Wednesday 30 January 2013

New Loreal Color Caresse Shine Stain: First Impression

I remember seeing this newly released stains first on an American blog! My first thought was how long it was going to take until we Canadians saw them popping up on our shelves.  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw these at Shoppers Drug-Mart just the other day. I call this post a first impression because my opinions are based off just that. I haven't purchased the product but I did swatch it and get a feel for the it.

What is it- This new addition to the Loreal family is a joint hybrid between a wet gloss, and a stain. It's meant to hydrate while giving the lips a beautiful tint of color. 

Packaging: The product comes in a gold tube, there is clear part near the top where the color can be seen. The gloss comes with a doe-foot applicator that is somewhat flexible in order to get a flawless application. The applicator is smaller in size however, it is more thicker then others I have seen, this makes it easy to cover the entire lip area with one swipe. 

Pigmentation: I swatched 4 colors in total, two darkers shades, a coral, and a pink. Out of them all I felt that the darker ones performed the best, they were completely opaque with one swipe! The coral and the pink although gorgeous act more as a tint as they are incredibly wet and slippery therefore one may need to apply a couple more coats to achieve the desired look. Needless to say, I love the lighter colors, I think it's just based on personal preference. 

Overall: I like this product a lot, I like that it's compact, and I like the application of it. It's light weight, and does not feel sticky  when applied. When I first tested it out on my hand I saw an instant  amount of shine, the colors were bright, and the wetness was evident. When I got home I noticed that the product dried to a matte finish, even when I tried to rub the product off it didn't budge!

Have these Color Caresse lip stains caught your attention? Is it worth buying?

Monday 28 January 2013

Get Glitzy nails with Milani's Jewel FX Polish (in Gold)

 I have been obsessing over this polish ever since I've seen it on Stephanie's (Stephoosh) blog. Stephanie has used this polish countless times as an accent nail and it looks gorgeous with  everything she pairs it with. Needless to say, I have been wanting it forever! I did my nails the other day, and used Essie's Set in Stones to add detail to my ring finger. Every time I looked at my mani I was thinking of how much better it would have looked with the gold. Soooo on the way home from school today, I took a little detour and ended up in Superstore with this polish in my hand. Milan's Jewel FX is a gold glitter polish which consists of big chunky hexagonal glitter. I wanted to cover my full nail and get it opaque, I was able to achieve this look with only a couple coats. I waited a couple seconds in between each layer which made the polish go on that much more smoother. The  nail polish didn't get goopy or thick, and dried fairly quickly! This is my first Milani product and I am very happy with it, in fact I would consider buying all the other glitter polishes minus the silver one because I already have something similar.
Have you tried any Milani polishes? 




Sunday 27 January 2013

Wet N' Wild's Berry Shimmer: A Great Inexpensive Find

Wet N' Wild is a brand I've become fairly accustomed to, I absolutely love their products whether it be an eyeshadow, or nail polish. This is my first face product I have tried by them and again it's fabulous, no complaints here. The product is smooth, velvety, and glides right on. I actually have to be careful not to over apply the blush otherwise my cheeks get too rosy, looking  very unnatural. The blush can be best described as somewhat of a dull red shade, it has golden shimmer in it which helps to brighten and highlight the cheeks.

The blush is great for the following reasons
-Amazingly pigmented, a little goes a long way, no pressure needed to apply
- smooth, and velvety, has a great texture
- No fall out that I experience
-Very affordable, coming in around 3 dollars 
-Readily available at your local Wal-Mart
-You can build up the swatch to be incredibly dark without it becoming chalky 
Have you tried any Wet N' WIld blushes? What are your thoughts?

Monday 14 January 2013

Spotted @ Wal-Mart

Here are some amazing goods I've spotted making their way into Canadian Wal-Marts. I wanted to take pictures so bad but the sales associate kept starring me down so I felt really uncomfortable whipping out my camera. I feel like there were so many other things that caught my eye but I cannot remember sadly.

Color Whisper (Maybelline)- I am so excited about these, the color selection is absolutely amazing and I'm sure there's a shade for everyone. Instead of just one nude shade there has to be at least 3 to 4, all varying slightly. I picked up three of these (which I will review soon) however, I am going to switch one of them because it is simply too light.

Maybelline Makeup Cleansing products- I know there are many of you who love to try out different makeup removing products so I thought this was worth while mentioning. I like the packaging of the product and that it's somewhat cost effective.

Revlon Colorburst Bellini- Now I know the line isn't new but there are new  color additions, I first fell in love with this shade after seeing multiple American bloggers/Youtubers rave about it. I seriously would go to all the Wal-Marts in my area hoping to find this baby. I  stumbled upon it today and was ecstatic.

