones would love this shade a lot because the colour would appear lighter on them without coming across ashy.
Final Thoughts
The limited edition Dreamsicle colour is as buttery soft and smooth as BECCA‘s previous highlighter launches and just as easy to apply with no glitter particles in sight. What’s different for me with this launch is that the reflection on my cheekbones is a bit more subdued, but that may be down to the colour being darker than my own skin colour. Regardless, it gives off a beautiful hue, and while I think it works on my skin tone (around a MAC NW/NC20), I think this would look even better on someone who is medium to deep in tone.
The BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Dreamsicle can be purchased on sephora.ca for $46 CAD or on sephora.com for $38 USD.
The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.
Maybelline Matte Inks (Review, Swatches & Old vs New Comparison)
You may be tired of hearing me rave on and on about the Maybelline Matte Inks, but honestly… I’m just not tired of talking about them!
It was Rae of The Notice that originally pushed me towards trying these. I ignored her, of course – I have far more lip products than I need and my whole attitude towards them was just… how are these any different than all the other lip products out there claiming to be THE ONE? She kept yapping on about them though, so when (seemingly out of nowhere) the Maybelline Un-Nudes Matte Inks showed up in my mailbox, I realized just how eager I was to try them out.
If you’d like to see that initial review, I have a full video including lip swatches on my YouTube channel (see below). In short: these are the PERFECT lip product for me. They are comfortable to wear, non-drying, transferproof and longwearing. They are *everything* I need and want in a lip product!
After a few people saw my rave review video, friends and readers alike told me they were a bit surprised because they hadn’t liked the original Matte Inks when they were released. While the Un-Nudes collection features (you guessed it) a wide array of nude/neutral lip colours, their initial launch of the product showcased a lot more vibrant colours. So I reached out to PR and asked if they could send some over so I could do a comparison.
So that’s where we’re at now. I was sent six of the colours you see in this post, and I picked up one myself because I really wanted to show a balance of colours (and they hadn’t sent the red and I REALLY wanted the red).
My initial reaction was that these were slightly different than the Un-Nudes, but not drastically so. The tube and applicator are all the same, but I noticed that one shade didn’t have the kind of cake batter scent that I’ve come to adore with these (Heroine is the shade I’m referring to – it smells more like plastic). And the dry down time varied greatly.
Swatched out, you can see how some of them dry down a bit faster than the other (Pioneer in particular goes matte pretty fast). I do need to stress that these lip colours, although labelled a “Matte Ink“, are more on the soft matte side of things. They’re kind of like a matte with a rubber texture that has a lot of give to it.
Let’s go a bit more in depth on each shade.
Maybelline Matte Ink Lip Swatches
Loyalist is an easy nude for me since it’s got a touch of caramel colouring in it. Opaque in colour and easy to wear.
Dreamer is a bit more of a pink version of Loyalist with a hint of purple. I was hoping this would be a dupe for my Kat Von D Lovesick – but it’s really not a match.
Lover is the easy medium pink of the lot – easy to wear shade that matches a ton of eye looks.
Pioneer is the shade I was most curious about because I was wondering how on earth a red was going to stay transfer proof and not bleed throughout the day. And it performed perfectly! The only thing I would say is that this one dried down more than all of the other Matte Inks I’ve tried, which did make my lips feel a bit dry come the end of the day. That being said, it wasn’t dry like other liquid lipsticks so really this is almost hydrating in a sense.
Oh how I wish I hadn’t worn blue eyeshadow this day to take the lip swatch photos because I’m not loving how Heroine looks with my shadow! However… this is definitely my favourite shade in the bunch. It looks orange in the tube but comes out of a beautiful deep neon coral on my lips. LOVE!
Romantic is for those fuchsia lovers out there. Beautiful colour and completely opaque!
Although I hadn’t notice Creator having any patchiness issues when I wore it, there’s no denying them on my lips in the shot above. That being said, Creator is a wonderful shade and I loved wearing it.
Final Thoughts
Had people not said the formula was different, I doubt I would’ve noticed it honestly. I feel like Maybelline improved the formula SLIGHTLY with the Un-Nudes, but that could just be down to the colour of the pigments affecting the formula (I know very little about the creation of makeup, so I could just be spouting absolute BS). I felt like the Un-Nudes range was very consistent across the board, whereas the original formula had a few divergences (Pioneer was drier, Creator was a bit patchy, etc.). Fundamentally I wouldn’t say that I felt strongly against the old shades though – I love the colours they have and I can’t wait to see more! I hope Maybelline continues to put out more and more colours in the Matte Inks because this is IT for me for a longwearing liquid lipstick – this is the best I have tried and now I want it in every shade of the rainbow!
