Fans of Winky Lux can rejoice, they’re slowly creeping into Beauty Boutiques (run by Shoppers Drug Mart and Murale) near you! Winky Lux has always been one of those harder to get indie brands to me, so I’m so glad to see they’re becoming more easily available in Canada now!
Winky Lux Glimmer Balm
Winky Lux is launching this month at Murale and BeautyBoutique (although I don’t have an exact date – sorry!), and I was super interested in some of their lip balms. They have one of those balms with a dried flower suspended in the tube, and also this one – their Glimmer Balm.
Winky Lux Glimmer Balm
Their Glimmer Balm is essentially a transparent lip product that reacts with the pH balance in your lips to create a custom shade of pink. It’s beautiful to look at – pink, purple and teal glimmers shimmer and shine within the see-through base. It’s infused with glitter specs for an extra bit of oomph, but you won’t find it looks or feels like a glitter bomb on the lips.
Winky Liux Glimmer Balm – swatched
On me the Glimmer Balm goes hot pink and has the faintest whisper of glitter particles that are only ever so slightly visible if you’re SUPER upclose to my face. Winky Lux says this has a coconut scent but I don’t smell that all – it’s more of a soft sugary scent.
Wearing Winky Lux Glimmer Balm
The thing I love most about these pH changing balms is that they are so, so comfortable to wear on the lips. It really is just a lip balm that changes colour based on your skin, so you get the benefit of having soft, hydrated lips but also a touch of colour as well.
As it’s a balm, it’s not super long wearing, but here’s how it looked after about 90 minutes on me (above). While it does leave behind a bit of a stain on the lips, I find I tend to re-apply it every two hours as I would with any other lip balm.
Final Thoughts
The Winky LuxGlimmer Balm is beautiful and easy to wear. I don’t think there’d be much colour difference amongst most users, so you’re pretty much guaranteed to get a pink-y sheen on your lips. Just to re-iterate – the glitter is NOT strong and you will not look like you’ve got a mouth full of it, so don’t worry about the glimmer aspect of this balm!
Overall, it’s lovely, comfortable to wear and easy to apply on the go. Plus it looks hella cute when you whip it out to apply. Thumbs up from me!
In celebration of their 20th anniversary, Too Faced has launched their anniversary collection as a salute to their original launch from 1998!
Too Faced Then & Now
The Then & Now eyeshadow palette features their original 10 shades (thankfully with an updated formula) and their “reinvented originals”. The reinvented shades are Too Faced‘s interpretation of their original lineup from a new more modern perspective. Which is a good thing – because that top row has a lot of dated shades that really, REALLY took me back to the mid to late 90s with some of those colours! (That power blue? The light pink with sparkles? Oh man, I wore allll of that back then!)
I will have a full review coming to my YouTube channel, but it won’t be up for a few weeks. In the meantime, please enjoy the swatches!
As I was emptying out my bag (a backpack, not a purse, to be clear! I frigging hate purses) of lipsticks I realized it’d make for an interesting post. What lipsticks have I been wearing throughout the summer? Well this seems like a fairly accurate representation of my overall colour theme!
The five lipsticks in my bag
Which is to say… a lot of coral, with a few toned down shades for balance!
Too Faced Peach Beach
Too Faced‘s Peach Beach lipstick is from last year’s Peaches and Cream launch and it pretty much represents my lipstick aesthetic in a nutshell: coral and matte! I find the formula on these lipsticks to be fairly creamy on application, but it dries into a comfortable matte finish with a lot of flex. There is that definite “peaches and cream” scent on the lipstick and it does not disappear while you wear it (I like it, but I know not everyone is keen on scented lipsticks).
I always tend to think of this kind of coral shade as “bright”, but it’s honestly not that bright and tends to match a lot of eye looks I pair with it – especially those in the more orange and yellow category.
Bite Beauty Saffron Fire
Bite Beauty‘s Spice collection launch was such a freaking knockout hit for me this year (see the full collection swatch and reviews in this video I did a few months ago) and I’ve been wearing the shades non-stop. Saffron Fire is definitely my most loved one and I think you can see why – it’s pure neon fire goodness. (If you’re wondering why my bullet looks like a multi-stick and not a lipstick, it’s because the formula is fairly soft and the bullet was starting to bend a bit so I started apply it like it was a chapstick and then using a lip brush to clean up my lip edges… which resulted in that shape.)
