TAG | The One and Only

So a while ago Maya, from Spider Leg Lashes, had posted a tag and then tagged anyone who wanted to do it. Of course, I took the opportunity to do the tag!

The Only Question: If you could only have one ____ what would it be? And, why?

 

 

Primer - It would be a sin not to say Urban Decay Primer Potion. This has been my beauty must-have and I'll forever continue buying it!

Base product - I went for The Body Shop Vitamin E Cool BB Cream just because it's the one I'm currently using and I really like it.

Blusher (cream or powder) - Definitely Sleek MakeUP blush in Pomegranate. This colour is gorgeous and looks amaaazing.

Highlighter - I'm going to opt for an eyeshadow that I like to use both as an eye and face highlight, which is Sephora Peach Beige. The colour is a perfect champagne and always looks amazing!
Eyebrow product - I love Quo brow gel! It does not leave my brows stiff and holds them in-place at all hours.
Mascara - My favourite tends to change a lot, but at the moment it's definitely Benefit BadGal Waterproof. This mascara has gotten a lot of hate but I just love it!
Concealer - I don't actually use a concealer as concealer, I use a foundation which is MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW20.
Powder - I've been opting for Marcelle Translucent Powder lately and I just love the finish it gives to my skin!
Bronzer - It seems that I use product that are meant for one thing as something else, and here's another one. I actually really love how The Body Shop eyeshadow in the colour 10 looks as a bronzer.
Make Up Brush (single) -This was definitely a tough one. I was going to choose ELF Eyeshadow brush, but I went for MAC 217 only because it's a multi-purpose brush.

Eyeshadow - I loooooooove eyeshadow, and I have a whole ton, but this was my easiest pick. Quo eyeshadow in Dusk. I've never seen such a beautiful, unique colour before and I cherish this eyeshadow!

Eyeliner - I went for Rimmel Soft Kohl in the colour Sable Brown because it looks great on the waterlines and smudged around the eye. It was either that or MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack.

Lip Liner (or lip colour) -This category kinda irks me cause there's no lip colour category, but a lip liner one? I'm changing it... My choice is Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Sugar Plum, this colour is gooorgeous and perfect for the fall!

Lip Balm - Another easy choice. Hands down EOS in Summer Fruit. This is the only EOS balm I've tried and I absolutely love it! It's the perfect texture and wear.

Nail Polish  - This was definitely a difficult choice because I have so many nail polishes, but I opted for Gosh Limited Edition in Galaxy. The colour is so unique and gorgeous!

I Tag...

 

Anyone who wants to!

FOTD | Forest Finds

Hey guess what, it's time for another FOTD! I'm starting to embrace summer, just as it's coming to an end. Excellent. I really wanted to work with earthy tones to make a forest-inspired look. I wanted a reddy eyeshadow, but I also wanted some green, so this is the look I came up with!

I decided to work a reddish eyeshadow all around my lid and under eye, then I took a very dark brown and very carefully and gently worked it into my crease to really smoke it out and accentuate. I then took a sparkly dark brown and blended it into the outer v. Lastly, my foresty pop of colour went into the inner corner and I gently blended it into the reddish lid colour. I then took a light and sparkly beige and added it just into the inner corner overtop of the green just to brighten. I finished off with some black liner and mascara. I wanted to keep the focus on the eyes, so I used a shimmer, glowing bronzer and highlighter and just an almost-plum blush on the cheeks. The lips I kept natural and very lightly applied a pale skin-tone lipstick.

I used the following products:

Face:

• Quo BB Cream in Light/Medium
• MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW20 (as a concealer)
• Marcelle Loose Translucent Powder
• Gotta B' Urban Mineral Bronzing Powder in Sunrise
• Madison Street Beauty blush in Hydrangea
• Benefit Watt's Up highlighter

Eyes:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original
• Madison Street Beauty eyeshadow in Mauve (lid)
• Madison Street Beauty eyeshadow in Espresso (crease)
• Madison Street Beauty eyeshadow in Cacao (outer v)
• Madison Street Beauty eyeshadow in Wintergreen (inner corner)
• Quo Nice palette eyeshadow, lightest colour (inner corner over-top Wintergreen)
• MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
• Rimmel Soft Kohl eyeliner in Sable (waterline)
• Revlon eyelash curler
• Benefit BadGal Waterproof mascara (top lashes)
• Avon Super Extend mascara (lower lashes)

Brows:

• NYX The Runway Collection in Champagne & Caviar palette (dark brown & black)
• Quo brow gel

Lips:

•  MAC Myth

Ada xx

TUTORIAL | Neutral Outer V

Face:

• Quo BB Cream in Light/Medium
• MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW20 (as a concealer)
• Sleek Luminous Pressed Powder in 01
• MAC Surf, Baby! Studio Careblend/Pressed Powder in Lush-Light Bronze
• Madison Street Beauty blush in Hydrangea
• Benefit Watt's Up! highlighter deluxe sample

