Tag Archives: The Body Shop

Empties – August through October

October 17, 2014Empties, MiscellaneousAveeno, Benefit, Briogeo, CoverGirl, derma e, Julep, MAC, Marrakesh, Neutrogena, Pixi, Revlon, Sephora, St. Ives, The Body Shop, TweezermanChelle

201410_empties1

Time to rifle through my garbage! Makeup items first, all the boring stuff after that.

I loved this polish like nobody’s business. Kalyn had sent me a package of Julep polishes after I had won them on her blog and I dove nose-deep into this disco glitter one. Julep‘sParis is a 3D glitter polish that seems to hint gold more than silver. I wore this sucker out on my toes for several months and eventually finished up the entire bottle.

Repurchase? Unlikely only because it’s a mail order thing and I prefer to pick up my stuff in stores.

I bought MAC‘s Feline eye pencil because it was hyped up several years back on YouTube. It was supposed to be the blackest pencil available and would stay on my waterline. Well… it’s black. But it’s also incredibly smudgy and would never really stay put if I used it as a solid line. This was great for smudging out and creating smokey looks, but it usually had to be set with a powder to keep it from transferring. Wouldn’t stick on my waterline either. And unfortunately, the closer I got to the bottom of the pencil, the more it just kept breaking off. :/

Repurchase? Nah.

Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain + Balm in Twilight

I love the Revlon lipstains + balms something fierce. They may be drying, but they feel “normal” on the lips. I don’t have to be worried about my lip product transferring to clothing, food, glasses, etc., and that’s a huge relief to me. This product was in myProducts to Use Up in 2014 post and I’ve only just now reached the point where it’s dry enough that it’s not worth wearing anymore.

Repurchase: Yes, but a different colour.

CoverGirl‘s Clump Crusher mascara is a long standing favourite of mine: It separates my lashes well, the brush is fun and easy to use and the product doesn’t clump up. So with that being said, I don’t know what the hell was wrong with this tube but it sucked. It was too dry and didn’t work as well as the previous tubse I had purchase. This may have something to do with the fact that I picked it up at a discounted price at Winners one day, so it’s possible I just got a really old tube. (Ew)

Repurchase: Yes, definitely, but I’ll be picking it up at a drugstore next time!

I was gifted this pair of Tempting lashes from Sephora‘s collection by a friend who didn’t think she’d wear them. I didn’t get as much use out of these as I expected given the price tag associated with these suckers. I think maybe 3-4 uses? The band tended to straighten out more than I would like, which gave me a lot of grief when I would apply them. The effect was pretty, but not quite as voluminous as I tend to like my false lashes.

Purchase? Nope.

Soooo I didn’t realize that eyelash curlers aren’t supposed to hurt. I just assumed that since they look like torture devices, they’re actually supposed to feel like them too. Since this was my first ever pair of eyelash curlers, I really didn’t know any better. I left them at home by accident when I went on vacation and “had to” buy a new pair from a different brand at Sephora. The difference was unbelievable and I’ve since learned that theTweezerman eye lash curlers SUCK for my eye shape! I am so happy to discover that something can fit my eyeball shape better!

Repurchase? A world of no.

Benefit‘s Big Easy foundation (BB cream?) has certainly seen some hype, so I was interested in trying the sample packet I got from Sephora. However… First of all, there isn’t enough in one of those little swatchy things to actually do your whole face. Secondly, my skin was too dark for their third and fourth darkest shades and yet the 5th darkest said was way too dark. I mixed all three together and even then had barely enough to cover my face. The colour was still off. I’m kind of meh on the skin colours and the product didn’t wow me either.

Purchase? Not worth it in my book.

Another freebie from a friend! Pixi‘s Flawless and Poreless primer was… okay? I guess? I didn’t notice it actually doing anything under my foundation, but I felt compelled to use it anyway.

Purchase? No, I don’t see the point in it really.

You’ve seen these before, so I’ll be brief. Neutrogena Makeup Removing wipes are god-like. The Hydrating ones are better.

Repurchase? Yep!

Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer

Aveeno‘s Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer is a staple in my skin care routine. Love this.

Repurchase? Forever and a day.

derma e Microdermabrasion Scrub and Fortune Cookie Soap Walnut Facial Scrub in Swankified

derma e Microdermabrasion Scrub: Small sample from my Ipsy bag. It was fine. Smelled a little too much of fake lemon.

