All posts by Chelle

Skincare Saturday: LUSH Cosmetics Easter 2017 Collection

April 8, 2017Reviews, SkincareLushChelle

With Easter around the corner, Lush has released their seasonal themed collection and, as per usual, it’s adorable!

Lush Bath Bomb in Chick 'n' Mix — Lush Bath Bomb in Chick ‘n’ Mix

The very first item I grabbed for was this adorable bath bomb called Chick ‘n’ Mix!

Imagine my surprise when I pulled out the bath bomb and it fell apart in my hands! It’s a three piece item!

The outer shells of the chick open up to reveal a tiny little baby bunny inside! (I 100% squealed when I saw this by the way!)

Since the bath bomb is so enormous, I opted to use it across two baths. The first one I used the bottom blue half alongside the baby bunny. As per usual, any bath involving a Lush bath bomb is such a pleasure. This one leans citrus, but there’s a powdery scent to it as well.

Need to get your lips in tip top shape? Try out the Lush Lip Scrub in Chocolate! It does have a predominantly chocolatey scent but there’s a lovely kick of orange to it! Think Terry’s Chocolate Orange (which is a personal favourite treat of mine). LOVE!

Lush Shower Gel in Wash Behind Your Ears

Lush Shower Gels are always a must have in my shower… although the scent on the new Wash Behind Your Ears isn’t quite up my alley! The scent on this one is jasmine, rose and neroli.

I’ve saved my absolute favourite for last – the Chocolate Easter Egg soap! Does anyone else still use bar soap? Because I freaking love it but I feel like almost everyone sticks to shower gels these days. So the Chocolate Easter Egg soap is billed as chocolate (makes sense lol), BUT I get a lot of honey sent in this one. It smells very, very similar to Honey I Washed the Kids soap or the It’s Raining Men shower gel – which is VERY exciting for me because that is my absolute favourite scent that Lush makes.

Let me know if you’re going to be picking up anything from the Lush Easter collection!

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

Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops in Moonlight (Review & Swatches)

April 7, 2017Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesCover FXChelle

Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops in Moonlight

I’ve had this review sitting on the backburner since I took the product shots in January. Why? I don’t actually have a good reason for that other than that makeup never seems to cease being released and there’s always some other enormous launch out there to cover. And these Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops? They’ve been out for a while, so they’re kind old news, right?

But, I was recently reminded how epic these seemed to be when they were first released when I saw my friend Shawna of Spill the Beauty sporting the brand new Halo shade while we were at a beauty event. She looked amazing, and I was suddenly reminded of the fact that I had a sample size of their older Moonlight shade from a previous Sephora order.

I have a very mini, but generously portioned, size of the Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drop in Moonlight. It’s on the paler side of things in their range of shades. This is billed as “imparting a soft, silver glow”. Which you would NEVER KNOW from the colour selection item on the Sephora, or even by looking at the jar. I mean… we’re all agreed right? That looks rose gold? It’s not just me?

Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops in Moonlight - swatch — Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops in Moonlight – swatch

FAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! In swatches, Moonlight is flat out blinding. This is shockingly bright – almost electric really. Silver? Almost. I do see more of a rose gold shade on the edges of the product where it curves around my arm. That center portion though? Full on silver goodness.

Wearing Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops in Moonlight

Despite the shocking swatch, it actually goes on the cheeks surprisingly softly. I suppose by most people’s standards a reflective surface isn’t soft, but given what the swatch looks like in comparison, this looks REALLY soft.

So while it LOOKS soft in these photos, I think, but it’s not really IRL. And that’s not a negative either. It’s an aggressive, but beautiful highlighter. Its reflectiveness was far surpassing my beloved BECCA highlighters and for the first time in a long time I found myself wondering “is this TOO much highlighter?” (Real talk: no, it’s not!)

Yes, it’s aggressive. Yes, it’s “loud”. And yes, it’s completely and utterly beautiful. It has an ethereal quality to it – that “I’m a fairy!” look that I’ve been searching for in a lot of products for a very long time (I’m looking at you Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal! *spits*).

