shiseido

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.
travelbag2
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.

Continue reading →

Shiseido facial cotton and possible dupes?

~ stashy ~ 37 Comments

I’m a facial cotton snob. It wasn’t always this way, but ever since I tried my first package of Shiseido Facial Cotton, I haven’t looked back.  Let me qualify that – I don’t use Shiseido Facial Cotton exclusively – I only use it for removing my eye makeup.  The pillowy softness of this cotton is especially appreciated against the delicate skin around the eyes.  Now when I use non-Shiseido cottons on my eye area, I feel like I’m using sandpaper (I exaggerate, but really, like 80-grit).  For everything else – toner, exfoliants, nail polish removal – I use other cottons.
Shiseido_cotton8
I was happily shelling out $9 per package for the Shiseido cotton, until one day, about 2 years ago, the Shiseido counter lady informed me that the price was going up soon… to $11 per pack!  That’s a 22% increase!  In my mind, this crossed over some imaginary threshold, and this item became “too expensive”.  I rushed to purchase half a dozen packs of the cotton at the $9 price.  My current stock is still the $9 price, but the supply is dwindling. Then I began to notice that drugstore brands were coming out with their own versions of square facial cottons that look suspiciously similar to the Shiseido cotton packaging:
Shiseido_cotton2
So I set out to find out if they’re dupes!

Continue reading →

Trash Stash: June 2015

~ stashy ~ 41 Comments

The end of June marks the official mid-point of the year! I’ve always wondered why it’s “Christmas in July” when it really makes more sense to be in June! 💡
trash201506_2
It was especially satisfying to finish some of these products this month because many of them I’d been using for a long time.

Continue reading →

Face Highlighters

~ stashy ~ 48 Comments

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an expert on highlighters. I hardly ever use the few that I own, and I have just the bare basics.  But I like the idea of highlighting – that luminous glow, the cliché “lit from within” appearance.  I feel that all the steps I’ve taken up to the point of a finished face (exfoliation, hydration) have helped to keep some natural radiance on my face so the extra step of applying a highlighter seems redundant.  But, like a good makeup addict that I am, I still dutifully purchased highlighters.  I chose 3 to share today:
highlighters3
• VS Makeup Illuminating Face Powder in All or Nothing
• theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer®
• Shiseido Luminizing Face Color in High Beam White WT905

Continue reading →

Shiseido skincare reviews

~ stashy ~ 43 Comments

First, let me insert my usual disclaimer here that I’m no expert on skincare – I’m just a skincare enthusiast.  I’m also by no means a guru on all things Shiseido – there are just my experiences with these products.  I’ve been using skincare from this brand starting about 5 years ago.  I would categorize the brand as high-end but not luxury, with the skincare above the $50 price point and mostly below $100 each.  Shiseido is sold primarily through department stores and inside special beauty boutiques in some drugstores.  All of the products shown are made in Japan.  The line has some nice moisturizers and cleansers that I’ve repurchased – but like all brands, there are good and bad products within the range.
shiseido_skincare2
I thought I’d provide a quick overview of some of the products that I’ve tried.  I’ve categorized the items into Love, Like, and Loathe.

Continue reading →

Favourite MLBB Tag

~ stashy ~ 55 Comments

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:
mlbb3
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
mlbb4
(That Guerlain tube was a PITA to photograph!)

Continue reading →

Lip stuff stash

~ stashy ~ 64 Comments

As I’m laying out all my lip stuff in preparation for photography in today’s post, The Boy asks me, “What’s the purpose of all these pictures?”
“They’re to show my whole collection on the blog.” I reply.
“So it’s like… makeup porn?” he asks.
“YUP! You got it!” 😆

My lip stash is probably the least exciting of all of my stashes – the majority of my lip products can fit into one frame:
lipstash2
I’m just not that into lipsticks. I feel bold colours don’t suit my face. I’m also not into matte textures or shimmer, or overly glossy finishes – so it leaves me with a fairly narrow band of comfort zone, as you’ll see in my stash. And I only own 5 MAC lipsticks! (of which 3 are retired)  It’s relatively small by comparison to my eye shadow stash (600+) or nail polish stash (400+)   That said, I have amassed a lot of lip balms and butter butters.

Continue reading →

Face primers: Shiseido and Cover FX

~ stashy ~ 27 Comments

I’m no expert on face primers.  I don’t have issues with foundations lasting on my skin, and I don’t have skin texture concerns that primers often address (large pore, uneven skin, excessive oiliness).  Up until a few years ago, I never used a face primer but I’ve since incorporated it into my skin routine. I mainly use face primers as another layer of protection against the elements.
primers2
Today I’ll review 2 primers that I own, and they’re probably not the more popular brands that are often reviewed online (Smashbox, Benefit, Hourglass) but they’re good for what need.

Continue reading →

Mascara Base: Shiseido vs Dr. Mascara Fixer

~ stashy ~ 38 Comments

Continuing with Lash Week, today I’ll be looking at mascara bases.  What is a mascara base?  It’s like a primer for your lashes.  I didn’t believe the hype until I received a gwp sample of the Shiseido, and then I became a convert.
mascarabase2
Late last year, I ordered a Korean mascara base by Etude House that had been highly reviewed online, which costs $9 each, vs $25 for the Shiseido one.  Let’s see how they stack up against each other.

Continue reading →

Mini mascaras, mini reviews

~ stashy ~ 30 Comments

This post kicks off “Lash Week” on my blog!  I will be posting products and tools catering just to eye lashes, one of my most obsessed over facial features.  Like most of you, I’ve got a stash of mini mascaras through gwp and beauty sets.  This year I’ve been making a conscious effort to go through mine to see if there are any hidden gems among the lot.

I trialed the following 4 mini mascaras for one week each:
Buxom Sculpted Lash – $24 (Sephora)
Clinique High Impact – $19 (Sephora, department stores, Beauty Boutiques)
Benefit They’re Real! – $29 (Sephora, Beauty Boutiques)
Shiseido Perfect Defining Volume – $30 (Sephora, department stores, Beauty Boutiques, select Rexalls)
minimascarareviews4
The value of the samples are actually quite good when you look at the full sized price and how many ml you get in the samples:
minimascarareviews2

Continue reading →