Bouncin' and Blushin'

Hey all!

I've had a great (and exciting) day today! You all have helped me reach a huge milestone of 400 followers on my blog and I couldn't be more thankful and appreciative! So..

Thank you!

Now that I've said a huge (literally) thank you to you all, I have some more great news! I was lucky enough to learn that I won Toronto Beauty Reviews (Elaine) Korres Giveaway! I'm so thrilled, I love Korres and am so excited to start using more of their amazing products. Okay enough rambling by me, lets get to these cute and strange little blushes.

These are Maybelline's Bouncy Blushes. I picked up two shades I wouldn't normally have gotten. The last thing I need is another medium-pink blush! The first one is Coffee Cake. This is a gorgeous bronzy-peach that I wasn't sure about in the pan but adore once it's on the cheeks.

Next up is Hot Tamale. A super bright red-pink with a bit of shimmer (both have a hint of shimmer) that definitely isn't as bright as it appears in the pan but still gives a gorgeous flush of colour.

These blushes are the funniest things! I can't get over the texture of them they are super airy and light and don't feel greasy at all like some cream blushes can. The only thing I can even slightly compare this to is Maybelline's dream mousse blushes but they still don't really compare. You have to feel these for yourself to understand the full effect.

With flash

I apologize for these photos, I couldn't get very good ones. The pigmentation of these blushes is great! They are sheer enough to be layered and look realistic on the cheek but they have enough pigmentation to use only a small amount of product each time. (These photos have a heavy swatch)

In natural daylight

I'm always pretty skeptical of quality when brands come out with gimmicks like this but these pleasantly surprised me. I personally think they are adorable and have great feel and blendability with an extensive colour collection and a reasonable price. I love a cream blush and these just jumped to the top of my list! Especially since they have the staying power of a powder (thanks to the cream to powder formulation).

Have you tried these funny little blushes? What did you think of them?

Summary
Maybelline Bouncy Blush - Coffee Cake & Hot Tamale
$5.99-$9.99 CAD
Available at: Drugstores (if you hurry they are on sale at Shoppers!)

REP Beauty: Blush (Review)

Good morning everyone! Today I have another REP Beauty post for you, this time on their Blushing Blush. As you may know from my last post REP Beauty is a Canadian brand out of Edmonton, Alberta that offers a great range of high quality beauty products. This blush is another item that I received from REP.

The shade I received in the blush is Romance. This is a light, pure pink with intense icy shimmer. I was so excited with the colour, as I love a light pink blush, but was a little disappointed when I noticed the amount of shimmer in the product. Not only is there a "sheen" shimmer but there is also much larger pieces of shimmer, almost along the lines of a glitter. I am one to steer clear of any glitter, I don't even like a lot of shimmer in my eyeshadows or lipglosses most of the time so I don't find myself getting much wear out of this blush. 

It was hard to get a photo to show the true amount of shimmer in the product, but if you enlarge you may be able to see. Although I personally don't get a lot of wear out of this blush the formulation is excellent. The colour pay of is great, not too much pigment and not too little, and the texture is better than any blush I've ever felt. It is soft and creamy feeling and applies with no streaking at all. Whenever I wear or swatch this blush it stays true for so much longer than I expect. Like with shimmer eyeshadows, I expect the colour to wear off and the shimmer to remain but that is not the case with any of REP Beauty's products. The colour stays just as long as the shimmer and that is quite a while. When I do reach for this blush I use it at night and usually as more of a highlighter or lightly layered over another blush. It looks really nice at night but definitely would not be daytime appropriate. 

The quality and texture of this blush is enough for me to try another shade - hopefully one with less shimmer. I am definitely not discouraged by the shimmer in this particular shade and would highly recommend purchasing the Blushing Blushes. These sell for $14.50 which is very reasonable for the amount and quality. Again, REP Beauty products are available for purchase on their website.

REP Beauty's Website

Don't forget to follow their blog and follow them on twitter while you are there! Have any of you tried REP Beauty products? Will you? Let me know in the comments!

Disclosure: I won these products in a giveaway. All opinions on the product are my own and I did not receive any compensation for this post. 