The Maybelline Matte Inks can be purchased at Ulta.com for $9.94 USD each.
The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.
VIDEO: Violet Voss Hashtag – Review, Swatches & 5 Looks
Too Faced Chocolate Soleil & Sun Bunny Relaunch (Review & Swatches)
With the launch of their Summer 2018 collection – It Comes Naturally – Too Faced has relaunched their Chocolate Soleil and Sun Bunny bronzers!
Chocolate Soleil (and Sun Bunny) has been one of those Too Faced products that has been around FOREVER (or, at least as long as I’ve been aware of the brand!) and it was definitely due for a packaging upgrade. As Too Faced‘s line has gone towards the sleeker, more plastic-metallic side of things, they’ve redone their bronzers to match their lineup.
All the revamped bronzers contain 8 grams of products and retail for $38 CAD/$30 USD. The packaging is weighty on them, but they are still made out of plastic.
Milk Chocolate Soleil is a matte bronzer that is suitable for the fairest folk out there – this suits me very, very well in the winter-time. This has been the bronzer I’ve been reaching for the most since I got my hands on it.
Chocolate Soleil is the original trooper in the collection and it’s also a matte. This is slightly deeper than Milk Chocolate and a little bit more cool-toned in comparison.
Swatched out you can see the shade differences between the two (and there is a deeper shade if you’ve got a darker complexion!). These bronzers have a chocolate-y scent.
In the shot above I’m wearing Milk Chocolate Soleil and… that’s it. It was one of those weird random days where I totally forgot to apply blush and bronzer (how does that even happen???)! You can see the beautiful colour it adds to the backs of my cheekbones and my temples. I don’t have photos of Chocolate Soleil on my face because it is definitely too dark for me right now – it will 100% end up being my summer bronzer though!
Sun Bunny is a bronzer I’m a little less familiar with, as I have always opted to use the Chocolate Soleils in the past. It’s a duo-toned bronzer that is far more radiant than the Chocolate Soleil bronzers. This bronzer has no scent.
While you can custom mix the shade and lean more heavily on one side or the other depending on your complexion, the reality is that, for me, I’m going to be swirling the two shades together.
Given how warm Sun Bunny appeared in the swatches, I was surprised at how it didn’t make my skin look orange. If anything, I’d consider Sun Bunny to be more natural looking than the Chocolate Soleils, which may be in part due to the radiance in the product.
I do love how Sun Bunny gives me a golden glow without going overboard!
Differences in Formulation
While I can’t speak much to Sun Bunny as I had only used the old formula a few times in my life, I can speak to the differences in the Chocolate Soleil bronzers.
- The new Chocolate Soleil bronzers are far more powdery than the previous formula, so you may notice a bit of kick up in the pan after you’ve dipped your brush in. There’s not a ton, but it is quite evident in comparison to their old pans.
- The scent is TOTALLY different! While I had grown to love and adore the smell of the old Chocolate Soleil bronzers, it has to be said that it was quite an artificial chocolate scent. With the new bronzers it does smell more “realistic” but I can’t help but be sad that they’ve switched the scent up. To me that old Chocolate Soleil scent was so, so iconic!
- I feel like these bronzers do blend slightly better than the old formula and I think that may be down to the fact that it’s a bit more powdery.
Final Thoughts
Too Faced has taken the essence of the Chocolate Soleil and Sun Bunny bronzers and upgraded them for the current market. I feel like the packaging and formula bring them in line with the luxury of the rest of their line and I love that they have not raised the price with the upgrade. I feel it’s important to highlight the price consistency because a lot of brands will upgrade their packaging and jack up the price.
As for the formula difference, I think some people are going to be a bit surprised and I hope they still love it as much as they love the older, harder packed formula. I liked how these new ones applied to my face, but for some people they may feel like it’s not identical to what they used before. I’m personally grieving about the scent change, but I do really like these and will continue using them in heavy rotation in my collection!
Too Faced bronzers can be purchased on sephora.ca for $38 CAD each or on sephora.com for $30 USD each.
The products featured in this post was sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.