Purchase? Unlikely.

Fortune Cookie Soap Walnut Facial Scrub in Swankified: I hated this by the end of the bottle. It worked fine on my face, but the scent was gag-inducing to me.

Purchase? NO!

I don’t know if this actually smells like what Shea Butter smells like, but I couldn’t care less, this stuff is delicious. The Body Shop‘s Shea Butter scent is almost masculine and rather cologne-like. And I seriously love it. This is a wonderful scent and a fantastic product.

Repurchase? Definitely.

Marrakesh Endz and Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair

Two samples from Ipsy.

Marrakesh Endz: I quite liked this actually. It smelled faintly of cinnamon and was thick and creamy. The ends of my hair seem fine, but I also recently had a hair cut, so who the heck knows if it actually works.

Repurchase? Possibly, if I saw it at a discount store.

Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair Deep Conditioning Mask: This stuff SUCKED. I used it as the instructions said and it didn’t leave my hair feeling nice at all. If anything, my hair was sticky and close to uncomb-able after using it. What a piece of crap.

Repurchase? NO!

St. Ives Oatmeal & Shea Butter Hydrating Body Wash was left at my place by a guest who had come and stayed for a while. I finished it up because why would I let it go to waste? It was okay. The scent wasn’t amazing to me, but it was a perfectly serviceable body wash.

Purchase? Unlikely.

Empties – February 2014

February 10, 2014Empties, MiscellaneousAbsolute!, Ardell, Bath & Body Works, China Glaze, Clinique, CoverGirl, Embryolisse, Illamasqua, Jack Black, L'Occitane, L'Oreal, Laura Mercier, Lindesa, Marcelle, Nourish Organic, Revlon, Sabon, The Body Shop, Urban DecayChelle

201402_empties1

Nope, not a La Senza haul, instead this is a product empties post and that big ole La Senza bag just happens to house all of them.

Having never really saved my empty products until I created this blog, I was a bit surprised that I had enough empties for another blog post only three months after my last one. I’m only posting products I’d actually haul – so you’re not going to be seeing shampoos and toothpaste in here.

First up are the actual makeup products, because I know that’s what interests me most when I read these kinds of posts.

CoverGirl Clump Crusher (water resistant) and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black (waterproof)

These are my two staple mascaras. The CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara is probably my favourite out of the two of them, but even though this is the water resistant formula (a true waterproof one doesn’t actually exist in this formula) is really isn’t water resistant at all. I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating, if you get water near your lashes while wearing this, it will definitely run or smear. That being said, the formula really is fantastic and it’s worth wearing – although I stick to the summer months when my eyes are less likely to tear up.

During the winter, or when I need a truly waterproof mascara, I’ll use L’Oreal‘s Voluminous Carbon Black mascara. I always come back to this formula, but I definitely prefer it when it’s in the “wet-er” stages, which is within the first month of opening a new tube. I’m currently using another tube of the L’Oreal one right now.

Verdict:
CoverGirl Clump Crusher (water-resistant) – definite re-buy
L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black (waterproof) – definite re-buy

The Revlon Lip Butter in Cherry Tart is a beautiful shade on the lips, it goes on smooth and looks rather glossy. The wear time is about average for a balm (~1.5 hours before you need to re-apply) so don’t expect this to be a particularly long lasting product. I’ve used up as much as I can get out of the tube without actually digging into the bottom of the bullet (can’t be bothered really). While it’s lovely on the lips, I’ve also grown rather tired of the maintenance required with non-long-lasting lip colours so while I like the colour, I just don’t have the patience to keep touching up my lip colour every hour or so.

Verdict: Unlikely re-buy

These Ardell 102 Demis are my favourite false lashes to wear and I have certainly worn these to death. I don’t wear false lashes often (once or twice a month, if even) and I believe I got about 8-10 uses out of these. They’re starting to look rather gungy (not to mention they’re also quite old) so it was time to just throw these out and start in on a fresh pair.

Verdict: Definite re-buy – I’ve already got another set waiting in the wings!

