Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in 674 Coralberry

It's almost Summer, which means coral galore!

REVIEW: Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Eyeshadow (Bad to the Bronze / On and On Bronze)

This is arguably the most popular cream eyeshadow of the moment, or at least, within the last year.

I avoided these for the longest time, mostly because of the hype.  When I did finally bite the bullet, Tough As Taupe only satisfied, not overwhelm.
However, seeing how I'm in love with limited edition shade, Barely Beige (my review), I decided to give this one a shot.

Please note that these cream eyeshadows have different names in Europe.  The North American name is Bad to the Bronze.  Its European name is On and On Bronze.

Estée Lauder Peach Nuance Blush

Ever since I saw essiebutton's post during the peak of the coral hype last year, I've been feverishly combing through every single Cosmetics Company Outlet and Estée Lauder counter I came across.

Of course, Estée had been talking about a peach blush.  This particular one was called Witty Peach, and was supposedly a shimmer version of EL Peach Nuance.  EL Peach Nuance had been all the rage, because it was argued to be the ultimate dupe for MAC Ripe Peach.

Anyway, as you may recall from my Portland Haul (post here), I managed to finally track down EL Peach Nuance.  I was overjoyed when I found at least 10 of them in the CCO.

classic EL packaging

sorry about the fibers...

I swear I didn't photoshop lol

gorgeous

For professional shots, check out Temptalia's post here.

Do you need this?  No.

Is it gorgeous, and do you want this?  Yes.

As someone who exclusively uses Tarte blushes, this is definitely nowhere near the pigmentation.  I would compare this to MAC sheertone pigmentation.  It's definitely light, but gives a decent flush of colour.  It's perfect for me right now in the dead of Winter, when my skin is basically white.

Peach Nuance retails for $25 USD.  I got it for $18.50 USD at the CCO in Portland, Oregon (sweet, no tax!).

- M

REVIEW: Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Eyeshadow (100 Barely Beige)

I highly recommend this, if you're looking for a quick no-fuss all-over colour.  If you use MAC paint pots, you should definitely keep reading (not that I've never used any--I've never swatched any, but I've seen plenty of videos and swatches of them! lol).  These colour tattoo eyeshadows have been compared to paint pots on several occasions and are said to be incredible dupes!

Supposedly, Barely Beige is a dupe for MAC Bare Study.

It is also a dupe for Stila Smudge Pot in Kitten.  Looking at online swatches, I think this is a better version of Stila (see Lips So Facto's post on Kitten).

in natural light

I just apply it all over my eye lids with my ring finger, and it's great at brightening my eyes up.
If I wear it on its own, it wears well without creasing.  Because it's a cream eye shadow, I don't need to apply any eye shadow primer.
I've also worn it as a first layer underneath other eye shadows.  If I'm putting more shadows on top, I'll wear an eye shadow primer underneath.
It's a great inner tear duct highlighter too.

I love that it has a nice icy highlight sheen, but isn't overly shiny or shimmery.  It's subtle and doesn't make it look like you have icing on your eyes.

It sells for $7.99 CAD at Superstore.  If you can, wait for a Maybelline promotion, but it is a limited edition colour.

- M

Glossybox Canada (A Follow Up)

A month ago, I tried out Glossybox Canada and they lost me as a consumer at an incredible speed.  You can read about my experience.

Glossybox Canada said that they were going to send me a replacement, and I finally received it yesterday!

It arrived in an envelope with this ghetto generic message:

They must have had to send a lot of replacements to have a generic message made... lol

I don't know what their "letter" is talking about, because they sent me what I had requested:  A replacement of the Glossybox lipstick in Glossy Pink.

They also sent these two Shany shimmery eye shadows:

Not bad pigmentation.

The brown one actually reminds me of a glitter fall-out central version of Burberry Rosewood *gasp*

Anyway, I'm happy that Glossybox Canada followed through with their promise, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to resign with them--especially, with their recent aggressive price hike!

If you didn't know, Glossybox Canada is undergoing North American alignment and will be matching their pricetag to the Glossybox USA pricetag at $21.  This alignment doesn't mean they're closing the gap in brands between the Canada and USA entities.  Confused?  Join the club.

For detailed posts on this subject matter, go to:
Ellesy at Petite Pear Style and Candice at Mirror Image: A Beauty-Full Blog

- M

L'Oréal Infallible Eye Shadow: 031 Innocent Turquoise

This icy turquoise blue catch my eye when I walked by and I knew I had to buy it the moment I swatched it:

This is OMGAAAAAAAAAAAAAADS-NICE.
I bought this from London Drugs for $8.99 CAD.  I didn't even know L'Oréal was releasing new collections until coming home and combing through my favourite beauty blogs.

Apparently this is part of the Miss Candy Collection, according to Musings of A Muse's post.

If you want to see additional swatches, you can see Bloomin' Beauty Blog's swatches here and All That Slap's swatches here.

Within the beauty blogging and youtubing circles, L'Oréal's Infallible Eye Shadow collections are said to be the best dupes of the Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Shadows.  I think L'Oréal Innocent Turquoise reminds me a bit of Giorgio Armani Airy Jade (see Temptalia's swatch here: Click!)
Personally, I've never tried the Eyes to Kill shadows, but I love the Infallible shadow line.  They're silky and no chalkiness.  The pigmentation is absolutely amazing and wears well throughout the day.  The quality is well worth the price, even though Canada does pay much more for it than the States.

