Wet n Wild Mega Last Lip Colors #1 in Pink Suga, Think Pink, Bare It All, Mauve Outa Here, In the Flesh & Wine Room [The Neutrals]

Lipsticks are kind of like Pokemon. Ya know, Gotta swatch'em all, right? When 18 of 26 of the most popular drugstore lipstick formulation (aka the Wet n Wild Mega Last Lip Colors) landed on my doorstep, my first instinct was to try them all out on my face. 

I've split the 18 lippies into 3 vague groupings - (1) the Neutrals (2) the Brights (3) the Darks. Here's a little preview of what's to come... 

The formulation of these lipsticks is exactly what you may have already heard. They're semi-matte, pigmented in one swipe, long-wearing (~6+ hours) and slightly drying on the lips. For ~$3 each at your local drugstore and in every colour that you could possibly pine for, you can't really go wrong. 

900B Pink Suga, 901B Think Pink, 902C Bare It All, 907C Mauve Outa Here, 912C In the Flesh, 906D Wine Room

900B Pink Suga 

Neutral nude (aka too light for my face...I look dead...) 

901B Think Pink

Pale pink nude (aka also too light for my face...I look crazy...) 

902C Bare It All 

Peachy nude (aka the lightest nude that actually looks flattering on me!!) 

907C Mauve Outa Here

Pink mauve

912C In the Flesh

Medium pink nude 

906D Wine Room

Natural purple-pink wine (aka my favourite of this grouping) 

All in all, an impressive formula in a multitude of colours for a very, very reasonable price. While 2 of these neutrals don't quite suit me, the other 4 are colours I can easily wear on the daily. 

Have you tried the Wet n Wild Mega Last Lip Colors? Which are your favourites? 

Press samples featured

Facebook || Twitter || Bloglovin || Instagram

Mary Kay at Play Hail to the Nails Mini Nail Lacquer Trio Set

Halloween is over and the holidays are approaching, which is the equivalent of HOLIDAY SETS! This holiday season Mary Kay has launched the at Play Hail to the Nails Mini Nail Lacquer Trio Set ($18). Available until February 15th, 2014, this adorable set contains 3 winter-ready polishes. 

The set features three limited edition colours - Inky Blue (dark blue), Silver Sparkle (silver flaky glitter), and Pink Hottie (fuchsia orchid). Inky Blue and Silver sparkle are both rich colours that are opaque in 2 coats and last 3 to 4 days. Silver Sparkle is a fine, slightly iridescent, sheer silver glitter top coat. 

All in all, the Mary Kay at Play Hail to the Nails set contains 3 holiday-ready mini polishes, perfect for gifting! 

What do you think of this nail polish trio? 

Press samples featured

Facebook || Twitter || Bloglovin || Instagram

CoverGirl Ink It! Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink and Aquamarine Ink

EYELINER MONDAY!! This week's feature is the CoverGirl Ink It! By Perfect Point Plus Gel Eyeliner in 230 Black Ink and 240 Aquamarine Ink  (~$7). It's available in 6 shades, with the additional ones being 255 Silver Ink, 260 Cocoa Ink, 250 Charcoal Ink and 235 Golden Ink. 

I like the sleek black packaging but ah gosh darn it. It's another one of those non-retractable eyeliners. The worst part about this particular eyeliner being non-retractable is that if you twist it too far up, it'll crumble off into chunks. 

I'll get straight to the point and say that this particular eyeliner is on my list of "do not buy" products. It's the farthest thing from creamy and applies more along the lines of draggy and patchy. Typically, you'd expect harder liners to stay put all day but Black Ink transfers onto the eyelid and migrates to my lower lash line as well. It's such a shame because Aquamarine Ink is such a beautiful colour and doesn't smudge but it's so hard to use because of the crumbling. 

Have you tried the CoverGirl Ink It! Gel Eyeliners? 

Press sample featured. This is part of my eyeliner monday series - where I review a different eyeliner every...Monday. :) See more eyeliner reviews here. 