Maybelline - Expert Wear Blush

Expert Wear Blushes

Good morning everyone! I have been so behind on my blogging for a multitude of reasons! Mostly camera problems and lighting but I've also been busy getting back into school! So today is my "dedicated to blogging day!" and I'm going to try to get a ton of posts done for the week to come and for today! :)

First up is a couple of my newly favourite blushes! One of these blushes is another item from Pammy at Pammy Blogs Beauty and our makeup swap! I had never tried Maybelline blushes before but I know she loves this blush and anted to share it with me too! :)

This is the blush that Pammy sent me! It's Maybelline Expert Wear Blush in Sweet Cinnamon. This is a gorgeous shade that I think would look great on so many skin tones! It has an amazing shimmer/sheen to it that in no way looks glittery or overly sparkly! It is also a great shade that is hard to describe - It is definitely more of a peach but has a pink undertone to make it good for everyone! I don't have many peach toned blushes so I was very happy to get this one! I usually go for more pink tones but I'm starting to realize that peaches can look just as great on my skin tone! 

This is the blush I picked up after falling in love with my first Maybelline blush! This is Maybelline Expert Wear Blush in Plushed Plum. This one is infinitely different from the Sweet Cinnamon blush! This colour is matte but with enough sheen to not look chalky on the skin. It also is a gorgeous different colour than any colour I've had before! I would describe it as a pink/plum but nothing too purple to be unwearable. It actually gives the cheeks a gorgeous flush that looks really natural! I love this when I don't want too much shimmer on my cheeks or if I have excessive shimmer somewhere else haha!

Both are gorgeous and extremely different from each other! The best part about these blushes is I picked mine up for... Wait for it... $1.59! Unheard of! haha Thank you Rexall for your great sales! These blushes are still a great price even when they aren't on clearance at around $4.99 each - and they are definitely worth more! As you may be able to tell from this photo, the Sweet Cinnamon has more pigmentation than the Plushed Plum. I assume it has to do with the finishes, shimmer vs. matte. You can still build up an amazing colour with the Plushed Plum, it just takes more than one swipe! (Personally, I like that in a blush because I'm prone to over applying! haha) These both have a luxurious feel and are super soft with no chalky appearance. I often overlook Maybelline but now that I know their quality is so great, I will definitely not be passing by the Maybelline section! :)

Sonia Kashuk Creme Blush

Good morning ladies! If you have been following my blog posts or tweets, you may know that I adore cream blushes! I feel like they give me a very realistic flush of colour and add an extra layer of colour for under powder blushes (just in case they begin to fade through the day!). I also don't like the chalky appearance some powder blushes can leave behind and the intense shimmer that a lot of them contain! I have fairly oily skin so that shimmer doesn't do me any favours! ;)

What is this?

This is Sonia Kashuk Creme blush in Blossom - 03. Now, being from Canada I have no access to the Sonia Kashuk range :( but thanks to my good friend Pammy over at Pammy Blogs Beauty I was able to get my hands on some! If you don't know, Pammy and I had a pre-holidays swap in December where I sent here items only available in Canada and she sent my items from the States! I love that we do this because I don't often go to the states and hate to pay the through-the-roof shipping fees of most sites! I specifically requested something from the Sonia Kashuk range because it looks so high end without being so high-end priced and I was extremely curious! Pammy picked the best possible item (she knows I love Cream Blushes!!) and in a (what I think is) universally flattering shade! 

Onto the colour, this is a very neutral, skin-toned pink. It provides a subtle flush and changes to a powder finish once applied - unlike most other cream blushes I have used! It also has a very subdued shimmer which shows up on the face as more of a healthy sheen. I love that because most cream blushes rely on a dewy/wet finish for their sheen and sometimes that doesn't translate well onto oily skin (or wear well for that matter!) 

Here I have it swatched next to a few of my closest in colour cream blushes. Oddly enough, in the pan it looks closest in colour to Stila Convertible Colour in Lily (2nd swatch) but when applied to skin they look NOTHING alike! I would say that the Sonia Kashuk Creme Blush in Blossom is closest to Stila Convertible colour in Hibiscus (LE) (3rd swatch) with it also being very close to MAC Blushcreme in Ladyblush. They major differences between them is the texture, sheen and dewy feeling. I think the Sonia Kashuk Creme Blushes are better suited to oily skins and the MAC Blushcreme for drier skins! (Stila Convertible Colours are good for any skin type as they are not too "dewy"). The SK blush also seems to have less pigmentation than the others so it would be great for a subtle finish or for people inexperienced with cream blushes (its hard to over do it!).

Overall, I LOVE this blush! I like it more than my MAC Blushcremes because of the powder finish on my oily skin and although I don't know the price, I assume it is much more affordable than MAC and Stila! Next time you are at Target (pretty sure thats where it is sold haha) be sure to check these out! They are definitely worth a try!

