Monday 20 June 2016

{NOTD} // Musical Monday



Habits - Tove Lo

Hey everyone. 
I don't know about you guys but I had quite the Monday that started off terribly at 6:30 this morning and honestly hasn't got much better. I hope everyone had a better day than me!
I've always really liked this song and I'm not in a great spot in my relationship at the moment and this in a way this is how I'm feeling - minus the getting high part of course. But I've got some tough decisions to make...

I also wanted to share a quick little Nails of the Day, nothing super fancy but thought why the hell not?


e.l.f cosmetics - Banana Split and a glitter top coat from the dollar store (it's garbage it's already peeling off)

Until next time...

=)
Bri


Sunday 19 June 2016

Revlon 24 HR Colorstay Foundation



Hey everyone.
Finding the perfect foundation when you suffer with extremely dry skin like myself is difficult and I've yet to find that holy grail.

I recently purchased the Revlon Colorstay 24 hr foundation for normal to dry skin. It claims to last 24 hours which is a big claim for any company. This didn't last close to 24 hours on my skin, I'd say it lasted somewhere along the lines of 10-12 hours, half of what it claimed to last. 
I like to apply my foundation by squirting some on to the top of my hand and using a brush from there, I found that the hand I had been putting it on everyday was getting dry and flaky. I haven't noticed that same effect on my face but it does make me wonder what could happen to the skin on my face if I continue using it.
Coverage is medium - full and it is definitely buildable but will look very cakey if you go one step too far so beware.






It blends well with the skin and as you can see creates a sublte glow. Due to the dryness of my skin I try to stay as far away from matte foundations but this was definitely not tailored to dry skin. I'd say this is more on the side of normal skin with little problems. 

=)

Bri

Saturday 18 June 2016

Coastal Scents -- Revealed


I know this is an old palette that's been out for a while but my love has been rekindled for this and I wanted to share my thoughts. 

We all know that this was heavily inspired by the ever popular Urban Decay "Naked" palette.


It's so pretty, I could stare it all day.



Here's a side by side comparison, as you can see the pan shape/size is identical and the shades of course are very similar. Dupe alerts coming up!

The packaging is cardboard and there's no mirror which isn't a big con for me as I never use my palette mirror, I prefer a much larger mirror to do my makeup in but I did see a lot of people commenting about this not having mirror and how they wished it would have.
There is twenty shades in the Revealed palette opposed to 12 in the Naked. The Revealed palette retails for $19.95 on the Coastal Scents website opposed to $64 for Urban Decay. With Coastal Scents you're getting a lot more bang for your buck as you're getting almost double the shadows for a fraction of the price! The color scheme is well put together in the Revealed I love my nudes as does everyone and this palette although it has some miss shades I think the quality is overall well done. I love that there is a range of mattes and shimmer's it gives you more depth for creating eye looks and with this I can only imagine the amount of looks someone could come up with!
Overall, the colors are pigmented (with a couple exceptions - looking at you shade 3 - top row) and blend like a dream. 

Below is the first ten shades (from bottom - top (1-10))


Ten shades from the bottom row (Bottom - Top 11-20)


Time for the dupes! Please note these are not exact dupes but you could use them to gain a similar look. I will list the dupes I found online for the Naked 2 as well. I don't own the Naked 2 so unfortunately I can't compare.



So, here's the "dupes" for the Naked. I have labelled the Coastal Scents side with the corresponding shade number. The only really close dupes in my opinion are Buck and Darkhorse. The other ones are similar but you can see distinct differences. Creep for example is not a black as shade 20 in the Coastal Scents palette. Half Baked is another one, its a lot more gold than the Coastal Scents shade but it is possible to get extremely similar looks with these so if you're on a budget I highly recommend picking up this palette!

List of dupes for Naked 2:
Foxy - Shade 1
Half baked - Shade 8
Bootycall - 2
Chopper - N/A (the only one I couldn't find a dupe for anywhere online)
Tease - Shade 5
Snakebite - Shade 12
Suspect - Shade 9
Pistol - Shade 13
Verve - Shade 10
YDK - Shade 17
Busted - Shade 18
Blackout - Shade 20

I used this on my eyes today actually and that's what rekindled the flame. This is great palette with fabulous shades for the most part that blend amazingly! 

What do you guys think?

=)
Bri



Wednesday 15 June 2016

E.L.F. Dual Ended Concealer/Highlighter


I don't know about you guys but I love the idea of multiple products in one as I don't have a vast amount of storage space to accomadate my makeup addiction so products like these draw my eye.

This is the E.L.F. cosmetics highlighter and concealer wand. I have a strong love/hate relationship with this product because the concealer is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, the highlight was honestly disappointing.




First off I know with E.L.F. there is a lot of hit and miss products because they're such an affordable brand but I have purchased a lot of items from E.L.F. and there has only been two products I've been upset with which was this which to me isn't a total miss because I love the concealer end. My other product disappointment was a concealer pencil with a built in sharpener that I went to use and on first use the pencil broke and got stuck in the sharpener making the rest of it unusable so into the garbage that went. On to my thoughts about this...

