I Won Beauty Crazed Canada’s November Favourites Giveaway!

I mentioned in my last post that I won one of Beauty Crazed Canada’s monthly favourites giveaways, and I’m finally posting my pictures! I haven’t tried some of these products out enough to do proper reviews, but I’ll give you my first impressions on most of them.

Also, I just want to warn you that this is a very long, and picture heavy post… you have been warned!

The haul:

imPRESS Press-On Manicure from Broadway Nails:

After trying these out, I couldn’t understand why people were complaining they’re short. Then I went to the store to take a look at the other patterns and colours, and realised that these are clearly an extra long set for Halloween. That said, they were oddly comfortable. I have tiny, oddly shaped nails, and previously, press-on nails have hurt to wear, but I got to wear these for the whole week it predicts on the box. They’re also super easy to apply. I’m not sure I’ll ever get to use the normal sets though, since they are really short. I would have to have a pretty serious nail melt-down in order for my nails to be shorter than the normal press-ons.

Karl Lagerfeld for Shu Uemura Nail Polish in Shu Shu Red:

It’s just a basic red, not something I’d bother to buy from such a high-end company, since you could easily get a basic red from OPI or Essie. Still, nice to receive and it came with these cool/odd little nail stickers as well.

Avon Super Drama Mascara:

First of all, it’s so odd to me that the mascara itself is lighter in colour than the wand. I must be so used to colours like “very black” and “blackest black” that regular black just isn’t dark enough! Anyways, it’s hard to tell from this picture, but instead of the usual bristles, this brush is made up of wider plates. It’s somewhat like a comb, and the bristly-plate things are pretty hard and scratchy if you get it too close to your eyelid, which I’m kinda used to doing to get my mascara on the roots of my lashes, so that’s something to watch out for. Also, this mascara isn’t waterproof, though I haven’t noticed much flaking or movement when wearing it, except that it’s completely gone after a shower, rather than my waterproof mascaras, which cause major racoon-eyes! I’m not sure this mascara provides “super drama,” but it is a good mascara. It’s somewhat volumizing, not clumpy, and maybe a little bit lengthening… at least after you get used to the odd brush. I probably wouldn’t purchase again, but I do like it while I have it!

Quo Smoking Hot Eye Palette in Purple:

Purple isn’t exactly my colour, and tends to make me look bruised, but I’ll try to work this in to my makeup, or else hand it over to my sister. I also tried to take swatch pictures for you, but without putting them over a primer, there was so little colour in the swatches that it just seemed like a waste of all of our time. The colours are pretty, however, and over a primer I may be able to do something with them… except maybe the top colour… that looks lie the perfect colour to make me look bruised and a little dead!

Elancyl Multi-Firming Body Care Luscious Cream:

To be honest, this is one of the things in the box I was least excited about, and I have yet to try it out. It’s clearly a firming body lotion, which I don’t think really does anything. I’ll get around to it eventually, but, since I’m not a dry-skin person, lotions just don’t excite me.

The Body Shop Lip Balms in Ginger Sparkle, Vanilla Bliss, and Cranberry Joy:

These look, and also kina feel, a lot like an attempt to duplicate the eos lipbalms. I’m honestly not enamoured with the eos balms as lots of there people are. They come in some nice flavours, they’re cute… sure, but I don’t think they’re more moisturizing than some other great balms I’ve tried. These are at least as good as those, with the addition of a little sparkle! They also smell wonderful, with the exception of the ginger in my opinion, which I gave to my sister, because I just couldn’t do it. That may have been partly because I’d had so much ginger tea around the time this package got to me, since I had a bit of a stomach bug/flu/thing, so maybe I was just sick to death of ginger. I love love love The Body Shop’s cranberry scents, however, and I’m a major fan of all things vanilla, including Body Shop’s wonderful holiday vanilla spice scent, which this is, so I’ve been loving these balms!

Gratiae Lifting Moisture Cream and Facial Serum samples:

This is another product I wasn’t all that thrilled to receive, and thus I have yet to give it a try. Even if I like it, this product is so tiny I won’t really know if it does anything anyways, but I will try it out eventually.

