March 2013 Pickups and Deliveries

March was a tame month in terms of pickups, as I am now unemployed and can't be buying things anymore. (It's a good time to exercise the "reductionista" part of the brain and get back on track with the blog theme.) But March was also birthday month, and that means gifts!

First up is the Sephora VIB birthday gift. I had the choice of picking up the Fresh lip treatment duo that was offered last year, or this Benefit mascara and highlighter kit. I've wanted to try Watt's Up! for a while, so the choice was easy.

Okay, so I bought one thing but it was only $4.99. It's the Maybelline Vivid Lipstick in Vibrant Mandarin, swatched here.

I'm also making a habit of sampling and testing new things once a month. March was devoted to Hourglass Immaculate Foundation, reviewed here.

And now the gifts!

Green Tea Honeysuckle is a prize from Eugenia's giveaway!

Many thanks to Ashley, Xiao, my friend Jmeister and my lovely baby sister! I'm lucky to be loved by such wonderful people who know exactly what I like... and are savvy enough to check the wish list. ;-)

I also received some very interesting PR samples this month.

All will be revealed in due course. Reviews will be pouring forth in unstoppable waves, now that I have a lot of free time on my hands!

But the greatest thing I received this month is this homemade card. Remember the ponies?!??

April is going to be amazing, you guys. AMAZING.

BECCA Beach Tint Duo in Watermelon and Fig

During the last Sephora VIB sale in November, I picked up the BECCA Beach Tint Duo containing shades Fig and Watermelon. And as makeup hoarders are wont to do, I tucked it away in a drawer for months and promptly forgot about it.

Each Beach Tint from this set is 4ml / 0.14 fl oz -- as you can see, woefully small. But do not be dismayed, my obsessed makeup lovers. Even as I'm heartily sick of this phrase myself, it must be stated that a little goes a long way.

Beach Tints are formulated to add a natural wash of colour to cheeks or lips. My preference is to use it on cheeks as blush, because unless the shade is very dark, these dual-purpose products don't tend to show up on my lips at all. The product also claims to be oil-free, streak-free and water-resistant. It's often touted as one of the handiest things to carry in... *drumroll* a beach bag, for those precise reasons.

I had some doubts about the texture, because I tend to be really picky about non-powder blushers. Liquids are horribly messy, stain the fingertips and don't blend easily. The worst thing about liquids is that you have to work at the speed of light, which is not possible to do well first thing in the morning when you haven't even had the first cup of caffeine. And while I love cream blushers, I prefer the ones that go on velvety smooth as opposed to wet and emollient. (I will always opt for products that require less blending.) For some reason, I had fears that the Beach Tint was of the liquidy emollient variety. It's not.

It is incredibly easy to blend with fingertips, which is my usual preferred method for applying cream shadows and blushers. It glides well over cheeks primed with foundation. And while Watermelon looks at first as if it might be intense (described as "bright pink" on the Sephora website), it's actually a lovely rose that mimics the natural flush of my cheeks and ends up looking almost neutral. As for Fig, you can see how pale it is. It's described as "tea rose pink" but to me it looks just a touch darker than some BB creams out there. Since it was useless to me, I traded it away in a makeup swap and don't regret it.

As for its water-resistant claims, I look forward to testing out Watermelon during intense heat waves and humid days of a proper Toronto summer.

The Beach Tint Duo is available at Sephora online and in-store for CAD$24. That's $12 each, as opposed to the full size tints that cost CAD$30 for 7ml / 0.24 fl oz. I wish all the shades came in a mini size option. Even better, how about a complete set of all the Beach Tints in mini sizes??? (Please, BECCA.) Already my eyes are roaming to the other shades, primarily Papaya.

Have you tried BECCA Beach Tints?

Orangey Red Lips

I'm skipping over spring pastels and diving straight into punchy summer corals and aqua. Who's with me???

