Monthly Faves: April 2011

May is here, Happy Cinco De Mayo everyone! And today I am doing my favourites from last month. As you probably know, April was my no-buy makeup ban month, I did find except for the MAC Ever Hip lipstick that I couldn't resist near the end of the month.

Review: Hard Candy Glamoflauge

Glamoflauge is Hard Candy's heavy duty concealer. This product was pretty much..impossible for me to find. I went to 6-7 Walmarts looking for this. If they had any, they were always in the two dark colours, never in Light. So I had an awesome blogger send this to me, all the way from Florida, thank you Stephanie from ImperfectlyPainted! If it hadn't been for her, I would probably still be hunting around for this! Well the wait was well worth it, I love this concealer! Hard Candy describes this product as "A heavy duty, highly pigmented, multi-use concealer that delivers ultimate coverage. The formula blends seamlessly into skin with plenty of play time creating a flawless and natural look perfect for any occasion. You can hide everything from dark circles and blemishes to tattoos!" 

Review: Hard Candy Skin Illuminating Primer

I have another Hard Candy review today, for their Sheer Envy Skin Illuminating Primer. Previously, Hard Candy only had one primer, the one that comes in the white bottle, but they recently came out with two new ones, Skin Illuminating Primer (this one) and Skin Perfecting Primer (I have that one too, it comes in a pink bottle). They come in a 36g 1.3oz bottles. These retail for around $8 at Walmart.

Review: Hard Candy Truth Or Dare Fox in A Box Blush

Today I will be reviewing the final Hard Candy Fox in a box blush that's in my collection, Truth or Dare. I have reviewed Smooth Talker and Skinny Dipping previously, click on the links here to check out those reviews individually. I am a fan of Hard Candy products, they are cheap and quite good quality and many would say they are dupes of more expensive products, so it's a good option for many of us who are on a budget.

Review: Hard Candy Fire Alarm Lipstick

Today's review is another Hard Candy product, this is their Fire Alarm liptsick. This is part of their "Painted Lady Manic Shine, Intense Color" lipsticks range, view all the shades available on Hard Candy's website. Actually I don't even see a colour called "Fire Alarm" on the website only "Firewall" so perhaps they changed the name or this is an old colour, no idea, maybe Hard Candy just needs to get it together, but this is the most popular one that I've read talked about so far.

Review: Skinny Dipping Fox in a Box Blush

When I first heard about the Hard Candy Fox in a Box blushes, the one that I wanted most of all was Skinny Dipping, strictly because of the bright orange that's in this duo. I managed to finally pick it up, along with one other (Truth or Dare) finally after hitting up several Walmarts. I previously reviewed Smooth Talker and was quite happy with this one too.

Review: Hard Candy Undercover Agent

Today I will be reviewing the Hard Candy Undercover Agent, undereye brightener and concealer duo. I want to start out by saying that I was not planning on buying this product, but my search for Glamoflague has caused me to buy a lot more Hard Candy items that I probably wouldn't have bought. I noticed this on the display and thought maybe this could curb my need for Glamoflague, but I don't think it did. The name, Undercover Agent is totally cute and I was curious. The Hard Candy website describes this as "Your new secret weapon to disguising and preventing any undereye imperfections! It brightens your undereye area, reduces dark circles, puffiness, and fine lines, and conceals and covers for a perfect finish. Undercover Agent comes in three skin tone shades to blend seamlessly and softly into your undereye area."

Monthly Faves: March 2011

I'd say I am excited for April to finally be here, because it means spring is almost here, but in Canada that is far from the case, February-May is basically all rain and miserable weather where I live. On a positive turn, I found several new products that I loved in the month of March. I find that monthly faves generally tend to be "new" products for me, I don't know if that's the case with most people, but most reached favourite type products do not change too much, but since I buy new products all the time, it means these are all new pickups.

Review: Hard Candy Smooth Talker Blush vs Benefit Sugarbomb

Today I am comparing Hard Candy's Smooth Talker to Benefit's Sugarbomb. There has been a lot of hype about the Hardy Candy Fox in a Box blushes because they look so similar. When I picked up Smooth Talker (on left) I definitely thought it looked like Sugarbomb, no question about it. Both blushes have very similar colours in the mosaic pan, the HC has squares and the Benefit as triangles. I was excited to test it out today and see if they really are dupes.

Walmart Haul: Hard Candy and Wet N Wild

This weekend I did some shopping, it's been my mission for the past short while to get the Hard Candy Glamoflague concealer and Skinny Dipping boxed blush. I've been to about 5 Walmarts now and still haven't been able to get it. I really wish Hard Candy was sold in other stores, or that Walmart would be more efficient in re-stocking their items, because this is getting really annoying. I've found Glamoflague but it was only in the tan darkest shade. I did manage to get some other things to make myself feel better though. I am excited to try all these products out and will review them soon.

For the Hard Candy items first, I picked up two primers, one in the "skin illuminating" purple one, and the other in the "skin perfecting". I probably didn't need both (I don't need a new primer at all) but I wanted to try these out.

Also got the Undercover Agent concealer (on far right) which ones with a undereye brightener and concealer duo. So far I am disappointed in the concealer since the concealer part is very small and only like a stick ball consistency.

The blush I picked up is Smooth Talker which has some peach, purple and pink squares in it. I wanted Skinny Dipping, which is one side bronzer and the other orange, that one looks really good. These blushes are getting a lot of attention because they resemble the Benefit boxed blushes but are only $5.

As for Wet N Wild, they did have all the 3 colour palettes I believe, most of them are too colourful for me and a complete pass, but I did get Walking on Eggshells (not new) and Silent Treatment. We currently don't have the 8 pan palettes in Canada, or else I would be all over those, they look much better. I hope we get them soon. It sucks about living in Canada, we get cosmetics a lot later than they do in the US.

