Olay Oil Minimizing Toner with Witch Hazel - Review

I bought this when I was desperate a couple of months ago and it was not a bad purchase at all. I was away from home and I had forgotten my beloved Origins Zero Oil. I figured this was one of the better choices at the drug store. I paid $8.99 Canadian for it. Honestly, if you are on a budget and need a toner, this is a good choice. It smells a little perfumey (is that a word?) but the smell is livable. It removes left over makeup and oil from your face like you wouldn't believe. No matter how many times I wash my face, I sill have some trace amounts of stuff left on my face so I like to have a toner to get rid of everything. This does an excellent job. It leaves your face feeling super soft and comfortable. My only complaint would be that sometimes, the next morning, I appear to have a few small dry spots or flaky skin. I think if I just exfoliated more, the problem would be solved. A little of this product goes a long way. I have been using it when I am out of my Origins Zero Oil Toner. It is a good back-up, but I still like the Origins Zero Oil Toner better. The ingredient list is quite short. A solid buy though.

Rating: 8.5/10

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in Silver Spoon - Review and Swatch

I got this product free from Sephora along with an online order I put in a few months ago. I don't remember if it was a V.I.B. points reward or what. It is full sized I believe at 45g or 0.16 oz. The colour is really nice I think. Very silver, but a true silver, it is not overly blue or purple. It glides on easily and feels good on. Is it creaseless? Um no. I seriously wish all makeup companies would send me their "creaseless" products and I will be your guinea pig. Trust me, 99/100, your "creaseless" product will crease on me. They have no business saying that their product is creaseless when it isn't. Just my opinion. I mean they must be using women with sandpaper for skin on their eyelids to test this product out. Really.

But before you totally write this product off, it wasn't a total disaster. I successfully wore this product on my bare eyelid (I did have some eye cream on under it) for a full 6 hours before slight creasing began to occur. By the 8th hour, the crease looked a bit bare, as if some of the product was sliding off. By the 9th hour, it was crease city! So ok, if you are just going out at night for a few hours maybe you could wear this with no issues. I will have to wear a primer with it, no question. Minus the creasing, the colour stayed true and was very nice. I do own another colour in the line, but I will show that off in another blog one of these days. This particular colour, Silver Spoon, says it is exclusive to Sephora. The product is $24 Canadian or $19 U.S. The packaging is super cute. The ingredient list is very short. I will definitely be wearing this again, especially under eyeshadow as a base. I haven't tried it as eyeliner, but I think it would work well.


Rating: 7/10 (points off for lying about being creaseless)

Cargo PlantLove Lip Gloss Carnation - Review

Since I started talking about this product line the other day...I thought I should do another post on another of their products that I have tried. I had this lip gloss ages ago in the colour Carnation and I have no plans to repurchase it. It is watery. That is the best way I can explain it. It's like watery milk or paste. Slides all over the place, including your lips. I don't recall it being particularly moisturizing, nor did this colour look nice. It's a dirty browny red. I don't know what I was thinking. Sorry, I threw it out before I started my blog so I can't swatch it for you. You are missing nothing though. It was just wet. Didn't have staying power either. This is the thing about natural products, they tend to be a hit or a total miss. This is a total miss. It is both $20 U.S. and $20 Canadian. In Canada, you can buy it at Murad and Sears online. Not sure about the Sears stores themselves. I think you can buy it at Ulta, JCPenny and QVC in the U.S. and Boots in the U.K. The only thing that commends it is the fact that it isn't packed with chemicals. Maybe the other colours are nicer, but I didn't see any that were when I picked out this colour. Maybe the others are thicker? Let me know if you have another colour and it is better quality than this one. 

I have copied this straight from Cargo's website:

PlantLove™ - a complete line of eco-fabulous makeup, is as beautiful as it is progressive. 100% natural and packed with organic ingredients, PlantLove is as green as it gets! Add to that revolutionary and award-winning packaging made entirely out of corn (yes, corn!) as well as the Ecocert endorsement, and you can be assured that PlantLove is environmentally responsible in product, packaging, and process.