Facebook || Twitter || Bloglovin || Instagram

IMATS Toronto 2014 is Coming + a Wishlist!

GUESS WHAT? I'M GOING TO IMATS TORONTO!!! I've never been before. I'm so excite. IMATS stands for the International Make-Up Artist Trade Show. In essence, it's a big convention of make-up artists, make-up lovers, and exhibitors. Self-proclaimed "the make-up world's biggest gathering to discuss, display and collect the best the industry has to offer". I fall into the "make-up lovers" category and I have fairly high expectations for my first IMATS experience. 

This year (2014), it's being held in Toronto on Saturday, November 22nd (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday, November 23rd (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in the South Building Halls F&G . 1-day Tickets are sold on the IMATS website here for $45 CAD including HST or $50 at the door. 

Image Source

In an attempt to plan my day, I've spent a solid amount of time stalking the IMATS website, making lists of which speakers I'd like to hear and what I want to buy from which exhibitors. 

Classes and Speakers

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - Eve Pearl - Earn Double Your Rates in Half the Time. Simple, Effective Beauty Techniques that are Proven to Maximize Your Earnings While Minimizing Your Clutter. 

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Sebastien Tardif - Complexion Perfection for Beauty and Runway Editorial 

3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. - Battle of the Brushes - Student Competition Character/Prosthetic Awards Show

Exhibitors

Bdellium Tools, Beauty Blender, Beauty So Clean, Blur Makeup Room, Cozzette, Esquido Lashes, Eve Pearl, FACE Atelier, Frends, Hakuhodo, Kryolan, Lip Bar, MAC, OCC, Yaby (see the full listing here)

The (tentative) Wishlist (I'm budgeting ~$150 or less for the day...is that too much/too little?) 

• Hakuhodo Medium Yachiyo, J5523 & G5552-4mm 
• Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer
• Ben Nye Banana Powder
• Beauty Blenders

I'll be going on the Saturday. So, see you there? :) 

Are you going to IMATS Toronto? Have you ever been to IMATS? How was your experience? 

Facebook || Twitter || Bloglovin || Instagram

Hello Kitty An Apple A Day Trio Lip Balm Set // Hello Kitty 40th Anniversary

An apple a day keeps the doctor away and I couldn't help but Ohhh and Ahhh at the Hello Kitty An Apple A Day Trio Lip Balm Set ($26 CAD, exclusively at Sephora). The three apple-shaped lip balms in the set are way too cute. Case in point, I couldn't help but take tons of photos. 

While the packaging is super cute and even includes a little mirror, it isn't the most hygienic or the best shape for your pocket. Personally, I think that in addition to the product itself, the cute packaging makes up for the awkward dip-your-finger-in-a-pot-of-lip-balm application. 

Red Delicious (candy apple red), Think Pink (hot pink), Natural (Nude)

That being said, the balms are surprisingly bright and liven up dry lips, providing the look of a gloss with the moisture of a balm. The colour sticks around for no longer than a couple hours but they're a joy to reapply because each colour of balm has a corresponding, slightly nostalgic candy scent. Red Delicious smells like apples, Think Pink has a hint of strawberry, and Natural smells of a subtle vanilla. 

Natural

Think Pink

Red Delicious

Overall, this is the most adorable trio of lip balms. Ever. (if these lip balms had cheeks, I would squish them). Sure the packaging may appear juvenile to some but the product inside seriously performs. Thus, a Hello Kitty apple-shaped lip balm keeps the dry lips away. YAY! 

How cute are these Hello Kitty lip balms? 

Press samples featured

Facebook || Twitter || Bloglovin || Instagram

Quo by Orly Water Transfer Nail Art [Mischief, Kaliedoscope, Love Notes, Pretty Petals]

The Quo by Orly Water Transfer Nail Art ($4 each, at Shoppers' Drug Mart) are essentially temporary tattoos for your nails. This isn't a new concept. Think water decals from born pretty store for the same price but conveniently available at your local Shoppers'. 

