As a blonde, I struggle with my barely visible brows. Even worse, I’m a blonde with very little brow hair at all. I don’t overpluck my brows (not even during the 90s when it was fashionable to do so) so it’s not that I got rid of them slowly over time. It’s just that I’ve really only got the first half of my eyebrow and no tail to speak of (pictures shortly!). So I’m always searching for something to use on my brows. Unfortunately, most of those options have been from highend brands (Anastasia) or harder to find brands in Canada (NYX). Sometimes you’re just searching for something cheap, and readily available, you know?
Maybelline‘s brand new BROW define + fill duo fits that bill on all accounts: it’s at the drugstore and it won’t break your bank (~$10 CAD). (As a note, mine also says BROWsatin on the side of the product, but that’s not written anywhere on the box.)
One end of the product has your typical brow pencil – it’s larger than the NYX or Anastasia counterparts, but it’s not enormous either. The other end has a foamy tip that picks up shadow from the cap. The intention is that you fill in your brow with the pencil and then follow it up with powder to set it.
Colour-wise, the Blonde shade I have actually matches my brows quite well. It leans a bit warm, so I think redheads could get away with wearing this shade as well. Despite the warm tones, it doesn’t make my brows look unnaturally orange, but I know some blonds prefer more of a grey cast to their products. Personally, I flip between the two without noticing much difference on myself.
Here’s me with nothing on my brows. You can see that I have about half of a normal brow, but that I’m lacking a tail.
Here’s my brow with the Maybelline define + fill duo pencil applied to my brow.
And finally, with the pencil and powder applied directly to my brow.
Final Thoughts
I feel the pencil part could do with being a tad smaller in diameter. I struggled to fill in the very end of my tail without making it look too blunt. I also think the foam tip of the powder applicator is too big and I couldn’t really use it to fill in the tail of my brow since I have next to no hairs there. However, I’m happy that something labelled for blondes actually works with my colouring! Often companies make products that are flat out too dark for us and make us look rather silly. I like that the pencil dispenses enough product to help build up my brows in a natural way without looking chunky. (The pencil also doesn’t feel as scratchy as the Anastasia Brow Wiz does to me.) The products wears all day and didn’t melt off my face, so total win there!
Those with fuller brows will likely benefit from this more than I can with my half brows. That being said, I do reach for this quite often as I really like the natural look it gives me and the colour tone is perfect.
This review features a press sample sent for consideration.
One of my lovely blogging friends (Julie over at Swatch and Review) managed to snag me a few items from the MAC warehouse sale this past month. I love, love, LOVE MAC‘s transparent/see-through glitters and she found me the one I was after the most: Reflects Red. It comes out a bit more pink than I was expecting, but it’s GORGEOUS! And it’s in the old MAC packaging so there’s even more in there to play with. Yay!
She also found Reflects Blue! I realize the colours can be kind of hard to tell, but once you get these glitters on the skin, they reflect the colour that they are, which makes for a really lovely shimmery edge to your look. They also look very, very vibrant when you put them over a black base – the colour pops a lot more then.
She also picked up a few pigments from the previous year’s MAC Christmas collection, but didn’t want them all, so I happily took the remaining ones.
I ended up with the shades Reigning Riches (glitter), Whisper Pink and Rose. Gorgeous, gorgeous pigments. I promptly pressed the two shades that weren’t the glitter. For a how to on pressing pigments, check out my recent post!
All of the remaining items came from a CBB swap we had mid-month. I was able to ditch even more products that I wasn’t using in favour of trying out some new things. First up was the Mary Kay cheek duo in Juicy Guava. I had seen this one on a few blogs and the brightness of the blush really drew me in. I’m not excited by the lack of outer packaging, but maybe I’ve got a spare palette I can pop this into.
One of the first items at the swap I spotted was this MAC pressed pigment in Warming Heart. I have no experience with MAC’s pressed pigments so I wanted to give this one a shot.
