Review: Revlon Lip Butters Swatches Part 1

Revlon Lip Butters, everyone has heard about them by now. They are in between a chapstick and a lipstick, the perfect balance between colour and moisture. I love them because my lips get cracked and dry when I attempt to wear most lipsticks. I am one of those people who reapplies chapstick (my top choice is Blistex Lip Medex in stick form) all day long in the winter, that's how dry my lips are. These are a great substitute for lipstick for me. They come in a huge variety of colours and now can be found in Canada and the US pretty readily.

I went crazy when I first heard that we got these in Canada in late November. I spotted them at my local Shoppers Drug Mart for $15.99 CAD a piece, what a rip off! Since I am in downtown Toronto, getting to another Shoppers is like a 5 minute walk to the corner, so off I went. I went to another Shoppers and the price there was $10.99, what a difference! I ended up picking up three that day and my love affair began and my collection got larger and larger. Throughout the coming weeks, I picked up a couple during a Shoppers Drug Mart Bonus Redemption (free lipsticks!), some from Well.ca and some more during the Rexall BOGO lipstick sale, I have 14 out of the 20 now. I will be bringing you this review in two parts (because I have that many to go through).

The Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters are packaged much like the Revlon Colorburst, they have the quilted design on the front, very cute for drugstore. I heard the Colorburst lipstick line is being discontinued, which would be a shame because I love their lipsticks as well.

The top of the packaging is handy because you can see the colour through the top lid, making it easier to choose which ones to pick when shopping. I know the Shoppers around here have testers of 3/20 colours, so you have no idea what you are getting inside otherwise. As you can tell the Colorburst lipsticks had a opaque top, so you couldn't see through it.

 

My only real issue with the packaging is the lip "butter" itself is so soft and it smooshes very easily when you use it, all my mine look like this on the inside. It gets on the inside rim and on the outside as well. I would definitely not suggest keeping these anywhere warm, they will just melt into nothing.

Another beef I have is the terminology of this product, which many other bloggers have brought up, when I think of "butter" I think nourishing, moisturizing, with some sort of agent to protect my lips, usually in the form of a pot. These lip butters aren't really "butters" at all, although it is a cute name. I always wear a lipbalm underneath these as well if I can remember because although they are moist, they aren't moisturizing enough for me on their own.

Here are my bare lips with nothing on them. They are moderately pigmented.

Review: Loose Button November Luxebox and Giveaway

November's Luxebox was really nice if you like perfume! And I do. Please note every box can differ, so the items that I got in mine, may not be the same that you get in yours, however some of the items do appear in many Luxeboxes that I have seen from reviews this month, like the Tea sample, came in all of them as far as I can tell. I got this box a few weeks ago, it's been a busy month for me, my boyfriend and I have been trying to find a new apartment and Christmas shopping has got in the way too. What can you? Here is my review for November's Luxebox, as well there is a giveaway at the end! If you're interested in subscribing to Luxebox, memberships are $12 a month or $10 for a yearly membership. They make a great gift for someone and are a nice gift for yourself too every month!

The items that excited me the most this month were the perfumes. Mine came with two perfume, one for me and one for my boyfriend! They are both from Paco Rabanne in Black XS. When I saw them in the box, I automatically sprayed the men's one (not knowing it was the men's one of course) because the packaging was so cute, it looks just like a cigeratte lighter. I am a big fan of the packaging on these.

Sigma Makeup: Black Friday Free Worldwide Shipping Coupon Code (Nov 25 Only)

Sigma Makeup is offering Free Worldwide Standard Shipping today for Black Friday! This started at 9am CST and ends at 5pm CST. 12am CT. Enter the coupon code BF2011 to get the discount at checkout. Shipping isn't that much, but every little bit help.

I like the new 18K gold "The Cities" Limited Edition travel set, it comes with real gold ferrules and chocolate brown  handles, a great gift for Christmas! Anyone want to buy me one? Be patient with their site, it seems to be loading very slowly today, I wonder why?

Click here to shop Sigma Makeup.

Review: Origins VitaZing SPF 15 Energy Boosting Moisturizer

I am late on the bandwagon for this product. I remember it being hyped up a lot on youtube back in the summer. A few months back The Bay in Canada had a promotion for Origins, this product was down to $35 CAD (down from $44) and you got 3 free samples with it too (of a choice of three groupings). I am always down for free samples and a discount, so I couldn't give it up. This was my first time trying anything from Origins, so it was nice to be given a few sample treats as well.

