Category Archives: Reviews

Ipsy – April 2014 Glam Bag

April 18, 2014Hauls, Makeup, Reviews, Reviews, SkincareBig Sexy Hair, Dr. Brandt, Elizabeth Mott, Ipsy, Starlooks, Urban DecayChelle

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Another month, another bag of Ipsy goodies. This month’s theme was “Beauty Rocks” or something to that extent. Aside from the record on the front of the bag (an object I’m not sure the generation after me has even had physical contact with) the theme is slightly debatable.

Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-on eye pencil in Black Velvet (travel size)

First up, and the item everyone got in their bag, is Urban Decay‘s new 24/7 eye liner pencil in Black Velvet. I’m one of few people who doesn’t actually own an UD liner so I was really happy to receive this. Urban Decay says this is “an ultra velvety, plush version” of their usual liners and this can create “perfectly blended-out or rich, precise lines that are blacker-than-black”. This is a hefty size sample – in fact it’s only 0.01 oz smaller than a full size product!

Judging by the picture on the diagram that came with the liner, I assumed I could blur this out to a really smudgy, smoky look. Well… that didn’t actually work out. The pencil is certainly very black, but blending this sucker out was difficult – too difficult. I ended up using UD‘s Blackout eyeshadow to blend out the pencil liner in an attempt to make it smudgy. As you can see, I didn’t really succeed, but I ran out of time that morning and finished it off as quickly as I could. Despite the pencil not actually smudging like I thought it would (or like they implied), I really do like this liner. It’s super black, and it’s wonderfully smudge resistant (hah). It sets really, REALLY quickly, hence why I had problems smudging it out. The liner didn’t transfer to my upper lid throughout the work day. It also claims to be waterproof, but I didn’t test that bit out. Definitely love this one.

I was excited to try this out as I definitely feel like I need some lift in the roots of my hair and this product looked interesting. Big Sexy Hair‘s Root Pump is a white mousse that dries clear. The instructions indicate to apply it to the roots of your hair while your hair is damp and blow dry your roots away from your scalp. Did that and I think it worked – I certainly seem to have more lift to my hair through the scalp… but now my hair feels like CHALK! Like chalk that’s been smashed into powder, had water added to it and then rubbed into the roots of my hair. I constantly run my fingers through my hair throughout the day and the texture this created in my hair to give it the extra OOMPH just totally freaked me out. (It feels similar to those powder-shaker root lifts, another product I can’t stand.) So while this product DOES work, the texture is so awful to me that there’s no way I’ll use it.

Elizabeth Mott – Pop! goes the shadow in Champagne (full size)

A lot of people are going to love this colour I’m sure, but I’m only so-so on it. Elizabeth Mott‘s Champagne eye shadow is a barely there shade that adds a little bit of shine on my lids, but not a whole lot of colour payoff. It swatches okay, but the end result on the lids isn’t spectacular even with a primer. ( In the shot above, the shadow was applied all over my lid right up to my brows.) I was happy to try it out though, and I’ll give it a shot as a cheek highlighter as well.

Starlooks Luscious Longwear Lip Pencil in Naked (full size)

Since I discovered MAC‘s Prep + Prime for lips I don’t have a massive need for lip liners (as a result, I only have two!). As a result, this item was actually pretty welcome in my bag as I didn’t have a colour like it for the times where I do want to add some extra wear time to my lip colour or even just to wear a liner under some gloss. Starlooks Naked lip liner is a peachy-pink colour that slid onto my lips without any tugging (which isn’t something I can say about MAC‘s pencils… those suckers tug at my lips!). It does have a bit of a plastic taste to it which is a bit meh, but not enough to prevent me from wearing it.

Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion skin exfoliant (trial size)

I had to look up what the heck microdermabrasion was in comparison to a regular exfoliator and it turns out microdermabrasion utilizes smaller beads and is stronger than a regular exfoliator.Dr. Brandt‘s microdermabrasion feels really lovely on the skin and I can definitely feel the granular difference between this and the cheapo exfoliators I buy at the drug store. It also, incredibly, smells just like Sabon‘s Lemon Mint body scrub which makes this an absolute PLEASURE to use.

