Category Archives: Makeup

Ipsy – June 2014 Glam Bag

Hauls, Makeup, Reviews, , , , ,

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This month’s bag had its ups and downs for me. Let’s dig in and see what I got sent in my bag this month.

Laneige – BB Cushion SPF in three foundation shades
Laneige – BB Cushion SPF in three foundation shades

This was a really interesting product. I’ve never heard of anything like Laneige‘s BB Cushion. The package itself comes with three shades of foundation (Light, Medium and Dark) as well as a sponge pad (that I only realized was a puff after I had applied this stuff to my face with one of my brushes). The product is essentially a bb foundation with SPF pre-soaked into a sponge. I wasn’t really sure how to use it, so I ended up stabbing my brush into the sponge to pick up the product. This worked, but it also pushed a lot of the product to the bottom of the little sample. (Which isn’t a problem, I just pulled the sponge out and swiped at the bottom to get more product.) I got two uses out of this sample (I used the Light shade, which was a hair or two too pale for me right now but it wasn’t super obvious). I used it, and it was pleasant to apply, but I don’t really feel like it did a whole heck of a lot. It seems to have evened out my freckles a bit, but the coverage isn’t spectacular so I’d honestly just prefer no foundation to wearing something so light. Worth noting though… this stuff smells really, really good!

Left – no foundation. Right – Laneige BB Cushion in Light
Left – no foundation. Right – Laneige BB Cushion in Light
Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray
Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray

So this is basically a salt spray for your hair to encourage beachy waves/curls to stay in your hair. My hair has a bit of body to it if it’s left to air dry, so I had hoped this would hold some of the waves in place. Marc Anthony‘s Dream Waves Beach Spray smells like coconuts, so basically it smells like every other beach-y hair product out there. It sort of worked to make my hair piece-y (see below), but despite my hand scrunching while my hair dried, it really never held in full on waves. In fact, the ends of my hair look especially ratty and when my hair had dried, the ends felt completely crunchy  and stiff. Not a huge fan of that. It might be fine to actually use on the beach after getting out of the water (or at the pool), but for someone who had just gotten out of the shower, this was a very quick way to make my hair feel dirty again. So I wasn’t overly pleased about that!

Left – Damp hair with the spray in. Right – air dried hair with the spray in.
Left – Damp hair with the spray in. Right – air dried hair with the spray in.
Nicka K Shimmer Eyeliner in Green
Nicka K Shimmer Eyeliner in Green

This product is amazing! Nicka K is a brand I’m completely unfamiliar with, but this liquid eyeliner was simply stunning. I received their shimmer eyeliner in Green and this was budge proof and waterproof. Even moreso than the MUFE Aqualiner I have. I couldn’t believe how much I had to rub at this to even remove any kind of colour off my hand. It also held up all throughout a workday. Highly, HIGHLY recommend this liner.

Be a Bombshell – Last Out mascara
Be a Bombshell – Last Out mascara

I have nothing good to say about this one so I’ll just be specific with my negativity. Be A Bombshell’s mascara is garbage. I hate the brush – it makes it hard to deposit product onto my lashes. My brush was bent oddly which didn’t help either. It clumped up awkwardly on my lashes, particularly in the outer corners making it look patchy. And the products actually smells really, really bad. This is going straight in the garbage.

NYX Butter Gloss – Apple Strudel
NYX Butter Gloss – Apple Strudel

NYX‘s butter glosses are my absolute favourite glosses, so I love that they sent these out in the bags. They’re creamy, non-tacky, and come in some absolutely wonderful colours. Unfortunately, I already own this particular shade (Apple Strudel) so I’ve really got no use for this one. So for that reason I’m giving this one away! It’s completely unused and unopened (the shots above were done using my own one) and I will mail it to you anywhere in the world if you win. Contest open till June 30th @ 8:00 a.m..

