Yearly Archives: 2016

Annabelle Big Show Lacquers – Entire Collection (Review & Swatches)

March 9, 2016Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesAnnabelleChelle

Annabelle Big Show Lacquers

Available since January 2016, the Annabelle Big Show Lacquers bring a sense of vibrancy to the winter months!

The Big Show Lacquers have:

High-impact staining pigments
Mirror-like shine and lightweight colour
Non-sticky
Comfortable and non-drying, stay-put finish
Fruity scent

Annabelle Big Show Lacquers have a doefoot applicator

The doefoot applicator is standard fare for products like this. It deposits colour evenly all over the lip, but you will need to dip in a few times to completely cover your lips.

Although there are six shades in the range, they do veer quite bright. The colour payoff in each one is quite opaque, so you’re definitely getting a mouthful of colour!

Here’s the full range as a lip swatch followed by a full face shot:

Annabelle Big Show - Adore Simply — Annabelle Big Show – Adore Simply

Adore Simply is a peachy-nude.

Annabelle Big Show - Caress Tenderly — Annabelle Big Show – Caress Tenderly

Caress Tenderly is a strong coral (this is my FAVOURITE shade of coral. )

Annabelle Big Show - Kiss Sweetly — Annabelle Big Show – Kiss Sweetly

Kiss Sweetly is a bright neon pink.

Annabelle Big Show - Enchant Romantically — Annabelle Big Show – Enchant Romantically

Enchant Romantically is a dark, vibrant pink.

Annabelle Big Show - Hypnotize Deeply — Annabelle Big Show – Hypnotize Deeply

Hypnotize Deeply is a fuchsia-berry. (My application skills were starting to get pretty dodgy by this point!)

Annabelle Big Show - Love Fiercely — Annabelle Big Show – Love Fiercely

Love Fiercely is the red of the collection (I see a little bit of pink in it too!).

Final Thoughts

The Annabelle Big Show Lacquers are smooth, comfortable to wear formula. I found the pigmentation was stellar across the board (none of these colours were patchy at all!) and the vibrancy of the shades is pretty dang fantastic. Since they’re a lacquer, they will stay fairly emollient on your lips. I found I had to reapply every 90 minutes or so to keep the glossiness at full peak. You could wear them for longer without reapplication, but I just liked to keep my lips looks as great as they did when I first applied it.

I didn’t use a primer or lip liner with these, so I did experience minimal lip line bleed out. (That’s not make it or break it for me in this formula though, I have that problem with any lip product without some kind of primer.) If you’re going for a glossy, comfortable to wear lip product, you absolutely cannot go wrong with these!

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.

VIDEO: Makeup and Skincare Empties Q1 2016

March 8, 2016Empties, MiscellaneousChelle

Garbage time!

Too Faced Love Flush Blush Wardrobe (Review, Swatches & Comparison)

March 7, 2016Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesToo FacedChelle

Too Faced Love Flush Blush Wardrobe

Choosing between what shade of blush to buy can be hard… so I have to love the fact that Too Faced released a six-pan of ALL of their Love Flush blushes!

And really, I can’t get over the ridiculously cute packaging. (But let’s be honest, Too Faced always slays their packaging!) As warning though, this palette is LONG – it’s way longer than the average makeup palette so you may be a little surprised when you first see it in person!

I love that the palette is compact and sleek and even comes with a slice of mirror in the lid. It closes with a magnet that seems fairly solid.

Each section of the palette is colour coded to match the shade of the blush, although you may notice some slight discrepancies between the printed shade and the colour of the pan. Doesn’t matter though – it gives you a darn good idea what shade you’re going to be reaching for! The Love Flush blushes claim to have blendable, budgeproof, high-impact colour that will last 16 hours – I didn’t wear them that long, but the shades looked just as strong as when I put them on as they did after a 10 hour work day!

Let’s get into the swatches:

Too Faced Love Flush Blush Palette Swatches

Too Faced - Love Hangover — Too Faced – Love Hangover

Love Hangover is the shade I think most people will adore. It’s a medium pink with minute gold sparkle in it.

Too Faced - Baby Love — Too Faced – Baby Love

Baby Love is a tawny, nude shade.

Too Faced - I Will Always Love You — Too Faced – I Will Always Love You

I Will Always Love You is a really fun orange-coral with a golden sheen.

Too Faced - How Deep Is Your Love? — Too Faced – How Deep Is Your Love?

My personal favourite of the lot: How Deep Is Your Love? is a solid pink-coral.

Too Faced - Justify My Love — Too Faced – Justify My Love

Justify My Love is a soft baby pink with silver shimmer.

Too Faced - Your Love Is King — Too Faced – Your Love Is King

Your Love Is King is a deep berry shade.