Tarte Radiant & Rested Complexion Set

Illuminating Serum, Cheek Stain, Primer, Eye Brightener & Bronzer

Hi Ladies! Hope you are all having a great start to your weekend! I thought I would start mine off my sharing one of my latest purchases with you!

As you may know Sephora sent out coupons earlier this month for Beauty Insiders and VIB's ranging from $15-20 off when you made a $40 purchase. Seeing as I spend WAY too much money there, I am now classified as a VIB so I got the $20 coupon!

After much deliberating I decided on the Tarte Radiant & Rested Complexion set. I decided on this because I figured I would get the most use out of complexion products (as they are my weakness) as opposed to a giant set of eye shadows! This set retails for $55 CAD, so a little more than I wanted to spend but for the use I would get out of it, it was worth it! Heres what is included in the kit:

First up, and the main reason I purchased this, is the Smooth Operator Illuminating Serum. This product is not for single sale yet, but Tarte says it will be soon! This is a great, lightweight illuminating all over serum for giving you a nice glow under (or instead of) your foundation. 

Before Blending

After Blending

I hope you can see the great "glow" this gives to the skin without being sparkly or glittery! Its really gorgeous and adds just enough luminescence to the skin to make it look healthy and youthful! It also doesn't leave my skin greasy or "shiny" which is a big bonus. I've been using this almost everyday and it looks great under foundation or alone! I'm really glad I purchased this set JUST for this! I hope it becomes part of Tarte's permanent line soon!

Next is a Mini Cheek Stain in Glisten. I love stains, gel blush, cream blush anything but powder for the cheeks so I was very excited about this little guy! I actually haven't owned a Tarte Cheek Stain before this one but I've swatched them a lot in store and have always liked them!

Here is the stain applied to my hand with no blending, just a swipe back and forth! This is much more of a glow than a colour, once blended the colour is SO light that it actually doesn't like a blush at all. It does add a great healthy sheen, but I do prefer more colour in my blush. That being said, I will still be using this as it is very pretty!

Now we have a mini, travel sized ReCreate Silicone Free Primer. This primer is aimed towards more mature women stating that it has "wrinkle rewind technology". 

This primer is a light, lotion base that disappears almost instantly when worked into the skin. I must admit I haven't tried this on my face yet because it does feel a little thick and too moisturizing for my skin type. I prefer a mattifying primer. This one might go to my mom!

Next up is one of my favourite products from Tarte (which I already own) Park Avenue Princess Mineral Bronzer. I usually prefer more of a matte bronzer, but this one has forever changed my mind! This has no noticeable shimmer/glitter in it, but it does leave behind the prettiest sheen! Its also a great bronze colour that is good for us fairer skinned girls, and it doesn't contain any orange undertones!

I hope you can see the great golden sheen this has in the photo! It really is a gorgeous bronzer and I highly recommend it so I'm really happy there was a travel sized one in this kit!

This is actually the second reason I bought this kit, the EmphasEYES Inner Rim Brightener. I have been lusting over Stila's peach coloured Kajal pencil so I was super happy to see that a peach rim brightener was included in this kit! This is also not sold separately but should be available soon (hopefully!). I like to line my inner rims with a brighter colour to make me look more awake in the early mornings but white can be too much at times so a peachy/flesh tone is a great option!

It really is flesh-toned so you can't see it very well on my hand, but it is great for the inner rim! It comes in an automatic twist up pencil like Tarte's other emphasEYES pencils, but isn't quite as thin. I like that because it gives more chance that I will actually get it on the rim of my eye! I am so squeamish when it comes to anything to do with eyes that its hard for me to put a pencil on my inner rim!

I know this was a long post with a zillion photos but I wanted to get the full effect of the products across to you! I'm super happy with my purchase of this kit! Although I probably won't wear all the products together (a little too much "glow" for me) they are great to have to give your complexion a much needed boost!

Thanks for reading and bearing with all the photos! XOXO

Stila Travel Palette - Fabulous in Fiji

I love these little palettes! If you haven't seen them, they are little "books" from Stila that include 4 shadows and a convertible colour. This is the last (or so I thought..) in the series of 5, called Fabulous in Fiji. (Turns out there is a new one (the sixth) called Adventurous in Aspen..which I now NEED! lol)

As always, this comes with four shadows, a convertible colour and a mirror. I was so excited to finish my collection with this one (although it is now NOT finished lol) and was so happy when I finally found it at Murale in Canada! These all retail for $10 USD and $13 CAD, amazing deal! Of the five I own, this is my VERY LEAST favourite... I actually don't think I will ever use anything from this palette but I needed my collection to be complete! 

