Where was it made?

On this Labour Day holiday, I thought I would examine where in the world our cosmetics are made.  It’s something that I always take note whenever I buy a product – I like to turn over the compact or box to find that fine print: made in xx / fabriqué au xx. For me personally, of the typical cosmetics producing countries, here’s how I rank them in terms of quality, from high to low: Disclaimer: this post in no way is a reflection of all qualities of products made in each country. I understand that there are high and low quality products made in every country. This is a generalized overview, and as such, there will be exceptions.

France – most notable for perfumes and skincare.  Certain brands exclusively produce in France, staying true to their origin, such as Guerlain, Chanel, and Bourjois.  I feel that these brands focus on controlling both the heritage and integrity of their products.  There are also excellent pharmacy skincare brands like Nuxe, Avene and Bioderma – luckily in Canada we have easy access to these brands!

made in France
Bourjois Little Round Pot Blush, Guerlain Meteorites Perles, Yves Rocher eyeshadow, Sisley makeup remover

Interestingly, I noticed that my Benefit Boxed Powder Blush changed from “Made in USA” (in the shade Dallas) to “Made in France” (Hervana) and 4g less product!
Benefit Boxed Powder Blush

Continue reading

Procrastinating Beauty Blogger Tag

I saw this Tag a while back on The Life of Kristyn – just goes to show how I much of a procrastinator I am, since I’m finally posting it more than 3 months later! 😛

1. Name a beauty regime that you rarely do?
Pluck my eyebrows. But it isn’t from laziness, it’s from the lack of need… or hairs. My eyebrows are naturally quite sparse so I actually never went through that phase where I over-plucked them and they never grew back properly like everyone else did.  I did walk around looking like an alien for years before my esthetician friend finally held me down and drew brows on me.  Now I can’t imagine going out without doing my brows!  As for plucking, I probably pluck the odd stray hair maybe once a month.
facechartnobrows

Continue reading

Guest blogger week, day 2: Stashie’s lesson, No-Buy 101

Check out my first ever guest post on Valenina’s blog! 🙂

Valentina Sofía's avatarValentina Sofía

I’m a self-proclaimed beauty junkie who has embarked on a year-long No-Buy on makeup and skincare.  My blog, stashmatters, focuses on showcasing my current makeup stash with reviews and swatches of my collection.  My favourite makeup items are eye shadow, nail polish and blush.  I live in Toronto, Canada.
So you want to embark on a No-Buy?  Don’t know where to start?  I’m currently on a makeup / skincare No-Buy for the entire year of 2015, approaching the last 4 months of my goal.  Here’s a handy guide for all the makeup addicts who may realize that they may have a problem.
First, are sure you really need to go on a No-Buy?  Take this short quiz:
1) Do you own more than 5 foundations?
2) Do you keep buying the same lipstick shade over and over again and now you own 14 MLBB shades?
3) Did you achieve Sephora…

View original post 695 more words

Guerlain Météorites

Guerlain Météorites is a cult classic – there’s not much I can add to the history and information that’s already out there, so I’ll just show what I own and my thoughts on them.  I will attempt to write this whole post without using the word balls (other than this one mention), or snicker.  Staying classy!
GuerlainMeteorites2

Continue reading

Charlotte Tilbury Bitch Perfect lipstick

I mentioned in my belated birthday gifts post that I bought the Charlotte Tilbury lipstick in Bitch Perfect with my Holt Renfrew gift card:
CTBitchPerfect2
I’ve now had a chance to wear it for a couple of weeks so I can report back on how I like it.

Continue reading

Favourites Tag

I just saw this Tag on A Beauty Venture and rushed to do it, because I’ve got a wee bit of a cold right now (ugh summertime colds are the pits) and I wanted to do an uplifting post! (and I still haven’t gotten around to finishing that mammoth “50 Things That Make Me Happy” tag)

My Favourites… *

Place: Scotland

Person: Oprah
OprahOscarsLego
Side note: I want to build my own Lego Oscars statue one day

Color: Purple

Continue reading

Milani Luminous vs Luminoso

To conclude “Comparison Week”, I have a quick post to compare 2 Milani blushes side by side: Milani Powder Blush in #08 Luminous and Milani Baked Blush in #5 Luminoso.
Milani_Lum2

Continue reading

MAC Prim & Proper and dupes

Ahh, this blush. THIS BLUSH. I love it, and I hate it.  Well, I mainly hate the fact that I didn’t buy a back-up of it.  It’s not the blush’s fault. But the love I have for it… yes, I want to marry it.
MACPrimProper2
It was part of MAC Give Me Liberty of London collection from 2010.  MAC’s official shade description is “neutral nude” which really downplays how nuanced the colour is.
MACPrimProper3
It’s a shimmering bronze nudey shade, yet it’s got a plummy-ness to it as well.  It registers as both warm and cool tone on the skin, depending on the rest of my makeup look.

Continue reading

Inconsistent Products

Today I’m looking at product inconsistencies.  Specifically, how does a product differ from batch to batch?  This might be a crazy thing to some people, but I do own multiples of the same makeup item because I like to have back-ups or have more than one to use at the same time (as in the case with makeup brushes).  Here are some things that I’ve found to be inconsistent:
inconsistent6

Continue reading