I'm Not a Beauty Guru

The Great Beauty Purge

July 20, 2015 17 Comments

I’ve been cleaning my room very slowwwwwllllyyyy over the past couple of weeks and I finally got a chance to clean out my beauty items. I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten into makeup recently (at least 5+ years) which is weird to think about because I always consider myself a newbie when it comes to this stuff. Some of these products I’ve had since the beginning which means that it NEEDS to go. I was putting this off for a bit because I just hate the idea of throwing away perfectly ‘good’ products. What can be done though. Here is the stuff that I purged. And it’s a lot.

Body Care

Mostly Bath and Body Works creams and sprays. Something I would repurchase is the True Blue Spa- Look Ma, New Hands. I love that lotion for winter. I put it on at night and it leaves my hands super smooth when I wake up. I think I would just try and buy a smaller bottle next time.

Hair Care

I would look into repurchasing got2b Guardian Angel heat protectant and the John Frieda 3 Day Straight spray. Both of these were practically empty but still had a little left kicking that I never ended up using.

I bought the Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak dry shampoo after hearing rave reviews when I was shopping in the states. It worked alright near the beginning but now it literally does nothing. Yes, it has no white residue, but it doesn’t work. Not worth it. I would choose Batiste any day over this.

Skin Care

The mini sample of It’s Potent Eye Cream was smelling a bit nasty so that’s why I knew it was time to go. It’s sad that I didn’t finish the Tarte Maracuja oil. I found it left a bit of a reside on my face when I used it. For hair it was alright, but I would say I have better products. I think it is good to have a little bit of these oils around just in case for cuticles or other random uses.

Face Primers

Some of these could have gone in skin care I guess. The Tarte primers just did not work for me. They felt really weird on the skin and smelled a bit funky. I got the Dr. Brandt Pores No More in an ipsy and had high hopes. Maybe I got a bad one but it’s all separated and goopy. :/ A bit odd!

Face Powders/ Bronzers

Oh god the Maybelline Mineral Power stuff is so old. It actually worked somewhat decently, but I’d like to try something else. I don’t even know if they still sell the line? The other products are barely used, but are definitely past their expiration.

Mascaras

It sucks cause these are all barely used. I used them once and then NOPE. At least I didn’t buy them, I got them all one way or another for free. For more insight about my feelings on mascara you can check out this blog post. Now when I get gifted a mascara, I save it so I can give it away to someone.

Eyeliners

Not much here. Both have some significance in my beauty life though. The Clinique dark plum gel eyeliner is actually what I wore to prom. I used it a lot and got some decent use out of it so that’s good. The Rimmel eyeliner was the first makeup item I purchased other than nail polish.

Eyeshadow

I’m kind of sad throwing away the Tokidoki quad, but the shadows are just so bad. I got it at Sephora $12 sale. The revlon stuff I got in a gift bag at one time. I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to use these very much.

Blush/ Highlighter

Essentially just old products. The only thing I would repurchase is the elf whipped highlighter/blush thingy. I remember I got that free from elf when I made my first and only online order. *sigh*

Brow Products

I’m kind of sad that I wasn’t able to give this away in a good time frame. It’s a perfectly good product just not my shade at all. It’s way too light, so I didn’t end up using it that much.

Lip Products

This was by far my biggest purge group. It sucks because a lot of the Bath and Body Works are unused, but they are just too old to give away at this point. I think I would repurchase the C. O. Bigelow lip glosses if I was the repurchase anything here.

Whitestrips Samples

These were collected from magazines and other sample-givers haha. I actually have used Crest Whitestrips in the past (I have a full sized box) and LOVE them. If your teeth are sensitive they might feel a bit uncomfortable, but they work SO well. I also noticed that I would only have to buy a box a year so it lasted for quite a bit. I’m not using whitening products now just because I’ve been having issues with my gums (unrelated to the use of this). These unfortunately are too old to save for later.

And those are all my tosses. Sorry some of the products are a bit hard to see, I didn’t really want to do closeups just because of the volume of products featured. While going though my makeup I picked up a few items that weren’t that old to give away at the CBB dinner/de-stash (which was SO FUN). I forgot to take pics though, oops.

Thanks so much for reading and hope you have a wonderful day!

Reviews, Versus

Versus: Kat Von D Liquid Liner Ink and Tattoo

July 14, 2015 17 Comments

*Purchased and Gift

Hello! So this post was conceived out of my confusion regarding these two eyeliners. I have been using Kat Von D’s Tattoo Liner which has become my HG (holy grail) liquid eyeliner. I’ve been seeing a couple of very positive reviews for Kat Von D’s Ink liner and curiosity got the best of me. So today, I’ll be breaking down the claims of these two eyeliners and giving my own thoughts!

