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

A Collective Haul for Y'all

Shoppers Drug Mart had another points bonus on and I actually needed a few things (not pictured) so I did a bit more damage.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream - seriously a miracle product. You can use this anywhere you have any dry patches for extra refreshment. 
Hawaiian Tropic Dark Tanning Oil - I gotta be tan this summer, and this is a good starter. I use sunscreen on my face and shoulders, but the tanning oil goes everywhere else to make me nice and bronzed
Speaking of bronzed...
Physicians Formula Bronze Booster - another powder bronzer. My rimmel bronzer finally died (I dropped it and it shattered). This bronzer was super duper on sale (more than 50% off) so I decided to give it a try since I've heard good things
Biore Deep Pore cleansing strips - for those pesky blackheads. Biore's new packaging really threw me off, I was looking for the usually green and pink packaging. Not anymore!
Q-Tips - I prefer the life brand cotton buds, but Shoppers was all sold out. Q-Tips are seriously the best beauty tool: clean up eye makeup, clean up lipstick, sometimes I even use Q-Tips to apply liquid concealer. Definitely a product most people don't think about as super useful, but I could not live without them
Maybelline MEGA PLUSH mascara - a newbie mascara from the drugstore. I've been using this for a couple of days already; I also used this mascara in my latest FOTD. This mascara is already up for review (mascara problems)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


On a different day, I ended up making another trip to the drugstore to pick up a couple of necessity items. I strayed a little bit and also picked up these...

• Two essie nail polishes: Navigate Her (green) and A Crewed Interest (peachy-pink)
• The new Maybelline BB cream. I haven't had a chance to try this out yet, but I'll definitely let y'all know what I think about this
• Revlon PhotoReady Airbrush foundation. I've used this once already and my first impressions were not that great. The colour is super orange/yellow tinted and I had a lot of difficulty blending it out. On me, it clung to any dry patches or imperfections on the skin. It also has a really funky smell. I'm going to keep using it to see if I can make it work
• L'Oréal Perfect Blondissima hair bleach. I want to dye the ends of my hair bright blonde. I'm going to start off with this bleaching kit and then see if I need to top it off with a platinum blonde hair dye over top

I hope everything works out 


xoxoDarlingBuds


p.s. I think my new favourite word is "peachy-pink"

May Lovelies

I'm sorry this is late, but better late than never, right?

LOVELIES

Shoppers & Lush Haul

Canadians rejoice! This past weekend was 20X the optimum points at Shoppers Drug Mart! I always save up my shopping list of necessities for this joyous day. Apart from picking up some basics (toothbrush, toothpaste, kleenex, etc.) The 20X the optimum points event is also the perfect time to mosey on through the Beauty Boutique...and that's what I did. I also stopped by Lush because my skin has been being a little bitch lately, and I can always count on Lush for a handy-dandy face mask to make everything better.

click below to read/see more...

Anxiously Awaiting...

A lot of beauty blogs based in the UK and the United States have really been really teasing me lately. It seems that all other countries except Canada have already released these awesome new products...

The Revlon "Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains" resemble the Clinique Chubby Sticks. According to many sources, they are even better than the oh-so-loved Revlon Lip Butters. Revlon has really been stepping up their game lately, and these balm stains look so cute! I can't wait to try them

Another lip product that has been tickling my fancy are the L'Oreal Caresse lipsticks. They are supposed to be L'Oreal's answer to the Revlon Lip Butters -- AGAIN, another lip butter "dupe". Obviously the head honchos behind new beauty products have discovered that people are super into sheerer lip products that still offer good colour payoff, à la Chanel Rouge Coco Shine.

Once these products finally hit Canadian shelves, the next problem I'll be facing is which colours to get. Until then...

xoxoDarlingBuds

NOTD featuring Revlon

In truth, this is actually a "Nail of Last Week." In all fairness though, I had this colour on for a good long while, so it's still sort of relevant...?