theNotice: a beauty blog

What does bacteria in your gut have to do with your skin? Musicalhouses finds out in her review of Lancome’s Advanced Génifique Youth Activator!

Phyrra brings you the best in cruelty-free beauty brands! She includes her favorite products and international shipping information.

Love Rihanna? FabDiva20 is loving RiRi Woo. Check out her MAC RiRi Woo lipstick review and swatches!

Ombre hair: in or out? Sophie from Melovemakeup says in! Here is her how-to and review on Schwarzkopf Live Colour XXL.

What’s green and green and… green all over? The Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year collection, of course! Check out theNotice’s review of this year’s Emerald collection, with swatches of some seriously gorgeous greens.

If you’re stuck on a new spring/summer fragrance for yourself or your beau, Kim suggests Le Labo Santal 33. Check her post to see why.

Project Best Face Primer – Bun Bun Makeup Tips investigates how the Monistat Chafing Relief Gel face primer performs after one year.

Cindy over at Prime Beauty shows you how to stay to cool and look fab at those pool/beach parties this summer with the new Make Up For Ever Summer 2013 Collection!

Looking for eyeliner inspiration? Gouldylox picks out some must have liners for summer.

Krasey Beauty competed again, and in her latest post she shares her beauty prep!

Beauty Reflections has fallen in love with another bronzer! This time it’s the Clarins Splendours Summer Bronzing Compact. Are you a bronzer fiend too?

Jenn from Spiced Beauty shows off RiRi Woo, the perfect matte red lipstick for every skin tone.

Ready for heat and humidity? Need waterproof makeup? Beauty Info Zone has some favorites from Tarte, MUFE and Anastasia to help you manage the heat.

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed checks out the latest and greatest from Clinique – A Different Nail Enamel For Sensitive Skins. Have a look at her swatches and think twice the next time you go to rub your eyes with freshly manicured nails!

Jenny creates a purply smoky eye with a caramel crease featuring Urban Decay, Naked Palette, and MAC over at My Funny Valentine.

—Win it!! Enter Pammy Blogs Beauty’s Conair Styling Tools Giveaway!

With free US shipping and a buy-two-get-one sale, today (5/25) is the perfect day to stock up on your favourite Nordstrom mascaras! Here’s a few that come highly recommended…

This year’s Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year collection has been out for a few months (since March), but I haven’t really been “feeling it” — until now, that is.

With the weather finally warming up & the sun coming out from behind the clouds, 2013′s vibrant collection of Emerald products is (finally!) in-season and on-trend. Perfect for creating a summer smokey eye, or adding just a touch of bright green, now is the perfect time to pick  up a couple bold green products to add to your summer makeup kit.

Blogger’s note: so, this post ended up at around a thousand words. Click here or scroll past all the pretty pictures for a two-sentence rundown of each product.

The product: SEPHORA + PANTONE UNIVERSE Color of the Year 2013, Emerald (assorted products)

Color Watt Highlighting Mascara

Sephora + Pantone Universe Color Watt Highlighting Mascara ($22 CAD)

Funnily enough, I thought this was the best and worst-performing product in this year’s Color of the Year collection. Dry, matte, and intensely pigmented, the Color Watt mascara really does show up green on the lashes — even short, dark, sparse lashes like my own.

There’s a lash photo of this at the end of the post, but in a nutshell: yes, it absolutely does show up, but the gorgeous green pigment is its downfall, too. It sits in tiny, dry clumps on the lashes, adding neither length nor noticeable volume, and stains for days if it touches the skin.

The stain can be avoided if you carefully remove your mascara with an oil-based or micellar remover on a cotton pad, rubbing down the lash against a halved cotton pad covering your undereye area, but it’s a hell of a hassle for a single effective-but-kitschy product.

Lightspeed Glitter Dust

Sephora + Pantone Universe Lightspeed Glitter Dust ($17 CAD)

On the polar opposite end of the spectrum is the Lightspeed Glitter Dust, which is dry, loose, and milled just large enough to stay on this side of shimmery. The green base is very sheer, and the plentiful sky blue shimmer really predominates, giving it an almost turquoise tone overall.

Like any glitter dust, this really needs a base to stick to, so be sure to have one on hand! On completely dry skin, it comes right off, but on primed or even just freshly-moisturized skin, it adheres like a charm.

L-R: Color Watt Highlighting Mascara, Lightspeed Glitter Dust, Color Cube Lid Liner Stain (x2), Color Code Prismatic Shadow, Graphic Sculpt Waterproof Jumbo Liner

Lightspeed Glitter Dust

Sephora + Pantone Universe Color Cube Lid Liner Stain ($19 CAD)

May I please introduce you to the Sephora + Pantone Universe 2013 cream of the crop? The Lid Liner Stain (which, despite its name, absolutely does not stain) is gorgeous – a well-pigmented shimmery-or-metallic emerald, it makes me think of all the best parts of the Emerald City.

The smooth, light texture of this Color Cube “stain” blends out easily as a wash of green with finely-milled shimmer, but works as a seriously stunning metallic emerald liner, too. Basically, it’s everything the Color Code Prismatic Shadow (below) hopes to someday be.

Color Cube Lid Liner Stain

Keep reading! »

Set to conquer in three… two… nope

I have zero inherent talent for anything design-related (or even design-adjacent, really), so product spreads are always a little tricky for me. If, by “a little tricky,” you mean “a time suck and a constant source of frustration,” that is.

Despite the sweat and tears and hours and hours and hours that go into these posts, though, I still quite enjoy putting them together — the challenge, when I can come out on top, is incredibly rewarding.

I hope you enjoy this week’s picks (even though I didn’t quite manage to conquer the image).

Skincare sweethearts

This week’s picks started off with the Sweet Leaf Bath Adzuki Bean & Rice Bran Face Polish, which caught my eye as a low-end Canadian alternative to the Tatcha Polished Rice Enzyme Powder ($65 USD). While Sweet Leaf’s version doesn’t have the same wow! factor or enzymatic powers, it’s still a very cool powder-format face polish for those of us on a tighter budget.

Also in the skincare department is the eos 24-Hour Ultra Moisturizing Shave Cream, which is a great silicone-free, scent-free shaving cream for those of us who want to keep our showers simple.

Keep reading! »

I’ve been playing around with a few new formats for things, recently, so here’s a “New This Week” post that’s sorted a little differently than usual.

Feel free to let me know what you think of it in the comments, or just quietly peruse the beauty launches that have caught my eye this month!

To start us off, the highlights:

Spring lip focus

Bare a little skin

& everything else