Eyes:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original
• Rimmel London Colour Rush Duo Eyeshadow in Cream Caramel (light nude)
• Maybelline Expert Wear eyeshadow in Creme de Cocoa
• Sleek MakeUP i-Divine palette Au Naturel in Mineral Earth and Taupe
• MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
• Rimmel London Soft Kohl Kajal eyeliner pencil in Sable Brown
• Shu Uemura eyelash curler
• Make Up Forever Aqua Smoky Lash mascara (top lashes)
• Maybelline Full N' Soft mascara (lower lashes)

Brows:

• NYX The Runway Collection in Champagne & Caviar palette (dark brown & black)
• Quo eyebrow gel

 Lips:

• MAC creamsheen lipstick in Angel

Everything Else:

• Nails: Forever 21 in Mauve
• Ring Finger: Forever 21 in Bronze
• Earrings: Forever 21
• Top: Tommy Hilfiger

TUTORIAL | Easy Day Smokey Eye

Hello lovelies! After an extended leave from Youtube, I'm excited and really happy to say that I am finally back! It's been a super long time and I'm shocked that I still have subscribers, but mostly I'm honoured. I decided that I've done too many chatty videos in the past, so I just went right into the tutorial. It's my official first makeup tutorial and I really hope it gets some good feedback cause I have lots more ideas to come! As usual, all products are listed below.

Face:

• Quo BB Cream in Light/Medium
• MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW20 (as a concealer)
• Sleek Luminous Pressed Powder in 01
• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original
• Madison Street Beauty bronzer in Rose Bronze
• Jane Cosmetics blush and highlighter in Copper Mountain

Eyes:

• Sleek MakeUP i-Divine palette Oh So Special in The Mail
• Sally Girl eyeshadow in White Chocolate
• Maybelline eyeshadow quad in Chai Latte (taupe and dark brown)
• Sleek MakeUP i-Divine palette Au Naturel in Taupe and Nouggat
• Rimmel London Extreme Definition Two-Tone Eye Definer in City Girl (grey)
• Kala eyelash curler
• Benefit Badgal Waterproof mascara (upper lashes)
• Benefit They're Real! mascara (lower lashes)
• NYX The Runway Collection in Champagne & Caviar palette (dark brown & black)
• Quo brow gel

 Lips:

• MAC creamsheen lipstick in Cream in Your Coffee

Everything Else:

• Blue Nails: China Glaze in Bahamian Escape
• Silver Sparkles Nails: Forever 21 in Front Row
• Earrings: Forever 21
• Bracelet: Forever 21
• Watch: Gift
• Top: GAP

FOTD | Smoked Out

 

Experimenting with eyeshadows is probably my favourite part of doing my makeup. I always enjoy thinking up different looks and different ways of using my shadows along with different colour combinations. I've never done a look like this, but I have to say it's one of my most favourite.

That day we were going to have a wedding at my work, so I decided to dress up a little for the occasion. I pinned back my hair, added a pair of beautiful layered shell earrings and smoked out the eyes. I only wish I had the time to take better pictures, in order to see the look in its fullness. Unfortunately, I was running late so only had a chance to snap a few pictures by the window in my kitchen.

I knew I wanted my skin to look as luminous as possible, so I went for a rather shimmery bronzer, a bright pink blush and very luminizing highlighter. Because the eyeshadows I used were completely matte, I knew I wouldn't be a walking disco ball. Plus, any glitter in my face products was so sparse and thin that it didn't look overdone. For my eyes, I created a V on the outer corner with a medium-dark brown shadow and blended out. I then lined my top lashline and outer lower lashline with a dark sapphire blue shadow and smoked it out. I highlighted my inner corner but left the browbone alone. I didn't want my brows very strong, so I only lightly filled them in. I only finished the look off with a lipbalm because I knew I wouldn't have time to reapply a lipstick or gloss throughout the night.

Face:

• Quo BB Cream in Light/Medium
• MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW20
• Sleek MakeUP Luminous Pressed Powder in 01
• Madison Street Beauty in Rose Bronze (bronzer)
• The Body Shop blush in 03
• Mai Couture Highlighter Paper in St. Barts(?)

Eyes:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original
• Sleek MakeUP i-Divine palette in Oh So Special (2nd row, 3rd shadow all over lid)
• Madison Street Beauty eyeshadow in Espresso (outer-v, blend into crease)
• Madison Street Beauty eyeshadow in Smoky Sapphire (liner)
• Madison Street Beauty eyeshadow in Rose Gold (inner corner)
• Rimmel Extreme Definition duo eyeliner (grey - waterline)
• Shu Uemura eyelash curler
• Badgal Waterproof mascara (upper)
• Benefit They're Real! mascara (lower)
• NYX The Runway Collection palette in Silk & Caviar (dark brown and black)
• Quo eyebrow gel

Ada xx

FOTD | Christmas in Spring?

