Category Archives: Reviews

MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Acrylips (Review & Swatches)

January 18, 2017Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesMake Up For EverChelle

MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Acrylips

Hold on to your keyboards… my excitement for the MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Acrylips is REAL. These acrylic paint inspired lipsticks are a thing of beauty!

High in pigment, easy to apply and chockful of colour… the Acrylips are a wonderful addition to MUFE‘s range of products. As many of you may be aware, I am extremely obsessed with the Too Faced Melted lipsticks and these are not only on par with those… but I think they may actually be a smidge better. Oh my god… did I actually say that???

Let’s get down to business. The Acrylips are a squeeze tube format with a slotted doefoot applicator. The products comes out of the doefoot and makes for extremely easy application. I especially love this style of product because I am known for constantly breaking my lipstick bullets in half and there’s ZERO chance of me doing that with these.

These are a liquid lipstick without that horrible dry paint feeling that you get with matte liquid lipsticks. They glide on smooth and glossy, but will eventually dry down to a more satin-like finish over the course of thirty minutes or so. Pigmentation stats strong while the dry down occurs, so you needn’t worry about reapplication any time soon.

The colours I chose to review are bold vibrant shades that scream my name. All three colours had incredible pigmentation. They were opaque in a single swipe and there was no “wateryness” that can sometimes occur with a liquid lipstick pigment like this.

On the lips, they do not feel dissimilar to the Too Faced Melteds, if anything, I’d say these settle down to a more satin finish a little bit faster (which is a good thing in my opinion). They are comfortable to wear, and best of all, the pigmentation stays incredibly strong for many hours (I didn’t clock it for total length, but I didn’t have to reapply any within the four hours I would wear these).

MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Acrylip Lip Swatches

This is MY SHADE. A pinkish coral with a neon vibrancy to it, 202 Coral Pink is wonderful!

And who can turn down a Raspberry Red (401) shade??

And lastly, Lilac (500) is a pink-tinged purple that was far more pigmented than I was expecting given that I find brands seem to struggle with this kind of shade.

Final Thoughts

I think it’s obvious that I’m in love with these. From the packaging, to the vibrant colours (there are no neutrals… yet!) to the comfort of these on your lips, the MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Acrylips are a wonderful addition to their range. I like that MUFE chose to play on the theme of paint since the texture of these is incredibly similar to acrylic paint. It just makes the pairing so wonderful since MUFE is one of the brands I always admire from an artistic standpoint when they’re showcasing their work (for example, at IMATS). If you like the vibrant shade range, definitely consider grabbing one of these – I’m personally in love with them and I hope you will be too!

The MAKE UP FOREVER Artist Acrylips can be purchased on sephora.ca for $29 CAD each or on sephora.com for $24 USD.

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

MAC Cosmetics Kabuki Magic Collection (Review & Swatches)

January 16, 2017Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesMACChelle

MAC Cosmetics - Kabuki Magic Collection

MAC Cosmetics is just on the verge of launching an absolutely behemoth-sized collection on us: Kabuki Magic!

Available online on January 19, 2016 (it does say select MAC locations, but I’m not sure if they mean regional online for that launch date, or in stores regionally), the Kabuki Magic collection boats roughly 50 products in its lineup!

“The heart and soul of M∙A∙C Cosmetics comes alive backstage at the 34 Fashion Weeks throughout the world. We pride ourselves on discovering and nurturing new talent and working with the industry leaders who innovate iconic beauty styles. In January, M∙A∙C teams up with three adored makeup maestros – Diane Kendal, James Kaliardos, and Kabuki – to create colour collections reflecting each artist’s signature style.”

The collection stays true to MAC‘s traditional black packaging, but adds a little bit of extra flare with some layered gold lettering on the exterior packaging as well as on the products themselves.

I’ve got two pieces from the collection, so let’s run through them.