Hauls

Haul: Planner, Living Proof, Kat Von D, oh my!

July 6, 2015 35 Comments

*Purchased

These past few weeks have been really good for shopping and not so great for my wallet. What can I say? Here I have a collective haul picking up some things that I’ve either been looking at for awhile or refills.

1. Wet N’ Wild Lipstick in Wine Room

When everyone was posting PR swatches of the Wet N’ Wild lipsticks earlier in the year this is one colour that I wanted to have in my collection. I have NOT seen these in store since last year which is insane. Whenever I see a Wet N’ Wild display there isn’t a space for these lipsticks or they are completely sold out. So when I randomly wandered through a Wal Mart and was able to find this I snatched it up!

2. Kat Von D Ink Liner in Trooper

I was so deceived by the packaging in Sephora, I thought this was a white liner, haha. After using my Tattoo liner for awhile, I realized that Kat Von D also has this Ink liquid liner. I pretty much only bought this so I could do a Versus post on Ink vs. Tattoo. #beautybloggerprobs I’m excited to see how this compares to my holy grail Tattoo liner.

3. Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso

I blame this purchase on Ling haha. Scratch that, I should say the entire beauty blogging community. I don’t have many blushes and everyone and their dog are raving about this. I’m excited to try it out!

Here are some swatches of the 3 products above:

Luminoso – Wine Room – Trooper

4. Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray

I ran out of my De-Slick and had to go out to Sephora to pick up a new one. They didn’t have the bigger size unfortunately, so I ended up picking up another small version. I LOVE this and highly recommend it if you have oily or combination skin.

5. Ban.do Agenda

After seeing Zoe and Vanessa with their Ban.do agendas, I fell in love. It was a bit expensive, but it is literally the cutest thing ever. All the pages are so beautifully designed and there are STICKERS in it! 😀 I have a new job that starts in August and so does this agenda. I thought it was fate, haha.

6. Sephora Living Proof 500 point Perk

When I was picking up my De-Slick, I noticed they had this Living Proof perk available. I thought I might as well use up my points on something I would eventually end up using. My rule for 500 point perks is to not redeem if there’s a mascara in it haha. This kit is really cute, it comes with a ‘limited edition’ shower cap. It will actually be useful because I don’t have one!

And there we have it! I had every intention of actually buying the Jaclyn Hill x Becca Champagne Pop highlighter but my trip to Sephora didn’t go exactly as planned…Oh well. I guess I saved around $50 haha.

Thanks for reading! Hope you have a great day!

Empties

Empties: Smell Ya Later June

July 1, 2015 8 Comments

Hello hello! Another month has passed which means another empties post. I think I used up quite a few products this month. I’ll just jump right in.

Full Size

Elements Squared (E2) Custom Shampoo and Conditioner
Repurchase: Would if I could!

I was surprised how long this lasted me! During the holiday season, I was lucky enough to win Whitney‘s contest for a custom designed Shampoo and Conditioner. The company was amazing and helped cater these to my needs exactly. I was very very happy with these and considering how long they lasted, I would repurchase. To my knowledge though, they are only available in Vancouver. You can see my full overview of the products here.

Sephora Instant Nail Polish Remover Wipes
Repurchase: No

Finally managed to finish these off. I did a full review of these which can be read here.

Dove Go Fresh Body Wash in Cucumber
Repurchase: Yup

My go-to body wash!

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment (Clear)
Repurchase: No

Funny enough, I found this empty container in my makeup drawer. I guess I was saving it for an empties? I had the mini version featured in a past empties which can be read here.

John Frieda Frizz Ease Serum
Repurchase: Yes

I quite enjoy this serum for when I take showers at night. I wouldn’t say my hair is frizz free with it, but it leaves my hair with a nice loose curl after I wake up. Half the time it’s hairspray and then I’m out the door.

Foil Packets/ Minis

Pantene Pro V Repair and Protect Miracle Repairing Shampoo and Conditioner
Repurchase: Maybe?

This shampoo and conditioner were kind of meh for me. Didn’t love it, but didn’t hate it either

Nivea Aqua Effect- Cleansing Gel and Mattifying Day Care
Repurchase: No

I had these foil packets sitting around forever and decided to use them. I was curious about the lotion as it mentioned that it was ‘mattifying’. I did not notice any difference. They didn’t break me out though, so I guess that’s good!