My desire for orange red lippies has been burning strong since late January. I'm looking at anything that uses the words "coral", "mandarin", "orange", "clementine" and such. Pinkish corals look awful on me, so I determined that orange reds will be the thing. It turns out I already have a goodly amount of those shades within my own stash.

Let's pretend that it's summer...

Let's start with the sheerest of the bunch: Lise Watier Lip Kiss Crayon Gloss in Mango Punch, NARS Lip Gloss in Wonder, and Clarins Colour Quench Lip Balm in #14 Blood Orange.

But in reality: brrrrrr.

Lise Watier Mango Punch - Looks sheer on the arm swatch but is buildable to near opacity on lips with a strong lean to red rather than orange or mango. It looks awesome on a bare face with giant sunglasses on.

NARS Wonder - The most orange of the bunch. It has medium opacity for a gloss and I like to wear it on its own without layering.

Clarins Blood Orange - It looks punchy on the swatch but applies much more sheerer on the lips. It's less stickier and more moisturizing than the NARS. It also contains gold micro-shimmer that's more evident in person than on the photo.

Next are sheer lipsticks or lipstick-balm hybrids: MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Korean Candy and Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti.

Revlon Tutti Frutti - Quite sheer on initial application but can be layered to near opacity with slight sheen. Like its sister Candy Apple, I love the shade and formula and texture but cannot deal with the packaging issues. It's now twisting in the tube and driving me nuts.

MAC Korean Candy - As you can see, it's much more pigmented than Tutti Frutti and has to be sheered out rather than built on for flexible coverage. Both shades are definitely in the orange camp, with Korean Candy being a darker version of Tutti Frutti, if you will.

Finally, the full strength lipsticks: MAC Matte Lipstick in Lady Danger and Maybelline Color Sensational Vivid in Vibrant Mandarin.

MAC Lady Danger - It's a stunning warm coral red which is much more obvious when held next to a cool-tone red. It's fully opaque in one glide and I'm actually still afraid to wear it full force. But I'm working on it!

Maybelline Vibrant Mandarin - It's close to MAC Korean Candy in colour but less shiny and more opaque in finish and pigmentation. The entire range of Maybelline Vivids are wildly tempting for summer. I was torn between this and Electric Orange but decided that Vibrant Mandarin was a more complex shade that could be enjoyed more frequently than a simple flat orange that's more difficult to pull off on a regular basis.

Well, I was going to leave it there, but now it's apparent that we need a showdown between Vibrant Mandarin and Korean Candy.

Huh. Vibrant Mandarin is actually more vibrant salmon next to Korean Candy. I noticed that the Maybelline Vivids all seemed to have a strong lean to pink, but when held up alone, Vibrant Mandarin seemed orange enough. Well, now we know. It seems that I may have to pick up Electric Orange after all.

Or do I?

I suppose that's enough punch orangey red lips after all. But I still have my eye on the new Clarins Rouge Eclat in Juicy Clementine. I'm convinced that it's oranger than these bunch without being totally full force orange, if you know what I mean.

For now, I'm slipping the sunglasses back on and pretending that it's 30C and humidity is making my hair go wild. Ahhh, summer, hurry!

What's your favourite punchy summer lip?

End of the Nail Polish Slump with Essie Mojito Madness

I've been in a nail polish slump for 5-6 months. I used to change my nail polish every 2-3 days without break, collecting multiple bottles per month and always being on the lookout for new shades. Then one day, I just couldn't anymore. I didn't want to apply any, I didn't want to buy any, and I didn't care about the new stuff.

And when St. Patrick's Day rolled along and everyone featured green polishes and makeup, I was like, "Naaaaaah."

But all that pep -- it got to me. I was sequestered at home with readings and assignments and wishing desperately for spring to arrive, and green seemed like a good choice given the situation. So I pulled out the greenest of all my green polishes.

Essie Mojito Madness / OPI Green-Wich Village / OPI Jade Is The New Black

And in case I was overlooking something, I also pulled out the pastels.

