Category Archives: Swatches

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner (Review & Swatches)

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner

This product isn’t new, but it’s something I had been meaning to try out ever since it was released several years ago. The tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner is a very interesting hybrid product to me: it’s got a squeezy tube like a lip gloss, it’s a gel liner (but not quite) and it’s got some kind of well-shaped contraption at the top of it!

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner
tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner

In its essence, the Tarteist Clay Paint Liner is a “waterproof cream eyeliner with a unique blending tip that is inspired by an artist’s palette”. They say cream, but I feel like it’s less viscous than that. It’s like a thicker liquid – and I would never mistake this to be a gel texture either. It’s not so liquid that it runs and spills everywhere though – more like it’s got enough thickness so that it holds in place in that well area at the tip.

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner has a tip with a well
tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner has a tip with a well

The well, in my opinion, is a genius idea. While I have traditionally liked gel pots (and really loved the tarte gel liner as well), I find that you often struggle with getting the right amount of product on your brush while also shaping the brush into my preferred flattened edge so I can get a crisp line on my lid. The well tip helps me flatten out my brush without disrupting anymore product (like I would in a pot) and I can vary just how much I get on my brush by wiping it on a clean edge.

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner with angled liner brush
tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner with angled liner brush

Rather conveniently, the Tarteist Clay Paint Liner comes with a mini angled liner brush inside the packaging. I wasn’t expecting that at all since I didn’t think the product packaging was big enough to hold a brush! So that was a nice surprise… however I’m not personally a fan of angled liner brushes, so I did resort to using one of my own straight ones for application.

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner - swatch
tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner – swatch

Swatched out you can see how the product is drying to a matte finish (it’s a bit glossy at the top where the thicker blobs are still drying). THIS IS SUCH A RELIEF FOR ME! I prefer matte black liners above anything else and I’ve been continuously annoyed that I can’t seem to find matte black waterproof liners (I’ve yet to find a gel liner that is truly waterproof). While I’d prefer this texture and feel in a pen style brush tip liner, this is the next best thing and I am so, SO happy by how matte it gets.

tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner - winged liner
tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner – winged liner

On the eye, the Tarteist Clay Paint Liner is as deep and black as I could ever need! It doesn’t go watery on me, which means I get a solid line in one swipe. I also didn’t initially realize this was waterproof and was quite surprised at work one day when my eye watered and I pressed a tissue to the corner of my eye. Usually I get some liner peeling off my eye and onto the tissue – not the case this time! My liner stayed fully intact on my face and had zero transfer. Although I’ve not tested it by dunking my head in water to test the true waterproofness of the product, all I personally really need is something that will hold up to my eyes watering, and this did it!

Final Thoughts

Suffice to say – I’m a fan. The tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner is a wonderfully matte black waterproof formula that is easy to apply. If you’re a fan of gel liners (or any type of potted liner that requires a brush) I think you’ll be a fan of this one. I had no fading throughout my work day and it actually didn’t pick up a ton of my shimmery lid shade either (which can sometimes be a problem for me with hooded lids).

The tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner can be purchased at sephora.ca for $29 CAD and on sephora.com for $24 USD.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration. Post may contain affiliate links.

Swatch Sunday: ARTDECO Most Wanted More Than Nude

ARTDECO Most Wanted Eyeshadow - More Than Nude

ARTDECO’s released a few eyeshadow palettes lately, and I’ve got the More Than Nude one swatched today. I do think there are more than just this one in the “More Than Nude” range, but I couldn’t find a palette name anywhere on the packaging. The number “5” is mentioned a few times, so maybe this is the fifth iteration of the palette.

ARTDECO Most Wanted Eyeshadow Palette - More Than Nude
ARTDECO Most Wanted Eyeshadow Palette – More Than Nude

If you’d like to see a try on of this palette and a few other ARTDECO products, you can see that in this video:

ARTDECO Most Wanted Eyeshadow Palette – More Than Nude Swatches

ARTDECO - Tutu
ARTDECO – Tutu
ARTDECO - Pretty
ARTDECO – Pretty
ARTDECO - Graceful
ARTDECO – Graceful
ARTDECO - Chiffon
ARTDECO – Chiffon
ARTDECO - Satin
ARTDECO – Satin
ARTDECO - Cashmere
ARTDECO – Cashmere
ARTDECO - Chic
ARTDECO – Chic
ARTDECO - Charming
ARTDECO – Charming
ARTDECO - Lace
ARTDECO – Lace
ARTDECO - Linen
ARTDECO – Linen
ARTDECO - Silk
ARTDECO – Silk
ARTDECO - Alluring
ARTDECO – Alluring
The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration. Post may contain affiliate links.

