Category Archives: Reviews

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II (Review & Swatch)

October 5, 2016Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesKat Von DChelle

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II

This isn’t a new product by any means, but I was super late to try out the Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks so I figured why the heck not share my thoughts?

I’ll start this review out by saying that I have (slowly) learned over the last few years that I am not a tremendous fan of liquid lipsticks. I like the longevity of them, but I really, REALLY struggle with the dry as paint feeling on my lips. Oh sure, I *love* matte lipsticks, but they have a certain amount of give/pliability to them that a matte liquid lipstick just doesn’t have. So keep that in mind while you’re reading this review.

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II

The Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks come in beautiful gothic-esque packaging that always makes me smile. The tube and handle itself are beautifully etched with designs that really help add to the overall feel of this product – much like KVD herself, this product oozes old world gothness that I’ve always appreciated.

The Everlasting Liquid Lipstick “gives lips long-lasting wear and high-pigment color. Its creamy, color-rich formula glides over lips like a gloss but dries to a true matte finish. It’s infused with natural comfort-enhancing ingredients, including vitamin E and sunflower seed so you can flaunt lasting matte color that leaves lips feeling comfortable.”

One of the things I like the most about this liquid lipstick is that the colour glides on flawlessly with the doefoot applicator. It’s opaque in one swipe and it layers really, REALLY well in case you make a mistake – this is rather unexpected with a liquid lipstick as I usually have intense layering problems that often result in crumbling.

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II - swatch — Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II – swatch

The colour I have in this post is Lolita II. It was the original “manufacturer error” that resulted in a change in shade from the original Lolita. Lolita II is described as a terracotta nude, whereas the original Lolita was more of a chestnut rose. On me it goes very warm terracotta with a hint of brown.

The shot above is after about 6 hours of wear. It has been touched up on my inner lip, but the outer rim has not been altered at all.

Close up of Lolita II to show wear and tear after several hours of wear

The one thing I think worth mentioning with this liquid lipstick is that it does tend to fade on the inner rim of my lip quite quickly. For me, this is actually a good thing since I despise that paint-like feeling at the center of my mouth, but it does mean you’ll need to re-apply the colour there a bit more often. (Again, the shot above was taken after six hours of wear and the only place that had been retouched was the inner corner of my mouth.)

201610_katvond_everlastingliquidlipstick_lolitaii2
I think Lolita II is a beautiful shade, but I’m also a bit confused about the hype behind this. Is it because it’s a warm, deeper nude that has everyone excited? Or was it more because this colour turned out to be wrong shade when it was originally packaged as the original Lolita? I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s gorgeous, but it’s not the “OMG!” shade I was expecting based on the hype!

Final Thoughts

For me, because of the fading on the inner rim, this ended up being one of the more comfortable matte liquid lipsticks I’ve worn in recent memory. It does beat out my Too Faced Melted Mattes, but not my beloved Melteds (which aren’t a matte liquid lipstick, so maybe the comparison is irrelevant). I also found it less drying than my Smashbox Always On liquid lipsticks as well. For me, being able to wear this lipstick for roughly six hours was pretty impressive – I’ve never managed to wear a liquid lipstick that long without wanting to scrape it off my lips! It also didn’t crumble or look patchy at all – huge blessing!

This is one of the easier formulas of liquid lipstick to put on and I think it must have something to do with the formula because the wand applicator is pretty standard. Overall, I like this product more than other liquid lipsticks I’ve tried, but I’m not like… jonesing to add more to my collection because I’m just not an enormous liquid lipstick fan, you know? I’m sure we all feel that way about certain products!

The Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks can be purchased on sephora.ca for $24 CAD or on sephora.com for $20 USD.

Okay so here’s the surprise that I neglected to mention at the top – lucky you for reading this far! 😉

I actually have two of the shade Lolita II and I’m giving one away! I picked one up as a sample from Sephora a month ago, and then I received a full size one from PR for review. I decided to test out the small sample one and left the big one alone (except to take the photographs you see here in this post – it has not been opened at all) so I could give it away to one of you guys. This will be a short giveaway since I do have a huge one happening right now as well.

201610_katvond_everlastingliquidlipstick_lolitaii5

Giveaway Rules

This giveaway is open internationally!
This giveaway starts on October 5, 2016 and runs for one week.
Please be aware that all entries will be double checked to ensure fairness.
One winner will win a Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II.
The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail. If they fail to respond within that time frame, I will pick another prize winner. (And so on.)
“Giveaway accounts” will not be considered for this prize. (If you want to know what I mean by that, please click here.)

Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Five Lip Colours To Try This Fall

September 26, 2016Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesGosh, Smashbox, Too Faced, Wet n WildChelle

201609_5lipcolourstotry1

It’s finally autumn (YAYYYY!), which means it’s time to bust out some deeper, darker and more intense lip shades. I know you might be anxious about trying something new, but I wanted to introduce you to some shades that I’ve found to be quite flattering, although they may not be the first shade you’d gravitate towards.

I’ve found myself gravitating towards these shades in the last few weeks and I wanted to share them because they’re kind of off the wall colours. I know a lot of people are going to think some of them are unwearable, but hopefully I can change your mind!

Try a purple without going completely down the rabbit hole: Too Faced‘s La Creme lipstick in Berry Naughty looks dark AF in the tube, but it comes out a glossy purple-pink that has a slight sheerness to it that makes it more wearable. The La Creme formula is also incredibly comfortable to wear and it smells like sweet lemons!

Although it may look like a straight black lip, Too Faced‘s Melted Matte in Evil Twin has a purple edge to it that helps make it slightly more wearable without looking too “witchy” (which I usually feel is more blue-toned). This is my boldest suggestion in this entire post, but I know there’s a few people out there who are intrigued by wearing a blackish lip! Since this product is a liquid lipstick, you won’t have to worry about it bleeding outside your lip line, and for me, that’s INCREDIBLY important if I’m going to be wearing a colour as deep and dark as this one.

Probably the most tame colour in this roundup, Gosh Cosmetics‘ Matt Cinnamon is a gorgeous balance of brown and pink. It’s boring as hell to look at in the tube, but the comfort of this lipstick alongside the colour make this an absolute beauty to wear. (I only recently tried this one out in a GOSH Haull + First Impressions video and I’ve been wearing it ever since!)

It’s really, REALLY hard to beat Wet n Wild‘s price tag on their Megalast lipsticks. They’re around $2 and they deliver incredible colour and pigmentation. If you’re not keen on trying out a black lip but still want to wear something vibrant, go for a red (this particular one is Stoplight Red) as we head into the holiday season.

Never in my life did I think I would need a grey lipstick… until I tried on the Smashbox Always On Liquid Lipstick in Chill Zone. It might take some getting used to, but I found myself rather in love with wearing a grey lip – there’s something that feels really, really badass about wearing this colour! (If you want to see it in action, you can check out my essence F/W haul.)

201609_5lipcolourstotry_swatches

Looking at the swatches all together, the lipsticks I chose are a really, really weird mix. However, they’re definitely the shades I’ve been drawn to as of late. If you’re ever worried about wearing a “different” colour, whether it’s dark or vibrant, just remember that half the battle is getting used to seeing yourself in that shade. So buy the product, try it on at home and then just carry on as you normally would. Every now and then you’ll catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and you’ll eventually get used to seeing yourself wearing that colour. Once you’ve gotten over that hump, the next step is to wear it in public. And just remember – a strong smile works wonders at portraying confidence in how you look. 🙂

Let me know what colours you’re into this fall and if you’d wear any of the ones I mentioned in this post!

Esqido Lashes Review (Lashlorette & Lash Named Desire)

September 21, 2016Makeup, ReviewsEsqidoChelle

Esqido Lashes

I think my very first introduction to Esqido lashes was by Tati (aka Glam Life Guru) who raved about their soft fluttery lashes on YouTube yearrs ago. While I had seen the brand at several IMATS of years gone by, I had never delved into the brand personally…. Until now! Esqido is now selling their lashes at Holt Renfrew in Canada and they’re a heck of a lot more accessible to me that way!

A few weeks back they invited a bunch of bloggers to their different retail locations across the country to try on some lashes and take them home – I was allll in for that. I wear a lot of fake lashes in my videos and for going out so I’m always happy to try out a new pair and see how they compare to my beloved House of Lashes!

For a little background, Esqido lashes are professional grade mink lashes (which, to my understanding, involves combing the mink for their hairs). They feature a cotton band which is something completely new to me – all my previous lash bands have been made out of some kind of plastic. The lashes are re-usable (as all lashes are) and the web site says “up to 25 times” for re-wear.

