Sephora, MAC, Drugstore Haul

So my apartment complex was doing some work on the electricity today, so there would be no heat/power/light from 10am-6pm, and after showering in the dark, I decided it was a good day to go shopping!

I stopped by Sephora to pick up my free Beauty Insider birthday gift (my birthday is March 9), this year it's the Philosophy Vanilla Birthday Cake Shampoo, Shower Gel and Bubble Bath. It's a nice freebie, big 180ml bottle, there is no purchase necessary to get this, just tell the cashier that it's your birthday and you'll get it (if you are a Beauty Insider). Last year's gift I didn't even bother getting, it was a Sephora brand eyeliner, eyeshadow set.

My main mission at Sephora was to get my first NARS blush, but upon looking at the section noticed they did not have Gina (the blush I wanted), not even a spot for it. Luster was a nice peach too, but too shimmery and Taj Mahal, which everyone raves about didn't have a spot either. I spoke to one of the girls there and they hadn't heard of the colours and told me they must have been US only blushes.. great, don't you love when that happens? You have your heart set on something and you can't get it. I dislike shopping at Sephora online too because paying $10 extra to get something (shipping cost) when I should be able to get it in the store is just irritating, I'll probably end up buying those blushes elsewhere.

While I was waiting in line to pay I also noticed this cute Benefit set, it comes with 3x 4ml bottles of Posie tint, High beam and Benetint for $18 CAD, it's available online too. I've wanted to try High beam for a while and the full size is like $30 CAD and frankly, I would never go through the entire thing, and the High beam To Go is like $12 so for $6 more you can get 3 minis, which are really cute and practical. Let me know if you've used any of these three and how you like them.

I also got another Benefit Creaseless Creme Shadow/liner, this time in Birthday Suit, it's described as a "brushed chrome" to me it looks a bit taupey or brown, not really sure what colour it is yet. This was one of those spur of the moment purchases, I probably shouldn't have bought it.. got home and regretted it, I might return it. I have that problem with Sephora, I always buy too much.

I was pleased to see that my MAC store had Lady Gaga 2 lipstick in stock still, the picture of it looks peachy, but it's a light brown/nude lipstick. I grabbed that and also Back to MAC'ed 6 empties for MAC Hue lipstick, which I have wanted for a long time too.

Then at the drugstore I picked up the Physicians Formula Organic Wear Jumbo Lash Mascra, the packaging on this is really cool, it's like a green leaf shape. I find Physicians Formula to be really expensive for drugstore, and despite all the rebates they offer, you're still spending a lot of money, that's why I opted not to get those heart powders that everyone has been getting, too expensive for me, I'd rather spend that on other things. This mascara was 40% off and ended up being $10 after discount and it comes with a full price rebate, meaning you send in and get the entire amount you paid for it back.

I also picked up Revlon's Coral Reef Super Lustrous which I finally found, couldn't get it for the longest time, it's always sold out, it was $6.99. And I picked up some Garnier face wipes, the cheapest "nice brand" I could find, they were $7.99.

If you want reviews of anything, let me know, I am definitely planning to do a full review on the Lady Gaga lipstick and the Benefit set.

Review: Garnier Skin Renew Anti Dark Circle Eye Roller

I was not a fan of the original Garnier Anti-puff roller, but I thought I would give this product one more chance. The "new" Garnier Sin Renew Anti-dark circle roller is meant as an eyecare and concealer in one. It's recommended for all skin tones, and claims to "instantly reduce the look of dark circles and brighten". This comes just like the original but with colour to aid in concealing. It comes in two shades, I've only seen the light version in stores here, that's the one I got. It's quite pricey for a drugstore product, mine was about $16 CAD on sale.

Here is the applicator, it's the same as the original, a metal ball that dispenses product as you glide it on your skin. It feels nice and cooling, just like the original. The caffeine gel formula is supposed to energize and stimulate microcirculation. The formula has lemon essences to brighten and mineral pigments to instantly reduce the appearance of dark circles. Instantly it's meant to reduce dark circles and shadows and in one week eyes look brighter. I know dark circles is something that women often complain about, they makes you look older and tired, and no one wants that, there is definitely a market for products such as this, but often times they leave us underwhelmed, this product unfortunately again, does this for me.

