Quo 2014 Holiday Collection - Christmas Crackers, Lip Gloss Sets and more!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas at the fun size beauty HQ (aka my gloomy dorm room)! There's something about holiday beauty collections that makes me jump for joy with holiday cheer. It must be the packaging, or something... This year, Quo Cosmetics (available exclusively at Shopper's Drug Mart) has done it's holiday collection right - elegantly black and gold packaging and a ton of variety. The Quo Holiday 2014 Collection includes 23 different beauty products with prices ranging from $3 to $65. Here's a look at a few of the pieces... 

Quo Christmas Cracker Set ($15), Quo Essential Eyes Palette ($15), Quo All About Brows Palette ($20), Quo Flocked Emery Board ($3), Quo Walk the Line Eye Liner Set ($20), Quo Love Lip Set ($20) 

Quo Christmas Cracker Set ($15) 

There's absolutely nothing quite like a good cracker (especially if there's makeup inside). I haven't had the heart to crack open these goodies because as I'm writing this it's still November (it's kind of like opening Christmas gifts way too soon before the actual day). Luckily, the box tell's you what's inside. For each cracker, there's a lip gloss and eyeshadow duo. These are sure to make amazing (and affordable at $5) stocking stuffers! 

Quo All About Brows Palette ($20) 

If you know me, you know that I'm hopeless with eyebrows. Looks like Quo is trying to help me out a bit. Not only does the set come with two powders and a cream, it also contains tools and brow maps to achieve those brows on point. The formulation of the powder works just like the Browz Eyebrow Palette in terms of colour and wear, with the powder of this particular powder being softer. 

Quo Walk the Line Eye Liner Set ($20)

Eyeliner is my thing and in comparison to the ridiculous number of eyeliners I've tried in my short lifetime, these are quite nice. The colours are rich and the texture is on the slightly harder side but don't tug at the lid. These types of harder eyeliners are better suited for lining than blending out and stay put for 6+ hours and don't smudge, which is nice (as opposed to naughty). 

Quo Essential Eyes Palette ($15) 

The formulation of the shadows in the Essential Eyes Palette are hit and miss. Although the gold glitter appears to be under-concentrated in the swatch, on the lid it has the prettiest glittery iridescence that almost appears to be watery, truly the standout in this palette. The two middle matte shades are a little solid for my liking but they're pigmented and easy to blend. The pinky-beige shade is a nice blending shade while the dark brown works as both a liner or crease shade. The satin bone shade is slightly sheer but works well as a subtle browbone highlight. All together, the shades are your every day essential neutrals - nothing spectacular but easy to use on the daily with a hint of sparkle when you want to feel glamorous. 

Quo Love Lip Set ($20)

Surprisingly, the Lip Love Set is the most impressive of the above holiday goodies from Quo. Not only are the fun size glosses totally adorable and travel-friendly but the glosses are right up my alley. Unfortunately, none of the shades have names  but they're all neutral except for the pink gloss with gold glitter (fourth from the left). The glosses are pigmented, buildable and lightweight. As I type, I'm wearing the purple-wine shade (third from the left) and I'm loving it. It's non-sticky yet I can feel the moisture on my lips even though I applied it 6 hours ago. If there's anything you need to pick up from this collection, I'd definitely recommend the gloss set! 

This is just 6 pieces of the 23 in the Quo Holiday Collection, and even from these few items, it's clear that there's something for every gal you might be gifting to this holiday season. 

Don't you think that more beauty companies should make holiday Christmas crackers filled with makeup goodies? 

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Sephora Collection Lip Artist Palette

My mind had always fiddled with the idea of depotting all my lipsticks into a palette for easy access. For some reason, I can't follow through with the thought, it's much easier said than done. Luckily, this holiday season, Sephora has launched the Sephora Collection Lip Artist Palette ($20 CAD) - a dual-layered palette of 4 lip glosses and 4 lipsticks (plus two lip double-sided lip brushes) - the perfect way to test out the convenience of multiple shades in one place without the mess of depotting. 

The Lip Glosses

The four lip glosses feature a clear shimmery shade, a cream bright pink, a cream orange, and a creamy pink-red. All of the glosses are slightly thick yet sheer and non-sticky. The shades offer only the slightest hint of tint to the lips 

The Liquid Lip Colors

I definitely prefer the liquid lip colours over the lip glosses. They feel very similar on the lips - slightly thick, glossy and non-sticky. However, the lipstick shades are more vibrant yet still natural looking and slightly sheer. Shades include a light purple, a cool-toned pink, a brown-mauve pink, and an apple red. None of the colours include shimmer. As these are all glossy, lasting power is comparable to that of a lip gloss - no more than 3-4 hours. 

