Too Faced Love Light Prismatic Highlighters Review (Ray of Light and Blinded by the Light)

I'm so glad I finally got a chance to sit down and properly write a blog post. It's been a while that I've gotten the opportunity to take some good quality makeup photos. I've been in a bit of a rut lately with the blog, and with work, I haven't had the chance to photograph anything. Photographing makeup has always been one of my favourite things to do. I've been branching out to taking photos of other things lately (like cars), and I've really been enjoying that. Because of Easter long weekend, I decided to take the time to finally take pictures and review the Too Faced Love Light Prismatic Highlighters that I purchased. 

I purchased these a while ago when they first released, and haven't even used them until now. 

Blinded by the Light is has a gorgeous white gold packaging. The packaging of the products is what sold me. I instantly knew I needed to have these highlighters in my life based on the packaging haha. 

UGH. It's just so pretty. The pretty cuts into the highlighter, like a diamond, makes it that more pretty.

I couldn't resist. I swatched it before I took photos, so that's why it's not as pristine as it should be. This is probably the first time I used a product before photographing it first haha. 

This one is probably my favourite, just because it's pink. It's like a nostalgic product because I have major Sailor Moon vibes when I look at it. It reminds me so much of the compact she has to transform.

Simply gorgeous.

As pretty as these highlighters are, they were a bit underwhelming for me. The colour payoff is there, but it doesn't shine like a thousand suns. It's a very densely pressed powder, so maybe that's why it doesn't meet my standards like the Becca shimmering skin perfectors do. You really need a deep swatch to show the pretty glimmer of this highlighter. It's very subtle, so it's not the worst highlighter I've used. Blinded by the light is my favourite of the two. It's a really pretty white gold, and with a heavy hand, it looks absolutely amazing. Ray of light may just be too dark to look good on me. If anything, it would be a good shimmer bronzer, or even a blush. It goes to show that just because the packaging is amazing, doesn't mean the product will be! 

Twitter | Youtube | Bloglovin

Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Nude Lip Review + Swatches (2017)

Sephora Favorites sets will be the death of me. I can't help but be drawn into purchasing them. They're always worth the money for what you get, and they always have awesome things in them! I'm pretty sure they had a Give Me Some Nude lip set previously, but this was the first nude set I picked up. 

Introducing the Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Nude Lip set.

YAASSS. I love this shot. I instantly fell in love with each shade. This is the perfect, pretty nude lip set you can purchase. It ranges from pale nudes, pinks, to browns. We get two full sized products, and 4 deluxe sizes for only $33CAN.

Buxom Full On Lip Cream in "White Russian" - Deluxe Size

This is actually my absolute favourite of the Buxom Full On Lip Creams. I've tried the Buxom Lip Cream and this shade previously in other Sephora Favorites and also from a Buxom holiday set. This nude pink is to die for. The formula for the lip cream is also amazing in itself. It's sheer, yet pigmented, and I LIVE for the tingly sensation the lip cream has. The plumping is in full effect with this lip cream, and it's the perfect lip topper for any lipstick. I would for sure pair this with something, because it could look a bit streaky on its own.

Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Matte Lipstick in "Queen B" - Deluxe Size

I honestly feel these deluxe size products are quite generous. I have so many lipsticks that I don't think I've ever finished one yet. This is like the perfect size for me, so at least I can finish a product without it going to waste. This is my first time trying a Too Faced Melted matte lipstick. I've tried their other liquid lipstick in the past (the one in the squeeze tube), and I quite liked it. The shade is soft mauve and it's absolute gorgeous. Definitely my kind of mauve. The formula is very lightweight and it dries completely matte. I would make sure to moisturize your lips before wearing this, as it can appear to suck the life out of your lips. It's super super drying, which can be a good or bad thing depending on what you want in a liquid lipstick.

Marc Jacobs Le Marc Creme Lipstick in "Slow Burn" - Deluxe Size

It was such a coincidence to me that Marc Jacobs would make liquid lipsticks, and the one shade I decided to buy, would be the exact same shade in this lip set. Bummer for me. At least I know that I love this shade though. Slow Burn is a very pretty creamy nude rose shade, and it is just the perfect nude pink. I love the creamy moisturizing formula that the Marc Jacobs lipsticks have, and the pigmentation on these lipsticks are outstanding. No tugging or pulling on your lips here. It glides on effortlessly.

Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick in "Honeycomb" - Deluxe Size

This is actually another lipstick that I own, so in a way, I probably shouldn't have purchased this lipstick set. In the end, the price of the two full size products exceeded the price of the whole lipstick set, so I feel like I got my moneys worth with this set. Honeycomb is a super pretty beige nude. It's a bit peachy as well, and is honestly one of the creamiest lipsticks I've used. Bite Beauty doesn't skimp on moisture with their Amuse Bouche Lipsticks. Check out the look I created with this lipstick and Bite Beauty's new Lip Pencils in my previous post.

Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in "1993" - Full Size

I've actually been eyeing this lipstick for the longest time. I know it's quite the popular medium brown within the beauty community, and I totally see why. It's such a gorgeous brown. The perfect between light and dark. I feel like it has a tinge of red to it that makes it totally wearable for any season, and also as an everyday shade. The matte formula for this lipstick is amazing. It's not drying at all, and the colour payoff is outstanding.

The Estee Edit The Barest Contour Lip Liner in "In the Buff" - Full Size

This super creamy lip liner is perfect for preventing your lipstick from feathering, or for the perfect lip contour. Picking a dark shade than normal and applying your favourite nude lipstick will provide a cool multi-dimensional effect. I personally love the shade on its own. It's a very soft brown with a hint of mauve to it.

All the nudes in their glory. My favourite has got to be Marc Jacobs "Slow Burn" and Urban Decay "1993".

What are your thoughts on Sephora Favorites sets?

Twitter | Youtube | Bloglovin

Too Faced x Kat Von D Better Together Ultimate Eye Collection Review

Hello friends. Of course one of my last purchases of 2016 had to be this exclusive collaboration between Too Faced and Kat Von D. When I first heard about the collaboration through the beauty community, I couldn't have been more excited. I recently immersed myself in the Kat Von D Beauty world and instantly fell in love. I so far have been loving anything from her brand, and to see her collab with another beauty brand, made me love her that much more. It's rare to see two brands merge together, considering they're technically competing against each other. 

The edgy bold-ness of Kat Von D Beauty meets the bubbly, pink and pretty style of Too Faced. It's perfectly captured in this awesome dual palette. I absolutely love that the palette is stuck together magnetically, and can be separated easily into two. 

The Too Faced side came with 6 eyeshadow shades featuring 2 mattes and 3 shimmery ones. Also, you get a full sized Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara! The mascara itself is already $30 regular price, so that almost covers about half the price of the set! 

I adore the gold accent on the pink packaging. 

I haven't used a Too Faced palette in a long long time, considering I own two of them. I recall loving the formula of the eyeshadows, but this one was.. okay.

The thing that I was disappointed with was the mattes. They were very dry and chalky, and I definitely don't see myself using the pink eyeshadow. The shade that had the best colour payoff was "friendspiration" which was a very pretty copper bronze. Heart of Gold was a second favourite, an absolutely pretty bright  pale yellow gold. From what I remember, my Too Faced palettes used to be my favourite, so it was a bit disappointing to see that this one was a bit of a downer. 

Being a new KVD Beauty enthusiast, I was most excited about this side of the collection. I actually purchased the Kat Von D Shade + Light eye palette at IMATS, and have yet to swatch it or use it. LOL. Yeah, it sometimes takes me a while to find time to play with my makeup. What I love most about this side is the versatility in the shades, and the fact it came with a full size of my new holy grail eyeliner. I get compliments everytime I do a winged liner, because this eyeliner does the job so well. 

The signature silver on black. I can spot a Kat Von D product from a mile away.

I noticed on the palette that it said "Vol. 1" as in volume 1. Should we expect another collaboration in the near future??

I live for these shades. The red is kind of out there, and a bit out of place, but I will try to make it work because of how pretty it is. 

The Kat Von D eyeshadows hit it out of the ballpark for me. The colour payoff was amazing, and the matte shades had depth and rarely needed effort to get a good swipe. The stars of this side were definitely darling, swoon and devotion. I have never seen a black eyeshadow so black. Swoon was gorgeous, but I just need to find a way to use it without making my eyes look like I have a rash haha.

