Pearl is the new nude

I went on a date the other day. I wore a white collared shirt with a navy blazer; all my buttons were gold. I made my eyes up with golds and browns from my Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette. I was ready for the finishing touches. Feeling pleased with myself, I looked down at all the lip colours I had amassed over the years and realized I didn't know what to do.

Do I pair a bold red with this, or do I try and keep it neutral? 

I don't want anything too pink or too brown or too coral.. 

I kept digging. There had to be something.

But then I realized I was out of setting spray and was going to be out all day. I had to go to the store, anyway. Maybe I could look around and find the perfect lip colour for my sexy business lady outfit and gilded eye makeup.

After some searching, I came home with Revlon's Sky Line Pink and NYX's Baby Rose Mega Shine Lip Gloss. I know pearlized and glittery finishes aren't everyone's cup of tea, what with the matte lip and Jenner thing being so popular. But to me, this is a winner. I can pair these two together (or even keep them separate for something super simple) when I'm not feeling a certain colour of lip.

LOOKIT THAT CUTE, BENT DOEFOOT APPLICATOR. AND SHINIES.

Left: Revlon
Right: NYX

captain lumpy face

Sky Line Pink is a pearl finish lipstick. It goes on smooth and is pretty easy to apply without making a mess. Being a really light colour, it doesn't really stain or bleed or settle. The downside is that it disappears fairly quickly (maybe within 2 hours without eating or drinking). I found myself just applying the NYX gloss over the course of the day if I wanted something on my lips but didn't have time to reapply lipstick. It has no taste or scent. I am a big fan of Revlon lipsticks in general and I know I can always pick one out without having looked at swatches and reviews, and I'm always happy.

Baby Rose is a nice every day lip gloss. I'm not usually a gloss person, but this is a super neutral, almost clear colour with green, pink, and gold speckles of shimmer. It can be worn alone or over another colour to add shine. It smells like sherry (to those who have smelled sherry, but otherwise it's a sort of synthetic fruit punch scent, I guess). It's overpowering and it makes me want to drink. I've never tried an NYX gloss before, but I will try other colours in the future. It performs well enough for an inexpensive, drugstore lip gloss.

So my date was successful, and I owe it all to not bothering with bright red, matte lipstick.

October Favourites +

Wow. The last time I did a favourites was a year ago - last October! It is not that difficult of a thing to do, so I'm disappointed that I don't do it more often. I am so sorry (for anyone who reads and for myself) that I don't update very often. I am juggling my degree/going to classes, working 25 hours every weekend, and working credit hours through the week. It's tough to get to do everything I want to do! I've definitely bought and tried new things in the last little while and planned on posting, but it's all lost on me now. I am going to force myself to post once per week at the very least now! :')

1 ♥ Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stain, Lovesick

Perfect. I thought it would be too bright, too fuchsia, but it's a nice cool pink. Very pigmented/ true stain, lasts absolutely hours on me.

2 ♥ Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stain, Charm

These swatches had me convinced I needed this colour. I always have trouble finding nudes that work for me. I have a little trouble with application; it isn't as smooth as Lovesick. I like it a lot, anyways! 

3 ♥ St. Ives Hand Cream

A drugstore in my city was closing and they had everything 70% off. This was practically free, and I just grabbed it because my latest Nivea hand cream was just about empty. It's my new favourite. It smells amazing, I can't even describe it - fresh? It isn't greasy, and my hands feel soft. 

4 ♥ Essie Grow Faster

As I've mentioned since the dawn of time, I have a hard time keeping my fingers looking pretty. I am over the nail biting, though the picking and biting my skin is different story. I use this as a clear polish for work and I would say the claim to make nails grow faster is true. I wouldn't really care if it did or didn't, it's still a good clear/base/strengthening polish. 

5 ♥ Avon Skin So Soft Body Lotion w/ Argan 

I like Avon lotions. SSSs are always great. They have a few different ones these days, so I decided to try one. I've used it every day since I got it and no complaints! 