Essie Mint Candy Apple / Essie Absolutely Shore / Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet

I had picked up Mojito Madness last year to cheer myself up. It came through for me again this year. It's such a peppy green! Cheer!

It does, however, emphasize any redness on the skin. But still. It tricks me into thinking that balmy spring weather is near.

Pantone Color of the Year? Sure. Next I'll be going through my eye shadows to see what kind of greens I've been neglecting. This could be the beginning of a new madness.

Lately

Been a while since the last one.

It's been a hell of a quarter, guys. I turned another year older and quit my day job to look for a career that will bring progression, fulfillment and self-satisfaction. Last year taught me that life is too short to wallow in misery and self-pity. At the same time, I learned how to be happy and satisfied with less money, which is an invaluable lesson to learn. I'll always want new things, but I know that I don't truly need them to be happy. From now on, I'm seeking daily fulfillment via use of my skills and talents. It may or may not involve writing or makeup or writing about makeup. :-)

Currently I'm...

...dreaming of Earl Grey Tea macarons...

... embracing Pantone colour of the year with Essie Mojito Madness...

...watching the snow melt... s l o w l y ...

...slugging through finals and speed-reading books that should be savoured...

...dabbling with bright lip colours...

...trying new dishes...

Jerked Meatloaf ($10)

HARLEM / 67 Richmond St. E., Toronto

Deep-fried Pickles ($5)

...and discovering what's within when you take a chance...

Who knew? There's a spoon inside a seed!

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation Mattifying Oil Free

Damn, that's a mouthful. I will be referring to this foundation simply as "Hourglass Immaculate Foundation" from now on. According to the Sephora website:

What it is:
A mattifying, antiaging foundation that absorbs oil, camouflages imperfections, and ensures a long-lasting flawless finish—without the need for touch-ups.

What it does:
Consider Immaculate your miracle for oily skin. This innovative liquid-powder formula delivers an unparalleled matte finish with real longevity that lasts all day. The oil-free and water-resistant foundation goes on smoothly and dries down instantly to a soft, velvet finish that is ideal for oily or blemish-prone complexions.  

Long time readers should know the following about me:

• I love Hourglass. If I could spend the rest of my life with only one makeup brand, it would be Hourglass. The quality of every single product I tried is superb and flawless. It is the one brand that I consider 100% worth the price.
• I have oily skin. It has "normalized" somewhat over the course of this past year and is less prone to breakouts, but I devoted half of my life to the pursuit of effective mattifying products.
• If I could wear only one makeup, it's foundation. I have a list of insecurities about my appearance like everyone else in the world, but high on that list is my scarred complexion. I like pretending that it's flawless.

Given all of the above, if this foundation doesn't sound like it was custom-made for my skin, then... I don't know. Life won't make sense anymore!

I finally decided it was time to dabble with liquid foundations again. Or liquid powder hybrids or whatever. The Eaton Centre Sephora has a limited range of the shades, and the closest as far as I could tell in that dim lighting was Shell and Beige. (I'm anywhere from NC25-NC40, depending on the season.)

As you can see, there's a world of a difference between Shell and Beige. Since I'm at my absolute palest at the tail end of winter, Shell turned out to be a fairly decent match.

A small, chick pea-sized dot is required to provide substantial coverage on each side of my face. It dries fairly quickly, miraculously transforming to a powdery velvet texture that makes layering difficult. You need to work quickly to blend it out, and the coverage is on the medium-heavy side without being mask-like. I still need concealer to spot correct the worst of my acne scars, but I often skip that step in order to look more natural and less "done."

While I love the overall effect of this foundation on my face, it is horrible on any areas that are the slightest bit dry. Do not apply on flaky skin and dehydrated surfaces. Winter skin is a bitch. Even after exfoliating and moisturizing, the areas around my nostrils and hairline/scalp are flaky and dry. I avoided those spots and focused application on forehead and cheeks. Then we got along splendidly.

