Review: ELF Studio Blush in Candid Coral

Today's review is of a blush from ELF that I have worn every single day since I got it without fail. I've been really into coral colours for summer, and this blush is no exception.

ELF's studio blushes are quite popular, as they are very inexpensive but very good quality. That doesn't change with Candid Coral.

Candid Coral is a beautiful corally pink with golden shimmer. It adds such a beautiful glow to your face, but doesn't make you look like a disco ball!

You can see the glitter (yes, it isn't a fine shimmer, it is glitter) in the pan, but when you swatch it, it sort of disappears. That being said, it is visible on your face when you are in light, but it looks so pretty that I don't mind it.

The texture of this is a tiny bit chalky, but it doesn't dry your face out. It does have a matte appearance despite being so shimmery. So don't worry, you oily skinned people, the shimmer in this won't make you get oilier faster.

Overall, I am thrilled with this blush and intend to wear it for a very long time!

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: ELF Studio Blush in Tickled Pink

Hi guys, sorry I've been so absent lately. I got a part time job and I have a lot less free time now!

Anyways, today's post is a quick review from one of my favourite line of blushes, ELF Studio Blushes.

These are some of the most raved about blushes, because they are so inexpensive and really high quality.

I have the shade Tickled Pink, which is a very pretty light dusty pink. This is a matte blush. In some lights it can look cool toned, in other's more warm.

I chose this shade on ELF's website because it looked like the lightest one there, and I am very pale. I was right, it is very light, so there is a chance it may not show up on you if you have a darker skin tone. 

The pigmentation is good, it's just such a light shade, that it can be tricky to make it show up. But I know the rest of the line has some darker colours if that would be what you are looking for.

These retail for $3 on ELF's website, or in some stores.

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa

Review: MAC Blush in Dame

Mac Powder Blush in Dame 

This is my one and only MAC blush, because there aren't honestly very many blushes that MAC sells that I would actually wear. Plus they cost about $22 CAD, and I can good quality blushes from the drugstore!

I'm not bashing this blush though, I actually really like it.

Dame is a matte rose pink. It might look sort of scary and dark in the pan, but it's really not. I'm really pale and it works well. The pigmentation isn't that great. Well, it was when I first got it, and I had to use a really light hand, but now, well it's a kind of a weird story.

I don't know if this is just me, or if it happens to other people, but my blush developed a sort of hard layer over top, so I had to try really hard to get the tiniest bit of colour. Before that happened, it was very pigmented. After a while, I just scraped off the top layer, and then it was pigmented again. Weird. 

It's a really pretty colour, though. It can be light enough for daytime, or you can deepen it up for nighttime. 

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Utter PAN-demonium! March 2013

So today's post is something I've never done on my blog before, but I thought it might be fun! This is going to be a post all about products that I've "hit pan on", or you can see the bottom pan on it. The reason I'm sharing this is because if I've hit pan on something, it most likely means I like it a lot! So this post might give you some new items to try! Let's get started!

FACE:

1) L'oreal True Match Powder in Neutral 1

This a powder that I've been using for quite awhile now, and I really enjoy. It's a much loved product around the beauty community anyway, probably because of how natural it looks and how much coverage it gives.


2. Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation in Ivory

I've already posted a review of this foundation, (you can see that here) but I absolutely love it! It works well on my dry skin, and has great coverage. I've been using it solidly for about six months, and I'm only just running out of it now. Luckily I have a backup!

EYES:

1. MAC Eyeshadow in Phloof!

Finally hit pan on this little guy after using it for about two years. Not much to say about it, except that it's a frosty pink toned light shade, and my absolute favourite shade ever to use for highlighting. 

2. ELF Single Eyeshadow in Pebble

This is the eyeshadow I use everyday to fill in my eyebrows, which is probably why I hit pan on it. It's a matte taupe colour, and the reason I like it so much is because it isn't too warm toned, and it doesn't make my eyebrows look red. 

3. Covergirl Eyeshadow in Tapestry Taupe

I've talked a lot about this one on my blog already, but I finally hit pan on it this month! I could have sworn it was a bottomless shadow, seeing as I've only just hit pan on it, and I've used it A LOT. A great basic to have in any collection. 