Revlon Midnight Express Cream Eye Shadow Palette:

These are fairly well-pigmented, but I’m not a huge fan of cream shadows. I just don’t really get how to use them best. The one time I used these so far was as a base under my New Year’s Eve makeup. The silver definitely helped to punch up the colour of my silver shadow, and it  didn’t make my makeup crease, which is good. I have also tried to make a look entirely from these shadows, but I had a hard time blending the colours, without dulling the pigmentation, so I suppose I’m stuck using these aw a base. The white shade at the bottom would probably also make a good highlight, and the black might make an passable cream liner, but I haven’t tried this product that way. So far, I’m still just meh on this palette, though some of the colours are gorgeous!

Maybelline Colossal Volume Express Cat Eyes Mascara:

Like the Avon above, this mascara isn’t waterproof and is only a simple black. That said, this is one of the products I was most excited to receive, largely because I really enjoy Maybelline mascaras! I didn’t like this much the first time I used it, because me and curved wands don’t really get along, but the formula is good, and as long as I do most of my swiping and wiggling with the convex side of the wand facing my lashes (basically, using it backwards), then we get along. I would like to have tried this in a waterproof, to really test it against my current favourites, but even so I’m really liking it! It doesn’t clump on me and I love the separation and volume it gives my lashes!

Rimmel Vinyl Max Lipgloss in Glorious:

The colour on this is nice (I have swatches of all the glosses below), and it smells as good as I’ve come to expect Rimmel lip products to smell, since they pretty much all smell like chocolate or candy! The funniest thing about this gloss is the jumbo wand and doe-foot applicator! It makes the wand look so stubby, almost like a mini since it’s so wide. It’s supposed to be a one-swipe applicator, but I pretty much ignore that, in order to properly spread the product on my lips. This also seems a tiny bit plumping, but I might be wrong.

Burberry Beauty Lip Glow in No 18 Vintage Gold:

Look at that product and tell me the colour doesn’t look more like an eye product than a lip product! I was scared that this expensive product would be completely wasted on me, since it’s such an odd colour, but after trying it on my lips, I love it! The bronze shimmer is so odd, but over natural lips, it just gives a cool copper shimmer. This also might be cool over a red lipstick. Also, this gloss is non-sticky and feels pretty moisturizing on the lips. I like it, aside from the very classic lipstick scent, which I’m not sure I’m a fan of… If you don’t know what I’m talking about, think about using your mom’s lipsticks when you were a kid… that’s the scent.

Maybelline ColourSensational High Shine Lip Gloss in Electric Shock:

I was fairly meh on this product even after swatching it on my hand. The colour is passable, and it doesn’t smell too bad, but there’s not much special about it. I was kinda wrong, though. When I first wore this on my lips, I noticed that the colour lasts forever, even after the gloss shine and feeling had faded, I still had a good bit of colour on my lips. It isn’t a stain, and doesn’t fare as well through a meal, and will get all over your pop can if you’re stupid like me and reapply after eating, but before you’ve finished your Pepsi, but the colour pigmentation is great on the lips, and I’m pretty impressed with the staying power.

Lip colour swatches:

Gold: Burberry. Light pink: Maybelline. Deeper pink: Rimmel.

Veil Cosmetics Illuminating Complexion Fix:

Luckily, this product is very close to my right colouring, and blends in perfectly! I don’t have much in the way of dark circles (I know, I’m kinda lucky that way), and I don’t like to use un-medicated concealers on zits, but I will get some use out of this concealer anyways. It’s very lightweight, and you don’t even feel it on the skin once it’s set, and it blends really nicely. I’ve used this a few times not so much to cover up circles, but just to help brighten my eyes on tired mornings. It’s a good concealer, even if I wasn’t the right person for it to end up with.

And that’s everything! I’m so glad that I won this giveaway! I know I’ve shown you other giveaways that I’ve won, but this one is a lot bigger than those were, and I’m super grateful that my name was chosen from all the entries. Also, I won’t be needing any mascara or lip products for a while now!