Concealer: I could rave about this concealer for days, if anyone knows if this is made separately please let me know because I would purchase a million more! This is fantastic for brightening in the under eye area although for total coverage if you have very dark circles it will require some building up. I mostly use this to brighten up certain areas of my face because I think it performs better as a brightening concealer then one for coverage although it is buildable but anything can look cakey if too much products used. I use it under/around my nose, my chin, forehead and under eye area. Goes on flawlessly, blends into the skin like a dream. For $6 CAD you can't go wrong with this, I might even purchase another one when this runs out as I love the concealer that much.

Highlighter: The one good point I have to say about this is for people who like a subtle highlight you may like this. I'm one of those people who want my highlight seen from space, haha. So for me I don't use this at all it could work to brighten up or skin if you mixed it with foundation which I didn't think of doing until just now so I might give it another go using it that way but as far as a stand alone highlight this did nothing for me. As you can see from the swatch it doesn't have shimmer to it so it's a matte liquid highlighter and when it sets there's really nothing there. I don't even think this should be classified as a highlight...


Please, please, please if anyone has a good concealer recommendation from e.l.f let me know because I had nothing but love for the concealer portion of this wand!

=)

 Bri

Tuesday 14 June 2016

MAC Lipstick Collection


Hey guys!

Who else loves snooping at other people's collections? I know I do so I wanted to share my MAC lipstick collection. I know liquid lipsticks are all the rage right now but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for my MAC lipsticks because the formulas and color range MAC has to offer is amazing and I've already bought so many that I can't neglect them all for the latest, greatest craze!


Patesserie: A MLBB (my lips but better) shade. The swatch looks much darker than the actual product looks on the lips. I wish I would have swatched this in store instead of purchasing it online because I love a bold lip and if I do a nude lip I generally lean towards a matte finish. Patesserie is a Lustre finish which isn't my cup of tea but I will use it up.

Shy Girl: A Creemsheen finish. For me the Creemsheen and Satin finishes MAC offers just look horrible on my lips. They accentuate all the cracks and dry patches to be found even with a balm underneath. It's extremely disappointing because I really love Shy Girl along with other  Creemsheens and satin finishes I own so I wish I could get it to work. It's got a very coral tone to it and I love it for summer!

Peachstock: A satin finish, another one that loves to bring out the dryness in my lips. Love this shade, such a great nude. When I first tried to find this everywhere I looked online said it was a Pro product but MAC has added it to their permanent line which I was ecstatic about because I'd been lusting after this shade for a long time.

Velvet Teddy: A matte that everyone raves about thanks to the ever popular Kylie Jenner. This pulls fairly brown on my lips but I love it like I said above if I go nude its matte 90% of the time. I most likely will repurchase this color when it's finished, although with my ever expanding lip product collection it could take a while...haha.

Myth: Another satin finish. It's a VERY pale nude, the only reason I find I'm able to pull this off is that it pulls pink on my lips so I don't have concealer lips that make me look dead but I do think it's a hard shade to make not look like concealer. I've used Myth to tone down other more vibrant lipsticks so it's great for that as well!

Fusion Pink: An Amplified finish. All the Amplified finishes are extremely bright and vibrant which is why I love them. This shade on me doesn't look like it does swatched on my arm it actually doesn't look great at all on me so I don't wear it often.
 
Vegas Volt: Another Amplified, I LOVE this shade for summer and spring. It is a bright coral almost leaning pink-orange but perfect for summer. I don't think there's a shade that I own that is more perfect for this time of year. I really haven't got much use out of this as I bought in winter and just haven't had an opportunity to wear it but it's about to be my number one.

Pervette: A glaze. This one is not my favorite and barely gets used. I bought this online and didn't realize that it was a sheer wash of color.

Impassioned: Amplified finish. I like this color but people with any hint of yellow in their teeth, beware. It will make them look ten times more yellow which for me is unfortunate because I don't have the whitest teeth and I do really love this color so that ones a big letdown for me.

Speed Dial: Creemsheen finish. A really pretty pink swatches darker than it is. On the lips its a light wash of pink not a MLBB shade but not extremely in your face either.

Heroine: A matte finish, my favorite! Purple is a interesting color for me I lean towards the dark more vampy shades of purple like this. I recently purchased this and LOVE it. So gorgeous and I think this would look amazing on a variety of skin tones!

Rihanna Viva Glam: This one was LE I believe and the tube packaging on this of course is red with Rihanna's signature on the inside of it. It's a gorgeous blue toned red with a hint of shimmer as it's a frost finish. Glad I got my hands on this one.

Chili: A brown toned matte red, again for my ladies with hints of yellow BEWARE this one is worse than Impassioned for that. I regret buying this, I wish it worked for me as I do like the shade but I cannot make it work it pulls way too brown.





Last but not least.....
Russian Red: This baby is my all time favorite MAC shade that I've owned. Such a  lovely old looking Hollywood Red. Makes any look ten times more glamorous and the matte finish is perfect. I don't know if a better red exists in my book. I am in love with this lipstick.

That's my collection! I made a Youtube video as well if you want to check it out!


 

Love you guys

=)

Bri