Due to its powdery finish, there was no need to "set" with additional powder. In conjunction with the Becca Resurfacing Primer, it wore flawlessly for 12 hours during the course of one full work + school day. My nose did get shiny after the 4-5 hour mark, but considering that most foundations go shiny on the nose after one hour, this was no small feat.

In short, I think that the Immaculate Foundation is a mixed bag. Its longevity and coverage is almost without equal, and colour match is nearly spot-on. However, its absolutely unforgiving treatment of dry spots is a problem, as I seem to be transitioning from totally oily skin to something closer to combination skin. I would have adored this product 3-4 years ago when I was truly obsessed with mattifying foundations. For now, I'm sitting on the fence and doing some more hemming and hawing.

(Sorry for the lack of face shots! But you can see it in action on the lovely Toya of Beauty Obsessed here.) 

Available at Sephora (CAD$64).

Edited March 25, 2013: Was just informed that new shades have been added to the Immaculate range, for a total of 16 different choices. Make sure that your local counter carries all 16 before testing!

Shower with Dove!

Until a couple of years ago, we used a lot of Dove in the house. My mother and sisters, sensible low maintenance creatures that they are (God bless them), would always rely on simple Dove soap and body wash for everyday cleansing. It was me who had to get all fancy and fill the house with other things. It has certainly been a while since I paid attention to Dove products.

Then the giant box of PR samples arrived last month, and I was happy to see that Dove was still turning out great products. The hair styling products were totally new to me, as was the scent of this shower gel. I gamely put them to the test for a few weeks and became rather impressed!

Dove Style + Care Nourishing Curls Mousse

My textured hair can always use some (a lot of) mousse. The easiest method of styling is to apply mousse throughout my damp hair after a wash and air dry the whole thing, sleep on it, and end up with tousled waves the next day with minimal frizz.

I like the sturdy feel of this mousse can which just stops short of being too big/heavy to shake (because you gotta shake-shake-shshshshake that mousse) -- and it distributes the right amount of product, depending on the pressure you apply to the dispenser. It's nice and foamy and smells pleasantly of fruits and flowers. The part I'm really in love with is the whipped cream texture, however. It feels much more substantial than many of the other drugstore mousses I've used in the past. I honestly didn't expect much from a can of drugstore mousse, but this one left my hair feeling voluminous but controlled and shiny. I totally recommend it for all you wavy/curly-haired gals.

Ingredients: Aqua, Hydrofluorocarbon 152a, PVP, Cetearyl Alcohol, Dimethyl Ether, Parfum, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Behentrimonium Chloride, Dimethicone, Dipropylene Glycol, Lactic Acid, DMDM Hydantoin, Disodium EDTA, Amodimethicone, PEG-7 Propylheptyl Ether, Cetrimonium Chloride, Methylisothiazolinone.

Dove Damage Solutions Color Care Leave On Conditioner

As you can see, this is a tiny bottle. The size of it is the only quibble I have with it, however, as I underestimated its powers! I know that this is bad for my hair, but it's really long now and I can't be bothered with styling it more than once or twice a week. More often than not, I'd shampoo and twist the whole thing up into a wet bun and let it sit like that all day long. To compensate for this cruel treatment, I added a leave-on conditioner to the routine to at least give it some nourishment.

Well, colour me surprised when upon untying the bun and letting it air dry at last, my hair dried soft and free of frizz. I have so much love for this tiny bottle! It's a product meant for colour protection, but I do think that it's just as beneficial to undyed hair that requires extra attention. Its scent is slightly more fruity than the mousse, but I hardly notice it once it's in the hair.