I dove for this one when I realized no one was touching it. I have no experience with the new Revlon HD glosses, but this looked like a dupe for Adorned, a previously limited edition shade by Revlon in a formula that has now been discontinued. This gloss is incredible to look at and I swear it’s the exact same shade as the old one. This is HD Pink Ruby – a bright fuchsia filled with glitter particles. Seriously stunning!
Fundamentally, I’m not a gloss person. They just really annoy me. My hair gets caught in them, they wear off too fast, etc. etc. And yet… they always look so damn stunning in their packaging. I had held off for… well I guess a year or more now, on ever buying aMaybelline Color Elixir because I just wouldn’t get enough use out of it. But if it’s FREE, who am I to say no? Breathtaking Apricot is a lovely orange coral and I’m interested to see what all the fuss was concerning the Color Elixirs.
Another type of lip product I hadn’t sunk any money into yet. This is Revlon‘s Moisture Stain in Shanghai Sizzle. I love that it’s super bright, so I get to try out a new formula with a shade I really enjoy. These were also huge last year but I never took the plunge.
Hmmm nail polish. I’m not a huge nail polish wearer. Even though I’ve stopped playing Ultimate Frisbee, I’ve still been left with absolutely mauled fingernails that break and chip constantly. But these Julep polishes were lovely and no one seemed to want them. The top one is a glitter called America and the bottom reminds me of a shade of polish I got at Sephora (back in the early 90s, in Limoges, France when the franc was still the common currency) – it’s a lovely pearlescent shade with blue/green reflect.
There were a lot of false lashes on the table at the swap, so I grabbed a few pairs from brands I’d never used before. I don’t use lashes often, but it’s nice to have them when I do want to wear them. That Kiss pair on the right though… that looks so natural I could probably get away with that on a daily basis.
Again… not a nail person, but these looks fun. I’ll have to let my ratty nails grow out a bit before I can try these.
This trio of powders from Physicians Formula was left in a massive box (with bag that I promptly gave away). I can see why no one took it too – the box these three powders comes in is ENORMOUS. It’s larger than any compact I own – like it’s literally box height. Ridiculous. This isn’t travel friendly, or even user friendly. I’m going to have to depot them if I have any hope in hell of wearing them. I do love Physicians Formula products though so I’m happy to get to try these Nude Wear powders.
And lastly, I got handed some lovely MAC pigments that I will no doubt be pressing shortly. And glitter, yes! MORE GLITTER!
Of course, I ALSO picked up two very lovely Charlotte Tilbury items, but you can read more about that in a dedicated post I had earlier this month: Charlotte Tilbury Launches in Canada.
Phew, that’s it! Loads of products, and it would’ve been a low spending month… but thenCharlotte Tilbury happened and that stuff, while gorgeous, is still insanely expensive! And yet… I want more.
In January I rounded up 10 makeup items I wanted to be done with come the end of 2015. Since the month of June marks the halfway point of the year, I wanted to post an update on my progress.
Oh my godddddd THIS… THING. I’m not a powder person as I’ve since discovered since purchasing this one. This thing just won’t go DOWN! I use it roughly twice a week to set my foundation (liberally, I might add) and it just won’t go anywhere! I can see a dent in it but I really have no hope in hell of getting through this damn thing this year.
Well… there’s progress on this Color Tattoo, but not much. In my original post I mentioned that my Color Tattoos are drying out and that I wasn’t sure if this would make it the whole year. It still has some life left in it, but I’ve been having so much fun using my other products that I haven’t really been reaching for this one. This one may very well just get junked at the end of the year.
Small progress on these ones!
I’ve managed to wear down Club a whole lot during the winter but I haven’t dipped into it much lately.
Fade, the light blue, got used once for a guest post over on Workaday Beauty, but I noticed the pigmentation was seriously lacking and it was just crumbling to bits. I ended up scraping out the rest of the pan and dumping it. It’s a super old shadow so I think it’s just gone off.
Cork‘s been used a wee bit, but not much. Oddly, I have very little use for browns in my day to day looks.
Same as Cork, Print has been used a bit, but not much. I really need to get cracking on this one!