Here is my undereye area with nothing applied. My darkness isn't terrible, but I do have some purple-blue lines underneath which I dislike.

Then here I have applied the anti-circle roller liberally under the eyes, I find it difficult to control how much you put on. The rolling action feels nice and you want to put on more than you probably should. Also notice how yellow the concealer is, and how dark, I feel it is too dark for my fair skin, and I doubt this colour would universally work on everyone. Also, yellow is okay for concealing, but salmon/pink tones work better at correcting.

And here it is after the product has been blended in, I use a rolling and tapping motion to place it. You can tell the difference is very subtle. From the first picture to the last you can see slight concealment (is that a word?) of that purple/blue area. However, I wouldn't want to wear this on it's own since it does make my undereye area look yellow and darker than the rest of my face. I usually put concealer on under my makeup so this isn't an issue for me, but it would be better if it did blend nicer into the skin.

I think if you are interested in this Garnier eye roller stuff, you should definitely get this one instead of the original because this one doubles up with the cooling action and some concealing properties. But don't expect for your undereye bags and darkness to be concealed completely with this, if you have major issues under there I wouldn't suggest this product. Maybe with continued use for a week the results would be better, but the immediate results do not wow me.

Have you tried the Garnier Anti-circle roller? What did you think?

Monthly Faves: January 2011

I bring you my January faves on a plate, I am always looking for pretty backgrounds to make my pictures look nice, today I was lazy and just put it all on a plate. These are my most grabbed for, favorite products of the first month of 2011.

1) Smashbox Photo Finish Adjust - This has changed the way my foundation applies! I am so happy with the results. I have read people say this makes them break out/makes them oily, that's actually why I like it (minus the breakouts, I don't get those), but it adds moisture and slip to my skin, helping my foundation glide on and not look patchy. Love this stuff. As for the redness aspect, I like to think it does something, but I really don't think it does. If you know of a redness solutions (tried the clinique foundation) product that you like, please let me know.

2) Garnier Moisture Rescue Freshing Gel - I know you can't see the product much in the picture, but this is the gel version of the cream product. Love this stuff so much, actually I prefer gels in my skincare hands down. Will be buying more of this once it runs out for sure.

3) MAC Painterly Paint Pot - This product has replaced my Urban Decay Primer Potion and any other eye primers I was using. The colour is perfect for my skintone, it evens out the eyelid area and is a nice prep for eyeshadow.

4) Bobbi Brown Corrector (Light Bisque) - This was in my year-end favourites (along with some of these other faves) and continues to be my go-to when I want a really good under-eye concealer, this stuff is thick, but very creamy. I will do a separate full review of it soon.

5) Laura Mercier Moisturizing Foundation - My favourite foundation this month, nice colour match and very good coverage. It may sound weird but my face doesn't feel as cold in the winter when I go outside if I am wearing a thicker, more coverage foundation.

6) MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural (Light) - I went back to this product after a long break, I thought it broke me out, but now I think it doesn't (or it never did to begin with). I don't use it over the Laura Mercier foundation I just mentioned because that one does not need setting, but more over thinner, more liquidy foundations it's great.

7) Wet N Wild eyeshadow palette (Vanity) - The best drugstore neutral eyeshadow palette of the month, I just got this within the last two weeks or so but been using it lots. Click here for full review.

8) Omega 3 Vitamins (not pictured) - I am not sure if this has helped my skin this month, but when I started taking these my skin cleared up a lot. Maybe it's the skincare I've been using too.

What were your favorties for January?