IT Cosmetics Your Most Beautiful You – Live Love Laugh (Review & Swatches)

IT Cosmetics - Your Most Beautiful You Anti-Aging Face Palette - Live, Love, Laugh

Canadians! The wait is ALMOST over! IT Cosmetics is going to be launching in Canada in August! I have no exact date so far, but I attended a launch event here in downtown Toronto in June and they said that August was when it was all happening! I’ll keep you posted on an actual launch date, so stay tuned to my Twitter!

IT Cosmetics - Your Most Beautiful You Anti-Aging Face Palette - Live, Love, Laugh
IT Cosmetics – Your Most Beautiful You Anti-Aging Face Palette – Live, Love, Laugh

With the IT Cosmetics pre-launch event, we were sent home with some items to try and the first thing that caught my eye was this massive disc of product I had only ever experienced vicariously through US vloggers’ YouTube videos. Finally my time had come! I now owned the (just wait for this lengthy product name): Your Most Beautiful Your Anti-Aging Matte Bronzer, Radiance Luminizer & Brightening Blush Palette. It’s also branded with Live, Love, Laugh, which I think is a little bit of an easier format in which to refer to this product.

IT Cosmetics - Your Most Beautiful You Anti-Aging Face Palette - Live, Love, Laugh
IT Cosmetics – Your Most Beautiful You Anti-Aging Face Palette – Live, Love, Laugh

Anyway, just like its name, the Live, Love, Laugh compact comes with a whopping 22.22 grams of product. The bronzer is 11 grams, which is more than your average bronzer compact and each of the other two products have over 5.5 grams. I wish I had taken a photo of my hand over the product for scale, but please just trust me when I say this thing is ENORMOUS!

IT Cosmetics - Your Most Beautiful You Anti-Aging Face Palette - Live, Love, Laugh
Live, Love, Laugh

The way the product is laid out is really appealing (to me anyway!) and the mirror inside the compact is also jumbo sized which is so handy for daily use, or travel. The product itself is talc free and contains anti-aging hydrolyzed collagen, silk and peptides.

IT Cosmetics - Your Most Beautiful You - swatches
IT Cosmetics – Your Most Beautiful You – swatches

Swatched out, you can see how vivid the colours are on the skin. The blush and bronzer shades are slightly powdery (this isn’t a negative to me, but worth noting for those who care) and EXTREMELY pigmented. This is the kind of product where you’re going to want to whack your brush off first instead of going straight from the pan to your face! The highlighter is equally gorgeous and illuminating, but it’s not one of those super reflective highlighters we’ve seen on the market lately. It’s gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but it’s more of a “lit from within” look as opposed to “hello my name is disco ball”.

Wearing IT Cosmetics Your Most Beautiful You
Wearing IT Cosmetics Your Most Beautiful You

On the face, this compact is everything I need and want in a bronzer and blush. The tones are extremely complementary and blend beautifully.

Wearing IT Cosmetics Your Most Beautiful You
Wearing IT Cosmetics Your Most Beautiful You

As previously noted, the highlighter isn’t SUPER reflective, but it’s still incredibly gorgeous and the it pairs well with the bronzer and highlighter. (Sidenote: the highlighter IS more reflective than my picture above is showing – I just didn’t capture it very well on camera.)

Final Thoughts

In summary? I love this enormous compact so, so much. It seems everyone was raving about it on YouTube for good reason! The IT Cosmetics Your Most Beautiful Your Anti-Aging Matte Bronzer, Radiance Luminizer & Brightening Blush Palette may have the longest product name I have ever encountered in makeup, but it is 100% worth the hype!

So far, this compact can only be purchased on Ulta.com for $38 USD but it will be available in Canada shortly!

The product featured in this post was given to me for consideration. Post may contain affiliate links.

Swatch Sunday: Charlotte Tilbury The Sophisticate

Charlotte Tilbury - The Sophisticate

There’s nothing like a Charlotte Tilbury eyeshadow quad to make me feel super luxurious!

Charlotte Tilbury - The Sophisticate
Charlotte Tilbury – The Sophisticate

This quad was a hand me down from a friend who had no need for it anymore and while it has been on my “To Buy” list from the brand, because it’s a matte neutral palette it was definitely at the very bottom.