Revlon Nearly Naked- A new foundation by Revlon very reminiscent of Urban Decay's foundation called Naked. it comes in a broad spectrum of colors. Like anything I was excited to see this but I know that it probably won't do me any good because of the coverage level. 

Revlon Bubble Gum Days/ Urban Nights Collection- Wow is this collection ever beautiful. I am most impressed by the glitter polishes. Some are very similar to Whimsical in that they have a colored base with different  colored (hexagonal)glitter pieces. One of them is a pinky base with darker pink and purple glitter SOO PRETTY..There are also many  new beautiful solid colored polishes, I really like the shade Electric!

Are you interested by any of these products? 
What would you like to try out?


Dermologica Pre-Cleanse

I've tried my fair share of cleansers, I'm the type of girl who has oily skin, and as a result I experience my skin breaking out at times. That being said I would have never thought of using an oil based cleanser on my skin. It just so happened that in my winter Luxe Box I recieved a generous sample of Dermologica's Pre-Cleanse. It looks really tiny, but it did last my a nice amount of time seeing as I only needed a couple drops at a time, and I was only using it before bed. Sometimes we have preconceived notions about a particular product or item, our view is based around common myths that we hear day in and day out.  However, sometimes the result is totally opposite of that which we've been told. When I hear the word oil mentioned in a product I kind of cringe, why on earth would I want to use something that adds more oil to my face when I already experience that sort of problem. When I think back to my early teen days I remember my mom suggesting I use olive oil to remove my waterproof mascara, when I did it slowly removed it and conditioned my lashes! Now that I think of it oil cleansers are really this amazing hybrid between a makeup remover and a cleanser.

On Hand: Korres Mascara, NYX jumbo eye pencil (Milk), C.O bigelow lip gloss, Wet N' Wild Blush (Berry Shimmer), Essence eye primer, Revlon Smoky Shadow stick (Atomic), Covergirl Smoky Shadow Blast 

As you can see the face makeup totally breaks down within contact of the oil. Mascara becomes softened, and easily is removed with the addition of water. Before when I first got the sample I added a couple drops of water with the oil and mixed it together and applied to my face. However what happened was that I wasn't getting a deep clean because I was watering down the product before I actually massaged it in. 
To use I added a couple drops of the oil cleanser to the palm of my hand. I rubbed in both hands and then applied to my face. With gentle pressure I massaged my face and instantly saw foundation, and blush disappear. I would swipe my eyelashes to work the product in, some mascara would flake away and my lashes became softer as a result. After sufficiently working the product in, I added some water and began to massage again. The oil begins to desinigrate and any traces of mascara seem to melt away. The oil cleanser helps to get the mascara off, but ultimately it nourishes them!

This product is part of a skin care system, whereby this product is used first in conjunction with other products. Now while I was sampling it I only used the oil cleanser and that was extremely sufficient. Some days I would use my Cetaphil cleanser just as an extra measure.

I don't have acne per say, I don't experience breakouts out of the ordinary during my time of the month, nor do I have spots all over. Although I was my wash my face religiously twice a day, I still have problem areas. I think what happens is that even with a face wash dirt and debris still exists therefore contributing to the pimples. This oil cleanser is like a dirt magnet, you massage it in and with the addition of water the formula becomes milkier and emulsified and it truly helps to break down all the nasty stuff still left on your face. While I was using this I noticed a difference in my face, it looked cleaner and it felt clear and healthy.

When my sample finished I was deliberating buying this in a full size, although expensive I didn't mind spending a bit more on a product that was actually working for me. I was stuck between this one and Boscia's oil cleaner. I  decided on the Boscia one because it was more cheaper, and because it was essentially the same product,  I also read multiple positive reviews on the product. Now after using it I really don't know how much I like it..maybe I need more time to try it out. After the first day I had little pimples, so I'm really unsure if this is just my skin purging to get the impurities out or if it's breaking me out.

My point in writing this post, was to give a review about the Dermologica Pre-Cleaner, and to ask you all about your opinion. Have you ever used the Bosica Makeup breakup Cool Cleansing Oil? I really want to love it, and I hate returning stuff  so maybe I will just stick through it and be patient to see how it performs.

Hope I didn't bore you all!