This Jack Black balm was included in my Products I Want To Use Up In 2014 post, and I’m happy to have finished it. You can see remnants in the tube, but I really can’t squeeze anymore of it out. This product was… adequate. I don’t feel it did much for my lips, neither helpful nor destructive, it was just kind of there. It was great for protecting against windburn throughout the winter since its main ingredient is petrolatum. The thing I liked most about this product is that it comes in a squeezy tube, which makes it easy to apply. I’m not a germaphobe at all, and double dipping in my potted lip products really doesn’t bother me from a hygienic point of view, but I reaIly wish more lip products came like this if only because it’s so much easier to apply on the go.

Verdict: Unlikely to purchase again

l-r: Clinique Superprimer Universal Face Primer, Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden, L’Occitane Delicious Hands Almond, Illamasqua Hydra Veil, Laura Mercier Face Polish, Nourish Organic Face Lotion, Laura Mercier Foundation Primer

I know sample size empties are hardly exciting, but sometimes they’re worth mentioning for that first impression.

Clinique Superprimer Universal Face Primer – Won’t buy full size

I used this just for the sake of using it. I didn’t notice it affecting how long my foundation lasted on my skin, but then again I’m not prone to foundation just sliding right off my face in the first place.

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden – not sure what to think…

I’m not sure what to think about this. I started using this primer right around the time where even my Original UDPP started creasing on me (which shocked and frightened me, to be perfectly honest), so my only exposure to Eden is to say that it creased on me. But so did my usual primer at the time. So maybe it was a weird hormonal fluctuation in my skin, but this didn’t work out for me at the time that I used it.

L’Occitane Delicious Hands Almond – won’t buy full size

Smelled like almonds and worked well but it’s pricey and not a scent I’d usually pay a lot of money.

Illamasqua Hydra Veil – possible purchase

My first exposure to a gel moisturizer – this felt SO COOL. When I think of gels (of any kind), I think of alcohol, so I didn’t really understand how the heck this was going to moisturize my skin. This felt really neat on the skin and I *loved* the smell of it. However, at the $48 CAD price point, I’d have to be gifted this because I’m perfectly happy with my Aveeno facial moisturizer and that is way too steep of a price in my books.

Laura Mercier Face Polish – won’t buy full size

This felt cool to use, but it’s not something I really need or want. The granules in the polish are so small that they actually feel kind of soothing as you rub it into your wet skin.

Nourish Organic Face Lotion – will avoid for life

The smell became rather sickening after a while and after this dried down on my face it felt like I had a thin mask over my face that I had to crack just by moving my features around. Unpleasant all around.

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer – won’t buy full size

Just like the Clinique one, I don’t find this foundation primer actually did anything for my makeup. /shrugs

I used the pants out of this China Glaze shade. Kiwi Cool-Ada was a matte neon polish (use a top coat to get some shine) that just glowed in the daylight. Since the polish went on rather streaky, you usually needed about three coats before it looked perfect.

Verdict: Possible re-buy, but I’d rather use up some of my other polishes first.

Marcelle Gentle Makeup Remover for Sensitive Eyes has been my go-to makeup remover for years and years. It’s an oil-based remover (shake before using) which, of course, ensures that it’ll take off any and all waterproof makeup. I find this works just as well as MAC‘s makeup remover (the one in the red/pink tube), if not better, and at almost half the price. Since the Marcelle normally runs around $15, I usually wait for a sale at Shoppers and/or buy it when it’s in the larger bonus size bottle (like the one above – 33% more product). I can’t recommend this enough, I’ve been using this remover for well over six years now and haven’t found anything better.

Verdict: Forever repurchase

Absolute! Makeup Cleansing Tissues – Pomegranate Extract

It’s hard to vocalize just how disgusting these Make-Up Cleansing Tissues from Absolute! are. I saw on the Ipsy forums that someone referred to these as smelling like beer… and they nailed it. In my original Ipsy review, I said that they smelled like some kind of alcoholic fruity drink, and I was kind of close, but also off the mark. These smell like beer that has gone rancid. They don’t smell like pomegranate, that’s for sure. And they don’t even work that well either – removing waterproof mascara was a nightmare and I’m fairly certain I pulled out more lashes than I actually cleaned. (Let it be known that it also said on the packaging that it would remove waterproof mascara.)

