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 :)

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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.

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REVIEW: American Apparel Disco Pants

These pants...my goodness, I seriously cannot remember what life was like before I bought these pants.

Disco pants have ruined me for all other pants.

Jeans? No thanks.

Skirts? No thanks.

Leggings? No thanks.

I'LL BE WEARING MY DISCO PANTS.

These pants are super comfortable and stretchy. They're high waisted, which means they're perfect for my teeny-tiny form and make my legs look much longer than they actually are! They're also quite warm, and I say that with confidence because I live in Canada. They have the Canadian winter seal of approval!

Since buying my disco pants, two of my close friends have gone out and bought a pair as well. I get compliments on them literally all the time, and the other day I caught a girl sneakily eying them up on the subway! These pants are attention grabbers and they've totally changed my wardrobe. I used to feel like everything I wore made me blend in and wasn't unique. The disco pants add a little extra something to any outfit.

The material is super thick and sturdy, which is an absolute must for me since I commute to school every day (bus and subway and streetcar!). I was a bit skeptical about the price - they're $92 here in Canada. Now that being said, I normally pay about $100 for a pair of jeans that will usually last me one year before they start to fade and lose their shape. My disco pants have stood up so well and I think they are definitely worth the price. I think they're so amazing I'm even considering buying another pair in navy (I own them in black).

BOTTOM LINE: Buy disco pants. Bite the bullet, save up like I did, find every possible discount or coupon (I got 10% off using my SPC card), and just buy them. Do it.

Let me know if you'd like to see pictures or OOTD's featuring my disco pants - I'd be happy to oblige!

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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.

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Battle of the Bronze: Part 2

I just thought I'd give you a quick update on how I've been faring with the St Tropez Gradual Tan in Medium-Dark. I've used the product two days in a row now and I have to say, I'm no longer as impressed as I was initially.

First off, the smell that I previously said was great and not self-tanner like at all? WRONG! I was up until 2 in the morning fighting nausea because the smell became very overpowering. And the day after I applied the product, I had the tell-tale smell of self tanner (which, by the way, is the same smell as a pack of crackers. Lovely. Who doesn't want to smell like crackers?)

Second of all, my knees are completely orange. Not a little orange. Very orange. And my hands are orange too, despite the fact that I wash them thoroughly as instructed after applying the lotion. And worse than that, my knees are orange but nowhere else is even a little tanned! One of my arms is at least two shades darker than the other arm and I'm starting to feel like a zebra!

Maybe a gradual tan isn't the way to go for me - I'm considering trying the St Tropez Bronzing Mousse to see if that's a bit better than the Gradual Tan. The bronzing mousse is applied all at once about once a week and gives you instant colour after you allow it to develop for 4-8 hours. You then shower and end up with a supposedly nice tan. I'll let you know if I do use the Bronzing Mousse!

At this point, I definitely won't be purchasing the Gradual Tan!

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Battle of the Bronze: St Tropez vs Lorac

I am naturally a very pale girl (NW20), and as such I've always avoided self tanners and bronzers. I'm terrified that they would make me look orange or as though I'd rolled around in a pack of Doritos.

But alas, summer is quickly approaching and I'm finding myself craving just a bit of a tan. I avoid the sun like mad since I only ever burn and never tan. Also, it's obviously not a good idea to lay out in the sun for hours on end trying to build up a natural tan!

So, like most of the posts on this blog, I suppose it all starts with a trip to Sephora. I'd searched on their website and researched all of my options - I knew I wanted something from St Tropez because I'd heard wonderful things about their products and they claimed to smell better than other self tanners. However, when I typed in my postal code on their "find in store" feature, the product didn't show up in any stores by my house! Very frustrating!

I continued searching and settled on trying the Lorac TanTalizer. I went in store today to pick up a sample and a sales associate let me know that they actually did carry St Tropez products and I ended up leaving with three (wow!) generous samples of both St Tropez Gradual Tan and Lorac TanTalizer.

I excitedly went home and immediately hopped in the shower to shave and exfoliate as recommended. I exfoliated very thoroughly with a body brush to avoid any patchiness when I applied the product.

I applied St Tropez Gradual Tan to my right leg and the rest of my body, and I applied the Lorac TanTalizer to my left leg only. I used my left palm for the Lorac TanTalizer and I used only my right palm for the St Tropez Gradual Tan.

The St Tropez Gradual Tan smells absolutely awesome, at least in my opinion. Very fresh and slightly coconutty. It applied smoothly and there were absolutely no patches anywhere. My palm also didn't get stained orange. And it dried very quickly! I was able to put my clothes on as soon as I finished applying the product.

The Lorac TanTalizer didn't fare so well. It's extremely dark in colour and very liquid in texture. Even though I thoroughly exfoliated only two minutes before applying the self tanner, it left a lovely brown coloured patch on my knee and another just by my knee. It also smells and not in a pleasant way. It smells sickly sweet when applied on my skin and smells like sugary coffee in the sample package. Gross. The colour was also quite horrific. It left my skin orange and looking just as I feared - like I rolled around in a pack of Doritos! Even worse than that, my left palm is an orange mess. That's why I only did my left leg with the Lorac. I just couldn't bare to put it on the rest of my body when it looked that horrible! However, the product did dry very quickly as well, so I suppose that's a bonus.

THE VERDICT: There really isn't even a choice to be made here. The St Tropez Gradual Tan won hands down! I will definitely be heading in stores to purchase some within the next few days!

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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

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