This past year, I chose ten products I wanted to finish up and get them circulated out of my collection. They weren’t necessarily products I disliked, just that they were old enough that I needed to finish them and move on.
Here’s how I did:
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light (January 2015)
I started out with a relatively brand new Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light. I had used it a bit, but not with any kind of regularity. (And no, I didn’t notice myself look ethereal at all!)
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light (December 2015)
And here’s the usage after a year of dipping into this product.
Things I’ve learned:
I don’t need or want powder on my face.
It makes my foundation look too cakey when applied overtop.
It also takes me forever to get through a powder!
Although I didn’t use this daily, I did apply it frequently enough throughout the year. I expected to be done with this product since I know people finish up powders relatively quickly, but nope! I’ll keep plugging along with this product, but since I noticed no difference in my skin with this ambient lighting powder, I’m unlikely to buy another one. I also don’t think I’ll be picking up ANY face powders at all since I just don’t need it on my face.
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Beige (January 2015)
The Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Beige was a bit of an unfortunate choice for this project. I’ve grown to really dislike the Color Tattoos because they make my eyelids look kind of crepey. I had expected I could at least get through this tub though since it’s such a neutral colour that it could be used as a base.
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Beige (December 2015)
Alas, no. Although the Color Tattoos have EXCELLENT staying power (seriously, I went swimming in the ocean with them on before and they stayed put) I just don’t enjoy using them. This one got so stiff over the course of the year that I just gave up on it. It’s now gone straight into the garbage. 🙁
MAC eyeshadows in Club, Fade, Cork and Print (January 2015)
I have a few MAC shadows that are quite old, so I figured it was time to move them out of my collection.
MAC eyeshadows in Club, Fade, Cork and Print (December 2015)
I managed to completely finish Club! Woohooo! Fade actually crumbled and fell apart on me, so I just pitched out the remains. Cork and Print however… while I used them a bit, it wasn’t enough to finish then. I’ve recently recommitted to wearing Cork more often through my crease now I’m hoping to kill that one over the next few months! Using Print again reminded me a lot of my early twenties since I wore it a lot back then.
Revlon lipgloss in Papaya (January 2015)
This RevlonPapaya lipgloss is such a beautiful colour – but I’ve had it for a few years now, so it was time to move on. They also don’t make this line of glosses anymore (which is a damn shame!) so it’s not like I can even encourage you to go buy it!
Revlon lipgloss in Papaya (December 2015)
Unfortunately, despite using this guy consistently, he’s still kicking out product! It’s getting a bit sparse through the tube (you can see the cracks of the product separating from itself) so I at least know I got through a bit more of it. But the smell has gone a tiny bit off so I’m just straight out pitching it now.
Boots No7 Instant Radiance foundation in Cool Vanilla, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundations in 52 Vanilla and 51 Light Vanilla (January 2015)
This was an ambitious move for me. I decided I wanted to get through three foundations this year (I only chose one last year!)
Boots No7 Instant Radiance foundation in Cool Vanilla, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundations in 52 Vanilla and 51 Light Vanilla (December 2015)
And finish all three I did! The Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla was the first to go since it’s more of a summer shade for me. Once that was done, I started in on Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in 52 Vanilla and once that was done I cleaned out the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in 51 Light Vanilla.
I was so surprised I got through all of these foundations because I’m not a daily foundation user. I loved these so much and I have actually repurchased them (sooooo what was the point of the Use Up? lol). You can see all three foundations mentioned in my recent Empties video.
So that was it for 2015! All in all, it wasn’t hugely successful. I got through about half of the products I wanted to get through, so that’s not amazing. Although I love watching “Use Up” projects, I don’t think it’s a viable thing for me anymore as a blogger. I try out so many products now (both a blessing and a curse) that it makes it near impossible to stick with even just ten products throughout a year. I hope you enjoyed my Use Up 2015 roundup, and since I do love reading about them, please tell me what products you’re trying to use up!
With Halloween over, I can finally catch up on my backlog of posts to get through. I had hoped to have my Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix Challenge Week up this week, but it seems that isn’t happening, so that’ll be up next week! Till then, here’s a collection of looks that I wore at some point throughout October with a couple guest posts chucked in for good measure. Enjoy!
I wore this to a preview of the H&M Beauty Department and got a lot of compliments on it. It’s one of my favourite colour combos so I was really happy that others seemed to like it as well!
Eyes
MACIllusionary Burning Ambition Duo – used the white gold shade all over the lid.
InglotMatte 317 and Matte 338 mixed together on the outer half of the lid with a little bit of Urban DecayBlackout in the very outer corner.
Wet n WildBrule on the brow bone.
I created the winged liner with MAC‘s Blacktrack fludline and applied Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara to my lashes.
