Festive gold and green look

Here's a festive look I wore a few days ago, a subtle gold and green look with colored liners. Perfect for a day of Christmas shopping to get you in the mood :)









What I used:

MAC Fluidline in Brassy on upper lashline
Gosh Velvet Touch pencil liner in Green Grass on outer lower lashline
Urban Decay 24/7 pencil liner in Yeyo on inner 1/2 of lower lashline
Blinc Kiss Me mascara on lashes

Korres Mango Lipstick in 14 Pink

MAC MSF in Stereo Rose
MAC Emote to contour
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer in Porcelain
Cle de Peau concealer stick
Eve Pearl Salmon concealer

Best and Worst of 2009

I must admit I did not stick to my resolution of sticking to a makeup budget this year...on the contrary I went way over it :( On the bright side, I did discover several gems I will be repurchasing, but there are also a couple of products that I wish never to see again!

Lets start with the good stuff...

Best eyeshadow

Yaby Pearl Paints



Gorgeous shimmery colours that are pigmented and easy to work with. I will be reviewing these shortly!

Best mascara

Lorac Visual Effects mascara - lengthens AND thickens! The only drawback is that it does get clumpy with age.




Best coloured liner

Lunasol Geminate liners



Ok this is cheating a little since I got my Geminate liners end of 2008 but because I hadn't really used them as much then I did not realise how awesome they are until this year :) The metallic/subtle glitter in these are so unique and undupeable. They bring a subtle sparkle to the eye without being too obvious unlike glitter liners (eg. Urban Decay's)


Best glitter liner

Too Faced So Smurfy liner in Smurf You (glittery smurf blue)



Yeah I know I just bashed glitter liners above but this is one I really like to use over black liquid liner to jazz it up with more obvious sparkle.


Best concealer

Cle de Peau concealer stick in Beige



Goes on super creamy. Colour matches my skintone once blended right.


Best foundation

Lunasol Water Cream Foundation




This purchase was of course influenced by Fuzkittie. I had been debating this purchase for ages, and was not disappointed as the formula feels divine and glides on beautifully with fingers or sponge. Coverage is excellent since it is a cream but does not feel heavy at all. Best of all, it does not oxidize!


Best tinted moisturizer

Cover Girl Smoothers SPF 15 Tinted Moisture



Finally got to try this (because its not sold in Canada) and was blown away by how well it matched my skintone without oxidizing. Coverage is like a typical tinted moisturizer so that was to be expected. It trumps La Mer and Laura Mercier in that it contains UVA and UVB protection (both LMs have only UVB).


Best blush

Jill Stuart Mix Compact blush in 07 Lovely Tulip



Subtle cool pink perfect for spring.


Best highlighting product

MAC MSF in Refined



Gorgeous peachy glow without shimmer or glitter! Can also be used as blush.


Best drugstore lipgloss

Marcelle Vita Lip Plumping Gloss



Fragrance free, non sticky gloss that gives the illusion of fuller lips without any chemicals to sting your lips. Love it!


Best drugstore lipstick

Joe Fresh cream lipstick in Strawberry



Creamy, pigmented goodness in a tube for CDN$6 - what more could you want?


NOW for the bad...

Here are a few things I regret purchasing - not necessarily for poor product performance but also the price.

1. Guerlain le2 mascara in Bleu Cerise



Too expensive. Even though I hardly used it the formula went clumpy after 3 months. That may sound normal but considering I hardly opened the tube (like 4x in the 3 months) it really sucks!


2. Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer



It looks great at first and gives a lovely glow that I got complimented on. However after a few weeks of use I noticed it tends to oxidize and make my face look darker :( For the price I was expecting better...


3. Urban Decay Box of Potions



Already went over this one here - do not recommend! All the products besides the famed UDPP failed to perform for me. Fortunately I was able to return the set.

4. Lunasol Full Glamour Gloss



Pretty to look at but wasn't much different from a regular clear shimmery gloss. Not to mention I paid well above retail, silly me.


What about you? Feel free to share yours in the comments or on your blog, and let me know! :)

Review: Laura Mercier Illuminating TM, Oil-free Primer

Okay I caved, I got the Clarisonic!

I still haven't opened it yet, just in case I change my mind...but I'm excited, haha :D I'll just let it sit in a corner for a few days...lol

I've been hauling quite a few other things lately so there will be some new items to play with once they arrive. Right now I should probably catch up on reviewing what I have at the moment...


***

Reviews

1. Laura Mercier Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer with SPF20




I got a sample of this a month or so ago in Bare Radiance. The shade is sheer enough that it matches well with my NC25-ish skintone.

You can see the shimmer in the product here:




When blended it illuminates the skin:




The coverage is very minimal in this product. I barely noticed any improvement in my skin after application. The shimmer looked nice on my arm, but I found the illumination a bit too much in a face product. I have large pores around the t-zone, and the shimmer only drew more attention to the pores, making them seem larger. I didn't like the look overall as I felt it made my face look oily. I tried taking a couple of pictures, but my skin just looked bad because the shimmer was highlighting whatever skin problems I had so I deleted them lol.

