Chanel Indulgence

Another mini haul from one makeup obsessed junkie. Picked these up a couple weeks ago when I meet up with a friend for some girl QT and dinner. It just so happened to be the release date of the Chanel Le Jour, La Nuit et Le Weekend at Holts. The counters were busy, but one lady did decide to talk to me and help me out. Although I didn't pick up any of the new release, she gave me some samples to try out. Here's my first Chanel haul~

Purchase: Vitalumiére Aqua foundation in 20 Beige and Rouge Coco Shine in 54 Boy. Freebies: two sample sets of Le Jour, La Nuit and Le Weekend, as well as a deluxe sample of Le Weekend. I haven't tried out the samples yet, but I will once I'm done the samples I'm currently trying out (Guerlain for those who are curious.)

A little info I learned about the new release: I was told by the CSR that Le Jour and La Nuit are suppose to be additional steps to your skincare regime, used after toner and before moisturizer. Le Weekend on the other hand, as its name implies, is suppose to be used during the weekend as both day and night replacement of your serum and moisturizer. CSR said, for best results, you should use it on the day you wear minimal makeup and for better results, use it two consecutive days.

Vitalumière caught out of its box! :) This foundation applies nicely and easily with the best make up tools ever, your fingers! After application it feels like I have nothing on and yet my skin is evened out. Redness is significantly reduced, but blemishes are still obvious. 

Lipstick stalked by its box ;)

The lipstick just glides on so smoothly, I see myself finishing this and repurchasing. The colour is definitely a MLBB~! I am totally in love with the formula of this lipstick, I don't care for the hint of sweet floral fragrance for the lipstick.

Overall, I am quite happy with my purchase as well as my experience with Chanel, I am most likely going to check out more products and make a few purchases in the future. My wallet is scared... hehe...

I need a better picture of it, but here I am sporting 54 Boy on my lips.

Summer Empties

Second day of autumn and I thought it would be fitting to show you the products that I managed to finish during the season that passed. 

After months of accumulating these empties, it is finally time to pour them onto my desk and take some pictures... Here's a mini review on the 22 products, mostly mini samples but a few full sizes as well, enjoy!

Makeup:
Revision Intellishade SPF45 Matte - It was an okay tinted moisturizer, didn't break me out, has some coverage, a higher SPF than most TM, unfortunately, I haven't seen it around in stores so I suspect it'd be hard to find if I loved it. Maybe~
Pur minerals correcting primer complexion pur-fection neutral- I really enjoyed using this, even more than the Benefit's Porefesional, but it seems to be discontinued or 're-formulated.' If I didn't have so many face primers to go through, I'd probably purchase this in full-size. Maybe~
Eyeko lengthening skinny mini brush mascara - This product was okay, I like the brush and the application, not so crazy about the formula, it smudges on my oily lids. Leave it!
Urban Decay Supercurl curling mascara - I liked this, clean and easy application with no clumps. Unfortunately not waterproof. Leave it!
Buxom Lash mascara - I like the wand of this mascara, it gives my thin lashes a fuller look, and it does great job lengthening as well. The best of the 4 mascaras I used up. Maybe~
Dejavu lash knockout - this fiberwig mascara didn't do much for my short lashes, after much rave in the Asian community I had high hopes. The formula clumps on me after a few coats, not a pretty sight. Leave it!
Koji Dolly wink liquid eyeliner - I love this eyeliner, it's super easy to apply. Love the formula so much I have backup(s) of it. Love it! 
L'Oreal Age Perfect Instant Glow BB cream - not a BB cream at all, not ideal for oily skin. Best for dry to normal skin. It has a tint.I used it once and decide to toss out the rest of the samples because I greased up within 30 mins even after setting it with a powder. Leave it!
Lush It started with a kiss - I didn't finish this lip tint, but it's expired. I love the colour of this product but I found the scent too off putting and had not really used it. Not a big fan of it staining my fingers when applying it either. Leave it!
Laura Mercier loose setting powder - I got a tiny sample of this from Sephora and used this mainly to set my undereye concealer. It seems to do a better job than my bareminerals mineral veil, making it a product worth checking out~ Love it! 

