Review: Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain's in India Intrigue, Parisian Passion, LA Exclusive, Barcelona Nights, Cannes Crush & London Posh

Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stain uses a formula infused with Vitamin E & Aloe to moisturize without stickiness. Color glides on lips for a luxurious, weightless feel.

These moisture stains claim to give the shine of a gloss, moisture of a balm, longevity of a stain, and give the pigmentation of a lipstick. They are really claiming to be the all in one perfect lip product. I was instantly intrigued by these products and couldn't wait to try them out. Keep reading to see of they were a hit or miss for me.

 

First of all I adore the packaging. The sleek black packaging with see through body just look high end, and I love keeping them out on my vanity. I also really enjoy the brush shape. It picks up the perfect amount of product and the pointed tip helps fill in the lips without going out of the lines. The brush reminds me of the YSL Glossy Stains.

The colour of these stains are gorgeous, and all leave a light stain that lasts about 4 ish hours. The only colour I didn't love was London Posh because it is just a bit too neutral for my skin tone.

Now onto what I didn't like about these stains...the texture. These are marketed as a hybrid product and they have this weird hybrid consistency as well. They are thick, kind of mousse-y, kinda like a melted lip balm, etc. They are like no other product I've ever tried.

R-L: London Posh, Cannes Crush, Parisian Passion

Upon first application I found that they apply patchy and uneven, and feel very heavy on the lips. Layering two or 3 coats does give an opaque application, but because of the thickness it is unbearable to wear. I also found that their weird texture caused them to ball up in the corners and middle of my lips, making me have to blot continuously.

Julie from Swatch & Review let me in on the secret of these moisture stains and I am so glad that she did. You can't apply them like a normal gloss. To apply properly you have to take time pushing and smoothing them over the lips until your body heat melts them into a smooth, opaque finish.

R-L: LA Exclusive, India Intrigue, Barcelona Nights

Since starting to apply them in this fashion I have nothing but love for these lippies. The gloss transforms into a beautiful stain that leaves my lips looking colourful all day.

What are your thoughts on these Moisture Stains?

Disclaimer: Product(s) in this post were provided for review purposes. Thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own.

Review: Mary Kay At Play Triple Layer Tinted Lip Balm in Pink Again, In the Plum, Atomic Red & Orange You Lovely

The silky, creamy-feeling texture leaves lips seriously soft, supple, smooth and cushioned in moisture with a deliciously sweet berry flavor. They come in four flirtatiously fun shades that complement the entire Mary Kay At Play Collection.

I’m a lipstick lover for sure, but when the warmer weather rolls around I prefer to use a tinted lip balm. These Mary Kay tinted lip balms come with 3 layers of moisturizing ribbons that add just a hint of colour to your lips. Because of the sheer application these are great for on the go; no mirror required.

The packaging on these balms are a bit juvenile compared to the normal Mary Kay line, but I think the At Play line is their attempt at attracting a younger audience to their products. What I love about this packaging is that the product goes down all the way into the tube so you don’t gouge it with the lid. I also love how the lid clicks on and stays on tight.

Although these balms go on sheer, the colour is buildable with a few swipes. You can make them visibly pink, orange, red, or purple on the lips. My favourite of the bunch, so far, is Pink Again. I’ve been wearing it everyday for the past week. I’m kind of afraid to try In the Plum as it comes off quite purple; this one might be reserved for at home use only.

If you are looking for a moisturizing lip product that gives a beautiful wash of colour then these tinted lip balms are for you.  The Mary Kay At Play Triple Layer Tinted Lip Balms retail for $12 per 0.12oz tube. These balms are available online at MaryKay.ca / MaryKay.com or through a Mary Kay Consultant in your neighbourhood.

Disclaimer: Product(s) in this post were provided for review purposes. Thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own.

May 2014 Ipsy "Fresh Picks" Glam Bag Review

May's Glam Bag is all about "crisp air, vibrant flowers, and fresh Glam Bag products! Getting our beauty to bloom all month long will be easy as lying in the warm grass and basking in the sunshine."

This month there were 26 possible products, and each subscriber received a combination of 5. I ended up receiving 4 full size products and 1 deluxe sample in my bag. Although the products I got were great sizes, and all things I will need in the upcoming Summer months; I can't say I am overly excited about this bag. I prefer to get more makeup in my Ipsy bags, and this month it was a lot of non-makeup items.

If you are interested in signing up for your own Ipsy bag click here. Ipsy costs $10USD or $14.95CDN per month.

Epic Blend Lip Balm Review & Giveaway

My lips are singing the praises of Epic Blend lip balms!