Review: Sigma F86 Synthetic Tapered Kabuki

Sigma recently came out with several new brushes for their Sigmax line, this is a collection of synthetic bristled brushes. I love the F80, F82 and F86 for foundation application, they apply the fullest coverage possible quickly and blend nicely. The great thing about these is they don't shed or smell because they are synthetic, they also don't absorb product like a natural hair brush would, although I do have a hard time washing product out because they are so densely packed (and drying them sucks too). Today's review is the F86 Synthetic Tapered Kabuki. Even though I am in the Sigma Affiliate Program, I did purchase this brush myself, I was curious about it and have been using it for about a month now.

The shape of this brush intrigues me, it's like an egg. The Sigma website describes that this brush is "ideal for using powders and higlighter under the eye and cheek area. The dense precise tip of this brush enhances cheek highlighting and contouring for a flawless application." I had hoped to use this brush for liquid foundation but, I find it's really difficult, I am used to a flat top brush like the F80, a stippling brush or a traditional foundation brush. This brush is far too pointy to use for foundation in my opinion, unless you are just applying foundation to small areas of your face like around the nose and eyes, it's nice for that. I have been using it for contouring and it's great for that since it gets right in the hallow of your cheeks. Several youtubers mention it works well for cream bronzer like the Chanel Soleil De Tan. I also bought the smaller version of this brush, the P86 (review on that later).

Review: L'oreal Voluminous False Fiber Lashes Faux Cils

Voluminous False Fibre Lashes is the newest mascara in L'oreal's Voluminous range. This mascara is said to be a fibre volumizing mascara, the "lash sculpting fibre formula adheres to lashes for a volumized, sculpted lash effects. Lashes appear fuller, longer, sculpted and curled at every angle". I love the Voluminous line, so I had to try this out and see what it was all about. I think this is Lash Architect 4D in Europe (in a silver tube).

The packaging is really nice, it comes in a gold, shiny "expensive looking" tube, much like the previous L'oreal Million Lashes. You will notice straight away that the applicator (the wand and the handle) is very long, and can be difficult to work with at first, but you get used to it quickly. The brush is tapered, thinner at the tip and wider at the base, also it's angled slightly to the side (picture did not capture that). I picked up this mascara at Rexall Pharma Plus for about $11 Canadian, I've seen it for as much as $16 at Shoppers Drug Mart, best to get it on sale.

Blush Comparison: MAC Warm Soul & NARS Madly Swatches

As the cooler weather starts, I like to branch out from my bright coral and peach blushes and venture more into the warmer bronzy-peach tones. Recently, I picked up MAC Warm Soul and NARS Madly. I read that these two are very similar and some of the blog posts that I like reading the most are swatch comparisons. I am guilty of buying products that are basically the same, just because I feel like I need to have them. These blushes retail for $27.50 CAD for the MAC and $29 CAD for the NARS.

OPI Muppets Collection Holiday 2011 Swatches and Review

OPI Muppets collection is the most fun and colourful that I've seen OPI do. I was totally existed when promotional images started circulating around for this collection. This is a limited edition collection that is now available at professional salons and nail etailers. I got mine from Cosmetics Central on Amazon, my go-to nail polish online shop. This collection came out 12 new polishes, the top 6 in the image above are shimmers, and then bottom 6 are glitters.

The ones that I picked up were Warm and Fozzie, Designer Da Better, Divine Swine and Rainbow Connection. I think the must-haves in this collection are definitely Designer Da Better and Rainbow Connection! These are great for the holidays, they really bling on your nails and are not gritty like some glitters that I have purchased before. I might go back and pick up Excuse Moi the glitter in a red base.

Review: Chanel Perfection Lumiere

As most of you probably all know, Chanel is discontinuing Pro Lumiere and Mat Lumiere and has put out a new foundation recently called Perfection Lumiere. When I first heard Pro Lumiere was being discontinued, I was really disappointed, it is a foundation that I love, perfect for dry skin, great coverage, lovely dewy finish, full review here. Mat Lumiere I hadn't tried before, mostly because it's a matte finish and for my dry skin, I don't like a matte foundation. I had hoped that this new Perfection Lumiere would be somewhat of a hybrid of both foundations, the good of the dewy and matte factor, however as you will read in this review, that's not the case.

