My Makeup Brushes

Hi all! I wanted to get started on my beauty channel, so I decided to upload a few "Basics" videos first. These videos will help you all get to know about the tools I use in my videos and the tips and tricks I have for applying basic, everyday makeup.

My first video is my Brush Collection video, which walks you through all the brushes I own and the brushes I will be using in my makeup tutorials. It's also a bit of a mini-review on which brushes I enjoy using, and which ones I regret purchasing. I hope you enjoy :)

What are some of your favourite makeup brushes?

Read More

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer EDITED REVIEW

So after a few days of using the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, I have to say that I really didn't like this concealer. It looked very heavy on my skin and actually broke me out really badly! Normally, my skin is quite clear, but I ended up breaking out worse than I have in months a few days after trying this concealer out. It definitely wasn't anything else I was using because my concealer was the only thing I changed.

I'm definitely going to be returning this product, and thanks to Sephora's great return policy, I know I won't have any trouble returning it! I'll be repurchasing my Mac select coverup in nw20 instead, because I know it works and never breaks me out!

I felt it was really important to post this little update to let you know that the NARS concealer isn't as great as I thought it was - I think it's important that you know the 100% truth :)

Read More

REVIEW: NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

I'd heard wonderful things about the new NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, and I just happened to find myself in the mall and near a Sephora, and it just so happened that I ended up buying it. Whoops. The colour I bought is called Vanilla because I am super pale and that isn't going to change any time soon.


This time I was a good blogger and I waited to use this concealer until I took swatch pictures of it. I think I deserve a pat on the back for that one.

This concealer is super creamy and provides a great coverage. I apply mine using fingers, since I usually find that when I use a brush my concealer ends up looking cakey. I haven't tried this concealer with a brush, also because I heard that a brush sheers out the coverage and my under eye circles need as much coverage as possible!

The concealer blends in very nicely as long as your skin is very well moisturized. The first day I applied this, I put it on after washing my face and allowing my moisturizers to really sink into my skin. The concealer looked a bit dry when I did that. The next day, I put an extra layer of under eye cream on just before I put my concealer on and didn't allow it to sink in. This made application so much easier! If you have slightly dry skin in the wintertime and find this concealer looks a bit dry when you use it, give this tip a try. 

This retails for $30 CDN and is available at Sephora.

Read More

REVIEW: Bite Beauty Lipsticks

Bite Beauty's "Bite Size Discovery Set of 5"

I recently purchased a small sample set from Bite Beauty, which unfortunately is no longer available. It was a limited edition holiday sample size set. The sample set contains 5 shades from Bite Beauty, ranging from ultra nude to a bright red. The shades are: Retsina, Musk, Shiraz, Fig, and Pomegranate.

I apologize in advance for the swatches - being a blog newbie I didn't photograph these right away before trying them so they don't look as perfect as they should!

From Left to Right: Retsina, Musk, Shiraz, Fig, Pomegranate

The colour pay off in these products is excellent, and the formula is super moisturizing. Bite Beauty claims to have products that are "good enough to eat" that are infused with "food-grade ingredients" (info from Bite Beauty's page on the Sephora website). These lipsticks are formulated without parabens, sulfates, synthetic dyes, synthetic fragrances, petrochemicals, phthalates, GMOs, and triclosan. They're infused with "reservatrol" which is apparently an antioxidant that "fights free radicals with potent long-term antiaging benefits"(info from Bite Beauty's Luminous Creme Lipstick product page on Sephora's website).

Musk

Retsina

Shiraz

Pomegranate

Fig

I'm using these teeny tiny, sample-sized lipsticks on a daily basis at this point. I love how moisturizing they are and I love the colour pay off. However, I have to say that the only thing holding me back from actually purchasing one of the lip sticks in full size is the price. These lipsticks are a whopping $28! That is an awful lot of money just for one lipstick! And while their formula is amazing and I really love the colours, I have to say that Clinique Chubby sticks are similar in formula and are just as moisturizing as the Bite Beauty lipsticks. Clinique Chubby sticks are also paraben free and retail at $19. They may not be as antioxidant packed as the Bite Beauty lipsticks but they are cheaper and very similar in their formulation.

Read More

REVIEW: Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Venus (shimmery white), Foxy (yellow-beige), W.O.S. (soft pink), Naked 2 (taupe), Faint (Medium Brown), Crave (Brown-Black)

Urban Decay hasn’t always been a favourite of mine for shadows. I purchased the original Naked Palette and wasn’t impressed. I found that the shadows created a massive amount of fall down and weren’t as “naked” as I thought they would be. I didn’t buy the Naked 2 Palette for those reasons.

Having said that, I felt very skeptical of the new Naked Basics Palette. I thought the shadows would fall down just like the Naked 1 and that I just wouldn’t use the shadows, since I had dupes for most of them in MAC shadows. 

And yet, I found myself in Sephora a few weeks ago buying the Naked Basics Palette. After reading reviews online, I was intrigued - did Urban Decay’s formula really change? Were these colours really that fantastic? 

The answer is YES.

The Naked Basics Palette is absolutely amazing. The packaging has a  rubberized feel to it and is slightly smaller than my iPhone 4. Five of the six shades in the palette are matte. The shadows are very easy to blend and work with and the colour pay off is wonderful since they’re so pigmented. The only issue is that the black/deep brown shade in the palette, Crave, does create fall down when I use it as a liner with an angled brush. However, I’ve yet to find a black/deep brown eyeshadow that doesn’t create fall down. Overall, I’d definitely recommend the Naked Basics palette!

PRICE: $32 (Canadian price)

(L to R) Venus, Foxy, WOS, Naked 2

(L to R) Naked 2, Faint, Crave

Read More