Epic Blend was launched in 2007 in Kelowna, British Columbia; and is now sold in hundreds of retailers across Canada. They design and produce high-quality lip balms made with only top-shelf natural ingredients, and no harsh synthetics. "We think happy lips make happy people, so we design products that make lips happy." And boy do these lip balms make my lips happy! I'm cursed with extremely dry lips once Winter hits, and I've been trying everything to remedy this. I've only been using these lip balms for a few days and already my lips are 100% better. I am in love and I don't think that I could use anything else.

These balms smooth the lips without the greasiness, and they provide high-level and long lasting moisture. Epic Blend provides three different balm options:

More Moisture

"Seven moisturizers, including Organic Shea Butter come together to provide an extra kick of moisture plus a boost of staying power."

Key Ingredients:

• organic Shea butter
• organic coconut oil
• organic sunflower oil
• organic Castor oil
• organic beeswax
• non-gmo vitamin e

Flavours Include:

1. Unflavoured - no scent, nothing, nada. A true unscented lip balm.
2. Grape - grape soda all the way! I'm not normally a grape fan, but I really like this.
3. Green Apple - green apple jolly ranchers. Yum, Yum, Yum!
4. Cherry - have you ever used cherry chapstick, cause that's what this smells like.

Vegan

"100% plant-based and beeswax-free. We use all-natural food-grade Candelilla wax, which gives these balms an incredibly smooth texture."

Key Ingredients:

• food-grade candelilla wax
• organic coconut oil
• organic sunflower oil
• organic cocoa butter
• non-gmo vitamin e

Flavours Include:

1. Wild Berry - my favourite scent of the bunch! It is very sugary sweet, like Kool-Aid powder before you add the water. Love!
2. Pineapple-Mint - I like pineapple, and I like mint, but together...not so much.

Hemp

"Organic Hemp Seed Oil is a great anti-oxidant, super-nourishing and quickly absorbs deep into the skin cells."

Key Ingredients:

• organic hemp seed oil
• organic coconut oil
• organic sunflower oil
• organic beeswax
• non-gmo vitamin e

Flavours Include:

1. Vanilla - smells very faintly of chocolate. I get no hint of vanilla at all.
2. Mint - smells exactly like Trident Spearmint gum. A very fresh scent.
3. Coconut - very faint coconut scent, and not an overly sweet coconut scent.
4. Citrus Kick - it smells faintly fruity, but I cant make out exactly what fruit or fruits I'm smelling.
5. Banana LE - reminds me of my childhood and banana medicine. I will be cherishing this limited edition scent.
6. Chocolate Rum LE - smells mostly of chocolate, but there is an underlying spiciness, which I think comes from the rum.

Epic Blend Lip Balms retail for $3.49 a piece or you can purchase a 4-pack for $12.00. They ship everywhere in Canada, and SHIPPING IS FREE ON ANY PURCHASE OVER $15. You can find Epic Blend all over the web, buy using the following links:

Website   Facebook   Instagram   Twitter

Thanks to the generosity of Epic Blend I will be giving away a Lip Lovin' Superpack which includes 1 of each lip balm from Epic's regular line. If you would like to win these awesome balms, then enter in the Rafflecopter Form below. This giveaway will run until December 30th, 2013 at midnight. This giveaway is only open to Canadian residents.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

Disclaimer: I received these lips balms for free from Epic Blend, in exchange for a review. That does not change my opinion on them, and all thoughts are 100% honest and my own.

February Empties

So this post is a little late...but I guess better late than never! This month I was pretty successful in using up full size products. Next month I want to try and use up a bunch of samples that I still have kicking around.

eos Shave Cream in Vanilla Bliss
This shave cream is just OK. I don't find it moisturizing at all. I actually find that I need a lot of moisturizer after using this, because my legs are left so dry. It also clogs up the razor like crazy. The only thing I really like about this is the smell. Repurchase: No

St. Ives Apricot Cleanser
I bought this cleanser because I really like the St. Ives Apricot Scrub. However, I didn't really like this. I feel that it really didn't clean my skin and it left a residue that made me want to wash my face all over again. The consistency was weird and I had to force myself to use it up. Repurchase: No

B. Kamins Bio-Maple Lip Balm
I really hated this lip balm. I found that the ultra thick consistency turned really liquidy on the lips and I was eating more of it then what was staying on my lips. The smell and taste were off-putting and I am happy this tube is finally finished. Repurchase: No