All PlantLove products are made without:
Parabens
Synthetic fragrances
Synthetic dyes
Petro-chemicals
Phthalates

Rating: 1/10

MAC's Most Overrated and Underrated Eyeshadows - Contrast and Shroom (Review and Swatches)

 

This is a blog that I have been meaning to do since I started my blog. Today, I am going to talk about MAC's most overrated and underrated eyeshadows. I could probably do a small list of each category, but I am only going to tackle the most overrated MAC eyeshadow and underrated MAC eyeshadow, in my opinion of course. I am the first one to jump on the MAC eyeshadow band wagon, but not all of their eyeshadows are as good as the bulk of them are. So let's jump into it. In my humble opinion, MAC's most overrated eyeshadow is Contrast. This is described as a purplish-blue with blue pearl and it has a velvet finish. People rave about how this is one of their favourite MAC eyeshadows online. I don't get it. Please see swatch on the left below. Does that look like a great colour to you? Not to me. I mean the sound of a purplish-blue with blue pearl eyeshadow sounds right up my alley. I love both purple and blue eyeshadow (if worn properly). The reality of the colour is quite disappointing. It's like a flat navy with a hint of purple. You can barely see the pearl when it has been applied. It is very dry to me and harsh. It is not smooth and does not glide on well. It's a bitch to blend. I have tried to use this colour time and time again and frankly, I hate it. Moving on...

 

Okay, MAC's most underrated eyeshadow is also my favourite MAC eyeshadow. Surprise, surprise. It was the second MAC eyeshadow I ever bought. It's Shroom. I love, love this colour. It is the swatch on the right. Now I realize that it is a nude shade but it is the perfect nude shade for my colouring. It was as if this colour was made just for me. Okay, sorry to get your gag reflex going there. It is described as a soft beige with shimmer and it has a satin finish. It is not shimmer overboard like Smashbox eyeshadows and it is not matte. It is the right mix of matte meets frost, hence satin. It is not overly beige or brown. It has  little grey to it. It looks fantastic as an overall wash of colour and it also works as an eyeshadow lid base colour and as a brow highlight. It is multi-purpose. When I go away on vacation, it is the first makeup item I reach for. When I don't know what eyeshadow to wear, this is the one I reach for. It goes with any and everything. It looks fantastic with Cork or Wedge in the crease. Add a little black or blue gel liner to your lash line and viola! a perfectly polished look. I know people like this colour, but it really doesn't get enough love for the gem that it is. It is best patted on with a MAC 239 brush and then smooth out the edges. I have gone through countless pots. If MAC ever discontinued this colour I would form a protest. Seriously!

Rating: Contrast 2/10 (because it is MAC)
Rating: Shroom 10/10

Cargo PlantLove Eyeshadow Pelican - Review and Swatch

 

Sephora used to sell Cargo. Hell they used to sell the main Cargo line and the Cargo PlantLove line. I love me some natural products when I can find quality stuff. So a few years ago, Sephora decides to stop selling Cargo. I had my eye on this eyeshadow at the time and suddenly, poof!, I was out of luck. I had to drive to the Shops at Don Mills in Toronto and go into the Murad store to buy it. Crazy! While I like this eyeshadow, that is a hell of an out of the way hike for me to get this stuff. I was about to huff and puff about how the availability is nil for this product, but then I checked Cargo's website and much to my shock, Sears is now carrying Cargo and Cargo PlantLove in Canada. I went onto sears.ca and lo and behold they sell most of the PlantLove products. I will be putting in an order soon my friends while someone is still stocking this stuff.

 

Anyway, enough babbling for now. This eyeshadow is $18 U.S. and $20 Canadian. I think you can buy it at Ulta, JCPenny and QVC in the U.S. and Boots in the U.K. This particular colour is not very pigmented but given the colour, I am ok with that. This is a less pigmented, less rosey, less vibrant version of Stila's Kitten eyeshadow. It is smooth and silky. It is lightweight. Feels like nothing on your eyelids which is a good thing. I use this as an overall wash of colour. The consistency is crumbly I warn you but it smooths out nicely. Mine exploded in the compact and now I have the crumbs in a empty spice jar which I dip my brush into. That's why I didn't take a picture of my own compact. The compact is cute but needs a mirror, but that won't happen because that wouldn't be eco-friendly they would say...sigh. A girl can dream. This product creases big time and you need an eyeshadow primer.  

 

I have copied this straight from Cargo's website:

PlantLove™ - a complete line of eco-fabulous makeup, is as beautiful as it is progressive. 100% natural and packed with organic ingredients, PlantLove is as green as it gets! Add to that revolutionary and award-winning packaging made entirely out of corn (yes, corn!) as well as the Ecocert endorsement, and you can be assured that PlantLove is environmentally responsible in product, packaging, and process.

All PlantLove products are made without:
Parabens
Synthetic fragrances
Synthetic dyes
Petro-chemicals
Phthalates


Rating: 7.5/10

Sephora Oshawa Centre Opens!