Esqido "Lashlorette" — Esqido “Lashlorette”

The pair they tried on me at Holt Renfrew are the Lashlorette pair (pictured above). They were cut to fit my eye shape, hence why they’re a little bit janky looking since I took them home with me. The Lashlorette are considered one of their medium volume lashes (3 out of 5). What I liked about these is that they are flared the whole way around the lash which is something I’ve never really tried before (I usually opt for a bit more of a taper towards the inner corner of my eye). I did notice a wee bit of tickling on my inner corner, but that’s bound to happen without a taper.

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I’m wearing the Lashlorette pair above and I love how fluffy and voluminous it makes my lashes look.

Esqido "Lash Named Desire" — Esqido “Lash Named Desire”

The other pair I got to take home with me with are the Lash Named Desire. These are considered 4/5 for volume and have a more tapered inner corner and voluminous outer corner.

Although I liked the Lashlorette, I found myself far more impressed with the look of Lash Named Desire on me. I found it suited my eye shape a lot more and added just the right amount of drama.

Close up, you can see that the lashes blend in completely with my own lashes. Honestly, up close, the effect looks incredibly subtle to me which is impressive given how dramatic they look from far away.

Overall Thoughts

Although I’ve only worn the Esqido eyelashes a handful of times (there was zero chance I was going to be able to get 25 uses out of a pair of lashes before needing to review them!), I am EXTREMELY impressed with how these wear. The band of the lashes is black, which made me a bit nervous since I tend to prefer a clear band, but I found that the black band really helped meld into my liquid eyeliner and disguise it without the added need of drawing back over the band with liner. I also discovered that since the band is made out of cotton, these may actually be the most comfortable set of lashes I own. The band was strong enough to support the weight of the lashes, but flexible enough that both sets of lashes conformed to my eye shape without any fuss. Usually when you’re working with a plastic band, even if you warp the band to fit your eye, you still struggle since the plastic doesn’t always want to conform to your eye shape.

So while the cost of Esqido lashes may be a bit up there for some people (they’re around $35 USD a pair), I do think that you’re paying for the added quality and comfort that these lashes can provide you with.

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

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kits in Sweets & Moonchild (Review & Swatches)

September 19, 2016Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesAnastasiaChelle

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kits in Moonchild and Sweets

This whole whacky coloured highlighter craze is hitting and I am definitely falling rapidly in love with it! For SO LONG we’ve had very general highlighter colours – your basic champagne, pink-white, gold and… that’s about it. There’s not a whole lot of variety amidst that so it’s really, REALLY nice to see something completely unique in that area of makeup.

And Anastasia Beverly Hills delivers when it comes to offbase coloured highlighters. I recently picked up both their Sweets and Moonchild Glow Kits (exclusive to anastasiabeverlyhills.com, sadly) and I’m stupidly excited about these!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Sweets

The Sweets Glow Kit ($40 USD) features four metallic powder highlighters for intense luminosity. What drew me in to this one were not only the shades (a purple highlighter??) but also the names. That Marshmallow one suckered me right in (any Veronica Mars fans out there?)!

At first I wasn’t sure how the darker colours were going to play out on my skin, but I was more that willing to give them a shot!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Sweets - swatches — Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Sweets – swatches

In swatches, you can see the Butterscotch shade loses a big of its deepness (fine by me), although Taffy looks pretty darn pigmented (more like a blush really). Butterscotch seems to be the only shade with glitter particles actually suspended within the formula. This is worth noting because the other three shades don’t have these glitter particles and I did find that the flecks of glitter ended up in weird spots on my face (I was sporting a glitter moustache for a while).

But really, arm swatches will only show you so much… here’s what they look like on my face. All swatches are on only foundation – I’m not wearing blush or bronzer – and I’ve applied the highlighter as if it was my blush and highlighter in one, and quite heavily at that. I really wanted you to be able to see the colour difference in each shade.

Marshmallow is a gorgeous white with gold reflect to it. The duochrome of this shade is so, so freaking gorgeous! You can see me apply it to my face in my recent video tutorial.

Sassy Grape is, aptly, a frosty grape. I was stunned with just how much I love this shade as a highlighter and I’ve been wearing it a lot lately. I tend to pair it with a purple blush (Urban Decay Bittersweet, to be specific) and I’m always in awe of just how gorgeous it looks.

Butterscrotch comes out a bit paler on my skin than I was expecting from the pan – but I’m okay with it because it still makes it wearable on my skin tone. There are flecks of glitter in it which I wasn’t expecting, so just be aware of that when you’re using this shade.