When I got the sample, the SA warned me that it may be too illuminating and that I should mix it with moisturizer or foundation. I thought that sounded stupid at first but now I have to agree...It doesn't even give me enough coverage on its own anyway, so I think the shimmer would work better if it was mixed with other products.

If you are familiar with Everyday Minerals' Original-glo foundation, this product gives a similar effect. Back when I had much nicer skin, Original glo worked just fine and I was happy with the luminous glow it gave. However my skin hasn't been doing well this year so I switched to intensive and matte formulas from other brands. I noticed when I tried using Original glo again that it didn't work for me anymore, and emphasized my pores instead :(


Active ingredients:



I'm not a fan of how the SPF isn't photostable. The active ingredients shown on the tube list only octinoxate and avobenzone. I'm no expert on sunscreens but from what I've read, avobenzone is not photostable unless enough octocrylene is present to stabilize it. The SPF protection isn't going to last very long if it isn't photostable, . As this isn't a product where you can easily reapply it throughout the day, I don't see the point of trying to market SPF factor then.


Complete ingredients:

Bare Radiance:Octinoxate 7.50%, Avorbenzone 2.00%. Ingredients: Water, Dimethicone, Cetearyl Alcohol, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Xylitylglucoside, PEG-40 Castor Oil, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Hexyl Laurate, Anhydroxylitol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Ascorbate, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), XYlitol, Copper Gluconate, Allantoin, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Polysorbate 60, Phenoxyethanol, Butylene Glycol, Tribehenin, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Carbomer, Aminomethyl Propanol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate. (+/-): Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Mica, Tin Oxide.


Overall:

I think the product could still work well for people with better skin / smaller pore. I know someone else (I think it was Fuzkittie) tried it and it looked great on her. For me though, the shimmer only highlighted my pores and made me look oily when used all over. It would still make a great luminizer though if mixed in with foundation or moisturizer. Also it'd make a great subtle highlighter if applied on top of the cheekbones.


Price: 2/5 Expensive
Packaging: 5/5 Good, sanitary tube
Effectiveness: 2.5/5 Depends on your skintype. Best if you already have good skin
Would (re)purchase: No


2. Laura Mercier Oil-free Primer

I bought this back in the beginning of September because I still hadn't found a good water based primer yet. Chose this one over the hydrating primer since it was still listed as being for sensitive skin types (which seems to apply to me).




Ingredients:

Water (Aqua), Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Stearic Acid, Isodecyl Isononanoate, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, C20-22 Alkyl Phosphate, C22-20 Alcohols, Squalane, Butylene Glycol, Cetyl Esters, Phenoxyethanol, Boron Nitride, Silica, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Hydroxide, Allantoin Tocopherol Acetate, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Hamaelis Viginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract, Cucumis sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Retinyl Palmitate, Dimethicone, Polyamino Sugar Condesate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Chlorphensin, Benzoic Acid, Polysorbate 60, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Saccharomyces/Xylium Black Tea Ferment, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Potassium Sorbate, Green 5 (CI 61570), Yellow 5 (CI 19140).

The product does still contain a bit of dimethicone but it feels a lot lighter than silicone based primers. The consistency resembles a lotion so applying it feels like you're just applying regular moisturizer. I wouldn't recommend skipping moisturizer though if you have drier skin like me.

I used it under my mineral makeup (both Buff'd and Everyday Minerals). It didn't do anything in terms of prepping my skin for makeup. Neither did it make the foundation last longer than usual. I can't say whether it helped prevent makeup from clogging pores, as I didn't use it long enough to find out. I wasn't satisfied with the performance so I decided to return it after a few uses as it costs quite a bit (CAD$45)


Overall:

Disappointing product. A lot of hype, but it seems to be just a moisturizer, nothing more, and not even a great moisturizer at that.

Price: 0/5 Expensive
Packaging: 5/5 Sanitary tube
Effectiveness: 1/5 Moisturized somewhat...
Would repurchase: No

Freebies

Some freebies you should know about:

1. Bare Escentuals:

You may have already heard about this from Rae and Jewels, but Sephora has free mini samples of BE foundation that comes with a tiny kabuki brush. They don't have a variety of shades though - mine had only Fairly Light left. The jar contains slightly less than 1 tbsp of product. See pic below if you're curious how small the jar and kabuki is - the brush is super tiny!

2. Laura Mercier:

Holt Renfrew has samples of their new Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer to give out - no purchase required. However, they only had the Bare Radiance shade when I went last weekend. Funny thing is, the MA didn't seem too thrilled about using it by itself, she actually told me to mix it with foundation or moisturizer. According to her, the product would be too shimmery on its own. I haven't tried mine yet though. Sample contains 14.7 mL of product.

