makeup Archives - Page 13 of 25

First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser

January 7, 2016

One of the gifts I received for my birthday this year (Well, technically last year since I have a late December birthday haha) was the First Aid Beauty face cleanser. I’ve heard so many great things about the FAB brand from the Youtube community, so I was really excited to try this out.
I received the travel sized cleanser, which was perfect because it takes me such a long time to finish using products. I don’t know how beauty gurus can produce monthly empty videos/posts because I always struggle with finishing products within a month.

If you’ve read my posts this past month or so, you’ll know that this winter made my skin really, really, really dry. As a result, my skin had a dry, leathery texture- which has never happened before! I had to moisturize a lot more than I usually do to compensate.

Since my skin has been so dry lately, I decided to try this cleanser rather than my normal one that I use to remove foundation. This foundation had a nice, creamy, and somewhat thick texture to it. It didn’t really have a smell, and I could definitely tell that it was more on the gentle side. It reminded me of my Olay witch hazel facial cleanser.

I was really surprised at how it dissolved and washed away all my foundation in one wash. In addition, my skin felt really fresh, soft, and moisturized. It did not try out my skin at all.

Overall, I think that the First Aid Beauty cleanser really lives up to the hype. It does a great job in refreshing your skin, as well as removing heavy duty makeup. It is also very gentle and suitable for sensitive skin!

It also came with bonus facial wipes! Since I’m still using another brand of makeup wipes, I have yet to give these a try. I don’t like opening multiple makeup wipes at a time because I find that they dry out easily, even when they are properly sealed. Maybe I’ll do a quick review on those once I open the package.

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Holiday Makeup ft. THEFACESHOP

December 4, 2015

In collaboration with the Canadian Beauty Bloggers Network and THEFACESHOP, I’ve created a simple holiday makeup look using their products. I can’t believe that it is already almost Christmas. I am so excited!

This was the first time that I’ve tried THEFACESHOP makeup products, I usually stick with their skincare products. With the five products that I used to create this look, I found the products to be really worth the price and will be taking a closer look at their makeup products next time I stop by a store. They are a great alternative to your everyday drugstore products.

Products:

Gelset smudgeproof auto liner in 04 – purple
Single shadow pot in glitter (GL01)
Freshian volumizing mascara in 01- curling
Single blush in br01
Face it lipstick in creamy matte (pk101)

After applying my foundation and lightly filling in my brows, I gently dusted the gold eyeshadow on my eyelids. Adding a bit more sparkle because I just love sparkle, I dabbed some onto the bottom inner corner of my eyes to make them pop as well.

Afterwards, I used the eyeliner to create a very simple winged liner. Although the shade is purple, it showed up more as a black shade on my skin and there was a hint of shimmer in certain lights. I decided to also line the bottom of my eye to create more dramatic and striking look, which is something I never do.

To finish off my eyes, I used two coats of mascara, which was more than enough! The mascara was very voluminous and I liked how it accentuated my lower lashes very nicely too.

I really liked the blush, which added some highlight to my non-existent cheekbones. It gave my skin a nice healthy burst of colour as well. Although this is a blush, it can definitely double as a highlighter as well.

I finished the look with some lipstick. I normally shy away from bright pink colours, but was pleasantly surprised at how it matched my skin. I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone!
There you have it! A very simple holiday makeup look with some glitter. I love holiday makup because it gives me an excuse to wear more glitter on my eyes. I actually wore some of the glitter eyeshadow to the office yesterday too. I was really tired and wanted to give my eyes a dash of shimmer.

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

NOTD: Yellow & Floral Nails

November 22, 2015

After having my first gel nail manicure a month ago, I decided to paint my nails again once I had let my nails breathe a bit. While watching How To Get Away With Murder (is anyone else obsessed with that show? I watched the entire first season in 3 days), I decided to finally give my nails a splash of colour.

Amy, an independent Jamberry consultant, had sent me a nail sheet to try out last month, but since I had gel nails on, I didn’t get the chance until now. I received the some of the designs from the Fall 2015 catalog (keep reading to see how big the entire collection is!).

Anyways, I decided to go with the floral print (middle one) because I was feeling girly. Since the weather in Vancouver has been pretty gloomy and cold (although for the past two days it’s been miraculously sunny albeit freezing cold), I decided I wanted a bright colour that would perk me up and remind me of the sun that I so dearly need.
Other than the Jamberry nail sticker, I’m using the Anna Sui nail colour in N800- lemon yellow to brighten my nails up!

For best results, it is recommended that you warm up the nail sticker with a blow dryer/some sort of heat before peeling it onto your finger. Since I was watching How to Get Away With Murder and it was too intense to leave my living room to blow dry the stickers, I gave it a chance and just stuck it on without the heat. It’s been two days and the sticker is still on great, and hasn’t scratched one bit!

