Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Black - Jet Black - Review and Swatch

This is my hands down new favourite liquid liner. Where has it been all of my life? I cannot recommend this liquid liner enough. It is super easy to use because it has a very fine tip and the product comes out at a decent rate, not fast and in big blobs. If you are new to liquid liner, you have to get this one. If you are an old pro, this is still possibly your best bet. This stuff glides on easily, you can make your line and wing as small or as big as you want. There is no tugging, no smudging, no nonsense. It's hard to screw up lining your eyes when you us this. I have worn this eyeliner in 110 degrees and it does not fade. It still looks awesome and fresh by the end of the day. It is also not super wet, but is just the right moistness (is that a word?) so you can't make a mess.

This liner does not run or feather. It is not the blackest liquid liner on the market, I will say that. But it is black enough to look good and get the job done. Also, you can put another layer of it over the first layer if you want it really black. While L'Oreal's Carbon Intense Liner is much blacker, I find the tip is not as precise as the Stila one and the L'Oreal liner comes out fast and can be a bit tricky to deal with. Also, it doesn't dry out in 10 seconds like the MAC counterpart. They are $26 Canadian at Sephora and $20 U.S. Well worth every penny I think. This is perfect for travel, especially if you want to avoid lugging a gel pot liner and brush etc. The tube is super slim and can be tucked into the smallest purse. There is a spring-like click to keep the cap on too. Here's the swatch.

 

 

Packaging: 10/10

Pigmentation: 7.5/10
Easy to Work With: 10/10
Longevity: 10/10
Colour Stays True: 10/10
Texture: 9/10
Price: 9/10
Ingredients: 5/10 (there are parabens in it which I am not happy about) 
Travel Worthy: 10/10
Attractiveness of Product: 9.5/10
Would I buy this again? Yes
Overall Rating: 9/10

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer Radiance - Review and Swatch

For years I have poo poo'd foundation primers. To me it seemed like yet another product to layer onto your face. It seemed like a colossal waste of time and money or so I thought. I recently busted out a sample I had kicking around of Estee Lauder's foundation primer when I was in Las Vegas. The weather was hot and the days were long so I thought my foundation could use a boost and some more staying power. I was happy with the results. I will save my review of the Estee Lauder product for a separate review coming soon.

On to the topic at hand. I was so impressed with the Estee Lauder foundation primer that I decided to give one of many Laura Mercier primer samples a try that I had lying around. Sephora gives these out like it is going out of style. My skin was not looking so good lately and I didn't feel like wearing a heavy coverage foundation so I applied this the other morning. Wow! This foundation primer takes primer to a new level I think. This product is tinted and when you apply it, it seems to reduce the look of redness and blemishes on your face right away. It blends in completely - most people should be able to wear this colour I would think/hope. Your pores disappear after you apply this. Your skin looks illuminated and fresh all day. It makes my foundation look great throughout the day and doesn't let it fade. My foundation glides on like a dream after I use this. Shine on your face is kept at a decent minimum too all day long. My mother even complimented me on my skin the other day and asked me what I did as it looked beautiful. My mother hasn't said that about my skin in years!

I have totally changed my attitude towards foundation primers! This Laura Mercier one excellent in my book.

This product comes in 3 sizes and ranges in price from $24 to $55 Canadian or $19.50 to $44 U.S. The samples that I have should last me a long time I think. You only need a little bit of the product and it goes a long way. Here's the swatch:

Packaging: 8/10 

Pigmentation: 9/10 

Easy to Work With: 10/10

Longevity: 10/10

Texture: 10/10 

Price: 6/10

Ingredients: 7/10

Travel Worthy: 10/10 

Attractiveness of Product: 10/10

Would I buy this again? Hell Yes 

Overall Rating: 9/10

Maybelline Color Whisper Lipstick in 30 Pin Up Peach - Review and Swatch

As many of you know, I am not the biggest fan of drugstore makeup. However, once in a while I find the odd good buy and/or gem. Today, I have one for you. I apologize but the writing on the tube faded almost as soon as it went into my purse makeup bag. That's drug store packaging for you! So this is the Maybelline Color Whisper Lipstick in Pin Up Peach. I heard some good things about this online so I decided what the heck and picked it up. I don't believe that I actually have a lipstick colour like this one so it was a no brainer.

It has a gel base I believe and therefore it glides over your lips. It's not sticky at all, just silky smooth. I don't find that this formula bleeds or stains much. It's super comfortable to wear and is possibly slightly moisturizing. It is a sheer colour but I actually like those. You still get enough colour to look like you are wearing lipstick though. This particular colour looks very attractive on and I have a feeling just about anyone could pull it off. Here is the swatch which doesn't do the colour justice.

I will seriously be picking up a few more shades of this product and will likely repurchase Pin Up Peach before they disappear. The lipstick smells a bit like candy, which I can overlook, but I wish they would have toned down the smell a bit. If you eat or drink anything, I do find that this lipstick will come off faster than regular lipsticks because of the gel formula. However, if you don't eat or drink anything, I find that this lipstick is just as long wearing as any other regular lipstick on the market with the added bonus that the colour stays looking good on and looks freshly applied.

