Maybelline The Nudes Palette: Worth The Hype?

Remember that time I did a post saying I wasn't really into the whole eyeshadow thang? Well, times have certainly changed and in the next week or so you're gonna get a few posts coming at you about some recent eyeshadow palette purchases, starting off with this drugstore offering from Maybelline!
When I heard that a drugstore brand was coming out with a full on eyeshadow palette, I had a little freakout sesh. This is the first and only palette of its kind that I've found at the drugstore, since you can usually only find trios and quads. Similar to the concept of the ever so popular Urban Decay Naked palettes, the Maybelline The Nudes palette offers 12 neutral shadows, varying from cool to warm tones and mattes to shimmers for the reasonable price tag of about $15 (probably cheaper if you live in the States!) If that doesn't sound good to you then I don't know what will. Now, let's get into an in depth review of what I truly think about this palette. 
First off, the packaging. For the price tag you really can't expect a very luxe case for these shadows, so the plastic outer shell, while not luxurious, is sleek looking and sturdy enough to protect your shadows from cracking. I do like that it's simple and black and resembles a more expensive option. The biggest gripe I have with the packaging is the lack of a mirror. While I usually use a bathroom mirror or my vanity to get ready, it would be nice to have a mirror inside in case you're travelling or need to touch up your look if you decide to smoke out your shadow for a nighttime appropriate eye. Oh, and I would've appreciated if these shades had their own names because then I wouldn't have as much trouble naming each one - "the third shadow in the bottom row" just doesn't have a nice ring to it!
The eyeshadows themselves are a bit of a hit or miss. They're not all beautifully pigmented and buttery to the touch but some shades do perform better than others. I found that most of the shades on the top row of the palette needed to be packed on heavily to get a decent colour payoff except for the star of the show which is that deep bronze shade (4th on the top). That bronze is the standout of the entire palette and I'd probably buy the palette just for that shade. You can see it in action in my latest video! As for the bottom row, the first shade to the left is basically the powder eyeshadow version of the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Bad To The Bronze, so layering them gives you much better pigmentation! The light gold is decent but I would've definitely loved to see a more richly pigmented finish like the bronze shade on the top row. The fifth shadow on the bottom row is very disappointing and it barely shows up on the lid, so this one needs some definite work to get it to show up. Lastly, the black in the palette isn't very dark, it resembles more of a deep grey, but I think that might be a good thing if you're a beginner so that you don't get too dark of a look, too quickly. I do like that the palette has a variety of cool and warm shades so that you get a bit more versatility but some of the essential shades to create these looks need a lot of work to get them to standout, which is a major bummer.
I definitely like this palette. I can see myself reaching for it because of certain shades within the palette but I wouldn't be completely content with just this palette in my makeup stash. If you're looking for a drugstore addition to incorporate into your eyeshadow selection, this isn't an awful choice! 
So you're not getting a palette filled with highly pigmented, creamy shadows all-round, but some of the shades do work better than others. If you have other eyeshadow palettes that you just love, this may not wow you, but for the price this is an awesome palette for someone who is starting out with makeup and wants to dip their toes into the eyeshadow waters but doesn't want to spend tons of money. Hopefully more drugstore brands jump on the bandwagon and come out with full-size eyeshadow palettes like these. That would make for an interesting palette battle, huh?

Garnier Ultra-Lift Transformer : Lazy Day Face In One Step

Don't be turned off by the anti-aging claims if you're under the age of 30, this moisturizer is real "no makeup, makeup" in a bottle. While most no makeup looks end up using 20 products, there are always those days where you're lounging around the house and you can't be bothered to take 30 minutes of your morning trying to make all of those products look undetectable. Being in the middle of finals week, I was having this dilemma and I really had nothing in my makeup arsenal that was less than a lightweight foundation but more than wearing nothing... until I stumbled across this! The Garnier Ultra-Lift Transformer is in the same vein as Origins Vitazing, which is a product I haven't tried myself.

