YSL Volupte Sheer Candy - Glossy Balm Review

My name is Meiko, I'm a lip balm hoarder...

I can't stop buying lip balm, I have all sorts of flavors from all sorts of brands and there's at least 2 lip balms in each purse I own so I'm never caught without one... and now I've finally found my HG favourite lip balms!!

They are the YSL Volupte Sheer Candy Glossy Balms. They're moisturizing, glossy, come in gorgeous sheer colors, and oh my the packaging... The only unfortunate thing is the price tag of $39CDN. Sigh...I suppose gorgeous things don't come cheap... Click the jump to see more photos!

Topbox April 2014 Unboxing and Review

A little late on the Topbox post this month, but it wasn't too exciting so hence the lack of motivation to get it up asap upon receiving my package. If you haven't heard of this yet Topbox is a beauty subscription box that comes once a month at a price of $12 + tax, and contains approx 3-5 deluxe samples.  Its a Toronto business so gets a lot of my support for that, and it fulfills my addiction to trying out to new beauty products so I don't end up spending even more money at Sephora :)

Click the jump to see what I got!

Sigma Performance Eyes Brush Kit Review

 I have had this kit for almost 6 months now, and it's taken this long for me to fully test out the various ways to use these brushes. Some I like, some I don't. Click the jump to see what I thought of each brush and this kit overall!

*Disclaimer: I bought this kit myself, and am in no way affiliated with Sigma

Topbox March 2014 Unboxing and First Impressions

 

 

My March 2014 Topbox came the same day I got the shipping notice! If you aren't already familiar, Topbox is a Toronto-based beauty subscription box (like Ipsy, Birchbox etc.).

 

Hello familiar tissue packaging...I got the regular box this month.

 

Click the jump to see what I got and my thoughts on the products! (This post will be updated as time goes on whilst I try these out...)

 

Real Techniques Blush Brush Review

Short post today...on the blush brush I can't stop using, so much so my other blush brushes have gone into early retirement for now...

It's the Real Techniques blush brush (if you're not yet familiar with the line, it's an affordable but high quality brush line made by Youtuber Samanthan Chapman).  This is an egg-shaped blush brush made from synthetic fibre, and is ohhhhhhh so soft on the face. It picks up powder easily despite it's fluffy softness and blends well too. My favorite method of application with this is actually just tapping the brush over my cheekbones rather than "brushing" as the egg-shape is perfect for depositing pigment in just-the-right shape.

No shedding of any hairs thus far either with all the washing I've done. This brush retails for $10 CDN, and you can buy it at various Walmarts or online retailers such as FTB Beauty.

Overall, high quality, easy to use, and cheap... what are you waiting for, go buy this already!

*Disclosure: I bought this brush with my own money and am not affliated with this company

Topbox Feb 2014 Unboxing and First Impressions

 

I'm a bit late on my unboxing post this month (in fact the March wishlist is already out...), but alas here we are!

 

The usual tube...

 

Everything was all wrapped in the tissue this time

 

And the stash...

 

I was excited to see an Essie polish. I have only used Essie Fill the Gap basecoat thus far, so am looking forward to trying this. It's a beautiful red that leans a bit on the blue-raspberry end of the spectrum.

 

I'm a lip balm hoarder, so am always happy to receive more lip balm! Epic Blend's ingredients are all fairly natural blend of oils and butters, and feels similar to what I use in my DIY lip balms (see tinted lip balm DIY here). I tried this out a couple of times, feels moisturizing enough so it will get a space in one of my purses. I actually put 1-2 lipbalms in each purse so I'm never caught without a lip balm due to my incredibly dry and sensitive lips. *high5* to whoever else does this!

 

Next, a lip and cheek product.

 

At first, I was excited because this looked very much like the Clinique chubby pencils, which are super moisturizing and pigmented and awesome all-round products (I need to do a review at some point).

 

But alas, it is not like a Clinique chubby pencil... The shade is quite pretty but the formula and pigmentation is horrendous on the lips. The pigment is very uneven and chalky and immediately clung to all my fine lines and dry areas. I made sure to exfoliate and pre-moisturize and tried it again but same thing occured. I'm shocked this product advertises as "moisturizing"! That it definitely is not... I tried this on my cheeks, and although the color is pretty, again the formula clung to my dry patches. Not cool... Because the color is so pretty though, I'm leaving this in my kit to give it one more try in the summer when I'm not so dry...but if it doesn't work out in the summer it's going in the trash.  

 

Despite the disappointment with the chubby pencil pretender, this product I'm genuinely very happy about. EA's 8 hr cream is a MUA favorite as it's incredibly versatile. I personally like it for my chapped lips and very dry patches on my face or hands, but it can also act as a high-shine dewy highlight.

 

 

8 hr cream on the back of my hand.

 

Here's the final round up...

 

And the product card with all the prices for interest. The lip balm is fine. The star of the show was the EA 8 hr cream. The dud of the box was the So Susan lip/cheek product, which I do not recommend you buy at any point. Even if it will work in the summer there's so many better products out there that will do what it does.

 

Let me know what you got in your box this month and what your thoughts were!

 

 

*Disclosure: I bought this box myself and am not affliated with any of these companies.

Kate Somerville Goat Milk Cream for Sensitive Skin - Review

A quick review today... of the new nighttime moisturizer I started using daily a week ago.  It's still early to notice ongoing benefits but I'm sharing an early review because there's some very good aspects of it even in the first week of use. I recommend!

It comes looking like a regular tub of moisturizer, except it has a new fangled pump system whereby you press on the whole large top and it squirts out the little hole in the middle. Then I just wipe up the cream with my fingers. Not sure how much better this is than the traditional pump, but hey, nice to have a change.

In terms of actual use, here is where it shines and why I'm recommending so early on. It's soft, smooth, absorbs quickly, no awful/irritating scent, and makes my skin look VERY supple and soft, with fine lines evened out and dry patches gone. Unfortunately the next morning after my usual 5-6 hours of sleep I wake up looking like my usual zombie self, which says to me there's unlikely to be any long-lasting effects from this cream, but dang I go to bed feeling good!  Regardless of lack of long-lasting effects thus far (I never actually believe in any long-lasting claims from skincare, afterall, the product is going on a dead layer of skin cells waiting to be shed), it just feels too good for me to wait on recommeding this. Go get it! Do keep note I'm reviewing this in the winter when my skin is very dry, so take it with a grain of salt if you're considering this in the summer or if you have oily skin as it may or may not end up too heavy for you.

You can buy this at Sephora for $55USD

*Disclosure: as usual, I have no affliations to this company and bought this product myself.

Let me know if you try this and how you like it!