Month: June 2015

Maybelline Concealer Comparison

~ stashy ~ 32 Comments

I like the brand Maybelline mainly for one product: their concealers.  I don’t like their mascaras – they smudge terribly on me.  Not really a fan of their lipsticks – their packaging bother me (why would there be a neon outer casing that doesn’t match the bullet shade?)   Their eye shadows are just average (although their matte single pans are good, but I fear they’re being phased out).  However, Maybelline concealers are phenomenal!  There has not been a Maybelline concealer that I’ve tried that was complete rubbish.  For me, the Instant Age Rewind (IAR) concealers are one the best under eye concealers on the market, regardless of price point.

Since I have quite a few Maybelline concealers in my stash currently, I thought I’d do a quick comparison and review of them:
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From left to right:
• Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer in Medium 130
• Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer in Neutralizer 150
• Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector in Light medium 720
• Fit Me Concealer in Sand 20
• Face Studio Master Conceal in Light / medium 30
• Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer in Buff 340

These concealers are all very affordable, retailing for less than $15 and easily accessible at most drugstores.  I use all of these concealers mainly under my eye area.  I prefer stick or cream concealers for blemishes or redness.

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Cute Asian cosmetics

~ stashy ~ 28 Comments

Like a lot of you, I’m a sucker for cute packaging and I think Asian brands do them especially well. But, these products are not just a pretty face.  Even though some of the packaging look like they could be cheap makeup for children, they’re actually quite good quality.
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Here’s a sampling of some cute Asian beauty items I have – all of these items are either Japanese or Korean brands.

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Back-up Worthy Items

~ stashy ~ 46 Comments

After being burned one too many times with discontinued or limited edition items that I LOVE, I decided to take matters into my own hands and purchased back-ups of certain products for insurance purposes.  Here are some items I have unopened in my stash:
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Anna Sui Dolly Girl Lipstick in Natasha 003 – $25
I’ve already used up an entire tube of this – this is my second tube, plus I have another unopened one in my stash. It’s a gorgeous sheer coral shade with tiny shimmers that’s very hydrating. I use this as a tinted lip balm and it goes with any makeup I’m wearing.  The pretty packaging and bullet design are just added bonus!  This was a limited edition item from 2011.

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Infinity Dreams Award 2

~ stashy ~ 17 Comments

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I was nominated for the Infinity Dreams Award by fivezero!  Now, I’ve been nominated for this award before but I’m making an exception to not doing an Award twice since I’ve not done one from fivezero! 😀

The Infinity Dreams Award Rules:

  1. Thank & follow the blog that nominated you.
  2. Display the award on your blog.
  3. Answer the questions given to you by the amazing person who nominated you.
  4. Nominated other bloggers & come up with questions for them to answer.

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Favourite MLBB Tag

~ stashy ~ 55 Comments

I was tagged by Sandy of Lippie Obsession to do this and it’s right in my wheelhouse!  Since I pulled out all my lipsticks yesterday for the lip stash post, I figured I’d do this tag today.  For the Makeup Muggles out there, MLBB stands for “My Lips But Better” which means these lip products enhance the natural lip colour – usually a close match or slightly darker / brighter / lighter / shinier – whatever is “better” to you.

I do not wear lipstick regularly, but when I do, I typically choose a MLBB shade.  My lips are quite pigmented, so some of these colours may seem deeper than what you might consider a MLBB lippie.  I chose these lipsticks not only for the colours, but also for how much I like the formulas:
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From left to right:
• Illamasqua Glamore Nude Lipstick in Minx
• Elizabeth Arden Exceptional Lipstick in Breathless #17 (of COURSE I have to include this! See my post comparing the old vs new)
• Guerlain Rouge G de Guerlain Lip Color in Garance 06
• Shiseido Perfect Rouge in Dreamscape RD351
• Bite Beauty Luminous Crème Lipstick in Fig
• Shiseido Lacquer Rouge in Portrait RD203
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(That Guerlain tube was a PITA to photograph!)

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Lip stuff stash

~ stashy ~ 64 Comments

As I’m laying out all my lip stuff in preparation for photography in today’s post, The Boy asks me, “What’s the purpose of all these pictures?”
“They’re to show my whole collection on the blog.” I reply.
“So it’s like… makeup porn?” he asks.
“YUP! You got it!” 😆

My lip stash is probably the least exciting of all of my stashes – the majority of my lip products can fit into one frame:
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I’m just not that into lipsticks. I feel bold colours don’t suit my face. I’m also not into matte textures or shimmer, or overly glossy finishes – so it leaves me with a fairly narrow band of comfort zone, as you’ll see in my stash. And I only own 5 MAC lipsticks! (of which 3 are retired)  It’s relatively small by comparison to my eye shadow stash (600+) or nail polish stash (400+)   That said, I have amassed a lot of lip balms and butter butters.

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Accessories acquisitions

~ stashy ~ 28 Comments

I didn’t intentionally set out to buy accessories, it just happens, ya know?  Especially when I get good deals!

I’ve been interested in getting a lighter colour purse for the summertime but wasn’t seeing styles I liked.  Until…
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Fossil Riley Zip Top purse in Camel from Winners for $99 (regularly $198 – also available on Amazon and Fossil)
This one was a lunch time browsing find from Winners – they also had the same bag in  white, lime green, and a kelly green.  I was very tempted buy the white version, but I knew it would get dirty in about 2 minutes. I like how the strap converts from a crossbody to a shoulder length.

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Club Monaco eye shadow brushes

~ stashy ~ 23 Comments

I briefly mentioned my Club Monaco #02 eye shadow brush in my brush stash post.  I called the brush as one that I would run back into a burning building to rescue.
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Club Monaco Beauty was a full range of makeup sold at Club Monaco (CM) stores in Canada and at Sephora in the US. [Fun fact: Club Monaco was a Canadian company until they sold it to Ralph Lauren in 1999] The makeup line included signature items such as the infamous Monica Lewinsky lipstick (Sheer Lipstick in Glaze), Eye Grease (cream eye shadows), and Cheek Dew (cream blushes) – all in sleek brushed silver and frosted lucite packaging.  I feel they were ahead of the time since no other makeup lines in the early 2000’s offered items like theirs. From the line, I owned an eye shadow palette, a powder foundation, a concealer, a handful of lipsticks and lipglosses, and even a metal eye lash comb (I wish I had saved the lash comb but it wasn’t very good).  I could go on about the history of CM but that’s for another time!  Today I’m here to talk about the eye shadow brush #02 which I acquired from the eye shadow palette:
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What makes this brush so special is that not only is Club Monaco Beauty no longer available – making this brush somewhat of a collector’s item – the quality of this brush is outstanding.  I’ve had this brush for at least 10 years and it has retained its shape and all its hairs.

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The Versatile Blogger Award 2

Image ~ ~ stashy ~ 26 Comments

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I was tagged for this a while ago by Mecia of notquitelondon but my post was languishing in my draft folder, until I was tagged again recently by A Girl With Pink Cheeks which prompted me to post this already!  Thank you both for tagging me – I’ve enjoyed getting to know you both in recent months.  They’re “foreign” bloggers to me, meaning one is from the UK (3 guesses, which one) and the other is from Belgium.  I love reading and seeing all the beauty products from around the world! 🙂

Rules:
• Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
• Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy.
• Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
• Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link back to the post on your site announcing their nomination.
• Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

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Trash Stash: May 2015

~ stashy ~ 37 Comments

Another month end, another installment of Trash Stash.  I’ll let the group picture do the talking:
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Another full month of emptying!

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