I think I paid maybe around $8 for this at Wal-Mart. You should check these out!

Packaging: 3/10 (writing faded in 2 seconds, looks cheap and lid is not so secure) 

Pigmentation: 8/10 (for a sheer lipstick - impressive) 

How Does it Feel On: 10/10

Longevity: 8/10

Texture: 10/10

Price: 10/10

Ingredients: ????? not sure what is in here 

Travel Worthy: 7/10 (lid not so secure is an issue)

Attractiveness of Product: 10/10

Smell and Taste: 6/10

Would I buy this again? YES     

Overall Rating: 8/10

MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil in 0L Matte Black - Review and Swatch

I got this as a rewards sample from Sephora. I confess that I am a bit of a MAKE UP FOR EVER virgin. I have a couple of samples of their products, but I haven't really bothered to try any of them until now. A full sized Aqua Eyes eyeliner is $23.00 Canadian and is $19.00 U.S. MAKE UP FOR EVER gets a lot of good reviews out there in the makeup blogger word but I had never heard much said about this eyeliner.

This product has both good and bad points, like any product I guess. The good points are that the pencil is smooth and creamy and does not tug on your eye. It is very easy to work with and could probably be smoked out very easily. This would be a good eyeliner for someone new to makeup to try.

So the bad....this product is supposed to be waterproof (says so right on the pencil) as well as is supposed to be smudge and fade resistant. I will admit that I have greasy eyelids so not many products prove to be smudge resistant and/or waterproof on me. That being said, and I know I am not alone in this problem, I really hate it when a product claims to be something that it is not. This product does transfer and smudges on me. It is not a pretty sight. I also find that the colour fades a good deal on me within a matter of a few hours. The colour is also not the blackest of blacks to begin with. I find the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners to be a far superior product to this one.

Packaging: 9/10

Pigmentation: 6/10
Easy to Work With: 10/10
Longevity: 4/10
Colour Stays True: 5/10 (fades)
Texture: 10/10 (smooth and silky)
Price: 6/10
Ingredients: ????? not listed on eyeliner nor Sephora nor MUFE's website
Travel Worthy: 10/10
Attractiveness of Product: 5/10 (looks good initially but smudges and fades)
Would I buy this again? No
Overall Rating: 6/10

Neutrogena MoistureSmooth Color Stick in Rich Raisin 80 - Review and Swatch

Sorry for disappearing there for a week or so, but I was in Vegas! Yes, I love that place and I had to go back. I was planning to have some scheduled posts but I ran out of time before I left.

On to the topic at hand. You can't buy any Neutrogena makeup products in Canada to my knowledge. Needless to say, I bought this on a recent trip to the States. I think I paid about $8 for it. The colour I have is Rich Raisin 80. Sorry, the tube looks a bit orange in the picture above, but the tube is actually a dark red purple colour. The packaging is very similar to the Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm. The Neutrogena product is a different animal though. At first I really liked this product, but after I wore it a couple of times I noticed a few things that I didn't like.

Okay, so I will go over my good points about this product before we get to the bad ones. First of all, the price is good and you can get this at Target in the States. It goes on super creamy and is very moisturizing. It feels great on and it seems to last for a good deal of time if you don't eat or drink anything.

Here is the swatch:

On to the bad....the colour changes over time. This is a raisin colour, but I find that it starts looking orange on me after a couple of hours or more of wear. I really don't like that. Also, the colour does bleed and doesn't stay put sometimes. Finally, and this was gross, I wore it one day when I was running around and got a bit sweaty and the product started running and I got a taste of it literally. It tasted like soap and it was nasty!!! It also started smelling like soap and it was a real turn off for me. If you smell the product out of the tube, it smells like some cheap kid soap product. Yuck!

Packaging: 7/10 

Pigmentation: 3/10 (very good but then it changes colour)

How Does it Feel On: 9/10 (moisturizing) 

Longevity: 2/10 (the fact that it bleeds is a big issue)

Texture: 8/10

Price: 9/10

Ingredients: 6/10

Travel Worthy: 6/10

Attractiveness of Product: 1/10 (bleeds and changes colour) 

Smell and Taste: 0/10

Would I buy this again? No Way     

Overall Rating: 5/10 (this is being very generous)

e.l.f. Contouring Blush & Bronzer in St. Lucia - Review and Swatches

I think this is not only the first e.l.f. product that I have reviewed, it is also the first e.l.f. makeup product that I ever bought. This is a recent acquisition. I bought it in the States a couple of months ago. It's very difficult to get e.l.f. products here in Canada. I've only seen them in the likes of Winners or Marshalls and that is hit and miss at best. I am hoping that the Canadian Target will start selling more than just e.l.f. brushes one of these days.

