Yearly Archives: 2016
Swatch Sunday: Anastasia Beverly Hills Maya Mia
The Anastasia Beverly Hills Maya Mia palette was released in the last few months of 2014, but it’s only made its way into my collection recently via a beauty blogger swap.
At first I felt the colouring of this palette was really coordinated, except for that aqua shade thrown in the mix. What a bizarre colour to chuck in there. While I haven’t actually used the aqua shade yet, I can say that the other shades have been glorious. Glisten, Sienna and Caramel are pure perfection!
Anastasia Beverly Hills Maya Mia Swatches
If you managed to get your hands on this when it first launched, then you’re quite lucky as it’s no longer available for sale!
Skincare Saturday: BVspa Pink Grapefruit
BVspa is a new to me brand that is available (recently I think?) at Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada for an extremely reasonable price point. “BV” in their name stands for Bon Vital and they were originally created in 1988 as a solution for massage therapist who felt that they didn’t have enough product selection. BVspa seems to only have three scent ranges and I opted for Pink Grapefruit since I’m a sucker for citrus scents. They also have a Pomegranate & Acai Berry range, as well as a Lavender and Rosemary one.
The products I was most interested to try out were the Sugar and Salt Scrubs. Overall, I’m more familiar with Sugar Scrubs and this one performed like all the others I had tried in the past: great at exfoliating and gentle enough to be used consistently. The one I fell in love with though was the Salt Scrub – this one was AWESOME! Because the salt grains have sharper edges, you can really get into your skin to remove all the dead skin. And no, sharper edges doesn’t mean this’ll hurt you – it’s just better at doing its job when compared to the Sugar Scrub.
The only thing I noticed with both of these is that when I was rinsing it off my skin, it bled down my skin in rivulets that looked like milk. Didn’t affect the product at all, but I guess that means there’s some kind of white tint in the product?
Once you’ve scrubbed yourself down in the shower, it’s time to lather up with some moisturizer. In terms of body lotions, these are fairly standard. The Body Butter, of course, has a higher level of hydration, but I found it was a bit too thick for my liking and it definitely left me with white looking legs for a while until it completely soaked in. For me, the Body Lotion was the clear winner out of the two and I’ve been using it regularly as my full body moisturizer (which I apply before going to bed). It soaked in quickly and gave me the exact amount of hydration my skin needed (they label it as moderate, which I would agree with).
So, is BVspa as new to you as it is to me? Let me know if you’ve tried out this brand!
The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.
VIDEO: Black Eyes, Black Lips Makeup Tutorial
Make Up For Ever Water Blend (Review, Swatches & Face Comparison)
It’s pretty rare that I like a foundation right out of the gate, and even moreso continue to like it after several weeks of testing it. But when you decide to wear that a particular foundation to your cousin’s wedding – well… that’s when you know it’s up to snuff!
And that foundation is Make Up For Ever‘s new Water Blend foundation for face and body!
Water Blend is a “a lightweight, water-gel, face and body foundation that provides sheer to buildable coverage with a natural-looking, dewy glow and [a] flawless finish”. It’s formulated with 80% water, so you will need to shake this thoroughly before you use it on your face.
Let’s cover a few things right out of the gate. This is a sheer coverage foundation that can be built up for extra coverage, but, because of the consistency, I really don’t feel like you’re ever going to get true full coverage (and really, why would you buy something labeled sheer if you wanted full coverage anyway?). For me, sheer coverage is what I look for in foundations so I was really happy to find that this not only promised that, but delivered it as well. Water Blend gives me an even skin tone without looking cakey or thick. And that’s the best part – this foundation does promise natural coverage and it delivers! (Face shots just below.)
Although I can appear quite pink-toned on my face, I like using yellow based foundations to counteract my pinkness and honestly I think it just brings me up to a more neutral level of skin tone. Y225 (Marble) is a winter shade for me, whereas Y245 (Soft Sand) is more of a summer colour (and I use the same colours in their Ultra HD formula as well). I found it had a bit of a gloopy/gelatinous feel when pumped onto my hand and that it applied best with a damp sponge. I also liked it best when applied without a primer, which is kind of unusual for me since I usually get “itchy face syndrome” (yes, I made that up) when I wear foundation without a primer. No such problem with this one!
This is one layer of Water Blend applies to my face. You can see it evened out my skin tone, but it’s still letting my freckles shine through. It won’t cover deeper redness (for example, around my nostrils) – you’d need a concealer for that if you’re looking for that kind of coverage.
Wearing full makeup with Water Blend as my foundation. Tutorial on this look coming to my YouTube channel tomorrow! – here’s the link!
And this was me wearing at it at my cousin’s wedding with my shitty front facing phone cam!
Final Thoughts
On me, I feel this foundation is flawless – it really, REALLY does not look makeup at all.. It’s one of the most lightweight, comfortable foundations I’ve ever worn. (It is also *very* reminiscent of Bourjois’ Healthy Mix Serum which has been a longstanding favourite of mine.) It also lasts and entire work day (7:30 am – 5:00 pm), doesn’t make me look or feel extra greasy and it didn’t build up or cake into my forehead lines or around my nose (almost completely unheard for me!).
I was also astounded to find that it did not transfer to a tissue. One of my habits when testing a foundation is to touch my face halfway throughout the work day with a piece of tissue just to see if any product comes off. In general, every foundation has left some kind of residue on the tissue – EXCEPT THIS ONE. What kind of witchcraft has Make Up For Ever done with this foundation??Although the price is a little elevated on this foundation compared to their Ultra HD, keep in mind that you’re actually getting more than your average amount. A typical bottle of foundation is 30ml/1 ounce, Water Blend has 45ml/1.5 ounces of product!
If you couldn’t already tell – I’m in love. Water Blend has completely knocked it out of the park for me!
You can buy Make Up For Ever‘s Water Blend foundation at sephora.ca for $54 CAD or on sephora.com for $43 USD.
The products featured in this review were sent to me for consideration.