I have recently.... accumulated a lot of makeup products, so I've been doing a lot of different looks everyday, trying out these new products. I later realized that the look was more Christmasey than I had expected, but considering the cold weather we were getting at the time, I suppose it was in-season. But now that the sun's out and the birds are singing, I'll be doing more Spring-related looks!

The products I used were:
-Quo BB Cream in Light/Medium
-Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow! Foundation in Honey (sample) Only used under the eyes, around the nose and on spots around the face
-Marcelle Translucent Loose Powder
-NYX The Runway Collection in Silk & Caviar (dark brown and a bit of black for brows)
-Quo Eyebrow Gel
-MAC Surf, Baby! Studio Careblend/Pressed Powder in Lush-Light Bronze
-The Body Shop Brush On Radiance Highlighter
-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Sleek MakeUP Eye Dust in In The Nude (lid and inner corner)
-Madison Street Beauty eyeshadow in Taupe Luster (outer corner)
-Sleek MakeUP Waterproof Mascara
-Sleek MakeUP True Colour Lipstick in Cherry

I decided on not using a blush because my mom would always tell me to never wear a blush with a red lipstick, but because times have changed now, I considered wearing a blush, but decided the look didn't need it.

Ada xx

HAUL | The Body Shop, Sephora, MAC

Hello lovelies! It's been a very, very long time since my last blog post/video but I am indeed back and really excited to be making new videos and posts for you guys! I'm gonna start off with a haul because I love them so much. And don't worry, not all of the products were purchased at one time.

Because I had used up all of my non-cruelty free waterproof mascaras, I was in desperate need of a new one. Finding the right mascara was quite the adventure, I'll admit. I first purchased the Revlon Photoready 3D Volume waterproof mascara. I really loved the effect it gave my lashes, but they quickly dropped - not all the way, but enough for me to return it. Next I went with Bourjois Liner Effect waterproof mascara, which turned out to be even worse! My lashes dropped within seconds and it was my mistake for not trying it out on a day off because I had to wear straight lashes to work. I have wanted to try the Bad Gal Lash waterproof mascara ($26) for forever, but for some reason I never did. Perhaps it was the price, perhaps it was the bad reviews, but after my bad luck, I figured it couldn't get much worse, so I caved and got it. I'll admit, I didn't love it at first application, but I have to admit, it really grew on me. It does drop my lashes a bit, but only enough for them to look more relaxed and less curly. I'm really, really happy I tried it.

Next I grabbed a new replacement head for my Clarisonic, except this time I got the Sensitive Skin 2-pack head ($50) rather than the regular. Honestly, I really don't notice a softness in the brush. Maybe the hairs are a little bit thinner, but that's it. Not supremely impressed. And finally, I couldn't help but check out their little sale section. Usually it's a big mess with opened products splayed everywhere, but I guess they restocked because it was clean with several new products. The two things that caught my eye were 2 Sephora-brand kohl eyeliners for only $3! I got two colours: a coppery brown (04) and a grape (07). When I tried the testers on my hand at the store, I was really impressed by their smoothness and pay off, so I knew right away that I had to have them in my kit, but when I tried them on my own eyes at home, I found to be quite disappointed. The brown is actually lovely and applies well with a bit of force, but the purple is had to work with and for some reason, there was a bit of my lash line that it just refused to stick to, whether I rubbed from the tube or with a brush. It's a difficult product to work with, unfortunately.

The next products are from my favourite store: The Body Shop. If you're American, I highly suggest you go on ebay and get some of the products because a) they're fair trade, b) they're cruelty-free and c) they're just plain amazing. I'm signed up to receive offers from them daily and I don't think there's a day that they don't have an offer going on. Buy 1, get 1 50% off, buy 2, get 1 free, 50% off everything etcetc. The two lipsticks were purchased separately. The first is a beautiful deep "Russian Red" but not quite as pigmented and in your face. Out of all the reds, it was the one that most appealed to me, and the one I thought would look best with my complexion and hair. It doesn't have a name (unfortunately), but the number is 22 (retails $13, paid $6.50). The next (now that I see them photographed together) is a lighter and pinkier 22. I was doing one of those buy 1, get 1 50% off deals and I was a bit rushed for time, so I was quickly scanning through the lipsticks. The sales associate was lovely and suggested it off the bat, saying it was the one colour she found looked good on everyone. The second she swatched it on her hand, I was sold. It's a really colour that can be worn sheer for a nice, pinky look or built up for a brighter lip. The number for it is 14 (retails $13, paid $6.50).

Next came the blushes, which I got for a steal, really. I believe they all sell for $20 (the first one for sure, the other not unsure), but I got them for a whopping $3 each with a total savings of $51. I almost feel like I robbed the place, but I can't help but be a sucker for amazing deals. The first blush is in the colour Petal (yay, finally a name!) and it can either be combined for a lighter pink, or used as a bright blush with a highlight. I like to use it for the latter because I find they balance each other nicely. The other two blushes are named (from left to right) 03 and 04. 03 is a cool, blue-undertoned blush that I think would look lovely on any skin and 04 is a beautiful peachy blush with specks of gold sparkles that will look gorgeous in the summer under the sun.

My splurging at TBS came to an end with the lovely peacocky-green eyeshadow appropriately named 31 (retails for $12, paid $6). It's extremely pigmented and must be used under caution for the crazy fall out that is bound to happen with too much product. I really love this eyeshadow because it's not super bright, but gives you that pop of colour, but also because it can be worn sheerly for a lovely light eye or built up for a really dramatic, smoky eye.

The next palette is the Revlon CustomEyes in the colour 005 Gold Spun ($1.50). It's a 5 piece set with 2 sheeny shadows and 3 sparkly shadows. I found the palette in Dollarama and couldn't help but grab it, it is Revlon after all. Truly? I am disappointed. The shadows really aren't very pigmented and are a little bit chalky. Unimpressed. The back comes with a little chart describing how they suggest to wear the shadows, but I completely disregarded it and did my own look with it, but I think I might try it after all for a different look. My favourite shadow from the 5 is the white because it has a blue sheen to it that reminds me of my all time favourite eyeshadow Lark About by MAC.

And finally, I decided to order a product that is owned and loved by many. After the failure of my Maybelline gel eyeliner, which is quickly drying out, I decided to ditch it and get the MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack ($18). To be quite frank, from the videos I've seen of girls applying it, I feel like mine's not quite as black and gel-y. Don't get me wrong, I really like the product and definitely use it a lot, I feel like it's not quite living up to it's name. But I still have a lot more in my pot to go, so maybe I need to dig a bit deeper to find the gold.

So comes my conclusion. I'm so happy to finally be back and I can't wait to write more!

Ada xx

RE-HAUL | MAC, Costa Blanca X, Sephora

So I ended up exchanging my Ocean Dip nail polish for MAC's Creamsheen Glass in Loud & Lovely! When I went into MAC and the sales lady told me that I would have to send back my nail polish by mail, but then she went into the back to ask and they made an exception for me. She was so lovely and helped me pick out this gorgeous colour! I was going to originally purchase a lipstick in Show Orchid, but they didn't have it and I couldn't find a colour I really loved (I also swatched Hibiscus and didn't love it as much as I thought I would) so she ended up suggesting I get Loud & Lovely. I tried it on and it was beautiful! It was $22 CAD so I had to pay the difference of $4. I also decided to keep Lush-Light Bronze after comparing it with Gold-Go-Lightly. My mom really liked Lush-Light Bronze.

I then stopped by Sephora because I desperately needed a new Urban Decay Primer Potion. I was going to purchase the jumbo one but they were out of stock and their smaller size comes in the tube form now! I ended up picking that up for $23 CAD but because I still had store credit I ended up only paying $14 for the product! I got the original one.

I also stopped by Costa Blanca X because they were having a sale. I love this store and own a couple things from them. I was going to get this cream and gold clutch with wood on the outside, but my mom wanted to buy it and it was $30 CAD and I didn't want her to waste her money, so instead I picked out this larger black and gold clutch that was onsale for $15 CAD! I love it soso much and can't wait to use it the next time I go out!

And that's my haul! :D

HAUL | MAC

Hello beauty lovers! I am back with another haul and this one is from our beloved MAC! After seeing xsparkage's Surf, Baby! Haul, I decided to invest in some of the cosmetics she mentioned. Unfortunately two that I really wanted were sold out (Hibiscus and Cheek Powder), so I had to make do with what I could get my hands on.
I ordered online, got free shipping because my order was over $50 and it got here in only a couple of days considering it was sent from Toronto! C: I ended up paying $79 (with tax) on all three products.

The first thing I got is the Studio Careblend/Pressed Powder in Lush-Light Bronze for $33.50 CAD. After receiving this product, I'm contemplating exchanging it for the Gold-go-Lightly because I like a bit more of a gold glow rather than pinky brown.

The second thing I received is the nail lacquer in Ocean Dip for $18 CAD. It's a beautiful teal colour, BUT I just realized that I paid $18 for a nail polish and I never pay more than $4 a nail polish. I'm probably going to exchange it for Hibiscus because it was one of the things I really wanted.

Finally, I got a lipglass in Krazy Kahuna for $18.50 CAD! It looked so nice on swatches that I just had to have it. I am soso excited to try this product even though I don't like sticky lip glosses, I'll make it work.

So that's my haul! I'll be reviewing these products shortly.