Hourglass Monochrome Modernist Eyeshadow Palette

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you are well. Today's overdue post is a review of the Hourglass Modernist Eye Shadow Palette in Monochrome. There are seven palettes to choose from, each containing five shades. Monochrome is the Rose palette.

The colours in this set are; warm ivory, rose nude, peony pink, light mauve and dark chocolate. There is a bunch of fallout with these shadows, however I set my under eyes with powder so it's easy to brush away. The shades are all soft but the colour is buildable which is great.The neutral ivory shade doesn't show up very well on my skin, it tends to blend in. All of the other colours are great on my skin and work really well together. The darkest shade also makes a great eyeliner using an angled brush to apply it.

The palette is really easy to use and it's shadows were chosen to work seamlessly together no matter where you place them. If you can deal with the fallout then this could be for you. Enjoy the rest of your week!

January Box from Her Fashion Box

Happy Saturday and the last day of February! I finally received my January Box from Her Fashion Box on Monday. It was sent out on the 5th, but with International shipping and customs, it took almost three weeks. Maybe my February Box will come sooner. Let's take a look at what's inside.

Her Fashion Box is a fashion and beauty subscription box service from Australia and you can sign up on their website http://www.herfashionbox.com/. The cost per month is $39.95 and comes in three choices of style; classic, feminine or trendy. I had a tough time choosing between classic and trendy, but ultimately chose the classic subscription. You can also complete a survey to narrow down your taste even more specifically.

Each box contains 2-3 on trend fashion accessories and 4 deluxe beauty samples, as well as a little magazine. The magazine includes information on all of the products and their full size costs. Some the items that shipped in the box are full size products.

All of the accessories and Her Fashion Box items from the January box are available for purchase from their online shop. The magazine lists the websites for purchasing the other products. The theme for January was Urban Aztec. My classic box contained a bunch of great items and I've listed them below along with their value.

Bones Necklace $39.95

This necklace will be great for spring and summer and could fit in with the Bohemian trend that is upcoming.

Iris Ring $14.95

This ring is great for spring and summer as well and can be worn with casual clothes or dressed up. It's not something I'd typically purchase, but I'm going to give it a try.

Her Fashion Box Nail Block $8.95

This handy little nail block has four sides to prep your nails for polish.

Her Fashion Box Body Brush $14.95

This body brush is meant to dry brush your body to remove dead dry skin before showering. It can be used all over except for the face. The benefits are increased blood circulation, increased muscle tone, reduce the appearance of cellulite, boost the immune system and help your body eliminate toxins.

NUXE Huile Prodigieuse Multi-Purpose Dry Oil 10ml ( approximatley $3.95, full size 100ml is $39.95)

This dry oil is good for nourishing skin and hair. I've used similar products and have really enjoyed them, so I'm looking forward to testing this one out.

Coconut Revolution Coconut Lip Balm in Original  ( no cost listed)

This was not listed in the magazine, but was in the box. It felt very smooth and made my lips really soft. It is made with cold processed virgin coconut oil along with other ingredients.

Urban Rituelle Summer Scents Perfume Spray 20ml $14.95

This perfume spray is the Frangipani scent which has frangpani, leafy green bergamot and a touch of ylang ylang musk. It has a nice soft summery smell.

The total cost of the items separately would have been approximately $100, so it's a great deal. It is fun to receive surprise fashion and beauty items, and to try things you might not have otherwise had the opportunity to try. I'm excited, and looking forward to seeing what will be in my February box!

Glam Glow Thirstycleanse Daily Treatment Cleanser

Welcome to today's review on Glam Glow Thirstycleanse Daily Treatment Cleanser which is a hydrating mud to foam cleanser. It smells like the Glam Glow Thirsty Mud Hydrating Treatment, which I love.  I had been looking for a new hydrating cleanser to try for the rest of the winter and decided to give this on a go. Some key ingredients that the cleanser contains are; Rare Brazilian Yellow Clay, Pure Green Coconut Water, Olive Milk, South Pacific Plumeria Flower Blossom Extract, TEAOXI Olive Leaf Powder and Indian Gooseberry. The cleanser is designed to clean, smooth skin, add hydration and maintain moisture.

You apply two to three pumps to dry skin and then add water to lather it up to clean your face, and then rinse. It feels thick like a mud but easily foams up with the water. It left my skin feeling super soft and clean. I've used this cleanser morning and night for about two weeks now and still find it doesn't dry out my skin and keeps making if feel really clean and smooth. It also helps remove makeup which is fantastic. It's a nice compliment to the other Glam Glow products and the rest of my skincare routine.

