Review of Maybelline DreamLumi Touch Highlighting Concealer

Sorry for the long gap between blog posts! I've been super busy.

Today's post is going to be a review of the not-so-new-anymore Maybelline DreamLumi Touch Highlighting Concealer. For starters: that's rather a long name!

Maybelline DreamLumi Touch Highlighting Concealer

I really like the packaging, although I'm disappointed the tube is only half full of actual product. Using this everyday, I went through a tube of this in a little more than a month (maybe longer; I can't really remember). I had to repurchase so I thought I would blog with pictures of a brand new tube.

Maybelline DreamLumi Touch Highlighting Concealer

As you can see, this does have a brush tip. When you first get the product, you have to twist the bottom a lot of times before any product actually comes out. In the second picture, you can sort of see a little blob of product that I twisted out.

I have the colour Ivory, the second lightest shade. The lightest shade is Radiant, which is the same shade as Ivory, but it has significantly more pink tones. Ivory definitely has more yellow tones in it.

swatch

Obviously, this swatch isn't blended out; this is what it looks like when you first apply it on your skin. If anyone needs colour reference, my skin tone is very pale; I am generally the lightest shade in any foundation or concealer I buy.

Now onto the technicalities of the concealer:

Colour: The colour is a really good match for my skin. This concealer is available in six shades, so there is a range for everybody. However, there is no deep dark colours available.

Pigmentation: This is not the most pigmented concealer out there. However, it does have very good coverage. I use this for my undereye circles, and it does a pretty good job of covering them up.

Longevity: This usually lasts a good five hours on me. It's still there after that time, but it has faded a little. This doesn't fall into fine lines on my eyes, but for those with more fine lines, or oily skin, this might settle or fade a little more.

Consistency: This isn't a super thick concealer, but it's thick enough to do the job. 

Claims: This product claims to highlight your face while concealing imperfections. I've already touched base on the coverage it gives, but as for whether it highlights or not- yes it does. It isn't super obvious, like a whole bunch of sparkle on your face, but it subtly makes your face glow.

swatch

No, this isn't just a random picture of my hand. I blended out the swatch above in an attempt to catch the highlighting on camera, but unfortunately the camera does not want to pick it up. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure why I'm even putting this picture in. Because I bet the entire internet wants to see a picture of my hand. You're welcome, Internet.

But at least you can see how well the colour matches my skin!

My Rating: 9/10 

I knocked off a point because it could have more coverage, but all in all, I highly recommend this and will be repurchasing this again!

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa

NOTD: China Glaze Make Some Noise and Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Kitty Kitty

Whew, that's a long title!!
I usually don't alternate with my nail polish (I like to have one solid colour), but I did this over the summer and I really liked it, so I decided to do it again!!

China Glaze Make Some Noise (index and ring fingers)

Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Kitty Kitty (thumb, middle and pinky fingers)

Isn't it cool looking? Well, maybe I'm the only one who thinks that. 

For anyone unfamiliar with the Sally Hansen Salon Effects, they are nail polish stickers (made of real nail polish) that you just stick directly onto your nail. They claim to last up to 10 days, but I usually can get a week of wear out of them.

One package of the Salon Effects gives you sixteen nail stickers (two packages of eight), a nail file, a cuticle stick and a detailed instruction booklet.

The China Glaze nail polish came out with the Spring 2012 collection, Electropop. You can see this in the bottle here:

China Glaze Make Some Noise

Taking pictures of this particular polish is frustrating, because the camera never wants to pick up how bright it really is. It's a lot brighter in real life.

So the previous picture of my manicure was my left hand, and since I alternated each nail, I thought I would show you my right hand too.

China Glaze Make Some Noise (thumb, middle and pinky fingers)

Sally Hansen Salon Effects (index and ring finger)

For the China Glaze nail polish I did only one coat of polish. Then I did a coat of top coat over every single nail.

I really like the way it turned out!!

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa

Monday Questionnaire: September 10th, 2012

So it's the start of a new week, which means another Monday Questionnaire!!

Let's get started!



1) Current Mood:
Stressed out!!! I have so much to get done in such a short span of time!!

2) What are you looking forward to most today?
Getting home, curling up on the couch with a cup of coffee, and watching my favourite show. It's the little things.

3) Someone is bringing you breakfast in bed, what is on the perfect tray?
Sausage and bacon definitely, a smoothie and maybe an omelette!

