image credit: 1st Option.
(Can I even say “fruit my frappe”? What the heck would it mean?!)
What they are: two offerings from the new Upper Canada Soap Fruit Frappe line; the Grapefruit with Gooseberry Hair and Body Spritz and Pear with Mangosteen Body Lotion. I’ll be reviewing the scents separately for the products, as the lines stretch farther than just these two!
(The Fruit Frappes also come in the form of bath fizzies, shower gels, luminizing creams, glosses, and dry oil sprays. And in three other scents!)
The Body and Hair Spritz
I want to tell you that this was faboosh — moisturizing, lightweight, and wonderful in the hair. I want to tell you that it’s holy-grail-material and that I’d buy the whole line. I want to tell you all of this because the idea is awesome, and the packaging is even cooler. However, past the packaging, this spritz was not so awesome. It’s just fragrance in a really cool form, essentially. My hair looks straight, smooth and shiny… but I’m Chinese. It always looks this boring. And my skin? Feels the exact same; no more or less dry; no stickiness.
I’d love this if… I really liked the scent of the product. The awesome top (pictured below) is brilliant for travel or the gym, and the scents are strong enough to cover up the smell of “I didn’t have time to shower after my run!” hair. (But only for a day. Please, take your showers when you need to. Hygine is important!)
The Body Lotion
I usually commit myself to beauty 110%, but I just can’t do it in this case. As scent-sensitive as I am, I haven’t used a scented lotion on more than one body part in… well, ever. I’m the kind of fragrance-wearer that always tries for half a spritz, or opts for something dabbable. Sometimes there are mistakes that leave me drowning in perfume, and they ruin my day entirely with nausea and migranes.
But I digress. This lotion seems pretty darn solid; it dries smooth without anything gross, like pilling or changes in the scent as it dries. However, it’s not incredibly moisturizing, either. That said, please do take into consideration that I’ve only ever tried this on small patches of my skin at a time, and not for an extended period of time!
I’d love this if… it was used in moderation. I can see the amount of actual fragrance in these lotions being too much if used from head to toe! And by “too much,” we mean “way too much.” Try diluting it with scent-free lotion, or just do one body part (like your forearms or hands)!
The “Pear with Mangosteen” scent
You know how, with most low-end body-care lines, the scents are nothing to write home about? They’re either awful and synthetic, or just boring enough as not to offend (or inspire) anyone or anything. Well — that’s not the case here. Pear with Mangosteen smells absolutely delicious; you can practically feel pear juice running down your chin, hear screaming kids and sprinkler systems. It’s heavy on the pear and lighter on the mangosteen, which is just fine by me, seeing as I’m a huge pear fan. While it does still smell like body-care rather than classy perfume or real fuit, I absolutely love it. It’s light, fresh, sparkling, juicy, and any other positive adjectives you can think of!I’d love this if… I do love this!
The “Grapefruit with Gooseberry” scent
I have never hated a fruity body-care scent so much. No joke — this has been done again and again, and yet people still keep churning it out. I hate it more than cheap hand soap, more than the smell of durian (that stuff is nasty,) more than, more than rolling out of bed and finding that all of my pants have been eaten by wild rabbits. I abhor this scent. It makes my head hurt and my nose ache… or was that head ache and nose hurt? I don’t even know any more, because it’s driving me nuts!
I’d love this if… I wouldn’t. Ever. But you might, and if you do, please don’t take offense. Clearly, people like this scent, because iterations of it keep coming out! (Even mother picked it up, sniffed it, and declared it was a nice preteen scent.) I beg of you, though, wear this in moderation.
The verdict on the line? It’s not high-end fragrance*, but at around $10 apiece, no one was expecting it to be. From what I’ve smelled, this line has the potential to be lovely; it just depends on the scent. What say I? For the price point, this line isn’t too shabby! This is the kind of bath line that I wouldn’t gift to a great-aunt, but I’d recommend it to a younger cousin on a budget in a heartbeat. And as for the Pear with Mangosteen scent? You have got to give it a sniff. Mouthwatering!
*actually, in case you haven’t noticed, it’s not fragrance at all. It’s body care. That means the standards should be lower, right? (Smile and nod. The answer is “yes”!)
… a plush, squat, white or off-white slipper chair. I think it would look lovely next to my new dresser! (Photos to come as soon as it’s done.)
I realized a little while ago that I have way too freaking many quite a few photographs. In order to deal with this problem without deleting any of them or spending the next seven weeks of my life writing out full reviews, I’ll be posting some of them in batches every now and again — five photo sets, with no more than five sentences of review or explanation per feature. Of course, if you have questions about the products, you can always ask them in the comments!
But here’s the question: does it matter to you if I do grouped reviews? (Sometimes they’ll be Three on Thursday, or Five on Friday, or Two on Tuesday… you get the idea.) The other option is skipping over the products altogether; it’s just my mild OCD that’s the cause for my compulsive taking and posting of photographs. Let me know if you’d rather not see the products at all!