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cetearyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethiconol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Glycerin, Fragrance (Parfum), Behentrimonium Chloride, Dipropylene Glycol, Mineral Oil, Lactic Acid, Potassium Chloride, Petrolatum, DMDM Hydantoin, Disodium EDTA, TEA-Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Hydrogenated Coconut Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Butylene Glycol, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate

Dove Go Fresh Restore Body Wash (Blue Fig & Orange Blossom Scent)

The first thing about this body wash I notice is the heady tropical floral scent. I have no idea what real blue fig and orange blossom smells like, but for a few short minutes, my shower is transformed to a tropical paradise and I'm lathering and singing under a waterfall instead of a leaky shower head. If you don't like scented bath products, you need to steer clear of this one. But I like anything that reminds me of something non-wintery, and this does the job of cleansing well without stripping the skin. 

Ingredients: Water, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate, Sodium Chloride, Acrylates Copolymer, Glycerin, Fragrance, Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, PPG-9, Lauric Acid, DMDM Hydantoin, BHT, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid, Etidronic Acid, Methylisothiazolinone, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Blue 1, Titanium Dioxide, Yellow 5.

I'm sure that these are widely available in most if not all drugstores across North America. It's nice to see a reliable drugstore staple expand to provide more reliable products in other arenas. I'm usually fuss-free when it comes to hair and body care and tend to look at drugstores more than fancy boutiques. Dove has won me back! Maybe I'll finally pick up this simple bar of soap and try a pared down routine for facial care as well.

Have you tried Dove products before? What was your last drugstore success?

Featured products were provided by PR/company for review purposes.

Winner of A Teeny Tiny Giveaway

Technically it's March 20 here. Happy Spring 2013, everyone!

Let's get right to it. The winner of the Teeny Tiny Giveaway is...

EMI

Congrats, Emi! I'll be sending you an email shortly!

(FYI, Emi has a great blog called Project Swatch. Check it out!)

Thanks for reading and stay tuned. I might be hosting more giveaways in the near future. ;-)

Tagged! Odd Things About Me

I was tagged ages ago by Dee to confess some odd things about me. Not sure how I'm supposed to choose only a handful among so many oddball quirks -- because I'm basically a weird person -- but here's my paltry attempt. Ever since I announced somewhere that I hate The Muppets (dirty singing socks), people have been trying to figure out what else is weird about me.

I pin like a mother. 

The 30,000+ pins that I "like" instead of pinning? I hit the "like" button to save it for later -- and then I "pin" them when I figure out which board they should go to. Something about an image will strike a chord, but often it takes a while to get processed. I have a pretty good memory for what I've already liked or not in the past, but it's gotten to the point where I'm never going to be able to trace back to the first 10,000 likes. So I've taken to double-liking certain images. I KNOW. I despise myself. It's madness.

I don't eat watermelons because I don't like to spit out the seeds. 

Pure unadulterated laziness here. It's not that I dislike the taste of watermelon, but I don't like it enough to make the effort. Oh, don't even talk to me about those seedless things. They're not real. I don't eat those either.

I'm totally addicted to General Hospital. 

The soap I grew up with is actually The Young and the Restless, but GH is where it's at. Everyone thinks I'm crazy for still watching it, but I can't help it. Soaps are so bad that they somehow turn right around and become awesome again. I can't stand Sonny and feel downright murderous when it comes to that shrieking harpy Carly, but I'm waiting for the writers to restore the Quartermaines back to their rightful place at the front and centre of the show, and finally write a good romance for my girl Liz Webber, not involving weeping Lucky and now dead (but not really dead) Jason whose real name is actually The Borg, because neither he nor his ex-actor can emote worth a damn. And can they please bring back the evil Cassadines? Still mourning Stefan here.

I don't like naps.

I don't see the point of naps, no matter how tired I am. Once I am up, I'm up. I'd rather save all that sleep for the end of the day when no one will disturb me for the next 6-15 hours.

I love Shetland Ponies!

Look at their stupid, stunted legs. SO CUTE.







I guarantee, the last video is the the most awesome thing you will see today.

Check back tomorrow to see if you've won the Teeny Tiny Giveaway! I promise to put up some real posts and reviews after that.