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles
So this product isn't actually empty. The packaging on this sucks, in my opinion, and broke when a quarter of the product left. I depotted it cause I didn't want to just throw that much product away. I do like this concealer but I feel like the colour is a bit to dark for me. It does a great job at concealing under eye circles and other blemishes. I wish it was packaged differently. Repurchase: Maybe

Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
This is my Holy Grail Top Coat! If  it was up to me I would only use this forever and ever but at its cost per mL my bank account wants me to find something cheaper. It leaves my nails super glossy and my mani's last at least a week. Repurchase: Yes

Korres White Tea Facial Cleanser
I found this cleanser to be very liquidy and non-foaming. I found I had to use double the amount of product because it kept slipping right through my fingers. I didn't overly love the smell and cleansing wise I wasn't wowed. A big step down considering how well the scrub worked. Repurchase: No.

Korres Pomegranate Scrub
I got this deluxe sample as part of a complete sample skincare set at Winners. I loved this scrub! The smell was amazing and so were the scrubby bits. It reminded me of the texture of the St. Ives Apricot Scrub. It left my skin feeling ultra clean and smooth. Repurchase: Yes, if I could find it on sale.

TRESemme Split Remedy Shampoo & Conditioner
I don't normally gravitate towards Tresemme products but I really enjoyed these samples. My hair smelt great and I noticed less fly aways and frizz. Repurchase: Yes

Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy Shampoo & Conditioner
This product has always intrigued me but I wasn't wowed by these samples. They really left something to be desired. However, I want to try them again for a longer period of time because they are a hair therapy duo, so one use isn't going to show instant results. Repurchase: Maybe


Have you used any of these products before? If so, what are your thoughts on them?

I'm back with a Sephora/Target Haul!

Hey ladies, sorry I've been gone so long. This month has just not been good for blogging. I was working a lot at the beginning of the month and then I got the flu which lasted two weeks, then I was out of town. But enough with excuses I'm back and ready to get back into blogging full force.

Last weekend me and the BF went shopping across the border. We went mainly to Christmas shop but I also did some shopping for myself. It was my first time going to Sephora and I did a little damage but not as much as I could have. I just treated myself to a few goodies :)

First stop was Target. I only picked up a few things because I wanted to save my money for Sephora. I found this really pretty Jemma Kidd Neutral Palette on sale for only $18 but I resisted (I did really want it though lol).

I picked up the ELF Tinted Moisturizer to try because my current foundation is almost empty. After trying it on my hand it seems nice. Very lightweight with sheer coverage, but I should be able to build it up without it looking cakey.

On the way to the cash register I saw this EOS lip balm in a pomegranate raspberry flavour. I love these lip balms and a have a few different ones already, but thought this would be a good addition to the collection.

This little Benefit Kit was the main reason I wanted to go to Sephora. I've always wanted to try some Benefit products so I thought this would be the perfect kit. If only I could have walked away with just this.

Sephora is really good at putting little value sets right at the cash register, so while you are waiting to pay you will pick up more things. I've seen reviews of this trio on both blogs and YouTube so when I saw it sitting there calling my name I just had to add it to the basket.

This Tokidoki palette was on sale for only $3 and it contains four purple and silver eye shadows as well as a shimmery pink blush.

The Sephora Smokey Kohl liners were on sale as well so I picked one up in purple and black. They have a really cool triangle shape and I'm excited to try them out.

The mini Urban Decay Primer Potion was at the checkout as well and it easily fell right into the basket. This is a beauty blogger favourite and we'll see if it becomes one of mine.

The sales lady at the checkout counter actually talked me into this and after I bought it I had buyers remorse and kinda wanted to return it. But now that I've got it home I'm glad I bought it. It comes with every form of eyeliner that there is and I am sure it will last me a year before I have to buy another black eyeliner.

This kit has a funny story behind it. I have been researching The Body Shop skincare for sometime and actually had a sales associate talk to me about it but I didn't buy it. At Great Lakes Crossing I spun the Deal Wheel and was given a coupon for $10 off coupon. I almost bought this skincare kit and it was going to cost me $30. I didn't buy it cause I didn't want to spend that much.Then the whole day I talked to the BF about how I should've bought it cause it was a good deal. In Sephora on the clearance rack I saw the same kit for only $19! It became mine super quick and I cant wait to try it out.

I also received a bunch of mini and deluxe samples.

2 deluxe samples of Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation

I deluxe sample of Benefit Eye Cream

Foil packet samples of fresh Soy Moisturizing cream, Skin Foundation, and Sephora brand moisturizer.

 

Overall my Sephora experience was really good and the sales associates were really helpful. I cant want to go back!

What's in my Overnight Bag??

