Mary Kay at Play Lip & Cheek Sticks in Peach Pop and Razzleberry

New season = new, fun things from the Mary Kay At Play Collection. The At Play collection seems to be the younger, edgier side of Mary Kay. The Mary Kay Lip & Cheek Stick ($12 each, available May 16th) colourful duos for a "glowing blush and picture-perfect pout".

Peach Pop

Razzleberry

Mary Kay's colour game is on point. Both Peach Pop and Razzleberry are extremely pigmented and very, very flattering flushes on the cheeks and lips. The product is soft and creamy, easily workable into the skin and to sheer out on the lips. The blush/lipstick duo lasts 3 hours on the lips leaving a light stain and 5-6 hours on the cheeks. Pretty good but by no means amazing. 

The chubby stick packaging of the Mary Kay At Play Lip & Cheek Stick is great for covering large areas of the cheeks but not so great for precision application on the lips. To curb this issue, I prefer applying the stick with a brush or with fingers, which is an extra step that I'm often to lazy to take. Thus, I prefer the product on the cheeks. 

What do you think of the Mary Kay At Play Lip & Cheek Sticks? 

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Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Duos in Spiced Poppy, Ripe Watermelon & Juicy Guava

Ain't nothing like a bright blush and a shimmery highlight in the heat of summer. In true summery fashion, Mary Kay has released three blush/highlighter duos. The new Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Duos ($20 each) are available in three vibrant shades - spiced poppy, ripe watermelon and juicy guava. Like all Mary Kay Mineral line products, they come in a handy magnetized and pre-depotted form. 

Mary Kay says that the blushes are all matte (yay!) and the highlighter is pearlized. Furthermore, the product is supposed to last all day and can be worn sheer for a natural glow or built to a bolder, brighter flush. 

Spiced Poppy

toasted orange with deep, shimmery highlighter

Ripe Watermelon 

summery pink with a pale pearl highlighter

Juicy Guava 

warm coral with soft, golden pearl highlighter

The blush colours are soooo pretty and are true to colour on the face compared to the pan.  The formulation is not as finely milled as I now expect my powder products to be (thanks a lot, Hourglass). Despite the lack of silky, soft smoothness, the product is easy to blend. A light dusting on the cheeks yields a soft flush but if you're not careful a heavier dusting will result in clown-like cheekiness. Lasting power is fair but not all day long. On my cheeks, the blush lasts 5-6 hours. 

As for the highlighters, I'm a little sad because they don't show up on my face. They're pigmented, yes, but the yellowy tones are very similar to that of my skin. Also, they're not shimmery or glittery, which means that the highlighter isn't strong enough to add a solid sheen to the face. Overall, yes to the blushes but meh to the highlights. 

What do you think of the colours of the Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Duos? 

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stila Aqua Glow Watercolor Blush in Water Poppy & Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Como // SEA, SUN, AND SPLASH Summer 2015

I'd say don't wear makeup to the beach, but the stila Summer 2015 collection makes me want to frolic in the sun with my purple lipstick on. Dubbed SEA, SUN, AND SPLASH , the collection is a ray of sunshine - 10 shades of sunshine to be exact. There are 5 shades of the new stila Aqua Glow Watercolor Blush ($34 each) and 5 of the stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipsticks ($29 each). 

stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Como

Shades available: Rosa, Como, Bella, Venezia, Amalfi

UGHHH. PURPLE...Not at all office appropriate, but surprisingly wearable/flattering on my skin. The colour is incredibly saturated, as one coat of the product yields full lip coverage. Upon application, the product feels rich and almost hydrating but dries and tightens up to a matte finish. stila says the All Day Liquid Lipstick lasts up to hours, and I would agree. Additionally, it's transfer-proof and kiss-proof, so no funky purple stains clothes (or boyfriend). 

stila Aqua Glow Watercolor Blush in Water Poppy

Shades available: Rosewater, Water Blossom, Shimmering Lotus, Water Poppy, Water Lily

A new launch from stila, the Aqua Glow Watercolor Blushes are meant to be a weightless sheer wash of colour. And so it is. The product is intimidatingly bright when you dip your brush/finger in it but after a little blending, you get a sheer wash of colour with a tough of a dewy finish. After about an hour, the glow diminishes but the colour lasts about 6 hours on my cheeks. Water Poppy is a red-orange with no shimmer. Bonus - it also has a slight wet/cooling sensation upon application. So if you get a little hot in the summer, just apply blush. 