NEW from The Body Shop - More Smell Goods

As mentioned in The Body Shop Lip Gloss post, I really appreciate it when brands switch things up and stay true to old favourites while keeping up with the new. To kick off a new spring season, The Body Shop offers a new set of Eau de Toilettes in eight different fragrances: Strawberry, Moringa, Coconut, Mango, Shea, Satsuma, Pink Grapefruit and Vanilla. They sound comfortingly familiar but look sleeker than they used to back in the day. 

My sister is still busy dabbing on our vintage Dewberry and Fuzzy Peach Perfume Oils, while I tread forward with the new and asked to review the Shea EDT and Moringa EDT. To be honest, I had doubts about wearing Strawberry or Mango and enjoying them, since I shy away from the overly sugary and fruity type of scents. But I would gladly buy Shea and Moringa scented products from The Body Shop during a good sale and knew I'd enjoy these two scents in a form beyond body butters and shower gels.

MORINGA EDT

I've never smelled a real moringa flower and can't attest to how accurate this scent is in relation to the real thing, but it smells pretty much how you might guess it will, based on the aesthetics of the bottle and packaging: a clean white floral with a side of the stereotypical tropical vibe that isn't too distant from coconut. It's definitely on the feminine side, without coming across too delicate or young. I'd venture to say that it's a safe scent for white floral lovers between the ages of 12 to eternity. I would wear this on brisk walks around the neighbourhood on a spring day when it's still too early to catch whiffs of blooms and a lingering chill fills the air.

Moringa EDT Ingredients:

Alcohol Denat. (Solvent/Diluent), Aqua/Water (Solvent/Diluent), Parfum/Fragrance (Fragrance), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Benzyl Salicylate (Fragrance Ingredient), Propylene Glycol (Humectant), Geraniol (Fragrance Ingredient), Glycerin (Humectant), Moringa Oleifera Leaf Extract (Skin Conditioning Agent), Sorbitol (Humectant), Eugenol (Fragrance Ingredient), Benzyl Alcohol (Preservative), Denatonium Benzoate (Denaturant)

SHEA EDT

While I like Moringa EDT a lot, Shea is my favourite. It smells just like the body butter version, which I had used a dozen times in the past. It brings back a lot of memory, and best of all, it reminds me of being clean right after a shower. It's a sweet, nutty scent that just stops short of cloying so that I can actually enjoy the sweetness. You can catch a hint of vanilla at its base but it doesn't overpower the toasty nuttiness. I actually wore this to bed the other day when I was too exhausted to take my night shower, and it gave me the feeling of being clean and refreshed even if I really wasn't. (But obviously this is a totally subjective experience, since I directly associate the smell with a post-shower product I relied on for years.) You can also check out my friend Su's review of the Shea EDT here.

Shea EDT Ingredients:

Alcohol Denat. (Solvent/Diluent), Aqua/Water (Solvent/Diluent), Parfum/Fragrance (Fragrance), Glycerin (Humectant), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Coumarin (Fragrance Ingredient), Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone (Fragrance Ingredient), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), PEG-75 Shea Butter Glycerides (Skin Conditioning Agent - Emollient), Vanilla Planifolia Fruit Extract (Natural Additive), Denatonium Benzoate (Denaturant).


Both scents seem strong after the first spritz, but they fade quite quickly and leave the skin with a subtle effect that requires touch-up every hour or two. That's why I appreciate the fact that the bottles are rather small and affordable, at $14 for 30 ml. They're easy to tote around and do not require decanting into atomizers and all that troublesome stuff.

All in all, these are simple, uncomplicated scents that are easy to wear. While I like to delve into niche perfumes and sophisticated and complex scents from time to time, I also enjoy simple and timeless favourites that make me feel good, the way that a soft white cotton T-shirt and an old worn-in pair of jeans might do. I might even have to check out Vanilla and Coconut at the store next time!

The Body Shop Eau de Toilette range is now available in-store and online.

Do you have an old favourite scent from The Body Shop? What was it?

Featured products were provided by PR/company for review purposes.