Category Archives: Swatches

Mary Kay Spring 2017: Light, Reinvented (Review & Swatches)

March 29, 2017Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesMary KayChelle

Mary Kay Spring 2017: Light, Reinvented

Mary Kay‘s Spring 2017 collection took me by complete surprise. I was expecting something more along the lines of florals (as per last year) and instead I got a whole pile of bright, cheery and FUN colours! The collection is called “Light, Reinvented” and I’m really, really in love with that concept.

Just to get it out of the way, let’s talk about the product I didn’t love: the Mary Kay Glossy Lip Oils.

Infused with grapeseed oil, this glossy lip oil conditions lips by quenching them with moisture. This innovative lip oil provides a comfortable application with a non-sticky, luminous shine. In shades that range from sheer to pigmented, these glossy lip products deliver colour and shine while doubling as a moisturizer.

While I can’t say that the glossy lip oils feel overly uncomfortable on the lips, the thing I find the hardest to get over is the weird fruity but gooey scent. They’re kinda gelatinous and if you apply too much to your lips… well they just look like a pile of ooze.

Mary Kay Spring 2017: Light, Reinvented - Glossy Lip Oils - swatches — Mary Kay Spring 2017: Light, Reinvented – Glossy Lip Oils – swatches

In swatches, I have to say they look rather pretty, but these are just a pass for me.

Magenta Ray has the most pigment in the bunch and it’s definitely a beautiful colour.

Brilliant Violet is kind of patchy and sinks into my lip lines.

And Sheer Pink is just a milky, streaky mess.

Mary Kay Spring 2017: Light, Reinvented -Eye Color Palettes — Mary Kay Spring 2017: Light, Reinvented – Eye Color Palettes

Lip Oils aside, let’s talk about the good stuff! These Light, Reinvented Eye Color Palettes were a pleasant surprise.

Mary Kay Spring 2017: Light, Reinvented -Eye Color Palette in Glistening Horizon

Glistening Horizon is definitely my favourite quad out of the two: the colour combination is really, REALLY nice. The purple may swatch a little weakly but it did apply better to the eye. That deep blue shade as well as the shimmery pale cream are EXCELLENT!

On the eye, Glistening Horizon makes one hell of an impact. I honestly think my favourite shade in that quad is the palest champagne colour – it’s gorgeous!

Mary Kay Spring 2017: Light, Reinvented -Eye Color Palette in Sunlight

The Sunlight Eye Color Palette is a little bit more powdery in texture when you compare it to Glistening Horizon. I do wish there was a bit more depth to this quad because you may be hard pressed to create a look without keeping it very, very mild. That being said, the pink is INCREDIBLY pigmented and the orange has absolutely beautiful shimmer thrown in.

On the eyes, the pink and the orange translate really well. (Although in hindsight since the pink has more pigment, I should’ve put the orange in the crease and the pink in the outer corner.) The pale peach is fine and versatile as a brow bone highlight on my complexion. The one that really doesn’t end up translating very well is the pale lavender which basically diffused itself so much that it’s no even apparent (it’s on my inner corner).

Mary Kay Spring 2017: Light, Reinvented Nail Lacquers (left to right: New Blue, Brilliant Violet, Luminous Mauve and Vivid Sunburst)

I’ve saved the absolute best for last: Now I get to talk about the limited edition Light, Reinvented nail lacquers. These are INCREDIBLE and are hands down my absolute favourite nail polishes right now. I’ve worn each shade at least once, and I’ve already started in on my second rotation of wearing them (currently sporting Brilliant Violet again). These are wonderfully pigmented cream polishes (two coats for full opacity) in absolutely breathtaking shades. I’ve got nothing bad to say about these, and in fact I’d encourage you to get your hands on these as quickly as possible before they sell out. The formula, the colours and the wear time are all absolutely incredible.

And seriously, I’ve been wearing them in practically ever video I’ve recorded lately:

How To Wear Bright Eyeshadow (Easy)
More Drugstore Favourites
QUO Matte Revolution Foundation Time Trial + Review
Vibrant, Warm-toned Inglot Makeup Tutorial
and I even talked about how much I loved them in my February 2017 Favourites video!

Since I’m not an epic nail swatcher like my friend Kaitlyn is, please head over to this blog post of hers in order to see these gorgeous polishes swatched. (Seriously, go over there – not only to see these beautiful polishes in action, but also to see just how amazing her nails are!)

In Short

The Glossy Lip Oils are a pass in my book.
The Eye Color Palettes are a lot of fun, the Glistening Horizon one in particular.
The Light, Reinvented nail lacquers are what you need in your life RIGHT NOW. If you only get one product from this launch, make it the nail lacquers.

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

Buxom Plumpline Lip Liners (Review & Swatches)

March 27, 2017Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesBuxomChelle

Buxom Plumpline Lip Liners

Buxom recently launched their Plumpline Lip Liners in a whopping 20 shades! These new lip liners promise a plumping full coverage formula with a creamy matte finish.

