Review: Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Bronzer

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When I saw that Charlotte Tilbury was coming out with a bronzer I could not resist the thought of having another luxury bronzer in my collection. Can I just say, this came within a day. A DAY. To the middle of nowhere small town. I kept seeing my favourite influencers getting this in the mail. I couldn’t decide what shade to get, I was between the medium and the fair shade. The fair shade looked very fair, and one of my favourite creators Allana Davison got the shade fair and it was fair lighter than the fair shade in the filmstar bronze and glow.

What do I look for in a bronzer. I just want something that isn’t going to turn me orange and something that is easy to blend out and is easy to use. I like a fool proof bronzer. I like a bronzer that you can just slap on and hope for the best, instead of really working with something.

Here the claims on the website: “Darlings, discover my NEW! Airbrush Bronzer in Medium, a HYALURONIC ACID-INFUSED, SMOOTHING, PORE-BLURRING EFFECT MATTE bronzer for the face and body! This shade is perfect for fair to medium skin tones to create the appearance of a glowing, GOLDEN-GODDESS, sun-kissed complexion! Inspired by my 1 SOLD EVERY MINUTE worldwide PHENOMENON, Airbrush Flawless Finish powder*, my NEW! Airbrush Bronzer uses the same BEAUTIFYING AIRBRUSH DNA and fine-as-AIR FINELY-MILLED pigments to BLUR the appearance of PORES and SMOOTH over your skin to make you look and feel like the best, most beautiful version of yourself!”

The rest of the claims: “CHARLOTTE’S NEW! INNOVATION, NEXT-GENERATION BRONZER uses NEW! FLAWLESS TECHNOLOGY inspired by the fine as AIR, SMOOTH-AS-SILK PORE-BLURRING EFFECTS of the iconic AIRBRUSH family!

HYDRATING HYALURONIC ACID moisturises so that skin appears softer and smoother in seconds! SMOOTHING, SILKY MICA treated with amino acids to impart a silky smooth, long-lasting feel on the skin. BLURRING SOFT-FOCUSING SILICA adds a rich-velvety texture and reflects the light for a soft-focused effect. MICRO-FINE PERFECTING POWDERS deliver an invisibly thin, silky filter on the skin to add depth of colour and coverage. MAGICAL MICROSPHERES for increased pay off and an elegant silky texture. COVETABLE, COLLECTIBLE, SUSTAINABLE with Airbrush Bronzer refills (coming soon!)”

Okay, so when I first used the bronzer, I was a bit scared it might be too dark for my skintone. As soon as I used it though, it was definitely something that was similar to other bronzer shades in my collection. I would say this is a shade that is a bit warm, but not orange, and has a more neutral undertone than other bronzers. Upon application, I have used a fluffy brush and a stippling brush. The more dense brush, creates a more heavy handed application, and the stippling brush allows you to build up the product a bit more. This is a very smoothing bronzer on the cheeks, and goes over foundation very nicely without catching on anything. It also wears very nicely throughout the day and doesn’t fade away.

The price: okay this is $65 CAD and you get 16 grams of product. This is a good bang for your buck. However, this bronzer is 100% overpriced for what it is. Yes, this goes on silky and smoothly, and creates a beautiful brontour look, but you can get similar vibes with drugstore bronzers or even less expensive mid range bronzers from Sephora.

Comparisons: Compared to the Filmstar bronze and glow this bronzer is slightly warmer. Compared to the Fenty bronzer, this bronzer is warmer and the Fenty bronzer (shade In da Sun) is slightly cooler. The Hourglass (Diffused Bronze light) bronzer is more shimmery and is cooler toned and a bit more red. The Maybelline City bronzer (002 Medium) is quite close in colour to the Charlotte Tilbury but is a bit warmer. The Anastasia Beverly Hill bronzer in Tawny is more red toned, and the Physicians Formula bronzer in sun kissed similar in colour (I’d say 90% similar) but slightly warmer when swatched. The Charlotte Tilbury Bronzer definitely has a more neutral undertone as opposed to a warm yellow undertone that other bronzers in my collection have.

Overall rating: 4/5. I think that this is worth it if you have it in your budget. This is 100% something that I would purchased if you want to treat yourself and have the ability to do so. As someone who would have never normally purchased this, now that I have the means it was a pleasant treat to buy this and have it in my collection.

The swatches

Left to right: Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush bronzer Medium, Film Star Bronze and Glow Fair, Fenty IN DA Sun Bronzer, Hourglass Bronzer Diffused Bronze Light, Maybelline Bronzer 002 Medium, Anastasia Beverly Hills Bronzer Tawny, Physicians Formula Bronzer Sunkissed

Sephora VIB Sale Haul Part 2

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This is my second haul…and I want to acknowledge that not everyone during this pandemic not everyone has the opportunity to be spending nor the income at this time. I am in a privileged position to be able to treat myself and I am in no way bragging or telling you to buy any of these items. I got products I’ve had on my love lists for so long and am finally financially able enough to purchase what I want. I wanted to share the rest of the things I purchased with you all.

Let’s start with the two new blushes. I got a Clinique blush and the Patrick Ta Blush in She’s Sincere. I was really interested in trying more shades of the Clinique blush in Rosy Pop because they seem to be an iconic, well priced blush at Sephora. I also wanted to try the Patrick Ta blush because I haven’t heard anything about it and really wanted to try it. So far, both blushes are beautiful and easy to use. The Patrick Ta one upon swatch doesn’t look like much, but when on the skin creates a beautiful, buildable flush.

I then got a few base products. I got the NARS Tinted moisturizer, the Too Faced Born this way foundation, and the Milk makeup flex concealer. I wanted to buy some items for a post that I am planning for the future. I also got the Kiehls Glow Hydrator after seeing The Anna Edit use this. It is so nice and so far a lovely product. For reference, I bought the tinted moisturizer in Alaska and the Too Faced Born this way foundation in Porcelain. I got the Milk Concealer in Buff.

Left to right: NARS Tinted Moisturizer, Kiehl's glow skin hydrator, Milk flex concealer, Too Faced Born this way,

Too Faced Born This way foundation review

I also bought a few highlighters (I know as if I need anymore). I got the Tarte Twinkle Highlighting palette, the Benefit high beam, the Kosas Contrachroma blush duo, and the tower 28 Super Dew Balm. I know this is a lot of highlighters for someone who already owns many. However, in an effort to research for my upcoming comprehensive Sephora Beginners Guide, I wanted to try and find highlighters that were user friendly, but also not super expensive.

Benefit High Beam, Milk Flex Concealer, Tower 28 Super Dew Balm

Did you pick anything up at the sale?

_{PS in depth reviews to come}

Sephora Haul Pt. 1

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I am slightly ashamed to say that I made three Sephora orders. This is the first year I’ve honestly had the financial freedom to buy really, what I wanted from the store. Needless to say… my makeup purchases can stand now for the rest of the year. I was really inspired by Michelle Wang, and Samantha Ravendhal for many of these purchases.

This was a Michelle Wang inspired purchase, the Natasha Denona Diamond, and Blush palette. This palette creates such an editorial glossy glow and has many options for the blush and highlight lover. When I saw this being used by Michelle I was completely enamored, and it was on sale for half off. So far, I am really enjoying this. All the products layer really nicely, which was the intention of the palette.

The next item was really inspired by the fact that these were teased so long ago, the Fenty Cream Bronzer in Butta Biscuit. This bronzer comes in 7 shades, similar to the powder bronzer. This is a super creamy, sheer buildable formula. You can apply this with your fingers, and a sponge, and a dense brush. My preferred form of application is with a dense brush because you can build it up quite easily.

The next item I wanted to buy is the limited edition Hourglass highlighting palette. This was something I missed out on their previous relief, and I really wanted to try it so I decided to take the plunge. This is a beautiful powder highlighter palette. And I say that because this does not wear or look like a powder, it is silky and glossy on the skin without emphasizing texture.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Highlighter Palette

I also wanted to try a Tarte Foundation and at that, a stick foundation. I wanted to compare this to the Colourpop stick foundation. I have been interested in Tarte Cosmetics and so, naturally, I bought the stick foundation in fair neutral. The matte clay sick foundation. This is a very matte foundation, and I am still testing it out, I definitely do not like the brush application and cannot decide if a sponge is the best mode of application. A review will be coming.

Another splurgy item I ordered was one of the Charlotte Tilbury quads in Mesmerizing Maroon, apparently made to emphasize green eyes. This is now sold out. This is an absolutely beautiful formula, and the shimmers are again, what I keep taking from JamiePaigeBeauty is a mature shimmer on your eyelid. This is such a sophisticated soft formula and has minimal fallout. This is so outrageously priced for four shadows and I haven’t quite decided if I can wholeheartedly recommend this product, but what I can say is this blends itself right out.

What did you pick up from the sale?

Review: Jaclyn Hill x Morphe Eyeshadow Palette

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I want to start out this review by saying, I don’t watch Jaclyn Hill nor do I keep up with the drama that surrounds her. I think she gets a lot of flack, but she is a talented makeup pioneer in the content creator space and I respect her for that. I am not going to get into the lipstick debacle or any other releases, but this palette is something my best friend loves and I was like, if it’s good enough for her it is good enough for me.

Okay let’s start with the claims” This is not your average palette. That’d be boring. We (and most importantly, Jaclyn Hill) don’t do boring. This palette is a 2-year love affair. 35 OMG eyeshadows that Jaclyn whipped up, formulated, tested, re-tested, and perfected. They were created to deliver not only the best colour payoff but also an amazing application. Mattes, shimmers, satins, foils, and glitter: all pressed to perfection…just the way Jaclyn wanted. Her dreamy colours are now your reality. So whether you’re pressed for time or have time to play, this palette is your bestie. Because a girl (and guy) needs to have options”

The claims are all true. When I first got the palette, I was expecting to be overwhelmed by the size and underwhelmed by the quality. I had a morphe palette that I used once, and since gave to a friend, and the shadows were mediocre at best. These shadows, dare I say, are anything but mediocre or at the very least have comparable quality to my Tarte palette and my naked palette, as well my Anastasia. PS I ordered this palette from the Morphe website and I did not get any duties.

This palette is needless to say a surprise. This is a big palette. It has 35 shades. Which I feel like is a lot of shades for the average consumer. However, if you don’t have any palettes in your arsenal this might be a good palette for you. I find that all of the shades in this palette really do work well together. Any shade goes with any other shade. Now the one I have is the re-release and all of the shades have the names under the shades. I did watch her video and it was nice to see how much work went into the palette – going back and forth with the lab and the thought that went into the palette. There are also multiple finishes including, satin, matte, and metallic and each name has a meaning to her and has a particular thought behind it.

I wanted to compare the formula to other formulas in my collection because Morphe does pride itself on affordable shadows, however this palette is $50 CAD on Sephora and the Morphe website. I split my palette collected based on the $50-60 range, the $30 range, the drugstore prices and the $60 and up range to compare the quality of the formulas.

Compared to my Natasha Denona Biba (shamefully $170 CAD), the mattes in the Morphe palette are less dense in feel, but have the same bendability. The shimmers are not a noticeable difference.

Palettes laid out: Clockwise- Fenty, Naked Heat, Morphe Jaclyn Hill. Tom Ford, Charlotte Tilbury, NARS Ignited,

Clockwise: Jaclyn Hill Palette, Too Faced Sweet Peach, ABH Soft Glam, Tarte Tartlette in bloom

Compared to the Naked Heat ($68 CAD) another over $60 palette, The matte shades in the naked heat are dryer to the touch where as the Morphe are softer to the touch, with the same blendability. The shimmers in each palette are quire similar, but the Naked Palette’s shimmers are a bit denser and creamier. Compared to the Fenty Morrocan Spice ($79 CAD) the mattes feel very similar, but the Morphe ones pack more of a colour punch. For the shimmers, the formulas feel very similar. Compared to the Tom Ford palette which has 3 mattes and one shimmer. The mattes quite honestly, feel super similar to Tom Ford ($115 CAD) is more creamy, and the shimmer in the Morphe palette is more pigmented. Comparing to the NARS ignited palette ($74CAD) the matte shades are similar, but the NARS one has a bit less pigment and is a bit more patchy. The shimmers in the Morphe palette are smoother and swatch better. Compared to the Charlotte Tilbury Mesmerizing Maroon ($66 CAD) the matte shade in the quad is smoother than the Morphe and the shimmer shade feels smoother to the touch but the finishes are quite similar. . The Too Faced Sweet Peach ($65 CAD) has a bit of a drier more sheer formula for both the mattes and Shimmers and the Morphe PAlette has more dense shadows for both finishes

MAC Seeing Stars, Sephora Stories Palette, CORAL Huda Palette, ELF Bite Sized Quads

In the $30 – $55 range we first have the MAC Palette ($38 CAD) from the Christmas collection 2020. The shimmers in this palette feel in texture very similar to the Jaclyn palette. The matte shades in the MAC palette are less pigmented. The Huda beauty Coral Palette ($36CAD is a very similar formula to both the mattes and the shimmers in the Jaclyn Hil Palette. Compared to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam ($55 CAD) has a softer creamer formula and the Morphe is a bit more hard-pressed. The Tarlette in Bloom ($51 CAD) palette has more sheer mattes though easily blendable and a very similar shimmer formula.

I only have a few drugstore priced palettes. Compared to the elf bite-sized quads in Berry Rad ($3 USD) the mattes in the Jaclyn Hill palette are denser and swatch more pigmented and the elf ones need to be build up, the shimmers are similar, but the Morphe ones are more tighly packed and have less fall out. The Sephora collection eyestories palette ($14 CAD) has similar mattes to the Morphe, same density, and same lack of fall out. The shimmers in both palettes swatch very similarly, but the Sephora ones are smoother to the touch.

The reason I wanted to go so in-depth about this palette is that it has mixed reviews and I wanted to give you options if Morphe isn’t your thing because I know that many people might find this palette a bit overwhelming because if you aren’t a makeup lover I don’t know how user-friendly this ange of colours would be. While I don’t wear colourful eyeshadow, it is nice that this palette gives you the option to do a different look as most of my palettes are not in the colorful realm but in a warm neutral or pink realm. This palette has a stellar formula, that feels different than the previous Morphe palette I owned. I find that you can create many looks and the shimmers are what Jaime Paige would call a mature shimmer. The shimmers and duochromes create more unique looks than your average neutral palette. In my comparison hunt in my stash, the undertones of this palette are all different and while there are neutral and warm shades, I did not find a single colour dupe in all of the palettes that I own only similar vibes.

The Swatches

Row 1: Enlight, Beam, Silk Creme, MFEO, Faint, SIssy, Little Lady

Row 2: Creamsicle, Butter, Pooter, Pukey, Hunts, Firework, Queen

Row 3: Obsessed, SBN, Hillster, Roxanne, Jacz, Buns, Cranapple

Row 4: Royalty, Twerk, Hustle, Meeks, 24/7, Chip, Mocha

Row 5: Pool Party, Jada, Diva, Enchanted, Central Park, Soda Pop, Abyss.

A few looks – tutorials to come

Top 5 Highlighters

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I think what I am known for is my extreme passion for highlighting my cheekbones. My cheekbones are something I like to highlight. I don’t really know why because my cheekbones have no real need to be shiny, but I just enjoy that highlighter makes me feel like a million bucks. My highlighter taste has definitely changed throughout my years of doing my own makeup. Don’t get me wrong, I still love an absolute discoball on my face, but I also love a nice subtle, is she really glowing, type of glow. I wanted to round up the 5 highlighters I have been using in my rotation.

