Tag Archives: Lord & Berry

Products I’m Pitching

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I couldn’t justify doing an Empties post with these products because they’re really not empty. In fact, these are some barely touched products that I’m just completely chucking from my collection. These are items that I just don’t use in my collection and so I have no reason to keep them around. So let’s check out what I’m pitching or passing on!

KIKO Smoky Look eyeshadow pencil in 09
KIKO Smoky Look eyeshadow pencil in 09

This was actually a great product. I loved KIKO’s Smoky Look eyeshadow pencil but I only got to use it twice before it dried up and fell out of the tube that was its home. It dried up within a year which I found slightly shocking since I have eyeshadow pencils that are much, much older than that and aren’t anywhere near as crusty and hard. Into the bin with this one.

Hard Candy Highlight and Contour Cheek Duo
Hard Candy Highlight and Contour Cheek Duo

Oh god this thing is AWFUL. Hard Candy‘s Highlight and Contour (really? Contour your cheeks with pink?!?!) Cheek Duo smells rancid right out of the package. It smells like plastic that has gone off. It goes on the cheeks in a waxy, slimy mess. It never fully sets, so you’re left with a grease smear across your cheeks. This one isn’t even worth passing on to anyone so I’m throwing it out.

MICA Beauty lip balm in Natural
MICA Beauty lip balm in Natural

MICA Beauty lip balm in Natural came in my very first Ipsy bag and I’ve not used it since then. It’s too pigmented to be convenient in a pot as I really feel like I need a lip brush to use this product. My mom liked the colour however, so I’ve passed this on to her.

Absolute! You’re the Balm in Grape
Absolute! You’re the Balm in Grape

Another Ipsy item. I got this Grape balm from Absolute! in my August Ipsy bag and hated it right away. I couldn’t bring myself to wear it again, so it’s getting tossed. Jelly balm with chunky craft glitter in it? No thanks.

Elizabeth Mott It’s So Big mascara
Elizabeth Mott It’s So Big mascara

This never ended up working for me how I wanted it to, so I passed it on to my mom who was willing to try it out. (Yet again… another Ipsy product…)

Elizabeth Mott Pop! Goes the shadow in Champagne
Elizabeth Mott Pop! Goes the shadow in Champagne

And anottttther Ipsy-delivered item I never reach for. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this eyeshadow, it does in fact apply rather nicely, I must have about five different dupes for this shade in my collection. It’s the most basic of basic eyeshadow colours and not one I need multiples of. My mom snagged it from me.

Lord & Berry Black SILK eyeliner
Lord & Berry Black SILK eyeliner

Are we noticing a trend here? Yep, another Ipsy product, also from my August bag. The world’s smallest eyeliner from Lord & Berry and it’s useless. Not creamy or smooth, barely transfers onto the lid, not fun. GARBAGE.

Nivea A Kiss of Olive Oil and Lemon
Nivea A Kiss of Olive Oil and Lemon

Nothing wrong with this product other than the fact that the scent of Olive Oil and Lemon doesn’t seem to be too enticing for me. I love Nivea lip products in general though so I’m definitely not harping on the product quality. My mom liked the scent so she snagged it from the pile of things I was going to throw out.

Pacifica eyeshadow duo
Pacifica eyeshadow duo

And lastly, another Ipsy product. Pacifica‘s eyeshadow duo is too weak in pigmentation for me to bother using. My mom liked the softness of the colours (aka lack of pigmentation) so she’s taking it home to play with.


While culling my makeup collection of items I don’t use/don’t like, I noticed that the bulk of them are all from Ipsy bags. Of the nine items I’m getting rid of today, six of them are from my Ipsy subscription. That right there was enough realization to cause me to cancel my Ipsy delivery. I’ll be receiving the bag for the month of September, but that’s it. For me, it’s just not worth the money to be receiving products I generally tend to use up without repurchasing or just throw away entirely. It was a fun novelty for a while, but the excitement has really worn off by this point.

Ipsy – August 2014 Glam Bag

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Everyone’s already talked about how the bag of the month looks like a deflated beach ball… So now that I’ve stolen everyone elses’ much smarter observation than my own, let’s move on to the contents of the actual bag!

The theme was back to school, but as with all Ipsy bags, the theme never really seems to make any sense. I mean it’s all makeup at the end of the day… we wear this stuff year ’round!

Urban Decay Perversion mascara
Urban Decay Perversion mascara

The big hitting product this month was Urban Decay‘s brand new Perversion mascara. People were absolutely freaking out over the size of this sample on the Ipsy threads, but when I go back and compare it to previous deluxe size samples of mascara I’ve received through Ipsy before, it’s near identical in volume. Most deluxe size samples are between 0.1 and 0.2 fluid ounces (this one is 0.1 fluid ounce). There is nothing wrong with this sample – heck you can even tell they stuffed the tube because the darn thing makes a squelching sound every time I open it. If anything, I think UD just really knew how to package this sucker.

ANYWAY. On to the actual mascara. Plain and simple: I love it. It has a natural, “normal” brush and it coats my lashes wonderfully. It’s smooth, thick and wetter than most mascara formulas, which is something I like in particular. This one is a winner, and I may very well buy the full size when I finish this one.

Dr. Brandt – Pores No More pore refiner primer
Dr. Brandt – Pores No More pore refiner primer

I had amazing results with Dr. Brandt‘s microdermabrasion scrub, but unfortunately a primer just isn’t necessary for me. It smells heavily of tea tree oil, which is really nice (if you like the scent, of course!). It has a silicone feel on the skin, which I quite like, but I couldn’t tell you if this does what it’s supposed to do because I never notice a difference with my foundation whether I use primer or not.