Here we go…
NYX White/Grey/Black eyeshadow trio
White: a bit of a disappointment; not very pigmented even when foiled.
Grey: lovely light grey! Very basic with not too much variance when foiled or worn over primer.
Black: decent when used on its own, amazing when foiled. Just soft enough.
Overall: The white is a letdown, but for the price ($10,) I’d recommend this matte trio!
Annabelle Helium eyeshadow
The last of the promised Annabelle Painted Love swatches. Gorgeous pinked wheat colour; the shimmer is a little chunky but the shadow is otherwise wonderful.
Palmer’s Coca Butter Formula
Thick, rich, and incredibly moisturizing. The cocoa smell is very strong, however. Consider yourselves warned!
Run behind the cut for more swatches, product photos, and other shots!
NYX White/Grey/Black eyeshadow trio
Flash/indirect sunlight
First row dry / Second row over UDPP / Third row foiled
Annabelle Helium shadow
Dry / foiled. Flash.
Palmer’s Coca Butter Formula
photo credit: Atelier AM
Prom’s coming up for my good friend Tess, so she had a makeup-related question for me. I’m just going to cut and paste the wall post below!
Hello my dear! I have a make up question for you. Prom is coming and I want a type of foundation, mascara, eyeshadow, liner that will last the night… do you have any brand suggestions?
Damn straight I have suggestions! I’m going to pretend I didn’t read the word “brand,” though, and I’ll grace over cheek products as well ;)
Foundation
As you all know from yesterday’s review, I’m completely in love with Make Up For Ever Face and Body. However, I know she wouldn’t splurge on something like that — for starters, there’s no Sephora in her city, and her skin’s gorgeous enough that she doesn’t usually need wear-like-metal foundation! So, I’d go with something light- to medium-coverage.
Recommendations: I’d look for the best shade match for your skin, and give it at least two days’ trial run before an event. Some drugstore foundations to check out would be Maybelline SuperStay, perhaps, or Revlon Photo Ready (a MUFE HD “drugstore dupe.”) Optimally, though, I’d have Tess pick up samples of the correct shades in MUFE Face and Body and HD! They’d look lovely for the night, but not empty out her wallet or leave her with excess product.
Tips: Make sure to bring blotting tissue, and to powder! If I need something to wear for an insanely long time, I’ll actually powder twice — after my foundation has set, I’ll powder very lightly, spritz with a facial spray (or just water+glycerine in a 10:1 ratio in a spray bottle, which can be picked up at almost any dollar store,) then re-powder and re-spritz once that’s dried. Additionally, avoid foundations with SPF, and do a flash test of your foundation match as well as looking at it in different lighting!
Lashes and lines
I love, love, love tubing mascaras. They won’t smudge, flake, or run on you, even if you get a little teary-eyed! We tried Fiberwig on Tess last summer, and it held up through hours of crying. (Though her liner did end up running anyways. There goes a bright white napkin!)
Recommendations: I’d look at Imju Fiberwig and L’Oreal Beauty Tubes for mascara, and GOSH Extreme Art Liners are the only option for your liner! (Seriously, that stuff is crazy.) Another option is something like Benefit’s She-Laq, which “seals in” liner and mascara in case of tears! (I haven’t tried this specific product, but a friend of mine uses it while [synchronized] swimming and says it’s wonderful.)
Tips: for an in-your-face fringe, layer your tubing mascara over something volumizing! Make sure to keep a lash comb at hand while applying, and try out the combination beforehand to see how it works. Also, keep q-tips in your clutch in case your liner does run, so you can clean it up without having to take everything off.
Lids
One word: primer. I’d definitely go with something like Urban Decay Primer Potion or Too Faced Shadow Insurance, but if neither are accesable, a cream concealer or a layer of foundation plus a sweep of powder with do an okay job, too. (Just make sure they don’t leave a “slippery” finish, like some silicone-based liquids can!) As for shadow, stay away from creams if you’re not sure if they crease on you or not, and use what you already have.
Recommendations: I know Tess is set for shadows, but if all you have are powdery pans of chalkiness, you’ll want to pick up some new shadows! It’s hard to go wrong with a MAC quad or Dior quint, but I’d also recommend Annabelle trios for an awesome drugstore choice. If you don’t want to really invest in some good neutrals, trios, quads, and quints are a great way to get a little more bang for your buck!
Tips: stick with neutrals or subtle colours — this is not the time to go crazy with trend makeup! While it’s good to have fun with your shadows, remember that you’ll probably still have these photos fifty years down the road when all the styles have changed… and you have grandkids.
Cheeks
I’d stick with matte or semimatte blush and contour, layer a powder over a cream (or use powder alone,) and be sure to flash-test your cheeks before leaving! Tess will probably be taking a lot of photos, so it would also be a great time for her to contour her cheeks… but if you do this, make sure it’s flawlessly blended and you’re comfortable with it.
Recommendations: none here; there are too many great cheek products out there! I do love MAC Harmony to contour, though, and I know that I’d for sure wear Rose Fresque.
Tips: while a subtle luminizer on the tops of your cheekbones will be gorgeous, a superfrosty cheek will look dated and unnatural in 95% of your photographs. Avoid, avoid, avoid!
That’s all for today — have fun at prom, love! Do you have any tips to share? Hit us up in the comments! Here’s a photo of the lovely Tess so you ladies can have an idea of what skintype, face shape, etc you’re recommending things for!
Happy Tuesday, lovelies! Here are some photos that I’ve had sitting around for quite a while. I’ll just be doing mini-reviews, so feel free to ask questions and I’ll try to answer them to the best of my ability! As usual, all photos can be clicked to be enlarged.
Clockwise from top left: Make Up For Ever HD in 118 and 117, MAC Face and Body in C1, Make Up For Ever Face and Body in 38.
MUFE HD Invisible Cover Foundation — 118 and 117
If I wasn’t sensitive to ‘cones, I’d be a huuuge fan of this foundation. The “why” is simple — the silicones give it a texture most akin to rich velvet to the touch, but it feels weightless upon application. The coverage is wonderful (medium but buildable,) and it looks great whether applied with a sponge, a brush, or your fingers. It’s amazing for normalish skintypes; it does cling to dry, flakey skin, and will crease with very oily skin, but I love it for anything in between.
113 is more pink and 118 is very yellow; to get a perfect match I need to blend them in a 1:2 ratio. However, the shade range of HD is quite impressive! I’m almost always the palest shade (or lighter,) but Make Up For Ever has a number of shades lighter than these two to cover super-pale beauties, as well as a number of dark shades for deeper-toned skin. (No “light, medium, dark” foundation range here! MUFE HD boasts twenty five shades in total. Impressed? I am!)
Make Up For Ever HD is $40US/$46CDN for 1.01oz.
Clockwise from top left: 118, 117,C1, 38
MUFE F&B Liquid Makeup — 38
The first thing about this foundation that I need to mention? The shade range. 38 is literally a perfect match for my skin, and this does not happen often! Or… ever. There are 18 other shades, which isn’t 25, but is still really impressive.
But, back on topic! Many of people say that MUFE F&B and MAC F&B are the same. Well, I’m going to go outright and say it: I think this is a blatant lie. Make Up For Ever’s Face and Body knocks MAC’s version out of the ballpark, quite frankly — it’s consistency is like a thin jelly rather than a true liquid; the shade range (as mentioned) is incredible; and it soaks in to leave a no-foundation dewy finish (instead of an overly “dewy” gross, shiny mess.)While both F&B foundations can be layered, MUFE’s layers much more easily, without caking or becoming sticky, and it lasts all day long. Like the HD foundation, it can be applied pretty much any way you want, and it’s coverage is buildable (from light to medium.)
Make Up For Ever F&B is $38US/$42CAD for 1.69oz.
Clockwise from top left: 118, 117, C1, 38
MAC F&B — C1
This is actually just here for shade comparison ;) If you’re interested in the review, check it out here!
The verdict(s)? Out of all of these, MUFE F&B is by far my favourite. Make Up For Ever’s shade range (in all their foundations) is incredible, and I quite like the formulations of the two I tried. However, MAC’s is the only one that is ‘cone-free, and the price of their Face and Body is way better than anything made by MUFE, so do take that into consideration!
Felt guilty for leaving you guys with such a half-assed FOTD ;)
Pinked is a shade from Annabelle’s Painted Love quad, so it’ll be out for the spring and summer, then disappear shortly thereafter. I do think it’s a lovely shade, and the gold shimmer is mesmerizing (if a bit chunky for my liking.) Without a primer or being foiled, it’s unremarkable, but foiled? Major pink impact! It’s like a burnt fuchsia, more orange-pink than a true red. While I do think it could be quite hard to wear, it gets mad props from me for being so interesting, pigmented, and vivid!
Flash/indirect sunlight. Swatches on left are dry; swatches on right have been foiled.
No primer.
What say you?
I’m going to go right ahead and say it: the most exciting thing about this FOTD is some interesting hair. (Video tutorial upcoming!) This look? It is boring. I feel like a monster for posting so many “blah” looks, but this one had to go up — I promised FB that I’d use Violet Vibe as a subtle-pop-of-colour-liner sometime, and this is it! Very day-appropriate and very safe, but nothing otherwise blogworthy.
Eye shots + a half-assed “products used” behind the cut, but let’s face it. Even I wouldn’t go behind this cut.
Used: Lancome Floralesque and Angora, the aforementioned Violet Vibe, a tiny bit of Senna Smolder. Supernova mascara, Urban Decay liner. Annabelle’s Sweet Tweet gloss.
photo credit: 1st Option, via Fondly Seen.