Wednesday 9 January 2013

Random Purchases of the Day

 Here are some of my random purchases of the day, everything bought was tremendously amazing in terms of the price! I've been really hesitant about colored jeans but after seeing them on others I just couldn't resist. I initially tried on a pale pink color from Aeropostale (on sale for $18) but decided against them because I didn't really like the color on me. I saw a minty blue color which I liked however, they didn't have my size available so I just walked away. Well later on during my shopping trip I went into Ardene and was surprised by the number of colored and printed jeans they had. I'm a really picky person when it comes to jeans, I hate buttoned back pockets, and I need them to fit a certain way. Lately I haven't been able to find jeans that I really like so when I tried these and liked them I was floored! You'll probably also know that jeans can be kinda expensive, mind you when I do find jeans I do get good luck at urban Planet price wise. These jeans were just too good to pass up, they were 50% off the original ticketed price of $22.20 so I paid $11.25 per pair. I personally think that is AMAZING, they are the most comfiest bottoms ever. They've got the appearance of skinny jeans but there somewhat stretchy and may I add super comfortable. I bought the blue and dark grey and as I was leaving, I went back for the light grey. I'm a big fan of grey, I like that both pairs are different compared to a denim color but it's still neutral which I like. 
I think my favorite article of clothing has to be cardigans..everytime I go shopping I literally come home with one or multiple. I love the versatility of them, you can easily dress them up or down and they look beautiful. Bluenotes had a ton of stuff on sale, I got this white cardi for $8! It's a flowy plain one, and I am planning on pairing it with the blue skinnies I bought. Lastly my indoor slippers.. My mom actually bought these for me. Also from Ardene they were 3 for $20. They are adorable and perfect for indoor wear. 
Hope your all doing well!

Tuesday 8 January 2013

D.I.Y Brush Holder Storage

Here is a quick little D.I.Y I wanted to share with you all. I was actually  inspired by Missglammorazi, she did a video on this sort of concept and it made me want to keep my large candle jars to try it out! I love coming across simple craft ideas where you can re-purpose old/ used objects. I kept it rather simple I didn't add any glitter, rather I went with a more simplistic look.
Materials:
- Medium/ Large candle jar will do (just depends on how many brushes you wish to store inside)
- Vase filler ( I got this clear acrylic filler at the dollar store)
- Decorative items (bows, glitter, lace, stickers etc.)

Some tips..
- Make sure your jar is cleaned out well, no residue left on it what so ever
-Remove the remaining candle scraps (just use a knife and make a crack in it, or freeze the candle for a bit, and then use a nice that way when you crack it the candle will break into big pieces and it's not messy compared to when the candle is at room temperature)
-Remove the wicks ( just put hot water in the jar after the candle has been removed, hot water will melt the glue, use a butter knife to pry the wicks off)
-Give it a quick wash and remove stickers
-Decorate!

Below are pictures of the large candle holder I decorated and closer to the end you will see a smaller holder I also decorated. I used the mini one to store my trial sized perfume vials.
Before making this, I just had my brushes standing up in the holder they came with. The original holder was taking up a lot of space so I wanted to give this jar idea a try. I really like it, the brushes stand up, you can store many of them inside, and it can totally be customized to your liking.
.

Saturday 5 January 2013

The Beginning of What may be a New Obsession: My first MAC lipstick!

The title says it all I must say.. There's been countless times I've gone to the MAC counter to just look at the products and new collections. I stand and stare in awe, slightly dazed not knowing what to get. I take everything in, admire some of the products and then leave. I've always wanted to try a MAC lipstick, but again I wasn't sure what to get as there are so many beautiful alternatives. After work yesterday I went by the counter for the heck of it, and I ended up leaving with this lipstick. I was looking at two lipstick both, Japenese Maple and Pure Zen, I finally decided on this one, Japanese maple . When I swatched both lip colors side by side, I noticed that Pure Zen was more of a mauve nude with pink undertones to it, although I did like the color I wanted a color less pink and more of a true nude. I was and still am absolutely ecstatic over my purchase!

Japanese maple is a warm nude shade, perfect for day to day wear; it gives you the perfect amount of color, and hydration. I was actually really surprised in terms of the formula; having never tried the lipsticks before I thought it would somehow end up making my lips feel tight and plastered, I couldn't be more wrong!  When I use Japanese maple I feel as though the only product I am wearing is a lip treatment which is amazing. I love how this product falls in the middle of being matte/ really shiney and glossy. I get the moisture I want, the color I desire and the shine that I want, nothing to fancy. The longevity also seeks to amaze me, it definitely does not stay on for the whole day by any means but it lasts a fair bit of time before I re-apply. The product glides on easily without any effort, and the texture is nice and creamy. Overall I am really happy with this purchase, everything from the packaging, to the formula/ color is amazing. 

