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Chubby Stick

LIP SET WEEK | Clinique Chubby Colour & Shine

December 16, 2011

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The product: Clinique Chubby Colour & Shine Set

It’s no secret that I’m in love with Clinique’s Chubby Stick Moisturizing Colour Lip Balm (their full name. Isn’t it intimidating?) I’ve talked about them before – or, perhaps more accurately, I’ve talked about the them a lot already. We first reviewed Clinique’s Chubby Sticks last December (when they were revamped and relaunched), went on to add the ingredients, and featured them in this year’s Summery Summary.

It’s been almost an entire year (!!!), and I think it’s safe to say that I’m still in love with the Chubby Sticks. Which, for the record, is phenomenal – I fall in love with new products all the time, but it’s so rare that one product will stay in the rotation for any more than a season. But I’m still crazy for these adorable, crayon-y balms, and I don’t think it’s a love that’s going away anytime soon!

Thankfully, Clinique included my favourite shade in this set. I haven’t tried them all, but I loved Super Strawberry when I first got it – enough so that I didn’t feel the need to try the rest of them, I guess!

Even after swatching and wearing around the other three, Super Strawberry‘s still my fave. It’s the perfect pop of colour; bright enough to really pick up my complexion, but sheer enough to still look really natural and low-key. It transitioned really well from winter into summer (and then back again), which is always the mark of a good MLBB shade!

Swatched L-R: 02 Whole Lotta Honey, 04 Mega Melon, 06 Whoppin’ Watermelon, 07 Super Strawberry

Blended out: Whole Lotta Honey, Mega Melon, Whoppin’ Watermelon, Super Strawberry

The shades

Whoppin’ Watermelon is a pretty, pastel pink, and surprisingly, it has enough pigment to tone down my natural lip colour a bit. Super Strawberry is my go-to natural lip shade; it’s a really well-balanced medium berry-pink with just the right amounts of cool and warm. Mega Melon is a sheer melon-y shade with quite a bit more shimmer than the others. Whole Lotta Honey is a muted, medium brown with enough red undertones to keep from washing you out.

Clinique Super Strawberry Chubby Stick swatch

Swatches of the rest after the cut!

Is it giftable?

Absolutely! The Colour & Shine set retails for $38.50 CAD, and comes with four Chubby Sticks in a silver pouch. Because they’re so sheer, it means that they’re going to work on any (literally, any) skintone, which is always a nice thing to keep in mind when you’re gift-giving. I love that they’re paraben- and scent-free, too; I’m always in fear of being gifted a lovely lip product that I can’t use because of a scent!

Of course, the perfect person to get this set for? That would be you. I’m convinced that every beauty junkie ought to try the Chubby line at least once, and, well, isn’t this just the most perfect way to do it?

(The crayon-y pencils are even cuter in this gift set. Even cuter. They’re the same width, but are about a centimeter shorter. Adorable!)

Availability: Canadians, this set is exclusive to Shopper’s and Murale; Americans, I think you can get yours at Macy’s; UK girls, keep an eye out at Harrod’s, Selfidges, and Clinique – looks like they’re all sold out online, though (sorry I didn’t get to the set sooner!)

Lip swatches and product photos of each shade! »

Tags: Clinique Chubby Sticks/Clinique, Holiday 2011, Lips, Paraben-free, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches

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Maybelline Master Chrome review: “Metallic Rose” with swatches and Catrice Badass Bae

April 16, 2020

Rae Chen

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I’ve been going through a weird phase on theNotice where I haven’t been sent anything but red eyeshadow in like… six months. I can’t figure out why. I hate red eyeshadow, and look awful in orange; there is nothing about my face AT ALL that suggests that it would work well with warm tones at all in any capacity, and yet. And yet! And yet things like this Maybelline Master Chrome review get me by.

Products like the Master Chrome (the jelly, not the pressed version) speak to my soul. They’re so easy: shimmery and sheer, with a squishy texture that just makes my heart sigh a little every time I use them.

Maybelline Master Chrome in Metallic Rose

I have always been a huge sucker for texture, and Maybelline knows how to deliver. From their bouncy blushes (does anyone else remember those??) their super-buttery ColorSensational eyeshadow quads (oh man, the days when pigment was a rarity in the drugstore!), they’ve been pretty reliably great when it comes to cool textures.

Sure, their products tend to follow trends instead of set them — but I honestly don’t mind. I don’t need someone to invent the concept of a jelly highlighter; I just need someone to make one that isn’t four gazillion dollars.

Maybelline Master Chrome review: Metallic Rose

Maybelline Master Chrome review: Metallic Rose swatched heavily, then lightly. Next to the Maybelline Cheek Heat Sheer Gel blushers in 15 Nude Burn, 20 Rose Flush, and 30 Corail Ardent, which look super beautiful but unfortunately contain a high amount of silicones!