Overall, a great variety of colours (all in glossy finishes) . All of the shades provide some sort of glossiness. While I enjoy the thought of having a ton of lip colours in one place, I think I prefer my lipstick straight out of the tube for everyday. That being said, I'd definitely take this palette on a vacation. It's super convenient and I'm a fan of the natural/glossy lip look. 

Which do you prefer - lipstick palettes or individual lipsticks? 

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Lip Gloss, Stains & Liners GRAVEYARD + Swatches

The lip gloss collection is not nearly as ridiculous as the lipstick one. Thus, it's a little more manageable. Regardless, it's time to DE-STASH (for the full, unedited collection, see here). See last week's LIPSTICK GRAVEYARD here. 

A recap of how I'm going about this process: 

(1) keep items that are almost finished, items that are not yet reviewed, and items that have colours and formulas that you truly enjoy 

(2) don't keep items that have old lady scents (or are just old in general), colours you haven't worn in months and will likely never wear, products with shimmer/glitters/pearly finish

Anything highlighted in pink and an asterisk (*) will remain in my makeup collection. Items denoted with the letter (R) will be kept for future review purposes. EVERYTHING WITH A REVIEW IS LINKED! :) 

Nudes

NARS Lip Gloss // Turkish Delight*

Laura Mercier Lip Glace // Bare Pink*

Caryl Baker Visage City Slickers // Calm 

Annabelle Big Show Lip Shine // Beam*

Mary Kay Lip Shimmer // Pearl Rose

Grapeseed Age Protecting Lip Gloss // Dew*

Pinks

Mary Kay Nourishine Plus Lip Gloss // Celebrate

Buxom Lip Polish // Dolly*

MAC Lip Glass // Frozen Dream

NYC Big Bold Plumping Lip Gloss 

Mary Kay Glossy Lip Stain // Enchanted Mauve*

Annabelle Big Show Lip Shine // custom*

Australis Colour Inject Mineral Lip Gloss // Polka*

Reds and Oranges

Australis Mint Condition Lip Gloss*

Be a Bombshell Lip Gloss // Hot Mess*

Almay Liquid Lip Balm // 100 Just Plum*

Caryl Baker Visage Lip Gloss // Corruption 

Joe Fresh Lip Gloss // Poppy 

Shimmers

CoverGirl Lipslicks Smoochies // Rose Alegre* (R)

CoverGirl Lipslicks Smoochies // Violet Flare* (R)

Tarina Tarantino Sparklicity Lip Gloss // Parade

Balms 

Korres Lip Butter // Plum* (R)

Mary Kay Lip Lacquer // Pink Pagoda

Ageless Derma Satin Lip Gloss // Ruby

 Liners

Caryl Baker Visage Lip Liner // Desire

Saavy Nourishing Lip Liner // Brick

CoverGirl LipPerfection Lip Liner // 215 Passion*

Saavy Nourishing Lip Liner // Rose

Annabelle Stay Sharp Lip Liner // Java*

Rimmel Moisture Renew Universal Transparent Lip Liner* 

L'Oreal Colour Caresse Shine Stain // Endless Red*

L'Oreal Colour Caresse Shine Stain // Rose On and On*
Caitlyn Lip Stain*

KEEP - 21

GIVE AWAY - 8

TOSS - 3

Looking back, it's a LOT harder to let go of glosses than lipsticks. Glosses are the easiest way to wear colour on the lips without looking over the top. Thus, glosses are an everyday thing for me and I have a lot that I love even though I have less of them. 

Do you own more lipsticks or glosses? 

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Mary Kay Midnight Jewels Lip Shimmer in Pearl Rose and Semi-Matte Lipsticks in Pink Moonstone and Ruby Night

Fall lipsticks, I'm not ready for you but clearly the beauty world is. This month, Mary Kay launches the Midnight Jewels Collection, which includes three limited edition lip products. One Lip Shimmer ($18) in Pearl Rose and two Semi-Matte Lipsticks ($18) in Pink Moonstone and Ruby Night. 

The Lip Shimmer is quite sheer but perfect for adding a little sparkle into the centre of the lips for dimension. It's not overly sticky or slick, just the right combination of the two. The Semi-Matte Lipsticks are quite the odd formula. They're creamy but they don't glide nicely over the lips. It feels a bit like I'm pulling parts of my lips. The Lipsticks provide full opacity in two layers and are quite long wearing (5-6 hours) as matte lipsticks typically are. 