LORD & BERRY Black SILK mini kajal kohl liner
LORD & BERRY Black SILK mini kajal kohl liner

This is a black liner that does absolutely nothing. There’s nothing remotely enticing about this product. Lord & Berry say it’s a kohl kajal, but the damn thing is so stiff that it’s hard to get colour pay off (as you can see in my eye shot above). It was difficult to even get that much on my lid. I tried tightlining with it and I swear it smudged off within 30 seconds. I’ve no use for this liner at all.

Absolute – You’re The Balm – Grape
Absolute – You’re The Balm – Grape

This one wigs me out. Absolute‘s You’re The Balm in Grape looks, feels and smells like a very cheap product. It’s a relatively clear, gelatinous balm with multicoloured sparkles mixed in. Normally the glitter would fill me with glee, but since it goes on the lips rather gritty, I really just feel like I’m wearing a Wet n Wild sparkly balm from the 90s. I’ve only tried it once and was too disgusted to try it again. It’s sitting in a corner on my makeup desk, waiting for the moment that I gather the courage to try it again…

Coastal Scents Forever Blush Sample
Coastal Scents Forever Blush Sample

These Coastal Scents blushes aren’t too bad actually. The pans are really tiny and I made the mistake of accidentally cracking the product on one of them while trying to get it out of the plastic packaging. It can be a bit difficult to get your blush brush into these products though since the pans are so bloody small. The colours, however, go on my cheeks rather nicely and have lasted throughout and entire work day, so that’s a huge bonus for a relatively inexpensive products.

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Ipsy August 2014 Breakdown (all prices in USD)

  • Urban Decay Perversion mascara (0.1 fl oz @ $5.50, full size is $22 for 0.4 oz)
  • Dr. Brandt Pores No More pore refiner primer (0.25 fl oz @ $11.25, full size is $45 for 1 fl oz)
  • Absolute You’re the Balm Lip Balm in Grape ($2.99, full size)
  • Coastal Scents Forever Blush Sample Duo (2.5g @ $2, full size is $7.95 for 10g)
  • Lord & Berry Black SILK Kajal Kohl-Liner (0.6g @ $7.50, full size is $15 for… double the size? – just a guess, I can’t find sizing info anywhere)

BAG VALUE = $29.24

My Thoughts

Kalyn basically summed up my thoughts in her own post on this month’s Ipsy bag, but in essence… aside from the mascara, this bag bored me. After such an amazing last month, this bag was just an absolute downer. It was so offputting that I’m considering whether or not want to stay subscribed to Ipsy. I think I’m at this point where I’m realizing that some of this is really just unnecessary products that I use, but never really fall in love with. I’ll see how next month goes and then make a solid decision.

What’s On My Face – Volume 22

Another set of makeup roundups!

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Something nude-ish for all your neutral lovers out there!

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Eyes

  1. MAC Ricepaper as the inner corner highlight and to highlight the brow.
  2. MAC Amber Lights all over the lid.
  3. MAC Handwritten on the outer third.

CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara is on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: Hard Candy – Hula Hula
  • Blush: MAC – Warm Soul

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The nude lips soooo do not work with this one!

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Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Mango Tango all over the lid.
  2. Makeup Geek Bitten on the outer half of the lid.
  3. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee through the top of the crease.
  4. MAC Shroom to highlight the brow.

Tarte Black gel liner to create the wing and CoverGirl‘s Clump Crusher mascara is on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: NYC – Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Tarte – Charisma
  • Highlighter: MAC – Whisper of Gilt
  • Lips: essence – Nude Love

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A fun dark one! As I’ve said before, I usually stay away from dark lid colours but when I do try it out I generally quite like the results!

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Eyes

  1. Urban Decay Darkside all over the lid.
  2. Urban Decay Blackheart on the outer third of the lid.
  3. Urban Decay Nooner to blend out the crease.
  4. Urban Decay Strange on the browbone.
  5. Urban Decay Dust to highlight the inner corner.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: NYC – Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Wet n Wild – Pearlescent Pink
  • Highlighter: MAC – Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: Maybelline – Maple Kiss

 

 

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This one doesn’t come across as well in photos as I had hoped. Isn’t it strange how that can happen? I really love orangey-reds on my lids and this was one of the first few looks I ever did that really pushed me into using more and more fiery colours.

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Eyes

  1. MAC Gleam all over the lid.
  2. MAC Coppering on the outer half of the lid and heavily through the crease.
  3. MAC Handwritten in the very outer corner.
  4. MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow.

CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara is on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: NYC – Fire Island Tan
  • Blush: Tarte – Charisma
  • Lips: NYX Butter Gloss – Cherry Cheesecake

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I had been lamenting how much I seem to fail at makeup looks that involve gold, primarily because I tend to combine them with brown. Kalyn showed me that gold just seems to work way better with black, so I decided to give it a shot the next time I incorporated some gold shadow.

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Eyes

  1. Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bold Gold all over the lid with Sleek‘s gold shadow from the Sunset palette layered on top.
  2. I used a strip of tape on my outer lid to create the super sharp edge, then swept on Urban Decay‘s Blackout.
  3. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee lightly through the crease to blend out the black.
  4. MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow.

I tightlined my upper waterline with the Lord & Berry Black eye pencil and applied Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
  • Bronzer: Revlon Photoready in Bronzed & Chic
  • Blush: Hourglass – Diffused Heat
  • Highlighter: MAC – Whisper of Gilt
  • Lips: Revlon Sunset Peach gloss