What I Bought This Month – April 2016 Haul

April 29, 2016HaulsAnastasia, Gamla Apotekid, NYX, Too Faced, Urban DecayChelle

Hi everyone! We just got back from our week long vacation to Iceland last night where we spent a ridiculous amount of money (holy heck, I knew the prices were high out there, but I didn’t know HOW HIGH!), attended Eve Online’s Fanfest, rode horseback through the countryside and visited the Blue Lagoon. We had a wonderful vacation, but it’s time for me to get back into the swing of things! So here are the beauty products I picked up during the month of April 2016!

Urban Decay Afterglow Blush in Bittersweet ($32 CAD)

Let’s start off with the Sephora Love Note sale items. I actually didn’t pick up much because I’m finding there’s not a lot I *need* lately in terms of new products (such a weird feeling). I was also somehow able to hang on to gift cards from CHRISTMAS so a lot of these items were actually free to me. (For convenience sake, I’m just listing the full retail value prices for the items.) Anyway, one item I felt like I was missing was a solid purple blush. I’ve been wearing a few purple eye looks lately and never felt like any blush in my collection was purple enough to complement them. Somehow I remembered seeing a review on Ivory Avenue for this Urban Decay blush in Bittersweet months and months ago, so I decided to pick that up since it’s a fairly unique shade. As I’ve been away, I haven’t actually tried it yet, so I haven’t a clue how it’s going to look on me!

I always end of picking up another Too Faced Melted lipstick whenever the sale happens because I am determined to eventually end up with the entire collection! This time I grabbed Melted Melon. It ends up being slightly less orange than Melted Coral. (Comparison post on those coming soon…ish.)

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Gleam ($52 CAD)

This was a TOTAL impulse buy while I was out randomly shopping with Jen of Vibrant Beauty Blog after brunch this past month. (That woman is wonderful to shop with, but holy hell she can be dangerous! 😉 ) And yet.. although it was impulse, my gift cards were still going strong (I’ve got generous friends and family!) so this was technically another freebie. This gorgeous beauty is the Gleam Glow Kit by Anastasia Beverly Hills. I opted for this one because I love my oranges and… the names. Hard Candy and Mimosa? Starburst and Crushed Pearl? YES PLEASE! Swatches will be up this Sunday for those interested.

Too Faced Ross and Rachel bronzer/blush (free)

This was a purchase by Julie of Swatch and Review, but she ended up passing it on to me when she found herself not using it. It’s great being known as a Too Faced addict! 😉

NYX Primal Color shadow in Hot Red (free)

And also for being known as a red eyeshadow wearer! Another unloved product that will have a very, VERY good home in my collection!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Retro Coral (free)

This poor liquid lipstick… she’s certainly made the rounds (the hussy!). ThisA Retro Coral liquid lipstick was first bought by Laura of Lipstick and Laura, only she found it too bright/weird on her, so she passed it on to Shawna of Spill the Beauty who also didn’t like it. And then it fell to me (and I still haven’t tried it yet, eesh)! I’m curious to try this formula out because my only experience with matte liquid lips is via the Colour Pop Ultra Mattes and those are NOT a well loved product by me. (They give me sand paper lips… ew.)

These last two items by Gamla Apotekid are kind of hilarious. When I finished my half marathon in Reykjavik, Iceland last Saturday (that race recap will be coming next Friday), one of the women at the finish line handed me a ticket number and ushered me towards another woman. She didn’t seem to speak much English and I definitely don’t speak Icelandic (which makes me sad) and I was SO CONFUSED as to why I was being given a gift since a) that’s not customary after finishing a race, and b) DEFINITELY not customary when you’re one of the last people to finish! Plus you know… I’d just run for over two hours, my mind was a little woozy! So anyway, I was gifted two skincare items by Gamla Apotekid which I believe is an Icelandic brand. One of them is a cream and the other a lotion and I’m excited to see how they work out for me!

Of course… this wasn’t the whole of it. If you’d like to see what I picked up during IMATS New York which was also during April, please head on over to my YouTube channel to check out that particular haul:

VIDEO: The Blush Tag

April 26, 2016Makeup, YouTubeChelle

Laura Geller Baked Gelato Vivid Swirl Blush in Guava (Review + Swatches)

April 25, 2016Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesChelle

Laura Geller Baked Gelato Vivid Swirl Blush in Guava

Once you’ve been in the beauty world for a while, you start to get a little bit jaded. The variety of colours start to blur together, so then companies try to impress you with new packaging. When that doesn’t work, they try to emboss their products (and so far that packaging technique is working extremely well!). So when a product makes me gasp in excitement, you know it’s got something going for it.

I mean… do I even really need to say much about this blush? The Laura Geller Baked Gelato Vivid Swirl Blush in Guava (there’s a name and a half) is just so damn beautiful to look at. The colour. The pattern. The shape. Gah. (Although Ulta’s web site did a dang good job of making this shade look seriously unimpressive. Seriously, go here and click on Guava. Like wtf is that shade??)

