L'Oreal HIP Bright Shadow Duo Flare 404 - Review and Swatch

Today, I am featuring the L'Oreal HIP Bright Shadow Duo in Flare 404 . Hopefully you can see in the second picture that this eyeshadow has a lower compartment which contains the standard, useless applicator. There is 2.4g or 0.08oz. of product here, so 1.2g per colour. I have another duo in a different colour from this line and there is a mirror in the lower compartment along with the applicator. Not sure if they forgot the mirror in this one or if there are cutbacks at L'Oreal. I don't know what these cost in the U.S. but I would guess they are quite cheap. I got this one at my local Wal-Mart, full price, for $8.46 Cdn. Shocking as this may be, Shoppers Drug Mart sells this for $12.99 Cdn. If you decide to buy this, please, I beg of you, get it at Wal-Mart or like store and save the money. This isn't worth $12.99 in my book. There are some very questionable ingredients in this product as I have learned. There is no ingredient list anywhere on the packaging and this came sealed. I had to google to find out. Isn't it funny how they hide what is in it when there is something to hide?

Anyway, let's get to the meat of the matter. The pigmentation is decent. These colours are kind of different and neat. They are soft but not as soft as my regular higher end eyeshadows. There is something more dry about them. They don't feel super comfortable on. They don't feel uncomfortable either per se, but you can tell this is not high quality stuff. What do I expect for $8.46? I saw an online makeup tutorial with this duo and I was intrigued. I really don't think I will be using this duo much in the future. If you want to experiment with crazy colours which you know you likely won't wear too often, this may be the product line for you. That way the hit to your wallet is minimal. Don't get me wrong, this stuff is ok, it's just not a keeper for me. It does wear well all day. If you are on a budget, this may be a good choice over a lot of other drug store eyeshadows.

Rating: 5.5/10

Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Ready Eyeshadow 4.0 The Dream Sequence - Review and Swatches

As some of you who read my blog might recall, I went to town about a month and a half ago and trashed the Bare Escentuals (BE) bareMinerals 9-piece Get Started Set. I may have gotten a tad carried away with myself, but I stand by every word I said. I then tried one of their new pressed eyeshadow palettes which were getting good reviews. The first one I bought was The Truth which is a cool brown neutral palette. I loved it. I have a blog review on it if you are interested and have not already read it. I was so impressed with that palette that I bought another one which is featured in this blog, The Dream Sequence. I apologize for camera being in the second photo.

The swatched colours are left to right, 500 Thread Count, Romp, Boudoir and Nightcap. My favourite here, hands down, is Romp. What a gorgeous colour! 500 Thread Count didn't look very exciting but it is actually a nice brow highlight. Boudior looked insane to me at first and I thought I would never wear it. It actually goes on a lot softer (check out the swatch) than it looks and it works great as a crease colour or just to warm up the lower brow area a little. Nightcap is a really nice matte plum wine.

Bare Escentuals (BE) products are supposed to be more "natural" than most cosmetics so you do get spared a lot of chemicals in their eyeshadows. As I mentioned in my other BE eyeshadow palette blog, the black case is nice and thin and sleek which is good for travel or popping into your purse. Each eyeshadow is 1.25g and to put that in perspective, each MAC eyeshadow is 1.5g and each eyeshadow from the Urban Decay Naked Palette is 1.3g. So basically the amount of eyeshadow you get is decent. The mirror in this thing is huge. You also get two eyeshadow placement insert instructions in the palette which I think is always a nice bonus in case you are starting out with makeup or need inspiration. The usual useless applicator came with the palette.