Like always, Anna made me buy this (I feel like a series by this title is in order at this point). In the UK this is called the Miracle Skin Cream so I did a bit of a search for the Canadian equivalent and found it on sale for $15 at Walmart. Score! Oh, and I'd like to thank my friends who were at Walmart with me that day and pitched in the extra $1 I needed, in coins, because they couldn't handle me stalking this thing like a hawk any longer.

What initially intrigued me about this product was that it was perfect for those stay at home days. It takes a lot for me to actually get out of my PJs and look like a normal human being when I'm stuck studying all day but in terms of makeup, I've never liked the feel of it if I'm just lounging around the house. Garnier's cream doesn't claim to cover or be a BB cream in any way, but it takes the place of your moisturizer while still giving you a really nice, healthy glow. This could really just be the last step in your skin care regime or technically the first step in your makeup routine.

Like I said, this doesn't give you insane coverage but it does even out your complexion enough and gives you a healthy appearance to where you may only need some concealer over problem areas. You can see in the picture above that the cream comes out white and adjusts to your skin colour as you rub it in. It looks slightly orange in the picture but on my face it just gives me a very subtle bronzed effect. You won't look like an Oompa Loompa! The more you work it in to the skin, the more it blends in and matches your colouring.
This is ultra lightweight - it is a moisturizer after all. I think that's what I like the most. It's just one step but it hydrates your skin all day and makes you look a little more radiant. On Monday I had to run some errands and the humidity levels were pretty much insane seeing as how it was raining, but I wore this because I was feeling lazy. After running around and being stuck in a bus with literally no ventilation, my face started to feel like it was sweating off but when I got home I still looked healthy. Because it doesn't give a full coverage effect when it's on, you won't look like your makeup melted off since you only really had cream on. 
Some tips: don't put a ton on.... like I did when swatching it (whoops!). You only need a little - a pea-sized amount will do the trick. Make sure to blend it in enough so that it really looks seamless! For the price, I think this is a great product for when you really don't want to wear makeup but you need your skin to have a bit of glow. It makes you look radiant but not shimmery at all, and handles any redness or very minor discolouration. You won't feel bad on days when you don't wear makeup because you are still letting your skin breathe! For those of you who have had Vitazing on your wish list, you might want to gives this a go and save that extra money for another shopping day! 
Have you tried this out? What are your thoughts?

New! Milani Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss

Lipgloss isn't usually the lip product I'm the most excited about unless we're talking the Clarins Instant Light Lip Perfectors which I've professed my love for continuously. On my pursuit of expanding my lipgloss horizons I thought I'd give these Milani Brilliant Shine Glosses a try! This is a fairly new release for the brand and although I haven't seen Milani sold in any other place other than WalMart in Canada, people in the United States should have much better luck getting their hands on them. These are very affordable at $5.50 each and they come in 14 shades, ranging from pinks and corals, to violets and reds. You really can't complain on the shade collection here, especially for the price. 

The shade I chose, mostly due to a lack of a large stock, is Sweet Grapefruit - a pinky coral (go figure!) that is a cream finish. This colour is incredible flattering and I think it's a shade that would work on many different skin tones and makeup looks. In terms of packaging, Milani has created a very sleek see through tube with gold detailing on the writing and handle which looks quite nice. Inside, this lipgloss offers a doe-foot applicator which is pretty standard with glosses at the drugstore. 
Milani claims that these have "rich colour, extreme high shine, and comfortable lasting wear" as well as being "moisturizing and non-tacky". With these lofty claims in mind, I set out to test the gloss and see if it delivers on all of these fronts. The colour pay off was decent. It was enough to show some remnant of the colour on my lips but it surely wasn't as pigment as lacquers and lip glosses I've tried (for example, the Rimmel Apocalips). It's semi translucent but that might just be the shade I chose, In any case, these aren't glosses that you would choose for their incredibly pigmented look - though that might be your liking for more natural looks. For layering over other lipsticks or rocking them on a natural makeup day, these are great!
As the name suggests, this lipgloss packed in a lot of shine while on the lips so they are sheeny and give your pout quite the full effect... check! Milani also said they provide a comfortable lasting wear and I'd say although they are creamy and glide on easily, the lasting power of these glosses isn't impressive - as is the case with most glosses. You will need to reapply often so they're not a gloss that leaves a stain but there are better options in this category anyways. I'd say these last 2 hours or so before you'd want to freshen up. This doesn't bother me since reapply lipgloss is kinda therapeutic...