MAC Cosmetics - Kabuki Magic - Jasper lipstick swatch — MAC Cosmetics – Kabuki Magic – Jasper lipstick swatch

The lipstick Jasper is described as a deep reddish-brown with a satin finish. I’d say that description is fairly bang on!

MAC Cosmetics - Kabuki Magic - Jasper lipstick — MAC Cosmetics – Kabuki Magic – Jasper lipstick

Satin is one of my absolute favourite lipstick finishes by MAC as it has a lot of staying power, so I was really happy to see a shade like this in that finish. Jasper was easy to apply (although obviously not as creamy as an Cremesheen or Amplified) and the colour impact was there right at the get go. Beautiful, beautiful colour!

MAC Cosmetics - Kabuki Magic - The Shining Hour quad — MAC Cosmetics – Kabuki Magic – The Shining Hour quad

I was really excited to try out The Shining Hour dazzleshadow quad from the collection. I love me a good glitter shadow and I had never tried out MAC’s dazzleshadow formula before.

The quad as a whole is called The Shining Hour, but the shades each have individual names.

Letty Lynton White pearl with white reflects
Heaven Loves You Gold pearl with gold reflects
Last Dance Light pink pearl with duochromatic violet reflects (repromote)
Humoresque Light burgundy pearl with teal reflects

Sadly… I wasn’t impressed. These are very light and not that pigmented. They felt almost like speckly… fluff? Dusty? I’m not sure how to describe it other than that I wasn’t really happy with the colour payoff.

In the end, I opted to do a full eye look using only the shadows available in The Shining Hour quad, but I’m starting to think I did us all a disservice by doing that. These dazzleshadows are accent colours – you can’t truly build a singular eye look off of them unless you’re using one colour as a wash of pigment across your lid.

In the look above, I made sure to use a sticky eyeshadow base. I applied Last Dance on the lid, Humoresque on the outer corner and through the crease, Letty Lynton on the inner corner of the eye, and Heaven Loves You rimming the entire lower lash line.

I personally see these dazzleshadows as more of a eyeshadow topper to add a punch of shine to the center of your lid, or to the inside corner. I wouldn’t suggest you use them as I did because the effect is not that great.

In the end? Huge thumbs up on the Jasper lipstick, thumbs down on The Shining Hour quad.

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

Physicians Formula Murumuru Butter Blushes (Review & Swatches)

January 11, 2017Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesPhysicians FormulaChelle

Physicians Formula Butter Blushes

The Butter Bronzer was an ENORMOUS launch for Physicians Formula in 2016, so it’s no surprise that they’d want to continue the line… I present to you: the Physicians Formula Butter Blushes!

However, I feel like the launch of the Butter Blushes was so incredibly subdued. I saw little to no hype about them online (aside from a random “free with purchase” on Ulta’s site that lasted all of six hours) and no one had mentioned them to me.

So when I saw these two Butter Blushes at Shoppers Drug Mart one morning, I gulped in shock at the price tag ($17.99 CAD each! EACH!!!) and glanced mournfully at my wallet who was about to eat the cost of them. But since I’ve been having quite the love affair with the Butter Bronzer in 2016, I didn’t even want to try to resist this launch!

The Murumuru Butter Blushes look and smell identical to the Butter Bronzer. Right down to having that weird spongey applicator thing in the base – do yourself a favour and throw it out.

Physicians Formula Butter Blushes in Natural Glow and Plum Rose - swatches — Physicians Formula Butter Blushes in Natural Glow and Plum Rose – swatches

So the two shades of the Butter Blush are Natural Glow and Plum Rose. And they show up enough in an arm swatch… and it smells nice like the Butter Bronzer... but… uh… that’s where all the goodness ends.

THESE FREAKING SUCK.

They are so goddamn bad it’s not even funny. I’m a relatively pale skin toned person in the grand scheme of things and these do not show up on me very well.