I also picked up the new Rimmel Clean Finish foundation in 120 Ivory, which I only really got because it has a spatula applicator, that looks really cool. The sign said this product is a Walmart exclusive, so you may only be able to find it there in Canada that is

Have you managed to pick up any new Wet N Wild or Hard Candy items yet?

Review: Hard Candy Sheer Envy Tinted Moisturizer

When I think of a tinted moisturizer I think of something that will add some hydration to my face with a tint of colour. Having dry skin, the idea of a tinted moisturizer in place of a liquid foundation is a great idea. I know tinted moisturizers are more popular in the summer (for sheer coverage on hot days), but I actually like them in the winter too for added hydration in the cold, dry weather. Recently, I tried Hard Candy's new Sheer Envy Tinted Moisturizer and was pleasantly surprised at the amount of coverage I could get with this product. This retails for about $8 CAD, and can be found at Walmart.

Small Haul and Clinique Rant

I went to the mall today for something to do and stopped by Walmart and picked up a few things. The Hard Candy section at my Walmart is a mess, there are testers of all the baked products and they are all cracked and spilling all over the display. I admit the products are pretty, but not really my thing, I did buy the Honeymoon blush, but that will be all I get. I don't know why they don't clean up the display, it's horrific. Anyway, I did manage to get their Tinted Moisturizer, in the colour "Fair". I have heard good things about this and wanted to try it out, it was like $8.

Next, I know I said I wouldn't get this but I did anyway with a $5 coupon, the L'oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base. It was like $8 with coupon. I also got the last Ecotools Eyeshadow brush that they had, this was around $4. I have the original one and it's much different, the bristles are hard sympathetic on that one and this one is a huge improvement. I will do a comparison review soon.

Now onto the rant, that's why you read this post right? Okay, so after watching Pixiwoo's fabulous 'Guide to Clinique foundations' video on youtube (link above), I decided to make a stop at my Sears Clinique counter. They have a gift with purchase on now, so a good time to buy a new foundation. I went in primarily wanting to get the Acne Solutions foundation. I told the girl that I have dry skin, but I do tend to break out along my chin and want something with moderate-full coverage. I know Clinique tends to not give much coverage, and this foundation gives a fair amount. The girl asks me if my skin feels tight or just looks dry? I tell her well it's tight after I wash it but no, it looks and feels dry. Then she tells me that my skin is not dry, I just need to exfoliate and get the dead skin cells off. It's not dry? I do exfoliate on a regular basis, I find exfoliating makes my skin even drier if I overdo it. If you take a look at my skin, it looks dry, I am no makeup guru here but I think it's obvious. Is there any truth in this? She then tells me their 3 step program can help with this yadda yadda yadda, I have tried their 3 step and am not interested.

Okay whatever, she tries the Acne Solutions makeup on me, chooses a shade that I think is far too dark for me (03 Fair Neutral) whatever it looks fine I suppose (I could always return it). I go to pay, oh they don't have that colour in stock, or the one lighter down. Okay, what other foundations would you recommend? Superfit? she don't have any colours available, Superbalanced? She says that gives natural coverage. She recommend their Oil-free foundation (can't remember the name). I am getting irritated now so I say fine I will get that one. She rings me through, oh it's only $26 and you need to spend $28.50 to qualify for the free gift, would you like something else? Oh man... okay I will just come back another time! So fed up at this point.

I think when they have gift with purchase promotions they should really be well stocked with their products, or else they are losing sales, as they did with me. I would order online (probably easier) but their shade selection is often out of stock too and I'd have to pay for shipping. Overall, I was really annoyed with Clinique.

What foundations would you girls recommend from Clinique? or ones to avoid?

Review: Hard Candy Blush Crush Baked Blush in Honeymoon

It took Canada a long time, but we finally got Hard Candy at our Walmarts recently. For those that aren't familiar with Hard Candy, they used to be a more high-end brand that was sold at Sephora. I remember their nail polishes personally, the ones adorned with the plastic colourful rings. Now Hard Candy is exclusively sold at Walmart, and for affordable prices, and there are many products available.

Canadian Girl Going to the US: Shopping List

In terms of makeup, the US gets a lot of products that we get late here in Canada, or that we never see at all. I am going to Illinois this week, and I have a couple of items in mind that I want to pick up. However, I am at the mercy of my relatives, so if they choose to take me around, I will get stuff, otherwise nothing. ;)

Some of the items that I want to get/ aka Hit List:

* Neutrogena Healthy Skin Makeup - Canada doesn't get ANY neutrogena makeup products, only skincare, and this foundation is suppose to be lovely, so definitely want to get this.

 * Revlon Colorburst Lipsticks - haven't seen these in Canada yet either, and lots of people like them.

* Eos lipbalms - Were these the ones that Oprah raved about? It's like a lipbalm in an egg-shaped container.

* Sonia Kashuk brushes - Sonia is a Target brand? We don't get these at all here either.

* Hard Candy nail polishes - I remember years and years back I had some of these, we don't get them in Canada, I don't think.

 (image borrowed from Steph's Closet)

* L'oreal Passport to Paradise nail polishes - These are the Essie North Folk dupes, haven't seen them here either.

More than anything, I just want to hit up a CCO (Cosmetics Company Outlet), I would be like a kid in a candy store! The closest one to me here is in Niagara Falls (US side), not that far, but I don't think my bf would be too thrilled about driving there just to get makeup!

What drugstores are good to hit up for good bargains and selection? Ulta? Target? Walgreens? Rite Aid? To my american readers, please let me know!!!!! Thanks!