Normally, I would go gaga for a purple palette over a brown one, but even though I really like this palette, I think The Truth is nicer and better value for your money. It takes a lot for me to get excited about a brown neutral palette, but I love The Truth. Ok, price. This palette is $30 U.S. and is $38 in Canada. I managed to score The Dream Sequence at Sephora with a 15% off coupon to help cushion the blow. I am now on a mission to own the other two 4.0 palettes. Yes, I am that impressed with this product. I will wait for a discount coupon first though I think or buy them in the U.S. These eyeshadows blend really well and are nicely pigmented. They are super smooth, creamy and stay where you put them. They feel really soft, light and nice on the eye. I use primer (never leave home without it) and MAC's Painterly Paint Pot when I wear this palette and the colours look great and last all day. Good job BE!

Rating: 7.5/10 

MAC Paint Pot Bare Study and Rubenesque - Review and Swatches

I think this blog on a couple more of my beloved MAC Paint Pots is long overdue. Today, we have Bare Study and Rubenesque. These are both permanent Paint Pots I believe. They are 5g or 0.17 US oz. On the left, both pics, is a swatch of Bare Study and on the right, the swatch is Rubenesque. Bare Study is a frosted creamy light pinky peach and Rubenesque is a coppery orange colour. Bare Study is for those times when you want more bling than say Painterly or Soft Ochre. It is very sheer and it blends out and washes out easily so using it can be tricky. I also find that Bare Study is the driest of my Paint Pots and has been since the day I bought it. I have Paint Pots which are very old and they are not as dry as my Bare Study. I am not sure if it just my jar, or if it is the nature of this colour.

Rubenesque is for a sparkly warm eye look. I don't think that this colour gets enough love. I am not really into the J. Lo look as I have mentioned before, but when I wear looks like that, this colour is an excellent go to as an eyeshadow base. Paint Pots are very smooth and creamy and wear all day with a primer under them. They make boring eyeshadow look awesome. These are $21 Cdn. each and in the U.S. they are $17.50. Paint Pots look seamless and are effortless to use with a tiny bit of blending. These are really a cut above all other similar products on the market. Now if only they didn't crease, they would be close to pure perfection.

Rating Bare Study: 7.5/10
Rating Rubenesque: 9/10

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour 577 Mimosa - Update and Review

Hello! I already did a preview blog for this product last week and this is just the follow-up that I promised. Please check out the other blog for more info.



My nails lasted two whole days before bits started chipping off. Considering that I cannot usually go more than 1 day without chips, two days was impressive for me. I used a Butter London base coat, 3 coats of the Chanel polish and one coat of the OPI topcat. Some people loved the colour who saw it, others hated it. In a way, I ended up liking it more than I thought I would but in other ways less. I always thought yellow nail polish was a bit yucky until I saw this one online. For yellow polish, I actually found myself admiring my nails while I had it on. The iridescent glitter that you see in other people's photos online looks gorgeous, but I could barely see it even up close on me. I think you need to be outside in the sunshine and have an excellent camera for this to look that fantastic. So in that sense, I was disappointed. This is expensive nail polish, I expected, or rather I should say hoped, for more something something.

Rating: 7/10 (for being unusual and kind of different)

Dr. Hauschka Translucent Make-up 01 - Review, Dab and Swatch

I've had this product for quite awhile. It's basically an all natural make-up which is foundation-like. I say foundation-like because to me, it isn't quite foundation. I have 01 which is for fair skin. They also have 00, 02, 03 and 04 for colours. The colour looks dark as heck in the tube. I find 01 a bit dark for me, but this product is very thin and somewhat buildable so it doesn't look super dark on. In the swatch above, I have a dab of the colour on the left side of my wrist and it blended in on the right side. Hopefully, you can see that. I find that this product is more like a cross between a sheer foundation and a tinted moisturizer. For me, it doesn't provide enough coverage day in, day out. I will wear this if my skin is looking particularly good or if it is a Sunday and I am only popping to the grocery store. It is long lasting. The product is very thin and spreads like crazy on your face. It also smells super spicy and the smell lasts all day long. So if you don't like to smell spicy, this product isn't for you.

