May Luvs

Hi everyone!

So, it’s that time again! These are always my favourite posts to read and write about!

 1. Marc Anthony Oil of Morocco Argan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner

I picked up this duo on a midnight Shoppers run at the end of April and I’ll admit, I didn’t have very high hopes for it once I read the ingredients list, but Kathryn from Provincial Beauty had a very positive review of the Marc Anthony line which encouraged me to give it a try and I’m so glad I did! I noticed that when I let my hair air dry, it was actually a bit dry to the touch and just not soft at all! When I started blow-drying my hair, that’s when I noticed the turn around! My hair became so silky and soft! I’m not sure if this is a heat-activated shampoo and conditioner, but the heat really made a difference!

 2. Pandora’s Makeup Box Eye Shadow in Honey

I raved about this eye shadow in my Pandora review so it’s not a surprise that it’s part of my May Luvs! This is a fantastic every day color and has just a little bit of golden shimmer which I love! I think it’s a colour that will look great on anyone.

3. LUSH Mint Julep Lip Scrub

I use this every day and not only does it leave my lips feeling soft, but it tastes SO GOOD! I love anything peppermint and combining it with chocolate, well I’m in love! I also love how tingly my lips feel afterwards and the fact that I can eat it all up! I’m always extra generous so that I can eat up any “leftovers”!

4. Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach Kiss

After finishing this product in Peppermint and loving the fact that it didn’t have any tint to it whatsoever, I decided to try one with just a hint of colour. Peach Kiss is perfect for just that and is a great lip balm to boot! You can see from my swatch that there is just a hint of nude shimmer to it.

5. AG Smooth Argan Flat Iron Firewall Spray

I quite like AG products, especially their shampoo and liquid varnish spray so when they come out with an argan oil-based line a couple of months ago, I was anxious to try it. I bought a travel-sized version of the flat iron spray just to try it out and I loved it! It smells good, is lightweight so I never feel like there’s anything weighing my hair down and leaves my hair so smooth and silky after straightening! I highly recommend this, it’s fantastic!

I can’t wait to see what everyone’s favourites have been for the month! Hope you enjoyed mine! Have a good evening!

Mini Shoppers Shopping Spree!

Hi!

This past Saturday was 20x the points day and seeing as how I was with my fiance, I decided to exercise a little bit of self-restraint! As you can see, I only picked up three things!

I have been wanting to try Bioderma for the last couple of months, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found this mini bottle of Bioderma Micelle Solution for only $6.95! The number one thing on my list though was the new Benefit lip glosses so I got one in Sugarbomb, which is a really lovely shimmery nude. Lastly, I picked up the Clarins Pure Melt Cleansing Gel which I finally picked up in the full size after finishing my little sample. It’s just been really nice to remove makeup and dirt with because it’s so soft and gentle for my dry skin. Anyone else go on points day?

Crazy Cat Corner

Hello!

I’ve just realized that it has been more than a month since I’ve posted any kitty pics! I took this beauty shot just after Yoshi woke up :)

Meet: Julep–Parker!

Hi!

This polish was a complete surprise for me to receive because Steph from Canadian Beauty Reviews kindly sent this to me after I had commented on her Julep Mystery Box post that I had been dying for this colour and my own Mystery Box had been a bit disappointing. Isn’t that so sweet?!! Ahhh, I was so excited when I opened up the package! Thank you!!

Parker is described as a “golden tangerine creme” perfect for the summer season. Very true! It was a little bit streaky for me, so I needed about 3 coats to get the colour opaque. One coat of Out the Door and I have been chip free for 3 days!

Thank you again Steph!

Lush Goodies!

Hello! This is for all the Lush lovers out there (which now includes me)!

After seeing so many Lush hauls and must-haves, I decided that I had to go out and try all of these products that Lush Lovers like Steph at Canadian Beauty Reviews constantly rave about! I have picked up the occasional bath bomb and I have two lip scrubs, but I’ve never tried anything else. I needed some recommendations on what to get, so who better to ask than Steph?! She was so helpful in recommending both her favourite products and products that she thought I would like that I literally walked into Lush with a huge list of things written on Hello Kitty stationary!

I walked out of Lush with: BB Seaweed Fresh Face Mask, Coconut Deodorant Powder, Ocean Salt Face and Body Scrub, Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub, Sweetie Pie Shower Jelly, 4 soaps (Sultana of Soap, Sexy Peel, Ice Blue and The Godmother), Buffy Solid Body Butter and the Comforter Bubble Bar (pink and white candy goodness)! 

And of course, there are always samples! More to add to my Glossybox sample storage boxes

So far, I am LOVING Coconut Deodorant Powder, Rub Rub Rub and Ocean Salt! This haul made me so happy so thank you Steph for all the great suggestions and I will gladly welcome more!

Glossybox Weekend DIY

Hi Girls!

After reading a post by Frances on decorating her Birchboxes and organizing her samples with them, I knew I had to give it a try too! Who knew there would come a time when we needed storage for our wealth of beauty samples?!