Too Faced Love Flush Blush Wardrobe - on cheek comparison — Too Faced Love Flush Blush Wardrobe – on cheek comparison

All swatches above are done on bare skin and because this was photographed under artificial light, I built up the colours a bit. You will notice, however, that at no point do the shades look totally overboard. I really appreciate the fact that while the Too Faced blushes are pigmented, they’re not SO pigmented that you have to be overly careful about how you apply them to your cheeks.

Final Thoughts

If you’re like me, and hadn’t gotten around to buying any (or all) of the Too Faced Love Flush blushes, I think you’ll love this limited edition palette. The price point is excellent considering you get to try all six of their new blushes (each blushes contains 2 grams/0.07 ounces, which is more than your average eyeshadow). Pigmentation was smooth and relatively even across the board (Your Love Is King looks a bit patchy in the swatch, but it didn’t wear like that or look patchy on my face). I love having every single shade in a convenient palette, so this is seriously absolutely ideal for a heavyweight makeup collector or even a makeup novice that wants to try a few shades out without dumping all kinds of money on full sized products.

The Too Faced Love Flush Blush Wardrobe is a limited edition product (get it while you can!!) and can be purchased on sephora.ca for $45 CAD or on sephora.com for $36 USD.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration.

Swatch Sunday: BECCA Ombre Rouge

March 6, 2016Makeup, SwatchesBECCAChelle

BECCA Ombre Rouge

A five-pan, matte, pigmented, warm-toned eyeshadow palette courtesy of BECCA! Take a look at the gorgeous Ombre Rouge palette!

Smooth, buttery and matte, this palette is an absolute dream to use! If you want to see the whole palette in action, check out my recent YouTube video!

BECCA Ombre Rouge Swatches

BECCA Ombre Rouge - Shade 1 — BECCA Ombre Rouge – Shade 1

BECCA Ombre Rouge - Shade 2 — BECCA Ombre Rouge – Shade 2

BECCA Ombre Rouge - Shade 3 — BECCA Ombre Rouge – Shade 3

BECCA Ombre Rouge - Shade 4 — BECCA Ombre Rouge – Shade 4

BECCA Ombre Rouge - Shade 5 — BECCA Ombre Rouge – Shade 5

The BECCA Ombre Rouge Eye Palette can be purchased on sephora.ca for $48 CAD or one sephora.com for $40 USD.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration.

Skincare Saturday: SABON Body Scrub in Lemon Mint

March 5, 2016Reviews, SkincareSabonChelle

SABON Body Scrub in Lemon Mint

SABON is not a company I see spoken about often. Heck, I didn’t even know they existed myself until I stumbled upon them one fateful day in New York City many years ago…

That sounds dramatic, but I really just want to tell you a story about how I discovered this brand. I was visiting my university roommate in New York City a long time ago and I was left to my own devices one afternoon. I made my way over to Magnolia Bakery (of Sex and the City fame) for my first ever taste of their much loved cupcakes. I got myself a cupcake and started wandering around the area.

After devouring my cupcake, my hands were covered in icing and I was feeling sticky and kind of gross. I couldn’t touch anything without leaving a sticky smear on my clothing! Suddenly, some woman came out of nowhere as I was wandering down a street and asked me if I wanted to come into her shop and have my hands washed. I looked around slightly confused… I hadn’t been complaining about having dirty hands and I wasn’t wiping my hands off on myself in disgust, so why on earth would she ask me that question? Hell if I cared, I needed to clean my hands!

So this woman invited me in to SABON and did a whole ritual on my hands. She first scrubbed them with a hand polisher, then lathered them up with hand soap, rinsed them and followed it up with a butter hand cream. I was smitten. Not only had this lady helped me in my time of need (seriously, my hands felt so gross) but the products were not only nice smelling, but the packaging was gorgeous. My hands were left feeling clean and silky soft!

And like… just look at this hand washing station:

Gorgeous! The whole place just has this old world apothecary type feel that I just love. So that’s the story of how I discovered SABON! Their luxurious bath products are all excellent (I’ve tried a lot of them) although a bit on the pricier side (I don’t care, I’ll gladly pay it!). Sadly, their locations are pretty scarce. There used to be one in Toronto (which I found out when I was in New York) but it’s long since shut down. 🙁

My absolute favourite product by SABON is this Body Scrub in Lemon Mint ($35 USD). The product itself is a wonderfully abrasive scrub that has fine particles in it that help to slough off dead skin. But the scent… the scent is what gets me every time. It smells refreshingly aquatic and clean. It’s so delightful that this is probably my fifth tub of this scrub.

I kind of love how I discovered this brand by accident in such a wonderful way. It was such a random incident and one I’ve thought about a lot over the years. If you ever spot a SABON, go in and get your hands washed. 🙂