Now to assess the "moisturizing and non-tacky claim." One of these claims is highly misleading, to say the least while the other is thrown in for marketing purposes. These are tacky, sticky and any other word you can find for "put your hair in a ponytail before you get your hair stuck on your lips!" One of the reasons I stay away from lip glosses is their formula. MAC lip glasses always bothered me in that sense because I felt like they were incredible thick and sticky. These aren't as thick or gloopy but they're still too thick for my liking - which is why the Clarins offering is top ranking for me. If you aren't concerned with the stickier feel then I don't think it would be much to worry you. I can't say that these are moisturizing just because the stickiness makes them feel like they're just sitting on your lips doing nothing but making them look shiny. Moisturizing glosses tend to have a creamier, balm-like texture so I can't vouch for the moisturizing factor. 
Overall, I think these glosses are a good choice if you're on a budget. I would probably think they were better if they didn't have so many claims to live up to but the stickiness is my only issue. For the price and the array of colours, the Milani Brilliant Shine gloss is a good release for lipgloss lovers who want a fuller, plump and shiny pout without the burn of typical plumping glosses. 
What do you think about these glosses? Does sticky lipgloss give you nightmares like it does for me?

Lancome Rouge in Love Lipsticks

L to R: 275M, 230M, 340B

Another day, another post on my makeup loving antics! Lip products are probably my most purchased item out of all the categories. Whether it be different colours or formulations, I've got a good variety! I've got a lot of lipsticks that hold a special place in my heart but the Lancome Rouge In Love range are definitely one of my faves!
These lipsticks are daily new to the Lancome range compared to some of their more classics ranges but they really diversify the brand as a whole. I always thought that Lancome was a makeup line for older women (except for the Juicy Tubes which I always coveted!) but when they came out with the Rouge in Love line with Emma Watson as their new face, things certainly changed. First of all, look at that packaging! I always thought they looked like bullets or something. They are a departure from the classic black lipstick tubes that lance usually does but that's why I love them. It's one of those lipsticks that you grab from your handbag and make you feel all posh - and who doesn't love that? 
Formulation wise these are really quite interesting. The lipstick bullet actually looks as if the colour would be matte but once you swipe it you'll realize that it actually gives a slight sheen and there are creamy! Very deceiving Lancome! One thing to note is that these are really pigmented so you get great colour payoff and what you see in the tube is what you get on your lips. That begin said, these lipsticks still offer enough moisture and a glossy finish that you don't even need a gloss on top. These are really comfortable to wear all day and I've never had a problem with them drying out my lips but if you have really chapped lips I'd exfoliate and apply balm before to prevent this from catching onto dry skin.
Another thing that makes this range so interesting is the way that they are divided into categories. You have Jolis Matins (M), Boudoir Time (B), and Tonight Is My Night (N). Lipsticks in the M category are day time shades that work well with a variety of looks - perfect for fresh makeup that you can wear to school or work. Shades with the letter B are brighter and trendier shades. In the last category under N, these lipsticks are deep shades that are a cry for attention - statement lips over here! 
I like the mix of the three shades I selected. 230M Rouge Rendez-vouz is a my lips but better shade for me. It's neutral but has just a hint of a coral undertone that's really flattering. 275M Jolie Rosalie is a deeper berry mauve shade that when I applied more heavily actually gives a great deep lip shade (I love this for fall and winter!). Lastly, the brighter shade of the bunch, 340B Rose Boudoir is a flashier version of my favourite peachy-pink selection. I love wearing this with a light bronze look because it adds just the right amount of colour to the face - perfect for summer makeup!
You can find these at Lancome counters or at Sephora. These retail for $30 CAD (£ 21 or $25 USD) and come in 29 shades as the Lancome website suggests (only 17 of which I could find on the Sephora site) which includes limited edition shades out right now for their Spring 2014 collection. I'm definitely eyeing some shades! All in all I think these are well worth the price tag and there is a shade for any preference or season. They last quite long, give off great pigmentation while still maintaining a light feel on the lips and they are comfortable to wear. Love, love, love! 

Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil

If there's one thing that can instantly change my entire face it's my brows! When it comes to facial features, eyebrows tend to be overlooked by many and that needs to change. A good set of eyebrows can transform your simple look from careless to pulled together in seconds. I will admit that for a long time I had neglected my bushy friends but that is a thing of the past! Enter in my new companion, the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil in Dark Brunette. I had been previously using an angled brush and a matte eyeshadow that I had found in my makeup stash to define my brows but leave it to Vivianna Does Makeup to inspire a new purchase.  

 This all-in-one pencil is a brow miracle. It has two ends; a brush to tame those sassy hairs and the actual brow pencil on the other. The best part? The slanted nib is formulated to give you the benefits of a powder, pencil and wax with every stroke. As it's not a super soft pencil, it has the ability to shade in all the sparse regions in your brows without smudging all over the place. I wouldn't say this is the best for people who don't have much brow at all and want to draw them in because the tip is a bit large for that. The shade Dark Brunette works well for my brows since they tend to be quite dark, even darker than my roots. 

As for staying power, this stuff rocks! I find that it stays put all day and I don't have to worry about my eyebrows mysteriously travelling across my forehead. Using a light hand works well with this product, allowing you to be less wasteful. This is quite beneficial since this brow pencil will set you back $37. It's a pretty steep price tag for the amount you get but since you aren't using tons of product each time and it works so well, it's justifiable. I'm completely in love with this stuff! If you want to thicken up your brows and get into Cara Delevingne territory, the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil is the way to go!

Bye Bye Racoon Eyes

Update: I'm done exams!!!! I couldn't be happier and I'm super excited to be relaxing and coming up with some fun posts for the blog...   Now, onto the main event.  In my skincare routine post I mentioned quite a few products that I use every day. I'm well aware that some products would be very expensive if you were to get them in full size (thankfully I have a million samples from a beauty counter friend). So today I wanted to share a budget buy that I love and is multipurpose, and who doesn't love that?! Getting rid of eye makeup can be a tricky deal. Eye makeup remover in your eye, tugging and pulling at your skin, and the dreadful black ring that forms when you're eyeliner and mascara starts to dissolve. As I mentioned in the previous post I really like the Lancome Bi-Facil Eye Makeup Remover because it isn't greasy and it makes taking off eye makeup products a breeze. That being said, I've always kept Pond's Cold Cream in my stash because it's such a great product to use in different ways. If I have really stubborn eye makeup, I'll take a pea sized amount of this and start to massage it gently onto my lids and my mascara and eyeliner dissolve immediately. Since this is a heavier cream, it can leave a bit of a residue so I like to take a cotton pad with either Bioderma Crealine H20 or just plain water and remove whatever is left. As if that weren't easy enough, this cold cream is fantastic for a deep conditioning treatment on your entire face. When my skin starts to transition from mostly oily to combination in the Fall and Winter I start to get flaky areas... not a good look! I'll take a bit of the cold cream in my fingers and apply an even layer onto my face and leave it for about 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes are up, I go to bathroom and massage this into my skin with some warm water and then remove it the same way I removed the cold cream from my eyes. It leaves your skin really moisturized and if you still had any makeup on your face after you cleansed, this whisks it away. Best part about this is that it's super affordable! I find it at Walmart for $4.95 and this stuff lasts for ages and ages.  If you give this a try, let me know what you think!
Verse of the day: "So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled" - 1 Thessalonians 5:6