Skincare:
H2O dual-action eye makeup remover - It does an ok job at removing eye makeup, but is not as good as Lancome's bi-facil or Clinique's Take the Day off makeup remover. Not a product I'd repurchase. Leave it!
Orlane Light smoothing cream - did not really like this cream as it broke me out a little, I ended up using this on my cuticle because I didn't want to waste product. It is surprising not greasy. Leave it!
Benefit moisture prep toning lotion - a nice and refreshing lotion with a clean scent that is not overpowering. Would I purchase? prolly not, but I did enjoy it. Leave it!
Laneige Water sleeping pack - Love using this product when my skin feels dehydrated or if I just feel like pampering myself. It is not a greasy product, has a lovely scent and my skin loves it. I can leave this on my face while it does its magic and not worry about it making a mess of my pillow, but then again, I don't put a super heavy layer on. I already purchase the full size. Love it! 
H2O Face Oasis shine-neutralizing gel (old packaging) - I love this light gel moisturizer. I'd say it does a pretty good job at moisturizing my face and keeping it relatively oil-free. I've noticed big improvement on the texture of my skin. Love! I hope that they did not change the formula of the new packaging. Love it! 
Lush Breath of Fresh Air toner - As its name implies, it is refreshing toner/mist with a lovely scent. It is a lovely treat, however, not a repurchase as I don't see any other benefits from using it and can't justify having to spend so much on this mist. Leave it!
Amorepacific Treatment Enzyme Peel - Sephora sample - Lovely gentle exfoliator with brighten benefits. I used it daily and it did not irritate my skin. Freshly cleansed skin that never felt so soft. Purchased full size (has a hefty price tag though!) Love it! 
Amorepacific Treatment Cleansing Foam - Sephora sample - It's a nice cleanser, however, not as impressive or innovative as the enzyme peel. Product did not wow me and will not be purchasing it.Leave it!
Cle de peau Refreshing cleansing Foam - Holt sample - This product smells heavenly and makes your skin squeaky-clean without drying it out. However, another product with a hefty price tag. Hopefully, will find a cheaper dupe someday~ Maybe~

Hair care:
Chi Silk Infusion - I enjoy this product as it does temporarily make my hair silky, it's no treatment but it does what it claims. I'm surprised at how long this tiny sample lasted me especially since I have a lot of hair and my hair is coarse and thick. Won't have to worry about purchasing as I still have two samples left~ Maybe~
Ojon Hair Rub-Out Dry Cleanser - It's one of the best dry shampoos I've tried, but still not what I'm looking for. The scent is like the rest of the Ojon products, not off-putting but noticeable even minutes after application. Hair does feel refreshed and my hair doesn't suddenly 'grease up' mid day. Maybe~

Others:
L'Occitane Fleur Chérie hand cream - did not like the scent, will not repurchase. As a hand cream, it wasn't too greasy and did the job, I just detested the scent. Leave it!
Jo Malone English Pear and Freesia Cologne - I like pears, so I knew I'd love this scent. It has a fresh floral scent and makes me think of spring (oh the irony that it's fall already.) Whatever the season may be, wearing this makes me feel refreshed and slightly giddy (why? I don't know). I usually just spray once on each wrist and rub it against my neck. However, as I found out, it can be overwhelming if you overapply... Love it! 

PHEWWW! finally done. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this! Please let me know if there are any products you want more thorough reviews, if not, until next time! :)

Rating:
Leave it! Wouldn't repurchase, product didn't love me!
Maybe~ I would consider buying the product, but it's not a fave.
Love it! Definite repurchase, if I don't already have a backup.

IMATS Toronto: November 9 and 10

Since I'm about to purchase my tickets to go to this year's IMATS in Toronto, I thought I'd just remind anyone who is purchasing tickets, buy them before September 26th for the pre-sale price.

Pre-sale price - for one day they are $30 each and $50 for 2 days.
Otherwise, regular price is $40 each day or $65 for both days.
Finally, door price is $50 or $80~ (you get the gist)

Will I be seeing any of your at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre?!

Ooh and here's the floor plan http://www.imats.net/toronto/toronto_exhibitor_list.php just in case you want to see which vendors are there. I'm kinda bummed out that Inglots won't be there this year :(

Once again, I ramble too much... Have a lovely day~ :)

(disclaimer... I'm not pushing anyone to go... I am also not paid by anyone to post this, just trying to be informative cuz I hate missing deadlines or deals...)

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Update: Officially purchased my ticket for Saturday!! XD so excited to go for the first time! :)

Lipstick Freebies

I've acquired two lipstick samples this past week and I thought I'd share some pictures of them with you. They are the Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Catfight and the Giorgio Armani Rouge Ecstasy in 400 Red Four Hundred (I'm not repeating myself... that the name of the colour!)