In the shot above, I’m wearing Plum Rose, but I had to pack about five layers on to get even the pigmentation you’re seeing there. (And frankly, you’re probably seeing more bronzer than blush on my cheeks.) Natural Glow (which I don’t have a cheek shot of) basically ends up looking like the most tame highlighter you’ve ever applied to your face.

While I stand by the amazingess of the Butter Bronzer, I can’t recommend these godawful butter blushes. I can’t even say they’d work on people paler than me. The pigmentation is so bad that it’s practically non-existent. These are just atrocious. I’m actually offended that I spent $18 EACH on these things. Save your money – do NOT buy them. (But if you’re a masochist and want to try them for yourself, you can get them at ulta.com for $12.99 USD each.)

Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks (Review & Swatches)

January 4, 2017Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesUrban DecayChelle

Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks

In 2016, for some unknown reason, Urban Decay discontinued their rather large (and relatively NEW) Revolution lipsticks. It was a weird move since the lipstick range really wasn’t all that old (circa 2013) and yet it was completely wiped out with Urban Decay‘s Vice Lipstick launch.

The Vice lipstick launch was ENORMOUS. UD unleashed 100 shades of lipstick onto the unsuspecting beauty community and it caused a bit of uproar. There were people who loved the Revolution formula and were pisssssed that that formula was now gone. However, beauty junkies know how to find excitement in turmoil, and with 100 shades of lipstick to choose from, how could you NOT be excited?!

But for me, when the UD Vice launch happened, it was so overwhelming I personally just went “NOPE!” and never looked at them again. I now know how some newcomers to makeup feel when they walk into Sephora for the first time – where do you even BEGIN?

Thankfully, UD got me started gently. I went to their Square One launch party in Mississauga, (there’s a vlog of it here if you’re interested!) and in their swag bag for the event were two lipsticks. I subsequently ordered a third with a PR gift card for Beauty Boutique online (which I highly recommend by the way) because I wanted to pick a colour that was very ME.

The UD event furnished me with Jawbreaker (a mega matte) and Ex-Girlfriend (sheer shimmer). I chose Tryst (cream) because that colour is everything I ever lust for in a lipstick.

Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks in Jawbreaker, Tryst and Ex-Girlfriend - swatches — Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks in Jawbreaker, Tryst and Ex-Girlfriend – swatches

Swatched up, you can definitely see the variety in the finishes. The Mega Matte, Jawbreaker, can only be described as “matte AF”, the Cream Tryst was, aptly, very creamy, and the Sheer Shimmer Ex-Girlfriend was all sheer gloss with zero shimmer.

Wearing Urban Decay - Jawbreaker — Wearing Urban Decay – Jawbreaker

The first shade I tried was Jawbreaker, and sadly, I was not a fan. It was difficult and stiff to apply. I could only keep it on my lips about 15 minutes before I said “enough” and took it off . It pilled along my lip line, gathered in the corners of my mouth… not a win for me.

Wearing Urban Decay - Tryst — Wearing Urban Decay – Tryst

However, Tryst was an absolute freaking winner! It’s a cream, but there’s less slip to it than most cream formulas out there (this makes me happy as I prefer a tackier cream finish as opposed to a slippery one). It feels like the more comfortable mattes that are on the market right now – highly pigmented, easy to apply and just overall completely beautiful. This was one of the more comfortable formulas of lipstick I’ve worn on my lips as of late.

Wearing Urban Decay - Ex-Girlfriend — Wearing Urban Decay – Ex-Girlfriend

Ex-Girlfriend is beautiful and even more comfortable to wear that Tryst. It’s a very faint “my lips but better” shade, but don’t expect it to last an exceptionally long on your lips simply because of it sheer, high shine finish. The bullet is also very soft and within the first use I was already cramming the back of the lipstick bullet against the back of the tube. I like this one for easy application on the go. It’s an easy to wear shade that I dare say will match anything else you could possibly put on your face.

