A Haul to End All Hauls

This is the most collective of hauls.
Over the course of the summer and fall, I've picked up a couple of new products here and there. There have been many-a-shopping excursion over the past few months aside from my recent Sephora Friends & Family Haul.
I picked up a lot of great stuff that I am absolutely loving, and some other things that I probably could have forgone. 

The product I am loving the most are these MAC Pro Sculpting Creams, part of the Face & Body collection they released this fall. 

Top: Pure Sculpture & Coffee Walnut
Bottom, right: [top] Coffee Walnut, [bottom] Pure Sculpture

I first got the colour "Pure Sculpture" (left) which is the more reddish/orange tone. This product is actually very comparable in colour and texture to my beloved Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel. However, for sculpting this was not a good colour match for me and I'm a little peeved that the MAC lady sold me on this. That being said, the second colour I picked up, Coffee Walnut (right), is an absolute dream! I also about this particular shade in my most recent Current Product Loves post. Coffee Walnut is a brownish/greenish shade and when applied to the hollows of the cheeks it just gives the most natural looking shadow. It's really a fantastic product and it was well worth all the hunting I did for it.

Another MAC product I've picked up is the 116 brush. 

I was looking for the 109 brush, but they didn't have it in stock and the MAC lady (a different one than the evil lady who sold me pure sculpture) offered up the 116 in replacement. I really like that it's a stiff, domed blush brush and I've gotten a lot of use out of it thus far. Happy purchase!

I had been dying to try the Too Faced Better Than False Lashes system, and in July, I finally picked it up for myself. 

This lash system is a 3 step process: first and third involved using the bigger gold tube of mascara to coat the lashes, and the second step is the "nylon lash extension." The application is simple and not too time consuming, it also doesn't take a lot of effort to get the desired look. My lashes definitely did look longer, so it worked! However, because of the fibres, my top and bottom lashes had a tendency to get stuck together when I blinked. It wasn't uncomfortable, per se, but it was definitely a strange sensation.

Too Faced Better Than False Lashes: this is the wand for the "nylon lash extensions" - you can see the fibres coating the wand

Two random baubles that I picked up were the Wet n' Wild Idol Eyes eye shadow pencil in the shade Pixi and MAC Studio Finish concealer in the shade NC20. 

I like them both, that's all I can really say about these. They're both pretty generic products. The WnW shadow pencil is really easy to apply to the eyes, and it blends easily, although I do recommend using a base and topping it with a shadow because it won't last long on its own. The MAC concealer is also really creamy and easy to blend and I have been using it mostly as an under eye concealer to help preserve the longevity of my beloved Bobbi Brown corrector. 

I've been a slave to my eyebrows lately and I wanted to try some drugstore eyebrow pencils. For days when I don't have time or don't want to spend the time filling in my eyebrows with powder (MAC Omega) I wanted a pencil for quick and easy touch ups. 

I picked the Rimmel professional Eyebrow Pencil in the shade Hazel and the Wet n' Wild Coloricon pencil in the shade Taupe. I won't be getting a lot of use out of the Rimmel pencil because it is way too orange for my brows/complexion. Unfortunately, Hazel is the lightest shade they have and the next shade up is way too dark. I do love the Wet n' Wild pencil though. Taupe is an ashy blonde colour and it works really well with my eyebrows. The texture of the pencil is very creamy/waxy (because these pencils are also meant to be eyeliners) so I find that it tames my brows along with filling them in. I wish that it came with a spooly on the end, but whatever.

I guess you can say I went a little blush crazy over the past few months.

I purchased my first two ever Topshop cosmetic products. I went for two cream blushes because I've heard the best things about those. I picked up the shades Head over Heels, which is a coral shade (definitely super easy to blend it out and make it more muted) and High Five, which is a bright pink shade. Both of these cream blushes are easily blended to create a flawless flush on your cheeks. I also finally caved and bought my first Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in the shade Tipsy. Tipsy is the most orangey/coral shade offered in the range, and I bought it on recommendation from Vivianna Does Makeup (as per usual). These blushes are super pigmented and definitely worth all the hype they get, in my opinion. I don't think I'll be able to get a lot of use out of this blush during the winter months because I get super pale in the winter I don't think I'll be able to pull off such a bright coral. But for summer, this blush was lovely.