6 ♥ NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream, Amsterdam 

I bought this in January and didn't really wear it after I first got it. I'm a bit shy about lipstick (especially reds and brighter colours) since I'm just in class and at work most of the time and sometimes I notice people will comment and say something stupid like, "why are you wearing makeup?" if I wear lipstick. I decided that I do not care what people think anymore and I will wear my red and bright pink lipsticks proudly. This one lasts a long time, just starts to look flaky and separated once it starts wearing off. 

7 ♥ Hand Candy Primer, Perfecting

My Mark primer ran out and I didn't know what to try next, so I grabbed this one from the drugstore. It's pretty. Totally different consistency than Mark's, but it does make my face quite smooth. I am definitely looking to try something else next time. 

Well, this has been a 3 am post! I am exhausted and barely slept this past week, but I am always wanting to do things I enjoy really late at night... 

xx

Just Bitten, Brites

Here is the perfect lesson as to why we should all do our research about products before we buy them. There are reasons why we blog about beauty, am I right? 

I bought a Revlon Just Bitten stain/blam. And guess what? I loathe it. 

(sidenote, look at my freehand white tips! I'm awesome). 

I had a hard time picking out a colour. I wasn't sure how accurate the packaging colours were and I wanted to pick something that was different than what I usually buy (straight up pinks and bright reds). I ended up with Victorian. Okay, now here's the part where I tell you about how dumb I can be. I didn't know the "balm" portion of this product was a separate thing. I assumed, for some reason, that the balm was some part of the formula that came out of the stain end, and I thought the white end was a twisty thing to bring product up to the end. You know the lip glosses and such I'm talking about, right? I thought maybe the pen tip was "dry" until you twisted up the balm/stain liquid, so I just pulled off the cap and GRABBED and TWISTED the piece of what I now know was lip balm. I mashed it right up and pulled it right off when I did this. I wrecked the product before I even got to use it properly. I really won't blame this on the product and hold it against it, because that's user error. I have no idea what I was thinking. 

I really do like the colour of this. I think the whole colour selection of these are actually pretty good. I've never used a stain before. I've heard things where they stain TOO well and you can't get them off, or they simply don't do anything. I love Revlon with all my heart and I want to like this, but this is what it looks like: as though I was literally just biting my lips.

It's patchy and streaky and doesn't last long AT ALL. Maybe ten minutes. Maybe I picked a bad colour, maybe it's too close to my natural lip colour. I don't know. I am going to wait and look out for Revlon's version of the chubby sticks. I've heard way more good things about them. 

I did buy something I am happy about, luckily. 

I have been looking for neon nail polish for months. I have a really hard time finding popular brands like OPI and Orly and Sinful Colors and Color Club where I live. Even some Wet N' Wild products I see blogged about never see the light of day in my local Walmart supercentre. I was really happy to walk into Winners today and find this package of LA Girl Brites polishes. The pink is a true neon pink in real life, but it was harder to photograph. The white one glows under black light! There are neon purple, blue, and orange available, as well. I would love an orange eventually.

Tell me about your favourite neon polishes this season! 

May Favourites

Mark Glowdacious Illuminating Powder (Shimmied Up) ☼ I became a bit of a blush and bronzer fiend over the past couple months, but since my NYX highlighter broke multiple times (another story), I've been doubling this one up as a highlighter and bronzer. The light, center shade is a pale gold with loads of shimmer and shine, and I brush the outside colours on like a regular blush/bronzer after. I found myself grabbing for this multiple times this month! 


St. Ives Apricot Scrub ☼ I have a cleanser and make up remover that I use at night, but I use this every morning. Since I bought it a couple months ago, I have not had a single skin problem. I have been blessed with very clear skin, but I'm human and get zits every now and then. I haven't had one for over two months, and I'm not saying this is the reason why that is, but it is a change I made around the same time! I think it's definitely helped. It's really affordable and easy to find, too, which I like in a product.