Bobbi Brown Highlighter in Pink Glow

This highlighter is a buildable highlighting powder, that looks like it blends right into your skin. The description on Sephora’s website is: “Formulated with a clear base and highly-reflective pearl pigments, Highlighting Powder creates a flattering glow. Plus, the superfine, silky formula goes on smoothly and evenly and doesn’t settle into fine lines”. I find this is totally true. It gives a really nice glow to the skin without being chunky or glittery.

Physicians formula butter highlighter

I really like this highlighter for a subtle satin sheen. This is a cream-based highlighter that lasts all day. I enjoy that it is easy to apply and creates a beautiful sheen on the cheekbones. I really enjoy the scent. The website says; “Long-wearing, finely-pressed, cream-to-powder formula has a unique bouncy texture that melts into skin for the creamiest, most gorgeous highlighted finish”. This is such a creamy highlighter and it does literally melt into the skin.

Nudestix Illuminaughty Highlighter

I really enjoy this highlighter because it is a simple, glossy highlighter that really just makes your skin look like dewy goodness. The website describes this as: “NUDIES All Over Face Color Glow is a cream highlighter stick that effortlessly glides onto your skin to create a gorgeous natural glow. Perfect for creating a sun-kissed, no-makeup makeup look with some serious sheen, this creamy balm can be used in easy swipes to bring radiance to your cheeks, eyes and lips.These long-lasting highlighter sticks are conveniently dual ended, featuring a color block on one end and a soft blending brush on the other. Use your NUDIES GLOW cream highlighter to bring a radiant dew to your cheeks, eyes or lips that will last all day long”. I can confirm that these claims are all true of this highlighter. This lasts all day on my skin and is one of the few cream highlighters that I am almost finished with.

Anastasia Amrezy highlighter.

This is a limited edition highlighter, which is sometimes re released but for the most part, is no longer available. This is a super glossy, popping highlighter. It is gold, but I find on the skin doesn’t translate to yellow on me, like other golden highlighters I have. I really enjoy this for a day highlighter or an evening gathering highlighter.

Cheekbone beauty highlighting palette

This is such a beautiful, easy to use palette. I love how glossy it makes my skin look, without being metallic or glittery. I like that you have three options, the pink shade is beautiful for a hint of pink shimmer on the apples of your cheeks and the other two shades look beautiful mixed together or on their own. I highly recommend this palette if you want highlighters that are buildable and give you a subtle to high-shine glow. The website says: “Our ‘Stardust’ Highlighter trio is made with extremely high quality supercharged powders that can be used on every part of your face and body, for a glow that last all day into the night! Add a glow to your cupid’s bow, eyes, cheeks, nose, collarbone and cleavage!”.

The swatches

Left to right: Bobbi Brown Pink Glow, Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy highlighter, Cheekbone beauty palette, Nudestix Illuminaughty, Physicians Formula Butter highlighter

Bite Size Eyeshadow Mini Palette Review

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We all know that my infatuation with eyeshadows runs deep in my veins and one night, likely after a on call shift, i was ready to order some inexpensive but quality makeup. I decided to order four of the ELF Cosmetics mini bite-sized eyeshadow palettes. These babies are $3 each and pack quite the punch.

I want to say that first and foremost, these do not meet the quality of Natasha Denona or Anastasia Beverly Hills but that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy these and that for the price (and I’m not a fan of using that term) that these aren’t wonderful shadows. The shimmers are really where all of these palettes shine.

The matte shades aren’t the best, but they also aren’t the worst. I would say these are more buildable than packing a punch right away. I find that what I enjoy is that the darkest shade being a bit lighter in pigment is actually beneficial when trying to build an entire look. I don’t think these palettes are not necessarily for creating a full look, because I have found myself needing to supplement with inner corner highlight or a blending transition shade.

Let’s look at the claims: “These palettes deliver mini eye magic in a perfect size. The luxe formula is creamy, blendable, & ultra-pigmented. 8 ultra-pigmented palettes, A mix of matte & shimmer shades, Easily blendable formula, Perfect size for travel”.

The first one I got wanted to talk about was the Rosewater quad. This one feels very spring to me and feels very easy to use. There are two shimmers and a stain and a matte shade. I find the shimmers is where this palette shines.

Swatches of Rosewater quad — Swatches – unedited

The next one I wanted to talk about is Berry Rad. I got this one purely because I saw the promo photos and the model looked beautiful wearing it. The quad has two shimmers and two matte shades. These err on the side of red with a hint of Modern Renassaince vibes.

Swatches of Berry Rad — unedited swatch in natural light

The third one I purchased was Pumpkin Pie. What a shock. Me going for a warm-toned shades. Again, this one as two mattes and two shimmers. This is a nice warm-toned palette for easy “wearable” work looks.

Pumpkin Pie Swatches — unedited swatch in natural light

The fourth quad I purchased was the Hot Jalapeno quad and honestly, this one is standout for me. The greens of the mattes and shimmers are pigmented and it’s quite easy to make a green look. I feel like what is missing from all the quads is an inner corner highlighter, but at the same time, this isn’t a deal-breaker for me.

Overall rating: I am going to give these a 4/5 . I think that the score would be higher, but I do find these were really hyped up for what they are. These are a good formula, and these are in my everyday rotation, especially the Rosewater one, that has been a staple. I would say if you want easy to use, inexpensive quads, go for these ones!

Brand Review: Flower Beauty

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I have always been interested in Flower Beauty. I remember years ago it was in Walmart Canada, but the products I bought just didn’t really sing to me. When the brand left Canada, I didn’t think much of it. Then, I began to see the blush bombs, and the foundation, and highlighter being used by some of my favourite content creators. I was really pleased when I saw the brand was put on well.ca.

Here is the story according to their website: “FLOWER Beauty was the brainchild and mission of Drew Barrymore and her straight forward, no-nonsense philosophy of empowerment: that women everywhere deserve the best quality, most efficacious products at an affordable price. Growing up in the makeup artists chair, Drew has learned a thing or two about beauty. Now as a mother, award-winning actress, entrepreneur, producer and best-selling author she wants to share her passion. Drew’s gift to everyone, FLOWER empowers women by developing products that help you look and feel great in your Own skin, and to embrace your individual beauty with the support of inspired, luxurious products made with you in mind. At FLOWER our passion is creating cosmetics and tools that not only make life easier and more fun, but look and feel amazing- from our prestige quality formulas to packaging that’s designed for performance”

I was interested in gathering only a few items from the brand including their cult-favourite blush bombs and the highlighting palette that Andrea Matilliano uses. I also got the concealer and the blush pyramid.

Let’s start with the concealer. I’d say this is just a classic concealer, nothing too special about it. It wears and blends out really nicely. I got the shade fair. This is a good shade for me, though the shade range could be expanded. This is a really nice lightweight concealer, I find that this concealer really covers the dark circles without looking cakey or heavy.

The flower beauty blush bomb is the next product I was excited to try. I got the shade melon. I would say these are similar to the Glossier cloud paints but the cloud pants are less liquid and airier than the flower. I find the Flower Beauty ones almost have a thicker consistency whereas the glossier has a lighter consistency and dry more satin whereas the Flower Beauty one dries a bit more glossy.

The highlighting palette is called the shimmer and strobe highlighting palette. There is champagne, pink champagne, and a more golden highlighter in the palette. The palette is super smooth and buttery and appears shimmery on the skin not metallic. I am not surprised by the quality of the palette, but I am pleased that it has the same feeling as a high end highlighter This is a lovely gem and I think if you like a highlighter and want something that can be built up or sheered out this is the perfect palette for you.

The blush pyramid in peach glow. I bought this thing it might be similar to the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick. This is not similar. I am not really sure how to use this. As a blush, this does work, but it does appear a bit chunky on the skin. I like this as an eyeshadow but I want to continue trying to use it as a blush. I love me an all in one shimmer brick so I am going to keep try to use it and see if it can be diffused into the skin the way I like most of my blushes.

Overall I would give this brand a 4/5 stars. This brand is expensive for the drugstore. I really enjoy this brand, and enjoy that the packaging and product feels high quality. If you are Canadian you can buy this on well.ca

The swatches

First three shades are the highlighing palette,
Then the peach pyramid, and then everything mixed together

Light illusion concealer in fair, Melon blush bomb

Fenty Moroccan Spice Eyeshadow Palette Review

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The Fenty Moroccan Spice palette has really not gotten much hype. I don’t really understand why. I wanted to review this palette because ever since I bought it, I’ve been able to create various looks with it, and have found it to transcend any occasion.

A bit about the palette according to Fenty’s website: |An eyeshadow palette of 16 longwearing Moroccan-inspired shades ranging from matte to shimmer finishes—perfect for spicing up your look in limitless ways”. It appears that this palette is no longer on Sephora.ca but I did recently find it in store.

What drew me to this palette was it was on sale and I had been wanting it for awhile but wasn’t sure if I wanted to take the plunge. The palette has a range of warm and cool tones with pops of colour that are wearable. I have created a pink look for you today, but I do mostly use the browns and oranges in the palettes.

The formula of this palette is really smooth and creamy. I find a few of the shimmers to be a tough to get pigment in the palette and translate as a bit sheer on the lid, but for the most part thses are smooth shades with minimal fallout. This palette is rectangular with cut down edges. The packaging is beautiful. It is weighty and for size comparison, it is a smidge smaller than the Natasha Denona palettes. The palette also I fits nicely in my makeup desk therefore the kind of strange shape doesn’t really inhibit my use of it.

The wear time: these shadows do last forever. I have worked 12-14 hours a day and these shadows have lasted throughout. I also frequently get compliments on my eyeshadow when I wear these shadows so that doesn’t hurt.

Overall rating: this palettes was $78 originally and quite frankly it isn’t worth that. I got it for $39 which was a much more digestable price. I don’t think I would have bought this palette had it not been on sale, but I will say that I do enjoy it daily or at least wear it a few times a week. I find the shadows quick and easy to blend. I’m giving this a 3.5/5 stars simply because I think the original price is a bit too much. However, I love Fenty and if you can find this and want a palette with literally everything you need, go for it!

Physicians Formula X Weylie Palette Review

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When I saw this palette on shoppersdrugmart I knew I had to get it. Physicians formula generally comes out with influencer collabs in these huge boxes, so when this was in the thin box (albeit no mirror) with the butter formula throughout I knew it was something I wanted in my collection.

The palette has two bronzers, two blushes, and to highlighters, and two blushes. The formula is not different from the singles. On the website, Weylie says she wanted to make something that was easy for people to use to create various different looks. The palette is also in collaboration with the Best Friends Animal Society which makes me even happier to purchase. I would like to say I don’t watch Weylie but I did watch her video on this and I like that she created a palette for medium skin tones.

The two bronzers in Deep Bronzer and sunset bronzer. The deep bronzer is a golden tan with a satin finish and sunset bronzer is a deep taupe with a satin finish. I believe these are also in their regular line. I have the single in sunkissed bronzer and because I love the formula I will likely keep the single in my line as well .. though I haven’t fully decided.

The blushes are beautiful and have a nice satin finish. One of them is a nice mauve shade and the other blush shade is a nice peach shade appropriately names Apricot. I really enjoy that these blushes can be used as eye shadows and can be mixed together.

The highlighters are a whimsical and golden hour. Whimsical is a pink highlighter with gold running throughout. It has a nice satin-glassy finish on the skin. I did not think I would be able to wear the golden hour shade because of how dark it looks but surprisingly it works pretty well on my skin. That is a rose gold shade.

Verdict: I’d say for the price of $24.99 Canadian I don’t know if this is worth it in Canada. There is no mirror and the formula is pretty similar to the singles. I find the formula in this palette is far more pigmented than the single I have of the sunkissed bronzer. I would give this a 3/5 stars simply because of the price and lack of mirror. I really do like this palette because I have an infatuation with face palettes.

The swatches

Left to right: Whimsical, Golden Hour, Apricot blush, wild flower blush, sunset bronzer, deep bronzer, sunkissed bronzer single

Have you tried this palette yet?

My Solo Trip to Vancouver, Canada

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When I started thinking about a solo trip I thought of a few things: where can I go that is safe, and where can I go that is fun but not too much fun. I have always wanted to do a solo trip and I have always wanted to go to Vancouver. Now that I am employed, I thought this was a perfect time to take some vacation and get some R&R.

On my first day of adventuring, I went to Calipano Stanley Park which was an absolutely beautiful place to go. It was super serene and super easy to navigate. What was nice about traveling solo in Vancouver was it is Canada. So that made everything easy to understand which already removed a barrier. The city is also super easy to navigate. My hotel was within walking distance to pretty much any tourist attraction in Vancouver. This made it easy to explore and go to everywhere I saw on Pinterest. After this, I went to Canada place and walked along the Canada Walk. Then I did some shopping (classic) at the CP Pacific Centre which was one of the nicest laid out malls, and the Nordstrom was just beautiful to gander around in. I also had chipotle for dinner which was amazing.

My second day was Grouse mountain. Now, I don’t ski so I didn’t go skiing which might have been something I could have looked into, but I did rent some skates and skate on their little dinky rink. In the lift I chatted with two fabulous ladies (one that offered me a ride but wasn’t going to where I was heading) and it was just nice chatting and see why people were there and where they were from. I ended up busing to Stanley Park where I walked along the seawall and checked out the Totum poles. It was a very peaceful walk and of course, my legs were sore at this point, but it was lovely. The weather was also so nice, it was plus 5 and the vibe was so chill in the city and on the Seawell. After this, I went to try and find this Italian resteraunt but somehow ended up in the Downtown Eastside. I eventually made it to Gastown where I ate the best Carbonara of my life. Also only in Canada can you go in the same city to snow and then go back down a mountain and it is practically Spring!

My third day was full of adventures let me tell you. First, I went to Granville Island where I got lost and couldn’t really find where I was going. I walked around the little market and then got myself some fish and chips. I then went downtown again near my hotel to check out Robson Street, the most popular street for shopping. What a fun place. The whole vibe of downtown was actually quite chill, but as I found out during my time in Whistler apparently this is not always the case. After this I might have gotten Chipotle again…

My next and last day was a day in Whistler. This was a fabulous day. I met two women who where traveling together, we had lunch and gabbed. They told me about Vancouver and Whistler and we exchanged emails. To me, this is what solo travelling is all about, meeting new and interesting people. It was great! I then went to the Squamish cultural centre which was very interesting.

What did I learn solo traveling? It was an experience that I want to do again. I am really glad that I went within Canada and that I had the confidence to take public transit. I also liked that I could wake up when I wanted, eat when I wanted, and essentially had the freedom to just roam around and adventure. Where should I go next!?

My Plane wouldn’t start

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Okay so I decided that I would go on a solo trip (and if I get a partner eventually sure I guess they can come too). Every year since I am gainfully employed and have pretty decent vacation time I have decided as a self proclaimed single women that I would travel somewhere each year to keep the wonderlust alive. As a result, I decided that for my first solo trip I would go to Vancouver. There were a few reasons I picked Vancouver. First, it is in Canada so I knew that I wouldn’t be as nervous flying domestically, second, many of my favorite creators and fellow bloggers live there and it made me want to go there, and three I am a bit of free soul so I thought I would fit in the west coast mindset.

My travel day was a wild roller coaster and series of fortunate events. First, I scored at the vending machine and got two bags of ketchup chips for the price of one and I got the seat to myself to Toronto and to Vancouver.

But let’s start with the plane not starting. I felt like I was in my car when my battery died and I had to wait for CAA. First, our pilot tried to start the plane quite a few times. The cabin was dark with only the emergency pathway lit. The pilot made an announcement, saying we had no power to one engine, and something about the battery. THEN he kept trying. They had to bring in three back up things, and then finally the issue became the battery.