This gloss is hard to figure out where I stand with it. The gloss is so thick that it sticks to the edges of the tube and never really settles down. I ended up scraping off the side of the tube so I could at least show you some progress… but I really couldn’t say how much is left in there. Maybe 40%? 30%? Hard to tell. However, I’m not that bothered – Revlon’s Papaya is such a lovely shade that it’s fun to wear.
Loads of progress here!
Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla – I LOVE this foundation. It’s my absolute favourite out of all the ones I own, but it’s also coming on three years old so I really need to get this finished up. It’s the perfect match for my “spring into summer” skintone so I’ve only really been able to use it throughout May and June so far this year.
Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum (shades 51 Light Vanilla and 52 Vanilla) – I can no longer pump anything out of 52, so I’m scrapping the sides to use it up. I really don’t want to toss it till I finish it because I love it so much. 51 still has about half and inch left in the bottle but I won’t get to use it again until late fall/winter when I’ve lost most of my summer tan.
That’s it! I’m way behind in a few products and there’s quite a few I really don’t think I’ve got a hope in hell of finishing. That being said, I’m pretty impressed with my foundation usage!
Another big makeup haul this month! Although I can (thankfully) attribute the bulk of this haul to a CBB swap we did at the very start of the month – I was able to get rid of a TON of products I don’t use or don’t like, and in return I got a whole bunch of freebies from other bloggers who had the same issue with some of their products. I’m so happy to be trying some new things and get rid of ones I don’t use – what a relief!
And because I have no real self-restraint, I did order a few things…
You knew this one was coming! I picked up ALL of the new Makeup Geek Foiled Shadows, and a whack of the regular line that was I was missing as well (including the new Poppy, High Tea and Rapunzel). Unfortunately for my wallet, but fortunately for you guys, I accidentally ordered TWO sets of the foiled shadows. Ouch, pain. So much pain to the wallet. BUT I’ve absorbed the cost (and shock) of it by now and I’m going to hold a giveaway shortly for the entire line of new foiled shadows. Look for a review and giveaway for those in a week or so!
The Silverlake collection by Wet n Wild has been the most exciting thing I’ve seen from the brand lately, so I had to finish up my collection of the palettes. I had two of them in last month’s haul, and here’s the remaining three!
Next up are a bunch of items that I picked up from the CBB swap/meetup that we did. For more details on that, check out Jenn’s recap, but the basic gist is that about ten of us brought makeup that didn’t work for us, dumped it on an enormous table at Tim Horton’s and took whatever we wanted from what others were willing to give away.
This Kat Von DStar Studded palette was part of the swap, but kindly held for me by Steph of Fun Size Beauty who had lugged it out there. I had debated getting this over the holiday season, but never bit the bullet. I’m happy to now have it… although I have yet to use it. Ack!
I’ve never used one of the Stila foiled shadows, so this should be interesting to test out. I ended up with a LOT of blue shades from the swap so I’m working through the slowly, but this one hasn’t made it through my rotation yet!
At the swap I got to meet Zoë for the first time ever (!!) and she pushed this Lise Watiereyeshadow single into my hand that she had been holding onto with me in mind. At the time, I was half worried she was giving me the shade I already had (Teal), but it turned out to be Violet, a shade I had sent to my friend as a gift, but never picked up for myself. This has turned out to be a beautiful shade, and I love it more than Teal as the colour payoff just seems to be so much better. Yay!
No one was looking at the Wet n Wild Megalast lipsticks, so I snatched up 965 Cherry Picking. These are some of the best lipsticks I own, despite their ridiculously cheap price point and I am always more than happy to add another shade to my collection.
WHO WOULD TOSS THIS AWAY? I love my L’Oreal Infallible shadows and I didn’t ownEndless Sea, so I gleefully added it to my ever growing pile of makeup.
I swear this essence Metal Glam shadow in Jewel of the Ocean is the exact same shade as the L’Oreal one above. I never really thought I wore that much blue shadow, but I sure do gravitate towards them quite often.