Overall, a colourful collection that's suitable for summer and beyond. I'd be so down to pick up more of the Aqua Glow Watercolor Blushes. 

What do you think of these pieces from the stila Summer 2015 Collection? 

In Canada, the still Sea, Sun & Splash Summer Collection 2015 is available for limited time at select Shoppers Drug Mart and Murale locations and Murale.ca as of June 2015.

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Hard Candy Glow All the Way Ombre Baked Blush in 994 Punch

I never thought I would see the day. Ombre blush has arrived for less than a $10 bill. Pricier brands like MAC, IT Cosmetics, Estee Lauder, Lise Watier all have beautiful limited edition ombre blushes in their line. Now available at Wal-Mart is the Hard Candy Glow All the Way Ombre Baked Blush in 994 Punch ($6.98). 

According to Hard Candy... Baked ombre blush gives your cheeks all over warmth and glow. The ultra-light, micronized pigments are infused with radiance enhancing pearls and blend effortlessly into the skin to enhance skin tone and give you a natural looking finish. 

First thing I noticed, the packaging is utterly bleh - not a fan of white plastic. Good thing the look of the product inside makes up for everything that is aesthetically wrong with white plastic. 

994 Punch is a combination of a pinky-white (far left) and a bright fuchsia pink (far right). Everything mixed together (centre) yields a light pearly pink. The blush as a whole is quite pearly but not a chunky glitter. To the touch the blush is quite smooth and soft but not as finely milled as the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders. I prefer not to mix the blush before applying it on my face because the colour is a bit too pale and only shows up as shimmer this way. Instead, tap my brush in a couple times and apply directly to my face. The result is a gradient from fuchsia up into the highlight shade. It's a pretty glow and multi-tasks as both highlighter and blush in one. Furthermore, it lasts about 6-7 hours before fading away. 

Overall, a blush that's pretty in the packaging AND pretty on the face. Such a shame that 994 Punch is the one and only colour of the Hard Candy Glow All the Way Ombre Baked Blush, as it's such a beautiful blush. I can see a lot of people appreciating peaches, reds and everything in between in ombre form and hope that Hard Candy will expand its Ombre Baked Blush range. 

Have you tried the Hard Candy Ombre Baked Blush? 

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The Body Shop Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks in Universal and 40 Red

New at the Body Shop are the Body Shop Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks ($15). These adorable little crayon products are multi-purpose for use as either a blush or lippie. There are 6 shades available - 10 nude, 20 pink, 30 bronze, 35 coral, 40 red, and universal. I got two to review, 40 Red and Universal. 

LEFT - Universal; RIGHT - 40 Red

Formulated with Community Fair Trade Marula Oil, the Body Shop Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks are meant to be matte and a decadent velvety smooth texture. Yes sir-ee, the Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks are smooth as velvet and also smell of a subtle floral. They feel like almost like a non-hard yet pigmented lip balm (think a drier EOS with a punch of colour). On both the cheeks and lips the product appears matte. 

40 Red is a poppy red colour, while Universal appears black in the tube but has a pH-matching feature that adapts to your skintone. On me, the Universal shade turns into a rich purple-y pink. Both colours are about 60% opacity. If you want full-coverage pigmentation, you'd have to pass over the lips a couple times. 