Here are the swatches of the shadows and convertible colour. This palette is supposed to be beachy and tropical (like Fiji!) so there are brights and a bronzing colour. The shadows are (from left), Palm, R&R, Wave and Escape  and the convertible colour is called Plumeria. As you can see the colours are very pigmented and very soft feeling, great quality! They also aren't super sparkly, just a pretty shimmer! The convertible colour is kind of orange for a bronzer but blends out nicely (I might use it in the summer). The bright blue in this palette is almost exactly the same as the bright blue in the Trendsetting in Tokyo palette. I'm really not into blue eyeshadow, or green for that matter, so this was more of a "collection" purchase than a "wearing" purchase haha. 

Do you all have any of the Stila Palettes? My favourite is Pretty in Paris (plums and neutrals) - whats yours?

Thanks for reading! XOXO

Revlon Multi-Use Palette

Okay Ladies, who doesn't love a great palette? And who doesn't love a great palette full of all cream colours that are a cinch to apply with only your fingers? I know I do! 

This is Revlon's Multi-Use Palette, which I believe is a Limited Edition piece. This has been on the market for a while now and I have been eyeing it ever since it came out! What made me crack down and purchase this was that I got it for only $6.49 CAD at London Drugs! 

This tiny little package contains everything you could need for a great, glowing face! I find this especially nice for the holidays and to take on vacation! At first I thought these colours were sort of random, a peach blush, brown and grey shadows and a bright red lip? Seemed a little random and non-coordinating to me in the package.

Here are the swatches of whats included in the palette.

Left to right: Brown Shadow, Grey Shadow (both creams), Peach Blush and White, Shimmer Highlight (both Creams) Bottom: Red Lip Colour (comes with little lip brush).

I find all these shades extremely pretty! Especially the bright red/pink lip colour, once my lips are unchapped (which I feel like will NEVER happen!) I will swatch...*sigh* stupid cold, dry winter air! 

SIDE NOTE: if anyone knows of a great chapped lip healer PLEASE let me know, I've been trying everything!!

The brown and grey eye shades actually go together really well also, something I would have never expected! Overall, I love this little palette! I love cream anything because they are so simple, and easy to apply without making any mistakes! Its also a full face of makeup in one tiny little compact which makes it super great for travel or in your purse! I will do a makeup look with this in the near future (maybe tomorrow!) and highly recommend picking this up if you happen to spot it around! This is going to be a staple in my makeup bag from now on!

MAC Tartan Tale (A couple products!) Review

Hey Everyone! So of course I had to pick up something from the MAC Tartan Tale Collection as I try to pick up something from EVERY collection! haha I'm sure many of you are the same! From this collection I decided on a nail polish and a blush. Here are my thoughts!

MAC Tartan Tale Nail Polish (LE) in Style Clan (Frost)

Style Clan (Limited Edition)

Two-Coats

Up-Close

I try to get as many angles and swatches as I can so you guys can see the real colour and consistency of each product so I hope these turned out well! I'm not a huge advocate of MAC nail polish, I find the price a little high ($15.50 CAD) for a rather small bottle. Listed next are some more pros and cons of this specific nail polishes and MAC nail polishes in general.

Pros:

- Colour, LOVE IT! Its a really neat chocolate/grey/ting of olive green with gold and orange glitter (Frost). They also always have a great selection of really different colours that I love! (So original!)

- Consistency - I like the consistency of THIS polish, it doesn't clump (glitter) or make streaks.

- Bottle/Packaging - Love the rubberized lid, makes it a lot easier to get into.

- Dries fast, wears well (with a top coat of Seche Vite)

Cons:

- Price - at $15.50 CAD a bottle (which is only 10ml, regular polishes are about 15-20mls) its pricey

- Consistency of their Cream shades is sometimes clumpy and streaky

- Brush - small and average. Mine was in really bad shape, so many random hairs sticking in EVERY direction! :(

Overall, I will continue to buy MAC nail polishes because of the great unique shades they offer and their variety of finishes. (I wouldn't recommend buying basic shades from them such as (Cream) red, pink, dark purple unless they have a unique finish. There are better alternatives for basics at much lower prices that wear just as well or even better!) I also hate finding amazing Limited Edition shades then NEVER being able to get them again! But at least they always come out with another great option! 