Verdict: You couldn’t PAY me to use these again – avoid like the plague

The Body Shop Body Butters – Satsuma & Coconut

The Body Shop Body Butters are legendary – I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard of someone disliking them. They’re thick, moisturizing and these two in particular, Satsuma andCoconut, smell especially fantastic. Satsuma was my favourite one out of these two and I’ve got a backup sitting on a bookshelf behind me.

Verdict: Love these and will definitely repurchase at some point.

I picked up Embryolisse‘s Lait-Creme Concentre while vacationing in France in 2012 (picked up a few tubes actually, this was my last one) because I’d heard so many people rave about it. And it’s… okay. It’s not especially expensive (under 10 euros I think), which is rather nice, and cheaper, than my usual facial moisturizer. It feels kind of fancy to say you use French skincare that you bought in France… but the reality is that I didn’t notice anything different about my skin after using this cream. It smelled like generic “unfragranced” skincare and goes on smoothly.

Verdict: Will repurchase if I’m in Europe again.

Bath & Body Works – Midnight Pomegranate Body Lotion

This Bath & Body Works lotion in Midnight Pomegranate took me forever to use up. It’s one of the mini bottles, but the scent was so strong that it was actually incredibly overpowering when I used this a few times at the office (just ask my coworkers from several offices over). I was happy to finish this up (and I’m still struggling with the 3-wick candle I have in the same scent, although I have to say the candle is far less powerful than the lotion) but it’s not something I can say I really enjoyed. The lotion is on the thin side and really didn’t seem to do anything other than fragrance my skin.

Verdict: Won’t repurchase

I was given this Lindesa hand cream as a gift and I believe it came from a German Christmas market. The cream seems to contain a substantial amount of beeswax, so it could feel pretty heavy on the hands. The smell was really nice, although mild, and it was a great moisturizer for when my hands were on the drier side.

Verdict: Unlikely re-buy since I have no idea where to even get it!

I never see any Sabon products mentioned in the beauty world but I love their products so much. I first discovered them in New York City about seven years ago by accident. They also have a location in Toronto, but it’s nowhere especially close to where I live. Anyway, this Body Gel Polisher is fantastic, it’s a full body exfoliant, but you don’t need a ton of product to get the desired effect. I quite like the Lemon Mint smell, although I’ve been told my others who got a whiff of it that they can’t stand the smell of it – to each their own!

Verdict: Will repurchase when convenient.

Not an especially exciting empties roundup, but I was happy to empty out my bag of garbage!

November 2013 Favourites

December 1, 2013Favourites, MiscellaneousBourjois, Dior, NYX, Revlon, Tarte, The Body ShopChelle

201311_favourites

Time for my monthly roundup of the beauty products I’ve been reaching for the most over the month of November!

Tarte‘s Blissful blush is a fairly untraditional blush to be constantly using during the fall months, but it’s what I ended up reaching for the most. It’s definitely more of a summer shade since it’s quite coral, but for whatever reason I was gravitating towards it a lot throughout November. It’s a beautiful shade (and the first blush I ever owned!) that blends onto the skin wonderfully. It can go on the skin quite strong in pigmentation, so if you don’t want a very strong colour on your cheeks, apply it lightly and build up as needed.

After my NYX Butter Gloss buying rampage over the last month, I settled on using Creme Brulee the most. It’s a “goes with anything” shade, which makes it pretty painless when you can’t figure out what will match your eyeshadows. Smooth and creamy, *any* of the Butter Glosses are worth picking up!

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Cherries in the Snow

Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL shade. Revlon‘s Cherries in the Snow isn’t available for purchase in Canada as far as I can tell, so I remedied this problem for myself by buying it through Amazon.com. Personally, I find it to be a very deep, hot pink colour, but every time someone commented on my lips while I was wearing this, the person referred to it as “red”. As I’m finding with all of Revlon‘s Super Lustrous lipsticks, this wears smoothly, feels comfortable on the lips, and lasts for hours at a time.

DIOR Diorskin Shimmer Star in Amber Diamond

Dior‘s Amber Diamond is beautiful, although not necessarily that unique. I’ll admit it’s a beautiful compact – the product looks gorgeous and the compact has a rather large mirror (and no wasted space for those nasty brushes that some companies give you!), but the shade itself, while stunning, is not all that different in consistency from MAC‘s Soft and Gentle. That being said, it is slightly more amber/copper than Soft and Gentle which is what I wanted throughout November. I also feel like this is a neverending product – I’ve used this same powder off and on for over a year now and I have yet to see ANY dent in the product!