Yessss! Make Up For Ever‘s Smoothing Primer has turned out to be my favourite primer from the new Step 1 Skin Equalizer line (read my recent review here). This didn’t work out so well for another blogger, so I gave it a shot – and I’m so glad I did.
Rejected because it had too much glitter in it… which makes it perfect for me! The NARS Multiple in Undress Me is a pale lilac-pink chockful of glitter particles. The base colour basically disappears on my skin when I apply it, but it leaves behind glorious glitter particles. I tried it once as a highlighter, and it works, but it’s not for those who don’t want glitter on their face. I am SUPER excited to use this all over my body during Pride!
I’m not much of a nail polish person, but I didn’t have anything like these Sally Hansen ones and I thought they’d be fun for some holidays like Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day.
I’ve never used Wet n Wild‘s liquid liners before and this one was completely untouched in the swap. It’s a beautiful shade on the lids, although a littttle bit shiny which isn’t my favourite kind of finish for a liner. The shade is so gorgeous though that it’s worth ignoring that slight sheen.
Man, I walked out with a LOT of Wet n Wild in this swap. People kept throwing the bright eyeshadows at me because they knew I’d use them.
Last month’s CBB brand of the month was Marcelle, which offered everyone the opportunity to get 30% off on their web site for a limited time. Bonus was that a lot of items on their site were already on sale, so I stocked up on a few items. Marcelle‘s eye makeup remover has been a longstanding favourite of mine, so I snatched up four bottles at less than half price of what they normally cost at the drug store. SCORE!
I also picked up the Marcelle Liquid Dip-Pen in Blackest Black because Sarah fromWorkaday Beauty told me they were matte. They are indeed matte, but the felt tip isn’t quite long enough for my tastes. Like any black liquid liner though, I’ll definitely use it up.
As beauty lovers are apt to do, we end up with duplicates of items. I was handed this lovely Maybelline matte lipstick in the colour Craving Coral, one I had actually been eyeballing since this line was launched!
These next two palettes came from a fellow blogger who hadn’t touched them and decided they needed to be re-homed. I have no familiarity with Makeup Revolution as a brand other than that they’re based in the UK. What I CAN say though is that this palette and the next one are dead knockoffs of Sleek palettes – the shades are identical in both palettes. I have no idea if the quality is the same however – that’ll be interesting to see. This one is a rip off of Sleek‘s Acid palette.
And here’s the other one. A knockoff of the Sleek Mattes V1 palette.
And who could resist this one? I didn’t really need anything from MAC‘s Wash & Drysummer collection, but every year I get suckered in by the packaging. I’ve already gone through a full MAC bronzer before (Golden) and figured I’d step it up a notch this time and go for Refined Golden. It’s a beautiful bronze-y (veers orange though) shade with gold sparkle. The sparkle doesn’t translate to the skin much though, so I’m sure that will make a lot of people happy. And really… how was I going to resist that packaging? I mean my god.
I knew I was going to have a bunch of French skincare waiting for me at my parents’ place that my dad had picked up for me when he was in France earlier this year (I went back forOttawa Race Weekend), but I couldn’t wait any longer – I needed my Biodermasolution micellaire! In Canada it’s called Sensibio, and in France it’s Crealine – same product though. I was especially drawn into this one because it has a pump top (so handy) which also means it has a twist off top, which NONE of the other Bioderma bottles have. Seriously, have you ever tried to get top off of your regular bottle of Bioderma? Best wishes to ya!
And this is the one that was waiting for me at my parents. Now I’ve got one in the bathroom and one on my makeup desk. I love this for not only taking off my face makeup at the end of the day, but also for spot correcting as I’m applying it.
I really only rotate between two facial moisturizers and this is one of them. When I first tried Embryolisse‘s Lait-Creme Concentre (after having watch many Pixiwoo videos, of course) I didn’t think much of it. But, for whatever reason, I have found myself going back to this one again and again. This is probably my fourth or fifth tube.
