Yearly Archives: 2016
Mary Kay Summer 2016 (Review, Swatches & Look)
Mary Kay‘s got a bunch of new products out for Summer 2016, so I grabbed some of them and put together a look alongside some quick reviews. Let’s get into it:
The most eyecatching item was easily the Rose Gold Compact Mini ($22 if bought unfilled).
If you purchase the full compact with shadows, you’re looking at $76 CAD ($54 CAD without the compact). It comes with six shadows in your standard neutral shades. This is the kind of compact absolutely anyone can grab and create an easy day-to-day/work look.
The colours swatched well, and are quite pretty (if not fairly standard fare), but they were really, REALLY powdery in the pan. They applied well, but the kickup in the pan is INTENSE, so be sure to bang your brush off hard before you apply this to you lids!
Also out is a limited edition Beauty That Counts “Hearts Together” lipstick. From May 16, 2016 onwards, $1 of the sale of each lipstick will support the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation in its efforts to support women living with cancer and to help end violence against women by providing grants to women’s shelters and community outreach programs.
Hearts Together is a labelled as a “soft pink creme lipstick”, but I’d say it veers more towards a sheer-shine lipstick with a glossy cool pink hue.
Okay guys… deep breath. DEEP BREATH. I loathe reviewing concealers because I just don’t use them. Why, you ask? Because every freaking concealer creases on me. Or looks crepey under my eyes. Basically, they all look like absolute garbage, so I can’t be bothered to use them.
….UNTIL NOW. I don’t know what the heck is in this thing except for magic. PURE FREAKING MAGIC. I put this on my undereyes and it not only brightened the area, but it also didn’t budge. It didn’t crease. It didn’t look crepe-y. I am totally and completely floored.
The shades featured above are the ones that are most likely to match my skintone so they’re the ones I’ve swatched. As it turns out, I used Deep Ivory under my eyes and it was slightly lighter than my skintone, so it helped to brighten up the area.
Mary Kay Summer 2016 Look
In these shots I’m wearing the eyeshadow palette on my eyes, the Lash Intensity mascara (which I forgot to photograph – I am so sorry!), the Perfecting Concealer in Deep Ivory under my eyes and the Hearts Together lipstick.
- Rosegold on the lid.
- Espresso on the outer corner and on the outer lower lash line.
- Driftwood through the crease.
- Sweet Cream on my brow bone.
- Moonstone on the inner corner.
Final Thoughts
I wasn’t totally blown away by this collection as there are a few misses in the lot. (Overall, I found the Spring launch a lot more up my alley.) Of the products I used here, I think the eyeshadow palette is a miss for me. The eyeshadows, while lovely on the lids, are intensely powdery and I think the price point is unreasonable when other brands are putting out more shadows for a cheaper price point. (And it’s odd too, because the rest of the Mary Kay line is not unreasonably priced, so I have no idea why these shadows are so expensive. I also feel they’re inferior quality to the ones I tried last quarter from the spring line.)
The lipstick was perfectly adequate, and completely comfortable to wear. My only reservation is that it’s just not a shade I’d wear with any kind of regularity. If you love it though, get it – it’s comfortable and easy to wear!
All that to say… the complete and absolute winner out of this whole lot were the Perfecting Concealers. I can’t even begin to explain my excitement for this product! AT LONG LAST, I can finally wear undereye concealer without having to WORRY about it. I’d long since given up thinking I could wear undereye concealer just because no other brand has ever worked for me. I am so excited that the Mary Kay ones took me by complete surprise because I absolutely love them!
The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.
Swatch Sunday: QUO – Romance Novel
QUO recently released some new products for 2016 and amongst them was this palette called Romance Novel. The pans are ENORMOUS, so you’re getting a huge bang for your buck!
If you see the palette in stores though… just look for the one that apparently have no logo on the front cover. So weird…
If you’d like to see these shadows in action, head on over to my YouTube channel to see a look I did using QUO products from their new release. On with the swatches!
QUO Romance Novel Swatches
The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration.
