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    Plump Your Pucker with theBalm

    August 6, 2010
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    What it is: theBalm Plump Your Pucker in Boyz’n My Berry

    The shade: Boyz’n My Berry may have an awful pun as its name, but that’s where the awful ends! It’s a wonderful dark berry that would suit so many skintones I’m blown away. A lot of lip colours that would be amazing on dark skin look too violet-brown on lighter skintones, but this manages to stay looking like a fresh, juicy berry, despite the depth of colour! I have a ton of glosses with glitter in them, but to be totally honest… I’m really not a fan of glitter in my lip products. At all. Ever. Which is why the gorgeous cream finish in this is just the gigantic cherry on top!

    Overall, this lovely shade is muted enough for the workplace, but bold enough for the street ;)

    heavily/sheerly



    The wear and application: Another woe of the dark lipgloss is the way it applies, feels, and wears — and by this, we mean that it streaks its way on and fades from the inside out. 

    None of that here, thank goodness!
    The doe-foot applicator makes it easy to layer on a smooth coat of Boyz’n My Berry, without any telltale streaks of opacity. It smells great (aka not strongly enough to be annoying,) and wears off evenly, needing reapplication by lunch if you want to keep the shine. However, it leaves behind just the most marvelous berry stain… so really, why even bother reapplying? [eyebrow raise]

    above and below: a “normal person” layer of Boyz’n My Berry

    The plumping: Plumping? Yah, whatever. With the gorgeous shade, the tack-free finish, and the amazing price tag (just $15 a pop,) I’m not even a little bit upset that this doesn’t plump!

    The ingredients:

    Polybutene, Ricinus Communis Oil (Castor), Isocetyl Stearate, Flavor, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Dioctyl Adipate, Beeswax (Apis Mellifera), Capric/Caprylic Stearic Triglyceride, Tridecyl Trimelitate, Menthol, Polyglceryl 3 Beeswax, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil (Apricot), Theobroma Cacao Butter (Cocoa), Octyl Palmitate, Tribehenin, Sorbitan, Isostearate, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax (Carnuaba), Propyl Gallate, Propylparaben, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla Cera) Wax (Candelilla)

    May Contain (+/-): Red 7 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Iron Oxides, Blue 1 (CI 42090), Titanium Dioxide, Mica, Carmine (CI 75470)

    the aforementioned drop-dead-gorgeous stain — very “my lips but better.”

    The verdict? This is definitely on its way to becoming one of my all-time favourite glosses! It’s smooth, it’s shiny, it leaves a great stain — and it’s about darn time I found a lipgloss without all that annoying glitter. We love the formula, we love the price, and we love the shade!

    Availability: Sephora doesn’t carry this one, but you can order through theBalm, or through Apothica.com!

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    Tags: /Lips, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, TheBalm
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    Burt’s Bees Super Shiny is a great product — but it’s a big fat liar!

    August 5, 2010
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    What it is: Burt’s Bees Super Shiny lip gloss in Pucker Berry

    The consistency and colour: Pucker Berry applies smoothly, without any stickiness at all. Its consistency is very similar to Vaseline, despite the fact that it contains no petroleum and its main ingredient is castor seed oil! It’s like Vaseline in other ways, too: both coat the lips with a soft, thick-but-not-too-heavy feel, and both moisturize nicely. Pucker Berry itself is a medium brown with a mauve edge and fine red shimmers, but is definitely one of the most sheer lip products I’ve ever come across.

    (And yes, that generalization includes lip balms. Translucent lip balms.)
    sure, it’s pretty — but look how sheer it gets!

    The scent and stay: Super Shiny glosses smell indiscriminately light and fruity, with perhaps a synthetic edge of lemon, but aren’t exactly delicious — the scent is faint, but I’d think twice before trying to consume something with these slightly-waxy undertones! As for the stay, you’re going to get about the same wear out of these as you would out of their feel-alike, my bff Vaseline. For me, that means about two hours tops before you’ll want to reapply. 
    above and below: a normal application of product. the photographs really show off the shine — more than real life does!

    The big fat lie: Um, “Super Shiny”? I don’t see a heck of a lot of shine here! My lips look deliciously moisturized, but no more — these are maybe slightly shiny at best, and certainly don’t even touch “Super Shiny” status!

    The ingredients:

    ricinus communis (castor seed oil), helianthus annuus (sunflower seed oil), acacia decurrens flower wax, phytosteryl canola glycerides, aroma (flavor), silica, prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond oil), tocopherol, mica. May contain / French Translation (+/-):CI 77491/77492/77499 (iron oxides), CI 75470 (carmine), CI 77891 (titanium dioxide), tin oxide

    The verdict? While I think these are great if you’re looking for a lightly tinted lip balm, I think they fall under the domain of false marketing. They’re nice, but they’re not shiny, and they’re not (or at least, Pucker Berry is not) something I’d turn to for colour, either. I think I’d really love these if they packed more shine, or if they were marketed as a sheer lip balm — but their name is deceiving! 