Have you tried Innocent Turquoise or any of the others within the collection?

- M

Caudalié Beauty Elixir - Possible Dupe

I'm not really sure when the Caudalié Beauty Elixir exploded all over the cyberspace and practically made a bloggers and youtubers go complete gaga over it... I want to say it was when the all mighty Lisa Eldridge mentioned it within her French Pharmacie recommendations.

Of course, I, too, had to experiment for myself, so I did some spritzing of it at my local Sephora.

I wasn't really impressed by it.  It seemed like any regular toner to me, and I was a bit turned off by the smell.  It was a bit medicinally herbish for me... but it smelled a little familiar.  I was never able to pinpoint what it was though - imagine all of those videos of gurus trying to describe a fragrance on youtube, haha.
R and I concluded that it may be what hippies smell like, you know, underneath the B.O. and hair (just a thought)

Yesterday, R and I lurked around Sephora for ages, and it finally hit what the Beauty Elixir reminded me of!

Not my photo

White Flower Oil!

White flower oil is an analgesic that's been used in Asia since forever.  It's made from a traditional blend of aromatic herbs such as lavender and mint, which heal headaches and minor pains made worse from poor circulation, inclement weather, or dietary habits and addictions.  You can inhale (wafting) it to help clear sinus congestion.  For headaches, you can apply it to your temples, forehead, neck or any other painful areas - avoid the eyes, sensitive tissue areas and broken skin areas.  However way you use it, a little goes a long way!!

Ingredients:  Wintergreen, Menthol, Camphor, Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Lavender.

From the website, ingredients in the Caudalié Beauty Elixir are:

INGREDIENTS : AQUA (WATER), ALCOHOL*, CITRUS AURANTIUM AMARA (BITTER ORANGE) FLOWER WATER*, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE)*, ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS (ROSEMARY) LEAF OIL*, POTASSIUM ALUM, GLYCERIN*, MENTHA PIPERITA (PEPPERMINT) OIL*, COMMIPHORA MYRRHA EXTRACT*, STYRAX BENZOIN RESIN EXTRACT*, MELISSA OFFICINALIS (BALM MINT) LEAF OIL*, ROSA DAMASCENA FLOWER OIL*, VITIS VINIFERA (GRAPE) FRUIT EXTRACT*, TOCOPHEROL*, CITRAL*, CITRONELLOL*, FARNESOL*, GERANIOL*, LIMONENE*, LINALOOL*. 

My point is the White Flower Oil is easily a much more natural dupe for the Beauty Elixir if you're not using it for the purpose of a toner.  If you're just using it because it refreshes or energizes you, then a tiny bottle of white flower oil will do the same thing for a serious fraction of the cost.

I'm definitely passing on this hype.

♥ M

Chanel Fall 2011 Prelude DUPE?

Chanel Prelude was released in the Fall 2011 collection and it's my all time fav quad ever.

R knows that I rave on and on about it.  It's the only eyeshadow that I've actually made a significant dent in!

Thank fucking goodness it's a permanent!  Here's CafeMakeup's non-ghetto swatches of Prelude: click!

There are two shades within the quad that are mini orgasms.  Both are on the left side of the quad.

I've been trying to find the Chanel singles of both for the longest time but Chanel's a bitch, so... yeah.

Anyway, the point of this post is that I'm convinced UD Mushroom is a way more pigmented dupe for the upper left and Burberry Rosewood is a slightly more sandy dupe for the lower left.  (Click on the links to see my respective posts)

(L:  Chanel Prelude, R:  Burberry Rosewood)

 (L:  Chanel Prelude, R:  UD Mushroom)

SWATCHES ALL TOGETHER!

 (L-R:  UD Mushroom, Chanel Prelude, Chanel Prelude, Burberry Rosewood)

(L-R:  UD Mushroom, Chanel Prelude, Chanel Prelude, Burberry Rosewood)

I bought the Chanel Prelude at Nordstrom for $57 USD, UD Mushroom at Sephora for $22 CAD, and Burberry Rosewood at Holt Renfrew for $33 CAD.

Shit that's a lot of money.

♥ M

Urban Decay - Mushroom (Reformulation)

I saw her holiness, Christine (Temptalia), swatch the new reformulation of this UD eyeshadow in Mushroom, and I was sold.

I raved through all of my fav bloggers and youtubers, and shortlisted my must-have list to Mushroom and X.

Yesterday, I saw that my local Sephora FINALLY chucked out the old eyeshadows and got the new ones.  Obviously, I swatched the fuck out of ALL of shades, haha.  (By the way, Sephora needs to fix its lighting... it's either straight up yellow or white.)

X ended up looking too pink on my skin tone... so I looked like a 3 year old playing with makeup.

But, I HAD TO HAVE Mushroom omgaaaaaaad.  Couldn't even wait to go down to the states and pay $18 USD instead of $22 CAD.  Yea, that bad.

Behold, ze unboxing striptease...

BAM.

This is ONE swatch.  Look at that pigmentation!

Verdict:  I fucking love it sooo sooo much.  It is actually a much more pigmented dupe of the top-left shade in the Chanel Fall 2011 Prelude quad.

(I'll be doing a Prelude dupe post soon!)

♥ M