Vaseline ☼ I thought about making a post just about how I use Vaseline, but there are tons of other bloggers who have done so and a quick Google can bring up some of those posts for you. I put it on chapped lips, legs and body after a shower, on my hands when they get dry, on my eyebrows to smooth them out, on my feet and elbows when they get dry.. and there are so many more uses that I haven't got around to trying yet! 


Annabelle Kohl Eyeliner (White) ☼ I used to wear white eyeliner a few years ago but I haven't had one since. I didn't really research or try many before picking one out.. I just kind of went to the store and saw white. I wore it every day for a week after I bought it! Annabelle is a Canadian cosmetics company with reat prices. I've only tried the pencil liners (I have a couple other colours), so I will be looking into more products. 


Avon Strong Results Length and Strength Complex ☼ I have the worst nails in the world. I love polish and I buy lots of it, but unfortunately I don't post many photos here because I have sad hands. I bite not only my fingernails, but hangnails and skin around my fingers and on my hands. It's a horrible habit! I have tried so-called miracle products like Witchcraft, which had an icky taste but didn't keep me off of the rest of my hands. On top of that, my nails are always weak and peeling. The Avon Strong Results treatment is like a clear liquid that you put on your bare nails for a few days and it makes them strong and moisturized. For me, it stops the peeling nearly instantly. I give my poor fingers a break every now and then and leave them naked save for this treatment with the Avon Silk Wrap treatment. I'm nearly done my bottle, so looks like I'll have to get some more!

Revlon Colourburst Lipgloss (Peony - not pictured) ☼ I don't know where I was around January when everybody was blogging about these glosses, but I had no idea they were so loved by bloggers until I read Cute and Mundane's post last week. I immediately knew from her swatches that I wanted Pink Ice, so I rushed out to the store and... then I couldn't decide. I decided to pick up Peony, which is a warm pink with gold shimmer. It's very sheer, but the shimmers are visible and it's a comfortable formula to wear. I normally don't like lipgloss, but this is awesome! It's safe for work and everything if you don't want to wear too bright or obvious colours on your lips. I am planning on going back to buy some more, simply because I've heard so many good things and I was impressed myself. I guess this technically shouldn't be a favourite of the month since I just got it, but oh well! Go look at some swatches and get to the store right now if you were like me and in the dark about these!

If you've made a May favourites post, link me to your blog in the comments!

a successful shopping trip

Yesterday I was surprised with an invitation to go shopping with my future mother and sister in law. We went to a little boutique in Paris, ON called Suzanne's of Paris. I'll admit that when I walked in, I didn't think I would buy anything or even like the store. It's kind of.. well, old, for me. The clothing is just not really something I could imagine too many young people wearing. Some dresses and boots were nice, but I didn't find anything I wanted to buy. What I think they had going for them was their selection of scarves and bags. Seriously, I should have taken a picture of this wall of scarves. I had the hardest time deciding. Anyways, I went with a red/leopard pattern one. It's sort of slinky and light. They had the same pattern in a bunch of different colours and I almost bought a black/grey one, but I've been a bit obsessed with red lately.  I apologize for the awkward photo.

The next thing I saw that I knew I couldn't leave with was this little leather purse. It was right beside a black one with grey trim and a forest green one with dark grey trim. It has a zipper section on the back and the inside has a pocket which will likely fit a cellphone. The strap is also removable, so it can be used a clutch!

My only complaint now is that the strap looks adjustable, but it only makes the whole thing go smaller. There is a bit of leather stitched around the metal slider that doesn't allow it to slide any further. I prefer long straps so I can wear bags off the side (especially small ones like this), but I'll have to make do with it being a tad short. 

Virginia bought a tan one with dark trim and I saw a red one with black trim on my way to pay.. but I didn't want to have a red meltdown (my winter coat is red)! I'll probably use this in the spring and summer, anyways.