There are 4 designs available (above is Mischief) and each design comes with 24 nail art stickers, which for my nails is enough for two manicures (with 4 extra transfers leftover).The packaging indicates that you can apply these water transfers in 3 easy steps. In my opinion, it's more like 5 (but they're still really easy to use!!). Here's how:


Step 1: Prep - Wash hands with soap and water

Step 2: Apply 2 coats of Quo by Orly Purity nail polish (white base) 

Step 3: Once the polish is dry, size the transfer to your nail (to make sure it fits!) 

Step 4: Remove the clear plastic backing and wet the paper backing with a cotton pad (like a temporary tattoo!) 

Step 5: Add top coat to seal in the deal and voila! you're done! 

In addition to Mischief, the Quo by Orly Water Transfers come in 3 more designs - Kaleidoscope, Love Notes, and Pretty Petals.  

After the white base has dried, application of the Quo by Orly Water Transfer Nail art takes less than 5 minutes for both hands. It's basically nail art without the fuss of concentration, drying time or smudges. 

What do you think of these nail art transfers? Which design do you like the most? 

Press samples featured. Special thanks to boyfriend for taking step by step photos. 

Facebook || Twitter || Bloglovin || Instagram

Hello Kitty Pop-Up Party Eyeshadow Palette // Hello Kitty 40th Anniversary

In 1974, Hello Kitty was born (she's older than me...). Fast forward to 2014 and we're celebrating her 40th anniversary with an exclusive, limited edition collection of Hello Kitty Beauty products. One of the larger pieces in the collection is the Pop-Up Party Eyeshadow Palette ($62 CAD, exclusively at Sephora). 

I'm typically not a fan of cardboard packaging but I'll give this palette a break because it's in celebration of Hello Kitty - cute, cuddly, and adorable. The packaging encompasses all of these features. I find the pop-up a bit gimmicky but avid lovers of both beauty products and Hello Kitty will appreciate the aesthetics of the palette. 

The eyeshadows are accessible by pulling a little bow. A drawer of sorts slides out to reveal 20 appropriately-named shades. 

Personally, I'm a substance-over-form kinda gal...so given all the flashy packaging, I was initially concerned with how the quality of the shadows might turn out... 

Twenty shadows - 4 mattes, 13 satin, 3 shimmery. I've denoted some of my favourites with an exclamation mark (!). Some of the shades were chalky or overly glittery for my preferences, but a majority are very impressive. In particular, I love the richness of the neutral satins. 

Overall, a unique mix of brights and neutrals in a variety of finishes. In general, the shadows are highly pigmented (I swatched without primer in one "swipe") and easily blendable. The shadows are not particularly long-wearing but last all day with the help of a reliable eyelid primer. 

Happy (matte plum purple), Playdate (matte grey) ! , Dear Daniel (shimmery light blue), Milk (satin white cream), Celebrate (satin maroon) !

Supercute (satin royal lavender), Friendship (satin pink vanilla), Kitty-Chan (satin navy blue with rose gold sparkle), Apple Pie (satin peachy-pink), Bow (satin rosy pink) !

1974 (matte blue-grey), Kawaii (satin mermaid green), The Original (satin rich brown) !, Hot Cocoa (matte taupe) !, Bright (shimmery champagne)

 Three Apples (satin medium green), Anniversary (matte black with green sparkle), Cookie (satin grey silver), Mimmy (satin sunshine yellow), Chocolate Chip (satin sun-kissed beige) !

A Hello Kitty Pop-Up Party Look (using Celebration, Bow, Mimmy and The Original) 

All in all, a pretty palette to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Hello Kitty. Not only is the packaging adorable but the quality of the eyeshadows delivers and in a versatile range of shades, too! Whether you're a fan of Hello Kitty, you're looking for a unique gift, or you just love eyeshadows, this palette should be on your radar. 

What do you think of the Hello Kitty Pop-up Party Eyeshadow Palette? 

Press samples featured

Facebook || Twitter || Bloglovin || Instagram