I only decorated two Glossyboxes, one for face and hair products. The third box will be for makeup once our May Glossyboxes arrive! Mine aren’t as pretty as the ones Frances’ did, but I actually quite like the muted pink colour of the Glossybox so I didn’t want to cover it all up.

So many samples and having a constant goodie bag at all times!

Review–Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Unfortunately, my staycation is officially over as of this Sunday, but I guess I’d better go back to work to feed the makeup habit!

Today I’ve got the new Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Natural Collection to share with you that was just released last month in Sephora stores across Canada! I’m more familiar with MUFE’s cream eye shadows than I am with their lip products so I had some high expectations for this new collection! These lipsticks boast a smooth and effortlessly gliding texture and promise maximum hydration all thanks to the inclusion of cupuaçu butter, candelilla and beeswax in its formulation.

There are three finishes in this collection: satin, iridescent and diamond. I got N23 – Diamond Baby Pink ($22) and N20 – Iridescent Pink Gold, both of which are very versatile everyday shades.

These lipsticks are also really great for layering because of the different finishes they all have, so I gave that a try too! I came out with something not quite as frosty as N23, but a bit bolder in colour than N20! I like it!

Packaging: Sleek and luxurious. You really feel like you have “grown up” makeup when you have these lipsticks!

Formula: No surprise here, but both lipsticks were very smooth and silky upon application. N23 was a little bit more gritty in texture thanks to the bits of glitter inside. I usually like to wear a balm underneath or gloss on top when wearing lipstick, but I didn’t need to with either of these! I didn’t feel dry at all and felt happy just wearing them as is.

So, the scientist in me always likes to look into why certain ingredients set a particular product apart from the others. In the case of the Rouge Artist Natural lipsticks, it is the use of cupuaçu butter which comes from the seeds of the cupuaçu fruit found in the rainforest. Interesting fact, cupuaçu is actually in the same genus family as cocoa! So, it has to be awesome, right?! It’s an alternative to the use of lanolin which, in human usage, comes from the sebaceous glands of sheep…yum. Cupuaçu butter also has very similar hydration properties to cocoa butter so imagine this on your lips!

Final Verdict: I love the fact that I can take advantage of the layering effects of this new MUFE collection and that there are so many colours and finishes to choose from (50 of them)! You can also slowly build up the colour to go from the look of a tinted balm to the intensity of a lipstick to match your comfort level. I think I might have to grab a satin finish and see what that’s like along with possibly a few other more intense colours. I think these are definitely worth getting if you don’t already own something in an iridescent or diamond finish. The $22 price point is also not bad considering the versatility of the product.

Has anyone tried this new MUFE collection yet? What did you think?

a-england - Tristam AKA “The Prettiest Navy Blue Holo of Them All”

Happy Friday!

May I introduce you to a-england’s Tristam! The colour and formula are an absolute dream! You NEED this colour in your life! It’s a gorgeous navy blue scattered holo that has such a richness to it. Get it. All I needed was two coats with my new Out The Door Topcoat and I was done! I even had some sunshine available so you could see how awesome it looks in the sun!

As a side note, I think OTD is now going to replace Seche Vite for me. There is no polish shrinkage and most importantly no toluene! The finish is still nice and shiny and the drying time was about the same as Seche.

Thursday Nail Mail!

Hello!

Normally nothing particularly interesting happens on Thursdays, but today the postman rang and said I had “a couple” of things to pick up! *squeals*

Nail Polish Canada just started carrying a-england at the beginning of this week and I had signed up for an early access code on Monday, proceeded to then forget about signing up and by the time I remembered, a number of my lemmings were already gone…but I did manage to snag Tristam from The Mythicals Collection! I already own Princess Sabra and Order of the Garter which I have yet to wear so I think an a-england swatchfest is in order!

In addition to Tristam, I also picked up Color Club-Revvvolution which is a gorgeous black holo and the Out the Door Topcoat which I’ve heard is quite good. I also received my “free” nail strips from PERL who had a promotion going on a few months back where you filled out a survey and then it return, provided a promotional code for a free box of nail strips. I use the term “free” loosely because I still had to pay for shipping which was $5.25, which all in all for a box of nail strips is still not a bad price.

Oh, and yesterday a friend of mine sent me the picture below saying I just had to get one! I think the real challenge would be convincing my fiance to sleep under a nail polish-covered duvet! If anyone is interested in actually purchasing one, the company is DENY Designs!

Have a great day everyone!

Review–NYX Jumbo Eye Shadow Pencils with Swatches!

Hello Stars!

I hope everyone is doing well! I thought I’d share some thoughts on the NYX Jumbo Eye Shadow Pencils I picked up in my last Beautyjoint haul. Let me tell you, I had a very hard time choosing just three colours and not the entire collection! I mean, look at what I was faced with! Must have all of the colours!

