If there’s one thing that Maybelline knows how to do exceptionally well, it’s lipstick. I have yet to encounter a lipstick in their squared off bullet packaging that I’ve not liked, and they’ve wowed me yet again with their Loaded Bolds collection.
Maybelline Loaded Bolds
The US release of the Loaded Bolds had a whopping 20 shades, but the Canadian release was pared down to 12 (sad face). So if there were a few shades that piqued your interest and you can’t find them here in Canada… you may want to take at some US sites and see if they ship to Canada.
The Loaded Bolds are hyper-pigmented lipsticks with a predominantly matte finish. What I mean by that is that they go on with a hint of a sheen, but that sheen does disappear after you’ve had the product on your lips for a while.
Maybelline Loaded Bolds in Midnight Merlot, Fiery Fuchsia and Violet Vixen
And thankfully, they’re a permanent product so you needn’t fear about them running out of stock forever!
Maybelline Loaded Bolds in Midnight Merlot, Fiery Fuchsia and Violet Vixen – swatches
I feel like a lot of the shades in this range could’ve fit under their Vivids umbrella, but the dark shades made it necessary to create another line. Of the three I tried, pigmentation was excellent on Midnight Merlot and Fiery Fuchsia, but Violet Vixen was definitely a bit patchy.
Wearing Maybelline Loaded Bold in Midnight MerlotWearing Maybelline Loaded Bold in Fiery FuchsiaWearing Maybelline Loaded Bold in Violet Vixen
Final Thoughts
Any mainstream makeup brand that wants to add bold, bright and radical colours (there’s a sapphire blue, white and black in this collection too!) is welcomed with wide open arms in my book. Overall, I found the formula on par with the rest of Maybelline‘s Colorsensational range. These had a touch of dryness to them, but that’s not unexpected with a formula that dries down matte. I found when the inner rim of my mouth felt dry, I’d just run a finger along the inside to melt the pigment – this worked wonders for me.
Since this isn’t the newest of releases, it’s entirely possible you’ve already checked out this line! Let me know your thoughts on it in the comments. 🙂
The products featured in this review were sent to me for consideration.
Based out of La Prairie, Quebec, Maison Jacynthe is a completely new-to-me brand. Although they’ve had a skincare range for awhile, they’ve only recently launched their makeup line. They are a natural brand, use ecological packaging (there’s a lot of of wood in their packaging!) and the products are handcrafted.
Maison Jacynthe blush in 01 Romeo and eyeshadow in 14 Cubano
All of the powder products I tried out come in your standard refill packaging. Maison Jacynthe does sell cute wooden packaging with a magnetized base (quite similar to Inglot packaging actually), so you can stack your favourite products inside. For me, I opted to stick them in one of my Z-palettes and that worked out just fine.
Maison Jacynthe blush in 01 Romeo and eyeshadow in 14 Cubano
For testing, I selected the beautiful terracotta-red blush shade in Romeo and, because purple is such a difficult eyeshadow colour to create, I decided to give them a run for their money and chose Cubano eyeshadow.
The Romeo blush is formulated with coffee extracts, corn, macadamia and apricot oils. Pigmentation was incredibly strong, so be sure to dip your brush in lightly if you want a soft look. This is the kind of warm red shade that screams fall and winter to me and gives you that “in from the cold” cheek look. Love, love, love!
Cubano eyeshadow swatches out as a dusty purple shadow in a matte formula. As far as purple formulas go, it was decently pigmented (although you may think otherwise when you see the swatch shot below) because I felt it layered nicely to create full colour opacity. Remember guys, a swatch shot does not tell the full story.
Maison Jacynthe Lipstick in 06 Bois de Rose
The last makeup product I had to try out was the lipstick in Bois de rose (which means rosewood in English). Their lipsticks are formulated with candelilla wax to provide a smooth application without drying out the lips, and the abyssinian oil enhances the color and gives a long-tasting effect. It naturally scented with goji berry which isn’t a scent I’m overly familiar with – to me it smells slightly fruity with a hint of vanilla.