I had to redeem 100 Sephora perk points for the UD lipstick (so I guess it's not really free...) but for the Armani, I just had to show up at Holt Renfrew on Bloor to pick up the deluxe Rouge Ecstasy mini.

I love how the Giorgio Armani card has the ingredient listed on the back... but I also like how the Urban Decay has a list of the different colours on their info card...

I haven't had the heart to swatch them yet... unless you really insist ;)

Current: On the Go Makeup bag

I was shopping the other day and I thought 'Wow, boy does my purse feel light today!' Turns out, I had left my makeup bag at home. That's when I realized that perhaps I may be carrying too much 'On the Go.' I need to use a smaller makeup bag and reduce the amount of products. So, I down sized to a little clear bag and the rest is history~ Here's what in my makeup bag now~

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Waterproof Top Coat: I might decide to not bring this around anymore since I haven't used it once in the past two weeks~ 
• BareMinerals READY Touch Up Veil in Translucent: I've been using this for a while and I am on the fence with how I feel about this product. 
• blinc mascara in black: a backup I had in my stash for a while that I decide to carry around, it doesn't do much for my short lashes, but it's still better than no mascara and the great thing about it is that it doesn't smudge
• Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in 54 Boy: this is my current fave MLBB lippy! So creamy and moisturizing, I make sure it's in my bag everywhere I go
• Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in 01: the current balmish lippy I'm carrying, it smells nice and is moisturizing
• Dior Diorsnow UV Shield BB Creme SPF 50 - PA +++ : If I'm in a hurry and have to leave the house without makeup, at least I have some coverage and spf protection 
• ELF Shine Eraser: although the summer season is over (booooh!) it's still necessary to have around when your T zone gets oily!
• Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Flawless Wear Concealer in 02 Light Medium: I find that whatever concealer I've been using lately, touch up for my undereye is always a necessity, curse those dark eyes circles.
• Revlon tweezers: for emergency, and for cuteness~~ the penguins on these always puts a smile on my face
• Sasatinnie Extra Precise Eyebrow Liner in 02 Gray: I cannot leave my house without my brows, if I do I need to fix it asap, so this is my security...
• Sasatinnie Waterproof Retractable Eye Definer with sharpener in 05 Metallic Green: I could technically leave this at home since I discovered...
• Shu Uemura lasting soft gel pencil in 02 M brown: did I say that I don't have a fave liner? Well, I changed my mind after using this... It smudges a little bit (what eyeliner doesn't on these oily lids???) but it's very minimal, and oh so easy to use! Blog post coming up on this awesome find (maybe when I get the black one ;)
• Stila Convertible Colour in Peony: I like this colour for everyday, the colour you see in the pan is not the same as after you apply to your cheeks.
• plus: little Lancome pouch that houses a hair tie, bandaids, mini lip brush and soft picks

When I first started this post... I didn't expect to write so much :|

Here's my makeup bag in the wild! aka on my desk at work

Oops, I just noticed that my Clarins lippy isn't in the pictures... but I assure you, it does all fit into the bag! :)

Challenge: Use Up

My wallet tells me I need to go on another no-buy. It will be hard... perhaps I can stick to swap groups for a while and shop my stash~ I keep saying this, but I need make a greater effort at using up these samples I've accumulated over the years~~ here's a picture of my makeup/skincare sample collection or as my husband would call it, my drugs~~ :|

Can we say hoarder? T_T I picked up a few things from the stash that I will be trying out this week~ let's hope they don't break me out! XD

My Randomness - HG products??

As I've stated previously, when it comes to makeup, I am one of those people with no brand loyalty. Reasoning behind this is because I feel that it is hard to name just one brand to be HG because I could always find something from a different brand that works better. So instead, I put together a list of product type and my current HG brand(s) specific to that product type. Read on if you're interested :)

Blush (powder): Illamasqua: their powder blushes are super pigmented and long lasting~ I feel they are well worth the money!
Brush: Real Technique // Sigma: love the brushes from these brands because they are of amazing quality and the price is decent~
Concealer: MAC (recently rediscovered the MAC prolongwear concealer and it's quite amazing)
Eyebrow: shu uemura, love the hard 9 formula! Although, it has a very limited colour range~
Eyeliner: still looking, the battle is currently between Koji's liquid eyeliner and shu uemura's gel eyeliner in pen form~~
Eyeshadow: Maybelline // Urban Decay (I'm thinking about specific palettes here)
Finishing powder: Hourglass, check out their Ambient lighting powder, please!
Foundation: Guerlain // Bourjois
Highlighter: The Balm
Lipgloss: Buxom // Tony Moly
Lipstick: Too Faced // Chanel
Lip Treatment: Vaseline // Laura Mercier
Makeup remover: Juju Cosmetics // shu uemura
Mascara: N/A, I'm still looking for the one...
Nail polish: Essie
Perfume: Jo Malone - HG because it makes customization so easy, and they have a wide range of scent to choose from~
Skin care: Simple // H2O
Tinted Moisturizer: The Balm Cosmetics