Jouer Matte Moisture Tint

Sorry for the double review but I'm too excited about this product! Last week a little package arrived on my doorstep and to my surprise, my Cult Beauty order had finally made its way across the pond. I've been eyeing this product for quite some time now and was going back and forth in my head on whether or not to purchase it. Face products are a bit risky for me because I have quite oily skin, but during this time of year I get the odd dry patch here and there so I need something that will hold up on my face but not accentuate any nasty bits. Once again, I was persuaded by Vivianna Does Makeup (is that any surprise?) and MissGlamorazzi, so I took the plunge and gave the Jouer Matte Moisture Tint a try. 

Let me just start off by saying I now understand what the fuss was about. The formula is really interesting - it feels smooth when applied to the skin and almost has a mousse-y texture to it. It blends seamlessly into the skin and doesn't leave you feeling like you splattered your face with mud. For a "moisture tint", I'd say it gives more coverage than your average tinted moisturizer. In my opinion, it's almost like a light, to even medium, coverage foundation but without the heaviness that you get with some of the top sellers out there. With a thin layer, it leaves your skin evened out and covers up minor areas of pigmentation and redness. With a little more applied, you can get some really good coverage without looking like a cake face, no one wants to look like that! The staying power was surprisingly great for a tinted moisturizer and the incredible matte (but not too matte) effect it gives lasted me a good 5 or so hours without blotting. A little while later I did need to blot but that was without having powder applied in the first place, which on my skin is miraculous! I would say it definitely delivers on the mattifying front as it isn't dewy or glowy, but the effect it gives isn't powdery if you know what I mean. You don't look like an oil slick but your skin looks like skin -- what could be better?

Jouer Matte Moisture Tint in Nude

The only negative thing I will say about it is that the colour isn't spot on for me at the moment but I did order this online and was already fearful of getting a colour that would be too light or dark on me. The shade Nude is a tiny bit too light for me right now but hopefully as I get paler during the winter it'll sort itself out. For the time being, I've been lightly dusting some bronzer all over my skin to bring back a little warmth and the colour looks great! As for the application, I feel like using your hands alone (unless you have super flawless, smooth skin) isn't the absolute best since it can sometimes cling to little dry patches but this is something that happens often with matte face products. I've found that using a buffing brush at first to even it out, and then just pat my face a little with my fingers gives a barely there effect (Thanks for the tip Anna!).

Overall, I'm loving this product because it keeps my skin matte for longer than anything else I've used with a texture that is silky and breathable. Jouer has won some major brownie points with this one and I'm excited to see how their other products are like, especially the cheek and lip tint I've been eyeing up.  As for Cult Beauty, their service was great and SUPER quick! I got my package in less than a week, which for an international order is pretty impressive! I'd definitely watch out for special offers like free international shipping because it definitely makes the price a bit more bearable. This moisture tint retails for about $42 CAD on the Cult Beauty website and that seems fair since you are getting 50 mL of product; a whole 20 mL more than your average foundation! I'd definitely give this product a try if you are looking for a matte tinted moisturizer that holds up well on your skin throughout the day!

Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector

Top: Petal Shimmer // Bottom: Candy Shimmer

WARNING: By the end of this post you may feel the sudden urge to buy some lipgloss. Just a heads up. Don't say I didn't warn you. 

Lipgloss is a touchy subject for me. When I hear the word it brings flashbacks of super glittery, extra sticky glosses I would convince my mom to buy me in elementary school. Then, I had the MAC obsession phase (haven't we all) which didn't really do it for me, except for their Cremesheen glasses which are a little more bearable on the stickiness front. So for the past few years I've been gravitating towards more tinted balms and moisturizing lipstick formulas. But that's a thing of the past because I found the BEST lipglosses EVER. I know that's a huge claim but I'm serious, these are fantastic!