Ipsy June 2014 Breakdown (all prices in USD)
  • Laneige BB Cushion SPF 50 (full size is $34 for 0.5 oz, it was really hard to judge the size of this product, but I got two uses out of the one small packet and there are two additional shades, so I’m going to go with $5 overall value since I have no real idea as to how long a full size of this product would last)
  • Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray (1.52 oz @ $3.18, full size is $8.79 for 4.2 oz)
  • Nicka K Shimmer Eyeliner in Green ($4.99, full size)
  • Be A Bombshell Lash Out mascara in Intense Black ($15, full size)
  • NYX Butter Gloss in Apple Strudel ($5, full size)

BAG TOTAL = $33.17

My Thoughts

This bag was kind of a bust for me. The BB Cushion product was interesting, but in the end kind of useless. The Beach Spray really didn’t do much other than make my hair kind of crunchy, although I’ve only tried it once and will definitely try using it in different ways. The mascara is just flat out awful and going straight into the garbage (I can’t even begin to believe that it’s worth the $15 full price they charge on their site). The NYX butter gloss is excellent, but of course I already own it. The real winner out of this group is the shimmery green eyeliner. For such an inexpensive product I cannot believe how well this one works.

What’s On My Face – Volume 18: Pride Edition

Makeup, Tutorials, , , , , , ,

This year, Toronto is the host city for World Pride. I have loved Pride ever since I moved to Toronto and into the Village. I know Pride gives everyone a different feeling, but to me it’s a time to celebrate freedom, be happy, and wear a metric ton of bright colours and glitter.

I’ve been saving these looks for a lonnnng time. Even before I had a blog I was all “I need to photgraph these because some day… I’ll use them for… something.” Since these are all taken over a year ago (during last year’s Pride Week) the quality may be a little bit different and I definitely don’t have any closed eye shots so I could map out what colours go where. But I’ll do my best to describe!

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If you’re looking to shock people with a neon look, then this one is a darn good place to start. Although the up close picture shots make it look really cool,  just be aware that this is not an especially flattering look.

I wore this during my soccer league’s Pride Parade float last year and it held up through the heat and the inevitable water bomb attacks that happened throughout the parade.

Eyes

  • Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original all over the upper and lower lids.
  • NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk all over the upper lid – smooth out with your finger.
  • Then using the Sleek Acid Palette: Neon orange on the lid, neon pink through the crease, neon yellow in the inner corner and the neon green to line the lower lash line.
  • A touch of Urban Decay’s Buck to blend out the crease and make the pink a touch less harsh.
  • Physicians Formula Eye Booster in Ultra Black to create the wing.
  • L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes

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This is a quick vibrant one that can be done using any two really pigmented colours. The week of Pride, I tend to mix colours based on the rainbow’s gradient and go from there. For example, on Monday I’d wear red/orange, Tuesday yellow/green, Wednesday blue/purple, etc. If you stick to the rainbow gradient, it’s very hard to mismatch colours.

For the above look, I used:

  • Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original to prime my lid
  • NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow pencil in Milk as a solid base – be sure to blend it out
  • Then using Sleek’s Ultra Mattes V1 palette: Sugarlite all over the lid, with Bolt in the outer corner and through the crease. A little bit of Pow! to highlight the brow with a touch of Urban Decay‘s Naked eyeshadow in the crease to blend out the shades through the crease.
  • Maybelline Gel Liner in Blackest Black to create the winged liner
  • And finally, CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara on my lashes

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And my favourite one! This came out so much better than I ever thought it would.  Every Pride I end up wearing this to work at least one of the days of the week. I think it’s really vibrant and beautiful. And it’ll definitely get you noticed!

  • Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original to prime my lid
  • NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk to create the base
  • Starting from the inner corner, using all MAC shadows, apply small stripes of shadow, then blend them into the next colour. I used (from inner corner to outer): Coppering, Amber Lights, Goldmine, Bio Green, Freshwater and Parfait Amour.
  • MAC Blacktrack Fluidline for my liner
  • L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes with Ardell 102 false lashes on top.

I hope this gives you some ideas for Pride. Keep in mind that pretty much anything goes throughout Pride so you can feel free to wear whatever you like.

