NOTD: Powder Blue Mosaic

Today's manicure has got to my most favourite manicure of the past year. I picked up Revlon's Blue Mosaic just before Christmas, and have been trying to figure out a good way to wear it ever since. The multi-sized glitter has a moderate density to it, which would probably take 3 pretty thick coats to get full opacity on the nail.

I was himming and hawing about doing a full glitter manicure or an accent glitter nail manicure, when the idea of a glitter gradient popped into my mind. I started with two coats of Joe Fresh Powder Blue, which is what the name says, a light powder blue colour. I find that Joe isn't that creative with the naming of their polishes lol. Powder Blue has a real watery consistency so two coats took no time to dry and allowed me to add lots of glitter without it taking hours to dry.


To get the glitter gradient I started with a thin layer of glitter over the whole nail. After that was dry I repeated that but started halfway down the nail to the tip. Once that was dry I added a third thicker layer of glitter right to the tip of the nail (as if I was doing a French Manicure). I did a thicker layer for the last one because I wanted the glitter to be almost opaque at the tips. I then used a coat of Seche Vite to lock everything in, and voila! a beautiful blue glitter gradient manicure.

Even with 7 coats of nail polish on each nail it dried fairly quickly, and lasted about a week before it started chipping at the tips. This is definitely a manicure I will be doing again soon.

How do you feel about glitter gradients??

 

 

Swatched: The Color Workshop Lip Crayons & Gloss

Jumbo Lip Pencils have become the next big thing in the beauty world. Revlon, Clinique, Nars, Covergirl, etc...they all have their versions. I picked up this Jumbo Lip Pencil set from The Color Workshop on Boxing Day at Walmart for only $4.50! It comes with 5 pencils and 2 lip glosses in an assortment pinks and reds and one purple.

I really didn't have very high hopes about the quality of these pencils because they are not from a high quality brand. However, the colour payoff is impressive and they stay on the lips for such a long time. The pencils are sorta glossy/sorta matte and the glosses are smooth and non-sticky. There are no names on these products, so I photographed them in the same order as the swatches.

I am really tempted now to run out and buy some other brands jumbo lip crayons, but that will have to wait until my no-buy is done. I would love to know which brands and colours of lip crayons are your favourite. Leave them in a comment below so I can add them to my Buy Later List.

UPDATE - Since writing this post I have seen these sets on Sale at multiple Shoppers Drug Marts for $4.99.


These are swatches of the 2 glosses that came with the kit.

NOTD: Revlon Cloud

I have to say Revlon is quickly becoming my favourite nail polish brand. I haven't found a colour I don't like, and the formula is pretty much perfect for me. I never need more than 2 coats for a perfectly opaque manicure and this polish lasts almost a week without chipping. This polish lasts so long in fact that I am taking it off because my nails have grown not because of chipping.

I bought Revlon's Cloud at Dollarama because a) it was only $2 and b) it is a shade I don't have anything like in my collection. I have a grey polish and purple polishes and blue polishes but, nothing that is all three in one. In some lights this polish looks like a perfect light grey colour, and in others it looks slightly grey-purple or grey-blue. It is a really interesting colour and one that I believe would be perfect for all year round.

It goes on opaque after two coats and I have no streaking or bubbling. I also received many compliments on this colour when I had it on. I want to thank Aleksandra for influencing me to finally wear this polish after she showcased it on her blog here.

Do you like Revlon's polishes? What is your favourite colour?

#RevlonSelects Eyeshadow & Lipstick Review

Here is the second part of my Revlon Selects Review. I was finally able to play around with the Eyeshadow Palette and Suede Lipstick over the holidays. I received these products from Revlon Canada in exchange for a review. You can find my review of the nail products here.

First I'll talk about the Revlon Photoready Primer + Shadow Palette in 501 Metropolitan. The palette is set up like an eye, showing you which colour to use on the lid, in the crease, and on the brow bone. Below the eye you get a rectangle of "primer" and a gold glittery topcoat.

Now I put primer in quotations because this doesn't have the consistency of a normal eyeshadow primer and I found that it doesn't really work like one either. I used this as my only primer one day and the colours were fading by lunch time. I now just use this light pink shimmery primer as an all over wash of colour on days when I am wearing minimal makeup. I find that it really brings a nice light to the eyes.