The rest of our trip wasn't too exciting.. I hit Walmart and Winners in the mall because I wanted to buy some beauty products:

♥ E.V.A. Unbreakable Hair Oil Therapy ($15)
♥ Sally Hansen Gem Crush Nail Polish, Big Money & Razzle Dazzler ($6 each)
♥ Revlon Nail Polish, Radiant/Blue Mosaic ($5)
♥ Vitamin C (?) Anti-aging Day Cream ($9)
♥ China Glaze No-Chip Top Coat ($7)
♥ Avon Super Extend Extreme Mascara (free, gift)

I don't know anything about what is supposed to be in these popular oils that people have been using lately, because Virginia warned me against other stuff being added. She said this one looked pretty good, so I trust that. I included ingredients in case someone else sees something I don't know about. I've just used it once, so more on this as I use it more. 

Again, included ingredients because I'm not certain what's good and what isn't. It sounded good enough with the sea salt and different fruits and shea butter. I can never decided what to buy with moisturizers.


I put Big Money (the gold one) on my fingers and Radiant (blue) on my toes. Two coats for each, though Radiant could have used a third. I love both of them and I'm guessing Razzle Dazzler is going to be the same. ♥


Then when I was home, my mom gifted me the new Avon mascara. It's supposed to have some special magnetic fiber formula that I don't really know the details of or really care about because I hate this mascara. It's very rare that I don't like a mascara, but this one is just so weird. The brush is very wide and plastic and looks like a weird comb. It's so big that I found it awkward to use on my lashes. I made a mess under my eye trying to coat my lashes the first time. The comb thing is so hard and plasticy that it almost seems to catch when you're trying to pull it out of the tube, resulting in this crunchy suction noise.  I did just two coats and it was clumpy. There was no separation of my lashes at all. The photo ended up making my lashes look better than they actually did.. but don't be fooled! 

I don't know if I'll use it up anyways or toss it. I might give it another chance, but I definitely prefer the Maybelline Illegal Lengths I've been using.

fiber/glitter.

I went out to Walmart to grab some thing before my Ottawa trip and I couldn't pass the cosmetics section without taking a look. There I found several new mascaras from various drugstore brands and decided I would pick one out to try. I did a toss up between Maybelline Illegal Length with Fiber Extensions and Revlon Photoready 3D Volume and went with the Illegal Length. It's my first "fiber" mascara and I heard horror stories about getting fibers in eyes and whatnot, but I decided to risk it. 

I like the packaging and brush. The lid twists a lot and actually clicks when it's closed, so you know it's not going to open in your purse or anything. The brush has all these little bristles poking every which way, which I'm pretty sure is to help with lengthening and coverage. I found that it covered everything; even the outermost lashes. 

I don't have a single complaint about the lash fibers. I think they're helpful for lengthening and I want to try more mascaras like this one. 

And of course I looked at nail polish.. it's my weakness. I found Revlon "Whimsical" sitting on a shelf beside Blue Lagoon, completely out of their regular place. It was like somebody else had the idea to buy them together to layer, but changed their mind and dumped them off where they were. I thought about getting Blue Lagoon, too, but I remembered all the complaints about the formula and passed. I put two coats of Whimsical over Sally Hansen Complete Salon "Shell We Dance?"and liked the way it looked. I tried to use Whimsical on its own, but I didn't like it at all. It needs SOMETHING else to it, in my opinion. 

I'm a big fan of all the hex glitters that have popped up in the past few months. I almost have all of the Revlon ones except Blue Mosaic. I'm still kicking myself for not buying it when I first saw it.

I think I'm going to go buy more nail polish I don't need tomorrow. Yeeaah.

Lip Butter - Cupcake

This is just a brief post.. I've been a little busy with Christmas stuff! Good, but busy.

I really wanted to buy another Revlon lip butter.. but every time I saw them after the first one I bought, they were either sold out of the colours I was interested in or WAY overpriced! Everywhere I saw them wanted $11-12 for one, I couldn't believe it! The first one I bought at Walmart was $7.49. The cheapest I found them with Cupcake available was $9.99, so I settled and grabbed it. I like this colour way more than I like Candy Apple, and I really like Candy Apple. I am really surprised and a little proud of myself for picking out colours that seem to suit me pretty well. I really liked Cupcake at first based on the fact that it's pink and I really wanted a bright pink (so many MAC lipsticks I want and need now that I've seen I can pull something like this off). I was a little afraid it would look bad on me, but you've probably come to undersand in this past little paragraph .. I. LIKE. IT. A LOT.