Revlon Photoready Bronzer in Bronzed & Chic

Revlon‘s Bronzed & Chic bronzer has four blocks of varying bronzer colour which allow for customization based on your own skin’s shade. Surprisingly, I dip more into the darker shade, although I end up applying it quite lightly. It’s completely matte, which can help balance off a very shimmery eye look. Since the product is so matte, it can also be used to contour your face, although this isn’t something I do personally.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation in 52 Vanilla

As we move into the cooler months, I end up wearing less and less foundation (partly because I can’t stand how gross winter jacket collars can get when you see foundation stains on them). Since Bourjois‘ Healthy Mix Serum (currently wearing shade 52 Vanilla) is a very light, gel-like foundation, it’s a nice, easy one to wear that doesn’t feel heavy on the skin. The berry scent of the foundation makes applying the foundation feel rather refreshing, which is not something I’ve ever felt while applying any other foundation. It’s not the longest wearing foundation, so if you’re super concerned with having a flawless look that will last all day, then this may not be the foundation for you. For me though, it’s an everlasting favourite. As I get paler throughout the winter months, I also have the next shade down (51 Light Vanilla) ready and waiting!

The picture above pretty much speaks for itself – I finished this Coconut Body Butter fromThe Body Shop over the last month. The scent is long-lasting on the skin and smells pretty fantastic, although I wouldn’t call it a genuine coconut scent… it’s more the synthetic coconut scent that we’ve grown accustomed to in products over the years.

So that’s my monthly roundup of the products I’ve been loving. We’ll see what next month brings!

What I Bought This Month – November 2013 Haul

November 29, 2013HaulsFantasy Makers, Garnier, Laura Mercier, MAC, Maybelline, MUA, NYX, Real Techniques, Revlon, Tarte, The Body ShopChelle

Brace yourselves, this is a big one. I’ll include reviews for some of the products if I’ve used them long enough to form an opinion.

Out of sheer frustration with my Maybelline gel liner, I picked up MAC‘s fluidline inBlacktrack. I had used up an entire tub of it before, but had decided to try the cheaperMaybelline one to see if I preferred it. What a mistake. The Maybelline one had a nasty habit of smearing near the outer corners of my eyes, a problem I’ve never encountered with MAC‘s gel liner. The Maybelline one was also significantly stiffer and less fluid to apply. I certainly don’t intend to stray from this MAC product again!

Fantasy Makers Glitter Palette in Fairy Flight ($4.99 CAD)

This product absolutely enrages me. I love Wet n Wild (although I’ve never used any of their cream products) and Fantasy Makers is a derivative of that company. I picked up this glitter palette in Fairy Flight shortly after Halloween (as it was a leftover from their Halloween display at the drug store) thinking that I could use the glitters for something fun.

Wrong. So wrong.

These aren’t even GLITTERY! There’s an overspray of glitter, but it certainly doesn’t go any deeper into the product. That gorgeous dark blue with shimmer on it? It’s just black underneath. The first swipe removes all of the glitter and you’re left with nothing but a black base. The same is true of all the colours – any of the glitter that you see is just an overspray. So frustrating.

Not to be deterred, I thought I’d at least give the products a shot. I decided to use them as a base for eyeshadows (over top of my usual primer from Urban Decay). I tried out the pale green and the darker green, but within four hours of application my makeup was almost completely disintegrated. It got SO BAD that I actually took my eye makeup off at work. Which is something I don’t think I’ve ever done.

Here’s a look at it. The shot on the left was before I left for work, and the one on the right was taken around noon (so about four hours into wearing the makeup).

I haven’t tried them again on my eye, but just for laughs, I thought I’d swatch them on my hand as I’m typing this to see if maybe I could use them as face paint later on. But ten minutes later, they’re still wet, and smudgy, which makes them pretty much unusable for anything at all. Straight into the bin with this one! What a waste.

