Cheap Thrills: Rimmel Colour Rush Balm

As much as I love high end makeup, there's something so therapeutic about taking a gander in the drugstore. The joys of throwing in a product into your basket without the sickening pang of buyer's guilt before you even hit the cash register. Here is my latest drugstore purchase (and new release to Canadian drugstores) that I am loving, the gorgeous Rimmel Color Rush Lasting Finish Intense Color Balm in #710 Drive Me Nude. Before getting to the performance of this little lip pencil, I just have to point out how much I adore the name of this shade. I'm having a bit of a moment with nude lips (which is very odd for me) and I'm hoping to purchase a nude lipstick once my self-professed makeup spending ban is over (4 weeks and counting down). For now, this will certainly fill my boots.  Here's what I thought of the Color Rush Balm:

COLOR: Just look at that beauty! A lovely peachy dark nude. This is sort of like a my lips but better kind of color and I really really like how it goes with pretty much any makeup look I can think of. As it mentions in the ridiculously long name of this lip pencil, it's very "intense" in pigmentation. I definitely wouldn't call this a sheer balm and it's as pigmented as a lipstick.

FINISH: When first applied, this looks very satiny with a nice balmy sheen. The balmy feel wears off after about an hour and fades to a very pigmented stain (looks very lipstick-like). The stain itself lasts for a long time on it's own and may only need a quick touch up to the middle of the pout after eating/ tea drinking. It feels really moisturizing at first and I was happy to see that it didn't dry out my lips after the slippy feeling went away.

Overall Grade: A+

I'm so happy that Rimmel got their mojo back after my disappointing experience with the Rimmel Apocalips *shudders* which you can read about here. The Color Rush Balms conveniently have a twist up mechanism so there's no sharpening required. I'm so happy with this product mostly because it has the pigmentation of a lipstick without the maintenance and looks so chic. There are a bunch of colors in this range and I'm willing to bet that they are equally as delicious. Did I mention that these have a gorgeous vanilla scent?

I highly recommend this lippy! Have you tried the Color Rush Balms? Or will you be putting this in your basket on your next drugstore dash?

Thanks for reading.

Taking it Back a Notch: Natural Sunday Beauty

Today's post is not so much a tutorial, but more so ramblings on my thoughts of natural beauty. I don't necessarily think that natural beauty equates to a bare, makeup-less face (not that there's anything wrong with not wearing makeup), but it's certainly not the dreaded "cake face". Makeup is such a personal thing and it's not for me to decide what is "natural" and what is not. But today's Sunday face is most definitely pared down compared to my usual makeup looks and it feels so refreshing to look and feel like myself.

As I have mentioned in past posts, my skin has been the most intolerant and angry with cystic acne (literally bringing me back to my "high school" skin) which I find incredibly discouraging. I put a lot of research into the products I use and I actually don't remember the last time I slept with makeup on. Even with a strict skin care regime, I guess I have genetics and/or hormones and/or stress to blame for my shitty skin. After watching a ton of Lisa Eldridge Youtube videos over the weekend (her channel found here), there was one in particular that really stuck with me. In her video about acne/blemish covering makeup (found here)  she beautifully explains her philosophy of "troubled" skin, which I think is actually quite a refreshing way to look at things. Her philosophy on acne is that she thinks more about the lovely skin in between the spots rather than focusing on the blemishes themselves. So instead of caking your face with layers and layers of heavy makeup to cover up 4 or 5 blemishes, think about the surrounding skin that doesn't have problems. Therefore, her advice is to use a sheer base to let your lovely healthy skin shine through, and only add layers of makeup directly to the spots.

This has helped to reshape my philosophy on how I see skin problems, and how we all tend to assume that people can only see our imperfections (when in reality, we have 95% perfect skin and 5% acne/rosacea/other issues).

When I woke up this morning, I decided to give it a go by slapping on a thin layer of Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation to put her philosophy to the test. I'm happy with the results and I feel very much like myself. I kept the rest of my makeup very minimal (though it looks like a lot of products) all in the name of subtly enhancing what I've got. I'm all about the groomed brows, fluttery lashes and a pink flush for a simple weekend-appropriate look. Paring things down once in a while is a good way to start fresh and see a slightly enhanced version of yourself.