Lip Shimmer in Pearl Rose (sheer peachy pink gloss with golden shimmer)

Semi-Matte Lipstick in Pink Moonstone (pale pink nude)

Semi-Matte Lipstick in Ruby Night (deep brown-red)

Overall, I'm not particularly wowed by these three lip products. They're decent but the colour selection and formula are not things that I would pick out for myself. If you love matte nudes or brown reds, then be sure to check out these limited edition lip products from Mary Kay. 

Fall lipsticks already? How do you feel about that (I still want to wear my bright corals)? 

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Annabelle Big Show Lip Shine in Beam and custom colours!

Everybody wants different things. In the same way some like high-coverage foundations while others prefer a more natural finish, some love sheer shine on the lips while others prefer boom fully-fledged matte lips. The Annabelle Big Show Lip Shines ($9.95) are definitely on the sheer side of things. I received two custom colours (without names - but for now let's be blunt about it and call them pink and orange) and as well as the shade Beam (a pinky nude). 

Annabelle Big Show Lip Shines in "pink", "orange", and Beam

The GOOD: The Annabelle Big Show Lip Shines are perfect if you want a subtle sheen of colour over your lips. The product also works well as a layering gloss to add a little shiny somethin'-somethin' to your average lipstick. So much shine with a tiny bit of sparkle in the mix. The texture reminds me of the Almay Liquid Lip Balms except with slightly less slip and more thickness. It's smooth, non-sticky, and just the right thickness so that the product glides flawlessly over the lips. 

The BAD: As with most glosses, the product isn't long-lasting on the lips. Wear-time ranges around an hour or two depending on how often you eat or drink. Despite the short wear-time, these glosses are moisturizing enough that it's just like applying a balm. 

Overall, what you see in the tube is definitely not what you get, but if you're sheer, moisturizing shine then this is perfect for you. Personally, I think these lightweight, natural-looking glosses are perfect for the summer weather and have been my go-to on the daily. 

Are you a lipstick or gloss kind of gal? 

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Revisiting the Rimmel Apocalips - Phenomenon, Celestial, Nova, Apocalyptic, and Big Bang

Eons ago I reviewed the Rimmel Apocalips (also known as the Show-off Lip Lacquer) in Nova ($7.99). At that point in time I was so on top of my beauty game that I reviewed the Apocalips prior to the product even being available in Canada. Now that it's available to the [Canadian] masses, the hype has died down. Nonetheless, I'm still enjoying what this lip product has to offer. 

I received 4 shades from Rimmel - 100 Phenomenon, 101 Celestial, 303 Apocalyptic and 400 Big Bang. In terms of formulation, my thoughts remain the same. Each colour has a glossy, non-sticky formula that's an odd cross between a lipstick and lipgloss. You can easily achieve a matte finish by blotting down the glossy finish (this will also make the product transfer-free). Longevity on the lips varies from colour to colour. Of course, bolder colours will wear longer than lighter ones. Furthermore, the product is slightly drying, but this isn't an issue if you exfoliate and moisturize before application. 

100 Phenomenon

100 Phenomenon is a peachy nude. In all honesty, it's no phenomenon. In fact, it looks terrible with my particular colouring. Also, the light pigment picks up on dry patches in looks quite gross on my lips. 

101 Celestial

Good thing 101 Celestial is the perfect my lips but better (and pinker) colour. It's a neutral pink with a shot of brown for the perfect everyday lip colour. Two swipes and you're good to go. 

102 Nova

An oldie but goodie, 102 Nova was my spring fling of 2013. It's the perfect pop of a bluer-toned pink. With the first layer, it appears slightly patchy, but the second layer of product covers any of that up. 

303 Apocalyptic

The pigmentation of 303 Apocalyptic excites me to no end. It's the ultimate raspberry red that's totally one of those "in-yo-face" colours. One layer and bright lips will be yours. 

404 Big Bang

400 Big Bang is your classic statement red colour. The red is actually quite neutral - not too orange and not too blue. Big Bang is also another one of those lip lacquers that goes on in one swipe. 

I'm happy to have revisited and rediscovered the Rimmel Apocalips. They're a lovely formula in a range of colours that I find pair well with my skin colouring (with the exception of Phenomenon). The superb pigmentation and beautiful satin sheen have me loving the Apocalips more than when I first reviewed them.

Do you revisit products your unused products? 

Press samples featured. I received Nova in a UK swap. Lips and opinions are my own. 

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