Girls' Best Friends - Pink and Sparkles!

Okay, so this post should have gone up yesterday...but it's been a hectic week.  My year end is last day of March and I have so much to do.  I know it seems like far away but in business days...eep, it's really not!

Anyhow, this is a quick post of a little haul from later summer. :)  We like to head to a small town about 30 minutes outside of Winnipeg called Selkirk.  They have a Walmart there and we sometimes pop in to browse around.  Always money burning holes in pockets. :P  Anyways, this is what I picked up. Well, my DH picked out the lipstick.  Prepare to be shocked!

I grabbed the essie luxeffects in a cut above. It's one of those polishes that I've picked up many a times and put back.  So, finally that day I grabbed it.  I wanted the whole luxeffects collection anyways. :P  You know...hoarder tendencies! haah!  I love that the polish has 3 or 4 sizes of glitter. There is at least 3 sizes of hex and the tiniest ones are obviously just little round specks.  It is really pretty! :)  I wonder what colour a cut above will look good on top of?!

This next item was totally frivolous and overpriced.  It is the Anabelle Glitterama in Purple Zone. I say it's overpriced because I think it was $5 or $6.  I have no idea why I had to have it.  Probably because it was purple and sparkly.  I've only used it once in fall I believe.  Today it is completely dried out and it seems the liquid has vanished by reverse osmosis!!! No lie...it's weird.  I don't recommend you waste your money on this!

It does have a lot of nice sparkles, mainly in pink and purple.

It was really hard to swatch as you can't get a straight line.  I had to dab and dab to get some sparkles off..so that's all you get.  It does look pretty...but not for an old lady like me.  I'll stick to my glitter shadows and fine glitter liners. :P

The last item, is a Maybelline COLORsensational lipstick in 140 Fuchsia Fever. Maybelline COLORsensational lipsticks are my favourite. They are so moisturizing and the colour payoff is amazing.  They don't feel tacky and they don't bleed.  This brand was kind of my first foray back into lipsticks with the encouragement of my DH.  Anyways...the labels don't always accurately depict what the colour is inside...

...or do they!??! LOL.  BAM yep...that's pink.  That's fuchsia.  This is what I call Barbie Pink! lol.  I wouldn't have probably picked out this colour for myself...but you know what??? I'm pleasantly surprised that I really like it. ;)

Here is a first peek.  It's definitely Barbie Pink. :) WARNING!  Photos ahead are taken with a cell phone!lol

Some better shots. You know...so you can look up my big nose. ;) Anyhow, I really *love* this colour.... but I think I'll just reserve it for summer! :)  Especially, since I become even paler in winter than I am here lol.  You can however see, that the colour does apply like a dream!

What do you think?  It's not a colour I would wear everyday...but with the right outfit I think it could be totally fun!  I have this great shirt that is striped and it's kind of sewn haphazard and I think it went great.  No one even gave me weird looks. ;)

So, what are your thoughts on some of these products?  Would you wear a colour this bold on your lips?  I say why not..have fun! :)

XO
~A

Late Summer SDM Haul

So, sometime in August (I believe), Benefit posted that the Cabana Glama kit was on for a special price at Shopper's Drug Mart.  They said that it was regular $42 on sale for a limited time for $21.  So, at the time, with my newly discovered love for Benefit I ran that day to take advantage of the deal.  I did. Then I got a bit upset.  I logged into Sephora and it was on there for $21.  Well, Benefit explained that they must be having a special promotion, and brushed it off.  To this day, the kit is $21 on Sephora.  I am seriously not impressed with that.  Anyways, I got the kit already and it was a good price so I shrugged it off.

Also, because I loved my sample of Benefit Bad Gal Lash I purchased a full sized one.  I've tried LOTS of mascaras..probably about 2 dozen in the past year and none have impressed me nearly as much as this one! So, it's hard to even try and get to my samples because I love this one so much!  I believe it retails for $29.

So, this is the reason I went to SDM in the first place.  The Cabana Glama kit.  The kit comes in a sleeve. I always love the packaging from Benefit.  This is marketed as "Your desTANation makeup kit"

The box itself has a really good weight to it.  It flips up like a book and has a sturdy magnetic closure.  The lid has a mirror in it.

The brochure inside has one side with pictures that look like postcards from the 70's.

The other side of the postcards has some tips on how to use the products in the kit.

This is what the product looks like when you remove the brochure. There is a plastic sheet over top the makeup and it labels what everything is.  The makeup tray is removable so you can use the box to store something else in.  I think that is a great idea!! the tray actually pops out super easy.  The tray itself is really sturdy and heavy itself. You can see that the removable makeup items also have a ribbon so that they can be popped out easier.

On the left side starting at the top is  "some kind-a gorgeous in medium"  It a foundation faker for medium complexions.  I'm sorry I didn't open it to take a picture.  It is a cream in a tan type colour.

On the left side in the middle is what I thought was a blush!  It's actually eye shadows! From left to right: Peach Fizz (highlighter), Bronze Buzz (all over lid) and Cocoa Pizzazz (crease and lash line)

Bottom left is a sponge tip applicator.  Pretty much useless...you should use brushes girls! ;)

Top right is Hoola Bronzer.  I'll be the first to admit bronzer terrifies me.  I have images of looking like an oompa loompa!   In the directions, it says to sweep Hoola from chin to hairline for a goddess-like tan. Really? Just down the centre of your face?

The middle right is the included brush for the bronzer. It's a miniature of their standard blush brushes.  I prefer round brushes, but I don't actually find these that terrible to be honest.

The bottom right is Posietint. It is a poppy pink tinted lip and cheek stain.  Apparently, the posietint is kiss proof! Yah! ;)

All in all, I think this is a really neat little kit!  I of course haven't used it..but I probably will come summer!

Here is a closeup of the shadows.

Here is a closeup of the Hoola.  Sorry the image is blurry, but it gives you a good idea of the colour.

Since Essence is still relatively new in Canada, I decided to browse the stand.  Well, geeze... twist my rubber arm! I picked up a few items.  This is the Essence haul...

My Body Shop double pencil sharpener has seen better days, so I grabbed this one. I like that it has a little "crumb catcher" for the sharpenings.  I'll be replacing it today, so I hope it does the trick!

I picked up an eye shadow in 58 Cappuccino, Please!  it has a shimmer effect.  I grabbed this, because it's a good base for a lot of eye shadows and it's also a great highlighter. It couldn't have cost more than a couple bucks.

A better view of the colour.  It's closer to this shade than the one above.  I love the shimmer! It does feel very smooth and not chalky.

Because, I *really* need another mascara.. *blink* I just can't resist trying them.  This was around $3. It's a volume boost mascara called "Get Big! lashes."  As with all mascaras, I don't open them until I am about to use them, so I can't even tell you what the brush looks like.  It is quite a big tube.  It's 12mL (.40g) so it's 25% bigger than my bad gal lash by Benefit which is 9mL (.30g).

I'm also weak for lipgloss! So, I picked up this XXXL Shine in 05 Super Girl.  This has a bit of a chunkier glitter in it, but the base colour is fairly sheer.

It sort of has a doe foot applicator, but it's just a rounded end.  The formula is really nice and you can get decent coverage with one sweep around your lips.

The other XXXL Shine I picked up was 19 Nude Candy.  It's a nice cotton candy pink with super fine silver glitter in it.

This is what it looks like.   A very pretty colour, as well.  This one does apply a little more opaque so you have to be careful not to be too heavy handed.

I grabbed a lipstick, just for the sake of trying one of their lipsticks. Like most of these things, it was around a couple bucks. This is in the colour 49 Like A Lady.

It is a really nice rosey pink colour and is very creamy.  The lipstick itself seems to have a little less product than other lipsticks, but at the price it's definitely not something to complain out! I'm actually quite impressed with the formulation here!

Because, I still haven't picked up enough gloss...I got a couple of the mini sets.  I'm kind of thinking I may have missed out on two prior kits. :/  This kit is 03 Big Apple Style.

It opens up like a little book and has a magnetic closure.  Pretty much an easy grab for the cuteness factor.

The lipglosses themselves don't have a name on it..but the first one is clear, the second is a bubble gum pink and the last is a sparkly pinky-peach. I'm going to be basically making up colour explanations as I go. :P

The other set they had I picked up as well.  This one is in 04 London Calling.

Just because, it's too cute not to show you the inside!

And the colours.. the first is frosty white with glitter, the second is a browny colour with peach sparkle and the last is kind of an orangey/peachy/pink. o_0  They're cute right?  Easy to pop into a clutch when you're gone for a night out!