Thirty Days of Lips

Makeup, Miscellaneous, , , , , , , , , ,

When I came back from vacation in March (and bought that hoard of makeup), I realized I’d picked up something crazy like 26 lip products. So I dropped them all in a bucket and determined that I’d work my way through the whole lot of them. That didn’t end up exactly happening since I ended up using other products I loved as well, but I thought I’d record my progress in pictures as I went along. The result of that process is the following picture: A full month record of what I wore on my lips throughout April.thirtydaysoflips

Week 1 (top row)
  • Too Faced – Jelly Bean
  • Rimmel – Luna
  • Milani – Nude Creme
  • Revlon – Sunset Peach (gloss)
  • Too Faced – Bon Bon
  • NYX – Merengue (gloss)
  • Nothing
Week 2 (second row)
  • Revlon – Twilight
  • Bite Beauty – Fig
  • Revlon – Snow Peach
  • Inglot – 544 (gloss)
  • bareMinerals – Get Ready
  • Nivea – Berry Swirl
  • Nothing
Week 3 (third row)
  • NYX – Vanilla Cream Pie (gloss)
  • Nivea – Berry Swirl
  • Too Faced – Coral Fire
  • NYX – Fizzies
  • Wet n Wild – 903C with NYX – Tiramisu on top
  • Nothing
  • Milani – Flamingo Pose with Maybelline – Sahara on top
Week 4 (fourth row)
  • Milani – Hot Pink Rage
  • NYX – Fizzies
  • Inglot – 541 (gloss)
  • NYX – Strawberry Parfait (gloss)
  • Revlon – Papaya (gloss)
  • Nothing
  • Nothing
Week 5 (bottom row)
  • Milani – Naturally Chic
  • Rimmel – Big Bang

What’s On My Face – Volume 17

Makeup, Tutorials, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When I first created this blog, I was really, really worried that I wouldn’t be able to generate enough makeup looks to sustain any kind of regular “makeup looks” posting schedule. Little did I realize just how many eye looks I attempt and even months later I’ve still got a huge backlog of eye looks for upcoming posts!

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Glitter and lashes. You really can’t go wrong. I think this came out really beautifully.

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Eyes

I first applied Makeup Geek‘s White Lies all over the lid as a base, then:

  1. Inglot Matte 334 in the outer corner and throughout the crease.
  2. Inglot Matte 325 in the outer corner to darken it up. Also used on the lower lash line in the outer corner.
  3. MAC‘s Transparent Teal glitter all over the lid. To make the glitter stick, I used Too Faced Glitter Glue as a base layer. I also applied the glitter on the lower lash line as well.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow. Tarte‘s black gel liner to create the wing and Urban Decay‘s Black Velvet liner on the inner lower lash line rim. Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes and Ardell single lashes to add some volume to my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Revlon Colorstay (Combination/Oily) in 200 Nude
  • Concealer: MAC Select Cover-up in NW20
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Physicians Formula Happy Booster Blush in Natural
  • Highlighter: MAC Silver Dusk
  • Lips: NYX Butter Gloss in Vanilla Cream Pie

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This one came to me out of nowhere. I often use Sleek‘s Sunrise palette as my mirror of choice, so I often find myself staring at those colours. The blue in that palette is beautiful, but I never really knew how to incorporate it into a look with that palette. This came to me as a spur of the moment type thing and I think it turned out really well. It’s funny because people say not to wear blue eyeshadow if you have blue eyes because it’ll drown out the colour of your eyes… but I have to say I received so many compliments at work that this brought out my eye colour that I really have to disagree with the “norm” to not wear blue on blue eyes!

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Eyes

Using the Sleek Sunset palette:

  1.  From the bottom row, the second shade on the right, apply that all over the lid.
  2. Again from the bottom row, sweep the first colour from the left into the crease and blend out.
  3. MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow.

On the lower lash line, use the bright blue from the Sleek Sunset palette, then smudge it out slightly with Makeup Geek‘s Creme Brulee. Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Cheeks: MAC Petal Power
  • Bronzer: NYC Fire Island Tan
  • Lips: Too Faced Coral Fire

20140604_look2.1

This look’s genius comes from Sharon Farrell. Her Tequila Sunrise tutorial was not only unique, but utterly eye-catching. I definitely do not possess her skill, but I thought I’d give this look a shot because I loved her end result so much.

20140604_look2.2

Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee very heavily through the crease.
  2. MAC Steamy on the inner two thirds of the lid.
  3. MAC Club on the outer third of the lid. Also applied all over the lower lash line.
  4. MAC Gorgeous Gold on the inner tearduct.

