Hello, you!
I wanted to take some time today and chat you through some of the makeup bits I've been particularly enjoying lately.
Firstly, this perfume was a gift from my lovely boyfriend for Christmas. It's BonBon by Victor & Rolf.
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| You can find this perfume in Canada at The Bay ($120/50ml). |
The next things I've been loving are my nail base and topcoat. I picked these up on a whim while wandering around in WalMart. I had been doing without a base or topcoat at all and was getting tired of having to paint my nails every other day because I have this thing about chipped nail polish where it drives me crazy. I cannot stand chipped nails. My nails are chipped a bit as a write this and all I want to do is take my polish off and start over.
The thing I think I love most about the duo of Revlon's Quick Dry Base Coat and Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength Flash Topcoat is the speed of it. The base dries to a slightly tacky finish in under a minute. I have tried leaving it to dry longer, but the tacky feeling never quite goes away (believe me, I have let this sit on my nails for an hour or more just to test!). The topcoat, although not hailed as any kind of quick-dry substance, seems to set very quickly as well. I would say that it takes about 5 minutes all-told for the topcoat to set completely. Finally, even after 5 or more days of wear, my nail polish still looks pretty good. The topcoat keeps it "just had my nails done" shiny -- it almost gives a gel-like finish. As well, the white colour of the base coat is preventing my nails from getting stained with polish colours.
As a heads up, should you decide to give this pairing a shot, I find that my BarryM, Nails Inc., and Zoya polishes last the longest, and that OPI and Essie polishes still chip within one or two days. Apparently nothing is going to stop those brands from flaking off on me like crazy. First world problems, am I right?
Next up, a cheek gel from Pixi that I managed to scout during the insane Canadian Target fail sale. I found a couple of really excellent bargains that day, and this was one of them. The shade is "neutral" and it is unfortunately showing up as darker and more red-toned on camera than it is in reality. The actual colour is more of a midtone brown-pink that I think would suit most skin tones.
This cheek gel is amazing for those of us who are constantly rushing to put makeup on in the morning. I, for one, never have more than 30 minutes to get ready and get out the door to my transit stop. This cheek gel stops me from looking tired and lifeless. It blends easily and does not budge once it sets. You can also take your time with this product, as it doesn't dry very quickly as you dot it on your face. You can blend it with your fingers, or use a sponge. I'm loving the finish it gives when I use my BeautyBlender. I'll try it with a brush and let you know how I get along with it that way. Since it's a gel, the colour payoff is pretty sheer -- almost like a watercolour blush. It gives enough colour that you know there's something there, but not so much that you look like a clown. Don't be discouraged by the tiny package, either. A little goes a long, long way with this!! The first time I tried it, I think I squeezed enough out of the tube for 3 people. Whoops!
Next is my skin-combo of the moment. I've been loving working with my NARS Copacabana liquid illuminator, MAC Studio Fix Foundation in NC20, and Body Shop Tea Tree BB Cream.
To begin with, both of these foundation shades are pretty far off my skin tone. The NC20 from Mac is too orange for my liking (despite that "C" is supposed to indicate cool-toned-ness), and the BB cream is too pale. The next shade up was too dark, so I'm choosing to mix. I combine these three products on my hand before stippling them onto my skin with my BeautyBlender (which, by the way, is the best sponge of my life). The NARS illuminator gives a gorgeous, awake-and-ready-for-anything glow to the otherwise flat effect of the foundations. I find MAC Studio Fix gives great coverage, which I like, but it comes off looking cakey and lifeless on my face. This combats that! The BB Cream from the Body Shop has Tea Tree oil, which helps keep breakouts at bay, and is a thinner, more moisturizing consistency than the Mac foundation. paired together, these two give good, medium-to-heavy coverage, which I adore, and they don't look cakey or fake, which the NARS illuminator helps with a whole lot.
I'm curious to know if there is a foundation out there that will suit my skin... anywhere. I've had horrible luck with foundations for essentially forever, and I have always had to mix two shades to make something that really works. I feel like that's maybe a just-me thing, but I don't really know. Thoughts, please?
The final-final thing I have been adoring lately is my Benefit Roller Lash Mascara! (It's so good, it gets two pictures. Yes. That good.) This is a relatively new release, and while I don't tend to buy into the hype of products as soon as they're released, but this one caught me. I picked it up almost as soon as it came out and have been obsessed with it ever since. Given that I really never found a groove with Benefit's They're Real, I was surprised by my lack of hesitation to try this. But, the claims piqued my interest, and all of the YouTube reviews I saw were really positive, so I went for it.
This mascara claims to curl lashes and basically eliminate your eyelash curlers from your morning routine. I know what you're thinking: "Yeah, right. As if." But since I bought this, I have not used my eyelash curlers. Okay, I used them once, on one of my eyes, to see if I could see a noticeable difference when I used this mascara with and without curling my eyelashes. I couldn't. When my lashes are properly curled and I've put mascara on, you can tell that they are nearly long enough to mix in with my eyebrows. This mascara is no slouch, friend. It curls my eyelashes to the same point as my eyelash curler would have done, but without the weird contraption and occasional pinch or pull on my lid and/or lashes. There is also no eyelash dent from the curler. Your eyelashes are curled gently from the base by the mascara and the wand, and are lifted up. The curl stays all day (and even into the next day, if you forget to take your makeup off before bed, as I sometimes do), and the mascara rarely smudges. I am a consistent skeptic when it comes to non-waterproof mascaras and their lack of smudging, so I totally get it if you just rolled your eyes at me. But trust me, I have been there with the panda face when I believed a product wouldn't smudge. I've made waterproof formulas smudge. This stuff does not move until you move it with some kind of face wipe or wash. The only times it has smudged on me, are when I have used a thick undereye concealer and not had time to properly set it before doing my mascara.
The secret to the curl seems to be the brush, which I use starting with the concave side at the base of my lashes. I wiggle the brush between my lashes to ensure the product gets right down to the lashline, and then brush upward, twisting the brush out away from my face as I go. The bristles are plastic, and on the convex side of the brush are slightly hooked to catch your lashes individually (somewhat, it can get clumpy now and then), which helps keep the curl in place all day. The formula of the mascara must contract or something to keep the curl in place, I'm not sure of the exact science behind it. Finally, the mascara itself sets quickly, and I can get away with up to three coats before it starts to look like I've put way too much on. I'm not a big fan of the clumpy spider-lash look, myself. I prefer something about halfway between major drama and "what mascara?" Anyway, I'm in love with this, and I will definitely be repurchasing when it does finally dry out or start to smell spoiled. (At present it has no scent, which is another bonus.)
So... those are the makeup bits that I've been loving lately! What are yours? What should I try next?
Lovingly Yours,
- A.