This foundation is not currently available in Canada, I couldn't get a definite answer from Chanel sales people regrading this, some said it's out spring 2012, some did not know, some looked at me like I had two heads when I spoke about it. I greatly dislike how we get products much later in Canada (and for more money too). I purchased this a few weeks ago off Amazon.com from the seller Avdo, it was $64.99 when I bought it (add shipping), had since gone up to $72.99. The seller is great, I didn't have to pay any customs (after speaking to the seller) and I highly recommend them. I purchased mine for free through gift cards from Swagbucks, I get a lot of my cosmetics this way.

MAC Glitter and Ice Haul Morning Frost Paint Pot

MAC Glitter and Ice Holiday Collection came out recently. I really liked the theme of this one, it has an icy Snow Bunny type of feel to it. This collection had a bunch of new items, including paint pots, beauty powders, lipsticks, new brush kits, etc. I only items that I was interested in were the paint pots. I love paint paints and had my eye on "Morning Frost" from the promotional pictures. I didn't buy this online, like I normally do with MAC collections because I wanted to swatch it in person because I was worried it might be glittery and fallouty like the Cham Pale paint pots. But I was pleasantly surprised.

The packaging for this collection is really cute, all the items come in shiny silver boxes (like Christmas!) and white lids. This paint pot will stand out amongst all my black lids. (Colour on nail is Sally Hansan's Instant Dri in Bronze Albaze nice colour and goes well with this product).

Review: Maybelline Eraser Dark Circles Concealer

Today review is Maybelline's Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Concealer...that's a long name! I picked this up recently at Shoppers Drug Mart for $13.99 CAD (ouch I know! It was on sale for $8 at one point and I passed on it thinking this was too gimmicky then I caved a few weeks later and really wanted it, what can you do?). This product is a treatment concealer with Gogi Berry + Haloxyl which is supposed to instantly erase dark circles and fine lines and visibly diminish puffiness. I would love to see them "erase fine lines" I don't think that is possible, maybe on a photoshopped Christy Turlington, but not in real life.

Review: Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

We all want different qualities in a foundation, if I had to describe my perfect foundation it would be 1)hydrating on my dry skin 2) perfect colour match 3) easy to apply (product has pump too) 4)gives a luminous, healthy looking finish 5)provides medium-full coverage. I think Bourjois Healthy Mix is pretty close to a perfect foundation for me. I have watched numerous videos from UK bloggers claiming this foundation is great, and have wanted to try it out for a while now. Bourjois is a French brand (division of Chanel) but it is accessible to Canadians through Shoppers Drug Mart (I think this was $30ish CAD, $27 for the serum version). I however purchased mine on Asos.com, a website that I stalk on a regular basis (they have Illamasqua too), they offer Free Shipping worldwide! And I got this foundation from them for a fraction of the price that I would pay in Canada. Asos' stock does vary day to day however, and the colour selection is limited.

Revlon Expressionists Fall 2011 Gucci Westman Nail Polishes Carbonite and Facets of Fuschia

Revlon's Expressionists Fall 2011 Gucci Westman nail polishes came out a while back, but we only got them in Canada a few weeks ago, at least that's the case in my area. This collection came with 5 new polishes: Blue Mosaic, Facets of Fuschia, Smoky Canvas, Starry Pink, and Carbonite (along with new lipstick, eyeshadow, and lipgloss).

Canadian Sephoras Now Carry YSL, Bobbi Brown, St Tropez, Nails Inc

I was at my local Sephora a few weekends ago and noticed a bunch of new brands have been added! Canadian Sephora stores now have YSL, Bobbi Brown, St Tropez, and Nails Inc (and probably others that I have forgotten) that were never available before. This is exciting to Canadians for sure because it's now really convenient to get these brands. I was most excited about Bobbi Brown coming in because the only place that I knew of that carried it was Holt Renfrew and I feel a bit out of place in that store (too posh for me).

Review October Luxebox By Loose Button And Giveaway

Earlier this week I received the October Edition of Luxebox. It came totally re-designed! As you know Luxebox normally comes in a brown cardboard shoebox type box with a ribbon around it, this month's came in a sleek black box. Also the packaging that it came delivered in was an improvement too, normally it comes in those cheap Canada Post plastic bubble type envelopes, this month it came in a sturdy cardboard box. I love the new packaging, it goes well with their website design, more of a sleek, mature approach. If you're not familiar with Luxebox, they are a monthly beauty subscription that sends you 4-5 deluxe beauty samples each month (only for Canadians at the moment).