The full price of this product, however, is a whopping $78 USD. I love trying out this luxury brand, but let’s get real – this is a sample in a $10 a month beauty bag – most of us are not looking to spend nearly $80 on one skincare item. So it seems out of line with the clientele, but what do I know?

I used this once on my face and it felt wonderful, but I’m going to restrict the use of this to a pesky milia pearl I’ve got on one of my lower lids and see if this will work to get rid of it with prolonged use.

Ipsy April 2014 Breakdown
(all prices in USD)

Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-on eye pencil in Black Velvet (0.03 oz @ $15, full size is $20 for 0.04 oz)
Big Sexy Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse (50 ml @ $3, full size is $17.95 for 300 ml)
Elizabeth Mott Pop! goes the shadow – Champagne ($12.99 USD, full size)
Starlooks Luscious Longwear Lip Pencil in Naked ($14, full size)
Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion skin exfoliant (7.5 g @ $9.75, full size is $78 for 60 g)

BAG TOTAL = $54.74

My Thoughts

Yet another good bag put together by Ipsy! I loved trying everything out even if some of them didn’t work out for me (I’m looking at you specifically Root Pump). Double pencils (eye and lip) was a bit of a let down at first but once I used them I was really happy with them. The Urban Decay one definitely lived up to the brand’s reputation and I love the microdermabrasion product – I just wish the full size wasn’t so expensive because I could never bring myself to spend that much on an exfoliator. Definitely staying subbed!

Fortune Cookie Soap – Spring Soap Box 2014

March 5, 2014Hauls, Reviews, SkincareFortune Cookie SoapChelle

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I was more than a little excited to get this package in the mail. I’ve spent the last two years drooling over everyone else’s soap boxes from Fortune Cookie Soap so I finally took the plunge a few months ago and signed up for their quarterly boxes. Once again, being in Canada means that it costs a little bit more than if I just lived in the US. For Canadians, this will run you $28 USD, which is 8 bucks more than US-based buyers. Still, it’s quarterly, so you pay less frequently. And I justified it to myself, somehow.

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One thing that surprised me though, was the size of the box. I actually thought the products were going to be a lot larger. I was completely aware they were sample sizes, but I guess pictures online kind of made them seem a lot larger. The box itself is the size of my outstretched palm + fingers, so you know the bottles aren’t going to be THAT big.

Lens flares everywhere, be still my heart

So this is Fortune Cookie Soap‘s Spring Box for 2014. Their theme for spring is the Garden of Good and Evil, with a heavier emphasis on “evil” products. In general, I love their marketing as I’m a sucker for anything with supersaturated colours with a neon tinge… plus there’s lens flares everywhere. You can’t go wrong with lens flares. (I know you think I’m kidding, but I’m not. Lens flares are Photoshop’s sparkly fairy dust as far as I’m concerned!)

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So I opened the box and… almost threw up. The sickening smell of FLOWERS EVERYWHERE was just seriously overwhelming. My heart sank. I should’ve known better! I’m not a floral-scent lover, I don’t especially like the scent of flowery anything, so why the heck did I decide to make the Spring box my first look into Fortune Cookie Soap knowing full well that spring is when everyone seems to go flower crazy? With trepidation, I took the products out and started to sniff them individually while photographing them.

Thankfully, the paralyzing scent of flowers seemed to dissipate. None of the products smell especially like synthetic flowers, so I don’t know what the heck I smelled when I first opened the box. Maybe it was the same way in which I hate the scent of a Lush store when all the scents combine, but I love each individual product I get from them.

Anyway, let’s take a look at each product.

The item that turned me onto FCS in the first place were these adorable soaps. I mean just look at it – what’s not to love?! Forbidden Fruit soap is lime green with blue and is supposed to smell like verbena and blueberry with lemon zest. I’m not entirely sure what verbena smells like, but I do get the other scents in it. I’ve placed it by the bathroom sink and it does have a slightly overpowering scent the first few days. It’ll eventually even out and not fill the room as much as it did at first. The texture of the soap is pretty interesting – it feels rather rubbery, like glycerine, but slicker and almost bouncy. It’s not my favourite scent but I’ll forgive anything by just looking at the shape of it.