LEFT - 40 Red; RIGHT - Universal

On the Cheeks: Three stripes of colour on the face and then blend away with the fingertips. It's creamy yet it dries down to a soft, non-dewy powdery finish. Super easy to use on the cheeks. Furthermore, the product lasts on my face for 6-ish hours which is more than standard for my oily skin. 

On the Lips: While the chubby crayon stick packaging is not particularly helpful for a sharp lip line, it feels soft and doesn't skip or pull at the lips. As aforementioned, it feels much like a dry balm. The colour wears down after 2-3 hours and both the red and universal leave a bitten/popsicle kind of stain. 

Overall, I likey. The stick form makes the product super easy to toss in your purse for on-the-go. And more importantly, the product performs. 

Have you tried the new Body Shop Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks? 

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Guerlain Meteorites Perles De Blush in Angelic Radiance

The Guerlain Perles De Blush in Angelic Radiance ($58) is almost too pretty to use. I think I've fallen in love with the vintage cardboard packaging. It's not as heavy or luxe as that of the Guerlain Meteorite Compact but it's equally as beautiful and isn't as prone to getting finger prints all over it. 

Blended // champagne, petal rose, fuchsia 

The Guerlain Meteorites Perles de Blush in Angelic Radiance contains 3 colours of mini-pearls: 

• iridescent champagne to highlight
• a hint of petal rose to refresh 
• fuchsia to revive the cheeks 

Blending the three coloured pearls together with blush brush results in a soft pink glow. There is some subtle shimmer that is unnoticeable when applied. I prefer not to use the provided powder puff, as it covers too large of a surface area on my face. The product is seemingly powdery in the packaging but blends smoothly onto the skin. 

Similar to some of my favourite blushes, the Guerlain Meteorites Perles De Blush in Angelic Radiance gives an in from the coldI'm wearing blush but it looks sort of natural  kind of rosy glow that works well on all kinds of people. While I don't think that the colour is unique, the glow of the pearls adds a little something special that makes this product a nice-to-have. 

What do you think of the Guerlain Meteorites Perles De Blush? 

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Sephora Collection Bronzed and Blushing Face Palette

The Sephora Collection Bronzed and Blushing Face Palette ($18 CAD, exclusively at Sephora) contains one bronzer (Los Cabos) and two blushes (blushing pink and coral punch). Another limited edition palette for the holiday season, this one's great if you're going on vacation and want to add a little sun-kissed warmth to your winter skin. 

Los Cabos, Blushing Pink, Coral Punch

All three products in the palette are matte. HALLELUJAH. Los Cabos is a medium chocolate brown. It works better as a contour than a bronzer on my complexion, as it's lacking a lot of yellowy-orange tones. Blushing Pink is a pale rose and Coral Punch is just as the name says it is - a bright coral. Both blushes show up on my face. Blushing Pink adds a hint of colour while Coral Punch provides a warm flush to the face. 

The powders aren't the softest but the colour is easily picked up on a brush and transferred to the face. They're also quite buildable or blendable depending on if you like a softer or bolder cheek look. Wear time is less than perfect at 4-5 hours. 

Wearing - Los Cabos and Blushing Pink 

Overall, it's a great starter kit at a nice price. If you already own a lot of blushes/bronzers, you'll already have these basic colours in your collection (I know I do). Considering the Sephora Collection Bronzed and Blushing Face Palette contains 3 products at $18 total, that's $6 each - comparable to drugstore prices at Sephora Collection quality. 

What do you think of the Sephora Collection Bronzed and Blushing Face Palette?

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Sephora Collection All A Glow Contouring Face Palette

The Sephora Collection All A Glow Contouring Face Palette ($41 CAD, exclusively at Sephora) is yet another limited edition set. In a nutshell, it's a wallet-sized fold-able palette containing everything you should ever need for your face, convenient for different looks and skin tones - concealers, bronzers, powder blushes, cream blushes, cream highlighters, and powder highlighters. There's three shades of everything except for the four powder blushes. It also comes with step-by-step instructions for  Bronzed and Beautiful and Ethereal and Illuminated looks. 