I did not know that planes were like cars (I know have I been living under a rock). To me, it sounded like he was basically saying that we lost power because of the battery and he needed a boost. He made yet another announcement once again and advised that he then needed to reprogram the plane because the power outage cleared the plane’s computer. Ah how comforting. During this time I might add, it was super hot in the plane as we sat in the dark waiting. People were surprisingly fine – I thought a lot more mayhem would ensue. I heard some dude calling people saying that he was waiting for the plane but for the most part, my flight was not crowded and I had my whole three-row seat to myself which was a huge bonus as did many of the other folks. I could stretch out my short legs and use my scarf as a little pillow. I was not connecting so this delay wasn’t a huge issue.

There were only a few things running through my mind when the plane wouldn’t start: when can I use the washroom, when do I get food, my phone is at 50% battery life and I want to charge it. I also saw White Collar on the TV thing and want to watch it. Many of the other travelers were a bit nervous about making their connection. Don’t I know that feeling. The real mayhem ensued when we landed. There was a lady rushing off and pretty pushed this other lady over trying to get off to figure out her next flight. Overall, the flight was good. I have flown many times myself, but never at such a great distance totally alone but quite frankly it was wonderful. Conquered travel day 1, next time an international escapade.

Stay tuned for the next installment of thegordonedit travels.

Bobbi Brown Brand Focus

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Back in December I outlined 12 brands I wanted to try in 2020. I took to Instagram to ask the people what they would like to see, and by a landslide, Bobbi Brown won against Em Cosmetics. I’ve been toying with how exactly I am going to purchase from brands, whether that be by only getting best sellers or getting 4-5 items from each brand to try or just getting what really suits my fancy. Since not all brands are the same price point on that list, for Bobbi Brown I wanted to go with the most popular and iconic products from the brand as well as a lipstick I have been eyeing for awhile.

Let’s start with what the brand is about: The brand was founded 30 years ago by Bobbi Brown. The brand originated as a makeup brand with an artists eye. They came out with a wide range of foundation, for the time, in their stick foundation which was an iconic product. The approach of the brand was different for the time and was all about achieving the fresh-faced looked and enhancing what you already have. Bobbi Brown has since left the brand.

Okay, so the brand is definitely not a millennial brand and I do think that rebranding is swaying towards the young millennial space, but also I like that Bobbi Brown doesn’t try to always get into the market. As a young professional, I was really attracted to the luxuriousness and simplicity of the products in this brand.

The first product I knew I wanted to get was one of the shimmer bricks. I couldn’t decide which one to get, but after much internal deliberation I landed on the Rose one. I thought to myself that I moslty just have peach blushes in my collection so I went with this 3 in one product. I was suprised at how hard-pressed the product is, but effective. It is very tightly packed in the compact and really just gives you that glow from within look which is always what I’m going for. I would repurchase this 100% in the same shade and in the bronze shade.

The second product I wanted was one of their colour crush lipsticks. I had swatched Grenadine last year and love the feel and glide of the formula, but at the time I swatched it I just didn’t have the money to spend on such an expensive lipstick. I bought this shade because I found that it is really a nice mix between a red, and a berry, and also is wearable for daily and super easy to apply.

The third product, which I bought at the convincing of the lovely Sephora Employee, was the vitamin enriched face base. DAMMIT. This is freakin lovely. It makes your skin feels soft and smooth and all makeup sits beautifully on it. It also doubles a skincare product so you are able to have that benefit as well as have a priming benefit.

The fourth product I bought was the highlighting powder in pink glow. What a beautiful, soft, easy glow for the daily. I find that this is the perfect, subtle but buildable highlighter for a workday. You can apply it with fingers and build it up with a brush. Or apply it with a brush and really work it into the skin. I love that it matches my skin tone perfectly. It feels to lean on the neutral side of the spectrum for my fair skin.

wearing Grenadine and the cheek products

Left to right: Rose highlighting brick, Pink Glow highlighter

Using Luxury Cleansers for a Month

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I always think to myself, what would happen to my skin if I used two super expensive cleansers what would happen to my skin. Quite frankly, I had my best friend ask me if I had ever done a comparison and I hadn’t. I decided I would do just that. I bought two cleansers, the Tata Harper Nourishing oil cleanser and the Drunk Elephant Beste cleanser. The main thing I wanted to know was if the clogged pores on my chin would disappear. I will admit, I wasn’t too great at taking progress photos, due to working late and forgetting, to take them I only got for the whole process, but I did take a day 1 and a day 30 photo.

As you can see on Day 1 of using the cleansers my skin appears to be clear and free of much noticeable texture. Of course, throughout the 30 days I did get my period which I think contributed to the pimples I have on my shin. The second photo is me with all my skincare on hence the shine. I can only tell that I have less texture and what appears to be barely noticeable less blemishes on my cheek area. Let me know what you think in the comments.

At first, I found the cleansers to really cleared up my chin dots. However, not so much so that they permanently stayed away. I really enjoyed using the Drunk Elephant Beste no. 9 Jelly cleanser and not so much enjoyed the Tata Harper. The Tata Harper really burned my eyes. For being a cleaner brand, I found that this was the worst part of using the cleanser was the fact that as soon as I would touch my eyes to remove mascara it would be all of the burn and none of the enjoyment.

The more the cleansers progressed, the more I realized that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Tata Harper. It does get my makeup off, but it isn’t as effective as I thought it would be. The burning of my eyes was probably the biggest surprise. I think that it is nice, but that quite honestly it is not better than other makeup removing cleansers I’ve tried. For example, I’ve used straight up almond oil to get my makeup off and that doesn’t burn my eyes whereas this, marketed to be a makeup remover, burns my eyes like no other. Now, am I using it up, 100 percent I am using this bad boy up because quite frankly I paid an arm and a leg for it, but at this point would not repurchase.

The Drunk Elephant Beste cleanser. Okay. This is nice. I will give it to Drunk Elephant, they are one of my favourite skincare brands and this cleanser is no exception. I find that it does remove mascara and does not leave my skin feeling stripped. There is no burning sensation in my eyes. This is a classic cleanser, but I really don’t think it is any better than Cerave gel cleanser. Now, I will admit, when I don’t use the Tata Harper I find that my skin really loves the gentleness of the Drunk Elephant Beste Cleanser and I would repurchase this purely because it’s a really clean brand and I like supporting female-owned brands.

Conclusion: my skin does feel a bit less textured, but I do find in any case my skin feels better after cleansing then it does with my normal gel and foam cleanser combination. I think high end cleansers and drug store cleansers to clean your skin the same way, but it all depends on what you are looking for and what cleansing experience you want in your life.

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Monthly Makeup Basket January 2020

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A bit late into the month. 11 days to be exact. I have been busy with work but am back to tell you what is in my monthly makeup basket for this month (excluding lips and mascara because I am always changing it up). I have probably a lot more in my monthly makeup basket than most normal folks out there. But when you are a beauty blogger, who loves makeup, choice is key.

The base products

I am using the Too Faced Hangover Rx Primer and the Nude by Nature perfecting primer. These are two, basic hydrating primers. Along with that, I have four foundations. I have the Nude by Nature loose foundation warm ivory, the Becca Aqua Luminous foundation, Kosas Tinted face oil in tone 02, and the Glossier skin tint in G11.

I also have the Too Faced sculpting concealer (I’m still going on this) in Snow, and the Glossier stretch concealer in G11, as well as my mini nude by nature concealer ad the Charlotte Tilbury Magic concealer in fair 4. I have almost hit pan on the Hourglass ambient lighting powder in Ethereal Light. I also have the Klairs BB Cream and the Lush powder in Emotional Brilliance for a setting powder.

Cheek products

I wanted to do creams and powders for the cheeks. I am using two NARS blushes this month, one in orgasm and one in Torrid. The other powder blush I have is the Revlon blush in the naughty nude. I then have all four of my Burt’s Bees cream sticks, Suez sands and Dhalia Dew as well as the two highlighters opal mist and bronze splash.

My two powder bronzers for this month are the Hourglass Ambient Lighting bronzer in diffused bronze light and the Fenty Beauty Bronzer in in da sun. For highlighters, I have the new Body Shop Powder highlighter that was out for the holidays (no longer on their website) and the Physicians formula butter highlighter in the shade pearl.

Eyes

Okay. Yes, it is a lot but I have three eyeshadow palettes I want to include. The Natasha Denona Biba Palette, the Tom Ford Coco Mirage powder, and the Fenty Beauty Moroccan spice palette. I did not include singles or toppers because I like to switch those up daily so I really just switch between all of my single shadows and liquid toppers depending on the day.

*affiliate link has been used for the Klairs BB Cream*

10 Makeup Favourites in 2019

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This year was a different year for makeup for me. I got a new job where, that required a lot of commuting and traveling, which meant I was more tired and thus the time crunch in the morning became more apparent which affected how often I used product, specifically how often I take the time to do a full-blown smokey eye and diminishing the number of shades I generally use. I found this year was really a year of one wash wonders and subtle highlighters.

Favourite Base products

The Charlotte Tilbury Magic Away concealer is the best concealer I’ve ever tried. It is super difficult to open so if the packaging could be change that would really be great. I find that it is really difficult to open whenever I’m using it after I’ve used my base products. I know this is a struggle that the Anna Edit also found with this. Quite honestly, this is the biggest thing making me not want to buy it is how difficult it is to open.

The Sublt Beauty stack was by far the most exciting makeup product I bought this year and I’ve used their concealer the most. I cannot get over how amazing all of the products in this wee stack are. The concealer is by far one of my favourite concealers that I have tried in a long time. It minimally creases and is easy to set and never looks cakey. I also love the highlighter in this stack, it is literally powdered dew which I love.

Despite many mixed reviews in the beauty community the Kosas Tinted Face Oil is the best face product I’ve tried this year. Now, if you use too much of this I find that it is way too detectable on my skin, but I use a dime sized amount and it is enough to cover my whole face. I love the finish and the shade matches me quite well.

Favourite Lip product

The Colourpop lip tints are the best new lipstick that I have tried in awhile. First, they smell so lovely, second they are so easy to wear and easy to us. They come in a boatload of shades and I predict that they could be used in a multistick fashion. I find myself reaching for these over other lip formulas.

Favourite Cheek products

I loved the Nudestix nudies highlighter in the shade illuminaughty this year and the Charlotte Tilbury filmstar bronze and glow. Both of these highlighters are used for different purposes. The Charlotte Tilbury highlighter packs a bit more of a punch and is one I wear when I’m feeling like wearing a bit more of a champagne look. The Nudestix one is a glossy, pink-toned highlighter that matches my undertone perfectly. It looks glossy on the skin and stays all day. I also loved the hourglass bronzer this year. I feel like this bronzer is good on its own or great for layering on top of other bronzers for that bronze goddess look. This was also a favourite from last year so you could say I’m a creature of habit. The MAC blush in peach twist is still a favourite. This blush sticks around all day and remains neutral enough to match a ton of eyeshadow colors. This was a favourite in 2018 as well but I cannot get over how nicely this blush sits on the cheeks. It has a beautiful easy glow to it and is buildable which I love in a blush.

Favourite eyeshadow

I am well aware that this cheating because I only got this in November. However, I cannot stop using the MAC Eyeshadow palette from the Christmas collection. All of the shades in this palette work very well together. They are cohesive and you can create quite a dew different looks. I also have been loving the Hourglass scattered light shadow in burnish. Oh my, what a beautiful easy sublte shimmer for the workday. I love throwing this on, it makes me feel like a million bucks. I know these are overpriced for what they are, but something about the little pot gets me everytime.

12 Brands in 2020 I want to Try

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Okay. I failed this year in my attempt to buy less makeup … I’m talking a huge fail. So, in an attempt to curb consumption but also still make my heart happy and have a fun hobby I’ve picked 12 brands that I want to try in 2020. I think that this might help me consume less and impulse buy less. I am hoping to follow this list closely so that when I have that monthly hankering to get something shiny, I have a list in my back pocket with what I want. I also tried to spread out what I’m buying so I’m not collecting too many things in one category. I think my fatal flaw from my post last year was I didn’t consider that (as much as I don’t want to be like this) how often I paroused Sephora and Shoppers, and thus wanted to review something new monthly. This list will hopefully help with this!

Em Cosmetics

I’ve seen so many of my favourite influencers and content creators use this brand. The morning dew gloss, the liquid blush and I knew that it needed a spot on my list. This brand was created by Michelle Phan for anyone. It is a universal brand with a lot of different items but remains curated and I find (at least from what I’ve seen on social media) they don’t release too much which I appreciate.

Pat McGrath

I know this is a big expensive one. But I have always wanted to try something from the brand, whether it is the eyeshadow palette or the lip gloss. I have those two things specifically on my list because it is what I’ve been lusting over for the duration of my time knowing about the brand. This is a brand created by a makeup artist who is an icon in the world of fashion and beauty. I am really excited to try this one in 2020.

Armani Beauty

I think my big draw to this brand is really Ttsandra. She is such a classy lady, wearing her turtle necks and bold lips. She is always using Armani beauty including the concealer and the lip products. I really want to try the concealer, the eyeshadow and the fluid sheer.

Bobbi brown

Again this just feels like a classy lady brand. I find that my work place is really a black jeans and a nice top workplace, so I like to make my makeup to feel a bit more dressed up if you will. I love wearing my Tom Ford to work because it makes me feel classy and powerful. I have wanted to try her primer and the crushed lipstick so that is what I have on my list for this one.

Flower

This is the only drugstore brand on my list. Flower Beauty was created by Drew Berrymore and is a brand that I think is geared towards a younger demographic, but a lot of my favourite cruelty-free YouTubers love it. I wanted to try a few things from this brand to see what the hype is about. Particularly their blush bombs look interesting as does the highlighter palette. In Canada flower is sold on well.ca

Kjer weis

Again, a brand brought to me by Ttsandra. I really wanted to see what this was about after listening to a podcast with the founder. It is a clean beauty brand, whatever that means, and all of the products are refillable to that lessens waste. I wanted to try the cream foundation and the lip tint. The lip tint can also double as a cheek tint .

Chanel Beauty

I think this is one for me that is just such a classy lady brand that I feel I want in my collection at this point in my life. This is one of the oldest brands, and that started out as a luxiourious french brand. They launched their first lipstick in 1924, which was decidedly more luxe than others on the market. Definetly a brand that i feel has a rich socia history and has beautiful products.

Persona Cosmetics

Persona was started by content creator Sona Gasparian. To be honest, I don’t watch her videos often but she has great skills and the message behind her brand is something I can get behind. She said she created the brand for women to empower every aspect of their personas they portray in society. I really liked the idea and have seen several people use this brand. I would like to try her eyeshadows and the highlighter! Possibly the lip gloss.

Zoeva

This is another female owned brand, which we know your girl loves to support. The brand hinges on the founder wanted to help women in crisis which I am all for. She started selling brushes on ebay and then turned her business into a larger market place with palettes, their famous brushes, foundation, and blush palettes. I want to try their brushes more than anything from the collection. I an effort to minimize the amount of eyeshadow palettes I won’t buy one from this brand. Who knows though, I might try one of their blush palettes.

Nabla cosmetics

Nabla is an Italian Indie brand that I first saw Mariah Leonard use and then Jamie Paige Beauty. They are vegan and cruelty free and vegan, and was born from the minds of a physicist, artist and osteopath. They have the same philosophy of other brands and that is makeup as creation and empowerment. I want to try their highlighter and eyeshadow palette, since I’ve seen those two products the most in the beauty community.