MUA Matte Foundation in Shade 1 Soft Sand – £1.00 GBP

MUA is a company I’ve always looked at whenever I visited the UK, but not one I ever purchased products from. They were recently having free international shipping so I took advantage. I picked up their matte foundation in Shade 1 Soft Sand. I do especially like that even though it doesn’t come with a pump, it is at least a squeeze tube with a nozzle which makes it very easy for dispensing product.

At £4, this was one of the most expensive items I picked up from MUA. Having never tried a BB cream before (I know, shock, horror), I decided the best idea would be to pick up a cheap one. (There’s some sarcasm in that statement!) At the moment, MUA‘s BB Cream inLight is just way too light for my skin. I’ll need to wait for the dead of winter before trying this one out again. Again with the nozzle – love it.

I picked up a few of MUA‘s matte lipsticks since they’ve received quite good reviews in the beauty blogging world. They swatch semi decently (and I only say that because Wild Berrywas particularly awful to swatch, but the others were not). At a pound each, they’re quite easy on your wallet. So far I’ve only worn Scarlet Siren and I loved the colour of it on my lips.

MUA Matte Lipsticks – Wild Berry, Scarlet Siren, Peachy Keen

MUA Pearl Eyeshadows in 9, 1, 26 – £1.00 GBP each

These eyeshadows by MUA are absolutely insane. They’re a single pound each and they wear like a dream. The colour payoff is unbelievable and the dimension to the shades is absolutely unheard of in a product that is just so cheap! These are definitely worth purchasing from MUA.

The other “expensive” product from MUA was their 12 pan eyeshadow palette in Pretty Pastels. While going through their palettes on their web site, this one struck me because it was unlike most colours I have in my eyeshadow collection. This palette has a lot of soft colours that will mix well with a lot of my brighter shades. The colour payoff is what you’d expect with pastels – very pale, sometimes sheer. As a total surprise though… that innocuous looking light shade in the top left corner? It looks boring as hell, but it has a beautiful pink duochrome to it. Very lovely colour.

MAC‘s Prep + Prime for Lips is something that I can no longer be without. If I’m wearing a lipstick, I have to have this underneath as a base layer for my lips. I discussed it at length in my recent empties blog post, but, in short, this prevents bleeding, feathering and makes my lipstick stay on for hours. You need this in your life.

Real Techniques – Expert Face Brush ($6.74 USD) and Blush Brush ($8.98 USD)

I had a credit for amazon.com and decided to pick up some products that are not regularly available in Canada. The Real Techniques kits are sold at Walmart here, but the individual brushes are not. I don’t have enough face brushes, so I picked up the Expert Face Brush(which has been much raved about in the beauty community) and the Blush Brush. I’ve never actually owned a “proper” blush brush and have been using my MAC 130 dual fiber brush for blush. I’m loving the soft fluffiness of the Blush Brush and have used it to apply my blush every day since I got it (it does work better for softer products though. I find it struggles to pick up product with “harder” blushes). I do like the Expert Face Brush as well although it does feel rather small for applying foundation.

Maybelline Vivids lipstick in Neon Red ($4.97 USD)

Oddly enough, Maybelline‘s Vivids line in Canada does not include Neon Red. Why we get some shades, but not all of them (this goes for various makeup brands), I’ll never know. I love the entirety of the Vivids line and this is no exception. The shade does lean rather orange.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Cherries in the Snow (Creme) – $6.92 USD

As one of Revlon‘s longest standing lipstick shades (from the 1950s), I’m really curious as to why Cherries in the Snow is not available in Canada. I searched many a drugstore for this one and was never able to find it. As I was making my amazon.com order, I made sure to include this shade. While I see a lot of pink to this shade, almost everyone who commented on this lipstick while I was wearing it referred to it as red. /shrugs All I know is that I love it!

Be still my heart. This is a thing of beauty. With Sephora’s VIB sale fast approaching, I knew I wanted to pick up Tarte‘s Off The Cuff palette since I had missed out on their holiday blush set the previous year by waiting too long. Of course, the first day of the VIB sale I discovered I wasn’t ACTUALLY a VIB member of Sephora and couldn’t get this with the 20% discount. At this point it didn’t matter, I just wanted to get my hands on it. Tarte‘s Blissful was the first blush I ever owned and they remain my favourite blushes to this day. I don’t have a lot of them as they are quite expensive individually, so this was a perfect opportunity to get more bang for my buck.

