Topbox February 2013

How happy are you to receive your Topbox this month? I know I was ecstatic! :) Even though I already own 4 of the products I've received, I'm still super glad to get the deluxe samples. I enjoyed them that much. :) It seems everyone so far has gotten the Benefit box privé~  Here's what's in it:

I love how it's Chinese New Year themed, yet the pinks and reds reminds us more of Valentine's day. Clever! :)

I love this primer and I'm so happy to get another deluxe sample of this :)

I was looking forward to receiving the Benetint in my box this month, because I wanted to put it in my purse. Perfect companion for everyday makeup looks~

This is one of the products I have not yet tried, but I am looking forward to it. So far my only impression is: beautiful packaging. Let's hope I enjoy this as much as the rest of the Benefit products I've tried :)

I got the Dandelion powder as a Sephora point perk bonus and really enjoyed the scent of it. It's a lovely subtle highlighter that gives a hint of glow on your face. I have not yet tried this gloss, but I really enjoyed the Coralista one, so I'm sure I'd like this too :)

I had just purchased the full size last week at SDM for $15, not yet tried, but looking forward to trying out this blush/lip product~

I was swept off my feet with this month's Topbox. This is by far my favourite subscription box. Even though there were no full sizes, Topbox was able to deliver multiple deluxe samples that were amazing. :) I am looking forward to see what Topbox has to offer in March and I'm super excited! :)  

Week 4: Concealing dark circles

I am one of the many people who suffers from dark eye circles (although not hereditary) but depending on the quality of sleep I get, it can be a light brownish purple or worst a deep blue-purple. Therefore, hunting down a great concealer for me is important. Here are a few concealers I have that was purchased for this purpose and in most cases did excellent, except for the one factor, it doesn't tend to last.

from left to right: first two swatches are form the Nars duo one is Vanilla and the other is Honey. then it's Kat Von D in Light 18, K-palette in 03 Orange Beige, YSL in 2 Nude Beige and Benefit's Boi-ing in Light.

Monday: Nars Concealer duo in Vanilla and Honey

• The packaging for this is the typical Nars sleek, textured compact with a big mirror on the inside which is great for application and convenient to bring around. I love the fact that there is two colours in one compact, vanilla is the perfect shade for brightening and honey is a more orangey shade that is great at correcting/neutralizing problem areas (ie dark circles.) In most cases, my skintone is in between shades, so purchasing a single product that contains a lighter and darker shade is awesome. Overall, the formula is lightweight and works well when the area is moisturized and primed (this is true for any concealer I use). I found that it does migrate over time. This product is however discontinued and even though I enjoyed it, I'm not sure it would be worth it at full price. 

Tuesday: Kat Von D Lock-it Tattoo concealer in Light 18

• I like tubed products in general because I find them more hygienic than the pot pan ones, which was the reason why I picked this. This product provides full coverage, is creamy and applies well with a brush, however, because of my oily skin it does not last very long and shifting begins as early as 2-3 hours. When I set it with a powder, this product looks cakey. Overall not too impressed with this product and I should probably have returned it to Sephora had I not been so determined to make it work. 

Wednesday: K-palette Zero Kuma Cover Control Concealer in 03 Orange Beige

• Long name for a concealer that does not last very long... it started to disappear on me a few hours after application even with primer. I had read quite a few reviews that raved about this product and thought I should give it a try. Honestly, I am not a big fan of this product, I don't think I enjoy using this liquid concealer because I feel I have a lot less control. 

Thursday: YSL Anti-Cernes Multi-action concealer in 2 Nude Beige

• This is the most expensive concealer I've purchased to date and luckily, not one I regretted. I love this silky, creamy concealer stick. It glides smoothly over my undereye and with two swipes completely conceals the dark circle. The product blends out nicely however, if not careful, can be completely swiped away. I find that the easiest way to blend out this product is just to lightly pat it. One of the reasons why I enjoy this so much, is also the fact that it matches my current skintone perfectly. :) My only complaint about this concealer is.... its beautiful packaging attracts way too much fingerprints! 

Friday: Benefit Cosmetic Boi-ing in 01 Light (which is actually for fair skin tone)

• I actually got this concealer in a shade too light for my skintone. It looks okay as long as I wear glasses on top, however without them, it's too obvious that I have concealer on. As far as concealing, this provides a full coverage, the formula is a bit drying and if not applied properly can look cakey. I find that warming up the product can help with application, but it is hard to work with on morning that you are in a rush. Definitely not a on the go!