REVLON KISSABLE BALM STAINS!!! I know, I'm probably more excited about these than any normal person should be.

bottom swatches: Charms, Honey, Cherish, Rendezvous, Adore

I was so stoked when these finally showed up in Canadian drugstores. Right off the bat, I purchased Charm, Cherish, Honey, and Rendezvous - brighter colours for summer, and Honey and Charm being more neutral/everyday shades that would have the most wear. Most recently, I picked up Adore, a deep red tube but the colour of the product itself is a lot more orangey/red, but still really nice. Here's a picture of me wearing it that I posted to my instagram:

As you can see, it's not the deepest red, but it's still wearable, especially this season.

Last up, L'Oreal Colour Riche by Colour Caresse (unnecessary long name)

The swatches are flipped
swatches [right pic]: Sunset Angora, Pink Cashmere

I picked up two shades: 171 Pink Cashmere and 176 Sunset Angora. I don't get as much use out of these as the Revlon Kissable Balm Stains, but I still do like these lip products. They are very creamy and they have better pigmentation than Revlon Lip Butters. They don't wear too long, maybe only an hour or two before they need reapplication. These are not to be confused with a tinted lip balm because they are not moisturizing nor are they forigiving on dry lips. The square gold packaging is very chic and I want to look into some of the deeper colours from this range for fall/winter.

WHAT A DOOZY

That was a long ass post for a big ass haul.
So that's a pretty good overview of the products that I've purchased throughout the summer, some that I'm loving and some not so much.

xoxoDarlingBuds

Tag! Most Worn Summer Things

This is a tag that has been going around YouTube. I decided to do my own little blog post tag, and  I also thought it was a really great way to summarize my all-time favourites from the summer, since I missed a couple of monthly Lovelies. 

These are the different categories of the Most Worn Summer Things TAG:
Most Worn Nail Polish
Most Worn Scent
Most Worn Hair Product
Most Worn Bag
Most Worn Shoes
Most Worn Accessory
Most Worn Clothing Item
Most Worn Foundation
Most Worn Blush & Bronzer
Most Worn Lip Product
Most Worn Mascara
Most Worn Eyeshadow

Most Worn - Nail Polish

 I couldn't just pick one nail polish. I featured both of these polishes in my Summer Nail Polish Picks post. Sally Hansen "Pacific Blue" (NOTD post here) I wore mostly on my nails. The bright neon pink colour, China Glaze "Flip Flop Fantasy" was on my toes the entire summer! A lot of friends also borrowed it and used it on their toes and fingers, hence the barely-there label. The neon pink makes you look so tan! 

Most Worn - Scent

When I think of summer, I automatically think of Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue eau de toilette. This has been my go-to summer scent for years! I actually used to wear this perfume all year round, but it has since been retired to seasonal purposes only. It's so light and fresh, citrusy too? I'm terrible at describing scents, but I think everyone has taken a whiff of this perfume and/or owned it themselves at one point in their lives. 

Most Worn - Hair Product

Sun damage, hair dye, chlorine, and summer in general really took a toll on my hair this summer. I used my bottle of MoroccanOil (light) religiously this summer! Every day, sometimes twice a day, I would reapply this miracle elixir to the ends of my hair. I don't even want to know what state my hair would have been in at the end of the summer if I didn't use this product.

Most Worn - Bag

I wasn't really out and about, shopping around much this summer, but when I did go out, I also tossed everything into my black Longchamps bag. No need for organization, and this bag carries everything I need. No fuss, no hassle. 

Most Worn - Shoes

These cruddy flip flops from Old Navy were glued to my feet all summer long. I was lifeguarding at a summer camp, and flip flops were always the easiest thing to just slip on. Flip flops are the definition of summer. 

