Kat Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette Beethoven - Review

Now for something completely cool! I love this palette. This is actually the second one that I have owned. I lost the first one through a series of unfortunate events which ended up with my palette being stolen from me. I loved this palette so much, I ran out and replaced it immediately.

I doubt that if I ever met Kat Von D that she and I would have much in common, but dammit this woman knows how to put together nice eyeshadow palettes. The colours are left to right - lucifier, speed blue, razor grey, tequila, sinner, rad purple, leather and galeano. I must confess that the pictures above do not do this palette justice. I do prefer the pigmentation and creamy feel of the 4 colours to the right more than the colours to the left. The ones to the right are also easier to work with. That being said, the ones to the left are still lots fun and are very nice. The black colour, lucifer, is not the most pigmented black in the world (and I was light handed with my swatch above) but it gets the job done. Razor grey is really cool. It's like a blue/green grey. Unusual. I always get compliments when I wear the pink and purple shades out. Tequila also deserves special mention as it looks like a light gold in the pan but is actually very white gold and light yet rich on the skin. A wonderful highlighter.

I love the names that she uses for her eye shadow. This is how eye shadows should be named. Edgy and fun. I would happily own every palette that Kat Von D puts out. I just really like this mix of colours as I think it is a bit unique. Her brown coloured palettes - Ludwig, Saint and Poetica are very nice and I would think they would be perfect for someone who needs more neutral palettes for their stash, but to me they pale in comparison to this palette.

The packaging for this palette is really cool and the mirror inside is huge! It seems very durable and good for travel. It is very sleek and compact. The palette also comes with two dual-sided brushes which I have never used. The brushes are small and I don't think they could do much. The price of this palette is $44 Cdn. and get this, $34 in the U.S. The dollar is practically at Par.....sigh.....why do they do this to me? Considering the price of other palettes on the market of this calibre, I think the price is fair. Personally, I will wait to buy another one in the U.S. or when Sephora has a V.I.B sale in order to save a few bucks. Each of the 8 shadows are 1.4g. MAC single eye shadows are 1.5g, Urban Decay Naked Palette's eye shadows are 12 x 1.3g and Sigma palettes are 1.5g per shadow. The list of ingredients is nice and short with nothing too scary.

Rating: 8/10

Tarte Amazonian Clay Long-Wear Blush Dollface and Exposed - Review

Tarte's blushes have become all the rage over the past year. They are "natural" blushes infused with Amazonian clay which is supposed to have some amazing properties or some such thing. They are supposed to last for 12 hours. I currently am the proud owner of two: Dollface and Exposed. I have my eye on "Blissful" and perhaps the new "Amused" possibly.

Do these blushes last 12 hours? They last me that time and more. Of course, MAC blushes also easily last me for 12+ hours so Tarte is not a leg up here. In my first two pictures above, Exposed is on the left and Dollface is on the right. For the swatch, Dollface is left and Exposed is right. Sorry to be confusing. These blushes are very nice. Personally, I love Dollface the most. It is easily my second favourite blush of all time. I will review my Top 5 or 10 blushes sometime soon.

These blushes are very pigmented, very smooth and last all day long. You don't need much on your blush brush so I think I will have these blushes a very long time which suits me just fine. Dollface is a light blue pink and Exposed is a nudey pink but I find it a bit orange/peach on me. I think Exposed would look good on someone with a pale honey complexion - a redhead or a blonde. It looks very classy on me but it could be more cool toned for my taste. Both are solid products. The packing is very neat but the amount of product you get is misleading. Each one is 5.6g but it looks like there is a lot more in a compact than MAC blushes. MAC blushes are 6g.

Now let's talk price. Tarte blushes, sold at Sephora, are a whopping $32 a piece. MAC blushes are $22.50 I believe. The price is the only negative thing I can say about these blushes. They cost $25 U.S. in the states so you might be better off waiting for a shopping trip to the U.S. before you pick one of these up and/or wait for Sephora's 20% off sale. Would I buy one of these again? Yes, in a heartbeat. $32 is steep but since I have never finished a blush in my whole life, I think the bang you get for your buck is well worth it.

Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for the price)

Nicole by OPI Spring Romance - Review

I bought this a little over a year ago. I was sucked in like the fool that I sometimes am. I was feeling giddy like a preteen for some reason and thought this was the prettiest looking nail polish. It was also marked down to $6 I think so that was the clincher. I asked one of my normally sane friends if they thought this was childish. She said no. She was dating a new guy and I think she was in preteen mode too. Foolish, stupid me. The odds were stacked against common logic at that point so I made the purchase.

Do not be sucked in by the playful, shiny, light catching pink hearts and glitter. This is no gem. I actually applied this to my nails one day and went to work. Although there are an abundance of pink hearts in this bottle, actually getting them onto the brush and onto a nail is like pulling teeth. If you can get one or two on per nail, you are doing well. This is kid's nail polish. Not suitable for a grown woman like me. I felt like an utter fool wearing this. 

To top it off (no pun intended), this nail polish chips like crazy. Even though it is clear based, the missing chunks look weird and the first thing to come off is the hearts. Aren't the hearts the whole point???? I must have lost half of the hearts within the first 24-36 hours of wearing this. It also looks like you have a disease or blood spots on your nails from distance when you are wearing this. Not a good look.

I don't know if all of Nicole nail polishes are the same quality as this. The bottle is a neat shape and it sure looks pretty in the bottle on your vanity though. Based on the quality of this nail polish, I am going to assume that Nicole is not a great brand. It is the poor woman's O.P.I. I wish cosmetics companies would realize that one bad apple spoils the bunch in some cases and people will not repurchase their products if they have a negative experience with one. I have no plans to purchase another Nicole polish again. I have better brands in my cupboard.

Rating: 3/10

Dr. Hauschka Cleansing Cream - Review

I confess I have purchased maybe 3 or 4 tubes of this even though it is not one of my favourite products. The current tube is pretty squeezed up and I have decided I am not planning to buy another.

I bought my first tube when I was introduced to Dr. Hauschka products. I had decided I was sick and tired of still have breakouts at my age and there had to be something on the market that would end the vicious cycle and I didn't give a damn what the cost was. This is the cleanser that is recommended if you have oily or combination skin. I really don't think they should be calling this a cleanser first of all. It is a mild exfoliator. When I use this and I still have makeup on, it hardly removes any makeup. If I pass a cotton ball with toner over my face afterwards, a lot of makeup comes off still. That is the main complaint that I have about this product. You need to wash your face with something else before or after you use this. Dr. Hauschka does not have any cleanser in their product line that truly is a cleanser. So any way you slice it, you are buying a cleanser from another brand for your skincare routine.

Even if you take all of you makeup off first with makeup remover and then use this, your face still feels not right, not clean. This product smells mildy nutty. The main ingredient is almond meal so if you are allergic to nuts you may wish to pass on this product. I find I prefer to use this in the morning than at night for the makeup removal reason.

If I decided to rank this as an exfoliator only, based on that merit, this product still falls short of the mark. It is soothing, gentle and calming to your skin. So I can see if your skin was inflamed or in the midst of a breakout, this certainly might help. I know my skin inproved quickly when I started used strictly Dr. Hauschka skincare products. So it does help if you had my problem. However, there are much better exfoliators on the market - both synthetic and natural based.

Finally, the price is ridiculous and I have no idea why I have spent so much money on this. It's around $27 a tube and you get only 50 ml. If you use this religiously, you will blast threw a tube very quickly. Dr. Hauschka's website even says it should only last 3 weeks with regular use. So $27 every 3 weeks is a lot of clams for a cleanser that doesn't cleanse and is really an ok exfoliator. I use this maybe once or twice a month now and my skin is so improved over the last couple of years that I know this product isn't the reason I have maintained my skin. Therefore, my cruurent tube will likely be my last.