And the last French item is Nuxe‘s Reve de Miel lip balm. I’ve never used it, but I’m excited to. It smells nothing like honey and a lot like lemon – totally unexpected!
And the other moisturizer I use is by Aveeno. My mom picks this up for me whenever she’s either at Costco or Walmart because I don’t have convenient access to either of those places here in Toronto.
While in Ottawa, my mom and I were in a health food store briefly and I somehow (lol) found myself in their beauty area. I wasn’t taken by much except for this perfume byPacifica. It’s their French Lilac scent and it smells identical to the lilac tree in my parents’ backyard. Interesting fact… I bought this for $10.50 at the health food store. A few days later I went to Terra 20 (a natural beauty and other stuff store) and they were selling the exact same thing for five bucks more. Holy jeez, gouging your customers much?
Ah Burberry. I found myself at Nordstrom in the Rideau Centre and wanted to check out what Burberry had to offer. I never find myself at Holt Renfrew (frankly, I don’t think I look the part when I walk in there), but I felt a lot better about being in Nordstrom in Ottawa (Nordstrom has yet to open in Toronto!) so I swung by the Burberry counter. The item I was Most drawn to was this Lip and Cheek Bloom in Poppy – an incredibly vibrant pinky-red shade. It’s so gorgeous and was impossible to pass up.
Phew, we’re getting down to the end of the line! The last few products are all from Sephora. I placed an order for a hair care item I needed, and “had” to add these on to my cart to get free shipping. I picked up the Clinique Cheek Pop blush in Cola Pop because I’d read on Jen’s blog about this one and I was struck by the uniqueness of it. I’ve tried to curb my spending on blushes, but I truly do not have anything at all like this shade in my collection and am curious to try the formula out.
This was a spur of the moment decision. I once turned down a free white liquid liner from Illamasqua (I opted for a free eyeshadow at the time) and I’ve regretted it ever since. I actually feel like that white eyeliner haunts me – how could I turn down such a unique product?! So I grabbed Kat Von D‘s Neruda Ink Liner to see how it goes. It’s not a brush tip like the Tattoo Liner is, but it’s a long-tipped (highly necessary!) felt tip that lays down one hell of an opaque line. I’ve only swatched it so far, but can’t wait to use it in a look.
And lastly (phew, we made it!) is the Marc Jacobs 500 point perk. I got this primarily because if I hear one more person go on about the Marc Jacobs Highliner gel liner, I was going to scream. (And so far, it does live up to the hype, this thing sticks to skin like nothing I’ve ever seen.) I’ve also been sitting on about 1500 Sephora points and was happy to finally see something come up that WASN’T skin or haircare based. There’s also a mini lipstick, liquid liner and mascara in this box, so I think it was well worth the 500 points I spent on it.
And that’s it! How was your month? Did you pick up a lot of new goodies?
I knew this was going to be not only a super exciting month, but also a seriously spendy month. Not only was I in the US for a week, but there was also the Sephora VIB sale AND Makeup Geek was launching ten brand new foiled shadows (which, although I’ve ordered them, they won’t be here in time for this month’s haul, so you’ll see them all next month).
Buckle in. This is a long one.
First up was Colour Pop. I asked my parents-in-law (who reside in Wisconsin) if they would mind receiving a makeup order and then bring it to Florida where we would be vacationing with them mid-month. They consented, and this saved me a huge amount in shipping (it was free, versus the $40 I would’ve had to pay to ship it to Canada!). I opted for a lot of bright, warm shades since that’s just my “thing”.
I also snagged the Colour PopRebound quad because the shades just looked gorgeous and they had some neutrals which I hadn’t really added to my order yet. Too Soon is likeToo Faced‘s Pink Sugar (from the Semi-Sweet palette) but far more pigmented.
Unfortunately, once I got to Florida I realized that I had completely forgotten my moisturizer. I snagged Aveeno‘s Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer with sunscreen at Publix because I always default to Aveeno if I can purchase it!
