Mini Maybelline Haul

Nothing too exciting, but I bought a couple of foundations, a lip gloss, another color tattoo eyeshadow, and an interesting "Dream Lumitouch" pen.  

Inglot Sleeks VLC Lip Gloss #76

I bought this lip gloss without any clue what "VLC" meant.  I later found out that it stands for "Volumizing Liquid Crystals".  So it is supposed to be a volumizing gloss.  It isn't.  I am highly sensitive to those plumping glosses and this definitely doesn't feel like one of those, nor did I notice any effect when wearing it.  

I got shade 76, which is a baby pink:

Swatches: 

It's not really "crystallic" either.  It does have a very subtle shimmer to it, but it's really hard to see it.  The first thing you will notice about this gloss is that it is quite sticky, and it smells exactly like orange baby aspirin.  It is a bit weird, it's the first lip product I've owned like that.  This colour doesn't exactly suit me, I don't know why I always gravitate towards light pinks that look like crap on me!!!  But they have many other shades.  It is also really nice when layered over a lipstick.  

Artdeco Eyeshadows

Artdeco has "build your own" compacts, where all the eyeshadows and blushes have magnetic backs.  However, these eyeshadows came pre-packaged. 

The white shade is a highlighter.  The brown one was the most pigmented and I think it is pretty so I was happy with it.  However, the other two were not good at all.  Very very sheer and poor wear time on top of that.  Horrible. 

I also wonder why the compact itself has space, seemingly for a tiny brush.  The eyeshadows are so very small, only 0.8 grams, so it would make more sense to me to make them bigger to actually fit the entire compact.  Unfortunately I don't remember how much these cost but I still don't think it's a good value if it's a poor product both in quality and design. 

Next time I will definitely choose my own colours and hopefully that will work out better.  I did see a nice dark pink shade that looked promising.

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows

So happy to get these Makeup Geek  eyeshadows!  My order arrived in about a week, which is phenomenal.  They have really honest and low shipping, and great customer service.  I had to place my order twice because of a zip code issue (the first one went through) so I did end up getting a couple I actually meant to delete, but I don't mind at all.

I got Corrupt, Mermaid, Appletini, and Wisteria:

Since I am going to be gifting these, I only have swatches, not a review.  I hate to judge by a swatch alone, but they all seem all right!  Mermaid is a lot softer than the rest.  Wisteria I'd probably use a white base under it.  

The swatches: 

The pans are just a teeny bit bigger than MAC pans.  I had to press a bit hard to get them to fit in a MAC palette, but it worked out just great: 

Makeup Geek  ships internationally and I really like their website too, so many beautiful looks and interesting topics!  

Essence Nail Polish Remover

I picked up this Essence nail polish remover just because of the scent- coconut vanilla.  This is an acetone based remover.  I try to switch between acetone and non-acetone so I don't do any more damage to my nails.  So sad I don't have my Zoya remover anymore.  This one works really great, even on glitters, and it actually is very scented.  It's a small bottle but it's a very low price.  I haven't liked a lot of Essence products, I've found them to be very poor quality, but I would buy this again!  

 

Travel Brushes: Sigma or Inglot?

I reeeeally need a set of travel brushes.  I travel quite a bit, not for extended periods but still need to pack a small bag.  It is impossible for me to pack a brush roll and worry about leaving it or losing it.  For some reason I don't have any travel brushes!  I bought a MAC set years ago but I hated it and ended up getting rid of it.  I can get a travel set from Inglot or Sigma for the price of one MAC brush, so I figure, why not?

This is the Inglot one:

This is the Sigma one: 

Sigma does have other sets, but this is the only one that comes in a bag, rather than a cup.  I am especially interested in the tapered brushes since I don't have those!  I haven't heard a lot of feedback on Inglot brushes, and my own experience with both brands doesn't help much.  They work out to be the same exact price so I am really torn, although I admit at this point I am leaning towards the Sigma set.  If anybody has anything to contribute please let me know!  

Mmmm... Honey!!

I looooove honey products.  Well, I love honey.  I like it in tea, on toast, I even like espresso with just honey.

Only recently I've seen a lot more honey products than in the past.  They're not as easy to find as, say, vanilla or strawberry.  Bath and Body Works has honey scents occasionally, and if I find those I stock up, but it's not very often and they aren't usually strong, and some of them are even gross (honey pretzel for example).  I always check to see if the products have actual honey in them, the ones I like the most have it as one of the top ingredients. 