Final Thoughts

There’s no denying how daunting 100 shades of lipstick can be! I mean really, go to the Sephora site and tell me that that wall of lipstick doesn’t make you go “holy crap”. However, for those looking for variety, you really don’t need to look any further. Although I tried out three different finishes, UD does offer even more as well (such as Comfort Matte, Sheer, Metallic, Shimmer and High Shine) which will help you figure out what kind of shade to go for if you know what kind of finish you like.

For me, the Mega Matte wasn’t worth my time, but the Cream and Sheer Shimmer finishes were downright delightful. Tryst is an astonishingly pretty shade – the kind that makes me SUPER FREAKING HAPPY to wear it. Ex-Girlfriend is also a winner because it’s 100% failsafe on me. I’m really happy with how they wear too – comfortable and zero issues with odd fading, etc.

Even better? I like that the price tag isn’t astronomical! The Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks will set you back $17 USD on sephora.com or $21 CAD on sephora.ca.

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

MAC Cosmetics Mariah Carey (Reviews & Swatches)

December 26, 2016Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesMACChelle

One of the bigger launches for MAC this year has definitely been the MAC x Mariah Carey 2016 Holiday Launch!

Encased in beautiful gorgeous gold with silver glitter lining, this collection definitely screamed glitz and glamour (and Mariah, for that matter!) – perfect for the holiday season! These items are in high demand and keep going in and out of stock online. Definitely call up your local stores if you’re looking for a particular item!

MAC Mariah Carey - It's Everything — MAC Mariah Carey – It’s Everything

The It’s Everything eyeshadow quad is an interesting neutral quad that has both warn and cool colours – I feel like this is fairly uncommon, but it’s hugely appreciated since it will appeal to a wider range of people.

MAC Mariah Carey - It's Everything - swatches — MAC Mariah Carey – It’s Everything – swatches

Every shade swatched out well and quite pigmented, except for Diamond Butterfly which was a really odd shade. It’s listed as a Frost finish, but in my experience Frost finishes are quite smooth and buttery. This shade performed like a Lustre which is ALWAYS disappointing since it’s sooo dang flakey. Regardless of my feelings towards the shadow’s finish, there is no denying the amount of sparkle punch that Diamond Butterfly provides!

MAC Mariah Carey - Sweet Sweet Fantasy blush — MAC Mariah Carey – Sweet Sweet Fantasy blush

The Sweet Sweet Fantasy blush in this collection was the item I was most excited about and it did not disappoint. This is a stunning medium-peach/coral shade and it’s hella pigmented against my skin!

MAC Mariah Carey - Dreamlover Lipglass and This Is My Night eyeliner — MAC Mariah Carey – Dreamlover Lipglass and This Is My Night eyeliner

Rounding out the products I have are the Dreamlover lipglass and This is My Night Eyeliner.

Dreamlover is a light peach gloss that basically shows up nude on my lips. The kick to this product is the amount of sparkle and shimmer you get jampacked in the gloss. But don’t worry, it doesn’t feel gritty on your lips!

This Is My Night Eyeliner is a dip post style eyeliner which is not my favourite style of eyeliner (personal preference), but it is exceptionally pigmented in one swipe. It’s a deep blackened brown that dries to a completely matte finish.

MAC Mariah Carey - Sweet Sweet Fantasy blush, Dreamlover lipglass and This Is My Night eyeliner - swatches — MAC Mariah Carey – Sweet Sweet Fantasy blush, Dreamlover lipglass and This Is My Night eyeliner – swatches

MAC Mariah Carey Makeup Look

This full makeup tutorial using all of these items is coming to ~~my YouTube channel tomorrow~~ , – here’s the video! – but in the meantime here’s the look I created using these products!

Let me know if you were able to snag anything in the MAC Mariah Carey collection! I know it was utter madness trying to get a hold of some of the items!

These products are PR samples that were kindly loaned to me by Samantha!