A few sets, steals, and deals…
And a few new products…
- Fresh-Energy Cleansing Gel ($15/75ml)
- Daily Energizer Wake-Up Booster ($15/125ml),
- Daily Energizer Cream ($25/30ml) for normal to dry skin
- Daily Energizer Cream-Gel ($25/30ml) for normal to oily skin.
Today’s the last day of my Reading Week, and I’ve spent the entire break taking photos upon photos upon photos… needless to say, I think my brain’s on a bit of a beauty overload.
So, instead of a review, or a look, or even a collage, I’ve got a bunch of images for you. These are the ones that wouldn’t be enough to make a post on their own but that I’ve still deemed share-worthy. Enjoy!
Clinique lipstick swatches
From left to right: Colour Surge Bare Brilliance in Pink Beach, Moisture Surge SPF 15 in Fizzy, Colour Surge Bare Brilliance in Blushing Coral.
All three of these shades have been discontinued (hence, nothing that I’d include in a “real” post), but discontinued GWP tubes are often found on the cheap through sites like Ebay and All Cosmetics Wholesale… so I thought you may like to see these anyways!
My current favourite mascara combination
Marcelle Ultimate Lash topped with L’Oreal Beauty Tubes. I prefer a lash that is full, but still very natural, and these two are perfect! Ultimate Lash smudges very little on me when worn alone (and usually only after 8+ hours at that), but when it’s topped with Beauty Tubes, I get absolutely no smudging, running, or flaking… even after fourteen hours plus a nap.
I promise that there will be a “real post” later today, but for now I’m exhausted and would rather be sleeping than putting together a feature. So instead, I’m leaving you with quite possibly the most adorable press release image I’ve ever seen:
(P.S. That would be the L’Occitane Instant Exfoliator and Moisture Mask, two new additions to the Brightening range of the Immortelle line-up. So cute!)
This March (which, btw, is coming up way too fast), Clarins will be announcing its partnership with Fast and Female, a Calgary-based organization that works to empower young girls through sport. For each My First Clarins product sold between March and September, Clarins will donate $1 to the organization. I know, I know, a dollar doesn’t sound like much – but the new skincare line is equally well-priced, and every little bit ads up!
The line, aimed at girls 16-25 (that’s me, that’s me!) will include the following:
I have to say, I love the price point for these, and the products sound great, too! I don’t believe it is on counters yet in the US, but the products are already on the German Clarins site, and I noticed it on a display in Shopper’s last weekend (as I’m sure my Canadian gals know, Shopper’s often gets the exclusive launch for collections, so they’re often available there before the “real” launch.) Keep an eye out for the line – even if you’re not 16-25, it sounds like a good one ;)
Check it out out over at Marcelle!
I’ve actually been doing a lot of looks recently, but for whatever reason, I feel like we haven’t posted one forever. So, to change that…
A few months back, I stumbled on the most gorgeous Versace dress while flipping through Monika Jagaciak images (LOVE her). I wanted to mimic the white/pink/violet gradient of the fabric, and added three tiny pieces of glitter to translate a sort of toned-down version of the sparkle. Here’s the dress:
Read on full-face photos, more close-up shots, and a product listing!
Okay, so I’m actually crazy (crazy) for Deborah Lippmann’s packaging and shades. Nevermind the fact that I don’t wear polish and, thus, have never tried them – I just love how they look!
I put together three images featuring Lippmann polishes; this is the first. Enjoy.
From left to right: Sarah Smile, Naked, Fashion, Waking Up in Vegas, Believe, Diamonds and Pearls.
If I’ve done this right, you should be able to click on any of the polishes and get to the product page, so let’s hope I haven’t messed up the coding!
Marcelle Rouge Xpression lipsticks are fast becoming one of my favourite drugstore lipsticks, and these lovely new shades definitely played a part in this change!
{full formula review}
A full review of the formula can be found here, but if you want the two-second rundown: the line is blissfully scent-, taste-, silicone-, and paraben-free, and the shades are all incredibly well-pigmented. They’re creamy, non-drying, and packaged sturdily and chicly. As an added bonus? This time ’round, the creams are all creams, the pearls are all pearls, and each shade’s only been named once :P
702 Attitude, 804 Paris Rose, 853 Jezebel
Attitude is a warm medium-nude. It is darker than 700 Enchantment, but lighter than 701 Exuberance, and more caramel (less pink tones) than both.
Paris Rose is a soft pinked coral. On my colouring, it’s very bright – almost fluorescent – but would look much more subtle on medium skintones. I should have a lip swatch for this by the end of the week; I just need to crop the photos ;)
Jezebel is a cross between mauve and pink; ideal for cooler skintones but certainly still wearable for warmer ones.
All three of these shades are cream finishes.
702 Attitude, 804 Paris Rose, 853 Jezebel
855 Cleopatra, 856 Mauve Avant-Garde, 901 Amour
Marcelle recently added nine shades to their Rouge Xpression line, but it’s not the increased shade range that has me excited (though, I mean, it’s pretty awesome). What really caught my attention is the fact that with each new launch, the line has been improved upon and slightly reformulated.
{swatches and shade descriptions}
When the first few shades were launched, I was heartbroken – Marcelle’s Rouge Vitality lipsticks are some of my favourites, and the Rouge Xpressions that I tried just didn’t live up to those standards. They were good lipsticks, for sure, but there were a number of things that I couldn’t get over. The “cream” finishes had chunks of sparkle in them, the darker shades slid around… I still would have chosen them over a L’Oreal Color Riche or Rimmel Moisture Extreme, but I just didn’t love them.
L-R: 702 Attitude, 804 Paris Rose, 853 Jezebel. All cream finishes.
Then, during the winter, Marcelle put out another two shades with the Trend collection. I still wasn’t in love, but I do admit they got better. Both shades were true cream finishes, nary a sparkle in sight, and they slipped around a lot less on my lips. They were a bit dry, though – the texture could be described as velvety, and it wasn’t a bad thing per se, but they still weren’t quite right.
L-R: 855 Cleopatra, 856 Mauve Avant-Garde, 901 Amour. All cream finishes.
This time around, though, I really think Marcelle is onto something. Of the nine new shades (well, new being the operative word here), six are creams and three are pearls – and the finishes are all fantastic. The creams aren’t dry the way the Trend lipsticks are, and they aren’t hiding enemies of the state shimmer or glitter. The pearls are impressive, too, with finely-milled shimmer rather than chunks of glitter. Keep reading the tale…
While prepping tomorrow’s post, I realized that I had somehow managed to take all nine of my swatches in the wrong order – and this is after I had taken all the photos, picked the best ones, cropped, resized, and colour-balanced them… (getting photos up on theNotice is quite a process; I’m a bit of a neat freak >.<)
Anyhow, I thought I’d share these today – want not, waste not and all! The new swatch photos will be going up tomorrow as scheduled, but in the meantime:
Above, L-R: Marcelle Rouge Xpression lipstick swatches in Attitude, Jezebel (dupe for Delightful), and Mauve Avant-Garde.
Above, L-R: Marcelle Rouge Xpression lipstick swatches in Amour, Paris Rose, and Cleopatra.
Above, L-R: Marcelle Rouge Xpression lipstick swatches in Couture, Romanesque, and Féline.