Oh man. This stuff is amazing. Make it Rain has the typical “smells like artificial rain” scent (which they say is citrus, jasmine, musk and cedarwood), it’s tinged blue and it feels like heaven. It’s thick, although not as thick as a body butter, and it sank into my skin quicker than any other lotion I own. I love this so much and I wish I could get more, but they’ve sold out of this scent on their site. I will, however, definitely be picking up another Whipped Cream in a different scent just because I love the texture of this product so much.

I honestly thought this was a piece of chocolate and ripped it open without thinking about it. Whoops – this is NOT chocolate, it’s a bath steamer! This seemed pretty unique to me and I had to look up what the heck it actually does, or how I’m supposed to use it. FCS says to put it on the floor of your tub, away from the stream of water, in order to let it slowly dissolve over the course of your shower. I thought this was genius! Usually bath products are just that… BATH products. Aside from shower gel, there’s very few things created for enjoying a nice steamy shower.

Unfortunately, I didn’t like the scent of Me So Thorny (citrus, lavender, french vanilla with patchouli and sandalwood) as I found the patchouli was seriously overpowering. I also didn’t notice it actually steaming up my shower either, so that was a bit disappointing. Make sure you put it out of the stream of the shower, but don’t let it fall into the drain, otherwise you’ll lose it pretty quickly before it’s finished dissolving. Love the concept of it though.

The Bloom Bloom Room (jasmine, lilac, lily of the valley, peach, citrus and sugar) smells incredible. This is FCS version of a bath bomb and it actually has a longer dissolve time than I expected given how small it is. My initial reaction to the scent was that it smells like icicles. Say what? What EXACTLY do icicles smell like you ask? Hell if I know, but it’s what it made me think of! This is my second favourite item in the box just based on scent alone.

Afternoon Delight smells bang on like the artificial watermelon scent we’ve come to know and love. There are sparkles in the mix, but they don’t seem to last once you apply it. The scent does linger, so be aware if you’re not keen on the watermelon scent.

Sidenote: I love that they call their hand sanitizer “OCD”. Classic.

FCS‘ Body wWash is far more liquidy than I was expecting for a body wash. It’s almost thin enough to have a milky texture. The bottle lasted about four showers and it definitely smelled like coconuts although it seemed a bit muted. It was okay, but I don’t think I’d rush out to repurchase this scent.

I was so happy to receive a cuticle cream as I don’t own a single one and didn’t know what I was possibly missing out on. Marshmallows Dreams smells like flat out marshmallow fluff to me, but FCS indicates that it has marshmallow fluff alongside lavender, sage, basil and uh.. vodka? But all I smell is marshmallow fluff and that’s good enough for me. This tub is small, but there’s a lot of product packed in there. It’s pretty solid in the jar but it heats up very quickly under the warmth of your hands and goes oily fairly quickly. Because of the oiliness of it, this would likely make a really good massaging balm for other body parts.

This last one is so darn tiny I actually had to go dumpster diving for it because I’d thrown out my box thinking I’d pulled all of the products out of the package. It wasn’t until I read the card that lists all the products that I realized I was missing something. Venus Fly Trap smells exactly as I would expect with a name like that (bergamot, narcisse, musk, water orchid, lemon and pink jasmine). Despite my earlier stipulation about not liking floral scents, I really do like this. It’s floral for sure, there’s no denying that, but it reminds me of something from my youth. Either a perfume my mom wore or a flower she used to grow in her garden. I honestly don’t know why I like this scent – it smells of various flowers, it has a sickly edge to it and yet it’s not nauseating. Two thumbs up!

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It’s worth mentioning that their Soap Box also comes with a $10 USD redemption code for your next order with FCS. Unfortunately, aside from the Soap Box, the shipping to Canada is kind of exorbitant for even the smallest of orders. Their lowest rate is $22.45 USD and it only goes up from there. I did place an order and had it shipped to a friend in the US (~$6 shipping within the US) and I’ll be picking it up when I go visit her, but with a cost that high for Canadian shipping, there’s no way I’ll be placing an order any time soon to get products shipped up here to the Great White North.