MAC blush in My Highland Honey(LE) (Satin)

My Highland Honey (Satin)

Open

Swatch (Concentrated)

I'm a big fan of MAC blushes in general so I always love getting a new one! They run for $22 CAD, which I don't find too bad for a blush, its also a decent amount of product and they are usually pretty concentrated in pigment. What I love most about this one is the colour, its a gorgeous orange with a pinkish undertone and I don't have anything like that in my palette!

Pros:

- Consistency - its a satin blush (my favourite) so it gives a nice finish without looking chalky.

- Colour - gorgeous! its an orange with a slight pink undertone (makes it easier to wear) no shimmer.

- Finish - love the finish on skin, silky and buildable without intense shimmer.

Cons:

- Not for everyones skin tone!

I don't have any other cons for this product, I love all MAC blushes (except their super shimmery ones). And the colour is so pretty and different! I've seen this swatched on some other blogs and I guess its pretty close to peaches (I don't have that shade), so maybe if you have peaches you should swatch this in MAC and see how close it is! Overall, I will always purchase MAC blushes because I love almost everything about them! Did you pick anything up from the Tartan Tale collection? What do you think about these shades? Let me know I love everyones comments! :)

Annabelle's Mineral Blush (LOVE)

Annabelle's Mineral Blush in Au Natural

I really like to support Canadian companies whenever I can and thats why I really like to buy Annabelle and Marcelle products. That is obviously not the only reason though! After falling in love with Annabelle's Mineral Foundation (and I mean IN LOVE, see my post on flawless skin) I spotted this little guy in Glow Magazine (another Canadian!) as Canada's top voted blush. After reading this and having such great experiences with other Annabelle products I ran right to the store and picked it up!

Back View

In Glow, the top shade was Au Natural so I decided to go with my fellow Canadian beauty voters and pick up that shade. It is a gorgeous really natural pinky/mauve that I believe will probably look great on every skin tone! I also love the consistency of the product, its so finely milled and has faint shimmer which gives a great glow.

Swatch - Concentrated

Here is a swatch of the colour. First, I couldn't believe how pigmented it was! I've never tried a mineral blush before and kind of expected to have to layer to get the colour I wanted. This is literally such a small amount of product on my hand I couldn't believe the colour it gave! And the colour is even prettier than in the jar. I didn't blend this out just so you could see the true tone of the product but after I did blend it on my hand it was a gorgeous flush with light shimmer! I just got this and had to share it so I haven't had a chance to try it on my cheeks yet but I will definitely be using it in a tutorial soon so you can see it on the face! :)

Tutorial: Stila's Pretty in Paris Palette

Pretty in Paris

So here is number two in the Stila Travel Palettes, Pretty in Paris. I LOVE this palette, to me it is the prettiest one (yet)! This palette contains, like the others, four shadows and one convertible colour! The colours in this palette are very warm and earthy and I think they are fantastic for fall!

Paris - An inside view

Heres a view of the inside of this palette. As you can see they are all very warm and rosy colours that are perfect for fall! The colours in this palette consist of Jolie (top left), Crepe, Chocolat (bottom left) and Cherie (all french! :)) The convertible colour in this collection is a limited edition shade called Rosebud and is my favourite of all the palettes! It gives an amazing rosy, just outside glow that is what I picture when I think of fall!

Pretty in paris eye Look

In this post I opted for a muted, soft, girly look! I started with NYX Eye Primer in Nude all over. Then took the softest shade in the palette Crepe (Soft Pink Shimmer - Top left in Photo) and applied it all over my lid to the brow bone and on the inner tear duct. Next, I took a medium fluffy brush and packed on the medium shade, Cherie (brown/cherry shimmer - Top Right in Photo) up to my crease. Next, I took my contour brush and used Jolie (Burgundy/brown with Pink undertones - Bottom Right in Photo) and packed it gently into the crease to create a contour. To finish off, I took Chocolat (Chocolate Brown - Bottom Left in Photo) and used it as a liner both under and over my eyes. I didn't wet the brush like I did in the Road to Radiance tutorial because I wanted a soft definition.  

Another view

I love this look because its so wearable for everyday! Just add a little mascara and you are good to go! This look is so great for fall with all the warm tones and burgundy shades! This is my go to right now, I feel like I'm in Paris when I use it!

I hope you enjoy this look, I really do and wear it often! :)

PS I should have filled in my eyebrows...haha