I've seen many different variations of this post but thought while packing my overnight bag that I should do my first "What's in my bag?" post. I slept over at my boyfriends last night so I packed extremely light. Normally I would pack more but seeing as I was just 10 minutes away from home I didn't think I needed that much.

Here is everything that I had in my toiletry bag. When I travel I like to bring sample sizes of almost everything in order to use up my sample stash before they go bad.

Although this toiletry bag works well for small trips, when I go away for more then a couple days it just doesn't do. I found a great train case at Walmart, it's on my Christmas List so hopefully I get it.

• Marcelle Essentials Makeup Remover
• B.Kamins Lip Balm
• Dove Cleartone Deodorant
• Contact Solution
• Contacts & Contact Case
• Glasses

• Mario Badescu Cucumber Cleansing Lotion
• Mario Badescu Glycolic Foaming Cleanser
• Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum
• Estee Lauder Perfectionist Wrinkle Lifting/Firming Serum
• Cotton Rounds
• CyberDerm H2O Hydration Face Cream
• Mario Badescu Strawberry Face Scrub
• Mario Badescu Special Mask for Oily Skin

• La Fresh Waterproof Makeup Remover Wipe
• Biore Pore Strip
• Garnier Body Shea Body Lotion
• Free Your Mane Shampoo & Conditioner

• All over eyeshadow brush
• Definer eyeshadow brush
• Blending crease brush
• Powder brush
• Blush brush
• Foundation brush

•  MAC Concealer (depotted)
• Garnier Anti-Dark Circle Roller w/Concealer
• PUR 4-in-1 Mineral Makeup in Light
• Revlon Colorstay Blush in Roseberry
• Caryl Baker Visage Mineral Eyeshadow in Pillow
• Laura Mercier Eyeshadow in Sandstone
• MAC Painterly Paint Pot
• Essence Quattro Eyeshadow
• Annabelle Kohl Eyeliner in Black
• L'Oreal Linear Intense Liquid Eyeliner
• Annabelle Le BIG Show Mascara

How Much Does My Face Cost?

I have seen posts like this on many beauty blogs and it sparked my interest. How much does my everyday face of makeup actually cost?? When buying products over months of time I think many of us really underestimate how much we actually spend on our beloved products. I decided to look into how much my daily makeup look actually cost me...with tax. In Canada tax is 13% which ended up being a lot on the makeup below.

Caryl Baker Visage Firming Eye Gel - $28.00

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel - $31.00

CoverGirl Trublend Foundation - $9.99

NYC Loose Translucent Face Powder - $3.99

MAC Sheertone Blush in Tenderling - $22.50

MAC Cream Colour Base in Pearl - $20.00

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base - $8.99

Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow Trio - $28.00

MAC Painterly Paint Pot - $20.00

Laura Mercier Eye Colour in Sandstone - $22.00

Garnier Skin Renew Anti Dark Circle Roller in Light - $12.99

MAC Select Cover Up in NW20 - $20.00

Annabelle Kohl Eyeliner in Black - $4.99

EOS Lip Balm in Sweet Mint - $4.99

Caryl Baker Visage Mineral Eyeshadow - $5.00

C.O. Bigelow My Favourite Lip Balm - $5.50

Annabelle Le BIG Show Mascara - $4.99

L'Oreal Carbon Black Liner Intense - $9.49

Revlon Colour Burst Lip Butter in Sweet Tart - $8.99

Total w/o tax - $271.41

Total w/ tax - $306.69



How much does your face cost? If you do this type of post let me know in the comments below. I would love to see what products you use on a daily basis. : )

MAC Lip Product Haul

Over the past couple weeks I have stopped and splurged on some MAC Lip Products. I normally don't buy lip products from MAC because of how expensive the products there are. But some new collections came out and the lip products I gave in and bought were ones that I just couldnt stop looking at. These colors are really out of the box for me but I want to start using colors and products that are out of my comfort zone.

Such a beautiful, crazy tangerine color. Love it!

But when swatched it isn't too orange that I would be scared to wear it. This is going to look great paired with a peach, coral, or nude lipstick.

This pick color is sooo pretty and this product smells amazing!

 The color pay off will make this perfect to wear over a pink lipstick or by itself.

Dish It Up Lipstick from the Cook MAC Collection. This picture is with no flash.

Picture with flash.

I love, love, love the berry color of this lipstick and the smooth consistency.

Chickened out on getting Viva Glam Gaga because of the crazy pink color, but I am all over Viva Glam Nicki. This coral is so out of the box for me, but looks amazing on.

Without flash.

With flash

Gorgeous right?

Disclaimer: I bought all of these products with my own money.