When I first apply this product, I feel like my skin can't breathe. Instantly beads of sweat start to form on my upper lip. Gross, I know. This problem goes away within 45 minutes. Personally, I don't like that. My normal foundation never does that to me. This product feels very cool on the skin when you first apply it and then the sweating starts as it dries. You need very little of this product to cover your face. I always squirt way too much on my finger or brush. It does give you a nice, dewy, sun kissed complexion. This product is just not for me. I have a friend who loves this product. She likes the coverage and it doesn't make her sweat. So I guess it could be for you and is just not for me. The cost is $36.95 U.S. and I think about $44 Canadian.

Rating: 5/10

Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss Baby Pout and Divine - Review and Swatches

Good Evening! This is Part II of my Smashbox lip gloss review. You can read my last blog post if you are interested in my rant on lip gloss in general. I will spare you a repeat performance in this blog. I took two pictures above so that you could see each swatch in a different light. The swatch on the left is Baby Pout (which I suppose is the baby sister of the cult Smashbox favourite "Pout" lip gloss) and on the right is Divine. Baby Pout is a baby pink with silver/green/blue iridescent glitter. It has a really nice shine but basically little to no colour. Add it to a light pink lip pencil and it looks fantastic! Divine is well....J. Lo. That is how best I can describe it. It is a golden, caramel lip gloss. Very South Beach, very sun goddessish. Divine has a lot of pigment and does not wash off easily. That's a good thing I suppose. It does look great with the right outfit and makeup.

As with other Smashbox lip glosses, they are a bit sticky, not too sticky, and they last a fair bit of time without reapplication. They are nice and shiny, comfortable and have almost zero smell. These lip glosses are better than 90% of lip gloss products on the market. The ingredients could be worse but some of the colours are worse than others. You can buy them at Sephora or most Shoppers Drug Marts. They are $18 U.S. and $22 Cdn. each. I like these colours less than the ones mentioned in my previous blog. Someone out there who loves Divine and/or Baby Pout will think I am daft.

Rating: 7.5/10

Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss Radiant and Ecstasy Review and Swatches

I am not the biggest fan of lip gloss in general. I think it is a necessary evil, something that every girl/woman should have in her makeup arsenal, but I honestly hate most lip gloss. I am probably the pickiest woman alive when it come to lip gloss, or what I like to call "lip goo". A lot of them stink of plastic or vinyl and the smell is enough to make me puke. Some even taste like plastic if you are unfortunate enough to get some in your mouth. Some burn my lips and puff them up like I am having an allergic reaction to them. Others are so sticky and annoying that you can't think straight. Then there is the ingredients...most of them are so scary it would make your hair curl. Still other just get goopier as the day wears on and cakes up all over the insides of your lips. Ever smelt a lip gloss after you have had it too long or haven't opened it up in a while? Gross.........

Now, I do wear lip gloss. Not everyday....and I am super picky about what I am willing to wear. I think lip gloss is almost a necessity if you are going out for a night on the town and you need to add something something to your lipstick.

A friend of mine bought me a set of Smashbox lip glosses as a gift a while ago and I was pleasantly surprised. They are a bit sticky, not too sticky, and they last a fair bit of time without reapplication. They don't have too many sheer glosses, which are my preference, and that is a bummer. I don't love the frosted, glittery ones. They are nice and shiny, comfortable and have almost zero smell. In the picture above I have Radiant on the left and the right swatch is Ecstasy. I am not sure if they make Ecstasy anymore. I really like the Radiant which is described as a metallic golden rose. I like this one the best of all 6 that own. It looks fabulous on its own with a deep rose lip liner. Party perfect. Ecstasy is like a blackberry wine. I would say this is my second favourite, although the pigment washes out quickly I find after wearing it no time at all. The ingredients could be worse but some of the colours are worse than others. You can buy them at Sephora or most Shoppers Drug Marts. They are $18 U.S. and $22 Cdn. each.

Rating: 8/10