This is the kind of palette that dreams are made of!
Violet Voss – Holy Grail palette
The Violet Voss Holy Grail palette speaks to me on a level that I didn’t even know existed.
Violet Voss – Holy Grail palette
While there’s plenty of neutrals in here to keep the normal folk happy, it’s the oranges and reds that are making my heart scream with excitement! This was a random purchase during IMATS New York that was spurred on by the bloggers I was attending the tradeshow with (and I’ve got zero regrets!). This is a limited edition palette, so if you can get your hands on it somehow… DO IT!
It’s hard to pick favourites, but I’m living for Wine N Dine (shocking, right?), Toffee, Cranberry Splash, On Fleek and Hashtag.
Violet Voss Holy Grail Swatches
Violet Voss – CrystalViolet Voss – PloofViolet Voss – Thanks A LatteViolet Voss – TransitionViolet Voss – HashtagViolet Voss – Awesome SauceViolet Voss – BestieViolet Voss – ToffeeViolet Voss – ChillViolet Voss – How U DoinViolet Voss – Bat My EyesViolet Voss – Cool BeansViolet Voss – R U Kitten MeViolet Voss – So JellyViolet Voss – On FleekViolet Voss – Brownie PointsViolet Voss – Teddy BearViolet Voss – GlampingViolet Voss – Cranberry SplashViolet Voss – Wine N Dine
Over the last year or so, I’ve started to appreciate cleansing oils a heck of a lot. Sure, my tried and true trusty Marcelle eye makeup remover is still my favourite thing EVER when it comes to removing my eye makeup, but it’s just not the most efficient thing for the rest of my face.
Sephora Supreme Cleansing Oil – pump top
My last cleansing oil experience was with the Dermalogica Precleanse, and I loved it, but dang is EVER expensive. So if there’s a cheaper option that does the same thing, why not go for it?
This Sephora CollectionSupreme Cleansing Oil is a “cleansing oil with the effectiveness of an oil and the gentleness of a lotion for skin that is immaculately clean without dryness.” And yep… checkmark to all of that.
And bonus? This is the first and ONLY cleansing oil I’ve ever owned that hasn’t leaked through the pump top. My previous experiences with other brands all resulted in a super leaky pump top and, consequently, a disgusting mess on my bathroom counter. I’m a third of the way through this bottle now and it’s showing no signs of dribbling anywhere!
Sephora Supreme Cleansing Oil
The only thing I’m not overly keen on is the scent, but hey, that’s a personal thing. (For those wondering, it smells a little bit like lipsticks from days of yore. You know… before they started scenting everything with vanilla.) But I can totally ignore the scent because the Sephora Supreme Cleansing Oil works so wonderfully to remove all my makeup, including waterproof products. It’s gentle and helps rehydrate my skin simply because of the oil content. All this for for a very reasonable price tag too!
Is there anything more luxurious than Charlotte Tilbury makeup? I mean her packaging, her products… they’re all incredibly swoonworthy. And I mean… they aren’t cheap either! So imagine my surprise when Katherine of the The Green Bows just handed me a Charlotte TilburyWonder Glow when we were having brunch one day! (She already had it and she knew of my love for the brand so she gave me a brand new tube she just happened to have.)
Charlotte Tilbury Wonder Glow
Charlotte Tilbury‘s Wonder Glow is an Instant Soft Focus Beauty Flash Primer. And the claims are lengthy:
The state of the art Fluorescent Core Light Diffuser absorbs UV particles from the sun & re-emits their energy as visible light, flooding the skin with powerful luminosity.
Soft focus ceramic microspheres “roll” into wrinkles and over imperfect skin tone, scattering light to create an anti-age optical illusion. Wrinkles are disguised and skin tone is corrected.
The anti-age hero, BioNymph Peptide Complex, multi-tasks in the skin to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, improve skin elasticity & generally smooth things over. This is combined with wrinkle-preventing matrikines that recharge the skin’s natural renewal rhythm.
Sodium Hyaluronate forms a film of hyaluronic acid over the skin, sealing in moisture, whilst extracts of Wild Pansy promote the renewal of hyaluronic acid in the skin surface to retain and flood the skin with moisturize.
Floral accents of rose hip oil and camellia oil regenerate, restructure and moisturize the skin.
Paraben-free
Charlotte Tilbury Wonder Glow
The bottle is a sleek see-through tube with a spout that you squeeze the product through to dispense it. I love that the bottle is see-through because you can see how much is left in the bottle. The product also slides down the tube easily, so you’re not left banging it repeatedly against your hand to get the product out! The tube also indicates that it can be used under your foundation or in place of foundation.