The gold glitter topcoat is really nice and when used wet looks gorgeous on the lid. However, unless you are using this shadow wet then be prepared for tons of fallout. My face looked like a disco ball all day because they glitter continued to fall off my eye throughout the whole day.

The other three eyeshadows are really nice but, I don't like the order that Revlon put them in. When used in the intended order you get a smokey eye look every time. The sliver crease shade just doesn't work for me as a crease shade and the brow bone highlight is too dark of a pink to be a proper highlight shade. Even though the order of the shades don't work for me the pigmentation and colour payoff of the shadows are great and I will continue to use them.

I really like the packaging of this palette. I like that there is a window so you can see the eyeshadows that are inside but, I don't like the shape of the shadows. The narrow size of the crease and brow bone pans make it hard to get the brush in there to get the shadow out. I would have liked to see a simple shape to the pans, like in the Almay 3 shadow palettes.

Overall this is very good palette and I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The next makeup product we received in our sample box was the Revlon Colorstay Ultimate Suede Lipstick in 035 Backstage. I was so excited to get this colour as it looks like the perfect wine/berry toned red. To me this is such a perfect Fall/Winter colour.

Packaging wise I really like this lipstick. It has a clear lid so you can see what the colour is and the plastic case colouring is a perfect match to the lipstick. I also like how the lipstick twists down below the rim of the packaging so that there is no chance of you nicking the product when taking the lid off or putting it back on.

The formula of this lipstick is different from the other ones in my collection. It goes on really glossy and patchy. You have to put many coats to get an even application that fully covers yours lips. And because it is so glossy I always need to put this on in a mirror and clean up the edges of my lips cause it just slips and slides everywhere.

It stays glossy for a few minutes and then once it starts drying it becomes really sticky, something I dislike. Once it is dry on your lips it feels tight and dry and it can also make your lips look really dry as well. I would not recommend using this lipstick on days when your lips are already dry and/or cracked cause it will only emphasize that.

Once this lipstick is dry I find that it stays on for a very long time. Eventually, it starts to flake off and at that point I try and rub it all off because it does not look pretty when half of your dark, noticeable lipstick has worn off. This lipstick does leave a light noticeable stain to your lips and when it gets to this point I like to put a lip balm or gloss over top.

I definitely prefer this lipstick when it looks glossy as apposed to when it has dried to its suede finish. I probably wouldn't purchase anymore of these lipsticks, as I do not like the finish. I would give this 2.5 stars out of 5.

1 layer

2 layers

3 layers

Natural light

Artificial light

 

 

If you received a Revlon Selects package what did you like/dislike about these two products? Would you be willing to purchase more with your own money?

 

 

 

Swatched: Quo All About Eyes Palette

As I have been going through my collection over the last couple of weeks, and getting reacquainted with everything that I own, I thought it was about time that I started swatching and reviewing what I have.

The first palette I have to show is the Quo All About Eyes Palette. I picked this up from Shoppers Drug Mart on Boxing Day for 50% off. It's original price was $22, so I got it for $11. I have been wanting this palette for awhile now, ever since I saw it when I bought the Quo Back to Basics Palette. The colours are so me and the purples just look gorgeous in the pan.

Since swatching this palette I am a little disappointed with the colour payoff of some of the purples and I find that some of the shades are a little chalky. The chalkiness and fallout are minimal though and colour payoff is very good on most of the shadows. I may not like Quo's brushes, but all of the eyeshadows I have used so far have been of really good quality.


The eyeshadows are about the size of a loonie, so they will last a very long time. The packaging of this palette is so pretty and is definitely the most glamorous looking palette that I own. The lid is covered in gold sequins and looks very chic. Inside the palette there is a large mirror on one side which makes it perfect for travel and doing your makeup on the go. It also came with double sided sponge applicators, but I threw those out after using them to make the swatches.

Some of the colours were hard to photograph because they are so light, so hopefully you can see them. If you have a chance to pick up this palette some Shoppers may still have stock. I believe that they are still 50% off. This palette is definitely a winner!

 Swatches are done over Hard Candy's Eyeshadow Primer. There are no names for the colours, so I broke them up into groups of four and two.

 

Have you tried this palette before? What are some of your favourite Quo products?