 Most Worn - Clothing & Accessory

As I mentioned above, and in this blog post, I spent most of my summer lifeguarding at a kid's camp. It should come as no surprise that I basically wore my Lifeguard singlet every day (I had a couple, so it wasn't so grungy). As for accessories, the only accessory I wore every single day were sunglasses, and my sunglasses on choice this summer were my new Ray-Ban aviators. It all just screams LIFEGUARD!

Most Worn - Foundation

There were a lot of days during the summer when I didn't wear anything on my face at all except for a few dabs of concealer. But if I was going to wear foundation it would without a doubt be my Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer in the shade Nude. This is so light, and there's also some SPF in it so it was perfect for those hot, sunny summer days. 

Most Worn - Blush & Bronzer

I'm still addicted to my MAC Well Dressed blush (full review here) and equally addicted to my trusty Soleil Tan de Chanel cream bronzer. These two were an unbeatable combinations in brightening up my face, and giving me that subtle and natural flush and bronzy glow. Perfection!

Most Worn - Lip Product & Mascara

I was so excited when the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains became available in Canada that I jumped at the chance and got 3 all at once. The one I wore the most during the summer months, was "Cherish", a light blue-pink colour. I'm a planning a blog post in the near future dedicated to these new lip products! The mascara that I wore all throughout the summer was Maybelline One by One (the waterproof formula). This is such a great mascara! You can tell by the tube just how much I used this over the summer - the label has completely rubbed off! I haven't had a chance to do a full #mascaraproblems review of it yet, but I fully intend to once I pick up a new tube, with the label. 

Most Worn - Eyeshadow

I hardly wore any eyeshadow over the summer, but when I did it was always a cream shadow - more specifically, Chanel Illusion d'Ombre cream shadow in Emerveille. This is such a lovely peachy-pink sheer shimmery shadow. It was such a versatile shadow to wear no matter what my overall look was. I'm definitely glad I got this splurge of an eyeshadow. 

So that's it for my MOST WORN SUMMER THINGS!
I really enjoyed doing this tag, and I think I'll do more tag posts in the future. 

Now that I'm back at Uni and have all my blogging equipment more readily available (i.e. internet, since there was no internet up at the summer camp) I hope to be blogging more regularly again. Fingers crossed, and stay tuned!

xoxoDarlingBuds

FOTD: New Display Pic

Finally! A new blog post. I have been meaning to get this posted for many weeks now. Sorry for the wait!
I have a new display picture for my blog and this is the makeup I was wearing the day that I snapped that shot. 

the new display pic

I was in a blogging/photographing mood that day. I'm really happy with how all the pictures turned out and I am also very fond of how "natural" looking my makeup was that day. 

I'm not one to get all decked out in makeup everyday, I'm not joking. I always like to have a flawless base, i.e. my foundation and concealer, but in terms of eye makeup, on a day to day basis I like to keep it neutral with a subtle shimmer. The look that I'm wearing in this picture is SO ME it's not even funny. 

Face:

My Soleil Tan de Chanel and I have been inseparable all summer long. It has been a key product for me to even out my tan and tone down a bit of the redness in my face, inevitable from hours of sun exposure. I then used my handy dandy Bobbi Brown corrector in Porcelain Peach to get rid of the look of dark circle under my eyes. To even out my skin tone, I used the new Maybelline Dream Fresh BB cream in the shade Light-Medium. I've only used this product a handful of times so I don't yet have a good feel for how much I do or don't like it. My typical concealer routine consisted of Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer in shade 52 to cover any blemishes and discoloration. Maybelline Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in Light to add another layer of concealer to my insanely dark circles; and finally Rimmel Match Perfection highlighting concealer in shade 003 to add some brightness to my face. I set that all with my MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in the shade Medium Plus 

Cheeks:

I have been loving my new blush, Well Dressed from MAC (full review of this blush can be read here). This blush just adds the nicest hint of colour to my cheeks. I then contoured and warmed up my face a bit with Physicians Formula Bronze Booster in the shade Medium Dark. 