Uoma Beauty

This brand was created by a Nigeran born and “former beauty executive Sharon Chuter, the UOMA Beauty range is rebellious, innovative and created for all”. The brand is intended for everyone and it is intended to shake up the industry to make something that has women of colour in mind which how can I not support that. I wanted to try the concealer, ever since seeing Samantha Ravendhal use it, and the contour stick.

Vapour beauty

Vapour uses plant based ingredients to formulate their products so that they can be sustainable. This is directly from their website: “Inspired by the purity of light and the elemental energy of Taos, NM, renegade natural beauty pioneers Krysia Boinis and Kristine Keheley lead the evolution of clean color cosmetics with Vapour”. This is a “clean” brand and has a lot of products that look like they would be really lovely to use. It is a more luxe brand which I am drawn to, so what else is new. I am always interested in trying a cream multistick so I’m going to try that and I always love a good primer so I will try that as well. I am also highly considering trying their foundation as I only have two so far on this list.

MAC Christmas Collection Review

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I don’t usually buy whole collections during the holiday season. However, I was really attracted to the packaging of the MAC Christmas Collection and was very excited about the prospect of trying a few of the items. I did not buy the whole collection but I picked up a few items I was really keen to try.

I got three different items from the collection. I bought the Star Dipped Face Palette, the Star Sighting Compact in Neutral and the Lucky Stars lip kit in bold. I was very attracted to this collection and saw Beauty Unhyped on Instagram share the medium face palette. I got the light one and have been using it daily. I have also been using the eye shadow palette daily and in combination with other single shadows.

Let’s start with the description description of the: “palette of six neutral eye shadows in finishes from demure mattes to meteoric Dazzleshadows”. I am honestly not sure if all of these shades are also permanent shades but they are all beautiful. The glitter shades aren’t too chunky and have a beautiful sheen that I find works for day and night. Though let’s be real I don’t go out so I am wearing this during the day. The eye shadow palette is probably my favorite addition to my makeup collection. I really enjoy that this is a neutral palette with a fun shift of colour. I know I know, I have too many palettes, but I had no idea how good MAC Shadows really were until using this palette. The shadows are glossy and metallic without being chunky and they have a lovely finish with a brush or a finger. I really enjoy that I can use all the shades in the palette for the daytime which is when I wear eye shadow.

I also got the face palette. The description of the palette on MACs website: a palette of star-powered extra dimension blushes, extra dimension skin finishes and extra dimension bronzing powders in light and medium-deep shades. The blushes are super glowy and dewy. The highlighters are metallic but not chunky and really match my skin tone which I appreciate so they don’t look like a strip of gold (which I”m not opposed to but that is how I would describe it).

The lipstick kit is also such a hidden gem. The three bold shades are well suited to my skintone and are classic shades that my skin tone and other skin tones. The shade cosmic comic is a really nice nude for my skin tone. It’s a hair darker and more brown then my lips but is beautiful. There is also the classic Ruby Woo shade and the purple shade a Star Walks into a bar.

The swatches:

The eyeshadow palette: wedge, North Star, Let’s Roll, stars in my pocket, star violet, cordial

Left to Right: Blush in Dipped in Stars, blush in sippin’ on stars, highlighter in snow gold, highlighter in hi-sequincy

left to right, A star walked into a bar, Ruby Woo, Cosmic Comic

A look using the palette

Sephora VIB Sale Haul

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Better late than never I suppose. I took a brief hiatus from the blog purely because my work has been busy and I haven’t had the time to sit down and write. I wanted to go over what I bought in the VIB sale in November aka Sephora keeps having these sales that I keep getting suckered into even though Shoppers generally has better deals and a better point system.

The skincare

For this haul I was very into the idea of skin. I commute, and drive A LOT for my work, and am in an office, which takes a whole separate toll on my skin. I have been noticing a lack of hydration and also really wanted to try a super expensive cleansing combo and then do a blog post in the coming months about what happened to my skin. The first cleanser I bought was the Tata Harper nourishing cleanser. This cleanser is specifically a makeup remover (which I use in my drugstore routine so I thought I would do it in this one). Review to come. I then bought the Drunk Elephant Beste Cleanser. Honestly, I love this cleanser, I’ve had a few samples of it and so far it’s lovely.

I then bought my trusty Drunk Elephant Lala retro moisturizer and a new essence from Tata Harper. It is the Tata Harper Hylaronic Acid Floral Essence. Again, a review to come on all these.

Hair Care

After listening to the Emma Guns show with the Living Proof creative director I was super inspired to try the line. I got the super detox shampoo and their famous dry shampoo. I will say, this is one of the better dry shampoos I’ve tried and will likely repurchase. The clarifying shampoo isn’t my favourite but I’ll use it up.

Makeup

I swear friends, I was not going to buy any makeup this year at the sale but you know what I cannot resist sparkly packaging so here we are. I got three items from the MAC holiday collection. I love these products. Review to come this month! I got the neutral eye shadow palette and the Star Dipped face palette in light and the lip set in bold.

Quo Liquid Holiday shadows: Review and Comparison

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Liquid shadows are eye shadows, in a liquefied form. They are generally very glittery and shimmery, but some are also matte. When I saw the Quo Holiday Collection in ShoppersDrugMart I had to pick up the Fenty inspired liquid glitter shadows. I was really hoping these would scratch the same itch that the Colourpop Supernova shadows do but they are not my favourite.

Let’s start with the Quo ones. They are in this triangular packaging and come in three shades, gold, pink, and silver. When swatched, these shadows do have lots of pigment, but I find on the eyes each shade sort of just blends away and only has a slight tinge of each colour. I find that the shades in this are perfect for a glitzy holiday look, but for during the day, I’m not sure if its something I’m going to wear at the time as I find the glitter is quite chunky. These also have quite a bit of fall out so I’d recommend some sort of glitter glue underneath.

The MAC Dazzle shadows have a similar vibe, but are slightly more finely milled and don’t have hardly any colour to them. I find these are better for layering and less messy than the quo. These stick a bit better to the eye and a look a bit less chunky than the quo. I have the shade blinking brilliant, that I got at the cosmetics company store, but compared to how these look online, this does not have that pigment behind the glitter that I thought it would. I saw KatieJaneHughes used this one (or one of them) and they looked beautiful on her. I find that the dazzleshadows look less chunky and don’t have fall out but are not my favourite of the liquid shadows I own.

The best liquid shadow of the three I own is the Colourpop supernova shadow (which I have a feeling are discontinued which makes me very sad). This shadow is exactly what I want in a liquid shadow. It has an easy glide-on formula, with no fallout and is basically a shadow, that has been liquefied. These don’t crease (though I need a primer) and the color and shimmer is absolutely beautiful.

I would like to try the Milani and the Stila liquid shadows to have more things to compare this to, but for now, these are the three that I have rotating for now. If you are wanted a super glittery one night a year (or for the day if that is your game). I think overall, the Quo liquid shadows are a nice topper to an eye look, but for me personally, I don’t think I would wear these alone like I do with the Colourpop.

The swatches

Left to right: MAC Cosmetics, Colourpop Supernova Shadow, Quo Shadows in silver, pink, and gold

How I achieve Glowing Skin

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I don’t think I have a signature, but I think most people would say my claim to fame is my dewy skin. Dewy skin is where I live and breathe my daily life. Highlighter, give it to me, dewy primer, yes please, super hydrating moisturizer, hello yes I’d like that too. I thought I would do a dedicated post about how I achieve the glowing skin that I seem to put out into the world.

The prep

Cleansing, spray toner, and moisturizer. I don’t clean my skin with a cleanser in the morning but I do wipe it off with a cloth then use a lovely spray toner whichever one is in my rotation, and then about four pumps of my Clinique moisturizer followed by my eye cream. I find the biggest part of keeping my skin glowy is the night time skincare routine that I have. Now, by no means is this current routine THE routine but it’s certainly a good one. I cleanse, tone, serum, and hydrate. Sometimes I throw in oil, or the Sunday Riley good genes serum at my night time routine but I’ve really been simplifying. In the morning, I cleanse and moisturize and serum. I find that the better you skin prep is, night and day, the more naturally glowy your skin is going to be under makeup.

The makeup

I like to begin with a hydrating primer or the Glamglow nude glow moisturizer. I recently purchased the Too Face Hangover Rx primer and have been loving it so far. I then put on a liquid highlighter, the Anastasia one or my Perricone MD No Highlighter highlighter, and proceed to do either spot concealer or a lightweight foundation or BB Cream. Currently, I’m loving the Klairs supple illuminating cream. It has a slight tint and its quite easy to blend in. I then move onto to bronzer, either matte or shimmer as I find that it doesn’t really matter, as long as your other base products are dewyer. I then head to a powder highlighter or a cream highlighter (sometimes both). I find the key for a true dew is to get a highlighter that is similar to your skin tone. I find a pinky champagne highlighter or a clearer glossy highlighter (think Nudestix Illuminaughty) creates that lit from within look. I find that instead of using a foundation, while you can get a glowy finish from one, I spot conceal so let my skin shine through.

For blush, I look for something that isn’t obviously dewy, but gives a good sheen to the cheeks. I prefer creams for this, but there are powders I enjoy as well if creams aren’t your jam. My current favourite blush for the dewy complexion I like is the Nudestix cream blush in Body Language. This is a matte blush but it creates a nice sheen to the cheeks and is easy to use. I also go to the MAC Sheertone blush in Peach Twist when I want a nice, pigmented but not too overbearing blush. This has enough sheen in it that it makes for a nice dewy blush in a powder form.

Tis The Season to Blush

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I feel like this time of year I always need to over blush to complete my daily routine. Something, that warms up my face and has a lovely flushed look. I wanted to go over a few blushes that I have been gravitating towards for the fall, some new, and some old favorites.

Revlon Naughty Nude

This is a nude shade, with mauve undertones and some gold shimmer running throughout the blush. I really like this one because it is a mauve tone but has enough beige in it that it doubles as a bronzer. I find I can just slap this one and not need anything else on my cheeks. This formula is their new formula, so it said on the packaging and is super smooth and buttery.

L’Oreal Warm Honey

This L’Oreal blush is a classic in my collection. It is just what it sounds like. Bare Honey with a bit of a tan orange undertone. It is a really lovely, warm-toned but neutral-ish blush. I like it because again, it’s not overly pigmented but is just pigmented enough to create a lovely flush.

Clinique Cola Pop

This was a blush I purchased inspired by Make up your mind and Samantha Jane YT. It is a dark toned plum, red blush that gives the best “just came home from the cold” look to the cheeks. If you go lighthanded, I’m talking a tap on the blush, it blends out beautifully to a sheer red plum shade

Physicians Formula Butter Blush in Vintage Rose

This is a classic blush in my collection. It is a rose blush that pulls a bit nude-pink on me. I love it because of the smooth formula. I think this blush really transcends seasons but it fits in with the current fall rainy weather with its dusty rose vibe.

MAC Peach Twist

MAC Peach twist is a sheertone blush with a copper, peach tones and golden shimmer. This shimmer does not pull glittery on the skin and you can’t go wrong with this one. For me, it pulls a bit more beige warm and matches many eyes looks that are neutral to cool, however, I wouldn’t pair this with say a naked heat.

The Swatches

Physicians Formula Rose All Day highlighter comparison

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It is no secret that my absolute favourite makeup product is highlighter. Also blush… but let’s save that for another day. I find that the golden highlighters on my fair skin are difficult to pull off in terms of undertone but yet golden and champagne highlighter are one of my favourite shades of highlighter, versus an icy white highlighter. I recently purchased the Physician Formula rose highlighter in Freshly Picked, thinking it would be similar to my Estee Lauder or my Amrezy but I found that it was a bit too dark on my skin. This revelation then brought me to this post, a comparison between all of my golden highlighters because I love me a good shimmer.

ABH Highlighter, Physician formula highlighter, estee lauder heatwave

Charlotte Tilbury vs Cheekbone beauty in compacts

Let’s begin with the description of the Physician’s formula highlighter is described as champagne, but in my opinion, it is yellow gold with what feels like a darker bronze base. Estee Lauder heatwave is yellow gold but with a lighter base and more of a champagne shade but is described as an all-over bronzer but is really a highlighter (or am I getting it mixed up with the bronzer, I don’t know). Then we have our Nars Forte De France highlighter, that is a light-medium gold, according to Sephora, and I find swatches sheerly but on the skin packs a punch. The Anastasia Beverly Hills is more of light gold champagne that is warm but not yellow. The Covergirl highlighting palette is a lovely palette of neutral highlighters. The cheekbone highlighter, you would think would pull dark, but is really more of a golden dusting with a warm undertone but not a yellow base. The Charlotte Tilbury is by far the lightest in colour and is a pale champagne shade.

The Physicians Formula is a beautiful highlighter but is also not as finely milled as I would like. I think that it is a beautiful shade. It has a light rose scent and is quite smooth, albeit not has finely milled as others in my collection. On my skin I find this looks quite dark on the cheeks and does not mesh into my skin like the butter highlighter from Physicians Formula. In comparison to the Estee Lauder, I feel like I can really “see” the Physician Formula Rose highlighter on my skin versus being able to really blend in the highlighter to look, as one with my skin as possible. In comparison to the Anastasia Beverly Hills (ABH) Amrezy highlighter the Physicians Formula does not have that same “meshability” as the ABH. The Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy is a glossy, wet-look highlighter that gets more glossy as I blend it into my skin it gets even more glossy. The formula of this is also smooth and easy to work with.

The comparison

Physicians Formula Rose vs Amrezy on the bottom

Nars Forte De France is a highlighter that I find is most similar in the look on my skin. While the Nars swatches more sheerly but I find that it appears like the same dark warm shade of the physician’s formula.

Physicians Formula compared to NARS on the bottom

Physicians Formula compared to Cheekbone beauty on the bottom

The Cheekbone beauty highlighter in gold dust actually does not appear darker on my skin, in the same way that the golden of the Physician’s Formula sits on my skin. I find the Cheekbone really blends into too look seamless and it isn’t as warm.

Physicians Formula compared to Covergirl Highighters on the bottom

The same goes for the Covergirl highlighters as well. I find these are gold, but with neutral to almost grey undertones instead of the yellow warm undertones of the Physicians formula.

Physicians Formula compared to Charlotte Tilbury on the bottom

The Charlotte Tilbury is by far the lightest champagne shade of the bunch. While the Physicians Formula highlighter is described as champagne, it just is not the same champagne as the Charlotte Tilbury that is a very light, almost white based gold.

What is your favourite highlighter?

2019 Project Pan Update 2

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I have not done an update in quite awhile. I also of course forgot to photograph one item so that’s fun. The one I forgot to photograph was the Essence pure nude highlighter. Honestly, I have not used that one in awhile so … there’s no update on it.

Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer

This pan on this bronzer is slowly but surely growing. I use this on the daily, whether it is for eye shadow or bronzer. I am really hoping to use it all up by January 1st!

Physicians Formula Butter Blush

I really like this blush. The Physicians Formula Butter Blush is literally the never ending blush to end all blushes. I am hoping to at least hit pan on this by the end of the year.

The Body Shop Multistick

I am still loving this Body Shop lip and cheek velvet stick. It is the perfect, easy blush for every day. I have been using this 3 times a week and will continue to use it until January rolls around.

Joe Fresh highlighter stick

While I do enjoy this highlighter, I am parting with it. I think that its begun to dry out which is unfortunate.

Rimmel Contour Kit

I am decluttering this project this product as it just isn’t what I am into anymore and while it is beautiful, it has gotten a funky smell.

Things I added last time

I am so close to being done this concealer! I am hoping to finish this by the next update.