I'm not quite ready to go bare-faced for an entire day, but this is definitely a push in the right direction to minimal makeup. I don't know if I'll ever master a 3-product face, but you never know! Do you like to take your makeup down a notch every now and then? What is your "natural" makeup look? Please let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

Tints, Balms & Butters: My Sheer Lipstick Collection

Maybelline Color Whisper Pin Up Peach

L'Oreal Colour Riche Caresse Lipstick Sunset Angora

Maybelline Color Whisper Lust for Blush

Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm Pink Blossom

Revlon Lip Butter Raspberry Pie

I'm the first one to throw my hands up and confess to being a lipstick junkie. There's nothing like a beautiful, crisp, opaque red lip to make me feel like a classy lady. Unfortunately, my life does not allow for me to wear high maintenance lip products on a daily basis, and I'm willing to bet that I am one of many. Having a lip balm/butter/tint thrown in your bag is never a bad idea for slapping on a little bit of somethin-somethin to make you look more lively when on the go. The beauty of sheer lip-products is that you don't have to worry about ruining your lipstick on your morning latte, don't have to touch up a thousand times in a day, don't have to worry about it getting on your teeth and dry lips are usually a non-issue. Sheer lip color can be the answer to looking polished and put together with the ease of a mirror-less swipe. This is my current collection of sheer lipsticks (or whatever you want to call them), though I have went through countless products to find a few I like. I tend to give away things that don't tickle my fancy, and one of these puppies is soon being shipped off to someone else's hangbag, or the garbage. Here are the current contenders and my thoughts on them:

MAYBELLINE COLOR WHISPERS
These are probably my favorite sheer tinted lipstick/lip balm/lip butters. They are ultra moisturizing, with a solid colour pay off. They can pretty much be slapped on without a mirror and they last for quite a long time. After they wear off, the lips are left with a pretty stain. I have two shades, Pin Up Peach (which is more pink than peach, but still leans warm) and Lust for Blush (a pretty pale pink), and they are both beautiful colors. I love these lip balms so much and I would not hesitate to purchase more colors.

Grade: A+

L'OREAL COLOUR RICHE CARESSE LIPSTICKS
I enjoy this offering mostly because of the beautiful shade, Angora Sunset. This lipstick is super creamy and feels moisturizng on the lips but I'm not blown away by the wear time. After about an hour it tends to go a little patchy on me. It also requires a mirror to apply because it is so creamy that it could literally end up all over my face if I applied it blindly. This was my favorite until I bought a Maybelline Color Whisper.

Grade: B

BURT'S BEES TINTED LIP BALM 
I truly think this lip balm was designed for nurses (my mom loves these too). It can be swiped on without a mirror and applied multiple times a day without looking overboard. The tint is subtle but buildable and it has a sweet scent that I find quite enjoyable. The beauty of this lip balm is that it has the soothing properties of the good old original Burt's Bees Lip Balms with a pretty pink hue (I have the color Pink Blossom). It has a lovely, light feeling on the lips and almost feels as if you are wearing nothing but Chapstick. This is amazing for dry, chapped lips from the cold that can't tolerate anything else.

Grade: A+

REVLON LIP BUTTERS
This may be a controversial statement, but I cannot stand the formula of these lip butters. I was likely the first person to buy them when they were released and I probably bought 5 shades at once from pure excitement of the launch. Raspberry Pie is the last man standing and I'm not even sure why I still have it. If you can't tell from the picture above, the color is absolutely gorgeous... but that's about the only good thing about it. It dries out my lips horribly, it fades to leave a funky ring of colour around the lips and it smudges easily. It is impossible to make it look neat around the edges because the formula is SO slippy and pigmented. I never wear this. Ever. Don't buy them.

Grade: D.

Vintage Beauty in the Modern Age: 1970's Glamour

This a little series I have created to showcase some makeup looks inspired by vintage trends. Today's look is massively inspired by the disco glamour-puss look that IS the seventies. I was majorly inspired to try this look after drooling over the makeup looks in American Hustle. After doing a little research into the makeup of the seventies, I have discovered that it was all about the heavily contoured cheeks, the classic "seventie's stripes" of bright blush across the face, sultry smokey eyes, glitter, bright lips, and gloss. The 70's had some heavy looks for going out and here is my toned down version of 70's glamour makeup. I really enjoyed making this post and getting trying something different with my makeup. I'm hoping to do some posts on other eras of makeup (suggestions welcome!). 