With both of these palettes swatched side by side, I only see a few colour combinations that could work together, if I were to use both palettes at once. I felt like they should have worked out shades that could literally be "better together". I feel like most people would be using the two palettes as their own, rather than mixing shades from both. 

Overall, I found the palette to be worth it; if you're new to trying both Kat Von D and Too Faced products. The shades aren't that different from previous palettes, so I can see why a lot of people didn't bother to pick this up. Being a make-up hoarder that I am, I love that I own this palette and it's in my collection. It's uniqueness and the whole idea of collaborating has sold me for sure.

What two beauty brands are you hoping will collaborate together one day?

Twitter | Youtube | Bloglovin

Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Lip 2016 Review + Swatches

I'm super late with this review, considering you can't purchase this set anymore, but I figured I would do a review on each of the lipsticks anyways, so you can always find them in my Product Directory.

Sometime before fall, Sephora released this super cute lip product set. I am a sucker for value sets, because of course, you get a bunch of items for a great price. Despite getting deluxe samples, these sets are awesome for trying out products before purchasing the full size. If you ever went through my make-up collection, you could see that I have an obsession with deluxe size products. The Sephora Favourites Give Me Some Lip set comes with 6 lip products; 4 being deluxe sized and 2 being full sized. 

Too Faced Melted Chihuahua (deluxe size)

I purchased my first Too Faced Melted Liquid Lipstick back when it first released, and I did love the formula. This one in particular seemed a bit watery, but it could of been because I didn't shake it up first.

Melted Chihuahua is a dusty mauve that goes great with many skintones.

Lancome Juicy Shaker in "Boom Meringue" (full size)

This was one of the two full sized products in the set. I was actually quite intrigued by the packaging when I first heard of the juicy shaker, so I was happy to see it in the set. The packaging is fun and cute, and the idea of shaking it like a drink shaker made it fun. The product itself, is a bit underwhelming considering there is little to no colour pay off. 

The sweet lemon scent is addicting, while the product felt good on my lips. By itself, it just looks like I applied lip balm. I used this with a lip liner, and though my lips looked great at the beginning of the day, within a few hours, the gloss basically vanished, leaving my lips feeling naked and dry. For $28, it's quite steep, considering there's not much pigmentation to show for. I'll still use it for days I want a little gloss, but for days I need all day shine, I'll pass on this.

NARS Satin Lip Pencil in "Rikugien" (deluxe size)

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but I hate any sort of "pencil" lipstick. I'm just not a fan of chubby pencils/crayons. I prefer my lipsticks in a tube or as a liquid lipstick. I do enjoy the shade and texture of the NARS Satin Lip Pencil though, so I guess I could look pass my hatred on the lip product type. 

Rikugien is a warm rose pink, with a nice sparkle to it. The product isn't long lasting on the lips, and though it's hydrating at first, as it fades, your lips do feel quite dry.

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in "Lovecraft" (deluxe size)

I tried this lipstick previously when I purchased the Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick Set back in 2014. The formulas for the Studded Kiss lipsticks are a bit hit or miss; some being more drying than others.

Lovecraft is a gorgeous nude mauve pink, and the product glides on effortlessly. Definitely one of my favourite shades from the Lipstick set from 2014, and one of my favourites from this one as well.

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in "Rose" (deluxe size)

I always love receiving these in Sephora's lip sets. They smell amazing. If you're into lemon scents, you will be obsessed with these.

Not only is the formula for these lip balms amazing, but the scent is just, ahhh. So good. It glides on like butter and does a great job moisturizing. I love that there is a hint of colour to brighten up your face on those days you don't want to put much effort into your make-up. 

Smashbox Always On Matte Liquid Lipstick in "Stepping Out" (full size)

Here is the second full size product, and I couldn't have been happier to see that it was a liquid lipstick. I was looking forward to seeing this in a lip set, since I wanted to try out the formula before making any purchases. To my surprise as well, it would be a full size! Such a great deal considering the whole set itself is $33, and this lip product on its own is $28.