Another necessity out in Florida. I hadn’t packed any kind of body moisturizer and I knew I was going to need something to soothe my skin after being out in the sun for so many hours a day. I’m not a huge fan of aloe vera scented anything, so I picked up the VaselineSpray & Go Cocoa Radiant because I’m already a huge fan of the scent, but I’ve also been wanting to try this spray stuff out. And frankly, I think it’s amazing. Super handy for vacation and light enough to not cause you to stick to everything.
I’m not a huge fan of these chubby style lip products, but I’ve heard EmilyNoel83 rave about these for years so I figured I should at least try one out. It’s… okay. It has a very (bear with me on this one) 80s plastic doll smell. If you grew up in the 80s and ever had My Little Ponies that also came with some kind of weird perfume, that’s what this smells like. It’s kind of a plastic vanilla with a fruity-twist scent. Very weird.
Another a “YouTuber made me buy it” situation. I’ve seen Amarixe wearing this over the last several years and since Neutrogena makeup isn’t available in Canada, I picked this up at Walgreens in Panama City as soon as I saw it.
Another brand I don’t have easy access to in Ontario! Walgreens had a small-ish display of Milani stuff, but enough items for me to pick through. I picked up their eyeshadow primer because neither my Urban Decay nor my NARS (alone) can seem to prevent my shadows from creasing anymore. I’ve used this three times and so far so good! I’ll have to use it more heavily to see just how long it holds up.
I had to really restrain myself with the Milani Bella eyeshadows. In the end, I picked a really weird random assortment of them. I’m fairly certain the grey one is Taupe, then Navy (I don’t know why I keep buying blue eyeshadows… I don’t think I even wear them that often), Rouge (because hello – red. Except it’s not red, it’s… magenta) and Copper.
One of the first things that was on my list of things to buy in the US was this Milani blush in Coral Cove. I mean, how was I going to say no to that? A beautiful coral shade pressed into the shape of a rose – stunning! Even more astounding is that this blush contains something ridiculous like 8 or 9 grams of product. That’s ENORMOUS!
We popped into Ulta at Pier Park in Panama City Beach, and while I was unimpressed with some of their brand selections (no Becca, no Lorac, barely any Ulta-exclusive kits), what I was happy with was their NYX display seemed to be relatively well stocked. NYX has been replicating a lot of Anastasia products lately, and I want to see how they compare. I snatched up the Tame & Frame in Blonde which looks gloriously grey. I hope it’s a good match for my brows – the grey looks better than the “pea soup” colour that usually gets assigned to blondes.
Another very similar item… NYX‘s Micro Brow Pencil in Taupe looks like the right tone for my brows. I’m eager to see how it compares to its Brow Wiz counterpart. The packaging is absolutely identical!
I’ve seen a lot of YouTubers go on about the IT Cosmetics CC Cream (in particular, Vintage or Tacky) so I grabbed Fair since it was the closest to my skin tone. I think it’s a hair TOO light, but the Light shade was so dang dark that there’s no way I could carry it off without a tan.
However, then the Shopping Channel had a $50 rebate for new customers, so I signed up for that and picked up the IT Cosmetics CC Cream in Light as well. Hilariously, the going price for the Canadian version was also $38, although in Canadian dollars. This makes the Canadian version a much better buy since the exchange rate is just flat out balls right now. Light is way too dark for me right now, but I think it’ll fare well in the summer months.
With Target leaving Canada, we had a few opportunities to go dumpster diving at insane prices. I didn’t manage to find this one myself, but Julie snatched it up at a Target that still had a lot of remaining stock. The Sonia KashukEye on Neutral 02 palette was one I had always wanted to purchase, but couldn’t really justify spending $20 on it. Imagine my surprise and pleasure when the clearance price was something just shy of five bucks! Huzzah!
Dear Shawna got us into the L’Oreal warehouse sale (this girl knows how to warehouse sales right), and while I didn’t really pick up many items, I did grab a few. First up was the GarnierSmoothing Cream Cleanser because I’m always interested in different face washes. I don’t have sensitive skin, so I’m pretty much free to try out whatever I want!
