In today’s Throwback Thursday post, I’m showing my MAC Twig lipstick:
The colour in itself isn’t really a throwback, although I’m willing to bet money that the shade has been around since the inception of MAC. But what’s TBT about this lipstick is the bullet. It’s silver. And no, it’s not a limited edition.
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!
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!
I saw this Tag ages ago on Katie’s blog (Plus+Beauty) and I knew I had to do it. Have you SEEN my blush stash post? 😛
What color blush suits your most?
Peachy nude shades – a good representation of this would be the Clinique Cheek Pop in Ginger Pop.
Pressed, cream or loose blush?
Pressed. It’s just the easiest for me to work with. I have some cream and some loose (mineral) blushes and I hardly ever reach for them.
Most people have maybe 1 or 2 foundations (perhaps a winter shade and one for summer), a couple of concealers (under eye dark circles vs covering blemishes), and a face powder. That’s normal. Why I have amassed this many foundations / powders / concealers (or as I call them, base products), I have no excuse for. I couldn’t even fit everything I own into one frame so here’s a portion of what I’ll be showing today:
I figure I would just lump all my base products including highlighters and bronzers into one post instead of them separating out.
Remember, this is a no judgement zone. 😉
It’s been a while since I’ve done an Untrieds nail polish post! Today I bring you Illamasqua Purity.
It is described on Illamasqua’s site as:
Peach.
Uh, ok. Short and sweet. To add to this, I’d say this not a soft peach, it’s a bold peach if there’s such a thing. Almost a neon peach.
Bright blushes are perfect for summertime – they look especially gorgeous against tanned skin. But fair skinned gals, don’t let bright blushes scare you – they add a flush of colour when dusted on lightly at the apple of the cheeks. Put your sunglasses on – here are some of my favourite bright blushes from my stash:
I do have to say though, no photograph can truly capture the BRIGHTNESS of these blushes – you have to see them in person to appreciate them!
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:
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
(That Guerlain tube was a PITA to photograph!)
Blushes make me SO happy! They’re like candy for my face! 😆
According to my inventory count, I currently have 155 blushes in my collection. And yet I still wish I had more…! 😛 The highest brands on my wish list are Sleek and Colour Pop – I can only order them online so it’s a case of hard to get = want them even more.
I store the bulk of my blushes in the same clear drawers as my eye shadows, but in the wider format:
Maybe I’m being too loose with the term “palette” since most of my favourites are just quads – but I suppose they fall under the umbrella of palettes? To me, a palette is anything more than a duo – so trios, quads, and quints all qualify. What I’m trying to say is that I do not like large scale pre-made palettes. I know that within a palette, I will always end up with at least one dud, and the more shades within a palette, the higher the odds are that I will end up with many duds (so no, I do not own any of the Urban Decay Naked palettes!)
My criteria for a good palette is one that I like most, if not all, of the shades, and one that I can create a nearly complete eye look from. They’re great for travelling and those days when I just want a one stop shop for my eye shadow look. Here are my favourite pre-made eye shadow palettes.
Here’s the motherlode. I’ve mentioned many times that I have a lot of eye shadows – over 600 – it is the most abundant makeup category that I own. I just love eye shadows and it’s the area of my face that I spend the most time applying makeup. I’ll keep this introduction brief and just let the pictures do the talking.
It took me over 2 hours just to sort and photograph the whole eye shadow collection and probably another 4 to edit everything. Usual disclaimer: this isn’t meant to show off. It was actually quite a beneficial exercise for me to display all my eye shadows visually. Warning: photo heavy post! (50 images)
stash matters 