Laura Geller Baked Gelato Vivid Swirl Blush in Guava - swatch — Laura Geller Baked Gelato Vivid Swirl Blush in Guava – swatch

And then you swatch it and it’s everything I hoped and dreamed for, and really, what more could you ask for in the most beautiful blush ever created? /swoon

No word of a lie, I get even more excited every time I put this on my cheeks. I used it in my Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons tutorial and I mentioned it again in my March Favourites. And now I’ve got this post on it. Is it overkill for a single blush? I sure as hell don’t think so!

For those of you wanting more than just an ode to a stunning blush, here are the basics: this wears all work day on me (7:30 am to 5 pm), the colour is luminescent and pigmented. It’s also easy to blend, which makes me love it all the more. My next time at Ulta, I am definitely picking up Plumberry (and again, don’t let Ulta’s web site fool you, the shade is nothing like that one either!) because I am so not over this formula any time soon!

The Laura Geller Baked Gelato Vivid Swirl Blushes can be purchased on Ulta.com for $26 USD each (and you should really, REALLY go get one!).

Swatch Sunday: BH Cosmetics Galaxy Chic

April 24, 2016Makeup, SwatchesBH CosmeticsChelle

201604_bhcosmetics_galaxychic1

A lovely beauty blogging friend (see her stuff here!) decided to unload this gorgeous palette on me! It was one I had always looked at but hadn’t gotten around to buying just yet. Behold, the freaking stunning BH Cosmetics Galaxy Chic 18-pan palette!

The shadows are all baked, so you can use them wet and dry!

BH Cosmetic Galaxy Chic Swatches

BH Cosmetics - Jupiter — BH Cosmetics – Jupiter

BH Cosmetics - Prometheus — BH Cosmetics – Prometheus

BH Cosmetics - Aphrodite — BH Cosmetics – Aphrodite

BH Cosmetics - Milky Way — BH Cosmetics – Milky Way

BH Cosmetics - Cosmic — BH Cosmetics – Cosmic

BH Cosmetics - Saturn — BH Cosmetics – Saturn

BH Cosmetics - Venus — BH Cosmetics – Venus

BH Cosmetics - Meteor — BH Cosmetics – Meteor

BH Cosmetics - Comet — BH Cosmetics – Comet

BH Cosmetics - Earth — BH Cosmetics – Earth

BH Cosmetics - Neptune — BH Cosmetics – Neptune

BH Cosmetics - Mercury — BH Cosmetics – Mercury

BH Cosmetics - Mars — BH Cosmetics – Mars

BH Cosmetics - Asteroid — BH Cosmetics – Asteroid

BH Cosmetics - Electra — BH Cosmetics – Electra

BH Cosmetics - Moon — BH Cosmetics – Moon

BH Cosmetics - Pluto — BH Cosmetics – Pluto

Skincare Saturday: The Body Shop Hemp Rescue Balm

April 23, 2016Reviews, SkincareThe Body ShopChelle

The Body Shop Hemp Rescue Balm

I’m always a little thrown off when beauty brands bring hemp into the mix with their products. There’s something a little less than savory about seeing the tell-tale green leaves that usually signify a different kind of store down Yonge Street in Toronto (if you know what I mean).

"Hemp is hope, not dope" — “Hemp is hope, not dope”

The Body Shop went straight to the heart of that matter with their Hemp Rescue Balm as the inside of the tin packaging disclaims, quite loudly, “Hemp is hope, not dope”. Their Hemp Rescue Balm “instantly relieves rough, tight ultra-dry skin and soothes elbows, knees, knuckles and feet. [It has] a rich balm to oil texture and hemp seed oil packed full of essential fatty acids, your skin will be left feeling softer and more protected.” Once I read that, I was determined to use this on my nasty heels (which I have lamented about before).

The balm has a bit of a tough texture on top, but once you break through that you’re left with the smooth balm underneath. It’s really a lovely texture – it’s smooth and emollient enough to sink into your skin (even my nasty ass heels), but not so slippery that it just wipes away when you walk around. And low and behold, it WORKS! This Hemp Rescue Balm has been keeping my heels in great shape and keeping the deep heel cracks at bay. I use this roughly every 2-3 nights before going to bed and I’ve been extremely happy with the results (especially since the last heel balm I used – by Dermacol – was doing NOTHING to help me out!). The scent is neither appealing nor unappealing to me, so that’s also a bonus.

So if you suffer from extremely rough patches of dry skin, or even cracked skin that needs healing (my husband’s been using it on his elbows, albeit not as regularly as me, and I have noticed a bit of a difference) you may want to give this one a shot!

The Body Shop Hemp Rescue Balm can be purchased on thebodyshop.ca for $27 CAD or on thebodyshop-usa.com for $22 USD.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration.