2016 Beauty Favourites Round-up!! || + My Top 15 Products of 2016

Hey guys! Once again, it's that time of the year again where all the bloggers and youtubers are rifling through their products to pick out the best of the best to share their favourite picks of the year to share! I already posted a Non-Beauty Favourites for 2016, which you should check out if you haven't already, but now I'm back with a complete round up of all my favourites in lots of product categories. I have done this for the past several years, and I had to do it again!

I've also filmed a video featuring my Top 15 products, if you're looking for only the best of the best, or a more condensed version, so I'll embed that here, but if you want to see all my favourites in skincare, makeup, nails, and beauty tools, be sure to scroll down and check out the whole list!

Click here to watch in HD, or watch below:

Skincare:

• Makeup Remover: Neutrogena Oil-Free Makeup Remover
• Face wash: Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Face Cleansing Oil
• Toner Garnier Skin Active Micellar Water (I know, not technically a toner, but that's how I use it
• Moisturizers:
  • sleep mask -- Freeman's Honeydew & Chamomile Sleep Mask
  • light/daytime -- Clean * Clear Morning Burst Hydrating Gel Moisturizer

Face Makeup:

• Foundations:
  • L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte foundation
  • Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation
• Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder
• Concealer: Kat Von D Lock It Concealer
• Blush: Benefit Coralista
• Bronzer: Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil
• Contour: ELF Contour Palette
• Highlighters:
  • MAC Mineralised Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle
  • Makeup Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighter in Golden Lights
• Setting Spray: Urban Decay All-Nighter setting spray

Eye Makeup

• Primer: Essence I Love Colour Intensifying eyeshadow base
• Palettes:
  • drugstore/affordable matte-- ELF Mad For Matte palette
  • highend matte -- Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette
  • drugstore/affordable mixed palette -- BH Cosmetics Shaaanxo palette
  • highend mixed palette -- Urban Decay Naked palette
• Liner Pencil: Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Zero
• Liquid/Gel/Cream Liner: Stila Stay-All-Day Liquid Liner in Black
• Mascara: Maybelline Rocket Volume Express Waterproof Mascara
• Brow Pencil: CoverGirl Brow & Eye Maker Pencils in Midnight Brown
• Brow Gel: L'Oreal Brow Stylist Plumper Gel in Med-Deep

Lip Products

• Balm: First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Lip Therapy
  • Honorable Mention: Burt's Bees Nourshing Lip Balm with Mango Butter
• Lipsticks:
  • nude -- MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Creme Cup
  • bright -- Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in L.U.V.
  • red -- MAC Viva Glam Lipstick in Viva Glam I
  • dark -- MAC Satin Lipstick in Cyber
  • neutral -- Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in Punked Matte

Body Care / Scents / Perfume

• Perfumes:
  • Dior Pure Poison
  • Nina Ricci La Tentation
• Hand Lotion: Great American Clay Body Creme Souffle in Cucumber Melon
• Body Lotion: Jergans Wet Skin Moisturizer in Green Tea (not pictured)
• SPF:
  • body -- Hawaiian Tropics Kids SPF 50+ lotion
  • face -- Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Face SPF 60 lotion

Nails:

• Base coat: Essie Millionails nail treatment
• Colours:
  • light/bright -- nudes, especially OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?
  • dark -- greys, especially Essie Frock 'N Roll
• Top coat: INM Out The DOor quick dry topcoat

Tools & Brushes

• Nail File: Burton Crystal Travel File
• Eye Brushes:
  • ELF Studio "C" Brush
  • xoBeauty Round Top Blender
  • LSigma E40
  • ELF Essentials Smudger
• Face Brushes:
  • Real Techniques Buffer
  • Real Techniques Contour
  • ELF Studio Complexion
  • xoBeauty Blush
  • ELF Studio Blush
• Hair Brush Travel Tangle Teezer

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And that's all! Again, don't miss my 2016 Non-Beauty Favourites, if you haven't read it yet. And be sure to let me know some of your favourite makeup and beauty products of 2016 in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

REVIEW || Sigma E40 Brush

I was contacted by Obsessed Canada (owned by Nail Polish Canada) to let me know they are now selling Sigma brushes, which is great, since they are a Canadian company based in Vancouver, with Canadian pricing and great shipping! Obsessed Canada is essentially the same as NPC, but instead of focusing on the nail products, they focus on all the other beauty products available. Sigma brushes can be purchased from both Obsessed Canada and Nail Polish Canada.

Any ways, I was lucky enough to be able to select one of Sigma's brushes to review for you all, and I was really excited since I had never tried or owned a Sigma brush before! I selected the E40 Tapered Blending brush because I wanted a new shadow blender brush, and this one looked like nothing I owned.

I've been using this brush for a few weeks now, and it's excellent! I'm a bit confused, as NPC says it has natural bristles, but Sigma's site says it has Sigmax synthetic fibres, so do with that what you will, but yeah... this brush is beautiful! It costs $20.80 CAD from NPC, though it is currently out of stock on both sites. You can ask to be notified of its restocking, however, at least on NPC. Plus, the Sigma brushes ship free with no minimum spend!

I talked a while about this brush in my Summer favourites video (I'll just leave this link here, if you're interested), but this tapered blending brush has long, very bendy bristles, and is great at a ton of tasks! It very quickly blends out a crease colour for soft, smokey edges, and is good to build up your crease colour, apply brow bone highlight, or even delicately contour your nose. The thinner, more flexible brush is great whether you want to smoke your shadows up really high, or keep it contained to the crease, making it a great brush for beginners, or anyone who finds that they blend their shadows too high consistently using denser, more over-sized brushes!

Unlike the xoBeauty Round Top Blender brush (which I still love for other things. You can find my review of the xoBeauty brushes here: on the YouTubes), this Sigma brush may be much easier to control for some. Also, unlike shorter blenders, which can be good for applying and building colour, but not so great at blending and softening, this brush performs both those tasks easily.

Really, what I'm saying is: if you want to have only one crease brush, get this one! I completely think the $20 price tag is worth it. This brush is so versatile. I'd love to try more Sigma brushes now!

If you want to pick up this brush (or get a notification when it restocks), or check out what other brushes NPC offers, head over to ObsessedCanada.com.

This post was not sponsored. This product was sent to me for review,
but as always all opinions expressed are 100% honest and my own!

Thanks for reading!

2015 Summer Favourites || June - August

Click here to watch in HD, or watch below:

Thanks for watching!

Review || Conair Infiniti Pro "The Ultimate Brush"

Hello again! I'm so sorry that I've failed so hard at the book series that I wanted to start. I do want to get to it, but I think it will be a lot more sporadic than I had hoped... that stated, for today's post I would like to do a quick review of one of the products I got from the London Drugs event a couple months ago. I don't think I have enough to say to warrant a whole video, but I did have some thoughts I wanted to share. If you haven't seen my haul, click here to go take a look. If you have, or if you just want my review of this brush, keep reading!

The product I'm reviewing, which you probably know if you read the title, or if you did a Google search on this product looking for reviews, is "The Ultimate Brush" by Conair Infiniti Pro. At least, I think that's the name, the packaging wasn't super clear on that, in my opinion...

Anyways, I'll leave some pictures below of the packaging so you can take a look at all the claims that the brush makes to sell itself, but basically, it is just a regular brush, except that it takes 2 AAA batteries, which are used to power that ion generator. The ions that this brush sends towards your hair are supposed to cancel out the opposite charged ions that make your hair all staticky and frizzy. This is a super awesome concept, and one I'm sure that everyone who has heard of this brush hopes really works. Who doesn't want un-frizzy hair just by brushing it out?! But does it work?

At the event, they were doing a great, quick demo of this product where they took a blown up balloon, rubbed it all over the model's hair, and then brushed it through with this brush while it was turned on. If you've ever tried to brush your hair after making it stand on end with a balloon, you probably know that just brushing is NOT going to make it lie flat! But this brush totally worked on her hair, and that was pretty exciting, and so I had high hopes for it working on everyday frizz in my own hair.

Unfortunately, however, I don't find that this brush does anything spectacular for my hair. This is probably true for a variety of reasons. I'll start by pointing out that my hair is somewhere between extremely wavy and loosely curly, and also very thick and long. Usually, I only brush my hair while it is still damp, because brushing my dry hair causes horrible poofing because it breaks up my natural curls and causes a mess even when I'm not frizzy!

Brushing while wet is surely one of the main reasons this does nothing to stop static in my hair most of the time. However, even when I did test it on my dry hair, I found no change in frizziness whether I brushed with this ionic brush or a regular one. I'm pretty sure this is because my hair is so naturally textured and doesn't lay flat, so my hair will go whatever direction it wants whether it's staticky or not! I'm sure that this works wonders on straight hair, and I've heard good things from some Asian bloggers, who clearly have very different hair than me, so I'm not saying that this brush won't work for anyone, just that it won't work for everyone

Finally, I had a complaint, which may just be a defect in my brush, or it might be a problem with other ones as well, I'm not sure, as I've only ever used my own. However, the crease between the handle and the brush head on my brush has just enough space that EVERY SINGLE TIME I brush my hair with it, my hairs will get stuck in that crack and snap! This is a terrible thing for a hairbrush to do! I hope this is just my own unit, but yeah, it's not good, I tried for a while holding it high up so my hand covered the crack and protected my hair from breakage, but that makes this brush so terribly awkward that I've now completely stopped bothering to use it! (see image below to see the area of the brush I mean)

TL;DR: (that means "too long; didn't read," for those unfamiliar with the term) I do think that this brush works well for those with straighter hair. I do not think it will work for curly-haired girls, or possibly anyone with lots of breakage. I'm really disappointed with the construction of the brush itself in my unit, but this may just be a product defect.

So now it's up to you to decide if this product is worth your time! =P Let me know if you've used this brush and how you liked it! Or let me know if you've been thinking of getting it, I always love to hear from you guys. =)

Thanks for reading!

|| Recent Favourites || Feb - April 2015 || {video}

Click here to watch in HD, or watch below:

Thanks for watching!

|| xoBeauty Brush Review || The 9 Piece Synthetic Brush Set || {video}

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!

Click here to watch in HD, or watch below:

You can find the set at xoBeautyShop.com, or click here to go directly to this set.

Thanks for watching!

|| Another Random Collective Haul || Makeup, books, clothes || {video}

Click here to watch in HD, or watch below:

Thanks for watching!

{VIDEO} Mixed Brand Reviews

And last but not least, here is the final video (at least for now!) in my LDBeauty series! This one is a collection of brands and products which I only had a one or two products from, and so couldn't really make a brand video for... and so, here it is!

Watch below, as always, or you can click here to view in HD!

Thanks for watching!

LDBeauty Quick Overview and Haul!! (Picture Heavy)

Hello again! If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you may have already seen me talking about the LDBeauty (or London Drugs Beauty) Preview event in Richmond, BC just a few days ago (June 18th). Along with tons of other bloggers and journalists, I was invited by Cynnamon, who does PR for London Drugs, to go to the London Aviation Centre to see what some of the beauty brands carried by London Drugs had just recently released, as well as some products that are not yet on the market (most will be coming out either in July or August, if I remember correctly).

This was so not a cheap event for London Drugs to put on! Sure, they own the hangar that the event was in, but they flew most of us over in groups of twelve from the heliport near Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver to YVR airport, had an open bar all night, gave out tons of full-size products for us all to try out, and then drove us back to the skytrain station in a limo!

I had such a good time learning about all these different products, and learning about some brands I’ve honestly never looked twice at, as well as some beloved favourites, like NYX and Revlon. As I post them, I will link to my review videos below each brand’s product picture below!

Here are some pictures of the night before I get into a quick overview of what I received (clicking the picture should open the full-size image in a new tab/window):

Check out my quick overview video of the night for more pictures and video clips from my helicopter ride, either below or click here to see in HD on Youtube!

And now, the products! I’m not going to go into depth here, as there is way too much, and I intend to do smaller reviews, probably by brand, later on. For now, I’ll just list the products, and when possible list the price according to London Drug’s site:

Overview

Prestige

two Total Wear Lip Crayons (in Party Shine and Bare It All), Triple Line Ink Pen, Makeup Eraser Pen, and two Color Rush Eyeshadows (in Copper and Bronze), all of which came in that nice pencil case!

See my Prestige brand review (available Aug 7, 10 am PST).

John Frieda

Luxurious Volume Touchably Full Shampoo and Conditioner ($12 each), Frizz Ease Dream Curls Shampoo and Conditioner ($11 each), Frizz Ease Unwind Curls Calming Creme ($11), Frizz Ease Secret Weapon Touch Up Creme ($11), and Frizz Ease Nourishing Oil Elixir ($12).

 

NYX

 

Two Timer Dual Ended Eyeliner, Butter Lipstick in Licorice ($11.99), Angel Veil Primer, Butter Gloss in Madeleine ($8), and Dream Catcher Palette in Stormy Skies ($17.99). (All came in a pretty lace drawstring bag)

 

See my NYX brand review video.

Revlon

 

Colorstay Skinny Liquid Liner in Black, Bold Lacquer by Grow Luscious Mascara ($10), Colorstay Eyeliner in Jade ($8), Colorstay Moisture Stain in LA Exclusive ($13), and three Colorstay Gel Envy Nail Polishes (in Jackpot, In The Money, and Full House).

See my Revlon brand review video

 

Chella

 

Eyebrow Defining Gel ($18.00), Highlighter Pencil in Ivory Lace ($18.00), Eyebrow Colour Pencil in Light Brown ($18.00), Heated Eyelash curler ($22.00), and Dual Size Color Pencil Sharpener ($5.00).

(above prices from chella.com)

 

See my Chella Review Video

 

Essie

 

Matte About You Topcoat ($10), Apricot Cuticle Oil ($10), Quick-E Drying Drops ($10), and “Fierce, No Fear” polish from their 2014 Summer Collection ($10).

See my Essie brand review video (Available Aug 4, 10 am PST).

Mineral Fusion

 

Sheer Moisture Lip Tint in Glow, Hair Repair Shampoo and Conditioner ($10 each full-size; sample worth maybe $2 total), and Eyeshadow Trio in Stormy ($24).

Part of my Mixed Brand Review video (Available Aug 11, 10 am PST).

Annabelle

 

Biggy Bronzer in Haute Gold ($12), Big Show Volumizing Mascara ($10), Lip Liner in Buff ($7), EyeInk Liquid Liner Pen in Black ($10), TwistUp Eyeshadow Crayon in Indigo ($10), and BigShow Lip Shine in Beam ($10).

See my Annabelle brand review video

Home Skinovations

 

Silk’n FaceFX ($150). (Also, a coupon for $50 off coupon for either the FaceFX or the Flash&Go system, which is an at home permanent hair removal system.)

 

Goody

Bun Spiral ($7), Double Sided Smoothing Comb ($4.50), Bun Foundation ($6), Bobby Pins ($4), and wire-lined head scarf ($7).

Coty (Rimmel / Sally Hansen / Calvin Klein)

$5 off coupon for Sally Hansen Miracle Gel polish, Roller Ball of Calvin Klein Endless Euphoria ($49 for 40 ml; sample worth ~$3.68), Rimmel Moisture Renew lipstick in Back to Fuschia, and Rimmel ScandalEyes Rockin’ Curves Mascara in Extreme Black.

Part of my Mixed Brand Review video (Available Aug 11, 10 am PST).

c.A.K.E Jewellery

Black and silvery beaded long necklace and matching bracelet.

Lise Watier

Lift & Firm 3D Duo Serum, 24HRS Glam Eyeshadow pencil in Satin Glam, Feline Velvet Lip Lacquer in Rouge (I think), Feline Eyeliner HD liquid liner pen in Brown, and Feline Eyeshadow Quartet in 32767.

See my Lise Watier brand review video

Randoms

Red Carpet Revitalise Cuticle Oil ($6), Tweezerman Brush IQ Blender Brush, Got2B Rise’n’Shine Hairspray ($6), Philips Trimmer, and Cargo HD Mascara ($26).

Most of which is part of my Mixed Brand Review video (Available Aug 11, 10 am PST).

My Stack of Press Releases/Coupons/Info

My badge, all the press releases and coupons I collected, as well as the hardcover book with all the brand and featured product information from the event. Not pictured: a thumbdrive full of press pictures of all the featured products.

 

***

 

Do be sure to let me know if there are any products that you would especially like to see a review on! Over the next few weeks, I plan to test out and then review many, if not all, of the products that I received. I’ll probably do my reviews by brand, but if you have a better idea, or any other suggestions, let me know.

 

Thanks so much for reading, and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel to see my reviews when I post them!

My Top 10 Favourite Products Under $10

Sorry about the lateness of this post, I meant to have it up yesterday the same time as my video, but broken internet and school work got in my way, and I never got around to writing it up. But here it is!