Maybelline Cheek Heat (15, 20, and 30) gel blush

Metallic Rose is a reflective liquid-gel that’s densely packed with micro-fine gold and rose gold shimmer. It’s pigmented and easy to blend, with a quick-setting formula that dries to a satin finish.

I’ve had liquid highlighters before that I’ve preferred, but this one is more wearable. Okay, so it’s not bouncy like jello, and it doesn’t have a duochrome finish, but it dries to a skin finish that catches the light, and that’s pretty nice. It’s not at all sticky, which is a common problem in Instagram-bait liquid highlighters — products that never set look great on camera, but smear like crazy in real life!

Honestly, the Maybelline Master Chrome formula is most similar to this Sleek Highlighting Elixir, from my stash, despite the different packaging. Both are shimmery liquids with high viscosity, but the Maybelline is a little chunkier, and neater to use.

Catrice Badass Bae Eyeshadow Palette

Okay, so: here’s the thing. I hate warm-toned eyeshadows, but this palette is otherwise pretty dope. It’s pigmented and creamy, with shades that pair and blend together like a dream. Each co-ordinated eyeshadow applies with extremely respectable intensity over a primer (no foiling needed!) There’s even a good amount of mattes in this palette: Badass and Clapback are great for cut creases and buffed edges, while Rebel, Lit AF, RBF, and Bye Felicia offer a matte finish in medium tones.

Catrice Badass Bae review

Of these 12 shades, there isn’t a single dud in sight. There also isn’t, however, anything that really stands out for me. Break Rules comes close, with a creamy texture and intensely shimmery finish, but that’s about it. Everything else is just… good. Not special, not unique, just good. I’ll talk more about that in a second, but first: “just good” is honestly a pretty great achievement. Do you know how rarely you can honestly say that every single shade in an eyeshadow palette is good?! I’ll give you a hint — the answer is almost never.

Sure, “good” isn’t “great.” But “good” means that there’s a brand out there that you can rely on in a pinch; that you can count on when you need a cool new colour or a cohesive new eyeshadow look. It means that you can nab a special release before it sells out everywhere, even if there aren’t any reviews up yet, because you can be pretty sure that you’ll enjoy whatever it is that you end up with.

At $14.99 USD/$16.99 CAD, “good” is pretty damn good.

Catrice Badass Bae Eyeshadow Palette review with Maybelline Master Chrome highlight

How to make your makeup stand out on Instagram

I was chatting with a longtime reader of theNotice who brought up something that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. (If you think you’ve been reading theNotice for a long time, trust me: you got nothin’ on this girl. We go wayyy back to the late 2000s!) In an age where Instagram is your biggest seller, a lot of products end up looking the same. Makeup brands design for the ‘gram now, and that means a lot of warm tones, melty textures, and instant-results products.

We don’t buy red eyeshadows because red looks great on a lot of people. Red, in fact, looks terrible on most of us, and amazing on a very small sliver of the population. But warm tones track on Instagram. Creators get more likes when they post warm-toned images, which means that brands see better engagement, and then even more warm tones on the shelves a year down the line. We’re being sold red eyeshadows not because we want red, but because red gets more likes.

How strange is that?

And it’s not just red eyeshadows. Interesting textures look incredibly satisfying on camera. You want to know how to make your highlighter look amazing in a five-second clip? Make it move. Turn it into a format that can drip, swish, and swirl. The same phenomenon that gives us moody red eyeshadow palettes also delivers to us jelly highlighters; layered boba drinks; pop-off acrylic nails. It delivers to us skincare with gold flakes, and fast-fashion shirts that drape just right, and, yes, $15 eyeshadow palettes that defy the odds to deliver rich, creamy colour in every shade.

The phenomenon isn’t bad, and I’d argue that it’s actually very natural. It’s just… odd! Read more

Tags: /4. Makeup looks, Eyes, Grouped reviews, Makeup looks: neutral, Maybelline, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches

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theNotice turns 10 | A decade of thanks (and a giveaway worth $560!)

September 26, 2017

Rae Chen

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Today’s the day: as of this afternoon, I’ve been writing theNotice for the past ten years. Which is… I mean, it’s crazy. This blog is officially almost old enough to go to Hogwarts.

When I started theNotice, I never thought it would become part of my day to day life. I figured I’d blog a few times a week, as a hobby, and maybe (just maybe!) a few of my friends would read it. But it grew like an unstoppable, beautiful force, and it blows me away to be able to say that writing is now my full-time job. (Want to get started in blogging? I have a series on that, now, too.)

» Skip to the giveaway «

Blog posts you should totally hit up

Throughout this blog post, I’ve linked a few of my favourite posts from the past ten years. I’m particularly proud of my pieces on emotional abuse and IUDs, although I have a few favourite makeup looks, too.