I’m finally finished with this CC Cream as it is basically finished and has since expired.

You cannot tell that I have used a lot of the body shop foundation but I have! I am thinking, since this is a year old, I’m going to use this until January and part with it.

Things I’m adding in

I added in two items to replace the Andlou Natural CC Cream (finally finished) and the Joe Fresh Highlighter. I replaced the the Joe fresh with Nudestix Nudies in Illuminaughty, which to my surprise is already showing progress. I also added in the Klairs BB Cream which is a lovely light coverage product for day time. I forgot to photograph the Essence Pure Nude highlighter but let’s be real, there is not progress on that one because I’ve been switching between the Nudestix and my Pixi duo!

What have you used up lately?

*affiliate has been used for the Klairs BB Cream*

Day Dreamer Palette by Hilary Duff x Nudestix Review

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flat lay of all products including the makeup bags.

When I saw that nudestix was doing a collab with Hilary duff I knew I had to order. Hilary duff was my favourite actress growing up and she still is. I also love Nudestix so what a better collab to spend my money on? Seriously name one. I pre-ordered this and it came in such a cute box with instructions and the inspiration behind the collection. What I love about nudestix is it’s for the person who is on the go, who is constantly working or going through life and is short on time. I check all of these boxes. There products in my opinion are all easy and simple to use with good pigment but are fool proof.

This is what the website says about this palette: “The Daydreamer Palette brings your makeup routine to the next level, with fresh new shades that range from gorgeous burnt ambers to subtle soft pinks and beyond. The kit includes three shimmery eye pencils, a matte blush, a pearl highlighter and a multipurpose lip balm — giving you everything you need to get glowing skin, pink glossy lips and delicate, earth-toned eye makeup”.

Let’s start with the eye pencils. These come in three new shade. The shades are called Prism, night dweller and bright eyes. I think what I like about these pencils is the simplicity but with my oily eye lids these definitely crease so I wear a primer underneath. I find that the shades of these are bright but not too intense so I can wear them to work (not that I believe in makeup rules but it’s the best way to describe them). The lip pencil is such an easy, balmy pinky rose shade. Definitely is a work staple.

left to right: Night eyes, prism, night dweller, secret keeper, half moon, body language

swatches of the face products: sunset strip, body language, half moon, illuminaughty, — left to right: sunset strip, body language, half moon, illuminaughty

There is a nudies matte all over colour in body language. This is a new shade and is just slightly lighter and more neutral then sunset strip. It has a beautiful satin finish (though they call it matte) with ease of use for all parts of the face including eyes, lips and cheeks. The nudies glow in half moon is such a pretty highlighter. This one is more iridescent than illuniaughty which I would classify as more Of a glass skin type highlighter. Half moon has duochrome lavender undertone but because of its white base I find it completely “wearable” for my day to day life.

close up of the eye pencils and lip pencil

Price: $89 CAD for the set including the eye pencils, lip pencil, and two face products plus a makeup bag and the sharpened and tins. I think that this is worth it simply because when added up all of these products are $204 CAD. A good value in my opinion. The overall rating for this product is 5/5 stars for me bravo Nudestix and Hilary Duff.

The looks

me showing the eye products — have not ventured into using the green yet!

Thanks for reading! Did you pick this up? If so let me know how you liked it!

Physicians Formula Healthy Foundation review

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The Physicians Formula Healthy Foundation was the foundation from the drugstore that created the most curiosity for me because of its claims and the allure of the doe-foot applicator which reminded me of the large applicator trend in high makeup. I am always on the hunt for lovely, lightweight sheer foundations. I don’t wear foundation on the daily but it is always fun to try things out and let’s be real writing about foundations is one of my favourite things to to do.

The claims: “What It Is: A long-wearing, buildable, and breathable foundation that provides lightweight, medium coverage with a healthy, satin finish. Why It’s Good For You: Compatible with all skin types and featuring our exclusive Brightening Complex and hyaluronic acid to hydrate, brighten and improve the appearance of skin tone. Added boost of Vitamins A, C & E provides a flawless, healthy coverage”

This foundation for me is a lighter to medium coverage, but I also don’t wear a ton of it either. I mainly put it on spots and redness. I like a foundation that maintains the glow and that my skin shines through. This foundation definitely makes your skin look and feel healthy. I find that it doesn’t make my skin itchy, and wears well throughout the day.

This foundation creates a silky satin finish and reminds me of the body shop fresh nude foundation. The application with a brush is surprisingly just a glowy as the application with a sponge. I got LN3 which is actually a really good colour match. It’s not too yellow and it’s not too pink just the right colour. A huge issue in this range and with Physicians formula, in general, is the shade range. I find they rarely have more than 6, and this range at 12 shades which is 6 more but could still be a lot more expansive. The shades are also literally all shades of beige except for maybe the last four shades.

The price: this foundation retails for $20.99 CAD at Shoppers Drug Mart, where everything is always more pricey than say a Walmart. Physicians Formula has always been a more expensive drugstore brand. I will say though, this foundation is one of the least irritating that I’ve worn from the drugstore. I find my skin doesn’t get any weird small bumps (looking at you Covergirl) and it creates a lovely glowy canvas. I don’t find myself setting this foundation, but I don’t set anything. I find that it powders go over this foundation well and that it lasts well throughout the day. It also doesn’t cake up or make my face itchy.

Overall ratings: 4.5/5. I dock points again for shade range. I think that if you can find your shade, this foundation is really nice from the drugstore. However, we live in a post Fenty area where 12 shades for a foundation just does not cut it with consumers. While I love this foundation, it is because I am able to find my shade. I rated it so high because it does not irritate my skin, it s a good shade match, and it creates a nice sheer glowy finish and is easily build up to be medium coverage.

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Tom Ford Coco Mirage Review

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This is the big one. This quad is … a lot of monies. I was looking for something that was simple and easy to reach for on the daily. I have lusted over this palette for a long time and can I just say: it’s nice but I think there’s just as good out there. I love a luxury product, I love how they feel, but I also think there are other easy everyday palette’s out there that you can get a lot less. Does this mean I wouldn’t consider buying another of these quads: absolutely not, but first let’s get into the review of the actual shadows.

The description on Sephora.com Each Eye Color Quad is designed with four opulent, complementary shades that achieve multiple looks, from a bold smoky eye, to a sexy slash of color, and everything in between.

Tom Ford Coco mirage open, beige, brown, copper

Let’s begin with the claims. The claims are accurate – you can achieve multiple looks from one eye wonders to smokey eyes. Now, this is a pretty much all matte palette which I don’t have but I still find myself enjoying a shimmer or satin.These are the colours: matte light beige, matte neutral medium beige, warm copper with shimmer, matte chocolate brown. These shadse are my jam. I love brown and bronze eyeshadows. It was a toss-up between this and the nude dip (honestly still on my list but in due time).

Close up of Tom Ford coco mirage palette

The shadows are creamy, but not too soft, they have minimal fallout and blend out nicely. They are pigmented but not enough that they will there is too much pigment on the eyes and then you are blending like a mad women. This is a white t-shirt type of palette – I’m talking the one (or two) reliable t-shirts you have in your wardrobe, this is the palette equivalent. Did I steal them from Michelle Wang, yes I did. This palette is expensive, and while you can find other neutral palettes and singles that give the same vibe, there is something about this palette that is so enjoyable to use.

Let’s get to the price. It hurts my soul to say: $115. That’s a lot. Honestly, what I will say, is this palette is not better than any other brand at Sephora. The main difference I see in this palette is the way the shadows sit on my eyes, however, the soft glam also sits wonderfully on the lids. By that, I mean it doesn’t look powdery or chunky. What this palette does, is your eyes but better look. It has the easy of a palette with a no brainer vibe that I’m down with. However, if this is not in your budget (whose budget is it in) then don’t get this palette. This is a lovely, classy lady palette. When I used it I feel like I’m a girl boss who means business.

Very zoomed in shot of the tom ford quad

Now lets not get too intense here – I don’t think anyone (including myself) should spend this much on a palette. I like that it is a quad which I find is harder to find in both the high end and drugstore world, but that being said, I use all the shades. I supposed the build your palettes are an option, but I like the sleekness of this quad and how easy it is to reach for on a daily basis.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars docking for the price. I think that when you are looking for a luxury product, you expect to pay the luxury price. I purposely sought out this palette, therefore, I carefully considered buying this product. I will not recommend something that is this much money, but if you are in the market for a classy, treat yourself kind of item then this might be your jam.

The swatch

swatches — Left to right: matte light beige, matte neutral medium beige, warm copper with shimmer, matte chocolate brown

Three looks coming soon!

Labour Day Project Pan finale

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Labour day. The extra day off I always look forward to and then you get a four day work week. I wanted to pop this finale up for you all. This was a short project, so there wasn’t much progress on many of these items. I am very close to hitting pan on the NARS highlighter!

Anastasia Bronzer

This is truly the never ending bronzer. I swear, there is no point at which I will be able to get a dip in this product. I used it about 3 times a week each week of this project but it barely looks like I’ve made a dent!

Hourglass Blush in Incandescent light

Again … how does this look like I’ve not used it? I swear I use this daily or at least every other day and it still appears untouched!

NARS Highlighter in Fort De France

This is a lovely highlighter – though boarding on too dark for my skintone it is lovely. I love how glossy it looks and how blinding it can be. I didn’t wear this one as much because sometimes it is a bit too much for my day to day. I still love it though and am soooo close to hitting pan!

Too Faced Sweet Peach

I will admit … I did not use this palette as much as I want to this month. I really love the shadows and the colour story but for my early mornings I just didn’t have the time or will to reach for this! Hopefully I’ll get more use of it in the months to come!

Colourpop Supernova shadow running in orbits

This has been my go to shade for a bit of glitter on the daily. Its easy to blend out and doesn’t look chunky on the lids. I am actually about half way through this product. Definently happy with my progress on this one.

If you are into project panning let me know in the comments what you are trying to pan right now!

Subtl Beauty Stack Review

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Subtl Beauty is a brand that I found on the Instagram. This brand intrigued me because it was a stack for your whole face. There is something called Trinny London that does the same concept, but Subtle beauty was a bit more accessible to me in the Canada’s both price and shipping cost. I also can confirm you won’t get dinged with duties (at least I didn’t).

This is what the website says what you need to know in terms of the story behind the brand: “My reason for creating this brand is super simple. I live a really busy lifestyle, sometimes applying my makeup in the craziest places, and I desperately needed a beauty brand that understood this.
The Subtl Beauty stack was a solution born out of a need, and I’m so happy to be able to share it with you” Rachel Reid, Founder & CEO

I’m not gonna lie I immediately ordered this as soon as I clicked the link. What a innovative and fun idea I thought it was! I even posted it to the full coverage podcast makeup group.

Let’s start with the actual stack. Its so cool. All the products twist into each other making it super portable and easy to access. You also don’t need to overly tighten them for the products to stay fresh for day to day use.

The two highlights of this stack for me are the concealer and the highlighter.

The claims for the concealer: Pimples suck, and they always seem to strike at the most random and worst times. Wouldn’t it be great if you just didn’t have to worry about them? Introducing the Subtl Beauty mattifying concealer. Our buildable, medium-coverage concealer is your ultimate wing-woman; always there by your side, ready to jump in at any moment. The description of this concealer might sound a bit scary if you don’t like matte, but I find it to be a true satin concealer and it covers everything I need it to. I swear its magic …

Now to the highlighter. My mom rarely compliments my highlighters – not because she doesn’t like them but because sometimes they just aren’t her jam. She always compliments me everytime I wear this highlighter:

What the website says it is: “This pressed powder highlighter is the low-key glow your weekday self has been craving. With just a touch of golden pigment, this every day, mineral highlighter blends naturally to give your skin a dewy appearance, without looking overdone”. This is exactly spot on. LITERALLY a powder that is all the dewy goodness.

The blush, bronzer, and universal powder are definently lovely. Nothing mind blowing, but these products all compliment each other and work together so well. This is one of my go to “stacks” for that 6:00 a.m. wake up call! The products also last all day and you don’t feel them on your skin.

The swatch:

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Sephora Collection Bright Future Skin Tint Review

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The Sephora Collection Skin tint. Where do I begin? This was something I bought because a: it was on sale and b: I love anything that says tint in it so naturally, I purchased it. This is the fifth installation of foundation week and let me tell you, this one is going in the declutter bin.

The claims: A Skin Tint that smooths skin and improves its overall appearance, creating a fresh and healthy-looking glow. This lightweight formula blended with lemon extract helps improve complexion’s luminosity and with rice peptides to let the skin breathe. Vitamin E and Shea extract are known for their powerful antioxidant properties. The formula offers long-lasting moisture.

I really wanted to love this product. But. It’s just not there for me. I found it to be a bit cakey, and not easy to spread with your fingers.The claims of the lightweight formula don’t really ring true to me for this product. Sure, there is some long lasting moisture but the skin tint itself doesn’t look good on the skin all day.

The application: When I tried spreading this on my face with my fingers it was super streaky which is how I like to use something marketed as a skin tint or tinted moisturizer. I found with a sponge this did look nice but it just didn’t do anything significant for my skin.

Left to right: Sephora Collection matte foundation. The ordinary serum foundation, Sephora Collection Skin tint, IT Cosmetics CC Cream, Kosas Tinted Face oil, The Body Shop Fresh Nude not pictured: benefit hello happy because I forgot to swatch it.

Overall rating: 3/5 stars. I think that this product could have been good but it just doesn’t do that. While it is supposed to be a tint, I just find that it doesn’t give me the tint look I have found in other products.

Benefit Hello Happy Foundation Review

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I love a good lightweight foundation. The benefit foundation was one I had heard about before but never tried. When I had some shoppers points I picked this bad boy up and fell in love. I am so excited to review it in this little foundation review week

The claims: Benefit’s new Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation evens out the look of skin tone and blurs imperfections with soft-focus optical blurring spheres. The lightweight, buildable formula is easy to apply and flashback free, plus it contains shea extract, an ingredient known to smooth the look of skin and help protect it*. With a natural matte finish and light-to-medium coverage, Hello Happy Soft Blur Foundation looks like skin and feels like nothing at all. It’s available in 12 easy-to-choose shades that let a range of skin tones put on a happy face”.

This is a very natural-looking foundation with a matte finish. I think that the claim is extremely accurate. This foundation feels like nothing on the skin, isn’t dewy but isn’t too matte and does not cling onto dry patches. This does dry down quickly, but not so quickly that you can’t blend it out. This is also a foundation that is the perfect light coverage, you can use it with your fingers, a sponge and a brush and it would feel heavy in any instance.

The application: I do prefer to apply this with a sponge however if I’m having a lazy day, I still think this works well with fingers.

The prices: this is $40 CAD for 1 fluid ounce of product. I think this is a pretty fair price for a high-end foundation. While this is expensive, it is also in my opinion worth the money. If you are are like me and prefer a sheer – medium coverage with a very skin-like effect. This is the product for you!

Overall rating: 4.5/5 stars. I have to say, this is one of my first high-end foundations and its so lovely. It had cute packaging but the only gripe i have is the shade range. Benefit Cosmetics is notorious for smalls shade ranges and I think this range needs to be expanded.

The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation Review

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The Body Shop Fresh Nude foundation is one of the best foundations I’ve worn to date. I wanted to do a dedicated review on this foundation since I wear it all the time, but have never done a review. First, my skin type if normal – dry and not acne prone. It stays pretty balanced and my preferred finished is generally natural to a radiant finish.

