Tag Archives: Marrakesh

Empties – August through October

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

Julep – Paris
Julep – Paris

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.

MAC Kohl Power pencil in Feline
MAC Kohl Power pencil in Feline

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
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 Clump Crusher mascara
CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara

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!

Sephora – Tempting eyelashes
Sephora – Tempting eyelashes

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.

Tweezerman eyelash curlers
Tweezerman eyelash curlers

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 sample size of Big Easy
Benefit sample size of Big Easy

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.

Pixi Flawless & Poreless primer
Pixi Flawless & Poreless primer

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.

Neutrogena Makeup Removing Wipes
Neutrogena Makeup Removing Wipes

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 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 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!

The Body Shop Shea Butter Body Butter
The Body Shop Shea Butter Body Butter

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
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
St. Ives Oatmeal & Shea Butter Hydrating Body Wash

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.

Ipsy – July 2014 Glam Bag

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I’m going to blow the surprise right here, right now.

This bag was amazing. Hands down the best one I’ve had yet. There isn’t a single product in here I won’t use (aside from that hideous, HIDEOUS pink froofy makeup bag that everything came in) and every single one of the products performed way, WAY beyond my expectations. Here’s what I got:

bareMinerals READY eyeshadow 2.0 in The Inspiration
bareMinerals READY eyeshadow 2.0 in The Inspiration

The most exciting product to me was the bareMinerals eyeshadow duo in The Inspiration in a baby-sized palette. The light pink shade is Muse and the purple shade, which has some lovely gold sparkle in it, is Passion. Having never tried any bareMinerals products before, I was super pumped to try these out. And man oh man, did they ever live up to their hype. These went on my eyelids like a dream and the colours were perfect combination to stick in a duo together. After the amazingness of this duo, I will *definitely* be looking into more bareMineralsproducts in the near future.

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry
Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry

*GASP* I love this product so much. I’ve always oogled Benefit‘s lip and cheek tints, but never took the plunge, so I was downright squealing when I got the Elizabeth Mott version of it in my bag. And this product seems to work equally well on both my lips and my cheeks. I believe Cherry is their own colour so far, and it’s a stunner. It smells faintly of cherries, but not that horrific cough medicine scent that I usually associate with artificial cherry scented things.

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry on the cheeks
Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry on the cheeks

Much to my surprise, this lasted throughout the entire work day on my cheeks. The colour is just the colour I want for summer too – slightly pinky-red, so it looks like I’ve been running around and got slightly sunburned. I will say that it seems to eat a bit at my foundation since it’s a liquid product, so be aware when you’re applying not to be too rigorous with your blending. (I blended it in with a Real Techniques Expert Face brush.)

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry on the lips
Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry on the lips

On my lips it comes out slightly more pink, but still… *amazing*! The colour is beautiful and settled onto my lips beautifully. It’s slightly drying, but that’s to be expected of a stain. It does look rather natural, as most stains do on me, so I find this really easy to wear.

I’m so pleased that this worked out so well on both areas it’s supposed to work on. Usually you hear about dual-location stains as really only being any good for one area, not for both.

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Another winner! I wasn’t expecting to like this (never mind love it) after the disaster that was the Be A Bombshell mascara from last monthPur Minerals is a brand I’ve seen often at Shoppers Drug Mart, but never really looked into their products in depth.

First off, the brush wasn’t something I thought I’d enjoy. It’s bulky, rubberized and the mascara kind of clumped around the wand. And then I put it on my lashes and I shut right the hell up with my complaints. This sweeps on easily and coats all my lashes. It lengthens them. Thickens them. And from some angles I look like I’m wearing false lashes. AND it’s truly waterproof. Getting this off was hard work, but I appreciate that because when I need something to be waterproof, I need it to not. freaking. budge. And this definitely did not budge. No flakes throughout the day either, which is something I’m prone to. When I run out of this, and finish up all the other mascaras I have kicking around, I will definitely look into picking this up. (Side note: The top of the packaging has that bubbled on wet look that MAC just made famous with their Alluring Aquatics summer collection this year. Just thought that was really neat!)

Pur~lisse Pur~Protect Essential Daily Moisturizer
Pur~lisse Pur~Protect Essential Daily Moisturizer

This product confuses me. It’s labelled on some sites as a moisturizer and as a sunscreen on others. Pur~lisse‘s Pur~Protect smells heavily of sunscreen (it does have 30 spf after all), so I feel like I’d use it more as a sunscreen than a moisturizer. However, I did use it as my only moisturizer under foundation yesterday and my face didn’t feel especially dry. I’m always happy to receive sunscreens, particularly ones for the face, so even if I don’t use it as a moisturizer I’m still happy with it. (Plus, this is an expensive product on its own in the full size tube.)

Marrakesh – Endz
Marrakesh – Endz

Marrakesh Endz is an argan and hemp oil therapy (but really, it’s a cream product) split end mender and preventer. I don’t truly believe that it can mend split ends (hair is dead after all, and if it’s split at the ends it’s sure as hell not going to re-grow back together again), but I do think it can help my split ends “feel” better.

At the moment I have some really “crackly” ends to my hair. I only get a haircut about once a year and something happened to my hair about two years ago that made it go really crispy (wish I knew what the heck it was). Most of the crispy-ness has thankfully grown out by now, but the last inch or two of my hair still has this horrible straw-like texture to it that I really need to get cut off. All that to say… this stuff actually helped make the ends feel better. Less crunchy, as it were. I think it’s a purely artificial feeling, but hey, I’m not complaining!

The smell isn’t bad either. It’s quite pleasant – the usual argan smell mixed with… cinnamon maybe?

All of that stuff, on ma face
All of that stuff, on ma face

Ipsy July 2014 Breakdown (all prices in USD)

  • bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow 2.0 in The Inspiration ($7.40 for 1g , full size is $20 for 2.7g)
  • Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry (full size, $22.99)
  • pur~lisse pur~protect essential daily moisturizer with 30 spf ($13.63 for 15ml, full size is $55 for 50ml)
  • Marrakesh Hair Care – Endz (smaller bottle size, $5.99)
  • Pür Minerals Big Look Waterproof Mascara ($13.60 for 3.4g, full size is $20 for 5g)

BAG TOTAL = $63.61

Bag full of goodies
Bag full of goodies

My Thoughts

This was the highest value bag from Ipsy so far, and the only one I’ve had to break $60 worth in goodies. As I said at the start, this one was an absolute winner of a bag. Get any of the products if they look like they’re up your alley and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!