I'm just really happy with the colour and formula again. This one's a little less staining than Candy Apple and doesn't last as long, but that's my judgment for wearing it the night and kind of snacking and drinking.

I would really like more pink lipsticks, what would you recommend? MAC Snob looks similar to this (at least to me), and I've had my eye on it for a while now.

PS. I am thinking about ginger-afying my hair. I've been numerous shades of red in the past, but blonde is usually my staple, "go-to" colour. I've grabbed a box of Feria #74 Copper Shimmer and I'm on the fence about it, just because I usually spend a lot of money trying to go back blonde once I've had my fun. The problem with blonde for me is that nowhere will listen and bring me back to my natural, "strawberry blonde." I do like it lighter, and so do people in salons.. they're all about getting me as blonde as possible. It doesn't matter how light I go or if I tone or anything, the natural red in my hair comes through eventually. I figure I could throw a nice orange/red over it and when it fades, it'll look more natural.

(one time that I had a red I really liked) ^

Decisions, decisions..

Christmas Sweet Celebration

My school had a formal Christmas party last night. In recent years, this annual celebration has been progressively getting worse, but I still had a good time. We used to pay a little and get a full course meal and they called it a banquet, but now they just have coffee and desserts. Boo.

The best part (for girls, anyways) is getting dressed up!
I wore my Revlon lip butter (see previous post), Wet N Wild Megaliner liquid eyeliner, and Ardell lashes (120 Demi Black).

1: Roommate and best friend, Amanda.
2: Friend and ex-co-worker, Kristyn.
3: My handsome future husband, Patrick!

I don't have any photos of my whole outfit, but it's a long sleeved, short black dress made of some sort of crushed velvet. It was seriously the ugliest and dated thing I'd ever seen on the hanger, but it looked good on! I wore red tights because the choir was singing at the party and our outfit had to be "black with red accents." Hoepfully more Facebook photos will surface over the next couple days. I was a bit rushed getting ready and didn't have time for many photos.

I threw an after-party at Patrick's house and brought a singer/songwriter friend to perform. A lot of people showed up, I was really surprised! We had the whole livingroom stuffed full and then various people just got up, like an open mic sort of thing. Then Patrick DJ'd and played his dubstep and we even had a strobe light.. unbelievable.

Gone to any Christmas parties yet?

I FINALLY HAVE A LIP BUTTER

And it has lived up to all my expectations. I love it. I want more! I have become a monster that hoards all things Revlon and of the lip butter variety.

I bought Candy Apple because it was one of the first ones I saw and liked, and I had an event I was attended that suggested "wearing a bright lip," so why not? It's a really pretty orange-red colour, and can be built up. You can wear this as cheer or as close to opaque as you'd like, which makes it really versatile for the brighter and darker colours. I found it to be even a little bit staining, which I don't mind for reds. When it starts to fade and you feel like you need to apply more, you don't look so horrible because your lips are still a tiny bit red.

It doesn't feel dry on my lips and it's easy to apply. I seriously love the formula and I want to try some more of these. They are $7.49 at the Walmart in my city.

Next, I decided to indulge and buy myself one new OPI polish. I never, EVER buy OPI because it is so expensive and hard to find. I can't justify $10-12 on one polish. But I have been lusting over Excuse Moi! from the Muppet Collection for a while now and decided to just go for it. No complaints on the colour AT ALL: it's perfect. I am so in love with the glitter. I notice the green and silver bits the most and it makes it so unique. My problem is the formula. I tried it twice. The first time was with base coat, two coats, and no topcoat. It chipped on the very tips of my nails maybe the second day. I fixed up little spots over the course of that week because I loved it so much and didn't want to take it off yet. The second time, I tried base coat, two coats, and a topcoat. It chipped just hours after I did it and the second day, it peeled off in chunks off my nails! I seriously wanted to cry. I paid so much for a polish I love that won't even stay on. I read some more reviews on blogs and stuff and everybody has said they noticed it chips easier with the glitter. I wish I could find a miracle product that will make this stay for at least five days!