The Plumpline shades cover the usual suspects in a lip range: nudes, to pinks, to reds and a handful of purply-vampy shades. Although they claim to be creamy, I’d argue and say they’re really not. While they do glide on the lips smoothly (which is fantastic), these are very much a drying matte formula once they’re locked in place.

Most surprising to me is that the Plumplines are an incredibly fat pencil. Most lip pencils tend to be on the skinny side for preciseness, so I wasn’t really sure how this was going to work out. Also, due to the size, I felt more like these should be used in place of lipstick.

They also come with a brush which… honestly had me scratching my head a little bit. I’ve never felt the need to use a brush with a lip pencil before. Since this also isn’t a creamy formula, you can’t really use the brush to blend anything out. I tried it, and the lip pencil really wasn’t going anywhere after I’d applied it.

Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner Swatches

Wearing Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner in Stealth

Wearing Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner in Incognito

Wearing Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner in Undercover

Wearing Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner in Restricted

Wearing Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner in Covert Affair

Wearing Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner in Code Red

Wearing Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner in InfraRed

Wearing Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner in Stakeout

Wearing Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner in Espionage

Wearing Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner in Dolly Danger

My Thoughts

As a lip liner, the Buxom Plumpline Lip Liners do their job: my lipstick stayed in place and, rather amazingly for me, I didn’t have any lip line bleedout even with the vampier shades. I also really love the colour range – of the ten I tried, there wasn’t a single shade in there that I wouldn’t wear on the regular.

But honestly… I think this is a really weird product. The fatness of the pencil makes for some awkward application and it’s far less precise because of it. I ended up sharpening the pencil quite a bit in order to keep the tip as precise as possible. I also don’t understand why there’s a brush attached to this pencil. It’s a dry formula when it gets on your lips, so you really haven’t got a hope in hell of using the brush to blur out any edges. It also claims to be plumping, but I can’t figure out where on earth that would come from unless you’re overlining your lips. There is nothing in formula to support the look of plumper lips.

I’m sad that I don’t like how fat the pencil is because it really makes it difficult for me to get a precise line (and I’m already not that great at being precise in general!). I love the shade range and I would absolutely love to wear these under lipsticks, but the lack of preciseness absolutely ruins it for me.

The Buxom Plumpline Lip Liners are available on sephora.ca for $20 CAD each or on sephora.com for $17 USD each.

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

Physicians Formula Highlight & Contour Palette – Shimmer Strobing (Review & Swatches)

March 20, 2017Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesPhysicians FormulaChelle

Physicians Formula Bronze Booster Highlight & Contour Palette - Shimmer Strobing

In December 2016, Physicians Formula launched a bunch of new products that I picked up as soon as I saw them (review on the Butter Blushes is here)! The Bronze Booster Highlight & Contour Palette in the Shimmer Strobing version (there’s a matte one too) called to me because it looked so much like the BECCA x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Glow palette.

As always, the presentation of Physicians Formula‘s products is gorgeous. While the layout is identical to that BECCA product, the embossed print is new and always welcomed in a product!

However, while Physicians Formula‘s presentation is always beautiful, their bulky packaging is not. Each product I’ve tried by them tries too hard to be extra helpful and in the end is only annoying. The bottom half of the packaging opens up to reveal a mirror (not helpful on the bottom) and a long brush (which I promptly threw in the garbage). The brush, by PF standards, is actually quite nice, but I really don’t find myself ever using these built-in brushes so I find the addition of it to be just cumbersome and bulky.

Physicians Formula Bronze Booster Highlight & Contour Palette - Shimmer Strobing - swatches — Physicians Formula Bronze Booster Highlight & Contour Palette – Shimmer Strobing – swatches

Packaging aside, the product swatches out really, really well. The colours are intensely pigmented with very little effort! I was especially impressed with the copper shade, although (as you’ll see below) it’s not a shade I can really wear on my cheeks.

Physicians Formula compared to BECCA - swatches — Physicians Formula compared to BECCA – swatches

Since I own the BECCA versions of the champagne and white versions, I pulled them out for comparison swatching. The champagne shade is incredibly similar although I detect a hint more peach in the BECCA shade. The white shade is basically a dead ringer in my eyes. Worth noting however, is that the sheen on the cheeks is not quite the same. The BECCA products translates a wetter, more “in your face” shine, whereas the Physicians Formula product is a softer, more subtle version.

Physicians Formula Bronzer Booster Highlight & Contour Shimmer Strobing Face Swatches

In these shots I’m wearing only the highlighter – there’s no blush on my cheeks.

Wearing Physicians Formula - shimmer strobing - white shade — Wearing Physicians Formula – shimmer strobing – white shade

A very strong white with a hint of grey to it.

Wearing Physicians Formula - shimmer strobing - champagne shade — Wearing Physicians Formula – shimmer strobing – champagne shade

The most natural looking shade out of all three colours – very radiant!

Wearing Physicians Formula - shimmer strobing - copper shade — Wearing Physicians Formula – shimmer strobing – copper shade

Zero chance I could wear this shade as anything other than an eyeshadow I’m afraid! Great pigmentation overall, but I found it blended out kind of weirdly.