4) Current nail polish:
OPI's Just Spotted the Lizard.

5) Where do you keep your handbag/purse when you are at home?
On my desk chair in my room.

6) Current outfit: 
Black leggings and pink, red and white tribal print shirt. Very comfy!!

7) If you could try on any celeb's hairstyle for a day, who would you choose?
I really like Spencer Hasting's (Troian Bellisaro) hair on Pretty Little Liars. It always looks so perfectly styled, but not over the top.

8) Do you sleep with your bedroom door open or closed?
Closed, because it's just a habit now. Plus any sort of light/noise can keep me awake.

9) What is the last beauty product you finished?
Maybelline's Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer. I just repurchased it, so keep an eye out for a review coming soon!

10) Weekly Goals:
To get everything done that I need to, but not stress out too much. And to take time to relax.


So that's it for this week, thanks for reading!!

Hope everyone has a good week!!

Melissa

NOTD: OPI Just Spotted the Lizard

OPI Just Spotted the Lizard-natural light, two coats

Today's NOTD is a nail polish from OPI's Spiderman collection, Just Spotted the Lizard. This polish is a beautiful green-gold duochrome, and a dupe for Chanel's Peridot.

As you can see in the bottle, there is a hint of blue, but that doesn't translate onto the nail. In this picture, my nails look more gold with a hint of green, but here:

OPI Just Spotted the Lizard- natural light, two coats

I tried to capture how the polish looks green at certain angles. If you look at my ring and pinky fingers, you can kind of see it.

This nail polish was opaque in two coats. Unfortunately, I have a few problems with the formula. For one thing, brush strokes are very visible with this. And for another, I get the worst air bubbles with the nail polish. I don't know what it is, but I've never had such bad bubbles with any other colour before.

sunlight, two coats

You can clearly see the green/gold duochrome effect in this picture. It's such a pretty polish, and I think this will be one of my favourites for awhile!!

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Quick Update!

I know I just posted no more than two minutes ago, but I just wanted to do a really quick post to share some news.

While I was on summer vacation, I was posting fairly regularly, about every two-three days. But alas alack, now that school has started, I will be posting less frequently. I will probably be posting about once a week.

To my loyal readers, thank you! (You know who you are!)

To everyone else, disregard this, as this probably doesn't apply to you!

Just wanted to share this, so thanks for reading!!

Melissa

NOTD: Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Polish in Graphite Gravity

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Polish in Graphite Gravity-natural light, two coats

Today's NOTD is a polish (or line of polishes) I've been eyeing for a while. It's Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Polish. I saw these before I went on vacation, and was curious enough to find reviews for them. The reviews were all positive, so when I came back, I decided to pick one up.

I was torn between Graphite Gravity (black with silver) or Electric Emerald (green), but I went with the black because it goes with everything I wear.

The instructions on the back are relatively easy to follow. You simply apply one coat, let it dry, apply another thick coat and hold the magnet over each nail for ten seconds. Make sure you paint the second coat one by one, or else the polish will dry before you can hold the magnet over it.

I was very pleased with the results. The cuticle guard ensured I didn't touch of my nails with the magnet, and the pattern was pronounced enough for people to really notice my nails and ask what I'm wearing.

sunlight-two coats

Isn't it pretty? I'm happy with this, and I think I might want to try others from the line!!

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa

My China Glaze Collection- Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of my China Glaze collection!! To see Part 1, click here.

Today I will be walking you through the second half of my China Glaze nail polish collection. Well, that's it for intro, I suppose, so let's get to the polish!

1) China Glaze Velvet Bow

China Glaze Velvet Bow

Velvet Bow is from China Glaze's last holiday collection, Let it Snow. This is deep wine shade, with such a smooth formula. It's a great way to wear dark, vampy colours without going completely black. It is a jelly formula, which means it looks glossy once it dries, even without a top coat.

It's a little sheer, so three coats makes it the most opaque. It can get a little goopy.

2) China Glaze Holly-Day

China Glaze Holly-Day

Also from the Let it Snow collection, Holly-Day is a simple one-a creamy forest green. It's incredibly smooth and self leveling. Only needs two coats to look great. 

3) China Glaze Champagne Bubbles

China Glaze Champagne Bubbles

I love China Glaze, but this nail polish is definitely not one of my favourites. I think I've worn it once, when I first got it.