Just because you can't leave SDM without samples I got the Benefit Moisture Prep Toning Lotion.  If it's really good, I'll definitely pick it up...because it's my beloved Benefit! I've never used a product like this, have you? I mean I use a toner daily, but never anything like a toning lotion.  It does sound like a thick liquid in there. :P It's used to prep face for moisturizer.  It smoothes, revitalizes and tones, allowing the skin to fully optimize the benefits of any moisturizer.

Finally, a sample of Narciso Rodriguez for her.  This is definitely not my kind of smell.  It's not soft and feminine enough for me. It has a woodsy/musky scent. From the Sephora site, I grabbed this, "Musc is at the heart of For Her. The fragrant harmony of the musc expresses itself through three pulsations; honey flower, radiant amber, and tactile wood. This fragrant harmony develops gently and slowly, rounding out into the warm tones of sunkissed skin, dusted in a soft, velvety sensuality."

So, there's that!! I'm really happy to get another old batch of products blogged about!! Hope you're having a great weekend.  I had a VERY successful Tocara jewelry party.  I can't wait to share with you all about it, once my pieces come in!

XO
~A

Nailed It! Friday - Featuring A Most Special Guest!

Happy Friday, ladies!! Am I ever glad it's here!! I am so tired from a stressful week!! Work just couldn't end soon enough each day.  Today, I have a special guest featured on my blog..so read on!

Today, I chose to use my Revlon Expressionist Nail Art that I received from my Revlon Selects.  I wanted to be able to do a proper review of the product, considering it was sent to me for that purpose! This particular line of Revlon polishes is two sided.  One side (the purple) is a regular nail polish brush and the other side (the gold) has a fine nail art brush so you can do things like draw lines, paint dots or create designs.  This particular colour is 360 Vincent Van Gold.  Clever, no!

The purple polish is 3 coats.  I was a bit heavy handed with it and I did get a bit of bubbling on my middle finger.  HINT: Don't try to rush your nails ten minutes before you want to be in bed!  I found that this formula definitely needs a minimum of two coats.  It doesn't go on as beautifully as the Moon Candy line polish.  The colour does look more blue, it was hard to photograph.  It is indeed a royal purple colour. It's absolutely beautiful.  Then again, I'm a bit of a sucker for purple polishes!  As you can see it has a bit of a sheen.  The sheen is blue in tone which is probably why the polish wants to photograph more of a bluey purple.

I used the gold colour to create some polka dots on my nail.  It also has a bit of a sheen...an extremely fine glitter.  I used the end of the brush to drip some nail polish on a scrap paper and just dipped my dotting tool into it to create the polka dots.  The gold was perfect.  Both colours dried really fast.  Would I purchase these sets...likely!  I do prefer the moon candy ones, even though the glitter on those was frustrating to work with.

NOW...on to my featured guest.  This is my gorgeous daughter Kara! She is 9 years old and in 4th grade. Kara wanted to participate in nail Friday.  So she chose this purple Color Club nail polish she received for Christmas.  She painted her nails herself! She was quite proud of it.  She has quite the polish collection for a beginner polisher! ;)

This is the purple Color Club.  It doesn't have a name on it.  We picked up in a 6 or 7 pack at Winners.  It's kind of a shame and a bit frustrating! This is her right hand and she is right handed...not bad!!!

And, another look!  :)  Leave some comments for Kara as well and I will make sure to let her have a look, I know she will be tickled!

Hope you all have a great weekend! I'm hosting a Tocara jewelry party tomorrow and really looking forward to that! 

XO

~A

Ipsy - January Edition

Hello! I'm finally getting my January Ipsy bag up!  I've kind of been motivated to post some old stuff and not do this bag.  So sad..because as of this point I'm actually caught up with my monthly bags! WOW.  Tomorrow is the 25th and also a Friday...and I'm still waiting on Beauty Box 5, Glossybox, Glymm and Starlooks.  EEK?  So, I've only received Topbox and Ipsy.  Julep I skipped this month and my final Luxe box will come in March.  Also, in March I will be definitely cancelling Glymm.  I'm getting there!! Can I get down to 3 subs? We'll see! But, I don't have space anymore!  I can't use up my stuff!

Enough rambling.  This months bag was a little bit bigger.  It's nicer than the Glymm bags because it has a wider base, so it stands up on it's own.  It's navy blue and it has a nice blue fabric inside with stars. :)  Now, I have way too many makeup bags...so this is getting a little stressful too.  However, they are good to put little gifts in.