Final Thoughts

If you’re not willing to shell out the money for a BECCA highlighter (and I understand – they’re super freaking pricey), I think the Physicians Formula Shimmer Strobing palette is a decent dupe. It is a bit more of a softer sheen than the wet-look of the BECCA products, but that’s potentially a good thing for people who aren’t looking for in-your-face highlighting.

One thing to keep in mind is that the copper shade is pretty much unwearable as a blush on my skintone. I haven’t yet tried it as an eyeshadow, but that’s pretty much the only way I’m going to get any use out of it. If you’re a deeper skin tone than me and you’ve tried a similar colour on your cheeks, please let us know in the comments how it works on you! I’d love to know!

I also think the packaging is ridiculous. It’s too bulky and unnecessary and the top hinge actually hinders you from getting at the product which is just a damn nuisance.

Man, okay, my list of complaints about this product seems quite long, but overall, I do actually like it. I think the white and champagne shades are beautiful to wear (and I’ve worn them multiple times since I bought the palette). I like that PF put out a near-dupe for the BECCA trio and I like that the pricepoint is more reasonable than the Butter Blushes (this was $21.99 CAD whereas the Butter Blushes were $18.99 CAD). So, to end this ridiculously long summary, I do recommend the product, it’s just up to you to determine if you’ll get enough use out of the shades that are included in the trio.

The Physicians Formula Bronze Booster Highlight & Contour Shimmer Strobing palette can be purchased on ulta.com for $14.99 USD.

Post contains affiliate links.

Swatch Sunday: Too Faced Peanut Butter and Honey

March 19, 2017SwatchesToo FacedChelle

Too Faced Peanut Butter & Honey

It’s here! It’s here! The sister palette to the Too Faced Peanut Butter and Jelly palette is here! Say hello to the beauty that is the Too Faced Peanut Butter and Honey palette!

This limited edition palette is currently only available at Ulta.com and TooFaced.com (my wonderful friend Sara picked it up and shipped it up to me from the US!).

Too Faced Peanut Butter and Honey Swatches

Too Faced - Creamed Honey — Too Faced – Creamed Honey

Too Faced - Going Nuts — Too Faced – Going Nuts

Too Faced - Bee Sweet — Too Faced – Bee Sweet

Too Faced - Honey Brittle — Too Faced – Honey Brittle

Too Faced - Bee's Knees — Too Faced – Bee’s Knees

Too Faced - Queen Bee — Too Faced – Queen Bee

Too Faced - Honey Buns — Too Faced – Honey Buns

Too Faced - Feelin' Nutty — Too Faced – Feelin’ Nutty

The Too Faced Peanut Butter and Honey palette retails for $36 USD and can be purchased at Ulta.com.

Post contains affiliate links.

essence Matt Matt Matt Lipstick Collection (Review & Swatches)

March 13, 2017Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesessenceChelle

essence Matt Matt Matt Lipsticks

essence has recently launched their Matt Matt Matt lipstick range which has eight shades ranging from nudes, to pinks and reds, to some purple and deep vampy shades. For a collection that is limited to only eight shades, they’ve done one heck of a job by covering all of their bases!

In stark contrast to their Sheer + Shine lipsticks (which I really enjoyed), the Matt Matt Matt in chockful of in your face colour with a matte finish. Each shades packs one hell of a pigment punch! But don’t take my word for it, check out these swatches:

essence Matt Matt Matt Lipstick Collection Swatches

essence Matt Matt Matt Lipstick in 01 Natural Kiss

essence Matt Matt Matt Lipstick in 02 Perfect Match

essence Matt Matt Matt Lipstick in 04 Pink Up Your Life

essence Matt Matt Matt Lipstick in 05 Red-y Or Not

essence Matt Matt Matt Lipstick in 06 Kiss Me If You Can

essence Matt Matt Matt Lipstick in 07 Purple Power

essence Matt Matt Matt Lipstick in 08 It's A Statement — essence Matt Matt Matt Lipstick in 08 It’s A Statement

My Thoughts

There is NO denying the colour payoff in these lipsticks – the pigment is there and it’s ready to party! I found the longevity on these lipsticks to be incredible – I had no movement, no budging for 4-5 hours (which for me is really good as I don’t tend to wear lipstick for longer than that timespan). My biggest complaint is that I get a little bit of lipstick gathering on the inner rim of my mouth – just where the lipstick ends and the inside of my mouth begins. It’s not a great feeling, but I can easily blend it out with my finger if need be.

It’s worth noting that there is a bit of a plastic fruit scent to these lipsticks. The scent is identical to their long lasting lipstick range though – so if you like that scent, you’ll be fine with these.

The essence Matt Matt Matt lipsticks retail for $3.99 USD each and can be purchased on ulta.com or or for $4.49 CAD on essencemakeup.com.

The products featured in this post were given to me for consideration at a PR event. Post contains some affiliate links.