Charlotte Tibury Wonder Glow
The product itself is a warm-toned primer with a hint of gold sheen running throughout it in a heavy swatch. The sheen/sparkles don’t really show up on the face though – so I suppose they blend in nicely.
Wearing Charlotte Tilbury Wonder Glow
And here’s how it played out on my face under foundation.
Wearing Charlotte Tilbury Wonder Glow
Final Thoughts
This is hard, because I really do love Charlotte Tilbury… but I don’t find Wonder Glow does anything at all for me in terms of “glowing”. Sure, I have a faint sheen on my face in the shots above, but that’s primarily thanks to my highlighter! I also don’t notice it increasing the longevity of my foundation either (not that I needed it extended wear with my foundation though). I’ve worn it under foundation or alone many times now and neither seems to really visually do anything at all for me. It kind of seems like an expensive product for no good reason, which makes me sad since I’ve loved her eyeshadow quads, lipsticks and Filmstar Bronze + Glow. Very disappointed in this one. 🙁
Nautical *anything* isn’t really my jam… but there’s something that really speaks to me in the packaging design for the new QUO Cosmetics Summer 2016 launch! There’s something about the glossy packaging with a foiled overlay of anchors and chains on the layer beneath that is just insanely gorgeous on these products. They are eyecatching and definitely make you take a closer look!
Let’s take a deeper dive into some of the products from the collection:
QUO – Summer 2016 – Sunny Days Bronzer
The first thing that caught my eye was this ENORMOUS bronzer disc. And when I say enormous, I do mean it! The Sunny Days bronzer is about the size of my outstretched palm, fingers included!
QUO – Summer 2016 – Sunny Days Bronzer
Inside the compact you’ll find a three-stripe bronzer that is embossed to emulate a wave pattern.
QUO – Sunny Days Bronzer
The top stripe is satin warm shade, the middle is a shimmery cream highlight and the bottom is a shimmery bronzer. You can use each strip individually to get a more customized look… but if you’re like me, you’re just going to take your brush and swirl it amongst all the shades for an all over glowing effect.
QUO – Summer 2016 – Sunny Days Bronzer – swatched
And thankfully, the end results of all three colours swirled together delivers a gorgeous shimmery bronzer that’s just beautiful (although very obviously targeted towards us fair folk). The powder feels smooth and was easy to blend onto my skin. Because of the pale tone of it, it is EXCEPTIONALLY easy to apply on fair skin – no fear of looking like an oompa loompa here!
QUO Sea Sun Sand Eyeshadow Palette
Like the bronzer disc, the eyeshadow palettes also have the gorgeous anchor and chains print.
QUO Sea Sun Sand Eyeshadow Palette
The Sea Sun Sand eyeshadow palette contains eight neutral shades that come in a variety of finishes – a few shimmery, a few satin and a few matte.
QUO Sea Sun Sand Eyeshadow Palette – swatches
Sadly, while the eyeshadows do swatch nicely, they are incredibly powdery and very subtle. You’ll need to pack on some of the lighter shades to really get some impact. However, the upside is that if you’re someone who doesn’t need a ton of pigmentation to your shadows, these could very well work for you.
QUO – Lip Oil in 40 Knots and Liquid Liner in In The Navy
The last two products are the Lip Oil in 40 Knots and the Precision Liquid Eye Liner in In The Navy.
QUO Lip Oil in 40 Knots and Precision Liquid Eye Liner in In The Navy – swatches
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the Lip Oil in 40 Knots as I’d never used one before. It’s primarily a very slippery, soft gloss with a liquid texture. It doesn’t feel oily (more slippery than anything else) and it imparts no colour on the lips. It felt hydrating and comfortable, although it did require constant reapplication.
The Precision Liquid Eye liner in In the Navy is not an unexpected colour for the summer, but it’s a welcome addition to help us get away from the constant black or brown liner. The liner is pigmented, applies well and I love that it has a faint hint of metallic blue sheen to it. Makes it stand out from every other flat navy liner out there!
QUO Summer 2016 Look
This is the look I ended up putting together with the products. I skipped the foundation, letting the Sunny Days bronzer do its job on the perimeter of my face.
I’m also wearing the lip oil on (you guessed it) my lips. It’s an easy to wear product that adds a ton of shine.
For my lids, I opted for the pink shade in the upper crease, the taupey-silver on the lid and one of the deeper browns in the crease. I highlighted my brow with the lightest shade… which pretty much matched my skin tone. I also create a beautiful wing with the In The Navy liner. I really love a thick wing with softer makeup like this.
So that’s my roundup of QUO‘s latest summer collecton. Do you think you’ll be picking anything up?
QUO is a Canadian brand and can be purchased at Shopper Drug Mart.
The products featured in this review were sent to me for consideration.