One of my favourite body washes of all time is of course discontinued.  It's been years actually but I don't care cause it still works and didn't get separated or gross or anything.  I bought five tubes when I heard it was discontinued and I still have 2 1/3.  It is from Mark by Avon, called "Honey Royale Bath and Shower Dip". 

It is so creamy and such a perfect honey scent. 

I just got a new facial wash (not happy with the Clinique 3-step system again and I think I am abandoning that for good now), and it is almost exactly the same scent, very much honey.  Honey is the fourth ingredient.  It is by Nuxe and called Reve de Miel. 

I really love this product.  I also like the fact that Nuxe isn't marked up a thousand percent like other stuff around here.  They have a whole range of products in this honey line, but they didn't have them at the store I found this at (but they had a lot of their various "creme" products in the white containers).  I would love to get the rest of the honey ones though- shower cream, lip balm, face and foot creams, etc.

The texture is really nice, it's like a creamy gel.   

This has sunflower and coconut in it as well, and it is really mild and doesn't dry my face out.  It is an everyday cleanser, slightly lathery but not very much.  I found the Clinque to be completely un-lathery though.  It isn't meant to be for a deep clean but my face feels soft, smooth, and clean after using it.  For anyone who loves a light, creamy wash, and especially a honey one, I'd recommend it. 

There is another way I love honey- as a face mask!  I used to try use raw honey but that isn't easy to find so I just use regular honey.  Raw honey especially though is great for acne or any bacteria at all. 

There are two honey ones I make myself.  The first one is super easy and vegetarian, I've been doing this one since I was in my early teens. 

Just use a handful of oats and grind them up semi-fine, I use a food chopper and it works in seconds. 

Then mix about the same amount of water to make it a little pasty, not too runny, not too thick.  Then add two heaping spoons of honey.  That's it! 

The second one includes egg yolk.  I always use this one if my face feels oilier than usual. 

Get about two spoons of honey and mix with one spoon of olive oil.  Mix until creamy.

Then add one egg yolk.  Stir until smooth.  That's it! 

There are a ton of other ways you can make one- with yoghurt, bananas, etc. but these are so simple and nice.  Try one!!

Sally Hansen Nail Strips

I've had a lot of people ask me about the Sally Hansen nail strips.  I've been using them for a long time-basically since they first came out.  There are tons of nail strips on the market, and these have pros and cons.  Some of the patterns do look too "sticker-ish" in my opinion, but they last on my nails a lot longer than cheapie nail stickers.  I am also a huge fan of waterslide decals, but these are a lot easier to apply.  I can't say they take me five minutes, but they're worth taking the time to do them right. 

This is one of my favourite sets, it's called "Glitz Blitz" and it's a gold glitter nail strip: 

 

This was about three days in with the nail strips.  I've found that I can't apply cuticle cream or oil daily when wearing these because it will wear down the adhesive.  You also don't apply any base or top coat with these, but they do cover any imperfections on the nail like ridges.  It's really hard to tell these are strips if you put them very close to your cuticle and each strip has two sides so you can select which one matches best. 

You can use these on short or long nails (or any combination, lol) and I've found the best ones by far are the glitters.  Some of the other patterns do peel off in a day or two, but the glitter ones have lasted me at least a week.  It's really too bad that they don't have more- I only have blue, pink, gold, and a silver multi.  I have seen they came out with a "Rock of Ages" collection which looks super cool!!

LUSH Volcano Foot Mask

I will be the first to admit, socks are my friends.  When I start going without socks a lot, my feet get rough and despite a regular foot care routine, I think I have genetics to blame that I don't have naturally baby soft feet. 

My heels were getting rough but I had some calloused skin that was starting to crack around my big toes that required some urgent action.  My pumice stone and "Soul Treatment" weren't sufficient. 

I read some reviews about this product and a lot of athletes were raving about it so I had hopes it would work for me. 

It is basically cement for your feet.  It looks and feels like cement, but it's cool!

Here are the ingredients:

Yes, that's right.... tomatoes and potatoes too! 

It's the cinnamon leaf oil you mostly smell in this, it's very strong but tolerable. 

What you do is slather this all over your feet, then wrap them in plastic.  I tried plastic cling wrap but it was a disaster so I just ended up using little trash bags, like a grocery bag size.  You keep them wrapped for 10 minutes, then remove the plastic and scrub any rough spots.  Then you rinse it off.  I rinsed it in the shower and it left some clay residue on my floor so I had to scrub that away. 