I've honed down on which colours work for my light-medium (~MAC NC 30)  skin colour. So I'll attempt to describe each shade in the palette and if you're having a tl;dr moment, I'll also denote colours that I would personally use with a (*). 

The concealers are cream-to-powder and dry down to a matte finish that lasts ~5 hours when set with a powder. Be forewarned, the concealers work much better over big oily blemishes than ones that are already dried up, as the faux-powder finish exaggerates dryness. 

#1 - light, #2 - medium*, #3 - dark (with a prominent orange tinge)

The powder bronzers impressed me. They feel more finely milled and easily blend-able than I had expected (kind of like a really nice face powder - shade #1 actually works quite nicely as one). 

#1 - light, #2 - light-medium*, #3 - medium

The powder blushes are not quite as soft as the bronzers and as such, they don't apply quite as smoothly. I find the first much too light for my face and the second and third too overtly shimmery for my tastes. 

#1 - matte pastel pink, #2 - neutral pink with gold shimmer, #3 - peach with gold shimmer, #4 - matte hot pink*

I have the same qualms with the cream blushes as I do with the powder ones. The first two have a shimmery iridescence that is too much to apply all over the cheeks, while the last bright pink is absolute perfection. The cream blushes work well to prolong the longevity and pigmentation of the powders for up to 6 hours. 

#1 - neutral pink with gold shimmer, #2 - peach with gold shimmer, #3 - matte hot pink*

The shimmers in the cream highlighters are thankfully much finer than the blushes and cream blushes. The cream highlighters provide a natural sheen to the cheeks and dry down to a powdery finish (similar to the concealer). All three shades suit my complexion. 

#1 - pale yellow shimmer*, #2 - pale pink shimmer*, #3 - pale gold shimmer*

The powder highlighters have slightly more concentration of shimmer than the cream higlighters but the shimmers are still fine enough that they don't look chunky. The texture is similar to that of the powder blushes. I've never seen an orange tinted highlighter in my life, so I'm not sure why there's one included here. 

#1 - gold shimmer*, #2 - pink shimmer*, #3 - orange shimmer 

Before (looking a little tired and red-nosed...also one noteworthy zit and a few minimal blemishes) 

After (Wearing the Sephora Collection All A Glow Contouring Face Palette ONLY- #2 concealer, #2 bronzer, #1 powder blush (pale pink) , #3 cream blush (bright pink), #2 cream highlighter (pink frost) , #2 powder highlighter (pink frost)) 

There's a heck of a lot of product packed in this one wallet-sized palette. Some products were good (concealers, bronzers, cream blushes, both highlighters) but others missed the mark for me (shimmery blushes, orange highlighter). While it's awesome for travel, for the price, I'd rather get a couple individual products with formulas that I am above and beyond excited about. That being said, this will come in handy when I want to do makeup on a friend with a different skin tone from my own, so I truly appreciate the variety. 

What do you think of the All a Glow Contouring Face Palette? 

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The Winter Flush: #NYCBeautyPro Challenge #4

Snowfall means... Sweater Weather! Fittingly, this month's New York Color NYC Beauty Pro Challenge theme is "Ice Skating at the Rockefeller Center". As such, I've put on one of my fuzziest winter sweaters and a makeup look to match the colder weather. 

In from the cold pink cheeks and a hydrated, slightly tinted lip are made easy with a few products from New York Color. 

The New York Color Cheek Glow Powder Blush in 650 NoLiTa Pink ($2.99) is the perfect flush of natural pink with a hint of golden sparkle for a subtle glow. The blush is surprisingly pigmented, so make sure to tap off the excess before applying it to the face. On the lips, I'm wearing the New York Color Applelicious Glossy Lip Balm ($2.99) smells exactly like apple hard candies and adds the tiniest bit of gloss and a red tint to dehydrated lips. I also attempted to apply the New York Color Show Time Waterproof Volumizing Mascara in 844 Extreme Black ($3.99) onto my lashes but it didn't do much other than darken them. I'm also wearing a bit of the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper and the CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation on my face. 