Rating: 4/10

Lise Watier Waterproof Eye Liner Noir Intense - Review

This eye liner retails for around $18-$22 at drug stores. When I spend that kind of mad cheddar on an eye liner, I expect it to be pretty decent. This one is very disappointing. It says it is waterproof...no idea where Lise Watier got that idea from. It sure doesn't even come close to that on me. Noir Intense is the colour I have and there is nothing intense about it.

The liner glides on smoothly in the sense that there is no tugging. However, very little colour gets put down.You have to repeatedly draw the line. I just don't find this liner very pigmented. Staying power is weak at best. Within a few hours of wearing this, it has clumped, flaked and melted into my eyelids. I use this liner if I am going to work and wearing my glasses. I would not use this eye liner with any self-respecting makeup look or on a night on the town. When I do wear this to work it is with the idea that the liner will smudge itself so that I get  a bit of a smokey look happening by mid day. Sounds crazy but it is true and this is guaranteed to happen. So a little clean up with a tissue to get rid of any flakes and viola! smokey eyes with little effort on my part. Still, there is no way I would buy this ever again. This is a $5 eye liner in $22 packaging.

Rating: 3/10

January Find of the Month - Burt's Bees Shea Butter & Vitamin E Body Lotion

I have always loved most of Burt's Bees stuff. They make a lot of solid products and I promise to review the best and the worst of Burt's Bees very shortly.

Whenever I have some Burt's Bees lotion at my desk at work, everyone wants to smell it and try it. Not that I mind. I just find it funny how no one is intoxicated with the Vaseline Intensive Care bottles of this world...lol. Burts Bees is just clearly superior in every way. It smells better, feels better on, has no harsh chemicals and somehow you feel better about yourself when you use it. Ok, maybe that's just me.

I have purchased almost every lotion and cream that Burt Bee's has made over the last few years and by and large I like them all. This one though is my favourite to date. This one is fragrance free (so it says) but I detect a hint of something something. A tiny hint and I doubt anyone will be offended by the ever so slight smell. This lotion is nice and rich and thick but isn't greasy or watery at all. Glides on smooth. It is supposed to last 24 hours (assuming you don't shower in that period) and I believe that it can and would last under those circumstances. This lotion is very soothing, comfortable makes my skin feel younger. You will want to touch your skin over and over again (not like that!). You can wear it all day all over your body (within reason of course). Where has this lotion been all of my life???? It retails for about $15 Cdn. If you wait to get it on sale I think you could score it for $10. All major drug stores and department stores (including Bed, Bath and Beyond oh my) carry this line now.

Rating: 10/10

MAC Miss Piggy Pink Eye Shadow - Review and Swatch

 I recently purchased this eye shadow online. MAC, for some reason, refused to sell this new release at their counters. It was online only. After testing this out a few times, I can see why they made that decision. They wouldn't sell many of these if a tester was available.

I had to have this because as a child I loved The Muppets and who doesn't like Miss Piggy. The colour is very unique for an eye shadow and it matches my memory of Missy Piggy's 70's eye shadow perfectly. This is a medium blue pink. The colour is too dark, in my opinion, to wear on your lid, at least if you are fair skinned. I have tried this over a couple of nude coloured eye shadow bases and it is still too much. Maybe if paired with a white cream shadow base it could be more wearable. Haven't tried that yet. Or maybe in the crease or to blend out a harsher colour might work. This is a hard one to deal with. The container says it is frost. It is not even close to a frost. It is barely a satin.

I did check online before I bought this and the reviews said that the colour payoff and pigmentation were bad. I had to have it anyway, "damn the critics", I said! How foolish of me. The swatch below was only possible (and I realize it is a sucky swatch) after I feverishly swirled my clean finger into the pot 3 times. Yes, I said 3 times. It takes some patience to apply this colour too. Much patting is necessary. Blend the edges lightly or you will lose the colour.

For MAC, this has got to be one of their worst bombs ever in terms of eyeshadow. Other than the neat colour and the Muppet association, they've got nothing with this one.

Rating: 3/10