Collective Haul

I got all these things in the past week and thought I would share them with you guys, along with a little review on them. I don't have pictures though, just because I'm too lazy to take pictures, but I will take some pictures and do swatches of some of the stuff later.

First I want to talk about mineral makeup. I'm officially over BB creams, and moved on to mineral makeup now. I started off with trying out the bareMinerals Matte SPF 15 Foundation in golden medium. I actually meant to get the golden light shade, but I somehow picked up the wrong one, but it's not too much darker than my skin tone, especially since it's summer and I will tan a bit. I also got the bareMinerals Hydrating Mineral Veil. The foundation is very lightweight and has very light coverage, which is fine with me because I don't really need that much coverage. When I want more coverage, I just go back to my BB creams, and then buff this on top of it. Then I conceal, and use the Mineral Veil. The foundation does keep my t-zone area nice and matte all day, which was the main reason why I ended up choosing the matte finish one. The Mineral Veil is slightly shimmery, but goes on unnoticeable. It sets all my makeup very well. I'm not sure if it really is hydrating though. I have also just placed an order on Signature Minerals mineral makeup, as well as Everyday Minerals mineral makeup because of how much I love using mineral makeup now. I also have this Physicians Formula Powder Palette Mineral Glow Pearls in Translucent Pearl that I picked up at the drugstore. It comes with a bottom compartment which has a brush in there, although I never use that brush, because I just don't like the feel of it. The palette looks mainly pink, but it has parts that are darker and more brown and parts that are lighter pink. I like using this as a highlighter on my cheekbones and nose. It is really shimmery, but gives a really subtle highlight... It doesn't really make sense, but I like it, except its probably not the best highlighter out there.

Speaking of highlighters, I finally got the Benefit High Beam to try out, and I have to say, this probably is my favourite highlighter I've ever had. I just love the way it looks on my skin!

I also finally got the NARS Orgasm blush that everybody raves about. I had the cream blush before, but that never really worked for me. I just don't really like cream blushes, but I got it that time because Sephora was out of the pressed blush. I absolutely love the colour of this blush. And as with all NARS blushes, they are highly pigmented and last all day. I love them!

Moving on, I got this Palgantong Make-Up Theatrical Powder in Clear White. Apparently a lot of celebrities use it, which is why I got it.... I don't know though, I haven't used it much, except to set my makeup sometimes, but I feel like it doesn't really do anything, and it definitely doesn't work nearly as well as bareMinerals mineral veil or Mac mineralize skin finish, so I can't say much about it. The powder is white, but it goes on completely clear. And it is very fine and smooth.

While I was at the drug store, I also picked up two cheapo lip balm/gloss things. I don't know what I'd call them. From Nivea. One of them is Nivea Fruity Shine in Strawberry, and the other is Nivea Glamorous Gloss in Natural. The Fruity Shine smells amazing! But I don't like the colour. It's a shame that they don't show the colour on the packaging or anything... I was expecting a little hint of red that would look like I just sucked on a popsicle or something. Well I guess it could be a really red popsicle... I don't like the colour on me though, because it's much too dark and red/pink, so I've only used it like, once. It does go on really smooth and it isn't sticky at all though which I like. I am considering giving it to my mom since she likes redder lipsticks, but she's also too lazy to wear lipstick usually, so this would probably suit her better. The Glamorous Gloss again, didn't show anywhere on the packaging what it would look like. The tube is a really light pink and I love the colour, and I just assumed that the gloss would be coloured similar to the tube. But, the gloss is more like a very, very pale peach, and very close to being just a clear gloss. I like the smell of it, and it isn't sticky at all, but I think it does make my lips kind of dry, so I haven't been using that much either.

Now for Milani's HD Advanced Concealer that I mentioned last time. I got this in the lighter shade, which is perfect for under my eyes. It works like a click pen, with a clicking thing at the end. I don't like how the clicker works though because it usually takes quite a few clicks before anything starts coming out, so I get impatient and madly click and then end up getting too much product. The formula itself is very lightweight and coverage is kind of on the light side, but it somehow still covers up my undereye circles pretty well and brightens them. It isn't good enough to cover up blemishes though. It lasts most of the day, but not all day. By the end of the day, the inner corners of my eyes, which are the darkest areas, would look so dark and horrid.