There's not really much too this look. A little blush, a little gloss and you're good to go. Add some mascara, liner, and a touch of foundation for a fuller-faced look. 

What's your go-to winter makeup look? 

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Benefit 3 Scoops O' Sexy Limited Edition Set

No. Prior to this post, I hadn't tried the widely raved about Benefit tints or balms. Shame on me. I'm a terrible beauty blogger. Slap me now because after trying three of each I'm kind of regretting not ever testing these on my face before. This holiday season, there's the Benefit 3 Scoops O' Sexy Limited Edition Set ($50 CAD, exclusively at Sephora) featuring Benebalm, Benetint, Posiebalm, Posietint, Lollibalm, and Lollitint. 

Packaging is in typical Benefit fashion. Adorable. Each tint and balm set is individually packaged. The Balms are full-size (regularly $22 CAD)  and the Tints are deluxe samples (full-size regularly $36 CAD) meaning that the set is valued at about $100. While at $50,  the set seems a bit pricey, $50 in savings is not half bad. 

While the products swatch quite sheerly, both the tints and balms are buildable on the lips and cheeks. I like that the colours are fairly distinct from each other, which kind of gets me wondering about the Cha-Cha tint (coral orange) not included in this set. The balms are quite hydrating but relatively thin and not overly sticky or thick. As expected, the colour of the balms doesn't last long - around 2 hours. The tints are watery, dry down quickly, and last for around 6 hours on my cheeks. I've heard complaints that the tints can be streaky but I find them easy to use if you do one cheek at a time and blend with fingertips. I prefer the tints on just the cheeks or on the lips paired with the balm over top for added moisture. 

Here's what they look like on my face... I'm wearing the tints on the cheeks and the balms on the lips: 

Benetint and Benebalm (rose) 

Posietint and Posiebalm (poppy pink)

Lollitint and Lollibalm (candy orchid) 

Overall, a very cute gift set! I'm impressed by both the Benefit tints and balms. If you're anything like me and not always willing to buy full-sizes at full prices, this set is perfect. It's actually three gift sets in one. So keep the colours you like for yourself (possibly all of them...) or split them up into multiple stocking stuffers! 

Do you like the Benefit balms and tints? 

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Sephora Collection All Access Glam Gold and Silver Eye and Face Palette

The Sephora Collection All Access Glam Gold and Silver Eye and Face Palette ($19, exclusively at Sephora) is yet another one of Sephora's limited edition holiday palettes. This one is a pretty golden package with 8 eyeshadows, 4 blushes, 1 highlighter, and a large mirror. 

The 8 shadows in the palette are divided by warm shades (gold) and cool shades (silver). The colours are a range of mattes, satins, and shimmers, though most of the shades have some sort of sparkle quality. The eyeshadows are hit and miss, a little on the hard side but very little fallout. The lighter shades appear a bit sheer or chalky but the rest of the shades are smooth and pigmented. Overall, they're much better quality than the Sephora VIP Pass Eyeshadow Palette considering the $7 price difference. 

The blushes are nicely pigmented and blend out easily. The second shade from the right is too pale for my light-medium complexion but I'd assume that it look very flattering on girls that are slightly lighter than me. While I like the variety of blushes, I wish there was a little more diversity - perhaps something a little more red or brown toned. All of these seem to lean slightly pink or peach.  

As for the highlighter, it's slightly creamier in texture compared the blushes. It didn't pick up on camera but it adds a shimmery (not glittery) pale golden sheen when applied on the high points cheeks. 

The Gold Look

The Silver Look

All in all, I enjoy the versatility of this palette. With the combination of both well-performing blushes and eyeshadows (PLUS the large mirror), this palette is handy for on-the-go and travel, as you can create a variety of daytime and nighttime looks with just one palette. 

What do you think of the All Access Glam Palette? 

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