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July/August 2017 Favourites

Over the last few months I used things and some of these things are my favourite. Let’s get into it before too much rambling occurs:

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L’Oreal Voluminous Lash Paradise Mascara ($12): I’m not someone who really ever ‘got’ what the hype was about the original Voluminous mascara – but it might be a me issue, as I vehemently hate the prized Maybelline Great Lash Mascara as well- and with this being housed similar medium-sized natural bristle wand, I expected it to be another mascara that clumped and didnt provide the volume and separation that I’m looking for. For me, this mascara proved itself as everything I wanted the original mascara to be – offering loads of volume and separation, along with a dose of length thats easily buildable. The formula wasn’t the driest to begin with but acted like a dry mascara in the best way. It performs well for me, doesn’t smudge or flake and gives me very voluminous lashes. I haven’t tried the Too Faced Better Than Sex to compare it you, if anyone’s wondering.

Lorac Pro 3 Palette ($58.33): I’ve absolutely fallen in love with this warm and kind of rose-gold hued neutral palette in the last couple of months and have been happily reaching for it, without grabbing other shades. I’ve gotten back into wearing more eyeshadow on a regular basis and I attribute it to the ease of this palette. The powdery nature of the shadows has been a learning curve, but I love the combination of the essential matte shades (‘pink nude’ as a transition shade, ‘clay’ to add depth in the crease, ‘cool taupe’ in the brows and to add depth to the outer corner, ‘terracotta’ in the crease for when I want something warm and mustardy and ‘jet black’ for when I want a liner or some smokinesss in the outer corner/lashline), along with options for lid colours – and two different highlighting shade options. On the lid, I’ve been liking ‘almond pearl’ as a barely-there iridescent champagne, ‘Light Pewter’ when I want something slightly taupe-y but still very neutral and ‘rose bronze’ when I’m looking for something with more depth. It’s an easy palette to work with and offers versatility for more subdued neutral looks along with smokier neutral offerings.

MAC Next to Nothing Face Colour in Light Plus ($38): Whenever I wanted to put a little bit of something on my face this summer, I happily reached for this sheer to light coverage multi-use product. As a lover of natural glowy looking skin, I use it as a tinted moisturizer of sorts but it can be used under or over foundation. It created a seamless look on the skin with a glow that held up all day long even on the sweatiest of days. It evens out the skin and adds a bit of glow that holds up for longer wear on my dry-combination skin and never looked greasy in the least and worked even when I went through a phase of horrible dry patches. I will note that this product tends to pill when its built up overly much. The ingredients are also fairly nice, as its formulated without drying alcohol or fragrance and contains a couple of antioxidants in the upper portion of the ingredients.

Tom Ford Lips & Boys in Alexander ($44): I feel like an absolutely ridiculous human being for singing praises for a miniature (but not that mini) lipstick that costs about forty five dollars but it’s a gorgeous comfortable cream formula that is smooth and creamy without gliding into lip lines or onto the face. It’s a nudey peach that’s in the colour family where it can be worn without a liner and without that much makeup on the rest of the face but might be on the paler side of my lips but better. I like its ease and it was a fun treat for myself.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Prismatic Amethyst ($46): Moreso in the beginning of the summer when I was so completely pale – I hadn’t seen the sun in months – I was loving this cooler pale pinky lilac highlighter. Now as I have a wee bit more colour, I find the cool silvery tone a little bit more difficult as it can look a bit jarring in comparison to my warmer complexion – but it looks nice when its used a little lower on the cheekbones. This would be an excellent one for cooler or quite fair complexions. It’s a pale pinky lilac that has a holographic silver shift that gleams and provides a sheen without visible shimmer particles. It’s flattering and a bit more subdued head-on than Becca’s other powder offerings. It doesn’t emphasize texture and can provide a flattering brightening effect.

Calvin Klein One Summer 2015 ($80): Even though it lasted – at most – six hours on my skin, I happily sprayed the effervescent lime gin and tonic scented eau de toilette on my pressure points this summer. It lingered longer on my clothes and hair, I note and it has that freshness and unisex citrus lean that I kind of adore. I wont go on about this because it was limited edition…

Any thoughts?
Maggie, x.

February/March 2016 Favourites

I would say that this post is my latest post ever, but I’m afraid that my 2015 favourites has taken the spot. I finished exams last night and let me tell you, I’m excited to get back to being a functional human being and blogging. I’m stubborn to a fault and on a related note, I refuse to skip favourites posts so here’s a belated two-months favourites post…

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Paula’s Choice Calm Redness Relief Repairing Serum ($32 US): For a good two or three months now, I’ve consistently been using this no-frills (but excellent) serum. It’s hydrating and soothing while still being lightweight, loaded with hyaluronic acid, ceramics and various anti-irritants. It works to soothe and hydrate particularly when I’m slacking on my skincare routine or have gone overboard with the acid exfoliants.

L’Oreal True Match Lumi Cushion Foundation in W2 Light Ivory ($21-25 CDN): My go-to foundation for ease and results has been this cushion foundation. I don’t know if I believe all of that cushion compact hype but I love the ease of application with the included sponge and the brightened luminous skin that this light to medium coverage base provides. Essentially, it’s a tinted moisturizer alternative for me, and a good one at that.