For this look, I looked at some 70's Cosmopolitan magazine covers, along with some pictures of Amy Adams from the movie, American Hustle. I decided to go with a heavy dose of bronzer under the cheekbones, a deep rose blush swiped across the cheeks, bright reddish-pink lips with sparkly pink gloss, and a glittery smokey eye using a black and steely blue eyeshadow with a taupe glitter pressed onto the top. I found it really weird not to touch my brows, but brows weren't big in the 70's. In fact, they were quite skinny but I definitely didn't plan on plucking mine away, so I left them bare. 

Here's a breakdown of the look: 

BASE: I used Too Faced Primed and Poreless Face Primer to prep the skin.Though the 70's was all about a dewy complexion, my skin is not good enough to part with a full-coverage foundation. So I mixed in Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in 100 Ivory to my Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in 1W1 Bone to add a little bit of glow. I covered up blemishes with Bobbi Brown Creamy Corrector in Porcelain Bisque and set the concealer with Clarins Ever Matte Powder in 00 Opale. I chose to keep the look as glowy as possible, so I held off on putting powder anywhere besides the concealer. I used the Clarins Instant Light Brush On Perfector to highlight the under eyes, top of the cheeks, temples, down the nose and above the cupids bow.  

CHEEKS: I first used my Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer to contour the hollows of my cheeks to make them look as pronounced as possible. I also used a small amount down the sides of my nose to make the nose look slim. I them used Nars Blush in Amour (a rosey coral shade) swiped in diagonal lines across the cheeks to make the 70's stripes. I would normally never put blush on so heavy but I was trying to stay true to the time. 

EYES: For the sultry smokey eye, I began by priming the lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion. I used the black shade from the Urban Decay Naked Palette called Creep (second last shadow in the palette) to sweep a fairly thick line across the lash line and blended the edges upwards towards the crease. I then filled in the center of the lid with Gunmetal, a steely blue from the palette (the last shadow on the right) and blended out any harsh lines. From my research, I realized that many of the smokey eyeshadow looks had a messy appearance to them, almost if they had been slapped on without care and smudged out with a finger (hence: I was not too careful about this look). I used a super soft kohl pencil to line the lower lash line and dragged the line up towards the brow for a slight cat eye flick(which I blended in with my finger for subtle definition). For this, I used Elizabeth Arden Smokey Eyes Pencil in Espresso. I patted on L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Tender Caramel over the entire smokey eye with my finger for extra glimmer and sheen.The disco girls of the 70's did not go for big lashes, so I used Too Faced Better than Sex Mascara for separation and definition of the lashes without looking too voluminous. I combed Maybelline Great Lash Clear Mascara through my brows to keep them in place. 

LIPS: Bright, bold lips were all the rage in the 70's. Lip liner was basically never used, and lipstick was used alone to create bold lips that were fun and undone. I chose to use Lancome Rouge in Love Lipstick in 163M to mimic that bright fuschia pink seen so often in the 70's. I topped the lipstick off by putting a heavy coat of Revlon Colorburst Gloss in 006 Strawberry to add gloss and glitter to the pout. 

I am really pleased with the way it turned out, and I loved getting to research beauty of a different generation and try to recreate it in my own way. Would you try to wear a 70's look? Are there elements that you like/don't like? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

January Favorites

I'm going to start this post by saying that this has been a very long month for me. This month has been spent doing a work term in rural Newfoundland and the country life is not for me. That being said, having to pack my bags for the Monday-Friday workweek made me pare down my makeup bag and use only a handful of products each week. In the process of doing so, I feel like I have re-kindled my love with so many products in my own stash (which will hopefully prevent me from buying more makeup... but let's be real here). I have been doing my makeup a little differently this month, mostly because I want to look semi-professional (who wants a nurse who looks like she's going clubbing?). Therefore I have been sporting a whole lot of barely-there eye looks, well groomed and penciled brows, sculpted cheeks via blush & bronzer and a trifecta of natural lip colors. It was actually really nice to get back to basics and I think I'll continue to wear a really natural and perfected look from time to time. But for now, I'm dying to wear my new Nars Satin Lip Pencil that arrived last week, in the most trampy shade of pink I have ever witnessed (post to come, it's a beaut).