Maison Jacynthe Lipstick in 06 Bois de Rose
The Maison Jacynthe lipsticks come housed in a metallic tube with a wooden pull off lid. It’s an interesting concept for a lipstick tube, it feels natural and solid all at once. I did find I had a small difficulty with the twist up mechanism – it worked, but it had to “latch” properly inside for me to twist it or it would spin constantly without moving. Not a huge issue really, just something to be aware of.
I found Bois de rose to be exceptionally emollient and smooth on the lips. It applied like a creamy lipstick with a good hint of a sheen. Lasting power was interesting… it would go on fairly glossy and stay that way for about an hour or so. After that hour had passed, the glossy-ness would fade, but the colour stayed just as intense. It feels slightly tacky on the lips (not sticky), which is a blessing for me since it helps with longevity.
Maison Jacynthe swatches
On the left you can see how glossy the Bois de Rose lipstick can be! Great pigmentation and sheen on that one. On the right are the two powder products (blush and eyeshadow).
All put together, here’s how they come out on my face:
Wearing Maison Jacynthe
You can see just how intense that lipstick pigment is! Not only is it pigmented, but the glossy sheen is also really, really beautiful.
Wearing Maison JacyntheWearing Maison JacyntheWearing Cubano on the outer corner and Romeo through the top of the crease.
The close up eye shot gives you a better indication as to the pigmentation on that purple eyeshadow. It layers incredibly well and blended out easily.
Wearing Cubano on the outer corner and Romeo through the top of the crease.Maison Jacynthe Lavender Face Spray
And the very last item I tried by Maison Jacynthe is from their skincare range – the Eau Florale de Lavande (lavender flower water). Since lavender is known to be anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antibacterial, energizing, soothing, as well as good for healing, toning and stimulating your skin… well it’s kind of hard not to like something that promises so many good things for yo. While I did not notice a huge change in my skin when using this, I can say I’ve been using it in the morning on days when I felt a little extra puffy or red (aka when I’ve been drinking the night before). It’s a refreshing spray that, even if it’s just the smell alone working for me, just *feels* uplifting. And that’s always a plus in the mornings!
So that’s my take on the products I’ve tried out by Maison Jacynthe. If you’d like to check out this natural Canadian beauty brand, hop on over to their web site and take a peek!
The products featured in this review were sent to me for consideration.
Every year Kat Von D seems to completely blow it out of the water with her holiday releases. She doesn’t go overboard like some brands, and instead chooses to create a single seriously impressive palette. This year’s 2016 holiday release is the Metal Matte palette and it is a BEAUTY.
Kat Von D Metal Matte
There are 9 metal crush formula shadows (the top row) and 12 matte shadows (bottom row).
Kat Von D Metal Matte
I’m currently working on a video tutorial for a look from this palette as well as a challenge week, so look for those within the next two weeks! In the mean time, here are the jawdropping swatches:
Kat Von D Metal Matte Swatches
Kat Von D – NebulaKat Von D – WattKat Von D – IgniteKat Von D – TinselKat Von D – GlitzKat Von D – TwinkleKat Von D – VoltKat Von D – SynergyKat Von D – FlashKat Von D – LinenKat Von D – JetKat Von D – VelourKat Von D – StoneKat Von D – MossKat Von D – RibbonKat Von D – SilkKat Von D – FringeKat Von D – FeatherKat Von D – OakKat Von D – SuedeKat Von D – Bone
The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration.
I’ve always been intrigued by self tanners – the idea of having a tan whenever the heck I wanted it without having to deal with the problems inherent in sunbathing is really, really appealing.
But there’s a lot of downsides I always thought about too: there’s a lot of self tanners out there – between tinted moisturizer, mousses, gradual tanners… how the heck are you supposed to figure out what works for you? And not to mention upkeep and potential clothing staining? And ON TOP of all that, you have to eternally be worried about looking a ripe shade of Donald Trump.
So let me walk you through the self tanners I’ve tried out recently!