Stepping Out is a very fall appropriate deep nude. I love the pinky/brick/terracotta vibe it has. The formula doesn't feel drying, and it dries fairly quickly. Very comfortable! I will definitely be purchasing more shades, now that I know I love the formula.

Overall, I loved this years Sephora Favourites Give Me Some Lip. It's always a great value, and a great way to try new lip products without breaking the bank! Look forward to the abundance of Sephora gift sets coming out for this fall/holiday season!

If you plan on purchasing anything from Sephora, or from many other awesome online retailers, why not earn cash back while you shop? If you're not already signed up with Ebates, click the link below and start earning 4% cash back at Sephora (sometimes even 8%), or even on Amazon, Forever 21, and more. Honestly, I'm not even getting paid to say this, I just truly believe Ebates offers a great opportunity to get money back on something you do all the time; shop online. So far, I've gotten back $16 in the past 2 months, just buying stuff online. Not to shabby! 

Thanks for reading, as always :) Twitter | Youtube | Bloglovin

Too Faced Born This Way Concealer Review

Sometimes, it's good to give products a second chance, because opinions may change on your next attempt. That's what I felt with the Too Faced Born This Way Concealer. I received this product for free when I attended Generation Beauty Toronto, which was awesome considering it hasn't been released to the public yet! 

I haven't used the Born This Way foundation yet, but considering how much I now love this concealer, I will be purchasing it!

Lets get into the details about this concealer. The one thing that stood out to me is that the concealer is made with coconut water, which helps delicately replenish skin's moisture levels without over hydrating. And get this, IT SMELLS LIKE COCONUT. I was shocked when I opened the product and smelt it. It's absolutely mouthwatering, if you like coconut. 

The concealer is also oil free, and has hyaluronic acid in it, which provides a smoother, long-lasting, youthful appearance. It's also infused with alpine rose, which promotes skin elasticity and brighten's the skins appearance.

The packaging is also pretty darn cute.

There are 10 shades in the concealer collection, ranging from very fair to deep. I was colour matched to receive the shade "medium", which I thought to be a little too dark for me, but you'll see how it looks in the end. The product is quite runny compared to most concealers I enjoy using. It's not too watery, but it's not creamy either. A little in between I suppose. 

It feels extremely light on the skin, and blends like a dream. I currently use Estee Lauder's Double Wear concealer, and that stuff is super creamy, but dries too fast. This stuff is a lot more liquid-y (not even a real word), and stays wet until you blend it out. 

Before I go on with the actual wear of the product, I'll explain how my first review for this concealer was suppose to go. I apply my primer, then my foundation, and then my concealer. The first few times I wore this concealer I did it in that exact order, and the concealer didn't stay put. I guess because my foundation (Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation) dries completely matte to an almost powder finish, the concealer slipped. It looked really bad after only 4 hours, and the areas around my nose were completely rubbed off. My face was super oily in the areas I applied the concealer, way more than normal. I hated the concealer, but I decided to try a different way and give it another chance. I really wanted to like it, and now, it's my absolute favourite.

Here I am with no make-up. I have discolouration around my eyes, redness around my nose and cheeks, and some acne here and there.

Ugh, those pores.

This time around, I applied my primer, and then the concealer. No foundation as my second step. 

I applied it everywhere that I thought I would need it. 

Here is the concealer blended out. It's definitely medium to full coverage, and it didn't feel heavy at all. The concealer is super lightweight! I felt like I wasn't wearing anything. 

I could of used more on my nose and maybe on my cheeks, but otherwise it was flawless. It does a good job of covering your imperfections, but looking completely natural. It gives you the natural looking, radiant skin, which is what the concealer was meant to do. I have occasional dry patches on my skin, and the concealer did a good job at concealing but hydrating those spots.

Final Verdict?

It's a win in my books. The concealer worked significantly better when I applied it first instead of my foundation first. It could be because my foundation makes my face matte, whereas this concealer hydrates your face. It wore for over 8 hours with my foundation, and the area around my nose (which usually comes off first because I always rub my nose) was still there by the end of the night. It's quite steep at $39, but if you're looking for a good concealer that feels light, but provides natural looking, full coverage, you definitely need to try this. The concealer will be released on the Too Faced website, and possibly Sephora, on June 15, 2016.

Twitter | Youtube | Bloglovin