I think we know I love this product by now, so let’s just chat about how to actually use it. I only used this as a cheekbone highlighter as I’m not interested in mixing it with my foundation. I found I liked it best when used with a medium sized duo fiber brush. I used the dropper to apply it to the back of my hand and then dabbed my brush in it. Wiped it off quite a few times on the back of my hand, and then applied it to my cheekbones. It’s not the easiest product to blend either, so start with very little and then build as it’s pretty easy to get harsh lines. (Try your finger maybe? I hadn’t thought to do it until I typed this review out.)

Is this worth your money? Look, no one can answer that question for you (for ANY makeup product on the market – we all have our limits) – these highlighters are insanely expensive ($52 CAD/$42 USD) and even I’m balking at that price tag. But after having used Moonlight and loving how it looks, I am 100% buying Halo… when it’s on sale.

The Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops can be purchased on sephora.ca for $52 CAD and on sephora.com for $42 USD.

VIDEO: 2017 Makeup Collection & Storage

April 6, 2017YouTubeChelle

VIDEO: Wet n Wild Liquid Catsuit Lipstick Try On/Swatches

April 4, 2017YouTubeWet n WildChelle

MAKE UP FOR EVER Star Lit Powders (Review & Swatches)

April 3, 2017Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesMake Up For EverChelle

MAKE UP FOR EVER Star Lit Powders

Relatively new on the market are the MAKE UP FOR EVER Star Lit Powders! They’re essentially a loose pigment type formula that come in predominantly subtle, neutral shades, but there are a few in the lot that really enticed me with their brightness.

The Star Lit Powders are an “ultra-fine shimmering powder that can be used to highlight your eyes, lips and cheeks. The micronized ingredient technology allows for ease of application that can be applied wet or dry, to customize coverage intensity and luminosity.”

I feel like packaging is always an inherent problem with loose pigment. MAKE UP FOR EVER tried to solve the “powder flying everywhere” problem by creating a sifter that’s big enough for your brush to fit in to, but small enough to keep the opening from being enormous. While it does work better than the usual pigment packaging with a huge open neck, I still don’t find myself in love with the delivery system. And honestly, I think that’s just going to be a problem with pigments in general – I really don’t think there is a way to make the packaging not suck. This is the best solution so far, but I’m still not over the moon about it.

MAKE UP FOR EVER Star Lit Powder swatches - 5 Frozen Purple & 19 Ultramarine — MAKE UP FOR EVER Star Lit Powder swatches – 5 Frozen Purple & 19 Ultramarine

The two colours I chose to try out are at very different ends of the scale. Shade #5, Frozen Purple, is a white base with a violet duochrome. It’s one of those shades that is near impossible for me to photograph correctly – but trust me when I say there is a definite purple hue when that pigment catches the light. Shade #19, Ultramarine, is an in-your-face electric deep blue. It can occasionally look matte in some lights, but there is some shimmer running through it.

Wearing MAKE UP FOR EVER Star Lit Powder in 5 Frozen Purple & 19 Ultramarine

Application was interesting on these. The powder is finely milled, but there is a weird sensation that feels similar to chalk. I don’t even really know how that works, but it’s there. It was more apparent on the purple shade and the end result was an interesting combo between matte and luminous (again, I have no idea how that works, but that was my impression of it!). The Ultramarine shade is hella pigmented and applied to the eyes beautifully. Go easy with this one as the colour is intense and it will spread easily!

One thing I need to point out is that I had inconsistent application on certain areas of my eye while using these products. In the end, I found I needed a sticky base to make sure the product adhered properly to my eyes when used dry. I think that may be as a result of the chalk-like texture I encountered. So keep that in mind if you’re going to be using these on your eyes!

As is my nature, I tried out some of the more “out there” shades in the range. There are a whole bunch of subtle white-gold, champagne and rose gold hues if you’re looking for something a bit more “wearable”!

The MAKE UP FOR EVER Star Lit Powders can be purchased at sephora.ca for $25 CAD each or on sephora.com for $21 USD.

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration. Post may contain affiliate links.