Quick and easy tutorial on how to accomplish that perfect, classic red lip and cat eye makeup look! Perfect for everyday, dressing up, 50's costumes, or trying to be Taylor Swift! Or Kat Von D, honestly. Works on everyone, for every style.
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If we go by my usual upload schedule, this video is late, but I've decided that uploading Monday and Friday works best for me, so that's the new schedule... Either way, yay video!
Right, so anyways, here is my review of the xoBeauty 9 piece Synthetic Brush set, which my boyfriend was super nice enough to buy me for my birthday (which is today, coincidentally)! Spoilers: I love them, but you'll have to check out the video to find out why!
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You can find the set at xoBeautyShop.com, or click here to go directly to this set.
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If you've seen Black Milk leggings, either on my instagram or otherwise, then you know how awesome they are. If not, you should google that shit. They're pretty awesome. I show you a close up of mine in the start of the video, too, if you're too lazy for googling. Anyways, this is just a quick GRWM of a look inspired by my galaxy tights! Enjoy!
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P.s. Just wanted to let you know that the winner was chosen for my Aveeno giveaway, and the prize has been shipped out. Thanks to everyone who participated!
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I think I'm going to try to do this when I can, but here are some more pictures of the makeup look. And also a look into just how many pictures I take when trying to take title-card pictures! (if I've done it right, you should be able to clikc on any image below to view the full-size!)
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*** Note: I was sent this box to review, but this post is not sponsored, and all opinions are 100% honest and my own. ***
Handwritten Packaging:
Before I get into my review of the products I received, I want to describe the service:
Vain Pursuits offers personalized skincare formulated from natural, paraben-free, cruelty-free ingredients. When you sign up, you fill out a fairly in-depth skincare quiz asking for skin-type, concerns, goals, scent preferences, etc. The service is a monthly subscription box; for $49/month (or $44/month if you pay for 3 months at a time) you receive 3 products which could be made up of toners, cleansers, night creams, day creams, etc.
My three products, individually wrapped:
Shipping is free, and Vain Pursuits ships to Canada (where all the products are made) and the USA. After you receive your box and try out your products, you can go back to the site and give feedback on your products, which their consultants will then use to better customize future boxes. Personalization is very important to Vain Pursuits, from your personal skincare formulations to the handwritten note cards that they provide to explain your products to you.
My Product Ingredients:
Personalized product notes:
I think that’s all the important information for now about the actual service, though feel free to comment with any questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them for you!
On to my review!
***
One thing that's really cool about this service is the little cards for the products providing info on the product's ingredients and a handwritten note about why this product was chosen for you along with the scent notes. Unfortunately, however, for some reason, I did not receive a card with information about my toner, which may have been a simple oversight, but I do like to know what I'm rubbing on my face! I emailed them about it, and recieved the following blurb:
Hi Kristy! Since you've got oily skin and wanted hydration and anti-aging, try this botanical toner. It's got Tamarind Seed Extract, a powerful hydrator and Japanese Green Tea reputed in rejuvenation. It's unscented for extra gentleness, but let me know if you want to add some essential oils to combat oilyness in your next box.
One critique I would add about these cards is that I would love usage info or tips. Vain Pursuits' site seems to want to make skincare easier and painfree for its customers, so usage info would be helpful. Yes, washing one's face seems simple enough, but some cleansers work best on dry skin vs. moistened skin, or some toners should be applied with a cotton pad, while others prefer you to apply them directly to the skin. It's not strictly necessary, but it might be a nice addition. For simplicity's sake, I assumed that theses were pretty basic, and used the cleanser on damp skin and wiped it off either with a wet washcloth or rinsed it off in the shower, and used the toner on a cotton pad.
***
Product Reviews:
Cleanser:
The cleanser I received is a thin, milky consistancy, contains no artificial foaming agents (so it doesn't really foam up on the skin), and has a nice, light, fresh citrus scent (I added citrus as one of my prefered scents). At first I wasn't sure that the product was cleaning my skin effectively, because it is very gentle and doesn't leave my skin tight or dry feeling at all, but after using it for a while now, I find that I really do like it! As I said, it is very gentle, but still seems to effectively remove dirt from my face, as there doesn't seem to be much for my toner to clean up after I've washed my face. I love that is cleans without stripping oils, because my skin reacts to harsh cleansers by creating more oils.
Toner:
My toner has an odd scentlessness that I did not expect when I was first trying it out, as I am used to toners like witch hazel and Clinique's toners. I guess this is more like a cleansing water than an astringent like my usual toners. Honestly, I'm not sure that it does much for my skin. No strong feelings about this one. I think if I were to continue with the service, I would take them up on their offer of some sort of oil-controlling essential oils next time!
Moisturizer:
This is by far my favourite product of the ones I was sent!
Although it comes in a tub like a cream, this moisturizer is lovely and light, and smells fantastic! The card says it smells like vanilla and bergamot, but to me it smells like FrootLoops . . . in the best possible way! It's light, and doesn't linger or get annoying, though, it's just so fun! Aside from that, the cream soaks in really easily and quickly, and doesn't feel at all greasy or heavy on the skin, which I love!