BigSexyHair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray. Full size is 300g valued at $17.50. Sample size is 43g valued at $2.51.

Hairspray really isn't my thing.  I don't use it often.  Mostly, I just use it for curls.  Now that I use a curling wand to do that I actually don't need any hold.  My hair that will not curling with a curling iron, will hold a curl and a loose curl the following day with a wand! It's insane.  Anyways, I am looking forward to trying this hairspray because the Sebastian one that came in Glossybox was a sticky, drying mess and it's even WORSE than what I remembered shampoo to be!

WEBSITE: BigSexyHair

Pacifica Body Butter - Tuscan Blood Orange. Full size mini tube valued at $7.00.

I've never heard of this brand before. But, now that I have and I've checked out the website all I can say is *blink.*  Shipping seems like it may be outlandish..we'll see down the road. It's based on weight.  There is a better UPS rate...but as Canadians we're terrified of importing anything via, UPS..right!?

Anyways, this body butter smells amazing! Absolutely divine, almost like candy.  Like an orange lollipop! The back says, "Sparkling, juicy blood orange with notes of red raspberry and spicy sweet Italian mandarins. The scent of the Mediterranean beach."  MMM YES!   This product is 100% vegan and is not tested on animals. No parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, peanut oil or artifiical colour.  It absorbs into skin immediately. I'm so impressed...I'm totally suckered in.  You can save 40% on a 4 piece gift set of Tuscan Blood Orange because it's the fragrance of the month.  It's a great deal and body butter is an 8oz tube!

WEBSITE: Pacifica

Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil. Full size 15mL valued at $14. Sample size is 5mL valued at $4.67.

So, I did receive the exact same thing in a previous bag somewhere. It may have been with The Shopping Channel or my Testtube.  I know it's a great product and I am still terrified to work with Argan oil.  My hair is so fine and what looks like shine almost immediately can look like grease.  I have heaps of oil at home right now! lol.  

In any case, you may be wondering what you can do with this.  You can use it on your face, in your hair for split ends, as a body moisturizer, nail treatment/cuticles and as bath oil.

WEBSITE: Josie Maran Cosmetics

It's kind of handy that the bottle comes with a dropper.  When you buy the big bottles of argan oil, they have this tiny hole that nothing wants to come out of!

Nailtini Nail Lacquer. Full sized 15mL bottle retails for $13.00.

I am super excited to add another nailtini polish to my collection.  A couple months ago I received Millionaire.  I did swatch it and is a nice neutral colour...the kind you can find in every single collection.  The difference with this is that the formula is flawless and amazing.  I want more. *sigh*

WEBSITE: nailtini

Frappe is described as a sheer pale pink. Actually, when I get to doing a review of this some Nailed It! Friday I will show you the side of the box, it's hilarious! I love a company with a sense of humour!

Soho - Concealer Brush. Brush retails for $7.99.

I love getting brushes in the mail. I love trying different brands and getting a feel for what's good.  There were 3 different types of brushes out there this month.  The concealer, the flat liner and the crease brushes.  I was hoping I wouldn't get the concealer because I'm really happy with my Quo concealer brush.  But, thinking about it now...it's a highly used brush, let's give this one a try. ;) It came nicely packaged, so there wouldn't be any damage to the brush..that's excellent!

WEBSITE: Soho Professional Makeup

Inside was also a little how to guide on the inside of the packaging. Kind of a cute idea.

This is the brush out of the packaging.  It looks slightly oddball, but it's designed to be ergonomic.  I'm actually not convinced on this yet, since I tend to roll my concealer brushes within my fingers to get to each crease.  We shall see, we shall see.

The bristles are made of Taklon Fiber and the handle is plastic.  The fibers are super super soft and smooth but the brush does feel a bit stiff.  Now, I know concealer brushes are in general more stiff...this one seems very different from what I am used to.

Here is another closeup.  I love taking photos of brushes!

Here is the whole lot.  I pay $15 US to have it shipped to me. The value of the bag this month was $35.17 US.  I love the variety of products that we get in the Ipsy bag and it's nice that it's not repetitive of the same products we get from different Canadian companies.  It does get boring!

One more day of work and then glorious weekend! :)

Have a good day!

XO

~A