Have you tried this shade out? What's your go-to MAC lip color?


Thursday 3 January 2013

Bath and Body Works Haul!

I felt like I haven't blogged in so long, and I've literally missed it so much! I hope you all have thoroughly enjoyed your holidays. So for the past two weeks, I've kind of been stocking up one some Bath and Body products. I started working there as a seasonal associate, and I've been so good at holding back. Recently though, I've had some family birthdays so I've been purchasing for that cause however, I did by myself some items (I waited till they were 
all marked down lol).
So here is all the stuff I've accumulated throughout this week. Half is for me, half of for my mom's birthday tomorrow.
Throughout the holiday season I was eyeing candles that I really wanted, I never picked them up and they sold out so fast. I thought on boxing day the store would re-stock but seeing as I worked that day they had old candles on the floor that were marked down to 50% off and some that were even more cheaper I knew I wanted Spiced Apple Toddy, and a couple others. Luckily yesterday I went to a different Bath and Body Works and I was able to find 3 candles that were not in my store (Spiced Apple, Holiday & Frosted Cupcake).
A total of 5 candles, 3 large ones, and 2 medium ones..

Spiced Apple  Toddy
..was 50% off (12.50 --> $11.25)- smells delicious, like a blend of apple cinnamon) 

Holiday 
($12.50 50% off--> $6.25)- OMG exact smell of cinnamon hearts, love spicy scents they burn so nicely without being too strong)

Warm vanilla Sugar 
($22.50--> 75% off because of the old packaging, so it literally came to $5 something!!!)

Frosted Cupcake
 ($22.50 50% off--> $11.25)Was another scent marked down to 50% off, the scent is amazing. As the name would suggest, it's the exact smell of a yummy cupcake.

Marshmellow Fireside
($22.50 50% of--> $11.25)- I had this candle last year in a mini and it was a favorite of mine then. I knew I had to get my hands on the bigger size. It's brings back memories of summer camping trips with the family.
I got two soaps and from the beginning of the semi-annual sale most soaps were marked down to $3 originally $5.50. I got two of the popular winter scents, Winter Candy Apple which I reviewed, and Vanilla Bean Noel. I recently tried the foaming soaps and I really love them. I recently tried the foaming soaps and I really like them compared to the moisturizing ones. The thicker soaps, take really long to wash off whereas the foaming ones, cleanse effectively,and leave my hands somewhat lightly scented. Winter Candy Apple is the one I picked up for myself which I will be using in my bathroom.  I choose Vanilla Bean for my mum because I know she loves such scents, and it isn't one that is too sweet. 
I was taking to my mom like last week about the fragrance oils/ holders and she was quite interested in them. I thought it would be nice to get her a holder and some scents as she's never tried these ones before. We are both LOVERS of the Bath and Body Works candles so I hope these work just as well. 

Holder- The fragrance oil holder has a glass piece at the top, and a perfect size opening at the bottom to insert the tea light candle. (Originally $10.50, it was 50% off therefore came to $5.25)

The scents..
Moonlight Path- a lovely light blend of lavender, weirdly enough it smells exactly like baby powder. It's soothing, and so relaxing.

Twilight Woods- My mom has both Twilight, and Moon light in body fragrances, since she loves those I knew she would love these. Instead of doing a candle in these scents, I opted for the oils. Twilight is a vanilla with a tinge of musk to it.

Holiday- As a mentioned, holiday is a cinnamon scented fragrance
The scents are 2$ each or 3 for 5$
Select fragrances were $4!!! Can you believe it, they are originally $14 so I thought that was a great deal. 
Love Love Love- I picked up Love Love Love today actually after much deliberation. I always loved it and I'm so happy I just bought it. It's definitely a juicier scent if you know what I mean, very fruity and berry-licious! 

Cashmere Glow- Two weeks ago I was shopping for the cousin, Bath and body had 3 signature items (excluding eau de toilets) for $24. That's a pretty good because alone picking three items costs you about $36+ depending on what you pick up. I got two Winter Candle apple items for the cousin, and I picked up this scent for myself. It's definitely more of a luxurious scent, I absolutely love it. It's got some fruity notes (peach and apricot) as well as some hints of vanilla.

Here is what I have for my mom that is bath and Body works related..
Candles, fragrance oils, shower/ soap dispenser, oil holder, soap, and decorative holder
Plus some other goods from various different stores.

What ever I thought fit best inside the gold holder I placed within and wrapped with cellophane, the other stuff I am just going to stick in a gift bag.
 
Have you been to BBW recently? What did you end up picking up? 
Are you lusting over any products?