New to: Benefit

      Image from sephora.com

Benefit has just released sheer lip tints that correspond to their best selling cheek stains. There is a red shade that corresponds to benetint, an orange that corresponds to chacha tint, a pink which corresponds to lollitint and a purple which corresponds to posietint. Each retails for $18.00 at Sephora. 

Top 4: Dior products

1) Creme de Rose lipbalm: A moisturizing lip balm that helps smooth the lips, adds a natural glow and can be used as a lip mask if left on overnight.

2) Dior Lip glow: This is by far one of my holy grail, favourite lip products. It is moisturizing and plumping as well as enhancing the natural tint of the lips. It goes with every makeup look, adding the perfect finesse.

3) Rosy Tan quint: This is one of my most used palettes of all time. It is the perfect neutral palette, making it very versatile. It's the perfect size for travel and so easy to use to create the perfect neutral or brown smokey eye.

4) Nude BB cream: This is truely a great base, not to heavy yet gives great coverage. It feels great on the skin, giving the illusion of a no-foundation, foundation. It conveniently comes with a pump which makes application easy and makes it a perfect base to travel with.

Are there any Dior products that you love that you think I should try?

MAC Announcement

The MAC Maleficent collection is now available for order online!

Sephora Announcement

Edward Bess products are on clearance at Sephora, get stuff while you can as quantities are limited!

Happy shopping! 

Current skin care wishlist

      Images from sephora.com 

1) Origins Vitazing: A cream that will help to counteract my dull skin because it's infused with opalescence. It is also infused with SPF which makes it double as both a moisturizer and sunscreen.   

2) Bite Agave lip mask: I suffer from dry, cracking lips, so the hype around this product really appealed to me. It can be used as both a lip mask to smooth lips or as a lip balm to moisturize the lips. I feel like this product will be the perfect marriage between the Lush lip scrubs and my Dior Creme de rose lipbalm.  

3) Ole Henrikson brightening wipes: When I am in hurry and just want to remove my makeup and go to bed, I love using makeup wipes and then doing a deeper cleanse in the morning. Not only will these wipes remove makeup, but they also work to brighten the skin, wiping away impurities--it seems like a great product that doubles skincare duty by removing makeup and preventing dull skin.  

MAC X Marge

        Image from MAC

MAC has announced that for their upcoming fall collection that they will be creating a Simpsons collection. Shall be be expecting yellows and blues? 

What do you think the collection will look like? 

Announcement from Urban Decay

       Image from Urban

Urban Decay has recently posted this tease picture of an upcoming product release! What do you think it could be? Perhaps a palette of waterproof shadows? Perhaps a palette of spring colours? 

Top 4: Drugstore products

In my first instalment of this blog series, I am going to talk about my top 4 drugstore products: 

1) Maybelline colour tattoos (Nude Compliment shown): These are by far the best cream product that are available at the drugstore. They are comparable, even better, than higher end cream shadows and they come in a variety of colours.

2) Revlon colour stay top coat: By far the best top coat I have tried, ever. This product has the drying speed of Seche Vite yet a better consistency.

3) Rimmel wake me up concealer: This concealer is comparable to the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. It is light, offers good coverage and adds a beautiful radiance to the skin.

4) Revlon lip butters (shade Tutti Frutti shown): This product is by far my favourite drugstore lip product. They are creamy, pigmented, moisturizing and come in a variety of colours. They are perfect for applying colour on the go and are an affordable alternative to the Clinique Chubby Sticks.

Next up... my top 4 Dior products! 

Triple times the points at Sephora

From now until Sunday May 11th, Sephora will be holding a triple times (3X) the points event upon the purchase of a fragrance both online and in-store. This event is a great way to earn points fast and claim amazing point perks--all you have to do is simply add a fragrance to your cart and you will receive triple the points of the value of the fragrance, wether it be a new scent or simply a repurchase. I have had my eye on the Marc Jacobs Honey fragrance for a while now and now would be the prime time to buy it! It's also a great way to help fulfil your Mother's Day shopping!  

April favourites

April was a pretty hectic month for me, but that didn't stop me from finding beauty favourites! First we have the Marc Jacobs perfume in Daisy. It's such a fresh and summery smell, it being a light and flirty floral scent. It also seems to be the fragrance that never dies! I have had it for almost a year now and I am only about halfway done--so it's a great value for money! Next up we have the Bourjois Poudre Bronzante. It's the perfect shade of brown, not being too orange or too red. Not to mention, it has the orgasmic aroma of chocolate! It has a beautiful, buttery consistency and has been my bronzer of choice over my Nars Laguna bronzer this month. Then, we have the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer (I have the shade Custard). This concealer has converted me to a concealer lover: it has a light consistency yet good coverage and adds a radiant glow to the skin. I have been loving this for covering up the dark circles under my eyes from my lack of sleep during my examination period. My fourth favourite has been my MAC lipstick in Viva Glam V, which is a mauve luster. This lipstick is the perfect my lips but better colour for my olive complexion and pigmented lips. It's nourishing and moisturizing on the lips and adds a beautiful  sheen to help balance out an otherwise smokey eye or strong cheek. Finally, we have the L'Oreal Sublime Radiance Sensational Cleasning Oil,  a new edition to the drugstore. This product is both great at removing makeup and adding moisture to your skin. It comes with a pump which is great for travel and it doesn't leave your skin feeling greasy or unclean. It's a great alternative to Bioderma because it has added skincare benefits.         