I’ve been wearing Saffron Fire at least one day a week since I got it and I’m not getting tired of the colour any time soon. This colour IS summer to me. It’s utterly perfect.
Bite Beauty Star Anise
Another one from Bite‘s Spice collection! Star Aniseisn’t what I would call a typical summer colour – it’s a bizarre pale cool-toned pink with a LOT of grey in it. Honestly, in the bullet it looks more innocuous than it does in a swatch as it goes very grey on my skin. But that’s why I like it – it’s so different and it works out really well with cool-toned glittery eyeshadow looks.
No picture, sadly, but you can see it in my Bite Beauty Spicy collection video:
Urban Decay Ex-Girlfriend
Oh jeez… this poor, poor Urban Decay lipstick in the shade Ex-Girlfriend… it’s certainly seen better days. (I’m a bit of a lipstick murderer, so it’s not unusual for my lipsticks to look like they’ve been through World War III.) Urban Decay’s Ex-Girlfriend is essentially a balm texture with a hint of colour – which makes it perfect for those “I have no frigging idea what lipstick to pair with my eyeshadow” days.
It’s definitely a “my lips but better and more glossy” formula. I’ve paired this with every single colour combination out there and it’s never failed me. This is a total failsafe lip colour for me – I’m just sad I’m clearly destroying that bullet because it probably isn’t long for this life. 🙁
Too Faced Coral Fire
Too Faced‘s La Creme lipstick in Coral Fire – you are a dear, DEAR favourite of mine. This was another shade that I always thought was “bright” and then a few people at the office assured me that it was actually pretty toned down (I asked them for feedback – I’m never great at matching lipsticks to my looks!). The Too Faced La Creme range seems to be on the way out the door because they don’t have nearly as many shades on the market as they used to – which is SUCH a shame because it’s wonderful. The formula is creamy and buttery with a hint of shine. It also has a wonderful sweet lemon scent that is totally unique!
Swatches
You can definitely see I lean a lot more coral/orange in my lipstick selections as of late, but there’s a few different shades in the mix to really change it up. What colour lipstick have you been gravitating towards lately? Let me know!
QUO, the home makeup brand of Shoppers Drug Mart here in Canada, has launched their Summer 2018 collection, and it’s full of celestial hues and oil-slick rainbow ombre packaging!
QUO Summer 2018 Limited Edition Collection
I’ve been trying out the products over the last few weeks, so let’s dive into my thoughts!
QUO Summer 2018 – Face Palettes in Orion and Terra ($20 CAD each)
I feel like I say this ever time I try out QUO‘s seasonal face palettes but… they’re really good. Like *REALLY* good. QUO has a habit of releasing these kinds of three-pan face palettes whenever the season changes and I never get sick of them because I swear they have yet to release a dud.
Each palette comes with a blush, highlighter and bronzer. The Orion palette is a cooler palette that is slightly more suited towards paler skintones, but I’d like to point out that the bronzer shade could also double as a contour colour because it has a lot of grey in it. I love it as a bronzer on me personally, but the tone looks just right for a contour as well.
The Terra palette is more warm-toned and definitely has more of a warm-golden bronze. I especially love the coral blush in that palette!
QUO Summer 2018 – Face Palettes in Orion and Terra – swatches
Swatched out you can see full on pigmentation in both palettes.
Wearing Orion
I really, really love Orion on me. While I’m drawn towards coral blushes (like in the Terra palette), cooler pink blushes do tend to look “nicer” on me. And that highlighter? Holy cow – how blinding is that??
Wearing Terra
Terra doesn’t quite suit me as well as Orion does, but it’s also significantly deeper in comparison. The highlighter is a lot more subdued on me, but that’s because it’s darker than my skintone and isn’t able to cast a reflection as easily.
QUO Summer 2018 – Eye Creams in Galactic and Aura ($10 CAD each)
I am always extremely skeptical about eye creams because I have huge problems with oily lids and creasing shadows. It’s very, very rare (if not impossible) for me to wear a cream eyeshadow without creasing. But look at those colours! I was game to try them out despite my argumentative eyelids because they’re just so gorgeous.
QUO Summer 2018 – Eye Creams in Galactic and Aura – swatches
Single layer swatches demonstrate that they’re a little bit translucent and definitely need to be built up if you want to wear them as a more solid colour. I definitely found the colour in the package was a little deceptive and these weren’t as duochrome as I was expecting.
Wearing Galactic on the inner half of the lid
Galactic applied nicely to the lid and it was fairly easy to blend out with another brush that had eyeshadow on it (the purples). Sadly…
Creasing on the inner part of the lid.