If you haven’t seen it yet, you can either watch my video below, or click here for the HD version as usual.

Anyways, let's get onto the products, in no particular order. . .

1) Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze:

In case you don't know about these things yet, they are cream eyeshadows that set quickly and then don't move or crease all day. They are so easy to wear, and there are a few ways to use them. You can use them on their own, either for a sheer wash of colour, or build it up to be more opaque. They also make excellent bases for other shadows, though that's not how I personally use them most of the time, because this shadow is so good on its own. I picked this colour because I think it is the prettiest and most versatile. Probably my favourite way to wear these is to put a somewhat sheer coat over my lid to about the crease, and then build up more on the outer corner, or outer third. This makes it look like I've put on way more products than I actually have!

2) Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder:

I have gone through several of these powders, and I think they are excellent, and certainly the best I've found so far. They have a few colours, but they are all fairly pale. I've used about 4 different colours, and there isn't too much difference to them, so if you aren't pale, then they might not have a colour that will work for you, unfortunately. Anyways, this is another versatile product for me, I like to use it both on its own or to set foundation. Some powders I've used get cakey over foundation, but this one works really really nicely, and it really seems to help my makeup stay all day.

3) Wet'n'Wild H20 Proof Liquid Liner in Black:

I've never had a problem with this, aside from a little bit of transferring to my upper lids if I'm not wearing eyeshadow, though I have very oily eyelids. That said, it's never happened when I was wearing shadow, so I don't really think it's something to complain about. It lasts a really long time, and it doesn't crease,smudge, or crack like some liners I've tried. I also love that it has a felt-tip point instead of a pointed brush since those are the liners I get along with best.

4) ELF Studio Powder Brush:

I see no reason to spend lots of money on brushes, when ELF’s Studio line is so soft and lovely on their own! I like to use this one for applying powders, like the name suggests it is for, and I find that it applies product really nicely. This brush would also be great for applying liquid foundations, though, as well.

5) NYX Auto Eyebrow Pencil in Taupe:

A simple, but good product. This is just a mechanical eyebrow pencil. It does have a slightly different shape from your average round pencil, the colour is in a slightly oblong shape, which allows you to more naturally draw on/fill in your brows. I find that they lasting power is really good, even without a brow gel, and I've never had any problems with smudging or fading.

6) Essence I <3 Stage Eyeshadow Base:

I like this at least as much as Urban Decay's Primer Potion, and far more than the ELF shadow bases. This primer has a slight tint, which I like, since it helps to cover up the veins that are very visible sometimes on my pale lids. The product is great for holding colour and amping up the pigmentation of not-so-great shadows, and I've never had any problems with creasing or fading while wearing this primer!

7) St. Ives Green Tea Scrub:

It's a little odd for me to fall in love with a face product, but I really love how this makes my skin feel. It makes my skin feel smooth, but without the tightness that some products make my face feel. It's also not too harsh and scratchy, and has salicylic acid in it to help fight acne, which I do think it does pretty well.

8) Essie Millionails Nail Treatment:

This product is only just within the price range, but it is well worth it's $9.99 price tag. It's basically Essie's version of OPI's Nail Envy, and it is just as good, exactly the same size, but maybe half the price! It makes my nails strong and the grow so much better when I'm using this as a base coat for my manicures. I strongly recommend this for anyone whose nails need some help!

9) CoverGirl EyeEnhancers Shadow in 710 Champagne:

This individual shadow was the eye shadow that taught me that eyeshadow could be pretty, and I still really love it. I used to use it all over the lid, and that's still pretty for a very subtle look, but my favourite way to wear this now is as a highlight, both on the browbone or on my inner corners.

10) Maybelline Vivids Lipstick in Vivid Rose:

This is the only shade I've tried of this line, but it is gorgeous, bright, pigmented, and longwearing! What's not to love? There are lots more colours in the line, as well, and they are all bright in their own way (as you might expect from a line called "Vivids"). I'd love to try more. These are definitely my favourite lipsticks from the drugstore. They almost, but only almost, rival MAC Amplified lipsticks for quality... and I really like MAC Amplified lipsticks...

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So that's everything! Thanks for reading! Don't forget to let me know, either here or on my video, what your favourite products under $10 are!