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! :)

Smurfette FOTD and more deals

Sephora has giftbags containing 10 skincare samples available in-store or online. According to the newsletter in store, you can get the samples after a consultation with a Beauty Advisor. However I just asked if they had any available when I went to cashier and they gave me one :) You can also get them with any online order by using the codes SKINTREATS or RIGHTBAG3 (either one gets you the same thing).

Bath and Body Works in Canada have a 3 for $18 sale on their Signature body washes, lotions, creams and body butters. Their Signature body splashes are on sale for $3 each! Handsoaps are 3 for $12.

The Body Shop at Yorkdale Mall (also Canada) had the blushes from the Fall'08 Deadly Desires collection on sale at 3 for $10! I haven't seen this in any of the other locations I've visited. When I went though they only had a few of the peach blushes left, they had more of the darker rose blush available.


***

FYI...

Sephora lowered the price of the Givenchy Couture palette again down to US$35. I guess they realised $45 was still too high for something so tiny! I ordered it originally at the previous price, but once I saw how freaking small the thing was I returned it. I'm still not convinced US$35 is a good value either.

Here's a picture to give you an idea. It looks decent enough online until you compare it with a lipstick (MAC Slimshine) and a quarter. Umm...thats the smallest tube of gloss I've ever seen! The eyeshadows are so tiny it would be a hassle to use the colours without accidentally mixing them up. Its so tiny, I love how they still consider it a $90 value...




***

FOTD using some products from Too Faced's Smurfette collection:

Face

• Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation #3
• Sana concealer
  
• Silk Naturals' blush in Lady
• MAC Emote to contour a little
  

Eyes

• Pink shade from the Smurfette palette all over lid
• Blue shade from the Smurfette palette on outer corners (I used very little as I wanted a more subtle day look)
• So Smurfy Face Powder to highlight under browbone
• MUFE Aqua Eyes in OL to line top lashline and outer 1/2 of lower lashline.
• Smurf You blue glitter liner to line top lids, going over the MUFE liner
• Blinc Kiss Me mascara

The pink and blue shades I used went on nicely even though I skipped using any base. I love the glitter liner, the brush is really easy to work with because its so fine and has the right degree of firmness to draw a thin line smoothly.



MUFE Aqua Eyes stayed better on my top lids than Urban Decay's 24/7, but it still smudged on the lower lashline :/


Lips

• Mood Swing Emotionally Activated lipgloss

The gloss wasn't as bright pink as I had feared, its quite wearable as long as you balance it out by going lighter on eye makeup. Not that sticky either - nowhere near as annoying as MAC.

Smurfed by the Too Faced Smurfette collection

I barely remember anything of the Smurfs from my childhood except that I had a blue Smurf bag which previously belonged to a cousin. But somehow when I saw the Muse's post on Too Faced's Smurfette collection, I just had to have it...

I ordered these before Christmas and they finally arrived Friday. The collection consists of two glitter liners, 1 lip gloss, 1 eyeshadow quad, and 1 highlighting powder:



Unboxed




So Smurfy Eyeshadow Palette




I love the illustrations inside of the palette :D






Swatches



The blue and pink shades are are pigmented and easy to blend. The finish is similar to MAC's Veluxe Pearl shadows - they have a sheen so they're not matte nor shimmery. The remaining two shades are super glittery with poorer colour payoff. The glitter also falls off easily so I doubt I will ever use those two colours.


So Smurfy Illumination Face Powder





I noticed from the tester in-store that the colours will rub off with repeated use so I don't think I will be using it much to preserve the design.


Smurfy Eyed Liquid Liners in Feelin' Smurfy (opalescent) and Smurf You (blue)



I like how the caps are metallic Smurf blue with the outline of Smurfette. That is exactly how MAC should have done the Fafi collection last year instead of using those cheap shrink wrap stickers...


Smurf You closeup




Mood Swing Emotionally Activated Lip Gloss

I think the design on the tube is so cute :)



The side of the box illustrates the various shades it can change to. I don't think that will actually change according to your mood but it will probably just look different on each person.




Swatch of lipgloss when freshly applied. Its blue at first but the area closest to my skin is starting to turn pink. The texture is a bit sticky and it does have a sweet scent, so beware if you don't like sticky/strong smelling glosses.




Swatches of the gloss, eyeliners and highlighting powder (bottom of picture). Note how the gloss in this picture has turned pinkish after several minutes.




I had never tried Too Faced before this, but except for the two glitter eyeshadows these products seem quite decent so far. Anyway, this is probably the first time I've ever bought an entire collection...so its a good thing I'm going to be on a budget for 2009.

Just for fun...here's the Smurfs episode with the Smurfette:

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3