Covergirl Trublend Blush in Medium Rose ($13.99 CDN): Despite not being into the brand and not having tried anything from Covergirl in maybe the last five years, I couldn’t resist picking up this mineralized blush. It’s a warm toned medium pink with maybe a hint of coral and a hint of a sheen and I do have to say that I’m impressed in how the quality compares to higher end blushes in wear and results. It’s an effortless shade and I often grab for it.

Maybelline Colour Tattoo Concentrated Crayon in 725 Bronze Truffle ($10.99 CDN): Almost every single day for the last two months I’ve used this lighter taupe-y bronze cream shadow as either a shadow base or an effortless lid shade. It’s an identical shade to Bad to the Bronze in the regular line and the performance is similar but I prefer the texture and ease of the pencil formula, especially for applying on the lower lash line.

L’Oreal Colour Riche Mono in 207 Pain Au Chocolat ($7-8 CDN): When I’ve had the energy and actual time to wear full-on eyeshadow, I’ve been using the pigmented cream-like powder shadows that L’Oreal has most recently released. This shade is an awesome brightening lid shade – a taupe and champagne mixture with a gorgeous metallic gleam – and the formula is all kinds of amazing.

Essie Chinchilly Nail Polish Lacquer ($9-11 CDN): Throughout February and March, I was going through an obsessive nail painting (and buying phase) and this cult classic shade ended up being one of my favourites – and often graced my nails. It’s one of those awesome greige-y shades – but it’s a bit darker and more grey based than some others – but it has a smooth easy two-coater formula that lasts on the nails. I raved about it here.

Zoya Naturel Satin Polish in Rowan ($11.99 CDN): In February, I made my first foray into Zoya polish and I fell in love with this pale grey-taupe satin shade maybe even more than I thought I would. I’ve worn it countless times because I love the greige kind of effect, particularly in the semi-matte polish and the fact that the formula is so easy and lasts on the nails must have played an impact. I love that this polish is one that takes minimal time to apply and dry and can be applied before bed without a worry.

Zoya Pixie Dust Nail Polish in Arianna ($11.99 CDN): I do feel all kinds of ridiculous including three nail polishes into a single favourites post but I couldn’t go without including this one. I love that textured berry red look on the nails but most of all I liked it’s ease and practicality. With two coats it was opaque and because it was textured both coats dried very quickly, it was a fast easy manicure. But even more exciting, it’s chip resistant despite having a matte effect.

What have you been loving?
Maggie, x.

The Repurchases

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When you’re as beauty-obsessed as I am, indecisive to a fault to boot and easily bored, it’s rare that a product is impressive enough to warrant a repurchase so it speaks volumes when one is repurchased. In fact, when a repurchase occurs it must be nothing short of fantastic and I’ve gathered a few repurchases to share as of late. I’m not going to lie, this is totally inspired by Kate’s posts that I enjoy tremendously. Let’s get to it….

Bioderma Sensibio H2O($22)

I’ve raved about my love of the cult-favourite micellar water more than a time or two before but it is easily my most repurchased beauty product. Just like everyone and their second cousin twice removed suggests, it removes makeup like a champ gently, especially on the eye area when held to the lid for some seconds, but effectively and it’s the only thing that doesn’t ever go wonky in my dry sensitive eyes. It’s the gentlest thing out there.

La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume AP ($29.99)

This nourishing but lightweight body cream is definitely a more recent repurchase for me but it is an impressive one all the same. It’s formulated without fragrance, colour and the usual irritants and not only helps to intensely hydrate the skin and heal any sort of abrasions and skin condition, but also helps to decrease itchiness of my leg eczema over time. This is a great one for eczema in my experience for it is no frills where it counts but has a nice dose of niacinimide to help repair the barrier of the skin with the usual glycerin and shea butter.

Caudalie Vinosource Riche Intense Moisture Rescue Cream ($40)

Although I feel that including this moisturizer love of mine in a post here to be cheating, I couldn’t write this post without including it. If you’ve been around these parts for ages, you can probably recall how I loved the Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet back in 2013 and so after I finished up the REN moisturizer that I had been using, I couldn’t resist turning back to my old faithful line but I decided to purchase the slightly more nourishing option considering the season. I’m pleased to report that this offering is still lightweight and even more nourishing and soothing than the lighter option. It has that instant ‘breath of fresh air’ effect on the skin that makes me feel like it’s a treatment at the same time.

Maybelline The Falsies Volume Express Mascara ($8-9)

This was easily the most-hyped up mascara in the beauty world a few years ago and I tried it on account of that hype but to this day I haven’t found any mascara that surpasses this affordable one. It adds great volume with a little bit of length and curl thrown in but doesn’t go clumpy on the lashes and give that spider effect – even when the formula is at its wetter stage when it has recently been opened. It also doesn’t flake, smudge or anything but is not actually a nuisance to remove as many others seem to. This is at least my third tube of this mascara and I’ve felt horribly bereft without it, despite having way too many mascara bottles in my possession at the moment.

Have you repurchased anything as of late?
Maggie, x.