Eyes:

I found some NYX eyeshadows stashed away in my collection that I brought out to use for this look. Ever since then, they have been a staple in my makeup bag.

The lighter shade on top is Champagne. I used this shade on the inner third of my lid. The darker shade on the bottom is Iced Mocha and I used this shadow on the outer part of my lid to add a little bit of dimension.

I used Almay's One Coat Nourishing Triple Effect mascara (what a mouthful of a name). It's decent enough, but it didn't provide me with enough length or volume, but I do really like the wand and brush - full with natural bristles. 

Lips:

I decided to keep the lips pretty neutral, glossy, and feminine. I chose this pink gloss from Dior that I've had lying around forever (Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in shade #257). This was just a simple and clean way to finish up the entire look. 

xoxoDarlingBuds

P.S. this little gem came out of all the pictures I took for this FOTD. I couldn't resist, I had to include it. It's so funny! 

MAC blush - Well Dressed

A lot of MAC products have a serious cult following, especially their lipsticks and eyeshadows. MAC blushes are popular in the beauty world, but I think NARS and Tarte blushes are the ones that garner the most popularity. Out of all MAC blushes, Well Dressed is the one that I hear spoken about the most. Everybody says that it is just the perfect blush colour to give your cheeks super natural flush and sheen. 

I finally caved and purchased my very own Well Dressed blush from MAC. A lot of the blushes I own lean more towards the coral or peach end of the spectrum. I wanted to have just a very natural pink blush. 

 Well Dressed isn't too pigmented of a blush so you don't have to worry about accidentally applying too much product and dealing with a clown situation. It has a satin finish so there is a bit of a sheen to it, which looks really natural on the cheeks. Some other blushes, like Super Orgasm from NARS, have some major chunky glitter going on in their product but you don't have to worry about that with Well Dressed. 

Looking at it in the pan, it even has some mauve-blue undertones. Hopefully you can tell from the swatch on my finger, that on the left side of the swatch, the light coming from the window that I take all my photos under, caught the sheen in the blush and made it so lovely and glisten-y. 

Once it's applied to the cheeks, the blush just looks so natural and radiant. It truly is the perfect blush colour, and I think it would work fabulously on a multitude of different skin tones. I'm quite tan right now, and it still picks up on my skin. I've tried this blush out when I was paler too (aka minus my fake face tan) and it was lovely.

Blushes are a pretty generic product to me - they're pretty much all different variations of the same colour. It's fairly easy to find dupes for blushes and it's difficult to say that any one blush is super unique from others. I honestly think that MAC's Well Dressed is a one of a kind blush and I am so happy that I finally have it to call my own. I KNOW for a fact that I'm going to get a lot of use out of this blush this summer. It's one of those blushes that you don't have to think about what the rest of your makeup is going to be or what outfit you're going to be wearing because it will complement you in anyway. 


xoxoDarlingBuds

FOTD: TAN!

I love summer. 
It's such a good excuse to get out into the sun and be a bronze goddess. 
Over the past few weeks, I've managed to build up a pretty good tan so I can safely say now that bronzer has become a staple product in my everyday makeup routine. 
During the colder months when I'm more pale, I really only use bronzer to add some warmth to my face or to contour a bit. In summer, I put my bronzer everywhere! I always put sunscreen on my face, so in contrast to winter, my face now is actually lighter than the rest of my body (no orange face for me)
I've been really into using my Chanel's Soleil Tan de Chanel (or Bronze Universal, whatever you want to call it) cream bronzer to add an even bronzed tone all over my face. I use it lightly with a kabuki brush to give my complexion on even bronzed base
Here's the final result

And y'all know me, I used my newly bronzed visage as the perfect foundations for a summer makeup look.
Here are all the products I used to achieve this look: 

In typical ME fashion, I used a lot of products to get a fairly simple look. To me, it's all about having the most flawless base and then building up the extras (i.e. eyes, lips, cheeks) around that perfected complexion. One day, I swear, I'll have to do a FOTD using minimal products. I promise I can do it! 