Let’s start with the foundation claims: “Make every day a good skin day with The Body Shop’s Fresh Nude Foundation. Enriched with English rose water and aloe vera, this hydrating formula leaves skin feeling beautifully fresh and comfortable all day. With a semi-matte finish, each of these 16 nature-inspired shades mimics the look of fresh-faced natural skin with a nude glow”. The other bullet point claims are: “Up to 24H moisturization, Light to medium coverage, Semi-matte, fresh-faced finish, Suitable for sensitive skin & dermatologically tested, Pair with The Body Shop’s new Shade Adjusting Drops”

The claims of the foundation are pretty accurate – except I wouldn’t even say this has a matte finish what so ever, it is more of a satin finish. I find that this does have a solid light to medium coverage, but you know me I like to sheer this out for light coverage. I also find this is one of the most skinlike foundations in my collection. It is best applied for me with a sponge as it really sheers it out and blends it into the skin seamlessly. This product has 14 shades that are basically all shades of beige. While shade range is never a problem for me personally, it would be nice to see them add a few more shades.

The application: this foundation applies easily with a brush and a sponge. If you want more of a medium coverage look, I’d use a brush, but if you want a more light coverage look I’d use a sponge. As someone with sensitive skin, this does not irritate me at all. I use this foundation on the daily (or at least a few days a week) because it is a favourite but also it is a year old and is in my project pan right now. I enjoy using this and it’s always a joy to put on each day!

The Price: This foundation is $25 CAD which is actually close to a lot of drugstore foundations. Further, the Body Shop also always has amazing deals that include makeup.

Overall rating: This foundation gets 5/5 stars from me. I love this so much. I’ve had it for a year and continue to use it 3 – 4 times a week, both to use it up and because I love it. It gives that fresh-faced look it claims and gives you a natural glow. It also wears well throughout the day and wears well under powders. I don’t set this foundation but if you have an oily skin type I could see people steering away but since it has a nice true satin finish then you may like it.

10 HR Wear Perfection Foundation Sephora Collection Review

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Welcome to day four folks! We are talking a matte foundation. Matte foundations are something I always want to love, then try and they end up feeling quite dry. However, I have had the Sephora collection matte foundation in my collection for a while after my mom gave it to me because it didn’t suit her skin. I do think it’s on its last leg simply because I found it did break me out around my chin after one wear so I don’t know how accurate this foundation review will be.

The claims: A weightless foundation with buildable coverage that blurs imperfections and conceals blemishes for a smooth and natural finish. Did I metion that this also comes in 60 shades???? Who knew!

Okay so let’s start with the weightless claim. 100% this is a weightless foundation and I find that it’s actually not too matte. It really has more a satin finish with a medium coverage. I find that because this is so old (I think my mom bought this about 2 years ago) that it is not good for my skin anymore. I have heard Mariah Leonard talk about this and how it’s a wonderful combination of matte and satin. It truly is, for me, however, I think because of the whole expiry thing it’s irritated my skin.

Application: My preferred application method for this foundation is a sponge. I like to sheer it out so it isn’t detectable but this conceals like a champ. While this might have caused my breakouts on my chin, it also covered them quite well so who’s the real champion here. This also wears extremely well. I work quite long hours and this foundation holds up during a long day with minimal wearing off. Then again, I don’t tend to apply the foundation to my jawline but I do apply it to my chin so it wears well on their too.

The Price: $26.50 CAD for 25ml of product. This is a good price for a foundation. This is on par with drugstore foundations so I think that it’s definitely worth a go if you are looking for a long wear foundation for any occassion this is a good option.

Overall rating: 5/5 stars. I cannot fault this foundation for possibly being expired because that would be my own blunder of putting it on my skin because who knows a new one might cause the same reaction. In terms of wear time, it is lovely. I took a before and after photo ( i didn’t do this for any other one) because of the title of this foundation and wore extremely well.

The Ordinary Serum Foundation

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For the third installment of foundation week, I wanted to review the Ordinary Serum Foundation. Last year I apparently deemed it one of the best foundations I’ve ever used. I still really like this foundation and of the affordable foundations I have tried, this one is the least irritating and has the coverage I like – a solid light to medium coverage that just evens the skin tone.

The claims: “Serum Foundations are lightweight medium-coverage formulations available in a comprehensive shade range across 21 shades. These foundations offer moderate coverage that looks natural with a very lightweight serum feel. They are very low in viscosity and are dispensed with the supplied pump or with the optional glass dropper available for purchase separately if preferred. The pigments used in this format are treated for a rich, highly-saturated effect. These pigments are suspended in our proprietary spreadability system that allows pigments to look natural on the skin, resist collecting within fine lines and stay on for longer. The foundations offer a semi-matte finish and are compatible with most primers and are designed to work exceptionally well with the primers offering from The Ordinary”

This is definitely a lightweight feel and has solid medium coverage. As with most things, I love a foundation that feels light on the skin and doesn’t irritate my sensitive dry skin. I do find it is a hit or miss foundation for me depending on how dry my skin is. I find with more creamy moisturizers this sits nicely on my skin but if my moisturizer isn’t as hydrating then the foundation does adhere to my dry patches. This foundation wears nicely and lasts throughout my long days!

Price: $6.70. The price and formulation of this product is unbeatable. This, like many foundations I own, will stick to dry patches, but regardless of the price, this is such a nice formulation. I found in retrying this, it is still a lovely foundation but I find I do need to hydrate well before applying to avoid the product sticking to my dry patches.

Overall rating: 4/5 stars. Again, I dock a star for the way it sometimes sticks to dry patches. 80% of the time this performs without a hitch and does not stick to those pesky dry patches. If you want a lovely, affordable, non-irritating foundation this is the one for you. You can purchase this at well.ca or deciem.com

Kosas Tinted Face Oil Review

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For the second installment of our foundation week, I wanted to review the Kosas Tinted Face Oil. When I saw this brand landed at Sephora I knew I had to try this product. I saw Estee Lalonde use it, I saw JaimePaige use it (sadness she did not enjoy it) but I didn’t see too many other people talk about it. I thought this would be the perfect foundation for the cooler months so I decided to try it out.

Let’s start with the claims: A featherweight, light-coverage foundation and hydrating skin elixir in 10 shades that can be worn across 30 skin tones.

I don’t know how true the 30 skin tones is … but I will say this is a very sheer product and really just gives the skin a filter.

I think that this foundation is really lovely and dewy. This foundation wears surprisingly long. I found this lasted all day on me and survives the sweat. I do recommend for this hot summer weather but if you are doing to wear it, I would set it with a powder. Another pro to his product is it is clean at Sephora but this is a clean brand in general and I love that. It doesn’t make my skin itchy and takes a few seconds to apply making it a perfect work base product.

After application – living on the edge doing my makeup in a while t shirt

Application: This product applies great with fingers and a sponge. I don’t use brushes really at all to apply face products so I cannot speak to that. I use my fingers mostly for this product because I find it really warms up the product and sheers it out for that perfect dewy base that doesn’t make me look too greasy. In terms of how it feels on the skin, it does feel lightweight so much so that I can’t tell it’s on my skin when I’m wearing it.

Price: $55 CAD 30ml/1oz of product. Again, this is really pricey. I think this is worth it if you can afford it. I don’t like to recommend products that are too expensive, but in the case of this one it feels lovely on the skin and one I can see myself using on a more frequent basis than my more full coverage counterparts. Overall, I’m giving this foundation a 4/5 because it is one of the best “clean” foundations I’ve used and gives me that lovely dewy base I strive for on the daily.

IT Cosmetics CC Cream Illumination: Review

Project Pan 6 by labour day update 1

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This update is a bit later than expected … but nonetheless I thought I would post it because these products are all quite hard pressed so it is difficult to see progress.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Bronzer

This bronzer is so hard pressed in the pan that showing progress is difficult. I find that I only need a tap of this so it will take awhile for any progress to be visible.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush

I really love how glowy and fresh this blush makes my skin look. I really enjoy this formula and am hoping to see a dip in this by the end of the project. Alas, it does end in September but I will continue to use it.

NARS Highlighter

Too Face Sweet Peach

I really love palettes – but I have just not been reaching for this on a daily basis. I have been gravitating towards my liquid shadow from colourpop and my single cream shadows. I am focusing on the shade luscious but its a slow go!

Colourpop Supernova shadow

Like I said previously. This is a lovely eye shadow that I have been using daily. You can tell there has been some solid progress and I’m so happy with this shadow. I mix it with the Anastasia bronzer and then use this all over the lid.

Favourite Canadian Brands

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Whenever I find out about a brand, I always search to see if they are Canadian. I wanted to round up my top 3 brands that have Canadian roots.

Annabelle Cosmetics

This is a quintessential drugstore brand from Canada. Their eyeliners are popular, as are their bronzers. I have the bronzers, but one of my favorites products is the Annabelle highlighter and the Annabelle hydrating primer. These two products are what I love for a glowy day. I also enjoy their cream highlighter and their blushes. This is also one of the most affordable brands you can find at the drugstore.

Cheekbone Beauty

I LOVE this brand. The story is inspiring, the proceeds go to a great cause. I love their lipsticks and their highlighting palette. Their liquid lipsticks are named after inspirational and successful Aboriginal women each with their own story. What drew me to this brand was the story, please go read about it! I also like to use liquid lipsticks when I don’t want a reapplication but when I want a colour that lasts most of the day. Their liquid lipsticks don’t dry out the lips and come in a variety of amazing colours.

Nudestix

I enjoy this brand for many reasons. The first one is how easy and accessible it is in Canada. They make great highlighters, bronzers, and blushes that are all easy to apply. I’d like to try more of their items particularly their very first foundation launch. They are somewhat of a unique brand in that they do such user-friendly products even though arguably there are other user-friendly items on the market in this same form. There is something about the sleek black tubes and ease of use that draws me to the brand.

What Happened to my Skin after One Month of High End Makeup

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I said this would be up at the end of May beginning of June but here we are in July! Life got ahead of me, have no fear I still had my notes from the month of May and documented how my skin reacted in May. During the month of April, I did an entire month using drugstore makeup items. In the month of May I decided to use all high-end makeup. I used the It Cosmetics CC Cream, the Charlotte Tilbury Magic away concealer, the Kosas tinted face oil, the NARS highlighter and the Anastasia highlighter among a few other bits and bobs from my collection. I wanted to do this contrast to my previous project because I wanted to see: does your skin get a more positive effect from using high-end makeup versus drugstore makeup.

I switched up my foundations and used solely my Charlotte Tilbury Magic away concealer and the CoverFx duo. The main thing I noticed was my skin wasn’t as clogged as it previously was using the more inexpensive drugstore foundations (think the CoverGirl and Rimmel). I found that using the Kosas and the It Cosmetics my skin did not break out as much, but I did have some skin issues on my chin because (at least I think) my skin was recovering from its previous experiment. My skin definitely likes higher-end base products better than the least expensive side of the drugstore. I would like to do an experiment where I only use say $20 drugstore foundations (because that is what they are in Canada) and see what happens then because near the end based on my previous experiment where my skin vastly improved once I began using the more expensive foundations.

Perricone MD No Highlighter Highlight, Charlotte Tilbury Magic Away Concealer , CoverFx peach duo

Now, the main difference I used what the way the products felt on my skin, in particular, the concealer and powder products. By the end of the day, my fave didn’t feel clogged. However, I was also playing with some other things in my life and so my chin spots persisted.

To be honest, my skin spots persisted on my chin, but my skin did not appear to have such a dramatic difference as it did in the drugstore makeup for a month. I don’t really know if this is attributed to the different ingredients or to fewer fillers and preservatives (presumably) in the makeup I used.

It Cosmetics CC Cream, Kosas Tinted Face Cream, Perricone MD No highlighter highlighter, Charlotte Tilbury Magic Away concealer, CoverFX duo in Dirty Peach

Urban Decay Naked 3, Nudestix Matte eye pencil in Putty

For example, comparing the Kosas Tinted Face oil to my Maybelline BB Cream the ingredients are visibly different. This could be attributed to the fact that the BB Cream is not part of the clean at Sephora, but I would say that the It Cosmetics CC Cream has just as many or more ingredients than the Maybelline BB Cream and I don’t really know what to think about that. While I do find myself reaching for high-end products because I don’t feel that on my skin versus the drugstore products.

I can say, that by the end of the experiment my skin was good, but I do think I did these experiments a bit close together and did not let my skin fully heal from the foundations that did irritate it! I also added a few products in my skincare routine so it’s really a mystery.

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Project Pan Roulette: Intro

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I love panning products … and in an attempt to continue a trend of consciously using products I am going to do another project pan roulette! Thanks to Rebbecca and Alexy. I chose 9 categories. I have a few goals for this project and far warning, the work dip will make an appearance in each explanation. This project will end on Oct 15. Just to make it a short and sweet round.

Something you are afraid to Pan

I chose the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar bronze and glow. I know an ambitious goal. But I am trying to choose products that I’m loving currently and not force myself to use ones just to use them. I want to see some amount of progress.

Something you aren’t sure if you like

The Burt’s Bees BB Cream. This product ebbs and flows. Sometimes I love the finish and other times it looks cakey. I’d like to finish this! I know super ambitious but I think if I focus I can do it.

A product you bought online

The sublt beauty stack. OKAY IS THIS CHEATING. I don’t know. But I’m currently using this consistently so I decided to put it in this project. My goal is to make a dip in the concealer.

Something from a lesser known brand

Cheekbone beauty lip gloss is sundance. This is a lovely lip gloss. I’m talking it goes over the dryness and lines in your lips so nicely. I’d highly recommend this formula and this brand. I don’t know how to tell the progress in this product. So I’m just going to use it daily and see what happens.

A product in a palette

Again – am I cheating. Likely. But here I am. The taupe shade in the 100% Pure naked 2 palette is so pretty. It’s easy, not super pigmented and gives a slight amount of shiny pigment to the eye. I want to hit pan!

Something overrated

The makeup revolution concealer. This is so overrated. It also isn’t my favourite but I thought I would make an effort to use it!

An item from your favorite brand

Colourpop ringer. I do rather like colourpop – I drag them for the fast makeup they produce but yet, I continue to love their products and it is a brand that in my opinion, is affordable, has a wide shade range and unique products. I want to see a dip in this product.

Something you have considered decluttering

The B by Superdrug lip and cheek tint. I bought this last year in Europe and have since considered decluttering it purely because I wasn’t using it. I love the shade and the ease of use of this product and I would like to see some sort of dip by the end of this project.

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CoverFx Monochromatic Blush Duo Review

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Peach blushes get me (well blush in general but that is neither here nor there)… every single time. I’m just a peachy girl. I love peach lips, peach blushes, peach eyes, so when Coverfx came out with their monochromatic blush duos I felt the need to pick one up. Coverfx is a Canadian cruelty-free, Sephora certified clean brand, and thus far don’t have too much in the way of colour cosmetics, more sore foundations and primers etc. I haven’t really reviewed many powder products other than eyeshadow palettes so hopefully, this review is thorough enough.

My standard for blush is pretty low: I prefer a blush that isn’t super pigmented because I really like to swirl my brush in and pack it on. Think the hourglass blush formula and the mac sheer tone blushes. First, let’s go through the claims of this product: Formulated talc-free for a color-true, high-impact payoff, these blush duos include both a matte and a shimmer shade, each, for a monochromatic, multidimensional effect. Use each shade individually or layer them together to customize your finish”

This blush was a welcomed change, I bought it in soft peach. I really like to glow (as you may now if you follow me on insta I do quite a few glowy looks over there) and I love that glow on the apples of the cheeks. I find the shimmer in this can be built up or just spackled on for a bit glow on the skin. The matte side really packs a punch and creates a beautifully peach look. These also work on the eyes as well.