This past weekend I changed my hair to a lavender shade that I've been wanting for a long time. I wanted to share it with you since I was so excited about it! It makes me feel ready for spring. Now all we need is for it to hurry up and get here.

I hope that you have an amazing week! Have you tried any Glam Glow products? Is there anything you've been wanting to do to your hair?

Make Up Forever Fifty Shades of Grey Collection

It's another chilly Tuesday, so it's time for a new beauty review. I haven't read the books or seen the movie, but I did try the Make Up Forever Fifty Shades of Grey Collection. It is limited edition and available for purchase at Sephora. There are three sets in the collection titled, Give in to Me Makeup Set, Desire Me Cheek Set and the Tease Me Lip Set in the Innocent Nude or Passionate Berry Trio.

In the Give In To Me Set  there is a 4 Artist Shadow Palette, Graphic Eyeliner, Smoky Extravagant Mascara, Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick and a Lab Shine Lip Gloss and a makeup look guide all inside a black keepsake case with a large mirror and special secret side compartment. The shades in the palette include a champagne, bronze, greyish taupe and a khaki green. They aren't colours that I normally gravitate towards, however you can create natural to smoky looks with them. The shadows are very pigmented and go on very easily. The graphic eyeliner is a felt tip pen style and fantastic for winged liner. I was pleasantly surprised by the mascara and found that it curled, lengthened and separated my lashes. The lipstick in N4 is a wonderful everyday warm neutral shade, and the gloss is sheer and shimmery.

From the Give In To Me set: 4 Artist Shadow Palette in I-625, S-556, ME-612 and I-514, Graphic eyeliner, Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick in N4, Lab Shine Lipstick in D14 and Smoky Extravagant Mascara (not swatched.)

The Desire Me set includes a 3 Artist Shadow Palette, travel sized 150W angled blush brush and a pink satin lined black velvet bag. Two of the shades in the artist palette are described as shadows and one as blush, but I like to use them all as blushes and a highlighter. They go on fairly sheer, especially the rosy gold tone, so it requires some layering. I love the highlighter and it works well on the high planes of the face and as a brow highlight. The brush is soft and cute and works well with all three shades.

Finally, in the Tease Me Passionate Berry Lip Trio there is another shade of Lab Shine Lip Gloss, an Aqua Rouge Waterproof Liquid Lip Colour and an Aqua Lip Waterproof Lip Liner Pencil. The gloss is a pretty shimmery pink that is sheer so it can be worn alone or over lip liner and lipstick. I felt that the Aqua Rouge was really easy to apply and they're not kidding when they say it's waterproof, it really stayed put. I did prefer to wear it with the clear gloss that it comes with versus alone. One of my new favourites is the Aqua Lip Waterproof Lip Liner. I love the colour and the way it applied.

From the Desire Me and Tease Me sets: 3 Artist Shadow Palette in S-748, I-808 and I-526, Aqua Rouge Lip Colour in 50 and Clear, Aqua Lip Waterproof Liner 10C Matte Raspberry and Lab Shine Gloss in D4 Shimmering Grenadine

I was very happy to have tried the Make Up Forever Fifty Shades of Grey Collection since I found a couple new favourites out of it. I hope you enjoyed the review. What do you think of the collection?

Reel Them In With Bait Hair Perfume

Happy Valentine's Day! On the blog today is something a little different, Bait Hair Perfume. They come in pretty pearlized glass bottles in a 50ml size and four different scents. The scents are; Femme Fatale, Heart Breaker, Day Dreamer and Skinny Dipper. They are a fragrance finishing spray for all hair types and are paraben and sulfate free. The sprays are designed to keep your hair smelling great for up to twelve hours. You can purchase them from http://www.baithairperfume.com/.

Femme Fatale: exotic forbidden fruits, warm vanilla and hints of dark amber

Heart Breaker: pink cotton candy and decadent vanilla cupcake

Day Dreamer: creamy orange sherbet, coconut and soft vanilla

Skinny Dipper: coconut, sun tan lotion and pool side aroma

My favourite ones are Heart Breaker ,which smells delicious enough to eat and Femme Fatale with it's richly sweet scent. They are all great for freshening up your hair on a day when you don't wash it, or if you just want to add something special to your hair. The size is quite generous and you only need two or three pumps of the perfume to cover your hair. It's a product you could keep in your purse or travel with as well. I'm glad that I gave it a try and am excited to spritz some on the next time that I go out.