Drugstore and MAC Shopping Time

I ventured out and bought some beauty products today, drugstore and MAC. I was on a mission to find the new Maybelline Fit Me foundation, people have been asking me on twitter, what I thought of it, but I have no opinion because I haven't tried it! Canadians get stuff late a lot of the time. Although the Shoppers Drug Mart flyer has this foundation... no store actually has it, at least not the 4 that I hit up today! So it will be some waiting for that one I think. I loathe waiting around while everyone else gets to try stuff and rave about it.

The two paint pots that I picked up from Cham Pale were terrible in my opinion and went back, I exchanged one for Bare Study paint pot, which I am much happier with. I know I will like this because I had a sample of it before. This paint pot is shimmery too, but not at all to the extent of Chilled On Ice paint pot and it's much more opaque, should of got what I knew was good in the first place.

While I was paying, the MAC girl handed me an invite for the new collection coming out "Wonder Woman". I got this very elaborate animated ad invite, she told me to RSVP right away if I want to be part of the pre-launch party. I don't know, do you guys like anything from this collection? I thought it looked a bit kiddy.

If you've been following my blog you know that I don't have blue eyes (they are green), but this palette from NYX looked gorgeous so I picked it up. The colours are so buttery and pigmented. They had one for blue/green/blue and a smoky one, but this one stood out the most to me, not crazy about the blues, but the others are pretty.

And lastly, I got the Ganier Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel-Creme. I've had my eye on this for a while, and finally got it. I've been using my small jar of Clinique Moisture Surge and this definitely reminds me of it, same texture. I know lotions are more for dry skin, but I actually prefer gels, they go on really nice and feel great on my skin. This stuff is love love love. Have you tried this product? You should, it's fabulous!

Monthly Faves: September 2010

October is here and I haven't done last month's favourites yet.... so here goes. I've had a difficult month personally and it's still going on, so makeup hasn't been all that important this month, I've had other things on my mind, but I like doing these posts so here is what I liked and loved for the month of September.

Sigma F50 - I use this to apply the MAC Pro Longwear foundation, and alternate this between the MAC 187 and I can't tell much of a difference, so when one is dirty, the one is clean and I use them one after the other basically, I don't like using dirty brushes, it's kinda ewwy to me.

MAC Pro Longwear Foundation - This is a new product this month, and it's fabulous! I love the finish and coverage this gives and the colour match of NC15 is perfect for me. Definitely my most used foundation this month.

Clean and Clear Persa Gel 5 - I am still experiencing breakouts on my chin area and it's getting me down, and this product is the only thing that helps, so it's been in heavy rotation this month. Stress = zits for me, and women in general.

Milani HD Advance Concealer - I will do a full review of this soon, but this is definitely one of my favourite concealers, it is light and doesn't give huge coverage, but I am a big fan of the packaging, it feels glamorous and expensive.

MAC Select Cover up - It's been a heavy concealing month so here is another concealer that I've been loving, this one provides great coverage and it's very sanitary to use since it comes in a squeezy tube with a precise applicator tip on it. I use this for under the eyes.

MAC Fun and Games Blush - I actually bought this blush recently from allcosmeticswholesale.com, it was a limited edition item during the Hello Kitty collection. I wasn't even into MAC when that came out. I love this blush, it's my favourite blush colour..peach! and I can never have enough peach blushes. This does have some shimmer in it.

Garnier Skin Renew Radiance Moisture Cream - I prefer creams over lotions as a daily moisturizer for my face, I love this one because it has that cooling effect, is light and absorbs quickly. There is actually a new version of this out, the Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel Cream, which I am planning on getting next.

What were your faves of this month?

Review: Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller

This is one of those products that I would totally recommend AGAINST getting. It does nothing besides feeling nice, cooling and refreshing, temporarily when you apply it. This review gets right down to the point eh? I feel quite strongly about this product. I bought this ages ago, and it sits amongst the rest of my makeup mocking me.. haha you bought me, loser! You fell for my lies, sucker! Don't be a sucker, don't buy this gimmicky product.