The packaging. This has lovely white, heavier packaging. It also has a huge mirror making it each for application.

Pricing: $50 CAD sold at Sephora for 14.5 g of product. This is definitely a lot of bang for your buck (or maybe not I don’t really know maths but it seems like it). I compared it to some of my other peach blushes, but alas these photos didn’t turn out and I couldn’t be bothered to reshoot since my weeks are super busy! This shade is definitely more of a nude peach compared to both my Burt’s Bees bare peach and my mac peach twist. I like that it leans a bit more beige than peach so I find it pairs well with a lot of looks.

Overall rating: 5/5 stars. This is like any other blush – but it lasts all day on my skin. I find that blush is something that my skin “eats” per se. And because this can be packed on and then fades nicely, it is the perfect daily blush for me. If you want a nice starter two in one product I would recommend this!

June Faves

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June has been such a lovely month. Many awesome things are happening, my room decorating is coming along and my career is slightly starting! I haven’t done a ton this month, lots of work and chilling, but I did discover a few lovely makeup items.

Pixi Delicate Dew Highlighting Duo

This is a lovely, glossy highlighter. It feels similar to the NARS Forte De France highlighter in terms of texture, and shines like it as well, but is a bit more subtle. Because I have a slight tan, even though it looks darkish in the pan, it gives a beautiful glow.

The Quo Colour Lust Lipstick in Gossip Session

This is a lovely lip colour. It feels very similar to the MAC Lustre Lipstick formula. This is a lovely peachy shade that lasts well and moisturizes the lips. It’s also buildable and a great work day lipstick that you can reapply without a mirror.

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze

This is a lovely cream shadow. I have had this before and it dried up and repurchased it. It is the perfect bronze shade and hardly creases. My mom complimented my eyeshadow and asked what it was, and I told her it was the Maybelline Colour Tattoo. This is a lovely sparkling shadow that is an easy slap on and go type of shade.

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Away Concealer

I love this concealer. It is expensive but it hardly creases. It is easy to spread out and doesn’t leave my skin feeling clogged under the eyes or on the face. It is a splurge item but for something I use every day, that takes a few seconds to blend out with fingers or whatever your preferred method is, it is worth it for me.

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Sephora Haul: Mini Reviews

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I did a bit of shopping over the past few months at good old Sephora. I have been near a Sephora about twice a month for the past 6 months for work training, and I always took the opportunity to do a little bit of a pop in at Sephora. I got a few of these products online (during the Sephora sale) and a few in store during my journey’s there. I wanted to do a few mini reviews rounding up my thoughts on these products. I will do some more in-depth reviews coming in the next month!

In Store Purchases

Mac Fix plus: This is an iconic product. I have heard on several makeup podcasts that its purpose is to not actually set your makeup but to refresh your skin and melt the powders together. I really like this, however, because it is not a setting spray it makes me miss my beloved Too Faced Hangover RX setting spray. This doesn’t irritate my skin and has a lovely scent.

Nudestix nudies matte in sunset strip: This was a YouTube made me buy it product. As soon as I saw Jamie Paige Beauty and Samantha Ravndahl use this, I knew I was going to “need” it in my collection. This is a lovely, coral blush that is the perfect summer flush (or any season flush). It is creamy, and while it claims its matte I don’t find it to be a flat matte, it is almost like the Physicians Formula butter blush in a cream stick version.

The Online VIB Sale Purchases

Clockwise: Kosas tinted face oil, Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar bronze and glow, Bite Beauty lip balm, Charlotte Tilbury Magic away concealer, Coverfx matte and shimmer blush duo

CoverFx Matte and Shimmer blush duo: This duo, again, something I saw on Instagram and it immediately piqued my interest. I love the idea of having the option of using a shimmer or matte blush or layering them. I also like to use these on my eyes as well. Full review and comparison coming soon!

close up of charlotte tilbury filmstar bronze and glow

The Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow: This has been on my list of things to get for YEARS. Since I saw Allanarama use this back in 2016 I have been eyeing it ever since. Now, that Charlotte Tilbury is finally in Sephora (and I finally could justify this in my budget) I bought it. This is a lovely product. The sculpt shade is the perfect contour without being too grey that I feel I can wear on its own or paired with bronzer. The highlighter is beautiful and glowy, without being metallic or glittery. This is the perfect palette for work!

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Away concealer: Oh mama. This concealer. Is. Magic. See what I did there? This concealer creases so minimally and spreads out so easily while maintaining excellent coverage, I don’t know if I ever want to go back to any other concealer… although you know me I’ll always be trying more. However, I think that this is going to be my new holy grail concealer … it’s just lovely!

Kosas Tinted Face Oil: This has mixed reviews from various sources. However, I really like this. It does tend to look greasy so I usually set my t zone when using this. I was concerned that this may break down on my skin but honestly, it lasts really nicely throughout the day. I don’t recommend this if you already have oily skin, but if you have normal to dry skin this is a lovely light coverage base. Full review to come!

Bite Beauty Agave and Daytime Lip Balm: I got this because I needed a good lip balm. This is nice, but I find that it doesn’t really hydrate my lips as much as I thought it would. I wear this in the morning as I’m doing my makeup. I find that my favourite lip balm is still the Fresh one in terms of actually hydrating my lips. I will use this up but I’m not sure if I would repurchase this!

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Beauty Minimalism as a Beauty Blogger

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Beauty minimalism is something I wanted to talk about. I think the definition of minimalism is very personal but is tied with surrounding yourself with things that you genuinely love. The way I want to talk about the idea of minimalism from a beauty standpoint is discussing release fatigue. Basically release fatigue is when you are tired of brands releasing and releasing product (looking at you Colourpop). This is my daily struggle: my content that does well is reviews and hauls, and what else do you review than a new product? However, I battle between wanting maybe one or two products of each makeup category to loving trying and buying new products. I wanted to share some thoughts I have about release fatigue and the over-consumption (me included) of the beauty industry.

According to an article I found on the Allure website- over 3,000 women were surveyed by skinstore and found that women in the united states spend $300,000 on their face over a lifetime. A LIFETIME. I have never counted or added up the value of makeup collection mostly because I could porbably pay a large chunk of my OSAP. When you are not into beauty or skincare to this number is probably terrifying and the amount of makeup I personally own is probably mind boggling – however it is my only hobby that costs me money so I think somehow it balances out! But, to think about numbers like $300,000 shows how much the beauty industry is growing.

I think my biggest gripe with the beauty industry right now is how much companies are releasing. If you take a look at Trendmood’s Instagram you can see photo after photo of new products and new brands – which is great but can be overwhelming. NARS, Colourpop, Morphe are a few of the brands that I’ve noticed have been releasing collection after collection, MAC has always done those limited collections so I don’t get sick of their collections because in my humble opinion I feel like brands have tried to emulate that. I think my main issue is it feels like brands are capitalizing on trends and targeting consumers so they will buy more and feed into capitalism (which again obviously I do this too). However, I think that brands that curate well (like Glossier) do so strategically for marketing purposes. I think Glossier, and Hourglass are a few brands do well with having releases every 3 months or so making it less overwhelming for consumers. When brands like Colourpop (who I will admit don’t compromise quality) release a collection every which way I feel like for the average consumer this can get overwhelming. Even for me, an avid lover of the brand, it can just get overwhelming.

When I say overwhelming I say this for one reason: that someone new to makeup is just going to buy this affordable makeup and then not realize what they actually like. Am I speaking from experience? Yes. Yes, I am. When you first discover the world of beauty YouTube you just want to try everything and that means buying inexpensive products that either don’t work for you or you bought to try because you saw your fave person using or like me you use it once and realize its not your makeup style. Now I’m not saying Colourpop doesn’t make some of my favorite products or in fact doesn’t make products I use on the daily they are merely a good example of a brand that releases collections twice monthly. In fact most of the time I find myself gravitating towards my colourpop items because they are so good – however it is the best example I personally have in my Instagram feed of new releases.

What is the point of this post? I think my point is that I strive to be more intentional with my purchases. At the beginning of 2019 I bought a million drugstore products that didn’t “spark joy” as Marie Kondo would say (still need to read the book and will do so this summer) and then finding myself not gravitating towards drugstore makeup but using my high-end and boutique makeup (like the body shop). I think the other thing for me about trying to not buy makeup is to not buy it as an excuse for “research” for the blog. I built the beginning of this blog on drugstore beauty which I will never not lover but more and more when I picture my “ideal” collection it consists of high-end makeup with some drugstore and boutique brands spackled in there. While I don’t ever see myself losing the drugstore/affordable side of my blog I do think that because the beauty industry has boomed so much I want to start doing quality over quantity as well as treating ALL my purchases with more thought.

I also think that I struggle with the fun of trying new makeup and being creative with only owning what I need. For example, as a blogger, I love finding dupes for holy grail products which then means I am feeding into the mass market to try new things to help my readers find alternatives! Alas, the balancing act continues!

What are your thoughts on beauty minimalism as a beauty blogger?

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Drugstore Hero Products

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From my month of only wearing drugstore makeup I discovered quite a few lovely drugstore products. I wanted to share some drugstore products that are sort of hero products in my collection. This was also in part inspired by Mariah Leonard. Stay tuned this month for a “what happened to my skin when I used high end makeup for a month”.

Joe Fresh powder highlighter. Again, another gem from the Canadian drugstore. This is such a nice subtle highlighter that creates a beautiful glow on the skin. I thought this might be too icy for my liking but it is a nice neutral highlighter for my skintone.

Annabelle Matte bronzer. This is a really nice matte bronzer. It is a spot on dupe for the Anastasia powder bronzer. I love how this warms up the skin without being orange. Definitely a must have if you visit a Canadian drugstore.

Burt’s bees blush in Bare Peach. This is one of the best blushes I own. It is pigmented but fades quickly so I like going ham with it and taking it up on my temples for a more peachy look and it tones itself down by the time you are done the rest of makeup.

L’Oreal Blush in bare honey. Another great neutral blush from the drugstore. This is a lovely warm blush.

Burt’s Bees multi-sticks. These were sent to me by topbox cirlce in exchange for a review. I love these products. Glossy glowy goodness that creates a lovely dewy moment on the cheeks.

L’Oreal stick foundation. This is an awesome full coverage yet lightweight foundation from the drugstore. Again, not really drugstore priced, as its $19 CAD. It blends out easily and does not irritate my skin.

Burt’s Bees goodness glows foundation. This foundation was something that I did not life before – and I still do have a bit of hard time working with it in terms of blending it out and blending it into the skin. However, I found that using this with a good moisturizer and a good hydrating primer it works wonderfully. I also like that it is clean ingredients so I do hope they expand their shade range.

Annabelle hydrating illuminating veil. This is a lovely hydrating primer that I would repurchase. It is pearly without being glittery and creates a lovely dewy base that works well under any foundation.

Joe Fresh concealer. I love this concealer. It is from a Canadian brand and it has light coverage but covers just enough under the eye so you look awake.

Maybelline Age rewind. The Maybelline Age Rewind concealer is perhaps on of the best concealers I’ve ever tried … including the Charlotte Tilbury concealer except I would still repurchase both. The Maybelline Age Rewind concealer is light weight but full coverage and has great lasting power.

Revlon Candid Concealer. This is a lovely medium coverage concealer. This is eons better than the Too Faced Born This Way sculpting concealer (which has grown on me) but nonetheless this is a lot less expensive and is easier to blend out!

Colourpop eyeshadow in cornelious. These supershock shadows are awesome in general. They are easy to wear one wash wonders that are easy on the daily.

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Cheekbone Beauty Brand Review

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You know me – I love trying new brands and discovering new brands especially ones with a Canadian background and brands for a cause. When I listened to the breaking beauty podcast with the found of Cheekbone Beauty Jenn Harper, who is an Indigenous woman from Thunder Bay. I was so excited that finally a brand with a great cause. The founder herself strives to educate people on Residential schools and its impact on generations of Indigenous people. The brand supports the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society (FNCFCS). You need to read about this brand – it is literally makeup that advocates. The founder of this brand is also extremely inspiring! They also have great customer service – when you order she emails you and says thank you for supporting. Their lip kits on the website also donate 100% of the profits go to the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society.

You can buy this brand on cheekbonebeauty.ca. I bought three products: their stardust highlighting palette, their warrior women liquid lipstick and their lip gloss!

Let’s start with their most iconic product: their warrior women liquid lipsticks. These retail for $29 CAD. I got the shade Melina. The cool thing about this lipstick collection is they are named after indigenous activists. This is directly from their website: “Melina was named after an Indigenous Rights advocate from the Lubicon Cree First Nation in Alberta, Canada, Melina Laboucan-Massimo. Melina has been a vocal advocate for Indigenous rights for the past 10 years and is a Climate and Energy Campaigner with Greenpeace Canada. Melina has also produced short documentaries on water issues as well as Indigenous cultural revitalization”. The liquid lipstick in this collection is a lovely velvet matte formula. I find they are similar to the NYX Soft Matte Lip creams but have better pigment and last longer. I find I can put this lipstick on and it lasts literally all day.

The lipgloss is also a lovely formula.The lipgloss retails for $24CAD. I don’t usually go for a colored lipgloss but the colour sundance spoke to me as I love coral. This is a lovely non-sticky formula that somehow lasts quite awhile.

The Stardust highlighting palette is perhaps one of my favourite products. The highlighter palette retails for $48CAD. The highlighters in this are a bit dark for my skin tone but I find with a light hand and mixing the lightest one with the gold one they give such a nice glow. They aren’t metallic but still gives a lovely sheen and glow to the skin.

The swatches:

Liquid Lipstick in Melina, Lip gloss in Sundance

Swatches of the stardust highlighting palette

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Makeup Revolution Reloaded vs. Naked Heat

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In the past, I have been skeptical of the brand makeup revolution because of its reputation of blatantly copying other brands best selling products accept selling them at extremely affordable prices. Now, I have just managed to get my hands on this because orabel beauty sells the brand. Makeup Revolution is a brand from the United Kingdom and is cruelty-free. I wanted to compare this palette to my much loved naked heat palette. This is very clearly made to dupe the urban decay palette but makeup revolution has sneakily added a few more shades so it’s not a blatant copy like their makeup revolution golden bar whose packaging couldn’t be more obvious that they are trying to copy Too Faced. On one hand, I wasn’t sure how I felt about this because they are copying another brand, but on the other hand, I think makeup and makeup trends should be accessible and that is what makeup revolution gives to consumers. In any case, I wanted to compare the two palettes because I love warmed tones and couldn’t resist testing it out. After the disappointment of their concealer, I wanted to try a few other items form the brand.

First the claims on each: Time to get RELOADED! Our 15 shade eyeshadow palettes that are bound to pack a punch at an affordable price. Warm burnt shades for lovers of orange and burgandys, in a variety of matte and shimmer shades. Highly pigmented, long-wearing, smooth and blendable eyeshadow shades that will keep you on trend all year round. The price of this palette is 9.99 CAD on orabel.ca. Orabel is a great website to find makeup that isn’t easily accessible in Canada. The shipping was super fast too!

The naked heat claims: Urban Decay’s Naked Heat features all-new, amber-hued neutrals—including warm browns, burnt oranges, and rich siennas. Each shade features Urban Decay’s Pigment Infusion System™, a proprietary blend of ingredients that gives each shade its velvety texture, rich color, ultimate staying power, and blendability” . This palette is currently $66.00.

As you can see, these to have a similar description in that it is a warm-toned palette but the makeup revolution one does not blatantly state that it is duping and after all brands are free to create warm toned palettes as long as no copy writing is being infringed upon. I think that these have similar vibes.