4. Urban Decay "Naked" Eyeshadow

This is from the first Naked palette, but it can also be bought on it's own. It's a matte light brown, which is wonderful for just running through your crease, which looks natural, but also adds a little something to a neutral shadow look. 

5. Smashbox Liner Palette

I hit pan on one of the cream liners in this palette that I've been using for a long time, on a daily basis. It's just a plain black liner, and I used it everyday on my upper lash line. I finally bought a new liner this month, which is a liquid liner, so I don't need to use this one anymore. But it was a good liner while it lasted!

So that's it for my PAN-demonium this month! This probably won't be a monthly thing, but I'll do another one when I have more things to make a post on.

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: NYC Bronzer in Sunny

NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder in Sunny

Today's post is a review of one of my new found daily products, NYC's Bronzer in Sunny. This is a much loved product in the beauty world, mainly for two reasons- it's a very good bronzer, and it's so CHEAP. NYC is one of the cheaper drugstore brands anyway, but I find that their line is very hit and miss. Luckily for everyone, this one is a hit!

I never used to wear bronzer. I was always too scared to put it on, as I always assumed it would look very orange, dark and unnatural on me. 

(I really like the design of this bronzer. Unfortunately, the outer packaging looks sort of cheap and flimsy. But it is made up for because of the awesome bronzer inside and the cute sun design of the powder!)

The reason I like this bronzer so much is because of how natural it looks on me. It's a very light colour. That being said, it can be darkened to sort more medium coloured skintones. I am very pale, and it works well on me. Which is awesome, because a lot of bronzers can look way too dark on very pale skin tones! However, it might not show up as well on darker skintones. 

It may look very orange in the swatch, but it doesn't translate onto the skin that way. It just gives a very natural glow to your face without being sparkly. This is a MATTE bronzer, which makes it good for contouring, or even an all over your face application if you use a light hand. 

This is a pretty heavily applied swatch on my hand, as I wanted you to see the true colour of it if you built it up. I wear it much lighter on my face. 

It wears well, it's a good colour, it's easily buildable, and you don't go through it very fast because you need so little! An all star product, in my opinion.

This retails for around $4 CAD, and can be bought wherever NYC products are sold. 

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: Benefit Erase Paste

Review of Benefit Erase Paste in No.1 Fair

Today's review is of a concealer I've been wanting for a long time, and one that I finally got for Christmas. As you can see above, Benefit Erase Paste comes with an instruction booklet and a little spatula to scoop out product. 

Since I'm very pale, I got the lightest shade they have available, No.1 Fair. I was originally wanting this to cover up my under eye circles. A salmon toned concealer is the best shade to cover up blue toned under eye circles, so that's why I was interested in trying this.

But since I've been using this, I really like using this to cover up blemishes too, since this blends so seamlessly into the skin.

Benefit calls this a "brightening camouflage" and it definitely does brighten. It brightens up your under eye, but it also doesn't call attention to any blemishes you might put this one. Best of both worlds!

I really like this concealer. I wasn't too sure about it at first; I thought it might be too orange and too thick to work on my skin. But it really does blend easily, despite being such a thick consistency. It's on the thicker, creamier end of the spectrum of concealers. It covers up very nicely; it's very opaque. When applying this, I would advise patting this on, instead of swiping. 

Despite being so salmon toned, it looks very natural, even on my cool toned skin. 

Another great thing about this concealer- it lasts very long without fading or creasing. If you have older skin, it might crease more.

I also really like the packaging of this. It's a sleek little pot, which looks really cute, but also practical.

Benefit Erase Paste costs $30 CAD for 0.15oz, and is sold at Sephora and Benefit stores.

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa

Review: ELF Cream Blush in Flirt

Elf Cream Blush in Flirt

I've always been a big fan of ELF products. They are pretty great quality, and very reasonably priced. This blush is a part of their studio line, which means it cost me $3, instead of their other stuff, which usually costs only a dollar.

Elf Cream Blush in Flirt

At first glance,this can look like a very bright colour. But when applied on the cheeks, it is a really nice wash of colour and looks very natural. 

swatch, unblended

swatch, blended

See how pretty it is? It isn't overwhelming at all.