On to the NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencils, I got 6 of them, in Iced Mocha, Pure Gold, Cottage Cheese, Black Bean, Pots & Pans, and Purple. These are super pigmented and glide on really easily and are sooooo smooth and easy to blend. The only problem I have with them is that they smudge. And crease. But that happens with most cream eyeshadows. I have tried using these as a makeup base, and overall they work okay as a base. They certainly do make colours adhere and pop more and last longer but I still have a little bit of problem with the creasing, but that can be easily fixed with just a smudge with the finger. Also worth mentioning, is that these are cruelty free.

And since I'm talking about cruelty free, I just got this eyeliner from Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencils, in Bourbon. I actually had one before, but I used up the whole thing! I am in love with Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliners. They go on so easily and smooth, and they look amazing, and last all day. This is actually the first time I've ever used up an entire eyeliner pencil and had to buy another one of the exact same thing. I love them so much. I will do a more complete review on these pencils later along with the eyeliner reviews that I promised quite a while back. I just haven't gotten to it yet because of my laziness... Oh and what this had to do with cruelty free, is that all of Urban Decay's things are cruelty free, which makes it one of my favourite cosmetic brands.

I made my first purchase from Lush today, and got the Vanilla Dee-Lite Hand and Body Cream. I love how everything from Lush is hand-made, and they have a wide selection of vegan items too! This cream that I got is vegan, and it smells great. I normally HATE things with any tinge of coconut scent in them, but for some reason this has coconut in it, but I love the smell. And its not overpowering like many creams and lotions on the market are. It feels very moisturizing and it is non-greasy. I love it. I am really considering getting more things from Lush now.

I also made my first purchase at Bath and Body Works a few days ago. I know, its unbelievable that this is my first purchase from them. But I'm such a cheapo, I never wanted to spend $11 on a bottle of lotion, even though that's not even expensive. But I walked by the other day and saw that they had a huge 50% off sale, so I decided that it's about time. I HAD to get one. I spent so long in there trying to decide on a scent to go with, and finally chose the Sweet Pea one from the Signature Collection. I love the smell so much. It's kind of fruity and florally. It feels very moisturizing and absorbs quickly and it isn't greasy at all. I really do like it.

Review: NYX Concealer in a Jar

"Provides smooth, long lasting coverage so you can pretend the word "concealer" doesn't exist in your dictionary!"

I normally don't really like to use cream concealers like these, but after trying the Barbara Daly concealer, I decided I wanted to try these ones as well. I went with the shades CJ04 (Beige) and CJ05 (Medium), because CJ04 seemed a little bit too light so I wasn't sure. CJ05 ended up being way too dark. CJ04 has sort of a yellow undertone, while CJ05 is more of a pink undertone. What I usually do is use CJ04 to cover up all my dark circles and then dab a tiny bit of CJ05 on top of it to get the perfect shade.

These concealers are super smooth and velvety. They go on really nice, provide great coverage and they don't cake or settle in fine lines or anything, and it lasts all day. I think I might actually like this more than the Barbara Daly concealer actually because it feels more lightweight.

They do have a weird... bathroom-like (I don't mean shit-like) smell to them though, which is something I don't like, but its not like I'm putting tons of it on or anything so the smell isn't noticeable. Other than that, these are great!

Product Review: Barbara Daly Concealer

Yes, this product doesn't look very attractive at all. If I were to have ever seen this in stores without knowing anything about it, I would have never plunged into trying this out. I'm normally not a big fan of pot concealers, I usually go more for the liquid ones. And this one is only sold at Tesco in the UK. So it took me a long time after reading numerous rave reviews of it before I actually decided that I needed to get my hands on one of these to try. Where did I finally find it? On Ebay. Considering the price, which came to be about $11 CDN including shipping, for 3 pots of it, I thought it would be totally worth to try. It arrived in the mail in less than a week for me, which totally surprised me, and I had to immediately try it out. I had ordered the medium shade, and upon opening the package and seeing the colour of it, I totally thought that the shade was way too dark for my skin tone. But once I smeared the very top layer of it, it was actually much lighter underneath so it turned out to be a perfect match for my skin tone. I used my concealer brush to put it on under my eyes and it was very creamy and blended very well. And this was in the middle of the day of a day that I had decided not to wear any makeup. So my face was fresh and clear of makeup, but it wasn't just moisturized like when I usually apply my makeup. And I hadn't put on my BB cream yet (I usually apply BB cream before concealer). So upon application, my skin was actually drier than usual, but the concealer still went on really creamy and didn't cake or cling onto any of my little dry spots. Plus, it's coverage is AMAZING and it lasted all day and I didn't even set it with powder. I cannot rave enough about this concealer. It's definitely my new favourite. I just regret not having tried this earlier, before I wasted so much money on other concealers that I've been trying. And with three pots.... I'm never going to run out. Or at least not for a long time.