That’s my roundup for the Spring 2014 Soap Box. My happiness with this box will definitely keep me subscribed to Fortune Cookie Soap for the foreseeable future. There are some awesome products in here that I’ve really enjoyed using. Bring on the Summer Box!

Ipsy – January 2014 Glam Bag

January 15, 2014Hauls, Makeup, Reviews, Reviews, SkincareAbsolute!, Coastal Scents, Ipsy, MICA Beauty, Nourish Organic, yabyChelle

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This is my first month as an Ipsy subscriber. Being in Canada, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pay the additional $4.95 USD just for shipping (the bag itself is $10 USD which includes the cost of shipping if you’re in the USA). However, after seeing years worth of Ipsy haul videos on YouTube filled with so many good things, I finally decided it was worth it.

When I originally looked at spoilers for my bag, I was little “meh” about it all, but I have to say I’m pretty happy with what I got in my first bag! I had the opportunity to test out all the products before I made this post, so you’ll not only see what I received this month, but you’ll also get an idea as to whether the products are actually any good.

Enough talking, on with the goods!

The first item didn’t fit in the blue makeup bag, but was just sitting inside the foil packet.

Coastal Scents Small Foundation Brush ($4.95 USD, full size)

In spite of the fact that I absolutely love makeup, I’m really not one to purchase many makeup brushes. Reason being that I dislike spending my money on tools. I’d rather spend my cash on actual products! So because of this, while I have enough brushes to bust out a look, the reality is that I just don’t have a wide variety of them. All this to say… I was really pleased to see a brush in this bag (especially since my bag also came with foundation). The photo above makes it looks smaller than it actually is (it actually looks like a MAC 232 above, hah), although this IS a smaller face brush. Coastal Scents‘ Small Foundation Brush is a synthetic brush and this is full size, which thankfully means no shortened handle. It’s also pretty densely packed, which is not something I expected for a $5 brush.

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As you can see in the shot above, it definitely is sized for the face. I do like how it applied my foundation, but I’m not a fan of flat brushes to apply my foundation. I tend to prefer larger buffing brushes if only because it takes me less time in the morning when I’m trying to get my butt out the door to work. That being said, I’ve only used it once so I’ll give it a few more tries and see if I can adapt to using flat brushes. If it doesn’t work out for me for foundation, I’m sure I’ll find another use for it.

MICA Beauty Cosmetics in Natural ($30 USD, full size)

I’m completely unfamiliar with MICA Beauty so this is an all new experience for me. The first thing I did was look up this tinted lip balm to find out how much this retails for and my eyebrows just about shot off my face. This little 4g pot sells for $30 USD. Now, I don’t know who is actually paying $30 for this because that is an extremely high end price for something being touted as a tinted lip balm.

But is this really a lip balm? Not so much. This is more like a potted lipstick. The sensation of this is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. It’s smooth and… well, it’s not slick, but it’s not creamy either. It’s not uncomfortable… it’s just totally different than anything I’ve ever worn on the lips.

I received the colour Natural and it looks pretty brown in the pot but goes on the lips rather rosy. It’s rather shiny when first applied, but it dries down to a satin finish. This does not feel remotely like a lip balm to me. When it dries down, it tends to make your lips feel like they’re shrunk a bit and yet it’s not utterly uncomfortable to wear. The dry down will actually help increase the longevity of the product. You’ll be able to touch your lips without transferring any colour – it isn’t until you actually rub your lips where you’ll notice a colour transfer. I don’t feel it’s particularly moisturizing, but it didn’t dry out my lips either.

I didn’t wear this for a great deal of time (only about an hour or so), but I do really like the shade. If I can get used to the sensation of the product, I’m sure I’ll end up keeping this in my desk at work for the days when I forget to bring in a lip product.

Nourish Organic Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion Argan + Rosewater (0.5 oz for $6.47, full size is 1.7 oz for $21.99)

Nourish Organic‘s Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion with Argan + Rosewater is indeed a pretty thin moisturizer. It feels incredibly liquidy, which doesn’t give me the feeling it’ll be moisturizing enough. It took a bit of rubbing to get the product into my skin, but it did sink in eventually. However, once it dried, it made my skin feel slightly tight, almost as if it had formed a shell over my skin and it needed to be cracked. I realize that sounds incredibly dramatic, and it’s not like it formed an entire plaster over my face, but it didn’t feel great. I’ll finish up the deluxe sample, but I wouldn’t ever purchase this product. Also… this smells like apricots even though the product says it’s the argan and rosewater variety. Odd.