Oh while it was on.... it started to burn ever so slightly, but my feet were not red or irritated once I was finished.  They were incredibly smooth right away!!!  The point of the plastic is so the clay doesn't dry out but mine did dry a little in some spots anyway. 

This made my feet feel so refreshed, seriously, I had been on my feet a lot the first day I tried it and afterwards they felt so much better.  They were smooth to the touch too, it was great.  I've used it more since I got it (I think I will do this weekly as long as I need to) with the same great results.  

LOTD With L'Oreal Pebble Grey

I have to admit I really love this L'Oreal Infallible matte grey.  It reminds me of a Dior shade I had in a palette, it's so soft and smooth. 

Here is the swatch of it since I forgot to post that some time ago:

What the heck, there is NO sparkle in this!!  It must be from the sunlight.  Uggh!!

I've also since bought another one of these, it is another matte called "Sweet Strawberry":

For some reason both of these shades turned out a lot better for me than the turquoise one I got. 

So here is a look I did with Pebble Grey.  I just realised I haven't posted any looks for a long time.  I tried to use a purple eyeliner, also L'Oreal, that didn't really turn out.  It sucks when something swatches really great then doesn't work out that way.

Oh gosh, I really need to amp up those lashes don't I!!!  I always think it's neat when my blue eyes 

turn grey with grey eyeshadow....

Searching for Summer Neon...

I normally don't even like neons, but the China Glaze collection looks so cool! 

My fave of those is the green, "I'm With the Lifeguard".  Of course, none of these gems are available here so I set out to find *anything* neon, and this is all I could find: 

Well, it looked neon to me!  It is called "Acid Green".  It's basically like the "Shrek" polish though, and to make it worse, it isn't even for natural nails.  I put on four coats and still wasn't getting any opacity so I am like, what is going on here, this is the crappiest polish ever or what!!!  Then I went on the Nailstation website and saw that their neons are for artificial nails.  I wish the bottle said that!!! Nobody at the store knows anything so that doesn't help matters either.  Now I can only hope I can salvage it by trying a white base under, and I don't have white either!  I am getting tired of Sally Hansen they chip in a day or two ugggghhhh!!!  It didn't even bother me until I dug out something else and it lasted almost an entire week!  

Covergirl Lip Perfection Lipstick Swatches Part 3

These are the final swatches from my CG lippies.  The only ones I don't have any from are their brown collections.  They do offer a lot of brown shades if anyone is interested, these are really great lipsticks. 

These are Enchantress, Temptress, Fairytale, Delight, and Siren:

New at Sephora (another Wishlist!)

I would love to try this at home gel nail kit!  I change my nail colour every few days so there is no way I could go for two weeks with the same colour. 

This eye palette looks interesting and pretty... not like I need another eyeshadow lol. 

And I've wanted one of these palettes for a really long time:

Vegetarian Face and Foot Packs

I think I've seen these on blogs before, but I never saw them in person.  I actually got these at a pharmacy, they had tons of them...

I should have read more clearly because I thought the foot one was lotion.  It isn't- it is a cream that turns into a thick powder, like a foot deodorant.  It doesn't come off though, my feet stayed cool until I showered.  It's super refreshing and it's also very strong, but it's blueberry mint, a really pleasant scent.  The problem was I could have used it three times but there's no way to "save" it. 

I love the face masks and I swear they're like addictive- I don't usually use but these smell soooooo good and they are so creamy!  The white chocolate one turned a little hard while it was on and it made my face kind of itchy right afterwards, but the vanilla fudge one didn't.  The fudge one was super warm and gooey too.  They have so many to choose from it would be hard to find one you don't like, in my opinion.  My face was really smooth and clean after these.  They aren't harsh like an exfoliant, but my pores still felt like something was working. 

I thought it was cool that they used so many natural ingredients. I took a close up of the white chocolate package:

I really loved these, and they are super inexpensive and a nice way to feel clean!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 09, 91

I got these two beauties... 91 is So Poppy and 09 is Disco Ball.  I had been looking for a simple clear glitter polish for a few weeks now.  I love it so much that I've worn it all week and I've even worn it alone! 

An Expensive Enough Foundation?

If I had to pick one product I really don't like, it's foundation.  I swear I've tried them all, and I have a couple of favourites but if my face is in good condition, I'd rather go with powder alone.  I just don't like it all over my face.  I definitely don't need another foundation, I have about at least 6 almost completely full bottles.  I was browsing the other day and the saleslady was really pitching this La Prairie to me.  They are a Swiss company specializing in skin care.  I've never bought anything from them and I don't know if I ever will, but this is what they are promoting now, "Skin Caviar". 