Ole Henriksen The Clean Truth Cleansing Cloths
Repurchase: Probably

These were the wipes that I bought for my trip back in April. Did their job exactly as expected!

Tarte Clean Slate 360degree Creaseless Eye Primer
Repurchase: No

This little sample took forever to use up! Not a fan of this at all. I thought the consistency was a bit too liquidy and I didn’t like that it had a pearly effect after you put it on.

Trash

Mitchell and Peach Flora No. 1 Luxury Hand Cream
Repurchase: No

I got this in an ipsy and even though the scent was a bit weird, I actually didn’t mind it. I reached for it the other day and the lotion had completely separated. I shook it forever and no change. Not too sure what happened but this is definitely a toss for me.

I think June was a very successful month for me! I think I might go through my makeup collection and do a giant purge. I have so many old products sitting around that should just be tossed. I feel like it’s throwing away money though since it didn’t get it’s full use. Ah well. So expect that sometime soon.

Thanks very much for reading! Hope you have a great day! 😀

An InLinkz Link-up

Hauls

Charlotte Tilbury Canadian Launch + Haul

June 26, 2015 19 Comments

*Purchased

Hello! 🙂 Hope you have been having a great day!

So yesterday my friend Leah (who is thinking of potentially starting a beauty blog too!) and I went on an adventure to Holt Renfrew to check out the NEW Charlotte Tilbury counter!

To be honest, I wasn’t familiar with the entire Charlotte Tilbury line, but her lip products have been touted everywhere so I wanted to check it out. Even though I didn’t go on the day she was doing her meet and greet, I was still so happy to check out the entire collection for myself! I had such an amazing day.

Planning the trip to Holt Renfrew, it was my intention to try and get a makeover done. I found out last minute that you needed to have an appointment so I lowered my expectations. Arriving at Holts, you could tell the euphoria of last night’s launch still hadn’t wore off. We made our way to the counter to look around. We were greeted by a cheery gentleman who asked us if we needed any help. We mentioned that if at all possible, we were hoping to get our makeup done to get a real feel of the products. We mentioned that we did not have an appointment and would totally understand if we couldn’t be accommodated. He was so sweet and managed to get both of us an artist to work with!

The makeover took about an hour and I had such a great experience. For the makeover, we were able to pick one of Charlotte’s looks to re-create. I chose The Sophisticate (the 2nd look from the right on the top row). I usually don’t go to counters or get my makeup done so this was definitely special. It was my first time in Holts too, so I was nervous anyways. My makeup artist was very sweet and knowledgeable. She explained a fact about every single thing she applied on my face and was very nice to me! (Even when my eyes were watering and messing up all her hard work!). The end result was nice. I don’t think I would re-create the look just because I feel like it didn’t suit me all that much. It was great to try out the products first hand and just look at all the pretty makeup. 🙂

Now to what I ended up getting! I can’t sugar coat this, the makeup is expensive. I would definitely consider this a luxury purchase. One thing I wanted for sure was the Pillow Talk Lip Liner. So…I got it. 🙂

1. Lip Cheat in Pillow Talk

Price: $27 CAD

I would definitely say this is a perfect my lips but better colour. I only have one lip liner from MAC, i bought it to use with my brighter Wet N Wild lipsticks. Since I have NOTHING like this in my collection, I thought it was justified. 😉

2. K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick in Hepburn Honey

Price: $38 CAD

Ugh the packaging on this! It’s by far the most beautifully packaged lip stick that I own. This is a lipstick that was used in my makeover along with Pillow Talk. It looks sooo so pretty. As mentioned, I don’t own much of this colour lipstick at all. I felt like I could get a lot of use out of it, so I splurged.

Hepburn Honey – Pillow Talk

All in all, I had a great experience. Everyone at Holts was so sweet and accommodating and just seeing the bright and beautiful counter was fantastic. So far I’m very happy with my purchases. If you can, I would say go to the counter to swatch and try out the products. I can see both of these products getting a lot of use in the future!

Are you excited about the new Charlotte Tilbury launch?

Thanks for reading! Hope you have a great day!

Personal

New Blog Design!

June 24, 2015 18 Comments

Hi there!

Hope you are having a good day today. I’ve been on a real blog kick lately! I have 2 posts that I’m planning to write and I FINALLY finished the redesign of my blog.