Absolute! Make-Up Cleansing Tissues in Pomegranate Extract ($2.49 for 10 wipes, full size)

I received the Pomegranate Extract scent/flavour of the Absolute! Make-up Cleansing Tissues in my bag. They claim to remove all makeup, including waterproof mascara. Since I wear waterproof mascara daily, I was more than happy to try these out after a day at work.

So I came home yesterday and swiped off my makeup. And rubbed at it. My foundation came off without a hitch, but I did have to rub a decent amount at my lashes, including a lot of wiggling of the tissue *on* my lashes. It’s not something unusual for a makeup removing wipe, but it’s not something I particularly enjoy doing. In the end, they did work, but not as good as some other wipes I’ve used (Neutrogena springs to mind).

The other thing about these is that they smell kind of off. I don’t know if it’s just relegated to the pomegranate scent, but they initially smelled like an alcoholic froufy drink… and then the more I rubbed it on my skin the more nauseating the scent became. I’m glad there’s only ten in this pack because the smell of them would do me in if I used many more than that. I wouldn’t re-purchase these with my own money, but I was happy to try them out and I’ll finish up the package.

Yaby Liquid Foundation Natural Finish in Buff ($13.55 USD, full size)

This was incredible! I’ve heard about Yaby before, but didn’t own anything by them and don’t ever recall seeing them in stores. I was a bit skeptical about receiving a foundation because blind colour matches can be almost impossible. But this shade in Buff is a PERFECT match for my skin right now. It also looked and felt incredible on my skin. It was one of those moments where you step back from your mirror and go “whoa”. It was THAT good. I also like that the foundation is so small (although this is a full size tube) and has a nozzle end. This makes this the absolute perfect foundation for travelling with and I intend to save it for those occasions.

Keep in mind that ounce for ounce, this is a very expensive foundation. Since the full size tube is only 8 ml (versus the normal 30 ml in most foundations), if you were to buy a full ounce of product, as most foundations come, this would set you back about $50 which is on parr with high end foundations.

Yaby foundation in Buff under two different sets of lighting

To me, this foundation actually feels pretty similar to Revlon‘s Colorstay. It seems to have the same long lasting effect and it does make my skin feel a bit tight (not an issue for me now that I’m a bit more used to wearing foundation, but it is a bit annoying around the 12 hour mark). I love this and I would definitely repurchase this when I run out. As a side note, I was pleased to find out that Yaby is actually a Canadian-brand, developed in Toronto!

Ipsy January 2014 Breakdown

Coastal Scents Small Foundation Brush – $4.95 USD (full size)
MICA Beauty Natural 24 hour Tinted Lip Balm – $30 USD (full size)
Nourish Organic Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion Argan + Rosewater: 0.5 oz for $6.47 USD (full size is 1.7 oz for $21.99 USD)
Yaby Liquid Foundation Natural Finish in Buff – $13.55 USD
Absolute! Make-Up Cleansing Tissues – Pomegranate Extract – $2.49 USD

BOX TOTAL: $57.46

My Thoughts

I do have to say box’s overall monetary total is greatly inflated because of the tinted lip balm – I really don’t know who would pay $30 for that, it seems totally out of line. Regardless, I am really quite pleased with this bag. I enjoyed getting a new brush and I was SO HAPPY with that foundation that those two right there made the whole bag for me. The moisturizer wasn’t to my liking, nor were the wipes, but that’s really just a personal preference. The lip tint was interesting to play with although not a complete winner for me.

I’ll definitely be staying subscribed to Ipsy in the coming months. It really is a steal at $14.95 USD (for Canadians, $10 for Americans). If you’d like to sign up and would like to give someone a referral credit (I receive points I believe, not compensation of any kind), you can use my referral link.

If you received something different in your bag, let me know what you got and whether or not you like it!