The Breakdown:

Packaging: This packaging is cute, but very bulky. It's a big plastic jar, so it isn't very heavy, but it takes up a lot of room in your makeup drawer. This contains 0.15g of product, so you get a lot, but there is a lot of excess packaging.

Colour: This shade is what I would describe as a matte, bright, baby pink. It looks super bright in the container, but on the cheeks, it appears as a natural flush (all depending on how much you put on- it is buildable). It is pigmented, but no so much that you have to worry about clown cheeks when you first put it on.

This comes in six shades, as available on Elf's website.

Formula: This has a weird sort of texture. It feels sort of like Play-doh and it's very squishy. They don't feel like either a cream or a mousse. They sort of feel like...a creamy sponge? They may seem a little dry at first, but that isn't a issue for me. To avoid dryness, I use my fingers to apply, and I pat it on, instead of swiping. 

Longevity: These last decently long without fading. I don't usually put on much to begin with (to keep it looking natural), but it is still there after about five hours.

My Rating: 8.5/10

This a really great blush. It looks natural, it has great pigmentation. Would highly recommend!!

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa

Review: Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Foundation

Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Makeup in 110 Ivory

For about a year and a half before I purchased this foundation, I had been using Revlon Colorstay regular liquid foundation in Combo/Oily and then I switched to Normal/Dry formula. So before I go into reviewing this, I'll tell you about my skin type.

I used to believe I had combination skin, because my T-zone would get oily. But now I know that I have dry skin, with a bit of an oily T-zone. Because my regular Colorstay foundation in Combo/Oily would always look cakey on me, I switched to the Normal/Dry. This worked better.

So I have sort of acne prone skin. I get occasional breakouts on mostly my chin, and sometimes my forehead and cheeks. I have very dry patches around my nose, mouth and eyebrows. And my chin and forehead can get a little bit oily, but my major worry patch for greasiness is my nose. My pores are big around my nose and on my forehead. Does that cover every issue? I think so. Yes, my skin is kind of a pain. 

Anyway, so my Normal/Dry foundation would still look a bit cakey on me (even when applied with a damp sponge, which I do every day), so when I saw this I decided to pick it up and give it a go.

Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation in 110 Ivory

I picked this up in the lightest shade, Ivory (that's the shade I usually am). From the pictures above, you can see what the packaging is like. This is a bulky, heavy and unnecessarily large glass jar. This contains 0.8 fluid ounces of product, so this has a lot of excess packaging. But for a drugstore product, it does feel rather fancy. 

This cost me around $15 CAD at my Wal-Mart, so this isn't very cheap.

When you open the jar and remove the white plastic protective covering, this is what you see. Creamy, whipped foundation. I was expecting the texture of this to be like the Maybelline Dream Mousse products, but it isn't. It's feels like a very thick liquid foundation. It sort of feels like a melted ice cream,or milkshake. 

swatch

As you can see, this is quite a yellow toned foundation, just like the original Colorstay. I have pink undertones, but this matches my skin rather well. But for people with very pink undertones (mine are more neutral), this may not match very well.

This foundation for me gives even more coverage than the original Colorstay. So for people looking for light coverage, look elsewhere, because this gives medium-heavy coverage. 

swatch, blended

It blends well, as you can barely see it in this picture here. 

I've seen other people say that this looks completely natural on the skin, so there must be something wrong with my skin, because this still looked cakey when I put it on with my fingers. So I started using a damp sponge again, and that works better for me. This looks less natural on my skin than liquid Colorstay, but it does deliver more coverage. 

This foundation claims to wear for 24 hours, but it doesn't for me. It wears down a bit after 13 hour days, but for people with oilier skin, it will wear even less. 

Overall:

Packaging: The jar this comes in is pretty bulky and heavy. It could definitely been toned down to be more compact. And also, you have to dip your fingers into this day after day. After awhile, bacteria is going to build up in there. 

Colour: This is a very yellow toned foundation. For me, this isn't a big issue, but for some with very pink undertones, it might present a problem. This foundation is available is 12 shades, and it is part of their permanent line.

Formula: As previously mentioned, the consistency of this is very thick, creamy Cool-Whip sort of texture. It blends and wears well on my face, but still looks slightly cakey on me. It has a lot of coverage, and when blended, feels quite light on the skin. It definitely gives a matte finish on me, but for oilier skin, it may appear more dewy.