 

 



Current Empties

So here are my current empties from the past few months. I've kinda been hoarding empty product containers and thought it was time to empty the empties bin. Since I am now keeping track of an inventory list I needed to get rid of all the empty products that weren't included on the list.

 

1) EOS Shave Cream - I bought this on a whim because it was on sale at Shoppers and I love the EOS Lip Balms. This was kind of a disappointment to me. I didn't find it overly moisturizing and I found it clogged up the razor. The smell was nice but I wouldn't repurchase this again. For less money I have used better shave gels and creams.

2) Herbal Essences Bye Bye Breakage 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner - I love this stuff. I got it on sale for $1 at Walmart but knew I would love it because I use Herbal Essences on a regular basis. I found that this shampoo really helped me with breakage and split ends. I have three more bottles to use up but I would repurchase.

3) Evolvh Shampoo & Conditioner - I got this in a past Glymm Bag and really enjoyed these samples. They smelled great and my hair felt really clean afterwards. I would repurchase this if it was more readily available.

4) Pantene Shampoo & Conditioner - I received these samples in a P&G Sampler Box and thought they were okay. I have never been a huge fan of Pantene hair products. I think they work mediocre. I would not repurchase the full sizes.

5) TruTerra Shampoo & Conditioner - I took these samples from a hotel in Toronto when I was there for a wedding. They smell like lemongrass and I liked how the scent lingered in my hair. However, I found the shampoo extremely drying and the conditioner didn't remedy that. I can't purchase a full size and I don't think that I would use this again.

6) Biore Pore Strip - I have used these before and really like them. I will continue to repurchase in the future.

7) Mai Couture Foundation Papers - This foundation was very shimmery and I really didn't like how it looked on my skin. I would not repurchase.

8) La Fresh Makeup Remover Wipes - The scent of these were ok, but I didn't enjoy using them. I felt like they left an oily residue on my skin. I would not repurchase.

9) Free Your Mane Shampoo & Conditioner - This was another Glymm Sample. I heard good things about this duo but when I finally got around to using it didn't see any results. I didn't really like the smell and my hair didn't feel any different after. I would not repurchase this.

10) Various Face Cream Samples - I used these over a week and the only one I somewhat liked was the Clinique Moisture Surge Intense lotion. I felt that the others were not good with my skin type and left an oily film on my skin and didn't fully absorb. I would repurchase the Clinique one though because it really helped my dry skin.

11) Caryl Baker Visage Eye Gel - I didn't see any results from using this but want to continue using an eye cream. This one is kind of expensive so I would not repurchase this one.

12) MAC Select Concealer - I transferred the rest of my concealer to this bottle when it would no longer squeeze out of the tube. I would repurchase this.

13) Mario Badescu Ceramide Eye Gel - This made me break out. I would not repurchase.

14) Avon Cream to Powder Eyeshadow - This was a really pretty silver-lavender colour and I used about 75% of the product before it dried out. I would repurchase this.

15) Clarins Extra Firming Day Cream - I liked this but I didn't think it was anything special. I would not repurchase.

16) Mario Badescu Cucumber Cleansing Lotion - I really really liked this toner. It smelt great and make my skin feel amazing! I would definitely repurchase.

17) Cyberderm H2O Hydration - This cream is really nice and I like that there isn't a scent to it. Because it is so expensive I would not repurchase.

18) L'Oreal Liquid Liner - This is my favourite liquid liner I've used so far. I would repurchase.

19) Marcelle Essentials Makeup Remover - This is my holy grail makeup remover. It is seriously amazing and nothing compares. I will use this forever and I cant find anything bad about it. If you haven't tried this before, get it, you wont be disappointed.

20) Nivea Natural Beauty Face Cleanser - This cleanser is really gentle but has slight exfoliating beads which really makes it feel like your skin is getting really clean. It smells really good and the bottle lasts a long time. I would repurchase this.

 

 

 

 

NOTD: Revlon & Butter London

This was my manicure for Christmas this year.

I used Revlon's Really Rosy as a base with Butter London's Tart With A Heart over top. When I first received this Butter polish from Glymm as an error I was kinda upset cause it just looks like just another gold glitter top coat. But now that I have finally used it, I can say that I love it! I picked up Really Rosy from the Dollarama a few weeks ago and have really been enjoying it both alone and with glitter on top.

Both of these polishes alone and layered together last about a week with minimal tip wear and no chipping.