Here's what I've been loving:

TOO FACED PRIMED AND PORELESS FACE SMOOTHING PRIMER

I received this tiny primer in a Too Faced gift set and I gave my two cents on it early this week (read here). Basically this primer was fabulous at keeping my foundation/concealer/powder in place all day and also helped majorly with oil control on my t-zone (not even sure if powder was necessary!). Great primer, so light and velvety.

NARS BLUSH MADLY

My lovely mother was kind enough to bring this back from Vegas for me about a month ago. As I do not have access to a NARS counter for swatching, I had to pick a shade based on the Sephora website and countless beauty blogger reviews. I ended up picking Madly, described as a seashell pink. I'm not sure what seashell pink is supposed to look like, but I would definitely say this is far from pink. I would describe the color as a brown with a touch of red, somewhat like a terracotta color. In the pan, it looks completely frightening, but on the face it is so gorgeous. Because I am so pale, I used this color as a contour on some days, a full bronzer on other days or merely on the apples of the cheeks for a healthy flush. This blush warmed up my whole complexion so nicely and it's a great multi-purpose blush-bronzer hybrid. I will definitely use this blush in a tutorial soon, as there is no way to explain the wonder of this unique color.

LANCOME HYPNOSE STAR MASCARA

Another sample joining the gang! I received this mascara in a gift with purchase months ago and I've used it so many times this month. It's a nice mascara with a tapered brush that's fat on one end (great for adding volume) and pointed on the other end (perfect for getting those lashes close to the corner of the eye). The brush helped to fan out my lashes in a pretty way and give a hefty amount of definition without looking too overboard for daytime.

CLARINS INSTANT LIGHT BRUSH ON PERFECTOR

This is my first ever high end highlighting pen. This was a saviour in my many early mornings this month. I used this under the eyes, atop the cheekbones/temples, down the nose, above the cupid's bow and on my chin. This highlighting pen adds a very subtle luminosity to the skin that's barely detectable but makes such a lovely sheen when light hits the face. I have the lightest shade 01 which looks very peachy when swatched. Clarins has yet to disappoint me!

BROWN EYELINER

I know this sounds really vague, but I did not go without a brown liner in my makeup bag this month. I would use brown eyeliner everyday in conjuction with a nude eyeshadow or simply on it's own. The beauty of a brown liner is it's versatility. I used it smudged into the lash line for subtle definition, smudged over the lid for a quick smokey eye, lined neatly across the top lid and as a full on feline flick. Another bonus is that brown eyeliner is not too harsh and really helps blue eyes to look super blue. I used a handful of brown liners this month, and I can't pick just one. Pictured above is the Rimmel ScandalEyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in 003 Brown, which is a pretty metallic brown with a slight gold glitter running through.

LANCOME ROUGE IN LOVE LIPSTICK 300B

This is not my first time mentioning this lipstick, it was the proud winner of my Lipstick of the Year 2013. It's a lovely peachy-browny-warm pink color that looks particularly delicious with peach and other warm toned blushes. The color is long lasting and comfortable. The satin finish is also quite pretty. Add a touch of gloss to the center of the lips and it looks like you had your lips done. If you love the nude lipstick look but feel like you look corpse-like with a beige/baby pink lip, this is a fantastic alternative.

LANCOME COLOR DESIGN LIPSTICK PALE LIP

Disclaimer: the name of this lipstick is deceiving. When I hear “pale lip”, I get visions of those nasty concealer-esque nude lipsticks that make me look like I'm dead. This is so far from the truth. This lipstick is a light warm pink that comes off as a slight dusky rose on the lips. Super pretty, and the one and only light pink lipstick that I have actually loved the look of on myself (love it on other people and so jealous of the people who can pull it off!).

MAYBELLINE COLOR WHISPER LUST FOR BLUSH

I think the Color Whispers are highly underrated and a much better version of the Revlon Lip Butters (which I find to be really drying and heavy). These lip butter/balm thingies are really nice and easy for busy days when I don't have time for touching up lipstick. It's super moisturzing and leaves a pretty, shiny neutral pink slick on the pout. The color is really natural and has the feel of a high end product. Fabulous budget buy and highly recommended.

I'm really looking forward to next month and being a little more adventurous with my makeup looks. I love planning Valentine's Day looks and all the girly-ness that surround the holiday. What products have you been loving this month?

Thanks for reading.