Colourpop No Filter Collection Review (Light 70, Medium 90, Medium Pressed Powder, Banana Powder, Translucent Powder)

Besides lip products, my favourite products to review are face products. I love doing foundation reviews, because foundation is literally the "foundation" to the whole look! Hahahaha, that was pretty lame. I have a very problematic face, so I'm always on the hunt for a better foundation. 100% of the time, my face is oily AF, sometimes I have dry patches, and sometimes my pores are so large, you can mistaken my face for the moon.

I've only ever tried Colourpop liquid lipsticks and eyeshadows, and as much as I love the product, I never saw myself reaching for them as often as the "higher end' stuff I own. Higher end as in; more pricey and luxurious I guess. The foundation looked promising, and I'm always up for trying a new foundation. My current favourites over the last few months have been the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Foundation and the Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation. Fenty is my #1 go to, but I didn't feel like spending over $40 on foundation, so I went back to my holy grail, never fail foundation; the Maybelline Fit Me. I've been using it for years, and have repurchased it time and time again, and it never lets me down. It's my all time favourite drug store foundation.

When I saw that Colourpop was coming out with more face products (besides the concealer) I knew I had to try it. I purchased two shades of foundation, because the guide they offered put me under both the shade Light 70, and Medium 90. You can find the shade guide on their Instagram page! 

I also purchased the Sheer Pressed Powder in the shade "medium" and both the translucent powder and the banana powder. The pressed powder was surprisingly "white" for a medium shade, and it did make me look a tad whiter when I used it. The banana powder was very yellow, but a very nice fine powder, that didn't dry out my face when I used it. The translucent powder didn't add a white cast on my face, but I also felt it didn't make a huge difference in controlling my oil or setting my face.

The colour looks super yellow here, but it wasn't as yellow on my skin, and it blended very nicely. 

Translucent Powder

Medium Sheer Pressed Powder

Personally, I felt I could do without the Translucent Setting Powder, as I felt it didn't do too much for me, and same with the Matte Pressed Powder, which seemed quite light for a medium shade. 

For the foundation shades, I noticed that Light 70 was too light, and Medium 90 was too dark. They had an 80 shade that I totally wish I got instead. Mixing the shades definitely makes the perfect shade for me though, so that's what I've been doing for the past few weeks. The foundation is very watery, but man is it pigmented. A little really goes a long way with this foundation. The one thing I disliked about the packaging though was the fact their wasn't a lid! I love that there's a pump, but the pump doesn't have a lid, so it kind of looks incomplete.

Some better lighting to see the true shades of colour. On the left is Light 70, and on the right we have Medium 90. You can see that the Light 70 is more neutral, and Medium 90 is more yellow.  Combined together, the shade is perfect for me! 

Using it for the first week, I absolutely loved the finished look with all three products. It was wearable for more than 6 hours, but past that mark, it looked horrendous! My pores were showing and I looked super oily. I stopped using the pressed powder and the loose powder, to determine if it was the foundation, and I still had the same result.

I really wanted to give this foundation another shot, because for the price, you can't go wrong. The following week I decided to switch out my primer. Originally I was using the Smashbox primer, and then I switched to the Dr Brandt Pores No More primer. What a difference it made! I guess the combination with the Smashbox primer and the foundation, made my face extra oily, but with the Pores No More, it held up for more than 6 hours, and I didn't have to blot my face til about the 7 hour mark. Even at that point, the blotting sheet had barely any oil on it. My favourite thing to do is use the loose banana powder under my eyes, brush it all off, and then use the sheer pressed powder to set it all. I wasn't a huge fan of the translucent loose powder, as I felt it didn't make a difference in controlling my oil. I continued using my current favourite loose setting powder which is the Too Faced Peach Perfect Powder.

Final thoughts? This is probably one of my all time favourite foundations now. I love the huge selection of shades, and the fact the shade is absolutely perfect for me. This is the closest shade I've matched myself with, for any foundation I've owned! Most times foundation shades are slightly too dark for me, but I use a lot of powder to kind of balance it out. It is definitely medium to full coverage, or you can sheer it out if you have a very damp Beauty Blender. You barely need any foundation to get good coverage, so it will definitely last you a while. The sheer pressed powder is probably a pass on repurchasing, because I feel it didn't make a huge difference whether I used it or not. I'm more of a loose powder person anyways. It'll probably sit in my purse as a powder I can use for touch ups, but besides that, I won't buy it again. I love the banana loose powder though, as it looked amazing and did a great job brightening my under eyes. I like the translucent loose powder, but it wasn't any better than an other loose setting powder. I'll probably stick to my favourites I already have.

Have you tried any Colourpop products? Let me know your favourites!

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H&M Beauty True Matte Finishing Powder Review (Warm Beige)

Getting to the end of my overhaul of H&M products, we finish off with a type of product I use on a daily basis. Finishing powders are an oily skinned girl's best friend. I had super high hopes that this product would be awesome for me, and well, it was just.. okay. 

Again we get to the price point. $12.99 is pretty awesome for a finishing powder, but is that price a little steep for a product that doesn't offer anything different from other drug store brands? 

For a shade called "warm beige" it came off very light and a bit chalky. 

It blended into my skin nicely, but it didn't have the staying power of other finishing powders I've owned. It sets my make-up, but it doesn't keep me from getting oily throughout the day. I guess this product would work for those with combination skin. I think dry skinned folks would have an issue with the chalky look. Again, this isn't a wow-ing product to me, so it's nothing cool or different from other drug store powders I own. 

This product was sent to me for reviewing and testing purposes.

All opinions are my own.