A few things I want to note with regards to using concealers. I find that people with oily eyelids such as myself have a pretty hard time keeping concealers in their place. With that being said, putting on a primer under the concealer as well as setting it with a powder is crucial to longer lasting concealing. 

Next week, eyeliners :)

NOTD: UO Nail polish craze

I was playing with sparkly nail polishes at Urban Outfitters over the weekend, so I tried out: Scorcher (thumb), Unicorn (index), Spicy (middle finger) and then I have Essie's Ballet slippers as base for all my fingers except for my ring finger which only has Essie's As gold as it gets. :) it was a fun time swatching and I might actually go back to pick up something for a girlfriend :)

no flash

with flash

My 2 cents: I was surprised that the sparkles did not come off after washing dishes and after washing my hair. Spicy particularly surprised me as the pieces are quite chunky, but despite my lack of a top coat, it stayed on without falling out for a few days. Overall, I'm quite impressed by the quality of UO nail polish (I expected it to last only one day.) The one thing that got me with the UO nail polish is the aweful smell. It's still there after 2 days! Another thing I learned, is not to wear as gold as it gets alone... because it makes your nails look so yellow and so unpretty!

Week 3: Colouring Cheeks

My late post on blushes I used last week :) 

no flash, from left to right: Tarte Amazonian clay 12-hour blush in Exposed, TheBalm Down Boy blush/shadow, MAC Sheertone blush in Tenderling, Missha M show powder blusher in Heidi and Smashbox blush in Aperture

Monday: Tarte Amazonian clay 12-hour blush in Exposed

• I decided to try this blush because Jen frmheadtotoe had rave so much about it. I have to admit that when I first saw it in the pan I was hesistant. It looked so brown that I thought I had either the wrong colour, or that it was suppose to be a bronzer, however, once swatched, you see this lovely desert rose colour. I heart it very much, and was glad that this was one product I didn't miss out on.

Tuesday: The Balm Down Boy blush/shadow

• I purchased this blush because it was on sale on Hautelook without seeing any swatches or trying them out at the store. So I was pretty surprised at how light it looked in the pan and how bright it is when swatched. This is a very girly pink but when applied lightly is pretty lovely... I find that you can wear any bright blushes as long as you use a light hand...

Wednesday: MAC Sheertone blush in Tenderling

• This is a lovely flush of colour that reminds me of Tarte's exposed but lighter. I like it's sheerness for the simple fact that it is pretty hard to mess up because the colour is so light. I think it's a lovely everyday shade for office wear or if you want a more natural look, though I find that if you were darker skintone it wouldn't show as well. A side note, small rant: I got this from Beyond the Rack sale a while back and I don't think I'd ever order from them again! It turns out to be a much smaller 'bargain/discount' and it took forever to ship even though it is based in Canada, coming from Montreal! Does anyone else have this problem? Also, they ruined my packaging by put tape all over them~ UGH~ sticky stuff on packages = pet peeve!!

Thursday: Missha M show powder blusher in Heidi

• This blush is extremely sheer with small glitter that kind of bothered me because I know they are there. I bought it, thinking that maybe when my face is pasty white it'd show but it requires a lot of work, and at the end I wondered if the colour is coming from my face being rubbed so hard with the sponge applicator it came with. It was novel and now I just felt like I wasted money. Colour barely showed up on my arm. Does anyone know the trick to using this blush? I tried tapping it on my cheek too... didn't work XD

Friday: Smashbox blush in Apperture

• Being the geek that I am, I purchased this blush because the name reminded me of a game I played with my husband a few years back. I love this peach/tangy orange blush on my cheeks because it gives a lovely glow on my face. It's a bit scary on pan and in swatch, but this blush isn't as orange as you might think. It was another pleasant find for me :)

Even though I'm addicted to blushes, I don't really have much to say about them... I find that many of the colours I own is similar, the quality of the blushes also seems to be the same, I also haven't really notice a difference in lasting power.

Anyhoot, onto next week's category... Being the MU junkie that I am, I have a tiny obsession with concealers, so I hope you look forward to seeing some of them featured next week. Until then, tata!

Meet Matt(e) Nude palette spotted!

Just wanted to share this, I was on Hautelook and noticed that the recently launched theBalm Meet Matt(e) Nude palette is available for half the price!! :D get it get it!!

image from theBalm website

In case you want to use my link to join Hautelook here it is: http://www.hautelook.com/short/31eAB (clicking the link on top will give me as reference too)