Have you tried any of these products before? Let me know what your thoughts are or were, and also remember to leave any ideas for prizes for my first giveaway coming up soon!

Thanks for reading! <3

December 2012 Favourites

It’s the 7th, and almost midnight at that, but at least I’m getting this out before the end of the first week of the month! Anyways, here are my December favourites! Instead of giving you a super-short post, I’ll show you a couple favourites from the month, and also re-mention some past favourites that I’m still loving!

1. Argan Oil

This stuff is amazing, and it has pretty much completely replaced the Baby Buttercreme from last month in my hair routine.

I use this when my hair is still slightly damp. First, I brush out my hair and part it like usual. Next, because my hair is so thick, I part my hair in half in the back of my head, and use about a nickel-sized amount of the Argan oil for each half. If you have thin hair, you might be able to use about half what I do, since a bit of product goes a long way, and you don’t want to weight down your hair.

Then I warm up the oil in my hands before working it through my hair from the ends to about ear level on both sides, and I make sure to get some on the ends of my bangs, which are trying very hard to grow themselves out! When that’s done, I brush the oil through and let my hair dry naturally.

I've really felt a difference in the softness of my hair, and I also really like the soft, subtle scent. Also, this brand wasn't even that expensive, which is great! Will almost definitely repurchase once this bottle is empty!

 

 

2. Candles

This is probably not much of a shock. It seems like pretty much every beauty blogger around loves her candles, especially the ones from Bath and Body Works! I mean, come on, who doesn’t love when a room smells nice? Also, fire is pretty, and I can’t be the only one who thinks that, otherwise there wouldn’t be a fire-place channel on TV during the holidays…! Pictured are the majority of my current candle stash. I’m currently trying to work my way through that giant vanilla pillar candle before actually getting into the B&BW candles, though I couldn’t stop myself from trying out one of my French Baguette candles (which I burned almost half of!).

Repeats (to see all my past favourites, click here):

1. Burton Crystal File

I’ve actually said this before twice, once in my first Favourites post, and again when I got my travel file. These are so great for my nails! They don’t shred, like other files tend to, and actually help to seal the layers of your nail together! I carry one of these with me everywhere, and refuse to use anything else!

2. Maybelline Turbo Volume Express Mascara

I’ve tried several mascaras since my May Favourites post, but I’m pretty sure this is still my favourite. There is one I’m starting to like from my BeautyCrazed Canada prize pack (I’ll post it soon, I promise!), but I think this is still better so far! I love the volume it gives my lashes, and it isn’t as temperamental as I find the Falsies mascara… this mascara and my lashes just seem to get along!

3. Urban Decay Naked Palette

Another obvious favourite! This is just so versatile; you can create great natural or bold looks with this, and all the colours go together. Plus, with the Primer Potion, these basically last all bloody day! Love!

4. Urban Decay 24/7 Liner Pencil in Zero

(Sorry about the quality; I can’t find these images on my computer, and this one looks like it was taken before I got my good camera, but since the rest of these repeat pictures were taken from the original posts, I wanted to continue the trend.)

This is definitely the best liner I’ve ever used! I have and use Perversion, but I retract my statement that it is a favourite; I definitely prefer Zero to Perversion. It stays longer, for one, it seems like Perversion is too pigmented and soft to last. And sometimes Perversion is just too black to look right with a look.

Non-Beauty Favourites:

1. Merlin

Image from 3-Monkeys.co.uk

Working my way through British tv shows I want to watch, I’m now on the second season of Merlin, and it is fantastic! This is a show basically about Merlin, Arthur, Guinevere, etc. when they’re young. The final season is currently airing (I believe), so I have to try to avoid spoilers a bit, but since this isn’t really big (at least in Canada, I honestly don’t know about elsewhere) that isn’t hard. I’ll admit that sometimes the effects are a little cheesy or cheap looking, especially at the beginning, but the show is wonderful, and I love it! I definitely recommend giving it a try if you like fantasy, historical fiction, Arthurian legends, or British TV!