Face
Bronzer: Hard CandyHula Hula
Blush: essencepinky flow
Highlighter: BeccaChampagne Pop
Lips: Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask in Maple
The Soul Sister glitter I picked up from Lit Cosmetics at IMATS is quite possibly the most beautiful glitter I’ve ever encountered. My shots don’t do it justice, but it’s primarily green with gold and copper flecks. It’s absolutely incredible.
Eyes
MAC Club all over the lid.
Inglot Pearl 418 on the outer half of the lid.
Lit Cosmetics Soul Sister glitter applied on top of Club.
Wet n Wild Brulee on the brow bone.
Urban Decay Perversion mascara is on my lashes.
Face
Bronzer: SST CosmeticsRadiant Finish Bronzer
Blush: HourglassIncandescent Electra
Highlighter: MACWhisper of Gilt
Lips: NYXSpongecake gloss
I was headed out to Halloween Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland and had to wear something festive. Because even though it may not be seen by anyone due to how dark it was, *I* still knew I was wearing something fun! And by the way? Canada’s Wonderland Halloween Haunt? TOTALLY worth it. I had so much fun!
Makeup Geek Bitten on the outer half of the lid and a bit through the crease. I also used this shade to line the lower lash line.
Makeup Geek Corrupt in the outer corner to deepen up the look.
Makeup Geek pigment in Utopia all over the lid. I used Too Faced’s Glitter Glue to make sure it stayed on my lid!
Makeup Geek Bleached Blonde on the inner tearduct.
Makeup Geek Vanilla Bean on the brow bone.
I created the winged liner with essence‘s easy 2 use jumbo eyeliner pen and tightlined both of my water lines with Maybelline‘s Lasting Drama Waterproof Gel Eye Pencil in Sleek Onyx. I applied a few coats of Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara to my lashes and popped on some Ardell false lashes in the style 102 Black. I filled in my brows with Anastasia‘s Dipbrow in Taupe.
Rest of the Face
Foundation: IT cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream with SPF 50+ in Fair and Light mixed together
Bronzer: Make Up For Ever Pro Bronze Fusion in 30M
Blush: Clinique Cheek Pop in Cola Pop
Highlighter: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle
Naked Cosmetics Ivory stack (white shade) on the inner tearduct.
MACCrystal Avalanche on the lid.
InglotMatte 325 on the outer half of the lid.
Urban DecayBlackout on the very outer corner to deepen it up.
Wet n WildBrulee to highlight the brow.
InglotMatte 317 on the outer edge of the lower lash line.
InglotMatte 343 right beside it to the halfway line of the lower lash line.
InglotMatte 370 beside it as well.
InglotMatte 383 as the very last colour on the lower lash line.
I used the Kat Von D Ink Liner in Neruda to create the wing and applied Urban Decay’s Perversion mascara to my lashes. I filled in my brows with NYX’s MicroBrow in Taupe.
Rest of the Face
Foundation: Revlon ColorStay in 220 Natural Beige
Bronzer: Make Up For Ever Pro Bronze Fusion in 30M
Blush: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Diffused Heat
Maybelline‘s Olive Martini eyeshadow quad was a limited edition product for fall 2012. As with all of these quads by Maybelline, I’m in love with the textures of the eyeshadows although not nearly enough people talk about them. Enjoy the swatches!
Maybelline Olive Martini quad
Swatches
Maybelline Olive Martini – Swatch 1Maybelline Olive Martini – Swatch 2Maybelline Olive Martini – Swatch 3Maybelline Olive Martini – Swatch 4
September… you were a painful month for my wallet. Not only did ALL of the makeup brands decide to launch ALL of their freaking holiday palettes (like actually – they totally all did), but it was also a month I traveled to New York City (so obviously I had to take advantage of brands that did free shipping within the USA) AND Toronto IMATS happened. I’m actually physically removing my credit card from my wallet as of today because that poor thing has been rung up so many times I’m worried it’s going to burst into flames shortly. So despite my money flying out the window, this haul is actually a lot of fun because there’s a LOT of fun things in here.
As always, the haul is in chronological order, so there’s a lot more interesting things halfway down the page!
Johnson’s Baby Shampoo ($2.99 CAD)
The least interesting thing I bought this month is Johnson’sBaby Shampoo so that I can finally clean my brushes again. I ran out at some point last month and waited till it was on sale to pick up the large bottle.
Jealous Body Scrub – Grapeseed + Macadamia (free – swap)
The next whack of items are marked as swap, which some of them are, and some are just overflows from other beauty bloggers who want to pass on some of the love (de-stashing, as it were). I really like the Jealous Body scrubs, so I snagged this Grapeseed and Macadamia one. I’ve reviewed their latest scents right over here.
