I get a *lot* of questions in the brushes I use for my makeup looks, so I thought I would do a video on which ones are my daily staples. It was only after I filmed the video that I realized that every single brush was MAC and Real Techniques! I guess we know which brands have my loyalties!
Spring 2016 seems to be alive with sheer lip colours and I have to say… I’m surprisingly enjoying it! Brand new from Clinique are the Pop Glazes (also known as the Clinique Pop Glaze Sheer Lip Colour + Primer) and the formula leaves you with a gorgeously glossy, juicy lip.
First of all.. the packaging. I love it. Clinique has done a lot to step up their packaging game in recent years (starting with their Cheek Pops) and it’s helping to shed some of that older lady aesthetic (come on, you know your grandmother used Clinique!). I love the bold silver etched with the brand name, alongside the translucent coloured based that matches the shade of the lipstick inside. I know exactly what shade of lipstick I’m reaching or every time I grab for the product and that’s something a lot more brands should be looking to do (looking at you MAC!).
Clinique describes their Pop Glaze formula as “a pretty pop of bold yet see-through colour + smoothing primer in one coat. Luxurious yet weightless formula with built-in primer glides on effortlessly, wears for up to 8 hours. Keeps lips comfortably moisturized instantly and over time.”
I struggle a bit with their eight hour claim, but I won’t let it deter me from wearing these colours. In reality, this is such a smooth and creamy formula (not dissimilar to the feeling of a chapstick really – it’s SUPER comfortable) that it’s going to wear off a heck of a lot faster than if I was wearing a matte lipstick. And you know what? That is perfectly okay by me. This is the kind of lip product I love to put on when I know I’m going to be eating food. For example, I went to a friend’s place this past weekend for their birthday and I wore Licorice Pop. There was a lot of food and I was able to eat without worrying about my lipstick smearing everywhere AND it wore off evenly and nicely. All aspects of a lip product I *highly* appreciate!
You can see from the swatches that while the colours are pigmented, there is a lovely veil of translucency that makes them glossy and sheer. They are scent-free which makes them all the better for everyone to appreciate.
Melon Drop Pop is less orange on my lips than I thought it would be. Perfect spring/summer colour though.
Sugar Plum Pop is a soft purple-pink. It was the most sheer out of the four I have.
On me, Sprinkle Pop packaged the most colour punch. Every time I look at it I can’t decide if it’s more purple or more pink…
My favourite of the lot is Licorice Pop. I love, love, love the purple veil of this lip colour.
The Clinique Pop Glazes are the quickest and easiest to wear lip colours that I own. The feeling is akin to a chapstick, which is something I LOVE. My lips feel hydrated and comfortable when I’m wearing them which is a massive bonus.
Because of their sheer texture, these are incredibly easy to pair with any eye makeup because you won’t get a full on bold lip – just a lovely sheer pop of colour that helps brighten up your face. I love that they have no scent because it makes them accessible to everyone (while some lip scents are great, the reality is that not everyone is going to like every single scent – it’s better to have unscented products in the long run).
In short, I love these! I’m currently in the midst of collating my “Top 10 Favourite Lipsticks” and I thought I had the line up locked and loaded… but having tried these over the past few weeks, I’m going to have to sneak one of these guys in because they are so freaking wonderful! There are a few more shades in the collection and I think I’ll be picking up Fireball Pop next!
The Clinique Pop Glazes can be purchased on clinique.ca for $22 CAD each or on ulta.com for $18 USD each. (I can’t find them on Sephora’s site yet!)
The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.
Although previously called the Paris Runway palette, this Wet n Wild palette now goes by the name QuartzCenter. It was part of the Fergie collection, so I’m not sure if it was renamed for release in Canada, or if Fergie’s contract with Wet n Wild expired.
Either way, this palette is surprisingly good given it’s inexpensive price point!
The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration.
LOVEFRESH is a brand I’m completely unfamiliar with but it’s one I want to get to know better. I was gifted their Pear Scrub when I went for my waxing at Smooth Wax Bar because they recommended it as a great scrub for keeping my legs exfoliated in the coming weeks.
I was intrigued by this brand because they’re local to Toronto and it feels important to support the local guy. (They do ship across Canada and the US though!) They describe themselves as “Toronto-based luxury line of fun and natural beauty products that will keep your skin glowing. Lovefresh was founded by Stacey Davis on the premise that you could have beautiful, glowing skin using all-natural products, that would be as luxurious as they would be healthy for the body. What began as a “kitchen chemistry” experiment in Davis’ Toronto home soon evolved into the creation of a complete line of all natural, non-toxic and highly effective body care products – offering an “easy luxury” experience. Every Lovefresh recipe is formulated with the best ingredients from local and global sources, including layered notes of beautiful, fresh-smelling scents.”
LOVEFRESH has an enormous collection of wonderful sounding smells, but I received the Pear Scrub option. While the scent is not necessarily to my tastes (I’m currently eyeballing the Pink Grapefruit & Tangerine one!), I can definitely vouch for the product itself. The scrub is full of sugar particles enveloped in oil to keep your skin hydrated. It’s gentle enough for daily use and it definitely left me with very soft feeling skin. It’s quite a sticky/solid paste when I first applied to my skin, so I was pleasantly surprised at just how much of the oil ended up adhering to my skin. The oil does linger for a while, but I liked that because it meant I didn’t need to apply moisturizer once I got out of the shower.
I’m also pretty pleased with how enormous the tub of scrub is. It may set you back $30 CAD, but you’re getting 16 ounces of product which is far larger than any other scrub in my household!
Let me know if you’ve tried anything by LOVEFRESH. I’d love to hear about your experiences and favourite products!
All LOVEFRESH products can be purchased on their web site at lovefresh.com.
Snow Queens out there can rejoice: there’s finally a highlighting shade pale enough out there for you! And it’s all wonderfully packaged into one of the best performing highlighting brands ever: BECCA!
It was so strange… for the longest time, BECCA Cosmetics had Pearl as a staple colour in their Shimmering Skin Perfector liquid and poured line up. But never in a pressed form…. until now!
As the name would suggest, Pearl is a very, very pale highlighting powder and it actually packs a significant white pigment punch. While most highlighters are chockful of shine and occasionally shimmer and glitter, there’s usually very, very little apparent pigment. (You know what I’m talking about – when you swatch a highlighter and all you get is sheen? That’s what I mean.)
So here’s a comparison between the newly pressed Pearl and Champagne Pop. While Champagne Pop definitely looks like it’s got some colour to it, when you swatch it on the skin…
…it’s Pearl that comes across wayyy more pigmented. Surprising, and yet somewhat impressive.
On my cheeks, Pearl adds an incredible white sheen. I may actually be slightly too dark in tone for the highlighter, but I do not freaking care – I love how this makes me look I’ve been snow-kissed. This is such a stunning highlighter for the winter months because I feel like snow angel.
Here’s a close up shot. You can see the added whiteness in the pigment really helps to brighten up the skin on my cheekbones.
I fell madly in love with BECCA‘s Shimmering Skin Perfectors when I got my hands on Champagne Pop last year and Pearl is keeping that flame burning! If you’re a very pale person who is in need of a highlighter that won’t look too dark on you, this has the potential to be your absolute holy grail item. (If you’d like to see Pearl in action, I used it in a recent makeup tutorial.) The product itself is smooth, blendable and I experience no fading throughout a 10 hour work day.
The BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Pearl can be purchased on sephora.ca for $46 CAD or on sephora.com for $38 USD.
The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration.