I was giddy with excitement as I revisited the H&M Beauty department – this time with the intention to BUY! 😀 My first visit was shortly after the launch and I was filled with longing for all the loveliness, but left me empty-handed AND empty-hearted… but now I am FULL… of makeup!
I had mentioned last year that one of the brands I wanted to try was H&M Beauty, and now I’ve fulfilled a lifelong wish (too dramatic? 😉 )
I received this parcel just before Christmas. It was my second ever makeup swap, this time with the lovely Isabelle from A Girl With Pink Cheeks blog! We started chatting about doing this swap after my last one – and so, back in July, we formulated the swap guidelines: We buy each other one thing under 10€ / $15 CAD each month for 4 months (August to November), and mail out in time for Christmas. We wanted to focus on brands / products not available in our native countries – Isabelle lives in Belgium and I’m in Canada. I’d indicated that I was most interested in eye shadows, blush, and concealers. This is what she sent me:
Here’s everything unwrapped:
I’ve been completely spoiled! 😀
This Throw Back Thursday doesn’t go back too far, but it features the colour orange which is appropriate for Halloween coming up. Just 3 years ago, Sephora partnered with Pantone (the universal colour authority) to promote the colour of the year. In 2012, the colour was Tangerine Tango:
It’s a deep reddish orange that translates well into a variety of cosmetics products including blush, eye shadows, lipsticks and nail polish. Not being able to pass up anything limited edition, I bought this quad:
Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year – Eyeshadow Quad
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:
I’ve collected 6 MAC items to return to MAC! They’re not all empties – most of them are expired products or items that just didn’t work for me.
For those of you may not be familiar with the program, this is what MAC’s site states:
Because we share your commitment to the environment, M·A·C accepts returns of its primary packaging through the Back To M·A·C Program. By returning six (6) M·A·C primary packaging containers to a M·A·C counter or M·A·C Cosmetics Online, you will receive a free M·A·C lipstick of your choice as a thank you.
Since 100% of the selling price of VIVA GLAM Lipsticks and Lipglass is provided to organizations that help people living with HIV/AIDS, these are excluded from this program.
I thought I’d show you what I’m returning to MAC and then you can help me decide what to select as my free lipstick!
This will be kind of an empties / purge post too.
Today I’ll swatch my collection of MAC Paint Pots and Paints. They’re an essential part of my daily eye makeup. My lids are quite oily and after years of trial and error, I’ve finally settled on the fact that I need both a primer and a cream eye shadow base to create a canvas for my powder eye shadows. MAC Paints Pots are hands down, one of the best cream eye shadows on the market. They help to prevent creasing, can be worn a lone for a wash of colour, and they do not dry out as fast in the pots compared to others on the market (Maybelline Color Tattoos, I’m looking at you!)
MAC Paint Pots ($26) contain 5g of product and are contained in glass jars, whereas the Paints (also $26) are in the squeeze tubes and contain 6.5g of product.
I mentioned a while back that I love the then still limited edition MAC Extra Dimension finish, and I was super excited when it was announced that they were making it permanent. Today, I’ll swatch my collection of Extra Dimension items, which include eye shadows, and blushers and a bronzer:
Extra Dimension formula is described as a “liquid-powder hybrid” with most eye shadows having a shimmery finish – some do have more obvious glitter or frost. They can be used dry or wet for higher intensity but I’ve never used them wet – I will have to try that eventually. Worn dry, I find them to be exceptionally pigmented and smooth (all my swatches are done dry).
Let me get back into beauty blogging with a bang – I got new makeup! Huh? But aren’t I on a No-Buy? Allow me explain. Nicola of Beauty As I Know It contacted me to ask if I’d be interested in doing a swap – she’s in the UK, and I’m in Canada. I contemplated this: was this a violation of my No-Buy?
Let’s weigh the facts:
• I’m not buying makeup for myself, but rather, buying makeup for someone else, like a gift
• I’m receiving makeup in return – but I didn’t pay for them!
My friends are 80/20 split in their opinion that I’m an horrible dirty cheater vs I might have found a loophole in my No-Buy. 😛
Regardless, I went ahead with the swap because, hell, what’s the fun of having a blog if I can’t connect with amazing people from all over the world? Nicola and I set out some parameters for the swap:
• focus on makeup / skincare from drugstore
• target total of £30 / $55 CAD
I also sent out a little questionnaire to help each other narrow down our preference, here are my answers to the questions:
1) Are there any brands that may not be available in your country that you’re interested in?
Natural Collection (Boots), Sleek, Makeup Revolution, Soap & Glory (we have the skincare but not the makeup), MUA, Barry M
2) Skin type / skin tone / eye colour / hair colour / allergies?
Combination / NC25 I’m usually in the shade range light/medium or “Buff” shade / brown / brown / no allergies
3) What are your top 3 favourite makeup / skincare categories?
eye shadows, blush, concealer (I’m particularly interested in the Collection’s Lasting Perfection Concealer [I would be in Warm Medium] hint hint!)
4) Do you like sweet or savoury snacks? Any candies / chocolate that’s not available in your country that you would like to try?
I love sweets! I know there are loads of UK sweets – most of them are available in Canada as well in specialty British shops.
Here’s the parcel I received!
She included a lovely handwritten card and put little star stickers on the items to indicate her personal favourites!
When I finally understood the concept of a transition eye shadow, it upped my eye shadow blending game by tenfold. A transition eye shadow shade is one that is typically matte and slightly darker than your natural skin tone – this helps to blend the lid colour into the brow area. Most days now, I just pop on a shimmery neutral shade [taupe!] on the lid up to the crease, then I blend the edges with a transitional shade – something like this:
My blending skills are better than my photoshop skills.
It looks like I spent a lot of time with my eye look but in fact, it took less than 5 minutes. I’ve depotted some of my most used transition colours into a small z-palette so I can have a range to choose from each morning:
I would group my transition shades into neutral, warm and cool categories. I’m around NC25 so these would be suitable for skin tones that are similar.
Weird title for a post, huh.
Firstly: yay, it’s Day 150 of my No-Buy! Only 186 more days to go… (for those of you who don’t know, I’m on a yearlong No-Buy, but I had to restart it in Jan because I broke my No-Buy with a Target haul. My No-Buy ends on Dec 31st.)
Now, what does YDSMBSM mean? It stands for:
You Don’t Save Money By Spending Money.
It’s something my frugal bf says to me in response to when I try to justify my latest purchase, “I got such a good deal on it, it was 50% off!” To which he’d say, “You Don’t Save Money By Spending Money. You still spent money to save that 50%. If you didn’t buy it at all, then you would have saved 100%.” Party pooper. But he did have a point. 😛
Here’s a bunch of crap deals that I bought last year because I found them in the clearance section:
What did I need an orange eye shadow for? And a hot pink lipstick? I’ve NEVER EVER even worn that lipstick!
stash matters 