2. Lord of the Rings

Image from hyderabad.olx.in (This is what my boxed set looks like)

This is a long-time love, but I just wanted to mention it, since I’m re-reading the books right now, and also just refinished watching the extended editions of the movies in preparation for seeing the Hobbit on Friday!

After ten years since the last time I read these books, I’d forgotten how beautifully written they are. Tolkien is such a wonderful author, and I honestly have no sympathy for anyone who thinks he is dry and boring. His descriptions are wonderful, and his characters emotional and moving, and everything is just so real! I’m constantly running into passages that I want to quote and remember and share. Maybe I’m just a massive nerd, but I think this is one of those books that everyone should read. (And yes, technically the Lord of the Rings is one novel, in three parts, not a trilogy of novels. I’ll stop being a nerd now.)

I also wanted to mention that I finally have a bit of money now, and I would love to finally do that giveaway I mentioned last summer! Let me know what kind of prizes you’d be interested in winning!

Thanks for reading!

BH Cosmetics Palette Review (fairly picture heavy)

Sorry I’ve been so bad about posting lately. Once the new semester starts and I get into a normal schedule again, things will probably get back on course. As it is right now, I have several post ideas just waiting for me to type them up…

The first post I want to share with you is my review of the BH Cosmetics 1st Edition 120 Color Palette. As you saw in my Christmas haul post, I got this from my boyfriend, and now that I’ve had a couple weeks to use and play around with it, I feel a lot more qualified to tell you my opinions. But first, I’ll give you another look at the palette, including some more shots of the colours and some swatches, which I didn’t include in the Christmas post:

And here are a few swatches of random colours. I obviously can’t swatch all of them for you, but this gives you a bit of an idea. Some colours are more pigmented than others. The matte shades a little duller without a primer, but are wonderful and bright just like in the pan over a shadow primer. They are a little bit chalky sometimes, and a little flakey, so you do have to watch out for fall-out. That said, I think the colour pay off is worth a little fall out. The metallic and shimmery shades are really pigmented and almost creamy in texture.

The shadows are fairly pigmented, and even the ones that aren’t great swatched on their own are great over a primer or cream shadow. There is some fall out, but even Urban Decay has fall out… it’s kinda unavoidable, and I think the colour payoff with this palette makes it mostly worthwhile. Also, there’s just such a wonderful range of bright, neutral, matte, shimmer, and metallic shades in this palette, so I think it’s a great buy!

My boyfriend got this for $9 from BH Cosmetics’s website during their Black Friday sales, though I believe they’re usually $18. Still a pretty good price. Also, the Canadian shipping was pretty fast, so I imagine the American would be even better.

And, lastly, I wanted to show off a couple looks I tried using colours from the palette.

Icy blue (over ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer):

The colours seem to have blended together so much that its hard to tell where one ends and the next begins, but there are about 3 shadow shades in this one.

Fire gradient (over ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer):

I really loved this one, and the more I look at it, the more I like it. I love how it pops against my eye colour.

Together:

Especially with my eyes open, these ended up looking like Portals on my eyes!

Simple silver (over this silver glitter shadow stick thing I have from years ago):

And these were my New Year’s Eve eyes. I was so happy with this look. Instead of a primer, I used the silver cream shadow from the Revlon palette I won in a giveaway (which I will be showing off and reviewing in an upcoming post):

I’m not sure what was up with the colouring on this first picture, but I’m including it to show you I’m not vampirically white in all lights, it’s just my flash!

My verdict: maybe not the best or most consistent product, but it’s so much better than ELF’s giant palettes, and with such wonderful colours, that I find it impossible to complain. The price is good, and the quality of the individual shadows seems to range from good to fantastic. Assuming I ever use this up, I’m sure I would want to repurchase, and at the very least, I’d love to try some more products from BH Cosmetics.

Let me know if you tried this or any other products from BH Cosmetics; I’d love to hear your thoughts! I’d also love to see or hear about your New Year’s makeup, so let me know in the comments!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful 2013 so far, thanks for reading!