The palette comes with four blush shades (Crave, Dazzled, Darling and Dollface) and their infamous Park Avenue Princess bronzer. The texture of the blushes is consistent with Tarte‘s standards and I’m really happy I picked this one up while I did because that very same day they sold out online and in stores. Phew!

Laura Mercier Artist Palette – $48 CAD (regularly $60 CAD)

This Artist palette is my first introduction to Laura Mercier products. This is another one I waited for Sephora’s VIB sale to pick up. However, despite not actually being VIB status, the woman at the cash sold it to me at the discounted price anyway, which I didn’t even notice until after I’d paid! I had to make a mad dash between Sephora stores as the one near my office sold out before I got there (and this also sold out online as well). I’ve used it several times since I picked it up and I love the feel of these eyeshadows – they blend beautifully and the pigmentation is fantastic. (The matte shades remind me a lot of MAC‘s Matte2 formula.) The shimmery purple with gold in it, African Violet, is a particular favourite of mine.

Oh man, I’m not even going to pretend like I have a reasonable explanation for this one. A lovely friend of mine in the US sent me two of NYX‘s butter glosses after I lamented about how I couldn’t find them anywhere in Toronto. Being the wonderful person that she is, she sent me two as a surprise (Creme Brulee and Maple Blondie). I received them, freaked out, applied them, freaked out again, logged online and ordered the whole damn set from a vendor on Ebay. It was like instantaneous loss of willpower. I BOUGHT THE WHOLE SET AND I’M NOT (completely) ASHAMED! These smell like vanilla, cream and candy.

Since the numbering/colouring system of these glosses seems to be totally out of whack, I decided to put them in some kind of colour gradient order. Which certainly isn’t helping me now that I want to name them. Ugh. Well done Chelle. Anyway, as per the above picture, the colours are (left to right): Strawberry Parfait, Merengue, Eclair, Vanilla Cream Pie, Tiramisu, Creme Brulee, Apple Strudel, Maple Blondie, Peaches and Cream, Cherry Cheese Cake, Peach Cobbler, Cherry Pie. And that’s it. I’m so done with glosses. I don’t need ANY more.

Garnier Moisture Rescue Cleansing Cloths – $5.99 CAD

Garnier Cleansing Cloths were on sale for $5.99 (regular price is somewhere around the eleven dollar mark). I’ve never tried them before, but as I’ve said in the past, if it says it removes waterproof makeup, it’s worth a shot!

The Body Shop’s Body butters in Satsuma and Shea Butter – $10 CAD each

The Body Shop was having another sale on selected types of Body Butters. I already ownSatsuma, but I’ve been doing quite the number on it (and the smell is just absolutely amazing) so I picked up another one and grabbed a Shea Butter one at the same. Now, I’m not sure what Shea Butter actually smells like, but I thought it would be slightly nutty. I don’t smell any nuts in the Shea scented one. If anything, it smells slightly like a mens cologne! Lovely scent though.

Revlon Parfumerie nail polish in Autumn Spice – $6.99 CAD

I came across Revlon‘s Parfumerie stand in a Rexall by accident. Although they had been popping up all over US drug stores, I hadn’t expected to see them in Canada so soon (we normally get drugstore makeup releases very late in comparison with the US. And sometimes we don’t even get them at all!). The Parfumerie collection appears to be a permanent addition to Revlon’s range, so don’t feel you need to pick up all of the colours immediately!

I’d heard mixed reviews as to the potency of the scent, but I loved the look of Autumn Spiceso I wanted to give it a try. I had thought that this shade/scent was more reddish, but on the nails it’s definitely brown with sparkle. There may be some red to it, but there isn’t a whole lot that’s apparent. In the bottle, you’ll only be able to smell nail polish, but once you get it on the nails and it dries down, it definitely smells of spices. So much so that while I was sleeping at night, I had to change the position of my hands as they were far too close to my face and I was just constantly inhaling spices. I had several people sniff my nails over the next few days (and yes, asking them to do that is as awkward as it sounds!) and all of them said my nails smelled like cinnamon. I didn’t use a top coat to ensure that the smell would be as potent as possible. However, after this scent trial, I will definitely be applying top coat from now on as the polish was chipping within a few days.