3. La Mer:

Received another email from Holt Renfrew today saying they have free samples of the new Hydrating Infusion (sounds like a moisture serum to me). They also may have samples of other products - thanks to Angie I went to the counter and asked for a sample of Gel de la Mer last week :) Its tiny (only 3.5g) but the jar is cute :D





Size comparison with MAC lipstick and full size BE container:

Blinc mascara day 1 test, silicone free primer, chinese cuisine

I tried the Blinc Kiss Me Mascara today, and I love it so far! Tried it yesterday in a damp washroom and it didn't work so well, it wouldn't dry on my lashes and smudged while I was waiting for it to dry. But I tried it this morning, when the washroom was nice and dry, and used a bit less this time, and it worked perfectly :) As some other reviewers on MUA have said, it doesn't do anything for volume, and not much for length, but what I like is that it holds a curl beautifully. Its not like I have stubbornly stick straight lashes, but they do need to be curled more to get a more wide awake look, and the Blinc mascara did a better job of keeping the shape today compared to L'oreal Voluminous, Lancome Definicils, or CoverGirl Lash Exact, even with primer. Not that the last 3 are bad, but Blinc just does it better. And as claimed it didn't run or smudge at all.

Keep in mind I just used this on its own though. I wonder if I would be able to get good results using my Clinique lash primer underneath.

***

I think I need a new primer. I was using the Smashbox Photofinish Primer dupe (Monistat Anti-chafing gel) but it seemed to give me blackheads :( so i stopped and tried using Clarins Beauty Flash Balm as primer instead, but I feel that its not really meant to be a primer. and doesn't form a barrier between skin and makeup. Primers supposedly protect your skin from breakouts by forming a layer between your skin and foundation., besides the added bonus of making makeup last longer.

I think it was the silicones in the Monistat primer that clogged my pores, so I'm looking for a silicone free one, but most primers on the market contain silicones :*(

Of the few that are silicone free, these 3 seem to be the most promising based on MUA feedback. Now it is hard to trust MUA just based on the %, as some reviewers give products bad ratings based on superficial reasons, not just on product performance. Also how well a product works for you will depend on your skin type. From actually reading the content of the reviews, these three stood out more from my already limited selection.

FreshFace Face Primer



This lightweight lotion prepares the face for makeup application by filling in fine lines, pores and imperfections, creating a flawless surface. Beneficial for the skin, FreshFace Primer can also be used as a light moisturizing lotion for the face.

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Sea Water (Maris Aqua), Polymethyl Methacrylate Butylene Glycol, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Steareth-21, Porphyridium Cruentum Extract, Paeonia Albiflora Flower Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Malva Sylvestris (Mallow) Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract Rose Distillate (Rose Water), Phenoxyethanol, Steareth-2, Chlorphenesin, Methylparaben Sodium Acryloyl Dimethyl Taurate/Hydroxyacrylate Copolymer, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Squalane, Disodium EDTA,Propylene Glycol Polysorbate-60, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben.

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer



Laura Mercier Foundation Primer creates a smooth, invisible layer that acts as a "buffer" to outside elements and expertly holds foundation. It guarantees that your makeup stays fresh and color-true for hours. With vitamins A, C, and E added to protect the skin, Foundation Primer is oil-free and ideal for all skin types.

Ingredients - 1.75 oz:
Water, Tridecyl Neopentanoate, Stearic Acid, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Retinyl Palmitate, Honey Extract, Allantoin, Kiwi Extract, Grape Extract, Aloe Extract, Thea Sinensis Extract, Lavender Extract, Orange Extract, Palmarosa Extract, Jasmine Extract, Rose Extract, Geranium Extract, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Glyceryl Stearate, Lanolin, Cetyl Alcohol, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Diazolidinyl Urea, Fd&C Red #40, Fd&C Yellow #5.

Guerlain Divinora Pure Radiance






The ultimate makeup primer, Pure Radiance is infused with particles of pure 24 karat gold that instantly melt into the skin for incredible luminosity. Highly efficient active elements moisturize and smooth your skin, leaving your complexion radiant and your makeup fresh all day long. Can also be worn without makeup for a natural glow.

No ingredient listing on Sephora.com or Guerlain.com, but from a few reviews it seems the product feels almost silicon-y but doesn't have any silicones in the ingredients listed on the box.

The gold flecks seem so gimmicky and I would've thought it would cause your face to look like a disco ball, but according to MUA reviewer comments, the gold doesn't show up on your face so it should be ok. The Guerlain does cost twice as much as the Laura Mercier one though....so I'm not sure whether to go for it or try the cheaper one first.

I've also considered MAC's Prep & Prime as they are also silicone free, and feel more like a lotion, but I tried samples of both SPF and non SPF versions, and they make my skin flake. The last thing I need is flaky skin when my skin tends to be dry in winter weather.

***

Felt like window shopping for something other than makeup, so visited Chapters.ca / Amazon.ca. I'm looking for a recipe book with authentic Chinese recipes, in particular recipes for soups and fish, even better if it focuses on Cantonese style cooking. However the selections here in N.America are rather limited, and none of the books that matched my search terms are available in-store, so I'm going to have to order them online, and return the books that are sucky. Even though Amazon.ca is cheaper, I choose to shop at Chapters.ca because I can return the books to their stores and skip any return shipping fees.

What I've found so far:



Haven't placed the order yet....still thinking about it, but I sure hope at least one of these books would be good, because I'd feel really awkward walking into a store to return the entire shipment :S