Skincare Saturday: RapidBrow & RapidLash
Trying out growth serums kind of freaks me out to be perfectly honest. Like… what the heck is the product actually DOING that’s encouraging follicles to grow?? BUT, I’ve got pathetic eyebrows so I’ll gladly give natural remedies a shot!
I have both RapidBrow and RapidLash to test out, and be warned, the packaging tells you to wait a LEAST a month or two before you’ll notice results. So with that in mind, I’ve been using these absolutely every single day since the beginning of March.
RapidBrow is an eyebrow enhancing serum featuring “Hexatein 2 Complex, a unique proprietary mix of six highly effective fortifying ingredients, essential proteins, vitamins and other moisturizing and conditioning ingredients to boost density, while adding shine and softness. RapidBrow is ophthalmologist tested for safety and easy use.”
RapidLash is an eyelash and eyebrow enhancing serum (although I only ever used it on my lashes) and features “Hexatein 1 Complex, a unique proprietary mix of six highly effective ingredients. Dermatologist and ophthalmologist tested, safe and easy to use.”
I’ve been using both products at night before I go to bed for the evening. RapidLash is the small eyeliner type brush and I’ve been painting it on as if I were applying eyeliner. RapidBrow is the spoolie brush and I’ve been combing that through my brows nightly as well. Neither of them feel “weird” or “wrong” in terms of texture or feeling on my skin, but I did notice my eyes took a little getting used to for the RapidLash. It didn’t burn or anything, but I think I got a bit in my eye (which you’re definitely encouraged NOT to do!) and it felt a bit *different*. That feeling went away after the first week.
But you’re here for results! So here’s how it looked on me after just over two months of daily use:
As you can see, I barely have a tail to my brows. I don’t pluck my brows at all and never suffered the 90s curse of overplucking back in the day, so what you see is just my natural growth (or lack thereof) over the years. I definitely see more growth on the tail of my brow (particularly the especially LONG hair at the end!) and it’s actually made a noticeable difference to me because it provides a better guide when I’m applying my eyebrow products in the morning.
My right side didn’t develop the extended tail that my left side did, but it definitely got a lot bushier right around where my arch is supposed to be. I can also see some baby hairs coming in as well on the tail.
As for eyelashes, I had no great before and after shot since they were all at varying angles that weren’t very descriptive. So I thought I’d show you what I’ve noticed the most: The lash growth serum seems to affect my lashes at different rates. The arrows are pointing to some of the exceptionally long lashes that I ended up with as a result of the serum. It’s definitely WORKING, but I didn’t seem to get consistent growth on every single eyelash. Rest assured though, it definitely looks natural!
The other area I noticed (which is not visible unless I have mascara on, which is why I’m showing you a shot from my Too Faced Better Than Sex Waterproof review) is that the lashes in the middle section got REALLY long. I’m lifting my eyebrows a touch in the shots above, but when I’m looking face on, those middle section lashes actually HIT my eyebrows – something I’d definitely never experienced before!
Final Thoughts
I definitely feel like both RapidBrow and RapidLash are working although it seems to be a subtle change. I’ve personally enjoyed the results so much though that I’ve continued to use these products nightly even after I finished my testing period, and I think that really says a lot since so often bloggers will get through a testing product and either just discard the product or move on to the next thing to try. But I’ve enjoyed adding these into my nighttime routine because it’s such an easy step to do. Also, bonus points to the sleek and simple packaging – I was able to bring these with me to Iceland last month since they’re so small and compact!
RapidBrow seems to be improperly labelled on Ulta’s site (lists it as RapidLash) but it can be purchased for $39.99 USD there, you can also pick up RapidLash at Ulta.com for $49.95 USD.
Giveaway Reminder!
Hey guys! No new post from me today, just a reminder that you’ve still got a few more days to enter my Too Faced Peanut Butter & Jelly palette giveaway (and I’ll be throwing in a full size Better Than Sex mascara as well!). You can enter that via my April 2016 Beauty Favourites. Good luck!
Also, happy long weekend to my fellow Canadians! <3