Charlotte Tilbury - The Sophisticate
Charlotte Tilbury – The Sophisticate

But these are the kind of shades that are the absolute workhorse of any cohesive makeup look, so I was super happy to add it to my collection!

Charlotte Tilbury The Sophisticate Swatches

Charlotte Tilbury - The Sophisticate - Prime
Charlotte Tilbury – The Sophisticate – Prime
Charlotte Tilbury - The Sophisticate - Enhance
Charlotte Tilbury – The Sophisticate – Enhance
Charlotte Tilbury - The Sophisticate - Pop
Charlotte Tilbury – The Sophisticate – Pop
Charlotte Tilbury - The Sophisticate - Smoke
Charlotte Tilbury – The Sophisticate – Smoke

The Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Quad in The Sophisticate can be purchased on charlottetilbury.com for $53 USD or on their Canadian site for $66 CAD.

Hard Candy Wet Ever Bold Hold Lip Lacquer (Review & Swatches)

Hard Candy Wet Ever in Temptress

Has anyone else spotted these adorable tin packages of lip gloss by Hard Candy at Walmart yet?? These are Hard Candy‘s Wet Ever – a bold hold lip lacquer, although I do believe they have a matte one as well.

Hard Candy Wet Ever Bold Hold Lip Lacquer
Hard Candy Wet Ever Bold Hold Lip Lacquer

Every time I see these tins I’m so impressed by the quality. I mean, it’s fairly unique to have a tin with a relatively large mirror inside (in the lid) to house your lip gloss! Even more so for a drugstore brand to do this! Each tin is colour-coded on the outside to match the lipstick inside with a dripping, melty lipstick that’s embossed on the tin. It’s such a nice touch!

Hard Candy Wet Ever Bold Hold Lip Lacquer in Temptress
Hard Candy Wet Ever Bold Hold Lip Lacquer in Temptress

The tube of product is actually entrancing – the component is specially crafted with upraised drips of “melting lipstick” and it comes to a flattened out point at the end. I know I’m talking a lot about the packaging, but I’m really quite enamoured by it. It’s so unique for a drugstore brand!

Hard Candy Wet Ever has a flattened out doefoot applicator.
Hard Candy Wet Ever has a flattened out doefoot applicator.

Twist off the top and you’ll pull out your doefoot applicator. This one doesn’t have the “bucket” that some doefoots now have, but this one has more of a scooped shape that comes to a flattened out tip. This does wonders to help cover your entire lip, and the tip is also great for getting more precise lines around the edge of your lip line.

Hard Candy Wet Ever Bold Hold Lip Lacquer in Temptress - swatch
Hard Candy Wet Ever Bold Hold Lip Lacquer in Temptress – swatch

The colour I have is Temptress – a deep burdgundy-red with a hint of brown. Pigmentation is solid in one swipe (as shown above) and it definitely has that lacquer-like look because it looks very, very wet on the lips.

Wearing Temptress
Wearing Temptress

In these shots, I’ve applied the Wet Ever in Temptress without anything underneath so I could show you just how pigmented the product is. Hard Candy says these have the longwearing properties of a liquid lipstick with the shine and hydration of a lip gloss. I agree completely with the lip gloss statements (shine and hydration) but I feel like it misses the mark with the liquid lipstick claims (you definitely need to re-apply if you want it to stay glossy).

Close up of Temptress
Close up of Temptress

In practice, I know that a lip gloss is never ever going to work on me because I am prone to lip line bleed out IMMEDIATELY upon application. You can see what I mean in the shot above- I had *just* applied the Wet Ever and you can see that I’m getting “the fuzzies” around the edge of my lips. So while the colour and pigmentation is gorgeous, for me this is a product that I have to use a lip primer and lip liner underneath in order to get it to stay put. I am an exception though, as most of the people I have talked to over the course of the years don’t experience such intense lip line bleed out as I am prone to, so please keep that in mind.

Longevity is what I would expect from a lip gloss – around 1.5 to 2 hours before I felt the need to reapply. I was extremely impressed that my lips continued to feel hydrated while wearing this even though I had tested it with a primer and a lip liner (which are generally prone to drying my lips out a tad). The colour is INTENSE on these too – solid, opaque and super glossy. I loved the consistency of the product and there was no scent, which is a huge bonus for me.

In short, although the Hard Candy Wet Ever needs a little bit of TLC from me in order to keep it in line, I think it’s a really decent product that packs one hell of a punch.

You can buy the Hard Candy Wet Ever Bold Hold Lip Lacquers on walmart.com for $5 USD each.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration. Post may contain affiliate links.