After the second time it came off, I decided to just go with glitterless polish. I picked out Revlon Blackberry, and let me tell you, this bottle is OLD. It think it has to be at least 14 years old. I remember stealing it from my mom when I lived in my old, old, old house. I looked it up and I guess this colour is still around. 

It is darker in real life and looks copper/brown/gold/dark red, depends on the lighting. It reminds me of Maybelline Autumn Leaves! 

What are your favourite lip butter colours? What is the last thing you bought that has disappointed you?

two I love and one I hate

I was never, ever a lip person until this year. I always thought if I was going to wear lipstick, I'd wear red or something bright. Go big or go home. I never, ever liked glosses. But when you get to try a lot of different stuff, I decided to buy more and more. And the more blogs I visit, the more things I see that I think I want.

I'm going to start with something I absolutely loathe. It looks awful on me, I hate the formula.. it just sucks. Revlon's Matte Lipstick in Nude Attitude. I paid $8 for this. It's really my fault because I never read any reviews or looked for swatches first. I really wanted the Colorburst Soft Nude Lipstick, but they didn't have it in stock when I went to the store, so I grabbed the first nude lipstick I saw otherwise. I knew it was matte. I knew exactly what it looked like. I just wanted to buy something.

You can ignore my cute blonde mustache. :3

It looks nice swatched and it's not as though the colour is really all that bad. These pictures don't show it, but half of the inside parts of my lip aren't even coloured and the lipstick doesn't take to it at all, so if I talk or even open my mouth slightly, the colour difference is so blatant. Maybe I don't wear enough lipstick, but that never bothers me with other colours.

I'm still upset with myself for buying that matte one.. Anyways.

This one is Avon's Moisture Seduction Lipstick in Tangerine. I only had a sample, so I applied it from a little package with my finger and a lip brush. If I were really going to wear this one out, I'd definitely fill it in a little better. Just let me say that I love this colour. It's the perfect orange-red to me. It has decent lasting power and doesn't leave my lips dry at all. I wouldn't say it's as moisturizing as the advertisements say it is (500% moisture boost?), but it's good enough. I have a full size of Perfect Pink that I actually bought before I even saw this one and got the sample, and I don't like it anywhere near as much. Perfect Pink has a lot of sparkle and way less pigment.

This one got me thinking about the orange lip trend (obviously really late). I have seen swatches of MAC Morange around for a long time, and there was a time when I considered buying it, but I figured I'd never wear it. Like I said, before I didn't care about lip products. But I think I really want to try it now.  I'm not saying these two are the same or even really that comparable, but the realm of orange and red has been entered and I'm not afraid anymore. I enjoy it here!

The next one I've enjoyed this week has been another Avon product (I have connections) - Smooth Minerals Lipstick in Pinkberry.

I actually found this one super hard to photograph. It's a medium, cool pink; semi-sheer with lots of gold glitter. It's a little bit gritty, but mostly smooth and moisturizing. I included a photo at the end taken with Photobooth because I think it shows the COLOUR best.

Out of them all, I'm the biggest fan of Tangerine. It makes me want to try a lot more reds and corals and oranges. I have an Avon Mega Impact Lipstick that I think is similar except with sparkle and shitty staying power, but I'll have to try it again and see. I've definitely had a fun week trying different lipsticks and I'm going to try some more brighter and bolder shades in the future. I'm slowly working out of my comfort zone and becoming more attached to playing with lip colours. I think one of the biggest deterrents is having a boyfriend who doesn't see the point and makes comments about "the junk on [my] lips." Oh, well.

If anyone's reading, recommend me something.