I had a lot of crasing problems with Galactic. What you’re seeing above, in the inner part of my lid, is creasing within the first five minutes of wear. I was really sad because I thought it was going to hold out at first, but it sadly gathered and separated there pretty quickly. Usually if this happens to me it’ll only get worse throughout the day but that didn’t happen with this one. Galactic actually stayed like this through a full work day which really surprised me. So if you’re not prone to creasing like I am, you may do really well with this eye cream!
Wearing Aura on the inner half of the lid
Of course, I couldn’t just try Galactic, I had to try out Aura too, especially since it was such a gorgeous colour. In a swatch this one didn’t look that amazing, but it was absolutely transformative on the lid. It went from being a blue/white on my arm to a lavender/blue pearl on the eyes.
Very little creasing with Aura.
Impressively, this one barely creased on me. I was completely taken aback! That tiny, TINY amount of separation on the inner part of my lid is really impressive for me. (And yes, these are over top of eyeshadow primer.)
QUO Summer 2018 – Lip Glosses ($10 CAD each)
Next up – lip gloss! Although lip gloss isn’t exactly my thing, I know it’s been making on heck of a comeback so people are always excited to see new and fun shades.
QUO Summer 2018 – Lip Glosses – swatches
The colour range is certainly unique – Stargazer is a milky hot pink, High Beam is a translucent light pink pearl and Celestial is a sheer base with blue particle shimmer.
Wearing Celestial
I suspect Celestial is a bit more of a topper colour for most people, and I think it would work best that way because it’s super hecking gritty. It’s the kind of gritty where it feels like I’ve got fine granules of sand stuck in my gloss. Sadly, although the colour is pretty, that grittiness makes this a total pass for me.
Wearing High Beam
High Beam is definitely less gritty than Celestial (although there is some shimmer in it), but it’s also slightly patchy. (Honestly, I’m a bit confused on how people WANT their glosses. Some people want opaque colour, some people want translucency… but people who want it to be translucent also don’t want it sinking into their lip lines which is damn near impossible to achieve with a milky, sheer-ish base.) So High Beam is somewhat sheer and would most likely make a great lipstick topper.
Wearing Stargazer
And then there’s Stargazer… and people… I was NOT prepared. Holy smokes. This colour is solid and opaque, and has a reflection that could rival most face highlighters. The texture is smooth – slick and yet creamy. It actually *feels* sexy to wear this one – which is not something I ever thought I’d say about a gloss. This one is completely different from the other two above – much, much nicer on the lips!
QUO Illuminating Drops in Champagne Pearl and Radiant Bronzer ($20 CAD each)
And lastly, like any appropriate summer collection should have, QUO has released Illuminating Drops. They come with your usual dropper style tip and you can use them as a regular face highlighter or mix it in with your moisturizer, primer, etc.
QUO Illuminating Drops in Champagne Pearl and Radiant Bronzer – swatches
Much like the face palettes, you’ve got a cooler toned one (paler) and a warmer one (definitely more bronze). They feel a bit slippery to the touch, but not oily which is great.
Wearing Champagne Pearl
Honestly, I was pretty nervous about using a liquid highlighter on my face because I don’t use them that often. However, Champagne Pearl turned out to be beautiful. It’s a bit more of a softer glow when you compare it to the Orion powder-trio highlighter, but I think some people may like something a bit softer than a blinding highlighter. I was also impressed with how easy it was to blend out with my finger tips! I dabbed a few pats of it on the tops of my cheekbones with my fingers and then blended it all out without any brushes. It melded into the skin seamlessly! (I haven’t applied Radiant Bronzer to myself because it’s definitely too dark for my skintone, but it’s a lovely tone and the texture feels the same as the lighter one.)
Final Thoughts
My top picks are:
Definitely the Face Palettes – in particular the cool-toned one (which is a surprise as I thought I’d like the darker one more).
I think the colours on the Eye Creams are beautiful and if you’re not prone to creasing, these may definitely work for you as I only had minimal initial creasing upon application (which, quite frankly, is miraculous – normally my whole eyeshadow look goes to hell in a handbasket with a cream shadow). Out of the two, I’d definitely choose Aura as it’s the most unique.
Stargazer Lip Glos if the colour is up your alley. The colour is incredible and it was super comfy to wear!
Let me know if you’ve picked up anything from this collection!
The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.