Review: Benefit They're Real Mascara, Comparison with Cover Girl Lash Blast

Benefit hit the nail on the head with their marketing for Benefit's They're Real Mascara, what women want most out of their mascara is the appearance that they are false lashes, but wait, they are real! We all know that the mascara advertisements that we see all contain women wearing false lash inserts, those results are not attainable alone. So does Benefit's They're Real give a pleasing result? And are the girl's boobs in the advertisement real too? I think the left one definitely looks fake, less shading on it or something, it looks weird. I guess it's up to you to decide.
 
I went back and forth about getting Benefit's They're Real because of the high price, normally I get drugstore mascaras and find some of them to be very good and comparable to that of high-end types. But I love trying out new products so I finally caved. Benefit's They're Real retails for $22 US and $29 Canadian, I got mine at Sephora, it's always sold on the Benefit website.

Review Luxebox By Loose Button And Giveaway

Recently I was contacted by Loose Button to do a review and giveaway for their Luxebox. If you're not familiar with this brand, they offer a monthly beauty subscription service (similar to Birchbox in the US) for Canadians. For a monthly charge you get 4-5 deluxe beauty samples sent to you. The appeal of these subscription services is definitely the element of surprise of not knowing what you're going to get every month, receiving the cute box in the mail and opening it up. Their mission is to "help customers discover, try and purchase quality beauty products through a unique shopping experience." When you sign up for Luxebox you fill out a beauty profile and they try to tailor products to suit your interests.

Review: Chanel Vitalumiere Foundation

If I could wear only one makeup brand for the rest of my life and only one, it would be Chanel. I own like 4-5 items from them only, but everything I have bought is my favourite and I love wearing their products. It is a luxurious and expensive brand though so I have to limit myself. Recently I had some gifts cards from Apothica (they are a sponsor on this blog) and could pick out anything that I wanted to equal $65 on their website. Of course, I went straight to Chanel. For those in Canada keep in mind that Apothica does not ship Chanel products to Canada, they are Canada Restricted. I had relatives coming from Illinois so I was clever and shipped it to them instead and they gave the products to me when they arrived, it was like Christmas! I got Chanel Vitalumiere and a darker shade in Chanel Pro Lumiere.

Review: Sigma Dry and Shape System

Today's review is the Sigma Dry and Shape System. This is one of their newest products, it's meant as an aid in helping to dry your makeup brushes quicker and shape it while it does. When it comes to me, I am not too fussy when I wash my brushes, I use anti-bacterial hand soap, the same stuff that I use when I wash my hands in the bathroom (one from Bath and Body Works). I don't mind how long it takes because I normally leave them dry overnight. I have so many brushes that if some are dirty, it's not a big deal, I just grab another one.

What I normally do is wash them in soap, rinse them out with tap water, then tap and soak all the excess water out with a bath towel or paper towel. Then I leave them on the side of the sink to dry. Sometimes very dense brushes like the Flat Top F80 are still a bit damp the next day, but it doesn't bother me to use it since I only use those with liquid foundation. I was curious if the Dry and Shape would make much of a difference in my routine, and I was skeptical if it would. I have read people ask how you clean the brush roll itself, since it can become unsanitary with the dirty water spilling out. The brush roll is made of synthetic material, so it's easy to wipe clean. If your brushes are really dirty you can wipe them down first on something, ensuring all the water or cleanser is out of it, then place it in the Dry and Shape. None of my brushes leak because I make sure I wipe them dry first.

Review: L'oreal Sublime Bronze Self Tanning Lotion

This is a review on the L'oreal Bronze Self-Tanning Lotion. I had previously done a review on the Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Mist, which is the mist version of this product. I think they are essentially the same, depending on whether you prefer a lotion or a mist is the only difference. If you remember my former review, I loved the colour that the Sublime Bronze Mist gave my skin, but hated the application. The spray leaks all over when sprayed, does not dry fast at all and I go through a ton of it quickly. So I opted to try out the lotion version to see if it would work better for me.

I have both products in the shade "Medium" this is the only shade that I have found in drugstores here. I found the lotion to be quite difficult to find at first, but once I did I noticed shelves were stocking it pretty well after that. It retails for $17 CAD, which I find pretty expensive for what you get. The bottle is 150ml, so very small, the pictures here make it look bigger than it is. It's the size of my hand I would say (and I have quite small hands). But since it's a lotion, I definitely do not go through it as quickly as I do the mist.