Remember when I said that I was going to stop with all of that impromptu not-too-small drugstore haulage and instead be much more careful and contemplative about my purchases? Well that didn’t happen – whoops; it was a meh kind of rainy day and my friend and I were taking a casual stroll through Target so I’m sure you can surmise what happened. And I indulged my book-loving soul at Chapters (the Canadian generic bookstore if you were curious) because you can’t come out empty handed, obviously.

I’ll get the books out of the way first. Wait, that made it sound like they were a burden when in truth I love them as much as my favourite beauty items (shock-horror). Well, first I picked up a Father’s Day gift (for the father obviously, who happens to be quite possibly the most difficult person to buy gifts for because if there’s something out there that he believes is worth the $, he will go out and buy it for himself)– Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East— which I can happily report went over with great success as despite not being a huge reader like myself, he enjoys this kind of general knowledge and will converse on these kind of subjects frequently i.e. casually at the dinner table. Because there’s nothing as life-affirming as perusing the shelves of the bookstore and coming out with at the very least a few, I picked up two for myself as well. After picking up a few books that fit under the young-adult umbrella, some weeks back for the first time in ages, I was tempted to pick up the next book in Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian’s series, Fire With Fire, as despite the cliched names of the books in the series and how superficial they appear, they were actual enjoyable reads that aren’t anything resembling brainless and mindnumbingly adolescent and juvenile despite being centered around the lives of high schoolers who decide to seek revenge on those who have wronged them. The final purchase was a typical kind of selection from me, I’ll Be Right There,an introspective and seemingly poignant novel of a twenty-something woman coming back to face the traumatic events of her past, written by Kyung-Sook Shin.

Moving on to the Target purchases of the beauty variety, I stuck to more of a basic theme going for yet another foundation, a primer, a concealer and an everyday sort of lip-liner. Obviously I did not need another foundation (when do I ever?) but I couldn’t resist picking up the fairly new Revlon Age Defying Firming + Lifting Makeup ($16-18)that didn’t appear to have any SPF (here in Canada) and I had heard was a nice medium-to-full coverage foundation for drier skin types with a pump so when I saw this for less expensive there, I had to grab it. I went for the second lightest shade, 10 Bare Buff, which is the second lightest shade out of 11 and considering that there were no testers, I’m convinced I did a magical job as estimating my shade as it has slight yellow undertones and suits my skin with a wee bit of colour to it. I didn’t go for it for its anti-aging properties as I’m twenty years old so I can’t report but I have to say that thus far I’m impressed with this buildable-to-full coverage foundation with a natural finish that remains looking like skin even over dry patches. And, it’s lasting power is fantastic, hardly developing any shine without powder and not fading after 15 hours yesterday.

I’ve tried a few primers and have given them a good shot but I haven’t exactly found my one yet or even my verdict on their efficacy on my dehydrated skin suffering on the texture front and I’ve been contemplating actually purchasing one and giving it a go and when I spotted the Annabelle CC Colour Control Instant Perfecting Base in Luminous Finish ($15-17)and saw that it appeared to be formulated without the usual irritating ingredients, I overlooked its cliched status as a ‘cc’ cream and picked it up. It’s just a primer, to be honest, without any coverage but its silicone-based texture seems to help foundation glide over dry patches more smoothly and add a subtle shimmer-free opalescent glow to the face. Thus far, it reminds me of a more siliconey and subtle-in-a-good-way version of Laura Mercier Radiance Primer. 

Back to Revlon, I was interested in a heavy-duty kind of concealer that would be much more compact than my beloved MUFE Palette and I had heard good things about the Colorstay Concealer in 02 Light ($10)in that context so into the bag it went. I’ve only used this once so far but it seems to be a nice spot and pigmentation concealer – it’s a bit dry for underneath the eyes – and the shade seems impressive, moderately fair with beige-to-yellow undertones, especially in comparison to the offerings of other drugstore concealers in my opinion.

I went for another Annabelle product it appears and it was definitely induced by the bargain-price of the Annabelle Lipliner in 405 Demure ($4-6), my recent success with products from this Canadian brand and the nice selection of natural-my-lips kinds of shades. I’ve mentioned before that I haven’t found that perfect everyday shade and that I’m not much of a lip liner girl but this one seemed to have a bit more warm pink to its neutral-browny tone rather than the dull peach generic shade and I’m glad that I did. The liner is creamy and slides nicely over my drier-than-dry lips and is the perfect match to the my lips but better lipstick favourite of mine, MAC Patisserie. I’ll keep you updated on this one but I suspect all you will hear in the future will be overwhelmingly possible. You catch my drift? Oh, and below I’m wearing the lip liner alone all over my lips and the foundation and primer mentioned earlier…

Have you tried any of these products? Have you picked up anything lately?

Maggie, x.