    Additionally, while I can’t dock points for the lack of pigment (they’re described as being sheer,) if Burt’s could put a bit more colour into these, I’d be one happy gal ;)

    above and below: two layers, which I’d never wear in real life — it adds some shine, but felt so very heavy!
    Try it if…
    • You want a nice, conveniently packaged, lightly-tinted, lightly-lemon(ish) lip balm.
    • You like a non-shiny lip — I’m actually loving the finish, but I know I’m a strange cookie. The finish of these is diffused and balmy, just… not super shiny.
    • You like products you can apply without a mirror, and without your fingers or a lip brush.
    Skip it if…
    • You really do want something “super shiny”
    • You want a lip product with a lot of pigment. Or, really, much pigment at all!

    Availability: You should be able to find this one pretty easily in many North American drugstores and health food stores, or you could pick it up right here at Well.ca (with free shipping, to boot!)

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    Tags: /Burt's Bees, Lips, Paraben-free, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches
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    On trend: lip stains and liquid lipsticks

    August 4, 2010
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    I have a tendency to mark off when a trend has really “made it” the day it enters a drugstore, seeing as that means the trend has finally reached the mainstream population. And, well, these have made it to the drugstores!

    Last year, we were seeing a lot of  lip stains, and while those are still on the rise, liquid lipsticks are starting to get a lot of attention, too. I like to think of it as innovation in action ;) Products that (should) simplify our daily routines!


    Compared to lip stains (above,) liquid lipstick (below) is a little more “set in its ways” — you have a better idea of what you’re getting, in other words. For starters, you know that it’ll be a creamy liquid! (Like a smooth, thick gloss.) More often than not, liquid lipsticks deliver a creamy finish and feature a doe-foot applicator, while stains can be anything from pots of glossy colour to felt-tipped markers of pigment, making your lips look anything from bare, to creamy, to shiny and sparkly.


    I’ve loved stains in the past and have a serious hankering to try out a liquid lipstick (I still haven’t. I know; it’s crazy!) but more importantly: what do you think?

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    Tags: /Lips, New This Week (& etc), Other
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    Marchesa + Le Metier de Beaute

    August 3, 2010
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    Pay no attention to MAC if you’re looking for your designer fix — my absolute favourite fashion line of the moment has just announced its upcoming collection with Le Metier de Beaute! (No, I’m not entirely sure how I’m supposed to add accents to “Metier” and “Beaute” on a Mac, though I’m sure I’ll puzzle it out eventually. And yes, I do mean to insinuate that the transfer was a success!)

    This beauty fix will cost you a pretty penny, with items starting at $38 and running right up to $65, but that doesn’t mean we can’t all still be tempted!

    The line will launch September 10th and will be exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman, but in the meantime, feel free to browse some of the permanent-line products below…

    LeMetier de Beaute, NM Exclusive, LeMetier de Beaute

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    LiveClean Purple Jewel is nice… but could it be even nicer?

    August 3, 2010
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    What it is: LiveClean Purple Jewel Wave Enhancing shampoo and conditioner (so what if we don’t have any wave to our hair?)

    Why we just had to try it: Well for starters, it’s purple. And we love us some purple.


    But more importantly, the LiveClean line is a vegan line against animal testing that is free of parabens, silicones, SLS, phosphates and phthalates. What a list! It’s incredibly hard to find a brand that avoids everything my sister Rita and I are trying to avoid (mainly parabens, SLS, and silicones; the others are just the cherry on the top,) but LiveClean manages to be that line — and at a really good price, too!

    What we loved: Because it’s free of all those things, it’s something Ri and I can actually use together. Which means what, exactly? Less bottles in the shower, no scent conflicts, and no compromising! She gets her paraben-free product (because she’s allergic to them,) and I get my silicone-free product (because I’m sensitive to them.) Plus, they’re less than $8 a bottle at Well.ca!


    …and what we didn’t: Ri was fine with the scent, but I found it a little too sharp, especially in the mornings. (You know how some shower-scents are gross, and some make your head spin without being gross? This was the latter.) The biggest problem, though, was not the scent but the effect — ironically, this really took the volume out of our hair! Now, with super-straight Asian hair, we don’t have a ton of volume to start with. The tiny bit of lift at the roots that keeps us looking normal disappeared after just one wash, and (for her,) it hasn’t been seen since. It’s just flat, flat, flat up there!


    (She’s still using this duo. I’ve definitely moved on.)


    The verdict? Keep your hands on your wallets… for now. I have a review of a very similar product that I’ll try to post as soon as I can — while this is by no means a poor choice, I think the other product is even better! And don’t you even try to ask what it is in the comments ;) I’ll let you know really soon, I promise!


    Try it if…

    • You want something right!now and can’t wait a week for my next review,
    • You want a SLS-free shampoo that isn’t a pain in the butt to lather (those of you who have already tried SLS-free products will know exactly what I mean!) or if
    • You want a silicone-free conditioner that still leaves your hair feeling smooth.

    Pass on it if…

    • You find the scent too abrasive, or
    • Your hair likes to be flat, flat, flat like ours!
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    Tags: /Hair, Paraben-free, Product Photos, Product Review, Silicone-free
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    Technical Difficulties

    August 2, 2010
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    Okay, so what we’re experiencing? Not exactly difficulties — no, they’re much, much better than that.