This has actually been a couple months in the making. It’s much different than my last one, but I thought I needed a change. This is by no means the final design. I will be playing around with sizes and layout still. It didn’t take me all that much coding to do or anything just because I used the drag-and-drop style of the blogger layouts. Some things that I might add are an instagram or a twitter feed to the sidebar. It’s looking quite cluttered right now though so I’ll have to see how it works out.

I made the header in photoshop, but I didn’t make the social buttons. Full credit goes to The Dutch Lady Designs.

So what do you think? Any critiques? (I myself have a lot haha) Do you change your blog layout often?

Thanks for reading, hope you have a great day!

Beauty Tags

Finish 5 by Fall: Let the De-Cluttering Begin

June 23, 2015 15 Comments

Hello! 🙂

Recently, Angela from Raincouver Beauty opened up the invite to the CBB Network to join her in a Finish 5 by Fall challenge. I was intrigued because I had never formally taken up something like this! I decided to join her and some of the other CBB ladies.

Here are the guidelines posted by Angela:

1. Pick 5 items (extras are okay) that you want to try to use up

2. You have until the first day of fall- September 23, 2015 to make as much progress as you can

3. Make an update post about halfway through (optional) and a final reveal on September 23!
4. I’ll be using #cbbfinish5 to track my progress, and I’d love for you to use the same!

5. Good luck and have fun! Hope you’ll rediscover favourites or just clean out some space in your collection 😉

I ended up choosing technically 7 items for this challenge but 4 items are almost like pairs. Some of these things are embarrassingly old, so I am not going to post the manufacturing years. You might be able to tell from the packaging though that some of these aren’t new purchases! Here is what I chose for the challenge:

1. Maybelline Quad in Chai Latte

This is the oldest product in my challenge if not one of the oldest products in my collection. I have almost nostalgic feelings towards this as it was one of the first ‘hyped’ makeup products I ever bought. As you can see the upper right hand shadow definitely has a dent in it, but the other 3 look barely used. If I don’t finish this by the deadline I’ll be tossing it.

2. Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes

It’s actually one of my favourite liners. I got it from one of those Sephora $12 sales. Even for it being quite old, it’s still super creamy and I wear it often.

3. Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer

As you can see I’m about half way done this. Even with it being one of my most used concealers, I feel like it hasn’t really been going down.

4. BITE Luminous Creme Lipstick Duo in Fig/Date

These are the newest products I’ve picked for this challenge. Even though they seem small, I for some reason have trouble finishing lip products. Once I get close to finishing I just give up and move to the next one. Then I’m left with a barely there products which I never turn back to!

5. Bath and Body Works Paris Amour Fragrance Mist and Body Lotion

I will definitely be the first to say that I am not a fragrance person. I got these both as a gift and actually don’t mind the scent. I like Bath and Body Works, but I have SO much lotion which never gets used. I thought I would try to be more conscious in using these, especially the body spray!

So these are the items that I’m choosing for the challenge. Some items I feel more confident than others so we’ll see. I’m excited to do this challenge because I have NEVER hit pan on a product before. I’m hoping these eye shadows will be the first!

Thanks for reading! Hope you are having a wonderful day! 🙂

UPDATED:

Have a look at the other CBB members who are doing the Finish 5 by Fall with me!

An InLinkz Link-up

Personal

Confessions of a Cake Face: Graduate Edition

June 22, 2015 7 Comments

Hello there! 🙂

Some time ago, I posted about an unpleasant and embarrassing makeup experience I had. You can read about it here. I am no makeup artist, and the spirit behind this blog is the fact that I am really just bumbling my way through the makeup world. Today I have another story to tell that highlights this completely. I debated posting this, but I thought maybe people could get a good laugh/relate.

Earlier this month, I was able to hit the milestone of finally graduating from school. It’s been a long time coming (sort of) but I know I will miss it soon enough. Anyhoo, it was a traditional graduation with the gowns and hoods (no hats though). My program was decently small so I was able to interact and meet people in one capacity or another.

While getting my gown, I saw an acquaintance picking up his as well. I started out with the typical congrats, how are you, so happy we’re done chit chat. After we both had our gowns on and were parting ways, I went in a for a goodbye hug. He came at me with a bit more force than I expected and I nicked my chin on the shoulder of his gown. What was left was a sizeable (but not crazy) foundation stain on his gown. Of course it just happened to be the white part. I was mortified. I ended up not saying anything which I probably should have. I was just so shocked and so embarrassed at the time.