My husband and I are keeping Valentine's Day pretty low key this year with dinner and a movie at home. I hope that you have a wonderful day, whatever you get up to.

Cover FX Illuminating Primer

I had been searching for a new primer to try and discovered the new Cover FX Illuminating Primer. It is vegan and free from paraben, talc, gluten, fragrance and mineral oil. It is meant to add a glow to the skin and eliminate dull skin over time for a brighter looking appearance.

My first impressions of the primer were that it felt lightweight on my skin and did provide a nice, natural, healthy looking glow to my face. It would be pretty on it's own to brighten up the skin or of course under makeup. Normally my skin is combination, however it's been very dehydrated and dull looking lately, so I was looking for a primer with some illumination.

I tried it under a couple of different foundations to test the look of my skin, and how well they glided on over the primer. Under the Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo Foundation there was still a bit of a glow that came through. That foundation is full coverage and very matte. I also tried it under Makeup Forever HD Foundation which is more natural and a medium to full coverage. The Cover FX gave a really pretty illumination to my face. I did find that midday I needed a bit of powder around my nose, but still really enjoyed how it looked. Both foundations went on really well over top of the primer. I feel that it made a difference in application and appearance. Once the warmer months hit I will likely need a more mattifying primer, but this is ideal for how my skin is now.

Overall I was very happy with how it made my skin look, especially on these chilly winter days where I live in Canada. I really love that it's light and I don't feel it once I've applied it. I am interested to see if my skin's appearance really does improve over time with continued use. Until next time, thanks for reading!

Jaclyn Hill Favorites Palette from Morphe Brushes

Welcome to the weekend! Today's review is all about the Jaclyn Hill Favorites Palette which is a wonderful limited edition palette containing all of Jaclyn Hill's favorite Morphe Brushes shadows, and it retails for $27.99 at http://morphebrushes.com/. There were some serious technical issues with Morphe's website when the product launched and consumers, including myself had a lot of difficulty ordering it. Currently it is sold out but Morphe will be offering the palette once more sometime between March and April to give everyone who missed it the first time a chance to order it.

If you follow Jaclyn Hill then you wouldn't be surprised that these are her favourites.The palette contains twenty eight pretty shadows with a lot of warm shades, plums and one green.The finishes are a nice mix of matte, satin and metallics. I haven't worn all of the colours yet, but a ton of different looks can be created from this palette. The shadows feel incredibly soft and are very pigmented, so you don't need a lot of product to complete a look.

1st Row: ES4, ES54, ES6, ES76, ES64, ES14, ES75

2nd Row: ES67, ES13, ES62, ES63, ES20, ES47, ES66

3rd Row: ES33, ES68, ES16, ES15, ES61, ES24, ES74

4th Row: ES11, ES59, ES38, ES53, ES48, ES71, ES19

This was my first time trying any shadows from Morphe Brushes and I was very satisfied and I am looking forward to playing around with the shadows. If you're looking for a colourful, affordable palette then check out The Jaclyn Hill Favorites from Morphe Brushes in the next couple of months. I hope that you have a lovely day!

Anastasia Liquid Lipsticks

Happy Monday! Today I wanted to share my thoughts with you about the new Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipsticks. They come in twenty wonderful shades and retail for twenty dollars. The packaging is simple and pretty with silver and rose gold.

The lipstick goes on with a doe foot applicator in a liquid form and dries to a matte finish. The colour payoff is incredible, so you need very little product. Due to the matte nature of the finish I made sure to exfoliate and moisturize my lips before applying the lipstick. I selected the shades; Pure Hollywood, Lovely, Heathers (I had to), and Vintage. Pure Hollywood is very light nude that almost blends right in with my skin. Lovely is a nice neutral rosy pink. Vintage is a deep magenta purple, and Heathers is a deep warm burgundy red. My favourite shade is Heathers, which actually surprised me, because I thought it would be vintage in my favourite colour purple.

Pure Hollywood, Lovely, Vintage & Heathers

Other companies make similar liquid to matte lip products, but I enjoyed these a lot and am interested in trying more colours. They stayed on my lips for several hours. I would recommend removing and reapplying when you need a touch up instead of layering for the best effect. I hope that you enjoyed today's review and found it helpful.

Melt Cosmetics Eye Shadow Stacks and Lipstick

It's hard to believe that it's almost February already. It's been a busy couple of weeks since my husband and I adopted a one year old Whippet/Collie dog from our local Humane Society. He's a wonderful dog and we are hoping our cats think so soon.