I already had Milk from the January 2012 Luxe Box and I just loved the consistency and fatness of the pencil! I use Milk as a means of intensifying brightly coloured eye shadows, so I wanted to get a couple of eye pencils that I might be able to use as actual eye shadows which brings me to Sparkle Nude, Purple Velvet and Strawberry Milk ($3.99 USD)!

 

Packaging: As I mentioned above, I love fat pens and pencils just for writing with, so why wouldn’t I love that quality in an eye shadow pencil?!

Formula: Very smooth and creamy and just glides across the skin. Most of my cream eye shadows are in pots so it’s nice to have a non-messy alternative that happens to have an amazing consistency. It’s actually sort of fun “colouring in” the eyelid as there is virtually no tugging on the skin. Pigmentation is also quite good as my above swatches are also without a primer. I would suggest wearing a primer underneath if you’re planning on wearing these shadows all day as they do crease after a couple of hours (at least on me).

Scent: None

Final Verdict: I don’t know what else to say other than, these are a must in any girl’s makeup library! There is a colour or more for everyone from neutrals to fun and vibrant colours. I especially love the more metallic shades for the upcoming summer season. I can’t get enough of these guys and for the price, they really are a great product!

Glymm “Bag” May 2012

Hello Beauty Boxers!

I will try not to repeat what a lot of other bloggers have said about this month’s change in Glymm packaging and pricing, but very quickly, Glymm –> Green so Box –> Bag and $10/month –> $12/month. The price increase is probably one the more surprising moves in this soap opera of beauty boxes. I suppose I should be glad that the $10 rate will still apply as long as you keep your subscription…Come to think of it, out of all the beauty sample subscription services we have available in Canada, Glymm is probably the only one that could have changed their packaging from a box to a bag because they don’t even have the word “box” in their name!

Instead of a pink cardboard box this month, we all received a pink makeup bag in a renewed effort to be more “green”. Now, while I do think this is a very cute bag, I don’t really believe this is more green than having a recyclable cardboard box…this makeup bag is only “recyclable” in the sense that I can reuse it, but once I have more than three of these guys, am I just supposed to give them away? I don’t mean to be difficult, but I don’t really understand the rationale behind this. I guess the real question is what the makeup bag is made of? Anyway, onward to the main attraction!

 

Here is what I received in this month’s Glymm bag:

CK Shock for Her and Him

Excitement Level: I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with perfume samples now although I do enjoy discovering new scents. Unfortunately, I already received a rollerball version of the woman’s scent in a previous Luxe Box, so there wasn’t much to discover this time! I thought maybe my fiance would like the men’s fragrance, but he found it to be quite feminine-smelling…

I Received: 1.2mL/$1.08 good for 35 sprays (new feature on Glymm’s product info card. Useful!)

Full Size: 50mL/$45.00 both His and Hers

Coola Mineral Matte Cucumber Face Sunscreen

Excitement Level: Yay! I have been looking for sunblock specifically for the face so this will be fun to try! I love that it’s paraben free and hydrates with shea butter too!

I Received: 5mL/$3.60 good for 4 uses

Full Size: 50mL/$36.00

NuMe HydroPunch Hydrating Conditioner

Excitement Level: Shampoo and conditioner samples seem to be a running theme in beauty boxes! At least I can use this month’s NuMe product! How many of you actually wore the feather hair extensions?The thing I really love about this sample is the fact that it’s in a tube and not a plastic packet. I will probably try this product over one in a packet just for the convenience!

I Received: 20mL/$2.00 good for 4 uses

Full Size: 250mL/$24.99

Cargo Eye Shadow Duo in Vienna

Excitement Level: Is it weird that I’m not a fan of Cargo eye shadows? I just find the pigmentation to be not quite as good as some other brands. This is an interesting shadow duo though in terms of colour combination so I’ll give it a try and see how it goes.

I Received: *FULL SIZE* good for 36 months!

Full Size: $25.00

Caudalie Vinexpert Anti-Aging Serum Eyes and Lips

Excitement Level: I really loved the Caudalie samples I have received, but I haven’t bit the bullet yet to buy a full size product of theirs on my own because the skin care line can be quite expensive. I’m almost scared to love this serum!

I Received: 7mL/$15.40 good for 40 uses

Full Size: 15mL/$33.00

Caudalie Vinosource SOS Thirst-Qunching Serum

Caudalie Moisturizing Sorbet 

Excitement Level: Same sentiment as above plus awwwwww! Such cute packaging! What does the sample look like inside? Is it encased in something else? I’m too scared to open it! This duo are meant to be used together.

I Received: Serum – 1mL/$1.60, Sorbet – 1mL/$0.95 each good for 3 uses

Full Size: Serum – 30mL/$48.00, Sorbet – 40mL/$38.00

Total Value of Glymm Bag: $50.71

I liked the assortment of what I received this month although I totally had my fingers crossed that I would receive the Caudalie body scrub that some other girls got. The scrub looked so good and came in such a cute little jar. Oh well…I still enjoyed the variety of this month’s bag as well as the apparent rebirth of Glymm!