The Comparison

The biggest differences I see in these palettes are the density of the shadows. The mattes and shimmers in the makeup revolution ones feel thinner than the naked heat shadows and apply with less pigment. The same goes for the shimmers, the ones in the makeup revolution palette are quite similar to the naked heat but again, the naked heat ones to pack a bit more of punch.

MR means Makeup Revolution and UD means Urban Decay

I think that price wise the makeup revolution palette is a nice affordable option for that same warm vibe that the naked heat gives you. The naked heat really for me, steals my heart in that I am an avid lover of the naked series. While I don’t own the newest one, as a collector of these particular palettes I would always choose the naked over the makeup revolution. Now, the lack of pigmentation in the matte shadows in the makeup revolution reloaded is actually welcomed so that you don’t overdo it and it doesn’t require as much blending to diffuse the colour as I enjoy doing in all my eyeshadow looks. However, I’d say if you have a darker skin tone then you would have to build up the mattes in the reloaded palette quite a bit.

The application

Right is urban decay and left is Makeup Revolution

The application of the naked heat vs. the makeup revolution is different. The naked heat packs a punch essentially right away whereas with the makeup revolution I find you have to build it up a bit more to get that full opacity. I created two similar looks here. The makeup revolution also did not last as long as the naked heat after a 12 hour day. Granted what I used for primer was a matte foundation and even when I have worn the makeup revolution palette with a sticky primer they tend to fade more than the naked heat.

Is this a “dupe”

In the makeup world a dupe is a duplicate, generally intended to be a more affordable version of the high end version. In all cases of duping, this is a colour dupe if anything. The Makeup Revolution Reloaded palette definitely has similar shade colours, but the formula is very different. I think that is a great dupe and if you want that naked heat warm vibe this is a great affordable alternative!

Drugstore Concealer Round up

4 Comments Stickychrisindagordon

Because I’m not sent anything, I obviously do not have EVERY drugstore concealer on the market for this post. However, I have quite a few concealers I’ve been collecting over the past 7 months, FOR SCIENCE. I wanted to give mini-reviews on each. I think it’s helpful to have a reference point for something that most people use in their daily lives, makeup lover or not. I ranked these concealers into three categories: the top, the middle and the bottom. Basically, the ones I love, the middle pack are ones that are alright and I may repurchase, and the bottom category are the concealers that I would not repurchase. Most of these are super similar from the top 5 to the middle pack, but I wanted to give the low down on why I love the ones I do and why I am not a fan of some others. I would eventually like to do this again with maybe high end or different concealers from the same brand! Who knows, those ideas are always brewing.

The Top Five

Photo of: revlon youth fx, collection lasting perfection, Joe Fresh illuminating, Maybelline Fit Me, Maybelline Age Rewind

Me wearing the maybelline age rewind — Maybelline Age Rewind

Maybelline age rewind. This has a newly expanded shade range so I feel more comfortable recommending this than say, the Annabelle or collection lasting perfection. This concealer is lightweight yet covers up dark circle in no time. It doesn’t look heavy under the eyes and stays all day. I have yet to find another concealer (other than at the moment the charlotte tilbury concealer) that is as good as this one.

Me wearing the Joe Fresh illuminating concealer — Joe Fresh Illuminating Concealer

The Joe fresh illuminating concealer. When I first tried this I didn’t use eye cream and I thought it was a drying concealer and gave it to my girl Kaitlin, who loved it. So since she loved it I decided about a year later to repurchased, at which point I had forayed into an eye cream. This is a beautiful light coverage concealer. I love the effect it gives my under eyes. The biggest con is there aren’t many shades, you’ll see this is a recurring theme in this post. This is a Canadian brand you can buy this at Loblaws and Superstore.

Me wearing collection lasting perfection concealer — Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

Collection lasting perfection concealer. WHY IS THIS ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK????? This is such great, full coverage, lightweight concealer. I really enjoy this. It blends out easily and brightens up your undereye in a non extremely stark way. However, again a huge drawback to a lot of these concealers is the shade range. Selfishly this work – but the drugstore needs to step up its game!

ME wearing the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer — Maybelline Fit Me

Maybelline Fit Me concealer. This is yet another amazing concealer from Maybelline. I also used this quite early on in my makeup years, and again I thought it was super drying and didn’t look nice under my eyes. Then I learned some makeup tips and rebought this for this post.

Revlon youth fx concealer. This concealer is very similar to the Maybelline age rewind. It is lightweight and has a lovely satin finish under the eye. I used this up awhile so it is an empty so alas I don’t have a photo for you. I would 100% repurchase this! Again shade range …

The middle pack

Left to right: NYX HD, L'Oreal True Match, Rimmel Lasting Breathable, Revlon Candid Concealer, Annabelle Concealer

Me wearing the Annabelle concealer — Annabelle Perfect Concealer

Annabelle perfect concealer. This is a great concealer from a Canadian brand. The shade range is such drawback. Even the shade I got isn’t necessarily what I would classify as fair light but alas it does match my skin tone so I usually just mix it if I want a brightening effect. I like this on those days I don’t want super brightened under eyes and want a nice light – medium coverage.

Me wearing the Revlon Candid Concealer — Revlon Candid Concealer

Revlon candid concealer. I really like this concealer. It is only in the middle of the pack because really this is on the same level for me as the Annabelle. I like the finish of this. It is has a nice satin finish under the eyes and lasts all day.

Me wearing the L'Oreal True Match concealer — L’Oreal True Match Concealer

L’Oreal true match concealer. This concealer has similar vibes to the Maybelline age rewind. It really creates that brightened under eye effect which isn’t always the vibe I’m going for but I find it has very nice coverage. I think if I were to repurchase I would get one shade up to match me a bit more for a less brightened effect.

Me wearing the NYX HD Wand — NYX HD Concealing Wand

NYX HD concealing wand. This concealer was just okay for me. It has a pretty good shade range, but I find its a bit thick on my under eye. I find that by the end of the day this almost balls up instead of staying looking semi fresh until the end of a work day which is something I look for in concealer.

Me wearing the Rimmel Breathable Concealer — Rimmel Lasting 25 Hour Breathable Concealer

Rimmel lasting 25 hour breathable concealer. This isn’t the best… some days it works really well and other days it does not work at all. This concealer is difficult to blend out and it doesn’t wear well throughout the day.

The bottom pack

Left to Right: Elf Beautifully Bare, Makeup Revolution Concealer, Colourpop Concealer

Me wearing the colourpop no filter concealer — Colourpop No Filter Concealer

Colourpop no filter concealer. I know this is in my bottom three but I simply cannot make this work. I feel like this is a polarizing concealer, either people love it or leave it. I like to mix this in with concealers that are a bit of a darker shade if I want that brightening effect but on its own it is too stark for my liking. It has nice coverage but I find that even when I set it – it faded throughout the day.

Me wearing the makeup revolution concealer — Makeup Revolution Concealer

Makeup revolution. This was the same vibe as the Colourpop but a bit more full coverage and a better shade match. This concealer is only at the bottom of the pack because I just don’t enjoy how much this creases throughout the day. This does last better throughout the day than the Colourpop.

Me wearing the Elf beautifully bare concealer — Elf Beautifully Bare

Elf beautifully bare. I really wanted to like this but it just did not work for me. This has a waxy texture, and faded almost right away even when I set it with powder. It also kind of balled up b the end of the day which isn’t my favourite!

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Current Favourite Nude Lipsticks

Burt’s bees suede splash

A repeat from last year. This is a slightly darker nude for my skin tone but works with most makeup looks I create. It is a beige nude that has a hint of rose.

Covergirl sultry sienna

This is such a lovely shade of lipstick. I find that it is the perfect my lips but better shade. It is only a shade darker than my natural lip color. I also really like the smell of these lipsticks.

Cheekbone beauty Melina

A new favourite that I have been wearing pretty much every day since I got this. The Cheekbone beauty liquid lipstick in Melina. What a lovely, matte but not drying everyday lipsticks. This has a peachy rose undertone and lasts forever on the lips without crumbling off like other liquid lipsticks I’ve used in the pasts. It also has a great meaning behind it (more to come in my cheekbone beauty brand review I’m just slow). Again, this is my lips but better shade as are most of the ones in this blog post.

Clockwise from the bottom: Fenty Gloss balm, Burt's Bees Peony Dew, pixi natural rose lip balm

Fenty gloss bomb

The Fenty gloss bomb is definitely my go-to gloss for any day of the week. It has a rose gold shift that doesn’t make my lips looks strange like many true nude glosses make my lips look. I can wear this on its own or layer it.

Burt's Bees Peony Dew laying beside Fenty Gloss

Pixi lip balm in Natural Rose

Covergirl Sultry Sienna beside Pixi natural rose lip balm

This is lovely hydrating lip product. It is exactly what it sounds like, a rose lip balm. This lip product is easy to wear and has a lovely hydrating finish. AGAIN this is my lips but better shade for me. It fades nicely and lasts quite a long time.

Burt’s bees Peony Dew

This is part of their glossy finish lipstick. It is a bit pinker than it’s counterparts. It has a rose pink base but still fits into the nude category for me on my lips. I find the natural shade of my lips pulls pinky purple so this one fits into the nude lip category for me.

Swatches of the lipsticks: Left to right Left to right: Fenty Gloss, Burt's Bee Peony Dew, Pixi Natural Rose, Burt's Bees Suede Splash, Cheekbone beauty Melina, Covergirl Sulty Sienna — Left to right: Fenty Gloss, Burt’s Bee Peony Dew, Pixi Natural Rose, Burt’s Bees Suede Splash, Cheekbone beauty Melina, Covergirl Sulty Sienna

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6 by Labour Day Project Pan

3 Comments Stickychrisindagordon

I love project pans and wanted to start another (actually I have been using these since May 1) but am just late on posting these items. Usually, the classic labour day project pan is a 7 by labour day but I wanted to do 6 as to not have too many things on my plate. This project will end of September 2 so it is a Spring-Summer project.

Too Faced Sweet Peach

The first item I chose was the Too Faced Sweet Peach palette, particularly the shade luscious and summer yum because I use those shades quite often. This is a lovely palette that I generally use in the spring anyway so I decided to throw it in this project.

NARS Forte De France

The second item in this project is one of my favourite highlighters. The NARS highlighter in the shade Forte De France. Quite honestly, I don’t think I will hit pan on this but I do think I have a shot since it does have an existing dip from being in previous projects.

Hourglass blush in incandescent Electra

This is such a lovely blush that it is so easy to wear. It doesn’t have a ton of peach in it but the marbling makes for a nice effect on the skin. I want to see this dip significantly in the next few months.

Anastasia Bronzer in Tawny

This is a lovely matte bronzer and has a nice finish. This does pull red and I like to be light handed with it. I don’t see this hitting pan but I want to use it as much as possible. If you are interested in a full review you can read it here.

The ELF plumping lip gloss in Champagne

I chose this lip gloss because it seemed like one of the easier things to pan. Every time I use it, the product goes down a bit more and the progress is visible.

The Colourpop Supernova Shadow in Running Orbits

I chose this for the project because it also has some progress already. It creates a lovely glittery eye and is super easy to use. I don’t find this creases easily and it makes me look “put together” quickly. I even wear this in a light layer during the day and I love it!

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What Happened to My skin After only Using Drugstore Makeup for Month

5 Comments Stickychrisindagordon

In the name of science, I decided that for the month of April I would use all drugstore makeup for a month. In doing so I kept all my project pan items the same – such as the body shop foundation which is mid-range as well as my pan that palette, palettes, but other than that I switched out my normal high and low routine, for all drugstore affordable products. I Kept my skincare routine basically the same. I did get two new cleansers and a new moisturizer. I also added a new face oil, but that only made my skin feel better. I wanted to say that normally I switch between the IT Cosmetics CC cream and the Benefit foundation as well as my Body shop foundation and my Andalou Naturals cc cream, with a smattering of the Maybelline BB Cream in there. I know – I keep it wild. My reasoning for this project was mainly for the foundations. I wanted to see what would happen to my skin if I used only drugstore foundations, powders, concealers for a month. Mostly – I was curious about the effects of the wide range of foundations I owned price wise.

My skin before the whole experiment taken on April 1st.

Joe fresh concealer and Burt's Bees Goodness Glows foundation product shot

Day 2: new pimples have popped up. Literally, the day after I began using the Covergirl Outlast Active foundation I got new spots. This is the thing – I wanted to make a more inexpensive drugstore foundation work which I why I used the CoverGirl and the Rimmel breathable foundation for the first half of the month. But, my skin just did not react well. Which is extremely frustrating because makeup should be accessible and affordable and not give your skin wild reactions. While most young people have great skin and don’t need foundation, I am fully aware that teenagers want to wear foundation and yet the foundations they can afford are clogging their sweet young pores.

By day 3 I had sprouted new friends on my chin. Alas, I was still using the CoverGirl and Rimmel foundation. I had bought the ELF BB Cream which I actually quite like and doesn’t irritate my skin so that will be on my rotation for after May. I noticed an improvement after I started using the BB Cream and then just using concealer.

Day 15 – a bit more congested than usual, lots of redness and spots.

Physicians formula butter high lighter, bronzer, blush.

By day 15, halfway through the month my skin was visibly more textured and had small breakouts – bare in mind when I used the Burt’s bees foundation for my skin drastically improved. When I returned to the Maybelline BB cream and Covergirl foundation my skin then turned slightly red and those small breakouts returned. At this point, I decluttered the Rimmel and Covergirl foundations that I knew were causing this and switched to only using the Maybelline BB Cream, and the Burt’s Bees Foundation.

The Last day of the experiment. A few spots but looking a lot less congested

At the end of the month, you can see that my skin had improved – there are a few uncharacteristic spots around my mouth and on my forehead that I never get. However, this was only because I was gifted the Burt’s Bees foundation that is a clean foundation and I bought the Physicians formula healthy foundation that is $20 CAD which resulted in my skin healing. I also was using my L’Oreal shaping stick foundation that has never irritated my skin and is also $20 CAD. As someone who loves affordable makeup but also loves skincare, it is interesting to see the difference in using more expensive products from the drugstore that give my skin a better reaction than that of the less expensive foundations you can find at the drugstore.

L'Oreal shaping stick and Maybelline Instant age rewind

This experiment really taught me the value of ingredients in foundations. CoverGirl by far had the most ingredients but that doesn’t mean they aren’t bad – it just means my skin might react to those differences but other peoples skin might be totally fine. What I did find was that the drugstore does concealer formula’s very well. I know in theory they should be similar formulas to foundations but I found that the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind and the Joe Fresh illuminating concealer were wonderful.

In the name of science, my conclusion is that my skin prefers higher end base products but can handle the powders at the drugstore which tend to not give my skin a reaction – however, I do use the more expensive drugstore products so that is defiantly a factor.

Look out for the end of May when I post about my high-end makeup every day and see the results of my skin then!

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The swatches

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The Swatches

A few looks – tutorials to come

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The swatches

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The base products

Cheek products

Eyes

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Favourite Base products

Favourite Lip product

Favourite Cheek products

Favourite eyeshadow

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Em Cosmetics

Pat McGrath

Armani Beauty

Bobbi brown

Flower

Kjer weis

Chanel Beauty

Persona Cosmetics

Zoeva

Nabla cosmetics

Uoma Beauty

Vapour beauty

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The skincare

Hair Care

Makeup

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The swatches

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The prep

The makeup

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Revlon Naughty Nude

L’Oreal Warm Honey

Clinique Cola Pop

Physicians Formula Butter Blush in Vintage Rose

MAC Peach Twist

The Swatches

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The comparison

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