FOTD: New Products!

Featured in a recent haul, were a bunch of products from theBalm that I picked up from Hautelook. Using a bunch of products from that haul, I came up with this look:

As I mentioned above, a great deal of the products I used for this FOTD were from that Hautelook haul of theBalm. I got a good deal of the quality of the products from this FOTD and I've been using them more frequently as of late. I'll try and give y'all an idea of what I think of these products 

click below to read/see more

Hautelook Haul: theBalm

Hautelook had a sale on "theBalm" a couple of weeks ago. Too many times has theBalm escaped my grasps, and a sale on Hautelook is just too good to pass up. Everything I got was seriously discounted!

I haven't had a chance to really try any of these products yet but I fully intend on doing some more in-depth reviews once I've gotten a better feel for the products

This is mostly a first impressions and swatches post

click below to read more (+ swatches)

Another Beauty Wishlist

1. Dior Hydra Life BB cream (SPF 30):  I have been very into BB creams lately. For the past 2 months or so, I have been using the Garnier Skin Renew BB cream non-stop (full review here). I've also heard that Maybelline and L'Oreal are coming out with their own BB creams that will hitting the shelves in Canada in July. However, I have been very tempted by the Dior Hydra Life BB cream - I've just heard the most amazing things about this product, and the SPF 30 doesn't hurt its cause.


2. Dior Rosy Glow - healthy glow awakening blush: Apparently this blush "adjusts" to the perfect colour to suit your skin colour. Even if that is the case, I think this blush looks like the most lovely true pink colour. Almost all of the blushes I have lean more towards the coral end of the spectrum - I don't own any nice bright pink blushes. Dior wouldn't be a bad place to start...


3. Dior 5-Colour eyeshadow in Earth Reflection: I'm going a little wish-crazy with the Dior products, I know; but, Dior has a reputation for not only being one of the finest Haute Couture fashion design houses, but also the creator of fabulous cosmetics. Their 5-colour eyeshadow palettes are, according to the divine Lisa Eldridge, the best eyeshadows on the market.


4. Clarins Liquid Bronze self tanner: I love being tan, but I don't want to damage my skin for the future or get skin cancer. I've heard this self tanner is a really great product, especially for the face. 


5. Clinique Airbrush concealer: Another because -of-Lisa Eldrige want. I'm trying to use up the last of my YSL Touche Eclat and Rimmel Match Perfection concealers, and then this Clinique concealer will be mine!

6. Stella McCartney Stella eau de parfum: Vivianna Does Makeup recently did a blog post about how this is her new favourite perfume for summer (her blog post here). I honestly haven't even smelt thsi perfume yet, but I covet everything Miss Vivianna talks about, so naturally, I put this perfume on my wishlist without even the faintest clue if I'll like it.


7. Phyto Volume Maximizing shampoo: 

Just reading the description of this product will explain why I want it. I have very fine hair so I have been looking for hair products lately to provide my hair with more body and volume.


8. Lush Ocean Salt cleanser: As far as I know, this product can be used on the face and on the body. It's basically a deep cleanser/exfoliant - I've heard it's a good scrub to use on the body before applying fake tan. It's also one of Lush's best-selling products.


9. Lush BIG shampoo: Yet another shampoo that promises volume and body for your hair. Another one of Lush's best-selling products. I have been wanting to try this product for a long time, especially after watching MissGlamorazzi's favorite Lush products video.


10. Clarins Instant Light Natural lip perfector in 02 Apricot Shimmer: between a gloss and a balm, this is the only lipgloss I have tried that literally isn't "sticky". I have one  already in a pink colour, and it just leaves my lips with the loveliest hint of pink. They smells good and they moisturize the lips. I'm looking forward to trying this peachy shade in the near future. 


11. Chanel Illusion d'Ombre in Emerveille: this product is basically a cream eyeshadow. It's the most beauty pinky-champagne colour. It would be such a luxury product


A girl can dream...


xoxoDarlingBuds 

Beauty Wishlist