Taffy is definitely the shade I’ve worn the least because it has a lot of pigment to it. I wear this more as my blush and highlighter in one.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Moonchild

So after I bought the Sweets Glow Kit… I was kind of sitting there going “I need the other one too”… because you know what… when a product is that awesome, I basically want all of the shades I can get my hand on! So I bought the Moonchild ($40 USD) palette as well!

This kit has six shades instead of the usual four, and they’re slightly smaller pans.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Moonchild - swatches — Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Moonchild – swatches

While I appreciate the green and pink highlighter so much in this kit, I do find it veers very, very blue and silver. I wasn’t able to capture Lucky Clover very well with my camera, but rest assured it’s a very lovely green highlighter (something I never, ever thought I would say!).

Out of the two blue shades, Blue Ice is definitely my favourite. On me, it leaned slightly purple as well.

Star was really weird looking when I first put it on, and I’m struggling to think what kind of blush I would pair with it, BUT on its own, once I got used to that silver sheen, it really started to grow on me.

Sadly, Purple Horsehoe wasn’t as purple as I thought it was going to be (especially given the colour in the pan), so I don’t find it that different from Sassy Grape.

Pink Heart is STUNNING! It’s a luminous pink highlighter with a hint of a neutral-green base in the pigment (sounds weird, but if you know the MAC eyeshadow Vex, you’ll get the idea).

Lucky Clover is making my heart sing because I have an affinity for green and clovers, so I’m allll about this shade. I’m disappointed with my photography on this shade, I don’t think it comes across as it did in person, which is slightly more green, although not at all unwearable.

Blue Moon is a blue-silver shade that’s basically a cross between Blue Ice and Star. It’s okay, but again… there’s a lot of blue in this palette.

Overall Thoughts

Do I even need to say it? I love these Glow Kits so, SO much. The colour are unique and fun to use. They’re vibrant enough that the underlying coloured pigment comes through, but not so over the top that it looks like a big ole streak of eyeshadow used as a highlighter instead.

I find that Moonchild has a lot of similar shades, but the pink and green make up for that for me. I’m so happy that I’m seeing something completely new in the highlighter world – it’s a breath of fresh air, you know? And while the colours may seen a bit out there for some people, because they’re so luminous, you could get away with applying these lightly so that only a hint of colour shows. Of course, if you’re like me and you want others to appreciate your purple highlighter from afar – slather it on and let your highlight gleam!

Giveaway Time!

Now here’s the best part! Anastasia Beverly Hills accidentally sent me TWO packages of the Glow Kit in Sweets, and since they were carted back from the States the lovely Shawna, I sure as heck wasn’t going to send one back to them on my own dime! So I’m hosting a giveaway!

One winner will receive:

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Sweets

Giveaway Rules

This giveaway is open internationally!
This giveaway starts on September 19, 2016 and runs for two weeks.
Please be aware that all entries will be double checked to ensure fairness.
One winner will win the Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Sweets pictured and described above.
The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail. If they fail to respond within that time frame, I will pick another prize winner. (And so on.)
“Giveaway accounts” will not be considered for this prize. (If you want to know what I mean by that, please click here.)

Good luck!

essence mosaic blushes (Review + Swatches)

September 12, 2016Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesessenceChelle

essence mosaic blushes

essence has finally launched their mosaic blushes in Canada! With a $3.99 USD price tag, an embossed pattern with different shades and the ability to purchase online at essencemakeup.com, you’re going to be struggling to not fall head over heels for these guys!

Although Europe has a slightly larger shade selection (four in total), North America will have to do with the two shades we have available to us:

All You Need Is Pink (the uh… more orange one)
The Berry Connection (the pink one)

essence mosaic blush swatches in All You Need Is Pink and The Berry Connection

At first swatch, I found that the pink shade was a lot more powdery in texture than I had anticipated. I had to build it up to get the swatches you see above.

I’m not sure if these face swatches above help (since they’re not full face shots), but there you have it. I found that overtop of foundation these blushes performed better (shots above are the blush on my bare skin) because they had something to grip to. On bare skin, these did not perform very well at all.

Overall, I felt the blushes were a little too powdery and not enough pigmented for my own personal taste. It was a bit odd because I wore this occasionally and I thought it looked fine, and then sometimes I wore it and I felt kind of “meh” about it. I prefer essence‘s regular line of blushes (their Silky Touch ones) a lot more in terms of pigmentation and performance, so if I was going to steer you in the direction of a well performing and inexpensive blush, that’s what I’d suggest. These mosaic blushes are pretty to look at, but they just didn’t live up to their beauty I’m afraid!

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