Again from the Let it Snow collection, this polish is a yellow-gold frost with silver glitter particles. It just seems so...outdated. Ah well. You can't win them all.

Formula is ok, I would give it two coats.

4) China Glaze Tinsel Town

China Glaze Tinsel Town

Once again, this polish is from the Let it Snow collection (it was another one of my favourite collections, along with the Hunger Games). 

This doesn't really seem like a Christmas colour, but it is still super pretty! It has a charcoal gray sheer base, filled with silver and bluish glitter. 

Removal is a pain, but formula is good-two/three coats works well.

5) China Glaze Flirty Tankini

China Glaze Flirty Tankini

Sorry for the different angle on this one; I was having a hard time getting it to look accurate. 

This polish is from China Glaze's most recent summer collection, Summer Neons. I would call this a toned down neon. It is a orange and pink based coral, with pink shimmer. In natural light, it looks like the colour in the bottle, but in artificial light, it looks hot/neon pink.

It dries sort of matte, so a top coat is definitely needed for some shine! I would give this three coats.

6) China Glaze Make Some Noise

China Glaze Make Some Noise

Ok, so I was having a very hard time getting an accurate picture of this. In reality, it is much more bright and more red. 

This is from the Spring 2012 collection, Electropop. It is a bright red/coral creme. Really glossy and self leveling. Two coats is good.

7) China Glaze Smoke and Ashes

China Glaze Smoke and Ashes

Smoke and Ashes is from March's Hunger Games collection (I told you there would be more). It was my most wanted from the collection, and I literally went all over the city looking for it. 

It is dark base with green and blue shimmer. It is darker than it appears in the picture.

It is almost as annoying to remove as a glitter and a lot more messy. Good thing it's so pretty that you never want to take it off! It is super opaque, needing only one coat.

So that's it for my entire China Glaze collection! Be sure to check out Part 1 and my entire OPI collection.

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa 

My China Glaze Collection-Part 1

So recently, I did two posts with Parts 1 and 2 (click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2) of my OPI nail polish collection.
Today, I'll be writing about Part 1 of my China Glaze collection, another one of my favourite nail polish brands.

Let's get started!

China Glaze Nail Polishes:

1) China Glaze Riveting

China Glaze Riveting

Riveting is from China Glaze's Hunger Games- Colours from the Capitol collection, released March 2012 to coincide with the release of the movie.

A vivid orange jelly, this polish is just bursting with colour and sparkle, with golden flecks at the surface. It has a great formula; needing only two thin coats to be opaque.

2) China Glaze Dress Me Up

China Glaze Dress Me Up

Dress Me Up is also from the Hunger Games collection. This one is mid-tone nude/rose shade, which dries more nude than pink on the nails. It has a very soft appearance, and dries very smoothly.

Probably needs two coats to look best. 

3) China Glaze Agro

China Glaze Agro

Agro is once again, from the Hunger Games collection (noticing a pattern? -I loved this collection!!!)

It's a beautiful shimmery/frosty olive-moss green with gold shimmer particles.

Again, two coats is best for this one.

4) China Glaze Harvest Moon

China Glaze Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon is also from the Hunger Games collection (last one, I swear...well, for this post anyway). This is a shimmery copper shade, which reminds me of a penny. It looks beautiful in sunlight, as it really brings out the gold shimmer within. 

Once again, two coats looks best.

5) China Glaze It's Alive!

China Glaze It's Alive!

It's Alive! is from last year's Halloween collection, Haunting. A green jelly base packed to the brim with green and gold glitter, this was the standout of the entire collection. A real pain to remove, but opaque in two coats. 

6) China Glaze Ring in the Red

China Glaze Ring in the Red

Ring in the Red is from last year's holiday collection, entitled "Let it Snow." The base is a sheer red, but it is packed with gorgeous red glitter. 

Because this is so sheer, three or four coats makes this opaque.

7) China Glaze Twinkle Lights

China Glaze Twinkle Lights

Also from the Let it Snow collection, Twinkle Lights is basically Christmas in a bottle. It's a clear base, filled with gold, green and red glitter. Absolutely stunning. As it has a clear base, it's probably best to layer it, but it can be worn on its own. It's gorgeous either way!!

If worn alone, three coats is good for full coverage.

So that's the end of Part 1 of my China Glaze collection! Stay tuned for Part 2, which be coming in a couple of days!!

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa