Category Archives: Favourites

March 2015 Favourites

April 1, 2015Favourites, MiscellaneousBourjois, Make Up For Ever, Urban DecayChelle

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March was a total blur. I had fun celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, ran a pretty decent 5K race, attended a blogger event and hung out with some awesome people. It was a whirlwind month, but a lot of fun!

It’s funny how a month can pass in which you totally forgot what you did or wore. I completely forgot I used this palette so much in the early half of the month until I checked my notes (which I have to keep for favourites posts, or I won’t remember anything) and realized that I had used this palette constantly. Urban Decay‘s Naked 3 is one of those items where I really don’t know why I bought it. I’m not a pink person, I don’t salivate over rose-gold everything and yet… I bought it anyway. I probably got caught up in the hype of it when it first launched. But in reality, this is such an easy palette to wear that really doesn’t require outside help – even moreso than the original Naked (which doesn’t have a matte or satin highlight shade) or the Naked 2 (which has shades that blend together into the same shade), this palette offers you the opportunity to stick with pinks and taupes, but without demanding that you WEAR PINK.

And those pink-tinged mattes? Do a wonder of good for the crease and blending out shades.

Well this one isn’t any secret – I love this sucker. Make Up For Ever‘s Smoky Stretch mascara came out of left field when I was gifted it at a blogger event this past month and slapped me right across the face. Despite having purchased my beloved Clump Crusher this past month, I’ve barely touched it because I keep opting for the MUFE one. This mascara is incredible – volume, length, true black… and the wand pulls through my lashes in the most satisfying way. You can see my full review on the Smoky Stretch mascara here.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation in Shade 51 Light Vanilla & Shade 52 Vanilla

I feel like makeup lovers go through this eternal cycle of wanting to try new products, then they go back to old products they loved, and wonder why they ever stopped using them. (And yet, you know the next time something shiny and new comes along, you’ll drop that beloved product again!) Such is the case with the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serumfoundations I own. I added these foundations to my Use Up 2015 pile because I’ve had them for about two years and it was time to cycle them out… but since I’ve started to use them again, I’m wondering why I ever stopped. Healthy Mix Serum is a lightweight medium coverage foundation that smells incredible (seriously, like fruit). I picked mine up at Boots in Ireland a few years ago, but you can buy the brand at Shoppers Drug Mart here in Canada.

My favourite look from the month of March

And to finish up the month, my favourite look was this one that I created for Prairie Beauty Love. It may be outside of most peoples’ comfort zone, but I love how well this turned out. I don’t normally get the opportunity to get this creative with my makeup, but I decided to just go balls out for this post and was super proud on how well this translated onto my eyes.

Onward into April we go!

February 2015 Favourites

March 2, 2015Favourites, MiscellaneousElizabeth Mott, MACChelle

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I feel like I haven’t had a lot of consistent favourites in the last two months. I think it’s because I keep reaching for different makeup combinations, which means I really don’t use the same products very often. I do have a few however, but it’s mostly because they’re shiny and new to me!

But let’s first start with the gross one. This is a well-loved Lash Card by Elizabeth Mott that I think a friend gave to me because she wasn’t using them. And I can’t tell you how OFTEN I use them – near daily really. I’m awful at applying mascara – I tend to get it everywhere on my lid and nothing seems to prevent me from doing so except for these.

These go on your eyelid in the most unflattering way, but as you can tell from the mascara build up left behind, they save my eyelids from complete and utter destruction. They’re really just a piece of flexible cardboard — a business card would do the same thing — but the shape of these is perfect for fitting around the curve of your eyelid.

(And, by the way, when you look in the mirror it says “Lash Card” the right way, I didn’t flip these photos!)

I wore MAC‘s Kinky (which I won in a giveaway on Swatch and Review) for three straight days this past month and I can’t ever remember the last time I did that with *any* lip product. It’s bright red, flat matte and stays put until I take it off. Using this lipstick made me realize how much I really love MAC‘s Retro Matte formula, which leads me to my next item…

This colour is everything to me right now. MAC‘s Relentlessly Red is another lipstick in the retro matte formula and it’s beyond stunning. It’s a pinky-red and vibrant as all hell. I wasn’t entirely sure it was that flattering on me, but I got a few compliments from people so I guess that’s saying something!

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And just for comparison, here’s Kinky and Relentlessly Red beside each other. Kinky is very, very similar to MAC‘s Russian Red, so if you missed out on the limited release of Kinky, you can still pick up a similar colour. Relentlessly Red, however, is available in MAC‘s regular lipstick lineup so snag it whenever you want!

Another short but sweet month!

January 2015 Favourites

February 2, 2015Favourites, MiscellaneousMAC, Too FacedChelle

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I feel like I spent most of January waiting for the days where we’d have more daylight. I’m traditionally someone who really enjoys days with very little light: I like leaving for work in the morning when it’s dark and I like coming home when the sun has already set (roughly 5ish in the winter here). However, since I have no artificial lighting source at home to take pictures for this blog, I’ve found myself longing for more sunlight in my days! It was only towards the end of the month that it became light enough outside shortly before I left for work and for a little time after I got home, so I’ve been able to start taking photos throughout the week again of my makeup.

All that to say… the lack of sunlight killed a lot of my drive to do much with my makeup throughout the bulk of the month. (Cuz if I can’t photograph it, what’s the point, right? ;)) So here’s the few favourites I had this month:

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone talk about this pencil before. MAC‘s Phone Number eyeliner is a dark grey with some sense of shimmer to it. It’s not shimmery really, but I sure wouldn’t ever call it matte either. I’m not much of a pencil eyeliner person, but I’ve taken to using this on the outer half of my lower lash line and then patting some eyeshadow on top. It helps to lock in the eyeshadow and makes the colour appear a teensy bit deeper.

MAC‘s Club is in my Use Up 2015 pile, and it’s the one I’ve most enjoyed using. Club is a red-brown with green reflect to it. I sometimes struggle to get the green to show up, but it really depends on how the light hits the product (or what colours you pair it with). I’ve been using this shade in conjunction with…

Too Faced‘s Glamour Dust Glitter Pigment in Glampire. Together, these two shades have become my “get out the door NOW” look. I used to resort to really basic, boring neutrals when I had to get out the door fast, but this is the exact same number of products and a much more impactful look. Since Glampire has the same sort of tones as Club, just with MORE GLITTER, it makes this a foolproof look.

I essentially lifted this combination/idea from one of MakeupbyTiffanyD’s videos a long time ago. Of course, hers is more subtle and mine’s more like “let me just apply this glitter everywhere”.

So yeah, two shades, seems to match everything I wear AND it’s glittery. Really hard to go wrong there!

Has your January been exciting or boring? Have you tried out new things or resorted to old favourites? Tell me!

2014 Favourites

January 28, 2015Favourites, MiscellaneousAnastasia, Hourglass, Laura Mercier, Makeup Geek, NYC, Too FacedChelle

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I’m sure you’re so over everyone’s 2014 yearly favourites by this point. WELL TOO BAD. Cuz now you’re getting mine. 🙂

2014 was the year I discovered Too Faced‘s Melted liquid lipstick. And it was love at first sight. I first started off with just Candy and Berry (pictured above), but when I realized how much I loved them, I just started to amass them ad nauseam. I had friends giving them to me, my husband, and of course, I picked some up myself. Out of all of them though, Melted Candy and Melted Berry are my absolute favourites. Candy looks like absolute neon insanity on my lips (which makes it AMAZING in my book) and Berry has been my winter alternative to a red lip this year. In fact, I actually lost my original Melted Candy(GYAHHHHHH) and went out and repurchased it immediately. If that doesn’t say “must have”, then I don’t know what does.

I mean, they’re long lasting, insane colour payoff and it dries down matte. What’s NOT to love? By the end of 2014 I ended up with eight of them in my collection. And I still. want. more.

So it seems like 2014 is actually just the year of Too Faced lip products. While I loved their entire La Creme line (it smells like sweet lemon, isn’t that unique?), my favourite shade was Coral Fire. I was told a few times that it could be an “every day shade” for me which surprised me since there’s a lot of colour packed into that tube. I love, love, LOVE this shade. I think Too Faced qualifies it as a red, but it really is a pink coral that looks fantastic on me during the warmer months.

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I realize this palette was limited edition from the holiday 2013 season, but too dang bad. I *loved* this thing. Laura Mercier‘s 2013 Artist Palette came out of left field and smacked me upside the head like a load of bricks. I’d never, ever used anything by Laura Mercier before and I was just astounded at how soft and blendable these shades are. There isn’t a single dud in this palette. I even took it on a true test of faith and travelled with it for over a week. The number of amazing looks I came up with this palette was amazing. And thatBamboo shade? It is EVERYTHING.

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Once I got pissed off with my Physicians Formula Bronze Booster, I switched to this one by NYC. Fire Island Tan was used almost religiously for nine months straight… and that’s how little pan I’ve hit. It’s impressive for a drugstore item to have such ridiculous longevity, but as a makeup lover I’m kind of like “oh my god WHEN DOES IT END?!” The swatch photo is obviously quite a heavy application, and no one (I hope) would ever wear it that heavily on their face. While there is some orange to that shade, I never felt like I looked like a fake and bake kind of person.

My love for Makeup Geek shadows knows no bounds, but there are two shades that I went to repeatedly over the last year. Creme Brulee is a shade that finally taught me how to blend out other shades. It’s incredible how much adding a little bit of an orangey-brown in my crease works to soften up darker eyeshadow looks. I always thought it was a ridiculous step when I saw other people doing it, but when I finally tried it out myself I couldn’t believe how well it helped make eyeshadow looks look more professional.

The other shade that stole my heart was Bitten. Bitten is an incredibly reddened-purple shade. Of all of the shades in my Makeup Geek collection, this is my absolute favourite. I used this often in my crease and it worked well with lighter shades on the lid, or, my favourite, using a glitter on the lid and blending it out with Bitten. I also found that this paired beautifully with my Too Faced Melted Berry lipstick.

Alright, getting down to the wire here. A boring product, maybe, but Anastasia‘s Dipbrow Pomade in Blonde was a game changer for me. I’m quite fair and I have very little in the way of eyebrows. It’s not that I overpluck, it’s just that they’re NOT THERE. What little hairs that do grow where the tail of my eyebrow is supposed to be, well.. they’re really just pale blonde baby hairs.

So when I say I need help with my eyebrows, I mean it. If I don’t fill in and FINISH my eyebrows, I basically look ridiculous.

Here’s an example:

Like seriously… WHERE ARE MY EYEBROWS?

As you can see, if I don’t fill them in, I look like I’ve practically shaved them all off!

ANYWAY. What was my point? My point is that eyebrow pencils and eyeshadow never added enough texture. Because I don’t have much in the way of eyebrows too begin with, I needed something like the Dipbrow Pomade in order to actually create the illusion of texture to my brows. It was tricky figuring out how to use it at first, but when I did it was like a lightbulb went off. Now I too can have brows and not look like a fool!

I’ll never understand how the blush on the left, in all its coral deliciousness, ends up looking straight up pink on my skin (see the swatch), but whatever, it works. Hourglass’ Diffused Heat is my “I have no idea what matches my eye look” blush. I can reach for this one and know that it’ll look good on me no matter what. I realize the swatch makes it look like nothing special, but this powder looks rather radiant on my cheeks. While I was never sold on the Ambient Lighting Powders, the blushes are a completely different story and I’d encourage you to check them out. Even if the price point is a verging on insanity.

My best loved products of 2014 are products I’m still using today and I expect to continue loving through 2015. Now I just need to pick up all the news shades that Too Faced have added to their Melted line up…

December 2014 Favourites

January 5, 2015Favourites, MiscellaneousElizabeth Mott, Makeup Geek, Too Faced, YouniqueChelle

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I never know if people are more interested in seeing a year long favourites post, a December favourites post. Or both. For now, I’ve got my December favourites and in a week or so, I’ll have gone through my entire collection and figured out what I loved all year (a slightly daunting task) and sorted out what made my year throughout 2014.

But for now… December!

I brought my Makeup Geek shadows with me when I went on Christmas holidays, so I was able to reacquaint myself with them all. I love these without question. They’re rapidly replacing MAC eyeshadows in my collection (and at a fraction of the price no less). Easy to blend and a variety of colours, what more could you ask for? In particular, I’ve been lovingBleached Blonde (top row, fourth from the left), Goddess (second row, second from the left) and Bitten (second row, fourth from the left). Bitten became my holiday theme colour because it was dark enough and unique enough to stand out.

Another major discovery over the last month has been Younique‘s 3D Fiber Lash mascara (full review here). These are easier to apply than false lashes (to me, anyway) and add incredible length and size to my lashes.

This was in my October favourites, so you know it’s a keeper. Too Faced‘s Melted Berry has been everything to me lately. Usually I opt for red lips throughout the holiday season, but I’ve found myself straying towards dark red with a hint of pink to it. Gorgeous, gorgeous colour and the staying power is incredible on these Melted products. (One day, I’ll catch them all…)

Incredible, incredible colour. Often gets me questions from complete strangers as to what lip product I’m wearing!

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry. It’s one of those staining products for lips and cheeks (akin to Benefit‘s Benetint), but I find myself only using it on my cheeks. The colour is fantastic – just the right amount of “I’ve been out in the winter cold” but without the realistic look which is usually “I’ve actually got windburn from the frozen wind”.

Looking back almost everything was geared towards being festive/winter-y, which is not unusual I suppose. With the shorter days, I was less likely to try out new things on myself for fear they just didn’t work out. So I stuck to my old faithfuls and they served me well. 🙂