Another note, this doesn't have SPF in it. That being said, I have seen some reviews where they mention having an SPF 20, but my particular jar doesn't have any.

Longevity: Like I said, I can get around 12-13 hours of wear out of this, but not near 24. I find that a bit of an excessive claim.

Claims: This product claims to wear for 24 hours, and while I've already touched base on that, it also claims to provide buildable and full coverage (which it does. Good job, Revlon), and to have a soft matte finish all day long. It does that, too but not the "all day long" part. 

My Rating: 8.5/10

This isn't the best foundation I've ever used, nor is it the worst. I knocked off some marks because of the bit of cakey ness on skin, but that may just be me. It has more coverage than original Colorstay, but looks less natural.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this foundation, and I think on people with normal or oilier skin and yellow tones, this would look great! But I do enjoy wearing  it on own skin, too.

Thanks for sticking to the end of this pretty long post!!

Melissa

I <3 Drugstore Makeup Tag!

So emilynoel83 of Youtube tagged me to this tag. So without further ado, here is the "I <3 Drugstore Makeup Tag"! It consists of eight questions, all about my favorite brands/products you can get from your local drugstore.

Let's jump right in!!

1) What is your favourite drugstore makeup brand?
This is sort of a hard question. I like lots of brands from the drugstore; as I think they all have their hits and misses. I can't just choose one! Ok, I'll pick one for each category. I like Revlon for their face products, I like Covergirl for their eye products, Maybelline for their mascaras, and Revlon for lip products.

2) What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products?
My favourite face product
 would have to be a primer from Rimmel- The Fix and Perfect Pro.

Rimmel Fix and Perfect Primer

This makes my foundation stay on a lot longer!! And it makes my face very smooth and soft. I'm not sure that's viable criteria for a good primer, but whatever.

My favourite cheek product is a highlighter from Revlon- the Colorstay Mineral Finishing Powder in Rose.

Revlon Colorstay Mineral Powder in Rose

It gives such a nice glow to the cheeks. I apply it on my cheekbones, above my eyebrows and on my cupid's bow and it really brightens up my face.

Another favourite cheek product is a blush from Rimmel. It's in Pink Sorbet. It's more pigmented than any of my MAC blushes, and it gives a nice sheen to the face without being shimmery or sparkly. 

Rimmel Lasting Finish Blush in Pink Sorbet

My favourite lip product is also from Revlon. It's the Lip Butter in Sugar Frosting, which is a light pink with gold shimmer. It's a good way to do a nude without washing yourself out.

Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Frosting

I also really love all the eos lip balms. They make your lips very soft without being too thin or too thick. And they smell great!

3) Least favourite product?

That would have to be something I bought from Hard Candy (sold at Walmart) a while ago. I was hoping it would be a good highlight, but it turned out to be a chalky white powdery with yellow glitter scattered around. Not a fan.

Hard Candy Moon Glow Powder

4) What is your best makeup bargain?

For me, that would be Covergirl eyeshadow (the singles, duos, trios and quads). They run about $3-$6 CAD, and they have really great pigmentation and colour payoff. One of my favourites is the colour Tapestry Taupe.

Covergirl Eyeshadow in Tapestry Taupe

5) What is your favourite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)

Annabelle eyeliners! They are such amazing quality and they are so inexpensive!! They are comparable to Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliners.

Annabelle Eyeliners

6) A drugstore product that is overpriced?

I don't have a specific product, but I think a lot of L'Oreal products are overpriced, when they're quality doesn't really surpass some more reasonable brands.

7) Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!

Well, this question brings me back to the Annabelle eyeliners. Particularly a line called the Smoothliners. A lot of the colours in the line are dupes for many of the Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliners, which are about three times the price.

Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Perversion

Annabelle Smoothliner in Brownie

These aren't exact dupes (one is black and the other is brown), but the intensity of their pigmentation is very similar.

8) Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype?

I know this isn't technically a drugstore priced item, but these are sold at the drugstore. And they're Essie nail polishes. I know a lot people love them, but I own three, and they just don't live up to the quality of my OPI and China Glaze ones.

Essie Polishes in (L-R) Case Study, Fishnet Stockings, Fiji

 

So that's the entire tag! Thanks for reading!!

Melissa