I am literally all over the place! It seems I got a lot of different brands covered and of course, I am constantly discovering new brands and products to add to my list. I would be happy if you share with me some of your HG brands and products , so that I may look them up and try for myself. Thanks for reading, and have a lovely evening!

L'Oreal Warehouse Sale

Just found out about this warehouse sale and thought I'd share the date and times~ Unfortunately, this sale is ticket only, so you can't get in unless you have one~ Booh!!

L'Oreal Warehouse Sale dates:

Sept 21 to Oct 13

Wednesday to Friday 12pm to 8pm
Saturday 9am to 5pm
Sunday 10am to 5pm

Location: 342 Wildcat Road, Toronto, M3J 2P5

My foundation shades

When I read other people's blog, or watch them on Youtube, I always wonder if the exact shade they are using will match me, so in case anyone is interested, here are my foundations and my shades~ :)

Bourjois 10hr Sleep Effect foundation in 73 Beige clair
Chanel Vitalumière Aqua in 20 Beige
Estee Lauder Double Wear Light Stay-in-Place Makeup in Intensity 2.0 light to medium creamy beige
Guerlain Lingerie de Peau in 02 Beige Clair
MAC Studio Fix Fluid SFP15 in NW20
TheBalm Balm Shelter Tinted Moisturizer in Light

Would you like swatches?

Tony Moly Prestige Crystal Lipstick Pink Sorbet

I purchased two lippies from the Tony Moly store in Pmall, one of which was the Prestige Crystal Lipstick in 02 Pink Sorbet. It is a lovely girly pink colour that I found surprisingly wearable. The formula is not drying, but not overly moisturizing. This lipstick applies smoothly and feels lightweight but is pigmented. The SPF on it made it perfect for summer, unfortunately I didn't discover this lovely product until the end of summer. T^T

My first thought when I saw the packaging was that it reminded me of the shu uemura lipsticks. I find these clear tube adorable, you can see the exact amount of product you have and the colour it is if you have multiple colours of these. I like that when you close the cap it give you that satisfying click to let you know it's closed properly. My only gripe with its packaging is its size, it's a tad too chunky for my preference.

The colour swatches nicely on the back of my hand, here I have the swatch in two different light.

With flash

Natural light

And also, pink sorbet on my lips~ :)

With flash

Natural light

Overall Rating **** / 5 (1 = worst 5 = best) It's a great product for the price, I'd definitely want to check out the other colours in this line. I love that it did not contain beeswax and had the ingredients listed in English on the box.

Price ***/5 (1 = soooo cheap! 5 = pricey!) I think that $15CAD is a pretty decent price for a lippy  of this quality, especially considering my recent loves have been more than double the price. 

Packaging Quality ****/5 (1 = worst 5 = best) Love the clear tube and the overall quality of it, but I cannot stress how much I hate the bulky packaging. 

Scent? It's very lightly fragrant, a sweet but not really candy-like scent which reminds me of Barbie solid perfumed products (I don't know why).  

Would you buy this product again? Yes~ most likely buy it on ebay next time, since its only $10 CAD there ;) Checking out Tender Pink, Pink Coral and Love Red ;)

Ipsy September 2013

What's in my Ipsy Classic Beauty bag:

• Cailyn Cosmetics Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple
• Elizabeth Mott It's So Big Volumizing Mascara
• NYX Single Eyeshadow in ES32 Purple
• Starlooks Kohl Eye Pencil in Obsidian - I love how smoothly this eyeliner applies, I just wish it didn't smudge on my oily lids! It's a very lovely matte black eyeliner!
• J.Cat Beauty Fantabulous Lipstick in FL107 Honeycrisp
• and a sample card of em cosmetics out to lunch

I'm thinking about cancelling my Ipsy bag... This month's bag was ok, if only it didn't contain two lip products with beeswax~ Because of these beauty subs, I keep accumulating lip products with beeswax I'd never use~~ Anyone interested in swapping them? hehe~ Also, not that fond of this months' bag, kinda have the fake LV feel to it~