Hello everyone! Today, the new Sephora at the Oshawa Centre opened. It is now officially the closest Sephora to where I live, so I am plenty stoked. I have waited patiently for this moment and it has finally arrived. So went in to check it out tonight. It is bigger than I expected, but the cash is so small compared to the one at the Eaton Centre. I bought two small things and I was in line for over 20 minutes. Insane. Well they seem to have a lot of brands which is good but they were already sold out of things. The place was mobbed! They were giving away free Sephora totes but they had sold out by 6:00 pm so I didn't get one. They said the totes were supposed to last them until Sunday! What a joke. This is the first Sephora in the east end of suburban Toronto and they thought no one would show??? Poor planning on their part. Anyway, I plan to start spending some quality time in there when I am not cruising the one at the Eaton Centre during my lunch hour. Happy Sephora Shopping!

Thank You Readers! I've hit 20,000 Pageviews!

This is just a quick to note to say thank you all for reading my blog! I hit 20,000 page views today. While I know there are blogs out there with literally millions of page views, I have a small blog with no tutorials so I am happy with my little blog that is chugging along. My next goal will be 50,000, but that might take a few months! Thank you all again for checking out my blog!

Sad Tarte News! Boo!

 As some of you may know, I am/was (sniff sob) a devoted Tarte Lifted Natural Eye Primer with Firmatol lover. I am currently scraping the bottom of the tube for every last drop. I love/loved this so much that I thought to myself, "I better get two of these in case I have a problem getting my hands on it again". Well as my mother would say, "I put the goat's mouth on it". In other words, I uttered a discouraging word and sure enough, it happened. This product has been discontinued!!!!! I am so upset, it is not funny. I checked a couple of Sephora stores. Gone. Sephora.com? Gone. Tarte's website? Gone baby gone. So I emailed Tarte. I have no shame. They confirmed it, it has been discontinued! I could cry. Below is a picture of the replacement according to them. The price is comparable. Is the quality? I don't know.

I will be purchasing one of these by the end of the week and I will keep you posted. If you find the "Lifted" somewhere, do yourself a favour and pick up what you can stat!

butter LONDON 3 Free Nail Lacquer Knackered - Review and Swatch?

Behold butter LONDON's Knackered from their Spring/Summer 2012 collection. This is likely one of the last nail polish colours that I will be showing for a while. I am going to get a French Pedicure done next week and then I will be done until next spring with doing my toes. I may do my finger nails once or twice over the winter, but don't hold your breath kids!

These butter LONDON polishes are sold at The Bay here in Canada and you can also get them at sephora.com, butterlondon.com or .ca and at Ulta in the U.S. They retail at all of these places for $17.50 Canadian and are $14.00 U.S. The size is 11ml or 4 fl. oz.

In the bottle, the colour looks very purple/blue/green and kind of dreamy. Once applied, the colour is very silver and looks purple/blue under certain lights. I do really like the colour, but I was hoping for it to look more purple. I think this would be a better finger nail polish colour than toe. Packaging is super neat as usual and the quality seems decent. My pictures do not do it justice. No chipping so far unlike that NARS Orgasm mess I discussed in one of my previous blogs. Sorry again for the toe shot. The colour is quite sheer, but it is not streaky. I am wearing 3 coats and I think we could have gone for 4 coats. It is super sparkly.

Rating: 7.5/10

Stila Collectible Beach Palette No. 5 Living the Life in Laguna - Review and Swatches

 

For years I have been buying these cute little Stila palettes or makeup samplers as I prefer to call them, as Christmas gifts for friends. They also make great stocking stuffers. My friends love the ones I have bought them. They are usually around $14 and they come with usually 4 eyeshadows, a blush and possibly a lip colour. For $14, this is a deal that can't be beat. Super cute packaging typicallyu and usually they name them after a city or place. Love it! The ingredient list is so short, it's a joke. That is probably a good thing. Not too many chemicals. Despite making these purchases for years, I never indulged and bought myself one. How wrong is that??? I decided it was time to take the plunge. I saw this one online and I had to have it. This was not a rational, or thought out purchase. For those of you with keen eyes, you will have already noticed that the colours in this palette are not the best.

 

 

I had to have this palette because my husband's grandmother lived, until two years ago, in Laguna Hills, California, until she passed away. Which is right next to Laguna Beach. I have been to "Laguna" three times with my husband over the years and when I saw this palette, I thought "how fitting" for my first Stila palette. The palette was shrink wrapped when I bought it, and when I got it home and opened it, the mirror was already badly cracked. Since I didn't crack it, I really hope that means I don't have to worry about 7 years bad luck. I have had enough bad luck the last few years to last a lifetime!