I am usually a very careful person with foundation staining. I think I’ve mastered the art of trying on clothes when shopping. I’m so conscious of it. Maybe this sounds a bit hypocritical now, but whenever I see foundations stains on the collars of shirts I just get totally grossed out. I guess it ruins the illusion of a shirt being ‘new’ from a store (even though after working retail, I should know better than to even think that).

I still feel so bad that I didn’t say anything. Hopefully no one noticed. I saw that he posted pictures on Facebook and I didn’t notice anything. In hindsight, that was pretty rude of me not to say anything, just to protect my own self-esteem.

So what can I say. I’m still learning and makeup is always a continual journey. I’m okay with that.

Has anything like this ever happened to you? Is there even a way to prevent foundation transfer on clothes? Teach me. 😉

Thanks for reading! Hope you have a great day!

Versus

Versus: Urban Decay All Nighter vs Urban Decay Deslick

June 16, 2015 23 Comments

*Purchased, Affiliate Links

Hello!

I hope everyone has been having an awesome month. It’s crazy to think that June is already half over. Whaaaa! Time flies. I’ve been lacking a bit of inspiration lately, so what better place to look than at the CBB‘s Brand of the Month. For the month of June, the brand is Urban Decay. I love the brand and think that it produces great products. I was trying to think of an original post idea and the inspiration for Versus came about. During my Versus series, I’ll pit one product against another and see which one I like more. I’ve been thinking of doing this for dry shampoo and eye makeup remover! Hopefully in the future.

Anyways, I know when I first started to get into setting sprays, Urban Decay’s All Nighter was definitely at the top of my list. Everyone raved about it non stop so I had to pick it up. When I was first looking at the display, I really wasn’t sure about the difference between De-Slick and All Nighter. If I was wondering, maybe some of you are wondering too! So lets get down to the comparison…

Reviews

Review: Vichy Idealia Skin Sleep Repair Night Gel-Balm

June 9, 2015 9 Comments

*Sent for Review

Hello! 🙂

So I was lucky enough to get chosen for the latest Vichy ChickAdvisor Product Review Club offering. I was a bit skeptical of the claims and unsure that it would really make a difference. If you’ve been perusing my blog for awhile, you might have picked up that I really don’t have a skin care routine whatsoever. I have even LESS of a night time skin care routine. So you might be able to see my hesitation with this product. I’ve been using it for about a week and a half, so I feel that I have been able to form an opinion on it!

Even with all of this taken into account, I was pleasantly surprised! A skin care newb like me was able to find a product that works!

Overview:

I noticed a difference in how my skin felt and looked! Definitely impressed!

Price:

This was given to me by the ChickAdvisor Product Review Club but the retail price is $52.00 CAD

Rating:

9 / 10

Would I Buy Again?

Yes!

Rambling Review

As a note before we begin, there was also a serum included with this review package. I DID NOT use this in combination with the serum just because I didn’t think that was really fair to do. So I’m reviewing this product as is, without the serum.

As I mentioned in the intro, I was pretty skeptical about this product. Here are the claims from an ad I found in my LOU LOU magazine just because I had trouble finding this online:

Idealia Skin Sleep, enriched with a powerful multiactive complex [GLYCYRRHIZIC ACID- HYALURONIC ACID- LHA], helps recreate the effects of regenerative sleep on skin. Skin looks visibly revitalized, well-rested, fresh and radiant, as it is after a good night’s sleep-even if yours was cut short.

Pretty vague claims. For this product it is recommended that you apply it to clean skin before bed, which I did.

This is definitely a lighter gel cream (as the name would suggest) which I like. It went on smooth and even. Scent wise I thought it was pretty light and amicable. I noticed a bit of an alcohol tinge to it, but nothing very noticeable. After I applied it, I didn’t go to bed right away just to see the consistency. It sunk into the skin, but it was definitely still a little tacky. Not that big of a deal since it’s a night cream!

After waking up, I noticed my skin was moisturized and refreshed. I have the craziest dark circles and I didn’t notice much of a difference. I wasn’t really expecting much though, and it still moisturized my undereye area perfectly.

I would say that my skin is definitely not mature (yet!), and the fact I noticed a difference surprised me. I thought this cream wouldn’t really make a difference just because my skin is decently even and tight. The brightness and moisturized feeling was great to wake up to.

Price-wise, this definitely isn’t super cheap, but I think very fair. It is 50 mL which I know will last me forever. All in all I am very happy with this product. I’ve started an actual night routine which I’m happy about.

And there we have it! Thanks again for reading and hope this was helpful! Have a wonderful day!

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