A few months back I was browsing around Vivianna Does Makeup's blog, which is a usual occurrence in my life it seems, and I came across her post about these Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfectors. Her review had me sold and the next day I went to a department store and picked up a tube. Little did I know I'd be so impressed that I'd buy another one the very next day. I have the shades Petal Shimmer, a nudey pink, and Candy Shimmer, a more rosey pink and they are beautiful! The formula is super creamy, not sticky at all, and provides a sheer wash of colour. Although these glosses aren't the most pigmented ones you'll find on the market, I've found the colours still show up on my lips, which is surprising since they tend to be quite pigmented on their own. I'm hooked! These are always in my purse when I leave the house and they'll be even more useful now that it's getting colder since they not only give you colour but provide moisture as well. I'd definitely put these in the category of a liquid tinted lip balm because they give you the best of all the lip product worlds.

The whole range of lip perfectors includes 6 shades which range from pinks, to apricots and darker nudes and rosey browns. There's sure to be a shade that captures your heart (or all 6 if you're anything like me). These glosses are sold for $20 a piece, which may seem a little steep for a tube of lipgloss but they are well worth it in my opinion. You can get them off the Clarins website or in stores like Shopper's Drug Mart and The Bay if you live in Canada.

OPI Pamplona Purple

The past week or so I've been letting my nails take a bit of a breather. Let me tell you, that's probably the biggest challenge I could be faced with. I paint my nails basically twice as much as I breathe and my #thestruggleisreal moments consist of what colour I should paint my nails next. Fall is such a fun time for nail polish trends, and even though I love bright pinks and fun neons, there's nothing better than a nice dark vampy nail or some nude, taupey colours. (Can you tell my excitement for nail polish?) To break the no-nail-polish streak I decided to go for a not so traditional colour. OPI Pamplona Purple has been in my collection for quite a few years now and what I love most about it is that its super creamy but it's a bit brighter than the typical fall colour so it stands out in the sea of "greige" fingers. Two coats is more than enough to get a rich, opaque colour! Although this was part of the España collection from a few year back, I'm sure you can find this colour or maybe try a close shade like Zoya's "Keiko". That's all for today! Pamper yourself this weekend or go out and get a mani with a friend!

Verse of the day: "So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honour" - 1 Peter 5:6

 Glorious Peonies.

Book Worm #1

source

One of the things I wish I had more time for is getting to read books just for fun. I had a huge list of books I was determined to read this summer but I decided to take classes all summer long so my plans of reading didn't stand a chance. For the past three months I've been reading a book on and off and although I'm not finished yet, I need to talk about it!

I haven't mentioned this yet but I'm a huge history lover! When I was younger I was hooked on anything Egyptian or Greek (probably the reason one of my majors is Classics!) and I could spend hours talking about it. Learning about modern history on the other hand is a different story. That being said, I am completely fascinated with anything to do with African American history and the topic of segregation in general. That explains why I cried during the movie 42 about Jackie Robinson, why I love Hairspray, and why To Kill A Mockingbird was probably my favourite book I was made to read in high school. 

I watched The Help when it came out and I have to say, it's one of my favourite movies! The topic was obviously interesting to me but the humour, the fashion from that time period and Emma Stone, I was sold! After watching the movie I decided I'd read the book. It made me a bit nervous because I wasn't sure how the book was compared to the movie but I'm so in love with it! I've been caught laughing out loud on many occasions and I carry it around wherever I go hoping I'll have time to catch up on some pages!

The subject matter can be tough but it's definitely thought provoking! I think that's one of my favourite things about the book. You get to see the story from the perspectives of different characters and it makes you really think about discrimination and being cruel to others. I hope I can be as courageous as Skeeter is in the book and really stand for what's right! --- But can I just say that Minny is just amazing haha! She tells it like it is and any chapter where she narrates I can't help but laugh out loud hysterically. 

Hopefully you give it a read and tell me how you like it! I have quite a few books on my To Read list so I'll continue doing Book Worm posts as I get through them. 

Have an amazing week and know that God is with you giving you courage when you need to stand up for what's right! Thanks for stopping by xo

Glorious Peonies.