base makeup

Vincent Longo Water Canvas Foundation

~ stashy ~ 47 Comments

The Vincent Longo Water Canvas Foundation had been on my wish list for a while now. I was really excited to learn that Hudson’s Bay started carrying this brand in their stores, and I purchased it during Hauluary:
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I purchased the Water Canvas Foundation ($63 for 11.5g) in #4 Soft Amber and the corresponding Water Canvas Travel Compact ($18).  The Water Canvas Foundation is definitely the most well-known item from the Vincent Longo (VL) line and I wanted to see what the hype was all about.

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Foundation and Concealer Purge of 2016

~ stashy ~ 68 Comments

This has been a long time coming. I just needed to set some time aside and be in the right mood to be serious about getting rid of some items from my stash. Sometimes I feel a bit attached to items due to nostalgia and I talk myself into keeping stuff I really shouldn’t. I think I did well:
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Since I’ve been hauling like a madwoman, it’s only fair to purge some stuff too! Tomorrow I’ll be purging some lip products.  Let’s have a closer look at the foundation and concealer purge pile:

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Project Focus 10: Nars Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder

~ stashy ~ 50 Comments

Happy 1st day of February!  Continuing with the next item in Project Focus 10, today we’ll look at the Nars Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder:
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This product retails for $44 for a 10g jar. In Canada, it’s available at Sephora, Hudson’s Bay or Holt Renfrew.  I purchased mine from Sephora.

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Hudson’s Bay Beauty: Becca, Burberry & Vincent Longo

~ stashy ~ 61 Comments

I don’t even need to explain myself. I bought makeup.  Lots of it.  Hudson’s Bay is Canada’s main department store – we often just call it “The Bay”.  Its American equivalent would be Macy’s.  It carries all the core cosmetics brands typically found in department stores: Clinique, Clarins, Shiseido, Lancome, Estee Lauder… but, their flagship location in downtown Toronto also carries some brands that I’ve been wanting to try more of, including Becca, Burberry and Vincent Longo:
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These were purchased over 3 separate visits; first I visited the Becca counter, which is located in a newer section of the store, called Beauty Underground which is located on the lower level, the same level as the subway.  Within this department, they carry more of their “fringe” brands like Becca, Vincent Longo, and Anna Sui – there’s even a special display with TonyMoly products!  This post will be more about my experiences at the beauty counters rather than about the products – I promise I’ll do more detailed reviews about the products in the future.

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Project Focus 10: Guerlain Lingerie De Peau BB

~ stashy ~ 60 Comments

Alert: I’m experiencing some technical difficulties today with my user ID. All of my comments on blogs are going into their spam comment boxes. I can only “like” a post but none of my comments are displaying. Please check in your comment spam folder to see if there might be something in there and release my comments or else my user ID will be forever labelled as spam and I can’t leave further comments on your blogs. You know how I like to leave comments – this makes me sad! 😦  I’ve cleared my cache and I’ve asked for help from WordPress but haven’t heard anything yet.

Last week I introduced the collaboration Project Focus 10 collaboration and showed the 10 products that I’ll be focusing on for the next 10 weeks.  Today is the first of the series of more detailed reviews on one of the items: Guerlain Lingerie De Peau BB Beauty Booster Invisible Skin-Fusion Multi-Perfecting Makeup SPF 30:
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I will not be reviewing them in order from 1-10. I do what I want! 😛

I have this in 01 Light and it is available in 3 shades, ranging from fair to medium skin tone.  It retails for $62 for a 40ml tube and is available at Hudson’s Bay and select Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Boutiques.

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Blogmas Day 18: Christmas Tree makeup

~ stashy ~ 32 Comments

I blame Kaily for this one. She came up with this topic and both Sharon and I scratched our collective heads as to how to interpret this.  What the heck IS Christmas Tree makeup? So I’m taking the cheater creative approach and doing a gold theme makeup look, because hey, some people have an all gold Christmas tree, ok:
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This gold and diamond Christmas tree was worth $500k with five pounds of solid 18K gold and a 4.52 carat diamond set in a platinum star at the top – in 2007 it was the most valuable Christmas tree in existence (Source).

That’s how I roll. 😛

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Blogmas Day 4: Snow Themed Makeup

~ stashy ~ 45 Comments

Today is another coordinated Blogmas post where we’re pulling items from our makeup collections to create a snowy makeup look.
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To me, a snow themed makeup means 2 things: white and sparkly!

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MAC foundation samples

~ stashy ~ 38 Comments

I got 3 MAC foundations samples when I went in the last time to redeem my “free” lipstick for the Back to MAC program.  I’ve now had the chance to try all 3 foundations at least twice each, so I can provide a first impressions type of review on them.
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The foundations I got were: Prep + Prime BB Beauty Balm SPF35, Matchmaster SPF15 Foundation, and Mineralize Moisture. Firstly, what I typically like in my everyday foundations:
• lightweight – skin-like finish
• easy application – I typcially use my fingers
• long wearing – at least 8 hrs to last me through a work day
• good colour match
I have combo skin with an oilier t-zone, sensitive skin that can get dehydrated.  Foundation is a product that I like to try a sample first before taking the plunge with a full size – I like to check the colour match in a variety of lighting, and also make sure they don’t cause break outs.
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I’ve been curious to try the Mineral Moisture foundation since its launch and the other 2 samples were chosen for me by the MA who recommended them based on my preferences and skin type. Here are my thoughts on each after trialing them.

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MAC Studio Sculpt Defining Powder

~ stashy ~ 39 Comments

Since I finished up my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural (MSFN) powder last month, I finally got to open up my MAC Studio Sculpt Defining Powder (SSDP), which has been sitting in my stash since it launched in Sept 2014. :/  I know… I have a tendency to buy stuff and then not open it for months.
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The compact costs $37 for 10g and is made in Italy.  I mainly bought this because the tester at the MAC store felt so smooth.  I told the MA that I love the MSFN and she said this was comparable but even more smooth looking. I was intrigued!  I was matched to the Light Plus shade.

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Collab: Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer

~ stashy ~ 24 Comments

Today’s post is a collaboration with StyledWithJoy!  We both received the Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer a couple of months ago.  As we’re both in North America (her in the US, me in Canada), neither of us have direct access to this cult beauty item which is exclusive to shops in the UK. Luckily for us, we finally got our grubby hands on this from our respective fairy godmothers (her sister in her case, and through my lovely swapper Nicola, in my case).
Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer

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