Concealer Reviews.

I've tried so many concealers in my day, and I'm always trying to find the perfect concealer mainly to cover my horrid dark eye circles and bags under my eyes that never go away. Here are some of the concealers that I currently have tried. There are more, but I threw them out long time ago because they just didn't work at all. These are the ones that I currently have and have not trashed yet.

NARS Duo Concealer (Custard/Ginger)

"NARS Duo Concealer camouflages blemishes and dark spots and evens out the skin's tonal variations. Enriched with Vitamin E, this lightweight, non-drying formula won't settle into fine lines or creases."

I've only used this maybe like... 2 or 3 times since I got it about half a year ago. I'm just not too pleased with it. It doesn't cover up my dark circles at all. It also doesn't do well on blemishes or pimples. It is pretty lightweight as it says in the description. It is nice and creamy and goes on easily. But it seems to accentuate my dry skin and look kind of cakey. It also settles in the fine lines under my eyes. I do like how it comes with the two shades though so you can mix them to get the perfect shade, or use the darker/lighter on certain areas.

Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer (Medium Beige Light)

"The AmazingConcealer is formulated to erase all skin imperfections: Dark circles, broken capillaries, sun damage, blemishes, redness and more. There's nothing on the market today that can compare to the AmazingConcealer and it's ability to erase all skin imperfections. Unlike traditional concealers, the AmazingConcealer is so concentrated, you only need to use tiny pin-dot amounts of product to create the skin you've always wanted but thought you could never have. A beauty insider's favorite, the AmazingConcealer is your "magic eraser."

The description makes it sound amazing. I would say that this is one of my favourite concealers so far, although it isn't perfect. It is creamy, blends really well and doesn't dry out. It doesn't look cakey and doesn't settle into my fine lines. It covers my undereye circles pretty well, but it doesn't cover blemishes very well. For my undereye circles it doesn't cover them up completely on days that I didn't have enough sleep which make them even darker than they are to start with. Also the letterings on my tube just rubbed off somehow after getting it for a few days, which is just unappealing to me because it makes it seem like its cheaply made. But its what's inside that counts.

Edit: I would have to say that this is no longer one of my favourite concealers. It is great at doing it's job, but it has such a high content of mineral oil in it. After using it for quite a while, I noticed that around my eyes, I was starting to get a lot of milia. So I stopped using it and it would go away. And then I would start using it again because I needed something good to cover my dark eye circles, but the milia would come back every time I used it. Also, I find that with this concealer it is a requirement, to set the concealer with a powder, otherwise within a couple hours it runs and fades. I also ended up getting a new tube in another shade so I could mix and get the perfect shade depending on the season, and with the new tubes the label doesn't rub off like it did with the old ones.

MAC Select Cover-Up (NC20)

"Liquid camouflage for the skin. Texture-free, virtually invisible. Comes in a tube. Blends in. Brightens and lightens dark areas, erases spots, evens-out skin tones. Makes skin flaw-free. Use pre-foundation, or on its own. Don't reveal it, conceal it!"

I really wanted to like this. It seems to cover up everything really well, it is really creamy, blendable and lightweight. The only problem I have with it is that it seems to be drying on my skin, making it look cakey.

Edit: After I stopped using eye cream the skin under my eyes have smoothed out majorly. Now when I use this concealer, it goes on really well and doesn't look dry and cakey. It is one of my new favourite concealers!

Calvin Klein endless creme creme concealer (205 bare)

"What it is: A creamy, conditioning concealer that camouflages imperfections. What it is formulated to do:Endless Creme blends naturally to cover blemishes and flaws with a weightless finish.What else you need to know: Enriched with skin balancing isopeptides, this product is proven to reduce fine lines and wrinkles with continued use. Formulated with advanced lipo-siliconic technology, as well as vitamins E and C. Fragrance free."