MAC Blanc Type to highlight the brow. Tarte‘s black gel liner to create the wing and Urban Decay‘s Black Velvet liner on the inner lower rim. Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Tarte Charisma
  • Lips: NYX Butter Lipstick in Fizzies

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I was rooting through my collection determined to use something I had touched in long time. So this look ended up utilizing a few of my older, limited edition products.

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Eyes

Using the MAC mineralize eyeshadow trio in Blue My Mind:

  1. The lightest shade on the inner third of the lid.
  2. The blue shimmery shade on the middle of the lid.
  3. The black on the outer corner.

MAC Shroom to highlight my brow, MAC fluidline in Midnight Blues to create the wing and Benefit They’re Real mascara.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance foundation in Cool Vanilla
  • Blush: Tarte Charisma
  • Lips: Wet n Wild 903C with NYX‘s Butter Gloss in Tiramisu on top

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Ehhhhhhhhhhh. This one’s okayyyyyy…..

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Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Simply Marlena and Mango Tango mixed together and blended into the crease. I’d say it’s a lot heavier on the pinker shade.
  2. Makeup Geek Vanilla Bean all over the lid.
  3. Makeup Geek Frappe and Goddess mixed together and applied to the outer third.

Vanilla Bean to highlight the brow and Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Hourglass Diffused Heat
  • Lips: Rimmel Apocalips in Stellar

What’s On My Face – Volume 16

Makeup, Tutorials, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You know… I never really noticed just how much white I wear until I started taking pictures of my face for this blog. It seems that nine times out of ten I’m wearing a white shirt!

This entry ended up being highly blue-centric. Enjoy!

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I can’t get over Inglot and their colour range. I wish I had easier access to the brand (they’re nowhere in Toronto) but good grief are their colours ever amazing.

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Eyes

  1. Inglot AMC Shine 33 all over the lid and on the middle of the lower lash line.
  2. Inglot Matte 338 heavily in the outer corner, blended into the crease. Also in the outer corner on the lower lash line.
  3. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee slightly through the crease (not pictured).

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow, Tarte‘s Black gel liner to create the wing and BenefitThey’re Real on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Covergirl CC Cream in 110 Classic Ivory and Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in Shade 51 Light Vanilla mixed together
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: Joe Fresh Apricot
  • Highlighter: MAC Silver Dusk
  • Lips: Wet n Wild 903C with NYX‘s Tiramisu Butter Gloss over top

 

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Seriously love red eyeshadow. My only gripe is that Makeup Geek‘s Peach Smoothiealways does that really annoying creasing thing on my lid every time I wear it on the lid (even with double primers).

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Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Peach Smoothie on the inner third of the lid.
  2. Makeup Geek Mango Tango on the middle of the lid.
  3. Makeup Geek Razzleberry on the outer third.
  4. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee through the crease to blend everything out.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow and Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Blush: Hourglass Diffused Heat
  • Highlighter: MAC Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: Revlon Colorburst Lipgloass in Papaya

 

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I haven’t used my Original Sleek palette very much so I pulled it out for this look.

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Eyes

  1. The copper shade from the Original Sleek palette all over the lid.
  2. The purple shade from the Original Sleek palette in the outer corner and on the outer corner of my lower lash line.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my top lashes with Sephora‘s Purple mascara on my bottom lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: MUA Matte Foundation in Shade 1 Soft Sand
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Blush: MAC Gingerly
  • Highlighter: Hard Candy Tiki
  • Lips: Revlon Colorburst Gloss in Sunset Peach

 

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If I look half asleep it’s because I was – this was some early morning IKEA run. I had no idea people actually line up outside IKEA before it even opened for the day. o.O

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Eyes

  1. MAC Blanc Type all over the lid and all the way up to the brow bone.
  2. MAC Contrast in the very outer corner.

Benefit They’re Real mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Blush: Illamasqua Hussy

 

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Mehhhh not sold on this look – wouldn’t repeat it.

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Eyes

  1. MAC Fade all over the lid (this is so patchy – the name is apt, it fades poorly!)
  2. MAC Steamy in the outer corner.

MAC Shroom to highlight the brow and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Blush: Bourjois Rose Gold
  • Lips: Nivea – A Kiss of Berry Swirl