This is one of the products from the collection, "Skin Caviar Concealer Foundation".

... and this is what they have to say about it:

"Lavish your skin with a unique combination of colour and care in one brilliantly conceived skincare product with the superb nourishing, moisturizing, energizing attributes of Caviar Extract.

Two products in one: One part luxury foundation that tints, firms and protects your skin while counteracting signs of aging, one part professional-level concealer, the two work in beautiful synergy to provide long-lasting yet weightless coverage.

You will notice an immediate improvement in the condition and appearance of your skin."

Now for the clencher....

it is

(ONLY)

$200. 

$200!!

Man that is a bit of a stretch, even for me.  I got a small sample of Cle de Peau when I bought a lipstick but I never bought the full size, which is over $100.  I have bought an Armani foundation for around $70, and I think that's the most I've ever spent.  The ones I like are in the $40-$50 range.   

To say that it has a concealer with it, is that really a selling point?  I am perfectly fine with a budget concealer as long as it performs well.  I like Nars and it's like $20.  I also like Inglot and it was like $5.  I've seen these products, with real caviar, gold dust, diamonds, whatever, and I've not been even slightly interested in them. I've learned a long time ago that when it comes to cosmetics, price and quality don't always correlate, which can be good or bad.

There is a more reasonable "Anti-Aging" La Prarie foundation, a bargain at $105. 

Honestly this one looks pretty good, especially if you are looking for something with anti-aging properties- La Prarie is known for their anti-aging cellular therapies.  I think short of a cosmetic procedure, the most effective option would be a foundation like this.  I can totally see myself buying this in 10 years maybe.  When you consider the risks and costs involved of having "work done" this seems like such a good option in my opinion.  I personally would definitely rather resort to buying expensive makeup as long as the results were good, but that's my opinion now, who knows what it will be 10 years from now. 

I wonder if any celebrities use this. 

Has anyone tried this or something similar? 

L'Oreal Infallible 24 Hour Eyeshadow

I just started hearing about these not too long ago, and it was driving me crazy that I never saw them!  L'Oreal is kinda weird over here, cause in the U.S. it is with all the drugstore brands and not very expensive for the most part, but here it's not in shops that sell Maybelline, for example. 

I finally found it though, and I paid almost $17 for it, which is at least double of what it goes for in the U.S.  Ughhh.........

I did not know it at the time, but this one is a matte shade.  They only had one other one though, it was grey/silver, but even though these come sealed, the product was all broken up inside, so I didn't want that one. 

This is called "Blue Curacao".

It is more of a pressed pigment, although I found the texture very pressed, so it's almost just like a regular eyeshadow. 

And the swatches:

These have been compared to Armani Eyes to Kill, but honestly, I would not compare the two except for the fact that they come in similar pots.  To be fair though, this may be my opinion because this is a matte shade, and the Armanis are not mattes.  I thought the L'Oreal was more dense in terms of product, but the Armani has been more pigmented for me when applied. 

I struggled to get the colour seen in the pot on my eyelid- rather than sweeping I kind of had to do a sweep-pat, sweep, pat.  However, the shadow itself is very smooth and buttery with no fallout (Armanis do have fallout in case you were wondering!).  It also never creased on me, and fading was only evident after 10-12 hours.  I slept in it once just to see if the 24 hour claim was true, so if you need 24 hour coverage, it will probably work for that.  I know every time I go on a really long plane trip I like to wear long lasting makeup so I don't get off the plane looking like crap. 

Overall, this is a good eyeshadow, and even though I don't love it, I would like to try one of the shimmery shades.  I just don't know if it's worth the time and effort to get one. 

*UPDATE*  I went back to see if they got another grey one and they did, I bought one but guess what???  It's a matte shade too.  I felt like an absolute idiot, except I've used it a couple times and I really love it.  But now I am a little obsessed with finding a shimmery one!!

Here are a couple of Inglot shades I swatched next to this one.  I would recommend Inglot even if it doesn't last 24 hours cause realistically I don't need that kind of wear- Inglot gave me better colour payout right away, it's easier store as well, since the single shadows are not the most sufficient use of space for me. 

How to Fix This??

Help!!!  When I see my own profile picture it turns out fine, but this is how it shows up on other people's blogs...

What the heck???  It's not nice to see this!!!  What can I do?? 

Cool Nail Polish Set!

Wow I really wish I could get this!!!  Both of these look like shades I would definitely wear.  It looks like a good deal too!