 

Okay, so cutting to the chase...there are 4 eyeshadows, a cheek colour and a bronzer. They are from left to right and from top down, Sand Dollar, Sunset, Cove, Bonfire, Seashell and Pacific Coast Highway. This is one of the strangest colour combinations that I have ever seen in palette. If you like pink and purple berries and super nude cheek colours, this may be the palette for you! I really just don't get it. There are no highlight shades, blending colours or all over wash colours here. They are all pretty dark and frankly when I have tried to wear them all together, I look like I have been in a fight with Ike Turner. Bruise city. Not a good look. The cheek colours, farthest two on the right swatches, are flat and do nothing for me. I doubt that they would do much for anyone.

 

I will say this, they are very smooth, blend well and are very pigmented. The eyeshadows are not chalky, but the cheek colours are a bit. I fail to see which one is the bronzer. Funniest bronzer I have ever seen. Maybe a very pale redhead could wear these cheek colours. They hardly show up on me. I would suggest wearing these eyeshadows as crease colours or eyeliners for the darker ones. Sand Dollar and Cove are the nicest colours. Sunset is kind of gross I think. For $14, this is still a steal even though the colours are disjointed and senseless as a package. Just use the colours with other more neutral colours from your collection. There is a diagram suggestion as to how to wear these colours together, and if you follow it, you may wish to do so on Halloween so that you can use this ensemble to scare your friends and neighbours.

Stila is still selling this palette on their website for $8 clearance. Yes, I said $8! Unspeakable! They claim it is a $62 value, which is simply not true, but it is worth way more than $8! The palette is slim and perfect for travel. It has a magnetic close. The eyeshadows are 1.05g each and the cheek colours are 3.1g each. Very sizable.

Rating: 4/10 (value more than multi-usefulness is the deal here)

Smashbox Blush Rush Flush - Review and Swatch

This is one of my favourite blushes and I have no idea why it has taken me so long to do this review. One of these days I need to do my top 5 or top 10 blushes and this will be one of them. The beauty of this colour is that it works well for summer, spring and winter looks. The colour, Flush, is described as being petal pink and I think that is a good description. Although I am quite pale, especially in winter, I can see this working for someone who was even darker skinned. It is soft and silky and wears well. It gives you a glow or at least it brightens up your face. The cost is $24 U.S. and $29 Canadian. I love this blush! It also comes with a swivel mirror underneath the compact and I think that is a nice touch. Smashbox did a good job with this one. Despite the pale colour, it is quite pigmented so you don't need to use much. It is a bit glittery or sparkly so if you only like matte blushes, you might want to pass on this one. That being said, the glitter is not overkill and you hardly notice it on your cheeks and the sparkle bits do fade as the day wears on.

When I just want a pop of colour on my cheeks and I want to brighten up my face, this is the blush I reach for when in doubt. Personally, I think this is a gorgeous colour for fair skinned gals to wear in winter. I have had this blush for close to two years and I am no where near touching the pan. I don't even think I have used 1/4 of it. The product is 3.7g or .13 oz. MAC blushes are 6g or .21 oz. MAC blushes are the better bargain as you get a lot more product and the price is cheaper. I think that Smashbox has something unique with Flush though as there is nothing else like it that I have seen.

Rating: 10/10

Tip of the Day - How to Use Up and Maximize your Makeup Collection

I read this little tip a while back and thought it was genius. I had been doing the same thing here and there for years, but I realized that I needed to take it all the way. Go hard or go home. If you have a large collection of makeup like myself, or if you have not much, but tend to use the same products over and over again, neglecting fringe items, here it what you should do.

It's very simple. Put products you haven't been using, or ones you want to use up and throw out, on your vanity with a few staples that you use all of the time like a base eyeshadow colour, mascara etc. Alternatively, if you don't have a vanity table or bathroom counter space to yourself, put your staples in with a few items you don't usually use, into a makeup bag. Only use these items for a one week period or two weeks if you prefer. This way, you use products that are neglected or long since forgotten about. By using them, you will remember why you bought it, why you don't use it and maybe you will find a long forgotten about gem that you will now rotate into you regular makeup bag.

One advantage is that you might end throwing something out which has gone bad, is crap or you have no use for which is taking up space in your home. Hence, spring cleaning your makeup collection. It's always a great treat to realize you own something wonderful which you forgot you owned or never knew you would have the perfect use for. It's like getting new makeup! It might also save you money from running out and buying something similar. Part of the reason I started this blog was to force myself to itemize and use up my vast collection. Separate the gems from the rubbish. It really is nonsense how much crap I have. Keeping this blog helps remind me what brands I do and don't like and why. It also serves as a reminder on how much I love MAC eyeshadow and how there are so few other brands that match up or even come close.