Also of interest to me at the warehouse sale was this Nourishing Cleansing Oil, also by Garnier. Aside from makeup removers, I’ve never really used anything oil based on my face so I’m curious to see how this plays out.
This thing. This thing is gross. Maybelline‘s Mega Plush mascara in Emerald Velvet just looked nasty on my lashes. I didn’t like the wand, I didn’t like the colour and I didn’t how it looked on me. I used it once and then threw it out. At least it was only two bucks!
You know you have good friends when they can pick you up an eyeshadow and know you’ll love it. Once again Julie pulled through and picked me up MAC‘s Strike While Haute which came out with the Red, Red, Red collection last year. I’ve only used it once, but it’s bright red and matte, and therefore I love it.
As beauty bloggers are apt to do, we buy products that we use once and then decide just aren’t for us. I already had the Urban DecayElectric palette in my cart for the Sephora VIB sale, but when Julie found out I was going to buy a new one, she offered up hers to me for $20. I was elated! It’s in near new condition and she was generous to offer it up for such a great price!
Frankly, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to buy it. Those shades are right up my alley!
A new launch from Wet n Wild saw the release of these pretty palettes. I’ve had a bastard of a time finding these in stores (they’re at Rexalls in Ontario), but… okay it feels like this entire post is about how Julie is my makeup supplier… she once again tracked these down like a bloodhoud for me. California Roll is my favourite so far – you cancheck out swatches for it here.
Alright… we’re getting down to the end, I promise… Sephora’s VIB Sale was also this month, which meant… I saved money right? Uh sure. Sure I did…
After watching a few tutorials on the Too FacedSugar Pop palette, I dropped it into my online cart without a second thought.
There will be an upcoming Challenge Week using this palette, I just gotta get my ducks in a row since we’re moving apartments this week so everything is everywhere at the moment!
Sephora’s sale is also a great time for me to add more Too FacedMelted lipsticks to my collection (I really do want to own them all). This time I snagged Coral (I’m long overdue on buying that one) and Strawberry. They’re both just as glorious as the other shades I own – I’m so happy to have them!
Do you ever feel you’ve been wanting a product for so long that, for whatever reason, you put off buying it? I don’t even know what the reasoning is for that, but that’s the case with this TarteNatural Beauty blush. I’ve wanted to pick this up for… going on four years now? I just never got around to it. I love how red it looks in the pan, but it goes on the cheeks in that perfect “I’ve been out in the cold weather” look. Gorgeous shade.
I completely ran out of my bottle of this stuff, so I had to buy another. Lavanila‘s Vanilla Grapefruit is one of those scents I just feel I could drink in day after day. I’m pretty sure I overdo it when I apply this to myself, but my god do I ever love the scent!
Another replacement item. Kat Von D‘s Tattoo Liner in Trooper is almost my perfect liner, but not quite. It’s certainly the easiest to use – since it’s a pen style liner with a brush tip, this makes it perfect. What takes away from that perfectness is the fact that it’s not QUITE matte enough. It has a very slight sheen to it which has a tendency to pick up shimmery shadow from my lid and dull the colour of the liner. But that brush tip though… more companies need to get on this bandwagon. Felt tips just can’t compare.
I placed this order at the very end of March and couldn’t believe how long it took to get to Toronto. (Something like four weeks…) Duo lash glue just hasn’t been cutting it for me lately so I decided to go with the much raved about House of Lashes. Since I was already placing an order for the lash glue, I grabbed two pairs of falsies as well. Noir Fair($14), Bombshell ($7) and the lash glue ($8).
Another freebie from Julie. I haven’t had much luck with Illamasqua‘s shadows in this format, but I’ll give it a shot and see how it goes.
And a bunch of free Sonia Kashuk brushes because… why not. (and oh hey, another one from Julie)
Holy god… I’m done. No more! I hope you enjoyed my ridiculous month of purchases!
As a note, all items featured in any "What I Bought This Month" haul are products I either spent my money on, or that friends and family have given to me. They will never include items that were sent for consideration by PR.