I got this concealer from Sephora maybe a year ago or so, and I am still using it. I absolutely love it. This is honestly my favourite concealer I've ever come across. The only downside is that Sephora doesn't sell it anymore, so I guess I'll have to search to order it online somewhere when I run out. But seriously, it is perfect. It is the creamiest concealer I've ever used, it is lightweight, covers everything, even the darkest eye circles I've had. It doesn't settle into fine lines, doesn't dry out, lasts all day.... I don't know what else to say about it. It is pretty much perfect.

Shiseido The Makeup Concealer Stick (1 Light)

"Perfectly conceals uneven skin tones such as dark circles, spots, and freckles for an instantly brighter, more uniform complexion. Formulated with vitamin E and C derivatives to reduce the appearance of discoloration. Contains Prismatic Powder to enhance luminosity."

The one that I got actually came in a gunmetal coloured tube, although everything else looks exactly the same. I guess they changed its packaging. I don't know if the formula is still the same, but I like it. It provides full coverage, blends well, creamy and lasts all day. The only thing I don't like about it is it looks cakey if I try to use it to cover my dark eye circles. Otherwise, for blemishes and such, it is perfect.

Edit: Same as with the MAC Select Cover-up, now that the skin under my eyes is smoother, it doesn't look cakey at all. The coverage is AMAZING, and it looks like I have nothing on. I love it! It has become another one of my favourite concealers.

Barbara Daly Concealer (Warm)

Yes, this product doesn't look very attractive at all. If I were to have ever seen this in stores without knowing anything about it, I would have never plunged into trying this out. I'm normally not a big fan of pot concealers, I usually go more for the liquid ones. And this one is only sold at Tesco in the UK. So it took me a long time after reading numerous rave reviews of it before I actually decided that I needed to get my hands on one of these to try. Where did I finally find it? On Ebay. Considering the price, which came to be about $11 CDN including shipping, for 3 pots of it, I thought it would be totally worth to try. It arrived in the mail in less than a week for me, which totally surprised me, and I had to immediately try it out. I had ordered the medium shade, and upon opening the package and seeing the colour of it, I totally thought that the shade was way too dark for my skin tone. But once I smeared into it, the colour was much lighter than it appeared so it matched my shade better, although it is still slightly too dark. I used my concealer brush to put it on under my eyes and it was very creamy and blended very well. And this was in the middle of the day of a day that I had decided not to wear any makeup. So my face was fresh and clear of makeup, but it wasn't just moisturized like when I usually apply my makeup. And I hadn't put on my BB cream yet (I usually apply BB cream before concealer). So upon application, my skin was actually drier than usual, but the concealer still went on really creamy and didn't cake or cling onto any of my little dry spots. Plus, it's coverage is AMAZING and it lasted all day and I didn't even set it with powder. I cannot rave enough about this concealer. It's definitely my new favourite. I just regret not having tried this earlier, before I wasted so much money on other concealers that I've been trying. And with three pots.... I'm never going to run out. Or at least not for a long time.

NYX Concealer in a Jar (CJ04, CJ05)

"Provides smooth, long lasting coverage so you can pretend the word "concealer" doesn't exist in your dictionary!"

I normally don't really like to use cream concealers like these, but after trying the Barbara Daly concealer, I decided I wanted to try these ones as well. I went with the shades CJ04 (Beige) and CJ05 (Medium), because CJ04 seemed a little bit too light so I wasn't sure. CJ05 ended up being way too dark. CJ04 has sort of a yellow undertone, while CJ05 is more of a pink undertone. What I usually do is use CJ04 to cover up all my dark circles and then dab a tiny bit of CJ05 on top of it to get the perfect shade.

These concealers are super smooth and velvety. They go on really nice, provide great coverage and they don't cake or settle in fine lines or anything, and it lasts all day. I think I might actually like this more than the Barbara Daly concealer actually because it feels more lightweight.

They do have a weird... bathroom-like (I don't mean shit-like, just that bathroom soap) smell to them though, which is something I don't like, but its not like I'm putting tons of it on or anything so the smell isn't noticeable. Other than that, these are great!

Edit: As with the Amazing Cosmetics concealer, this does have mineral oil in it as well. I find that whenever I use it, my undereye skin develops milia the same way it does whenever I use Amazing Cosmetics. Also, setting powder is a must with this concealer or my eye makeup ends up all over the place which is not attractive.