    If everything goes well today, we’ll be switching theNotice over to a MAC! So… wish us luck, my lovelies, and I will see you tomorrow for regular posting ;) I feel like we haven’t done too many product reviews recently, so that’s what you’ll be seeing a lot of this week.

    Stay tuned and stay lovely!

    xo

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    Serge Lutens Chergui

    July 30, 2010
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    There are very few fragrances that have truly changed the way I view fragrance.

    (You’re one of them, of course.)

    Your dark brown liquid is housed in simple, rectangular glass, and it doesn’t seem like it would be fascinating. Slightly intriguing, perhaps, but certainly nothing spectacular. To be honest, at first glance, you’re quite unassuming — so when I breathed in, I was caught completely off guard.

    You are incense, amber, tobacco leaf and musk, but the blend is divine. (Other scents, like your sibling Ambre Sultan, are too violent with their incense and send me running toward the hills.) Of course, these notes are sweetened just enough with tiny bits of smooth honey, and lightened with rose and iris. Don’t get me wrong, though; I am by no means insinuating in the least that there is anything floral or syrupy about you.

    It must be difficult to produce a scent that is entirely unisex, but… you are. Fit for a man in a suit with a bit of stubble, smoking a cigar in a ritzy hotel bar; fit for a woman in a slinky dress with just a flick of eyeliner, out for dinner with a lover. Honey and hay sugar in perfect harmony with tobacco and musk.

    I thought that I didn’t like warm scents, because warm scents are always so sweet. But I kept looking; I kept ignoring each and every saleswoman and salesman who told me that sweet and warm must go hand in hand. (And trust me, there were many.) The hours and hours of searching paid off when I found you, Chergui — warmth without the syrup of cheap vanilla, cozy without being cloying, dry and a little dirty without being animalic.

    Of course, there are many categories of fragrance, and you can’t fulfill my cravings for a light floral or a salty chypre. But when I need something warm, something sexless — no, something above the lines of gender, — something perfectly crafted and rich and beautiful and incredible…

    Well, that would be where you come in.

    Availability: Chergui can be purchased online at shops like the ones above, or through BeautyEncounter and FragranceNet. Alternately, it can be sampled through The Perfumed Court. For my fellow Canadians, you may be able to find it in your local Sephora!

    Chergui was created by Christopher Sheldrake in 2001.
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    Tags: /Fragrance, Love Letters, Product Review
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    Hot Smudge creates a hot mess

    July 29, 2010
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    What it is: Hard Candy Hot Smudge in Rebel


    The shades: Rebel features two cream shades, to be used as liner or shadow. One is a bright blue; the other is simply glitter suspended in a clear base. The blue side is a fairly dry cream with just a touch of fine shimmer, and while I do thin kit’s lovely, bright, and fun, I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the colour — it’s just not really my thing. The “white” side, on the other hand, has a tendency to sweat, posesses a texture reminiscent of Vaseline, and is more than a little bit hard to work with. I have to go over the same patch of skin three or four times to get the right glitter dispersal!

    indirect sunlight / flash. click to enlarge! 
    glitter on the lower lashline; blue shade winged on the top. nothing else, aside from concealer. 


    The ingredients:


    The wear: Okay, so it smudges, just as promised — but the problem is it just keeps smudging! I do like a creme that smudges, but it should set after a few minutes. Hot Smudge? Not so much. I flicked some of the blue on, gave it five minutes, cleaned up the line with oil-free makeup remover, gave it another ten minutes, and… yep, it was already creeping along. 


    (I did try it with primer underneath and powder overtop as well, with the same results.)


    The verdict? I just… didn’t like this product. I don’t have to say that often, thank goodness, but I simply did not like this one! It didn’t wear well on my lids, the packaging felt flimsy, and I could have sworn the blue side was more creamy and less dry when I first opened this a few weeks ago. The only thing it does have going for itself is its vivid hue, but even that fades quickly!

    Don’t let this put you off the whole Hard Candy line, though. Sure, I kind of hated this wasn’t a fan of this one, but I still adore Honeymoon ;)

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    Tags: /Black List Beauty, Eyes, Hard Candy, Product Photos, Product Review
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    New at… Sephora

    July 28, 2010
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    I’m just loving the clean feel of the ShopStyle boxes — plus, we can now keep these posts to a reasonable length! My goodness, did they ever get long before.

    I personally can’t wait to see the Stila cheek colour in real life. I know items like this one (ahem, Smashbox?) are (excuse my French) a load of total bullshit 95% of the time, but I still want to check it out! Can’t blame a gal for being curious, right?


    And one last item, which is incredibly thrilling (but not available through the above widget.) Very cool, MUFE! I can’t wait until this is in stores. The swatches on the Sephora site look amazing, of course, but I suppose we’ll just have to wait a bit and see if they’re just as gorgeous in real life.

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    Tags: /Make Up For Ever / MUFE, New This Week (& etc), Shopping
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    What you may have missed

    July 28, 2010
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    It’s a rare day when I have absolutely nothing to say, but I’m drawing a blank today. So instead, here are a few recent posts that may have slipped under your radar!

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