Upon looking at their catalog, Jamberry offers a very impressive array of nail stickers that would fit even the pickiest person. I love nail stickers because I can get cute designs on my nails with minimal effort! I found that the Jamberry nailstrip was very big for my nail, so I ended up cutting quite a bit off to fit my nail.

Seriously, their nail sticker collection is HUGE. This isn’t even all of it, just part of the Fall 2015 collection! Which one is your favourite? You can see their entire collection here.

A fun thing to add is that I noticed that one of my favourite tops to wear to work match my nails -what a lovely coincidence! My nails chip extremelyyyy fast (it’s a miracle if a polish lasts 24 hours without minor chipping for me), which is partly my fault because I use my hands a lot. This is two days after applying the nail sticker, and I applied another coat of polish to cover up the chip at the top of my nail.

Thanks for reading and stay warm everyone!

Carmen

Press samples provided. Opinions are own.

Estée Lauder Brightening Serum + Concealer

November 6, 2015

I stumbled on the Estee Lauder brightening serum + concealer by accident, when I swapped it in for my regular (and misplaced) concealer. Little did I know that I actually the brightening serum side instead of the concealer stick side, oops!

During that evening, I noticed my skin looked significantly brighter, my skin more translucent, and generally better than usual! Since this was the only product that I had changed, I decided to wear it a few more times to test it out.

The Estee Lauder brightening serum and concealer comes in a double ended duo stick. The brightening serum is on the left, while the concealer is on the right. Since I received this as a sample after an event, I was unable to choose the shade (which is why I didn’t test out the concealer as it was a bit darker than the serum). I would definitely have to buy a lighter shade for myself!

The product itself is very durable and sturdy. However, due to the reflective gold tube, it is very easy to get fingerprints on it, especially if you already have foundation on your fingers. This is why you might see some fingerprints in my pictures, sorry about that!

Although the serum looks a bit too dark for my skin on the left, there actually isn’t that much of a shade difference once you blend it in, as seen on the right.

Based on this swatch, you can definitely see how it brightened up my wrist – imagine how well it would brighten up your face!

I put the highlighting serum under my eyes, on the side of my nose/inner cheek, and Cupid’s bow. You could definitely see the highlight on my inner cheek near my nose and Cupid’s bow, but unfortunately my under eye circles are so bad these days that even this serum couldn’t completely erase it.

I love the brightening effect it has, and would make for an excellent highlighter for contouring as well.

This is currently being sold for $38 CAD, so I would recommend using this on special occasions only since the tub is somewhat small. I only wear foundation on special events or when I dress up, so this is perfect to incorporate into my regular foundation routine.

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Yay!

Press sample featured. Opinions are own.

Current Lip Colours – Fall 2015

October 31, 2015

Seeing that my last few posts were product reviews, I thought I would switch things up and share with you which lip colours I’m currently using or that I keep in my purse. I’m not sure why, but for the past while, my makeup bag (in my purse) has been full of only lip colours, Vaseline, bandages, and a rollerball perfume. What type of makeup bag is that? I need to re-organize my makeup bag and replace the lip products with other things!

I keep telling myself that I should only keep a minimum of 2 lipsticks while I’m on the go, but somehow it ends up being more. But if I wear a smaller bag, I only carry one with me. So maybe I should start carrying only small bags?? Nah, I can’t wear small bags on a regular basis =P
Starting from top, going clockwise

Courreges Estee Lauder cheek + lip ball in ultra pink: I reviewed this on my previous post, and it is definitely one of my favourite lip colours. It’s super easy to dab on your lip when you’re in a rush, but want to add some colour to your face. Also, don’t let the name fool you – it’s not actually that bright of a pink.

Covergirl lip perfection in 360 euphoria: Honestly, I’m not sure why this is in my makeup bag and I should probably take it out. Nothing too special about this lipstick, I think I found it in my room one day and wanted to give it some use. Although it doesn’t look super bright, I find this shade a bit too bright for me on a daily basis.

Weird, because I know that the lip ball looks brighter but the lip ball is actually more sheer.

NARS satin lip pencil in rikugien: I love this lip pencil because it looks really natural, and glides on really well!

Chanel in 80 etole: This is probably my favourite out of the bunch, sentimentally speaking. It was a birthday present from the boyfriend and he sneakily took one of my other lipsticks to the Chanel counter when I was at work. Then, he asked them which shade would match the most and gave me this one!

Not only is the shade very versatile and great for almost any occasion or just everyday wear, it has a nice floral scent to it and is pretty long lasting too.

Well, there you have the lip colours that I currently keep in my makeup bag! I should do a de-cluttering of my makeup bag and select only two lip colours, four seems a bit too much to me and it adds a tiny bit of weight to my purse for no reason. I’m curious to look back on this post a year later and see what I end up with then.

Thank for reading!

-Carmen