Yearly Archives: 2016
BECCA x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette (Review & Swatches)
Amid much fanfare (and drama – holy hell – for that story, please see this post), the BECCA x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection has fully launched now in stores.
The Champagne Collection adds Champagne Pop in both a liquid and a poured creme format to BECCA‘s permanent lineup. There was also the eyeshadow palette which I owned and returned (again, those details are in that other post), and finally, this limited edition Champagne Collection Face Palette.
The palette is a solid palette, that’s for sure. It’s got some heft to it and it feels luxurious – which I hugely appreciate. The mirror inside (not pictured) is ENORMOUS. I had heard a few people saying just how wonderful the mirror was and I was like “oh whatever, it’s a mirror”. But seriously… the mirror is AMAZING! It’s not only enormous, but the reflection is razor sharp. Easily one of the best mirrors I have ever owned (and that really feels like such an odd thing to say…).
Sadly, the shade names are just a flimsy overlay that I promptly threw out. That being said, the names are on the back of the palette, so you’re not totally stuck if you throw out the plastic bit like I did.
Okay so… I have to say it… what in god’s name is up with the format of this palette? Who in their right mind thought it would be a good idea to off-center the highlighters? I don’t see the need to have the BECCA/Jaclyn Hill repeated off to the side of the palette when it’s on the TOP of the packaging. This looks so skewed and weird and it’s really, REALLY offputting to me. It just looks like the poor thing is unbalanced! ACK! Anyway… with that off my chest…
The blushes included in the palette are all brand new shades. Rose Spritz is in their new luminous blush formula (I’ve previously reviewed Snapdragon), whereas Amaretto and Pamplemousse (that’s grapefruit in French) are mineral blushes.
Also in the palette are two highlighters in BECCA‘s well known shimmering skin perfector pressed formula. Champagne Pop is the shade we’ve all become absolutely infatuated with (and I’m so glad it’s part of the permanent lineup!) as well as its limited edition little sister, Prosecco Pop. Prosecco Pop is much more golden when compared to the peachyness of Champagne Pop.
(Tutorial on this look coming on Thursday to my YouTube channel. Direct video link here!)
My Thoughts
So the reality is that the BECCA x Jaclyn Hill face palette is limited edition and will not be made permanent. That being said, I have no idea if the popularity of the shades will eventually make BECCA consider making them permanent (as they did with the original Champagne Pop). From my perspective, it would be a waste of time and money to formulate new shades without at least *hoping* to make them permanent in the future. That being said, no one should rely on that. If you like the shades in here, then rest assured that aside from Champagne Pop, all of the other shades are unique to BECCA‘s lineup. This also makes it a very cost effective bundle because BECCA‘s products do not run cheap.
As for the quality of the products, I found them to be completely on par with their other products in the same category. I was especially pleased with Rose Spritz – it was the shade I was least expecting to like and yet it’s become the shade I’ve used the most since I got it. On a fundamental level, Pamplemousse is the shade that originally drew me to the palette and it’s a lovely, lovely colour to wear. Amaretto is an equally fun colour to wear, although I realize it looks exceptionally pale in the shot I showed above – I blended it out to look natural in daylight, but then it appeared to not show up as much on camera – still gorgeous though.
As for the highlighters, I’m not as sold on Prosecco Pop. I was expecting it to be similar to MAC‘s Whisper of Gilt, but found that it could pull very yellow on me depending on what other face products I was wearing. This is a personal thing though and should not deter you from getting it if you’re into the shade. Champagne Pop is, of course, as lovely as ever.
So now you know I love this face palette! Let me know what your thoughts are. Did the drama deter you from picking this up? Or are you as drawn to the shades as I am? Let me know!
Sadly, it seems Sephora Canada is already sold out, but for those of you in the USA, you can pick this up for $52 USD at sephora.com.
Swatch Sunday: Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance
Although I had never owned an Anastasia Beverly Hills palette before, I knew that the Modern Renaissance palette was going to be MINE!
It’s chockful of warm tones, namely a few RED shades. I can’t even express my excitement that makeup companies are finally starting to produce red eyeshadows in easily available commercial palettes. SO EXCITED!
A Challenge Week will be forthcoming with this palette, in the mean time, please check out the swatches!
Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Swatches
The Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette can be purchased at sephora.ca for $55 CAD or on sephora.com for $42 USD.
An Introduction to Drybar (Sake Bomb + Detox)
I know there’s a lot of people out there familiar with Drybar, but I definitely wasn’t one of them until recently! Here’s a roundup of some of the items I’ve tried recently:
The first items are the Sake Bomb Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner. It’s funny, cuz I’m going into this review having used both bottles up completely, but I had no idea they were even labelled nourishing. I just threw them in my shower and started using them over a month ago.
So here are my thoughts:
- The smell is STRONG. It’s the first thing you’re going to notice when you pop that lid. I did NOT like it when I first used it, but as the month wore on, I started to love to love it.
- I’m a daily hair washer, but these two products combined often left me with hair that hadn’t turned greasy by the next morning (so I could easily go out without washing my hair again if I hadn’t worked out the day prior). This was surprising since I can’t recall another shampoo/conditioner combo doing this to me in recent memory. Pretty impressive!
- The shampoo lathers well and the conditioner hydrates. I wasn’t left with a rat’s nest that required leave in conditioner either! My hair has even felt extra bouncy!