This a blush and bronzer duo in St. Lucia. There are two other colours that e.l.f. makes in this duo if you are interested. This is one of the few e.l.f. products that doesn't have parabens in it. Shocking, I know. That's why I decided to buy it.

I think this duo is kind of pretty. The blush reminds me of a cheap version of Orgasm by NARS. I mean that with no disrespect as this duo is $3.00. Yes, $3.00! You buy a $3.00 blush and bronzer set, you get a $3.00 blush and bronzer set. Okay, now I am getting carried away. This duo is actually worth more than $3.00 but shhhh don't tell e.l.f. that. The blush is very flattering on and is a peachy pink shimmer. The texture isn't the greatest. It feels a bit rough and slightly chalky.

The bronzer looks a bit muddy on. I can't stress enough that you really need to us a light hand applying this. It goes very dark, very fast and it is bit tricky to blend out. This bronzer is super pigmented. The blush, despite the poor swatch I took, is also decently pigmented. I think this duo would look better on someone with a tan or someone with a medium skin tone. It is wearable though for lighter skin tones. Both the blush and the bronzer are long wearing and will last all day long.

Here are the swatches in two different lights.

A word of warning. When I wore the blush for a week straight, I noticed tiny bumps started developing on my cheeks. Now it might have been a hormonal time of the month thing, but I thought should mention this. Once I stopped using it, the bumps disappeared within a couple of days. I have since worn this blush a day here and a day there and have had no further issues. If you do have sensitive skin or plan on wearing this religiously, you might want to bear this in mind.

For $3.00, this is a steal especially if you are on a budget. It's nice to get a reasonably close NARS Orgasm dupe too for the money. I bought this for curiousity's sake. No, this does not compare to higher end blush and bronze duos. It's $3.00 so don't expect miracles, but for $3.00, it is a mighty fine purchase.

Packaging: 7/10 (hello can we say NARS rip off only cheaper packaging)   

Pigmentation: 8/10
Easy to Work With: 8/10 Blush     4/10 Bronzer
Longevity: 9/10
Texture: 2/10
Price: 10/10
Ingredients: 6/10
Travel Worthy: 10/10 (for overnight travel and daily purse travel)
Attractiveness of Product: 9/10 Blush     4/10 Bronzer
Would I buy this again? No 
Overall Rating: 7/10 

Clinique Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector - Review, Swatch and a Beef

Hello! Sorry for the picture of what is left of my squeezed up tube above. This is Clinique's Even Better Dark Circle Corrector. I had heard that this product was good so I thought I would give it a try. It was not cheap. It was $49 Canadian. I bought it around last Christmas but I didn't bust it out until about 10 weeks ago. The information says that after 12 weeks, users noticed the skin area under their eyes was firmer and dark circles were 30% diminished/improved. I think 12 weeks is a long time to wait to see results, but I realize that these things take time.

I noticed within about two weeks time that the skin under my eyes was noticeably firmer. It was starting to feel very thin and that was freaking me out. I guess I am getting older. After using this for the past 10 or so weeks I can say that the skin under my eyes is distinctly firmer and I am very glad for that improvement alone. It took about 8 weeks for me to notice my under eye area looking a tiny bit lighter. Here at 10 weeks, it is a little lighter than 2 weeks ago. My under eye area has not improved as much as I would like, but considering Clinique is only promising 30% lighter, than I guess maybe I will get near that and that is all I can expect. A few weeks ago I was thinking that I wouldn't bother to repurchase this but since I finally started noticing the dark area lighting a touch, along with the firmer eye area benefit, maybe it is worth repurchasing.

Here is a dollop of the stuff and what it looks like blended out. It is skin tone coloured (a bit on the yellow side) and blends right in. I don't feel that it offers any coverage by the way. It just absorbs into your skin.

Okay, now for my beef. For the past 3 weeks I have been straining the tube trying to get a little out for use. I have succeeded each and every day, but I realize the end of the tube is very near. My beef is that I need to use this product for 12 weeks to see results. So then how come one tube doesn't last for at least the initial trial period???? At $49 a pop, I expect to get enough product which will at least see me through to the end of the supposed results period. Do you agree with me? This is a bit crazy I think.

The applicator tip inside the tube is cold steel and it supposedly helps reduce bags under the eyes. I don't have bags so I can't vouch for how well that works. I can say that it is very cold and stays that way throughout the life of the tube.

 

 

Packaging: 8/10 

Pigmentation: 5/10 (not sure if there is supposed to be serious pigmentation in the product) 

Easy to Work With: 6/10 (hard to get product out sometimes and you still need your finger)

Moisturizing: 6/10

Texture: 7/10

Gets Rid of Bags: don't know

Price: 3/10

Ingredients: 7/10

Quantity of Product: 1/10 

Travel Worthy: 10/10

Gets Rid of Dark Circles: 6/10 

Strengthens Under Eye Area: 9/10

Would I buy this again? I think so maybe   

Overall Rating: 6/10