***
Thoughts on the Service:
1. My first thought is connected to how much I love this moisturizer: from what I can find on their site, you can't just repurchase products that you receive in boxes each month, so what happens wen you fall in love with something? I guess this is to keep you subscribing, as they would probably continue to send you a formulation if it is really working perfectly? Still, it's a little annoying that you can't just buy single products from them.
2. I'm sure many of you will agree -- and lots will also disagree -- but $49 a month for skincare is a lot of money! For me, I just don't have the income to support this service, so while I think the idea of personalized skincare is really cool, I don't plan to subscribe anytime soon. That said of course, I don't want you to think that I don't love the whole idea of Vain Pursuits. I really do think that a service that takes lifestyle, skin-type, personal preferences, and other factors and then personalizes a skincare routine to suit you is really great! If you have the funds for it, and also think that the idea of this service is great, I'd completely recommend giving it a go!
This has been a really long review, so to summarize, or for the lazy:
TL;DR: Awesome idea, well executed, great products, quite expensive. Can't afford it, but may be worth it for others!
If you're interested in signing up for this subscription, you can head over to VainPursuits.com and use one of the codes they so generously gave me to give to you guys! You can use "KRISTYVAIN1MTH" to get one month for $25 or "KRISTYVAIN" for 1 month free with a 3-month plan. Just enter the code at checkout! =)
Aside from VainPursuits.com, you can find them @vain_pursuits on twitter and instagram, or at facebook.com/vainpursuits.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to let me know if you have tried this service or if you are interested in trying it out! And feel free to ask me any questions; if I don't know the answers, I can contact the company and find out for you!
Some birthday presents and then just some other stuff that I bought myself recently =P... Enjoy!
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Don't forget about my giveaway if you haven't entered yet!
Hello again, my lovely readers! Today I have a review on the new Garnier Clean+ Makeup Removing Lotion Cleanser, which was sent to me for review by Crowdsocial. As always, my review is not biased by the fact that this product was sent to me for free. All my reviews are completely honest, because how could anyone trust me if I let brands trick me into giving good review?!
The Product:
Anyways, I'll start off by telling you a bit about the product, obviously. This product is described as a cleanser, which is meant to "dissolve impurities and waterproof mascara" while leaving your skin "feeling moisturized and protected." As seen on the card above, the product contains moringa flower extract, and no alcohol, dyes, or fragrances, making it suitable for even sensitive skin-types.
It also claims that in a single use, it makes your skin feel "comfortable and conditioned and thoroughly cleansed," and after a week of use, it claims skin will look "smoother and softer and looks healthier." Aside from the fact that all the excessive use of the word "and" is really bugging me, those seem to be some pretty nice claims; who doesn't want clean, smooth, healthy skin? Finally, this product is Dermatologist, Opthalmologist, and allergy tested. (Though doesn't it confuse you when products say this instead of saying they were approved by dermatologists and opthalmologists?)
To use, you simply massage the product onto your skin on your face and around your eyes, and then remove either with a cotton pad or with water. Meant for morning and night use, which I guess really does mean that Garnier sees this as a cleanser as much as a makeup remover.
I think that's about everything you need to know about the product, so let's get on to . . .
My Thoughts:
Personally, I'm not super impressed with this product. Even after my first use, I didn't feel it did any more than a regular makeup remover. Also, I feel like the usage method is a little odd.
First of all, no where on the package does it suggest that you shake the product before use, but I found that if I didn't shake it, all that came out was a liquid... And when you are expecting a lotion-esque product to squirt into your hands, this can be a messy surprise!
When it comes to actually using the product, I found that using it on my whole face was completely unnecessary and seems to have lead to some breakouts, even though I always followed it with my toner to remove any residual product. I don't like spreading it on my face and then wiping it off with water or a cotton pad, so I've taken to using it on a cotton pad just on my eye makeup like any makeup remover. It has the same slippy--almost oily--feeling that most makeup removers tend to have, especially the ones that separate and which need to be shaken before each use to blend the parts together.
I will agree that it removes waterproof mascara reasonably well, but I've personally never had a problem finding removers that do this at both the high-end or at the drugstore, so this isn't revolutionary in my opinion. Perhaps this product will be great for someone else, maybe with dry skin? I feel like the moisturizing properties might be too much for people with combination or oily skin-types, and that's coming from a girl who likes to use argan oil as an all-over facail moisturizer periodically on her combination skin!
One last thing that I want to point out before I finish, as I just took a glance at the ingredient list, is that this product does contain Methylparaben, so if you like to avoid parabens, this probably isn't a product for you!
You can check out more reviews on SheBlogsCanada.
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This look took me only 19 minutes, including all the time I spent explaining what I'm doing and the products I'm using. I have not practice this look. I'm confident it can be an easy 15 minute makeup look for just about anyone! Great for lazy days or mornings when you're running late, but still want to perfect your look a little! Enjoy!
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P.S.: Head over to my blog to enter my current giveaway *Canada Only*