L’Occitane – Verveine body cream and shampoo (free – swap)
I grabbed these two L’Occitane products simply because of the name. Verveine (French) is actually Verbena in English, and I’ve somehow found myself sucked into The Vampire Diaries recently and they use verveine to ward off vampires. It made me giggle, plus I liked the scent… soooo… mine!
Mark – Crazy for cranberry scrub, Soap & Glory Peaches and Clean, Live Clean Creamy Cleanser (free – swap)
I’ll never ever turn down free body care, so I looted the markCrazy for Cranberry body scrub, the Soap & GloryPeaches and Clean Deep Cleansing Milk and the Live CleanHydrating Creamy Cleanser. Because I don’t have sensitive skin, I am afforded the luxury of trying whatever skincare products happen to cross my path. Lucky me when someone else doesn’t want them!
Rimmel Provocalips in Make a Move, Rimmel Stay Blush! in Pop of Pink, Maybelline Rebel Bloom in Coral Burst and a pressed pigment of Rustic Copper by NYX (free – swap)
Random assortment of makeup in here:
Rimmel Provocalips in Make a Move: THIS IS INCREDIBLE! It has unbelievable staying power and it’s not super drying like most liquid lipsticks. The colour is “fall appropriate” and I absolutely MUST have more in my collection. LOVE.
Rimmel Stay Blushed in Pop of Pink: These cream blushes intrigued me but aside from the texture and tube, there’s nothing particularly unique about the shade. Quite pretty on the cheeks though.
Maybelline Rebel Bloom lipstick in Coral Burst: OH MAN. I wanted this shade so badly from the Rebel Bloom collection but told myself I didn’t need it because I’m sure I have a near dupe in my collection somewhere. So I was mighty happy that someone had a duplicate of the shade and was more than happy to toss it my way! (And yes, it’s fairly similar to a lot of other lipsticks I own.)
Shawna pressed me a pigment (using my own tutorial!) from NYX. I think the shade is Rustic Copper… and it’s GORGEOUS.
Soap Stories (free – swap)
Soap Stories soap… because who doesn’t want free soap?
Sonia Kashuk – Jewel of an Eye and Lise Watier Expression palette (free – swap)
The Sonia KashukJewel of an Eye palette. I wanted it for SO LONG, but Target Canada never had it as far as I ever saw and I kind of figured it just wasn’t meant to be. Until a blogger destashed it and I was like OH YESSSSSS!
The Lise WatierExpression palette is full of pastel shades that I probably won’t get around to playing with for a while, but they looked super pretty so I thought I’d give them a shot. Plus I don’t tend to have muted versions of my bright shadows, so this’ll help with blending.
Bite Beauty Lip Lab Colour ($36 USD)
And now we come to the New York City portion of this haul. While visiting some friends out in New York, we went over to the Bite Beauty Lip Lab to get some custom lipsticks made. (You can read about that experience here if you like!) In the week I’ve been back I’ve already worn this shade three times. I’m amazed with just how much I love it!
Colour Pop Ultra Mattes in Mars, Tulle, Bumble, Donut, Trap ($6 USD each), Lippie Stix in Toucan ($5 USD), Super Shock Shadow in Coconut ($5 USD)
Of course, what’s a visit to the US without placing a Colour Pop order? I ordered several of the Ultra Matte liquid lipsticks because EVERYONE is raving about them. The colour range I ended up with is a little strange for me, but I did manage to cut it down from 10 shades….
I also grabbed one of the Lippie Stix (Toucan) because the smell of these is intoxicating and I didn’t own any. And, lastly, the Super Shock Shadow in Coconut because I’ve seen it on two bloggers in person now and it’s STUNNING.
Houses of Lashes Iconic ($12USD), and three sets of Bombshell ($18 USD)
I recently went through a false lash meltdown: I was going out one night and I was trying different lash brands on… and nothing was working. The bands were too inflexible, they looked too plastic, etc. etc. Seriously, I tried on four different brands and I got so annoyed I ended up throwing everything out that wasn’t House of Lashes (which have never failed me). So I had an order placed and shipped to my friend in New York where I picked it up. The Bombshell ones are my favourite so far so I got a three pack. I’m also eager to try out the Iconic lashes because a lot of people seem to like those.
Milani eyeshadow primer ($7.79 USD)
I also picked up a Milani eyeshadow primer at a Duane Reed while on vacation because I just don’t have access to it in Canada and lately it’s the only primer that’s been working for me.
Sabon Body Scrub in Lemon Mint ($33 USD)
Sabon is a bodycare brand that I first fell in love with in New York about a decade or so ago. I was happy to stop in and pick up some stuff but I kept it to a single item because the USD to CAD version is absolute BALLS right now. This is my absolute favourite product by Sabon: their Body Scrub in Lemon Mint. Between the scent and the feel of the product, I’m in absolute heaven!