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The Present By Scott Barnes for Motives Review

When I first saw this product on my mom's vanity, I thought to myself "I must have it!" It's such a brilliant way to have an everything palette compacted into one tiny little present. Was it well executed though? Let us break it down. 

Today I will be doing a review on the The Present By Scott Barnes for Motives. Now this is no where near a new and innovative product. It's been out for a few years now, and being a make-up hoarder, I just found it in my collection haha. Have I ever used it? Nope, just swatched a few of the colours. 

What "the present" really is, is a compact, stacked, all-in-one make-up palette with a variety of shades and colours, to create many looks. 

The one that I will be reviewing is called "Smokey Nights".

Here it is in all its glory. It's very small that you can throw in your purse, but not flat enough to have in your make-up bag. 

It even comes with a mirror on the lid! They really came up with everything didn't they.

The eyeshadow quad:

Swatches:

To be honest, these eyeshadows were pretty disappointing. It took a lot of vigorous rubbing (not in that way you perv) to get a good swatch out of each of them, and the only one that really showed up the best was the copper/orange shade. 

The concealer quad:

Swatches:

Now I don't see why they would give you 4 different concealer shades, because in reality, only one of them is going to work for your skin. I guess this was the only way they could make this palette work for all skin types, but it's really just a waste of concealers that won't be used. It would be understandable if you were a make-up artist or something and this was in your kit, then all the colours would come in handy. The concealers were really nice though, very smooth and melted to the touch. Super creamy and didn't crease much besides the lightest peach shade.

Blush Duo:

Swatches:

Again with the powdery-ness and lack of pigmentation. I really think it has something to do with the design on the powders. It was difficult to get a nice clean swatch without having to go over it with my finger a few times to get good colour pay off.

The Translucent Powder:

Swatch:

For a translucent powder, it still came off very white, which led me to think that this would leave a terrible white cast on my skin. 

The lip gloss quad:

Swatches:

I was actually surprised to find out that these were lip glosses and not lip creams/lipsticks. They colour for these were very nice, but they were a bit sticky/tacky, but to be expected. 

Overall, Motives had a great idea for a product, but it wasn't that well executed. I felt the powders (eyeshadows, blushes, powder) could have been made better, or maybe it was the design on the powder that threw it all off. Otherwise, it's actually a great idea, and would be a wonderful "present" for those looking to start trying make-up, or who want an all-in-one palette. 

If you're interested in purchasing The Present by Scott Barnes or any other Motives Cosmetics make-up, click here!

This post contains affiliate links.

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My Favourite MAC Products

One of my favourite brands to photograph has always been MAC. It must be the simplicity in the packaging, or the curves of each product. Anyways, I thought "what would be more fitting than a favourite MAC products post". So, here we are. These are products I would repurchase over and over again in a heart beat (minus one being limited edition).

My Favourite MAC Products

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in "Medium Deep"

By the way, I used a mini stapler to help keep this compact up haha. Being an oily skinned girl, finishing powders are my best friend. The Mac Mineralize Skinfinish sits at the top as being one of my all time favourite finishing powders. It leaves my skin looking matte without being too cakey, and it looks completely natural. 

I've been using the same compact for maybe.. 2 years now? Don't really know the shelf life for this product, but it seems to work fine til this day. A little sure does go a long way.

A bit on the pricey side than most powders I know, but for the amount of time I've been using it, it's totally worth it.

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in "NC35"

I really need to figure out a new set up for taking pictures, because I really hate how yellow this concealer looks. It's really more nude beige in person. I've actually been in the market for a new concealer, and wanted to try a new one from MAC, but my cousin told me that the pro longwear is the best from them. I couldn't agree more. This concealer is amazing in so many ways. It works great for the under eye area because it doesn't crease, and it lives up to its "longwear" name. I only use this concealer on my pimples and blemishes, and it does a great job blending into my foundation and looking completely natural. It has medium coverage that is quite buildable. You can always add more and it'll never get too dry or caked up.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in "C4.5"

Once again, this foundation is more nude beige in person with a hint of pink undertones, so don't let the picture fool you, I'm not that yellow in real life! This was my all time favourite foundation to wear for the summer last year, and it's absolutely amazing. Not only is it one of my favourite MAC products, it's one of my favourite products of all time. I use this foundation for days I want to look super flawless because of it's buildable coverage formula. It leaves my skin looking beautiful and matte, and has a pretty long lasting power for about 6+ hours on a good day. 

My Favourite MAC Lipsticks

I wish I could of put all my MAC lipsticks on here, but there's just too many. I love photographing MAC lipsticks. So simple, yet each shade is just as amazing as the next. 

MAC Heroine (matte finish), Syrup (lustre finish), and Kelly Yum Yum (satin finish)

I love wearing MAC Heroine every season of the year. It's the lipstick that screams "hey look at me, I'm awesome" with it's super vibrant purple flare.

Syrup is the more quiet shade, very natural, very subtle. A simple muted pink/brown that would work for many skin tones. 

Now Kelly Yum Yum is a vibrant hot pink that screams for attention. My go to summer shade last year. Being limited edition, it isn't available for purchase anymore, but it's fraternal twin "Candy Yum Yum" is in MAC's permanent line. I fell in love with the purple packaging from the Kelly Osborne make-up line so I had to pick up this lipstick. 

Swatches in natural light:

I love that MAC has a huge line of lipsticks with different types of finishes, yet the formulation is always consistent with their lipsticks. I don't know one person who has a MAC lipstick they didn't like (or maybe I just haven't run into that person yet).

Swatches with flash:

What are your favourite MAC products?

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