Today's review is on the new Melt Cosmetics eye shadow stacks and lipstick. Melt has been making lipsticks and recently added eye shadow to their line up. The eye shadow stacks come in very unique and innovative packaging with larger than average size shadows in magnetic bases that stack on top of each other. The top is a mirror that is also magnetic. Most of the eye shadows are vegan and Melt does not test on animals. The lipstick that I chose is the shade Bang Bang, which is a true matte orange colour.

Bang Bang Lipstick & Dark Matter Eye Shadow Stack: Dark Matter, Enigma, Unseen & Blurr

  Love Sick Eye Shadow Stack: Amelie, Love Sick, Fixated & Promiscuous

I really loved the eye shadows. They blend very well and have nice pigmentation. The colours are great for creating various looks. I enjoyed the mix of matte and shimmer shades, it makes them very wearable. Since the shadows are so large they should last a long time as well. The lipstick Bang Bang is true to colour, very matte and long wearing. I had to make sure my lips were smooth and not too dry before wearing the lipstick, otherwise it was too dry and tugged at the lips when applying it. The packaging is cute and the smell is a sweet cake like scent.

I hope that January has been good to you and enjoy your weekend!

Fun with ColourPop

This month is really flying by and it is definitely time for a new post. Today I wanted to share my review of some products from ColourPop. They are a fun affordable brand with tons of Super Shock Shadows to choose from and Lippie Stix with coordinating Lippie Stix Pencils. Each item only costs five dollars and has amazing quality.

The Super Shock Shadows have an interesting creme powder formula that feels cool and smooth, and is long wearing. They recommend you apply with fingers or a stiff brush and blend with a fluffy brush for best results. There is the advantage of no fall out onto the under eye area from these shadows. All of the ones that I purchased had shimmer or glitter in them. Some shades could make a great eyeliner as well when used with an angle or liner brush. Some of the Super Shock Shadows wouldn't be as suitable for every situation but were certainly fun to wear.

The Lippie Stix come in five different finishes and have Vitamin E, Mango, Avacado and Shea Butter in them. They feel super creamy and are easy to apply. The Lippie Pencils also glide on smoothly and help prevent feathering from the Lippie Sticks. The Lippie Stix are great for anytime and are long wearing.

If you're looking for an affordable brand to get creative with then I think you might like ColourPop. I was really happy with my products and would try out more colours in the future. Leave me a comment if you've tried them out. Until next time!

Glowing Skin With Glam Glow

Hello there, hope you had a great weekend! It's hard to believe that it's already the 13th of January. It has snowed quite a lot recently where I live, and the cold and heat in the house has caused my skin to be dry and flaky. I wanted to try something to exfoliate my face, particularly around the nose and forehead area. In late Fall I had picked up a Glam Glow set to try out. It contained a full size Thirstymud Hydrating Treatment and smaller sized Youthmud Tinglexfoliate Treatment and Supermud Clearing Treatment. To rid my skin of flakiness I tried the Youthmud and followed it with the Thirstymud.

I applied the Youthmud Tinglexfoliate Treatment for approximately ten minutes. It gave my skin a strong tingly sensation for the first couple of minutes and then it subsided. It took a several minutes for it to dry and set on my face.

Once I washed it off I noticed a huge improvement in the dry flaky areas of my face. My nose and forehead had been cleared up and were smooth. I was extremely pleased with the results. It had been a real problem area for me.

I followed up with the Thirstymud Hydrating Treatment which can be left on or rinsed off after several minutes. I chose to keep it on and wear it under my moisturizer and makeup. I will use the Youthmud again as a treatment as needed and continue with the Thirstymud as well. I hope you found this weeks review helpful. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Essie Nail Polish

I hope that you've had a great start to 2015.  I've been enjoying it so far and working on planning goals for the year. Over the past little while I have grown my finger nails and gotten back into painting them. While wandering through the drugstore in the last few weeks, a big display of Essie nail polish caught my eye. There was such a wide range of colours to select from. I picked up a couple shades and have since gotten a couple more.

The shades are: Madison Ave Hue, Watermelon, Master Plan, Play Date and Wicked

The Essie polishes glide on so easily and look great on the nails. I applied two coats each time that I have worn them and have had great success with long wear. They are an affordable polish with a great finish. I think that they would be wonderful for trying out fun patterns and designs with. Currently they have come out with their Cashmere Matte collection and stay on trend. If you're looking for that or something classic, then I think that you will have luck with Essie. Happy painting!