I am not a fan of the packaging, it leaks and you have to keep it standing up (not travel friendly at all), so I put it with my makeup brushes. It didn't do anything for under-eye circles. In terms of application, I find that I had to hold the product upside down vertically to ensure that the product dispenses properly. I saw an advertisement on tv about it being Canada's best selling eye product or something, I bet the majority of those purchasers were disappointed.

This product is describes that it will "roll away under-eye puffiness and dark circles for brighter, more radiant eyes" (Garnier website). The idea behind the product is that the caffeine in the product is supposed to decongest, revive and tighten your under-eye area. The massaging roller idea is cute and I like that, but it just doesn't work, and it seems to tug at the skin too, which isn't cute. This is a type of product that a lot of people would buy, since it is appealing, but will be disappointed with unfortunately.

Also, if you do use this, you need to give it a chance, use it for a month or so to actually say if you saw results or not. I find that sleep, drinking lots of water, and/or cool tea bags on your eyes is your best bet to get rid of bags and puffiness under the eyes, and a good under-eye concealer, that is the route that I would go instead.

Have any of you used this product? Did you see results?

May Favourites!

The end of the month is almost here, so here comes my monthly favourites for... May. These are products that I've enjoyed using the most this month. I like choosing products from every category, like one from brushes, eyeshadow, foundation, perfume, skincare, lip products and so on, just makes it easier to narrow it down, cause I use a lot of different things throughout the month.

1. MAC Face & Body Foundation:  I have raved about this product before but it was in pretty heavy use this month, so I chose to include it. It is great for summer, great for days when you don't want to wear a lot, but still want to cover up some flaws.

2. Miss Dior Cherie Perfume: I got this perfume around Christmas, it's one of my all-time favourites, very sweet smelling, it's got notes of caramelized popcorn and strawberry in it, really pretty, totally recommend it and I love the cute bottle with the bow on it.

3. L'oreal Copper Caravan Eyeshadow Quad - This quad is really nice, it has lots of bronzey colours, which I like for summer months. It really lights up your eyes. This is from L'oreal surprisingly, one of those limited edition types they sell in drugstores from time to time, I picked this up a year ago or so.

4. MAC Golden Bronzer - This bronzer is foolproof and great for lighter skintones. I use it with a pretty heavy hand and it adds a nice contour to my cheeks, one of my holy grail products for sure.

5. Revlon Lustrous Lipgloss in Lilac Pastelle and Peach Petal - These lipglosses are super pigmented and not sticky. I love the purple one especially, finally tracked it down while I was in the states this month and am really pleased with it.

6. Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin - My original UDPP was running low, so I decided to pick up a new one in sin. This is the XL bottle, which I think makes sense cause I use this every time I put on eyeshadow. I hear that some girls wear just this on it's own for a light shimmery look on your lids, but for me I find it just disappears after a while, so I use it as a base, just like I would with the UDPP.

7. Sonia Kashuk Powder Brush - One of two of the SK brushes that I own, this one does shed a bit, which is annoying, but I love the size and fullness of it to apply powders and bronzers. And the handle is really cool.

8. Garnier Skin Renew Brusher Cleanser - I got this as a tester two months back and love this product, it has quickly become included in my daily routine. It smells good, does not irritate my skin and the brusher is really handle to clean your face nicely.

And that's it for May... what were some of your May faves? xo

Garnier Nutritioniste The Brusher Gel Cleanser from Chickadvisor

I received a package yesterday from Chickadvisor. I was chosen to test out the new Garnier Nutritioniste Gel Cleanser, the one that comes with the brush head on the top. Which is really cool cause I like Garnier products and was interested in this. They also sent as a bonus, the Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Radiance Moisture Cream (long title huh?) to show the full effect of using the two products together. You wash your face with the gel cleanser and then moisturizer with the radiance moisture cream. This was my first time getting chosen by Chickadvisor.

If you aren't aware of Chickadvisor they are a website that reviews make up products as well as other items, I go there for the makeup. You write reviews and become a part of a community of many other women that participate. Once in while, they offer you product testers to try out and review. You can click here to sign up if you aren't already.