St. Tropez Self Tan Classic Bronzing Mousse + Gradual Tan Tinted Body Lotion
Let’s start this out by saying that I figured out pretty quickly that a tinted gradual tan moisturizer was not the way to go for me. With the St. Tropez Gradual Tan Tinted Body Lotion just didn’t dry down fast enough for my liking. I waited thirty minutes or so, but I still felt like the product would transfer to any clothing I put on so I ended up wiping it all off with some tissue. I’m too on the go for this kind of product I think! (If you use self tanning moisturizers – tell me what you love about them in the comments!)
However, the one I ended up falling in love with is the St. Tropez Self Tan Classic Bronzing Mousse!
St. Tropez Self Tan Classic Bronzing Mousse
The Self Tan Classic Bronzing Mousse is what I would consider a “typical” self tanner (this is coming from someone who has never use self tanners before though!). It has a pump top so that you can place dollops of the mousse onto the tan applicator mitt in order to rub it on to your skin. It comes out very dark in tone which kind of terrified me at first, but rest assured that your skin will not end up that colour! That dark colour is a colour guard so you’ll know where you’re applying the product and what areas you’ve left blank.
My right leg (your visual left) covered with St. Tropez Self Tan Classic Bronzing Mousse, left leg has nothing on it
So here’s a comparison shot. The leg you see on the left has the Self Tan Classic Bronzing Mousse on it, the right leg (my actual left) has nothing on it. This was after developing overnight (roughly 10 hours). I think on me it adds a caramel tone without going orange. That’s my take on it however, my husband did say he thought it looked a touch orange.
Since I’ve only used the product a few times now, I’ve got some tips for the newbies out there:
Moisturize your feet (right up to the ankle), knees, elbows and any other rough patches of skin you have BEFORE you apply this. This will help the self tan not cling to the dry patches (it gets infinitely darker on dry, dead skin).
The product needs time to develop on your skin – this is how self tanners work – they contain dihydroxyacetone (DHA) which reacts with the dead cells on the skin’s surface to temporarily darken the skin and simulate a tan. So let this product develop for 8-10 hours if you want to see the best results. I always opted to apply this before I went to bed so I’d at least sleep through the developing stage and then could shower any remnant product off in the morning.
I opted not to apply this to my face as I wanted to use a darker foundation to match my body instead.
It dried to the touch within about 15 minutes, so I was safe to go lay down in bed after that.
DO NOT WORRY if you see stains on your bed sheets. I *freaked out* when this happened because I thought it was supposed to be transferproof. Thankfully, it washed out of my sheets even when I waited a week after I noticed staining.
No one noticed at work until I brought it up. I consider this a huge benefit since it means that it didn’t look completely out of place.
If you play sports where there’s a lot of sweaty rubbing action (like shin pads in soccer, etc.) you may notice fading happening sooner rather than later. I timed applying my self tanner after I’d played soccer for the day and I knew I wouldn’t be playing for another 7 days.
As the product fades, it’ll go a bit patchy. It was absolutely fine for 5-6 days, but it was around day 8 that I noticed significant patchiness on the insides of my elbows and around my ankles. If you exfoliate your body regularly, you’ll help the product fade off nicely instead of in patches.
In short, I was really pleased with this self tanner since it’s what I was looking for: easy to apply, zero streaks and it gave me a healthy looking tan. And what I’ve learned out of all of this is I like a mousse that dries on my skin fairly quickly, and I’m just not into the self tan lotions!
St. Tropez Self Tan Giveaway
Alright, let’s get into the giveaway! I’ve got extras of the St. TropezSelf Tan Classic Bronzing Mousse, the Gradual Tan Tinted Body Lotion, as well as a Tan Applicator Mitt, so I figured somebody else would like to try out this line too!
Giveaway Rules
This giveaway is open internationally!
This giveaway starts on November 12, 2016 and runs for one week.
Please be aware that all entries will be double checked to ensure fairness.
Once the winner has been contacted, they will have 48 hours to provide me with their mailing address. If the winner fails to respond within that time frame, I will pick another winner. (And so on.)
“Giveaway accounts” will not be considered for this prize. (If you want to know what I mean by that, please click here.)