Those were my favourites this month, what were yours?

Shopping smart at Sephora #3: Taking advantage of the points system

      Images from sephora.com 

Sephora is an expensive place to shop; however, the more money you spend the more points you get and with these points you can get some pretty amazing deals. Sephora has 100 point perks, 250 point perks and 500 point perks. With 100 point perks you tend to get deluxe samples of best selling products, like the products listed above. For 250 points you tend to get more unique samples, like perfumes, or specialty products like phone cases. But the best is for last! For 500 points you can get huge value sets that come with a variety of products, like the Laura Mercier sampler set that came with a variety of their best selling products such as their primer and radiance powder. 

With all of the money you end up spending at Sephora it's good to know that you can get something back. You need to take advantage of the perks of Sephora points to help accommodate the hefty weight on your wallet. By saving up your points you can save up for the specialty perks that arrive around the holidays and the commencement of new seasons! 

So what's another way to shop smart at Sephora? The answer is to take advantage of points and point perks! 

Mac Alluring Aquatic Collection

Here's a sneak peek at the upcoming MAC Alluring Aquatic collection! 

        All images from google

New to Sephora: Dior brushes

            Images from Sephora.com

Dior is by far my favourite high-end brands that's available at Sephora. Recently, they launched a line of professional brushes at Sephora that was previously just available at specific Dior counters:

1. Eyeliner brush ($28.00)
2. Smudging brush ($38.00)
3. Medium eyeshadow brush ($32.00)
4. Blush brush ($49.00)  

Current Sephora wishlist

           Images from Sephora.com

Of course I can't peruse the Sephora website without finding more things that I want! These are the three items that I currently have in my basket:

1. Bobbi Brown Skin foundation stick ($53.00): I love the ease of using my Maybelline fit-me foundation stick so I really want to give this one a go!
2. Laura Mercier Caviar stick in Cocoa ($26.00): Lately I have been loving the ease of cream shadow sticks but the Clinique chubby sticks aren't small enough to smudge under the eye; so, I really want to try out the Laura Mercier offering because it's skinny enough to fit under the eye as well as all over the lid.
3. Stila Stay all day waterproof liquid eyeliner ($20.00): Lately I have been wanting to give winged-liner a try because it looks so good from all the tutorials that I've seen on Youtube. Reviews for this product have been great and when I tried it out in the store it seemed easy to use.

Marc Jacobs summer collection 2014

            Images from Sephora.com

The Marc Jacobs summer collection 2014 is available now at Sephora! 

 

• Enamored Hi-shine Nail Lacquers ($19.00ea):

1. 156 New Wave, a deep navy
2. 154 Jungle, a mid-deep forest green
3. 152 Tree Bark, a deep brown

 

• Style Eye-Con No.7 in 210 The Siren ($60.00), a palette filled with colourful shadows perfect for summer

 

 

 

New to: Hourglass

         Image from Hourglass

New lip colours have been added to the Hourglass line! They are available now at Sephora! 

New to Sephora: Brushes

         Images from Sephora.com

Sephora has recently launched three new brushes to their beauty line!

1. Pro full coverage airbrush #53 ($38.00): This brush will be great for all over powder and contouring! 
2. Classic multitasker bush brush #54 ($28.00): This brush is ideal for a variety of tasks--targeted highlighting, contouring and blush. 
3. Classic multitasked concealer brush #21 ($20.00): The taper of this brush makes it ideal for targeted concealing around the eyes and nose. 

Shopping smart at Sephora #2: Swatch before you splurge

It is so easy to commit to buying makeup products in the moment, or online, before actually getting your hands on it. But I am telling you: do not give into the temptation to splurge before you swatch! Online swatches and pictures of products do not do the actual colour or effect of the product justice; nor, does the quality of online resources factor how a certain product will look on your particular skintone. It is so easy for us beauty hoarders to buy a product because it looks great on someone on Youtube, only to discover that it looks ridiculous on you. It is ALWAYS best to get your hands on the product before you commit to purchasing it--whether it be swatching similar colours if the product is not readily available.

Now for a personal anecdote to prove just how true this tell tale is: I wanted the Clinique cheek pop in peach pop and the Too Faced Natural eye neutral eye collection and was willing to purchase them online as there is no Sephora in my city. Upon reaching home I went to my local Sephora to swatch the products and to my surprise they were not what I wanted at all. Both products clashed with my olive complexion--in my opinion--and the colours weren't exactly what I was expecting from the swatches that I saw online. Needless to say that I did not purchase them and I am very happy that I didn't because it would have been a waste of money.

Sephora is an expensive place to shop, but it's a very tempting place! It is easy to click to purchase for immediate gratification without greatly considering if the product is right for you. So...my advice is to SWATCH BEFORE YOU SPLURGE: try and get your hands on the actual product or something close to it so you can see how the colour interacts with your colouring and preferences.