maybelline

Blogmas Day 1: Red & Green

~ stashy ~ 42 Comments

Today I’m excited to announce the launch of my first ever BLOGMAS!  Ingrid of Curly.Spring.Blossom came up with this idea and asked if I’d be interested! So, Ingrid, Kaily of Hello Kaily, Sharon of Sharon Beauty Prime and myself (we’re calling ourselves the Babes in Blogland) will be posting 25 consecutive days for the holiday season.  Our Blogmas will be primarily focused beauty topics with a Christmas spin.  Every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday all 4 of us will be posting about the same topic, so be sure to check out each of our take on the topic du jour! 😀

Our topic today is RED & GREEN stuff (or Red & Green sh!t as the classy Kaily called it). I’m interpreting this topic as a showcase of red and green makeup items from my stash.
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It would have been a bit of a cop-out to just feature nail polishes so I did make an effort to include actual makeup stuff. 😛

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Trash Stash: October 2015

~ stashy ~ 59 Comments

October’s trash stash features an exciting bunch of MAKEUP products – woohoo!  Every month I put my empties in a Sephora tote and this month, it was overflowing:
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But I did manage to get a group shot:
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Last month I seemed to have finished all my face skincare, but this month I seemed to have finished all my base makeup!

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Foundation mixology

~ stashy ~ 74 Comments

Since I’m guilty of buying new foundations instead of using up my current open bottle(s), typically I have at least 12 different ones on the go.  Some of them are better suited for the summer, while others are only used during the winter months.  My skin tone often straddle between light and medium shades, so I typically mix 2 different shades to get a suitable colour match.   In addition, mixing different foundation formulas helps to get a finish that works better for my combination skin type.
foundations
Typically, I like to mix foundations to both colour match and improve on the formulations to my liking.

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Foundation, Powder, Concealer Stash

~ stashy ~ 66 Comments

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:
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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. 😉

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July beauty favourites and 200 Days of No-Buy

~ stashy ~ 57 Comments

I’ve never done a monthly favourites because I fear that my picks will become too repetitive month after month, since my favourites don’t change drastically.  Maybe it won’t be a monthly affair but let’s see how it goes. Before I get to my July favourites, I just want to acknowledge that today is my 200 day of No-Buy (aside from my birthday purchases, which is completely pardoned in No-Buy-land) – yay:
nobuyachievement200days
Onto the July favourites:
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Best of bright blushes

~ stashy ~ 32 Comments

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:
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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!

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Road trip skincare and makeup bag

~ stashy ~ 40 Comments

Starting this Friday, I’ll be on a road trip!  We’ll be heading to northern parts of our province, also known as “cottage country” (don’t let the word “cottage” fool you, they have multi-million dollar homes that are owned by Hollywood celebs), and then heading to Ottawa.  We’ll be staying mostly at Bed & Breakfasts (B&Bs) which are essentially rooms or a portion of someone’s house. They’re more homey than hotels – and usually the breakfasts (included) are amazing!  We won’t exactly be roughing it, but I will be fairly low-key in terms of attire and makeup.  I always ask myself 3 questions when packing makeup for a trip:

  1. Do I really need it?
  2. Is it the smallest / most compact item I own of that product category?
  3. Would I be devastated if I lost it or it got broken during the trip?

Keeping these in mind, here is what I’m packing for our 9-day trip.
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I typically carry my makeup roll for the cosmetic items and a separate bag for skincare.  The makeup roll was a gwp from Smashbox, and the cute travel bag is from Consonant Skincare.

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150 Day No-Buy and YDSMBSM

~ stashy ~ 46 Comments

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.)
nobuyachievement150days
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:
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What did I need an orange eye shadow for?  And a hot pink lipstick? I’ve NEVER EVER even worn that lipstick!

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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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Eye shadow stash

~ stashy ~ 69 Comments

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)

Brace yourself, eye shadows galore this way