Too Faced Star Dust palette by Vegas Nay ($45 USD)
And the last item I had shipped to a friend was the Too FacedStar Dust palette by Vegas Nay. I wasn’t originally sure I wanted this palette, but the price tag along with the extras (primer, glamour dust and mascara) were enough to win me over based on value.
Too Faced Star Dust palette by Vegas Nay ($45 USD)
And I am so very glad I picked it up. The Too Faced holiday palettes aren’t really doing it for me this year so I’m considering this my “Too Faced holiday palette”. It’s phenomenal. The pigmentation is incredible and the shades are wonderful. While it could be considered a neutral palette, there’s still a lot of fun ways to play with the colours. Oddly, the two warm brown shades (Millenial and Girl’s Night) are my absolute favourites – those colours work MAGIC in the crease!
Urban Decay – Urban Spectrum ($65 CAD)
And now we come to the holiday palette debacle. WHY MUST BRANDS RELEASE THEIR HOLIDAY PALETTES IN SEPTEMBER??!?!? This is Urban Decay‘s Urban Spectrum palette. It’s available on the brand’s web site or on Sephora’s site for VIB and VIB Rouge members.
Urban Decay – Urban Spectrum ($65 CAD)
Shade-wise, I prefer this a lot more than the Vice 4 palette (that’s coming below), but it’s definitely not a standalone palette. Every single shade in this palette has shimmer of some sort. They’re gorgeous, there’s no doubt about that, but you’re going to need some mattes if you don’t want to look all shiny all the time. I didn’t pick up the Anniversary palette a few years back, and this has the shades I wanted from that so I’m really glad to own this one now.
Urban Decay Vice 4 ($70 CAD)
I can admit it, it’s the packaging that sucked me into this one. Urban Decay‘s Vice series always has a wonderfully large mirror, a well layed out palette and gorgeous packaging. I love how all Vice 4s will have a slightly different colour pattern on the top too – feels very unique.
Urban Decay Vice 4 ($70 CAD)
But the shades themselves… are weird. Last year, the Vice 3 felt very cohesive. The shades were layed out nicely, there were colour gradients and complimentary colours… but this year I can’t figure out what the hell I’m looking at. There’s no brow bone shade (not for me anyway – that top left shade is more of a grey-pink pearl colour) so that’s awkward. I love the two oranges in the bottom left hand corner but that’s kind of it… There’s three oddly similar greens/aquas/seafoams in the middle row that kind of make me feel like they could’ve aimed for a bit more variety. I don’t know man… it’s a WEIRD palette. And I really only got it for the outer packaging. What a doofus.
https://instagram.com/p/7qqhzsRayI/
Argh, I forgot to take a picture of the Kat Von DMi Vida Loca Remix palette ($71 CAD). This is the palette I was most excited about for Holiday 2015. The shades in this palette are to die for and I cannot wait to swatch them all and create a bunch of makeup looks. It’s a bit on backlog though as I work through the other palettes first! The only thing I’m not keen on is the packaging. It pulls out like a record, which sounded cool and all… until you tried to use it and then it was just annoying. Ah well, you can’t beat those shades!
Viseart Editorial Brights ($80 CAD)
The remainder of this haul are items I got from IMATS! When I found out that Viseart was going to be available via Frends, it became my number one place to stop. When I got there, they didn’t even have the palettes available to swatch yet (or even out of their crates), but I knew exactly which one I wanted – the Editorial Brights. It’s a spendy item, but it’s still cheaper than buying it at Sephora! Looking at this one just makes me so, so happy.
Lit Cosmetics glitter in ABBA, Peacock, Heartbreaker, Soul Sister, Disco Diva, Goth and Mary Jane ($50 USD)
A bit of a random assortment of glitters from Lit Cosmetics. I originally bought three, but ended up going back later in the day for more. I’d like all their colours, frankly, but I’ll have to deal with building up my collection relatively slowly. In hind sight, I wish I’d gone for more of the neons, but hey, I gotta start building up this collection somewhere.
Zpalette – Large ($20 CAD)
Grabbed a Z-palette because I’m running out of space for my Makeup Geek shadows!
Metal spatula ($4 CAD)
And finally, a tiny metal spatula to help me get products out of containers when I’m getting down to the bottom.
/covers face with hands
That was… a lot. A LOT. I’m happy with what I bought and got, but damn son, I need to chill out cuz this kind of spending is not sustainable! How about you? Are you happy with all of the holiday releases? Or do you feel like they’re being released far too soon like I do? I feel like we kind of got dumped on this year and no one was prepared for it!
Limited edition for fall a few years back, this is Maybelline‘s Smokey Cinnamon quad. I remember this collection of quads being in short supply in Canada and having to hunt them down amongst the drugstores accessible to me. The formula in the Smokey Cinnamon quad is just as good as the first one I bought and the colours are gorgeous!