So give my suggestion a try! You will be amazed how much you clean out your collection and also realize how much great stuff you have just waiting to be used!

purminerals Correcting Primer Complextion Pur-Fection Review

 

Above is my bottle of purminerals Correcting Primer Complexion Pur-Fection which I bought two years ago. I have used it dozens of times, and yet I still have not used even 1/5 of the bottle. I actually thought this product was discontinued but all of a sudden I have seen the new bottle pictured below, pop-up. The bottle below is called purminerals ENHANCED Color Correcting Primer - Redness Reducer - Green. Both bottles are 30 ml. I think it is the same damn thing, just repackaged. However, there are two differences. The first is that the new bottle has double the number of ingredients as my bottle. I think that is possibly not a good thing, but maybe I am wrong. The second thing is that the new product claims to not only cover up redness, but also to brighten and firm the skin's appearance. The new bottle is $31. I am not sure what I paid, but I remember that it was not chump change.

In my opinion, this does reduce the look of redness and to me, it makes my skin look less bumpy (if I am having a breakout) and yes it makes my skin look a bit more firm. You basically apply this product over your moisturizer. It reminds me of calamine lotion. It is creamy and then it dries like clay. I think it looks nasty until you apply foundation. It makes you look like the swamp thing until you cover it up. You can apply it to your whole face, but personally I only apply it to problem areas. It's too much of a hassle for me to add this to my makeup routine. I only use this when my skin is looking really red and blotchy and I know I will have to use a lot of concealer instead. I was told you can use a foundation brush to apply it, but I think that is just a pain in the ass. It is too goopy to really target a small area. Fingers work better. As I said before, it does work, but I don't think it is a miracle worker and it is a hassle to use. I will not be repurchasing. I honestly think that if you bought a green based corrector from another brand, it would do the same job. Your skin feels stiff in the areas that you apply it.

As a word of warning, I have found, with some of my moisturizers, is that they react to this product badly and you end up with clay chunks falling off your face or crumbling within seconds of application over your moisturizer. Some moisturizers will just not work with this period. The product will not stay on and it creates a mess. You basically have to wash your face and start your face routine over again. So don't use this for the first time with an untested moisturizer when you are in a rush getting ready in the morning. You will be sorry. You have been warned! lol

Rating: 4/10

NARS Orgasm Nail Polish - Review and Swatch

I wanted this nail polish for such as long time. I debated the purchase for ages because this nail polish is not cheap and this colour is not my usual thing.I broke down and bought this  a little over a year ago. Believe it or not, I only opened the bottle and used it for the first time a few days ago. This nail polish is $18 U.S. and $21 Canadian. Crazy for nail polish I know! The last nail polish I used was a China Glaze number in Diva Bride (please see my recent blog post on it) and I found that nail polish to be hard as a rock, chip-resistant, yet very streaky. This one was the opposite! It was not streaky at all, but I had 5 chips in less than 24 hours on my toes! Unheard of. I have never, ever had that problem when I have done my toes. I ended up redoing a few nails and putting a super heavy duty top coat on top to seal them. If I may be frank, to me, this looks like an old lady colour when applied. Orange creamsicle shimmer madness. I am not really keen and I do regret the purchase.

I think the colour would look better on someone very dark skinned or maybe as a finger nail colour. The formula is also very goopy and a couple of my toes looked gummy and gross after I did them. I needed to redo those toes. I don't think I will be wearing this colour for long - both by choice and due to non long wearing issues. This nail polish does not remind me in any way, shape or form of NARS' Orgasm blush. The blush has a lot of pink in it, the nail polish has none. The packaging is nice and reminds me a bit of the Chanel nail polish bottles.

I just looked on Sephora's website and I was surprised to see that on NARS' brand page they are advertising their nail polish as new and improved for this season with a better formula and chip-resistant properties. I guess they had complaints....gee I wonder why????? I definitely have an old formula bottle so if any of you really like this colour, maybe the new bottles are way better? Has anyone tried one? I would love to hear about it!

Initial Impression Rating: 2.5/10

**Update: Last night (September 2, 2012), 3 days after I did my nails, I looked down and noticed that all of the nail polish was gone from my 4th toe on the right. It was as if it peeled off the whole base coat, top coat and all. Like a piece of tape, it was all gone.  Never, ever has this ever happened to me in all of my years or wearing nail polish. There are zero hardeners in this product. I am horrified and disgusted. NARS, you should be ashamed of yourself! Charging $21 for nail polish that is worse than $2 drug store stuff! If I hadn't of bought this so long ago, I would email NARS and tell them off. I think I still might!**

Revised Rating: 0/10