And that’s my beauty and makeup shopping done for the month of November!

October 28, 2013HaulsL'Oreal, Marcelle, Revlon, The Body ShopChelle

One of the things I want to do as a regular post on this blog is to have a haul of beauty items I’ve picked up in the last month. Sometimes I’m sure there will be plenty of things to look at, and sometimes there might be not much of anything. I know I like looking through someone else’s purchases so I thought I’d share my own!

The Body Shop’s Body Butters in Coconut and Satsuma

The Body Shop was having a pretty massive sale on and I snagged these two body butters for $10 each (regular retail price is $20 CAD each). The Satsuma scent is one I remember clearly from my teen years, although back then it was in the form of a glycerin soap from what I can remember. While the scent is near identical to how I remember it over the years, there is a slight edge to the body butter that may be due to the shea and cocoa butter mixed in with it. The coconut scented one is new to me and I had a bit of an internal war over deciding between the coconut or the brazil nut one. In the end, I’m happy with my choice but may go back for others if I happen to spot them on sale again.

I’ve dipped in to the coconut one so far and I can say that it’s a very thick cream that feels slightly waxy/greasy. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but be aware that you may not want to put on your favourite pair of jeans right after slathering it on your legs. For me, it’s more something I apply when I’m lounging around.

This was an easy, blind purchase. I needed makeup removing wipes for when I go to the gym after work and this double pack of Marcelle Cleansing Clothes was being sold at the price of a single pack ($12.50 CAD). I tend to go for wipes that indicate they remove makeup, in particular waterproof makeup… but oddly enough on the single package, it only says it removes makeup in French (although the pink binding package around the two of them does indicate it in English). I’ve not tried them yet as I’m still using up my Simple brand ones, but I do expect good things from these wipes as I quite like their waterproof makeup remover which I’ve been using for years.

L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara (waterproof)

While I do love my Covergirl Clump Crusher, there really isn’t a proper waterproof version of it (the water resistant version is the closest it gets and it isn’t anywhere near water resistant). I’m willing to sacrifice the waterproof formula in the summer, but not for the late fall/winter. I walk to work every day and it can be very windy, rainy and often snowy on some days which inevitably leads to my eyes watering like mad. So for the colder months, I’ve returned to “Old Faithful” – L’Oreal’s Voluminous Carbon Black mascara ($5.99 CAD on sale) in the (ridiculously fantastic) waterproof formula. I’ve been wearing this mascara as long as I can remember, so probably upwards of ten years or so.

L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows (l-r: Goldmine, Tender Caramel, Pepsy Coral)

Now these were an incredibly happy find. While visiting Ottawa over Thanksgiving weekend, my friend Alison (visit her amazing blog here: Ali Does It and be prepared to drool your way through her tasty pictures), her husband, and I stumbled onto a massive warehouse sale via a tip from my grandmother. Some of the makeup selection were duds (like the entire vat full of Maybelline eyeshadows in a single colour), but some of it turned out to be completely worth it. Right now, I’m kicking myself for not picking up the entire selection they had available of L’Oreal’s Infallible eyeshadows, although I’m sure my wallet is thanking me for maintaining some kind of restraint. These shadows are beyond incredible and were only $4 each at the sale (can you see why I wish I had bought more? These normally retail for $12 apiece here in Canada!) The colours I did snag, however, are Goldmine, Tender Caramel and Pepsy Coral.

Another find from the warehouse sale. Revlon’s Photoready Bronzer in “Bronzed & Chic” was a limited edition product from Revlon’s Spring 2012 launch I believe. I think it’s now a permanent product in the US, but in Canada it doesn’t seem to be anywhere on shelves. I had picked up this bronzer back in 2012 and loved it so much that I wanted a backup. So when I saw it for $5 at the warehouse sale, I snatched it up pretty quickly!

Revlon Colorstay Foundation (Combination/Oily) in 150 Buff

Yep, another win from the warehouse sale. With winter coming [insert Game of Thrones joke here], I needed a lighter shade, so I picked up Revlon’s Colorstay 150 Buff in the the Combination/Oily skin type ($6 CAD at the sale, whereas this normally retails for $20!). I was using 220 Natural Beige throughout the summer months but that shade will be far too dark for the dead of winter.

And that’s my beauty haul for the month!