- The bottle looks like you’d have to twist the whole dang thing off in order to get the product. WRONG! It comes with a normal flip top lid as I’ve handily pictured below:
- The price point is… different. Both the shampoo and conditioner retail for $30 CAD ($24 USD). I’ll leave it to you to decide if that’s expensive or not. I’m personally slightly aghast at the price tag… but then I remember how well this works in my hair and the temptation to buy it is REAL.
Now, what does Drybar say about their Sake Bomb range? This is “a nourishing shampoo that’s ideal for dry and/or medium-to-coarse hair and creates healthy-looking strands”. I believe I was sent this particular product because I’m blonde and most people assume my hair colour is fake (it’s not). That being said, I found that this did work incredibly well on my hair, even going so far as to keep the grease at bay on day two! Is the price tag worth it? I’m not going to make that judgement call for you because we all come from different lifestyles. Me personally? I think I’ll be picking this up again! (But will likely wait for the Sephora sale to do so!)
Next up is the Drybar Detox Dry Shampoo and Dry Conditioner. These smell identical to the Sake Bomb products above, but wayyy more intense.
The Dry Shampoo does its job (and what more do you really want from a dry shampoo?). When I need a dry shampoo -which isn’t too often, to be honest – I need it to blast the grease in my hair and murder it quickly so I can last the next few hours before I make it to my shower (namely when I’m going for a quick coffee or running errands, etc.). I’ve also used it to create volume for backcombing, and it also does that as well. Heads up though… let it soak in before you rub it in with your fingers. I get a bit of a whitecast even on my blonde hair so you REALLY need to comb it through to make sure you get all of the powder doing its soaky-uppy job. My husband has used it too and it worked wonders on his super greasy second day hair!
The Dry Conditioner... I hate to end this post on a bad note… but I don’t get this product at all. Supposedly this is “a dry conditioner that extends the life of a blowout by providing the benefits of a conditioner without the need to wet hair and blow dry afterwards.” You’re encouraged to use this from the middle of the hair shaft downwards… and yet… that’s not where I need the oomph in my hair when it’s fighting the second day hair grease battle. It also doesn’t detangle my hair when it’s knotty so I can’t figure out what the heck to use this for. If you have suggestions, PLEASE tell me – I would love to know how to use this product correctly!
So there’s my roundup! Loved the shampoo and conditioner, as well as the dry shampoo. I can do without the dry conditioner, but hey… three out of four is pretty darn good! Let me know what you’ve tried by Drybar – what works, what doesn’t. I’d love to hear both. 🙂
The products featured in this review were sent to me for consideration.
Too Faced Sweethearts Additions (Review & Swatches)
With the launch of their summer collection, Too Faced added two brand new items to their Sweethearts lineup!
Until now, the Sweethearts lineup had always been all about that blush life. This launch introduced us to a new blush *and* a bronzer shade! (And you KNOW how I feel about bronzers!)
Encased in ridiculously adorable packaging, the Sparkling Bellini blush has three stripes of oranges and pinks.
Since two of the shades in the pan are more on the orange side of things, this blush does lean quite orangey-coral. It’s also worth noting that there is some particles of glitter in the mix that will adhere to your skin. If you’re adverse to glitter, go easy with your brush!
In Sparkling Bellini, the middle stripe had the least amount of frost/glitter in it. This is a very luminous blush – to the point where you may not even need a highlighter. I wore it a few days without highlighter, but then ultimately decided I still needed BECCA’s Champagne Pop in my life! 😉
With my incredible love for bronzers, I was most interested by the Sweet Tea Sweethearts Bronzer. *Especially* because the left half of the pan can look almost grey/white in some lighting.
In terms of customizing your bronzer tone, this product works out really well. If you’re a bit paler, you can stick to the left hand side. Darker toned? The right hand side. Or do what I do and swirl the brush into the two of them! Unlike the blush, the bronzer does not have glitter particles.
Pigmentation is STRONG on these! I should probably opt for the paler side until I get my full summer tan, but I’ve been swirling my brush into the two shades and going in with a very light hand and blending out like crazy just so I can use the product to their full effect.
I’m wearing Sweet Tea on my temples, backs of my cheekbones and along my jaw line. Sparkling Bellini has been applied to my cheeks and blended backwards.
You can get a very subtle glow with both the bronzer and the blush, which is something I really appreciate.
OR, you can amp it up and get a lot more colour impact out of both of them.
Final Thoughts
This was my first time trying any of the Too Faced Sweethearts products and I have to say they’re a lot of fun to use, although there is a bit of a learning curve.
I found the Sweet Tea bronzer intensely pigmented, which I definitely wasn’t expecting based on how luminous it looks in the pan. In my experience, luminosity usually means more sheerness in the powder but that definitely wasn’t the case this time! I had to scale back my bronzing technique in order to get the flush I wanted. If you’re fair, don’t be afraid! The product does blend out nicely so you’re not left with any kind of streaks! This is also potentially great news for those who are a deeper skintone than me and need that extra pigmentation to make a bronzer work for them.
Sparkling Bellini blush was also super pigmented and I definitely booped too much on my cheek the first time I applied it (I wish I had a shot of that, I looked hilarious!). With a gentle hand, this is a gorgeous blush that comes with its own built in subtle highlighter. You will find small particle shimmer suspended in the blush which will stick to your cheeks – just a heads up for those who are adverse to any kind of glitter.
The new Sweethearts bronzer and blush are permanent additions to the Too Faced lineup and each retail for $30 USD (blush, bronzer) or $38 CAD (blush, bronzer).
The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.