The makeup look that I’m most proud of is this abstract ETOD, but I’ve done a lot of looks with graphic liner. My cut-out eye look gets a lot of game (it was even featured on Buzzfeed!), and it’s really easy to copy. I also really loved this YSL Arty Stone makeup look – it was one of my very first posts on Instagram, and I am forever aiming to one day look that well-composed again.

One of my favourite eye palettes from the years I’ve been blogging was this wonder from Lise Watier – oh man, and this guy from Shu. I’ve mishandled my em-dashes for a decade, and I’ve raved about Clinique Chubby Sticks and Clarins Eye Quartets (RIP the originals) for just as long.

What’s changed in 10 years

Not to be too overtly clichéd, but: everything. And nothing.

When I started theNotice, I was a healthy, able-bodied introvert finishing high school. Now, I’m 25, trying my best to live my brightest, most extroverted life. theNotice was the blessing I never expected to get, and it’s been my crutch over the past decade. It was there when I found out, at fifteen, that I would need to have heart surgery. It was there when, at seventeen, I found out that I had a chronic illness. And it’s here now, at 25, creating opportunities for me to work despite my disability.

I can’t tell you where I’ll be in ten years. What I can tell you is that I consider myself to be unbelievably lucky to have had the past ten. I honestly don’t know if I could have gotten though the past decade without theNotice, and it means so much to me to have an amazing support system here, on the internet, where all of us weirdos can come make sense of things together.

So whether you’re an OG reader (Sarah, Arianne), one of my fellow spoonies (Katie, Alison), you’ve sent me an email that broke my heart (Efraín, Shannon, Anna!) or you’re brand new to the blog, what’s coming up next is for you.

Win $560 of my favourite things from the past 10 years

I wanted to do something really special for my 10th blogiversary, so here’s one incredible gift bundle for one heckin’ lucky reader. (It’s worth $567.22 if you don’t adjust any of the currencies, but that just doesn’t roll of the tongue in the same way!)

Every single product in this giveaway is something that I love and use on a daily/weekly basis. These are the items that I re-buy as soon as I run out, from brands that I support because they’re made up of really beautiful souls.

Here are the amazing goodies that you can win:

Annabelle TwistUp Retractable Lipsticks in Vamp and Cherry ($9.95 CAD each), and Skinny Brow Liner in Universal Taupe ($8.95 CAD)
Aveeno Fresh Essentials Moisturizer SPF 30 ($23.49 CAD)
Lise Watier Twist & Sharp Eyeliner in Platine ($23 CAD) and Féline Eyeliner HD in Vert ($22 CAD)
Lovetica Natural Lip Balms ($18.99 CAD) and Natural Deodorant ($14.99 CAD)
Marcelle Translucent Face Powder ($15.95 CAD) and Precision Liquid Eyeliner Pen ($11.95 CAD)
MIYU Hydrate Mi Deluxe Pairing ($55 USD)
Pür Cosmetics Eye Polish in Satin, Suede, and Caviar ($32 CAD each)
SheVibe – Vixen VixSkin Mustang Dildo in Fluor-A-Pink ($140 USD) and Je Joue Mimi Soft External Vibrator in Black ($117 USD)

Giveaway swatches, L-R: Cherry, Vamp, Precision Liquid Eyeliner, Vert, Universal Ebony, Platine, Suede, Satin, and Caviar.

Want to win it? It’s easy – just enter using the giveaway widget below. (Full details in the widget.) This prize is shipping directly from my office, so it’s open to everyone: if you’re legally allowed to enter contests in your place of residence, I will ship it out to you.

Writing theNotice changed my life. Think of this as my way of saying “thank you” – thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, thanking for making my career a reality. ❤️

theNotice’s big 10th blogiversary giveaway (worth $560!)

Tags: /About theNotice, Giveaway

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Elizabeth Arden Eclipse Sunset Bronze Highlighter review, swatches, photos | The prettiest spring launch! THE PRETTIEST!

March 3, 2016

Rae Chen

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The product: Elizabeth Arden Sunset Bronze Prismatic Highlighter in Eclipse 01

I’ve really been feeling the whole “glistening golden glow” thing this season, but somehow, I didn’t have a single product in my collection that really fit the bill — until Eclipse came along.

It’s part of the Elizabeth Arden Sunset Bronze Summer 2016 collection, which is all about sunset hues and the bronzey look that the golden hour gives you.

Elizabeth Arden Sunset Bronze Prismatic Highlighter swatch (blended / heavy)

The shade: You guys. This is gorgeous.

The Sunset Bronze Prismatic Highlighter only comes in one shade, Eclipse, but it’s a stunning golden bronze colour. Ultra-fine mica and titanium dioxide shimmer gives a sparkly gold finish to a light copper base colour, and the stick texture blends out easily to a translucent shimmer finish that makes my cheekbones GLOW in natural sunlight.

Patting it into the skin offers a more intense sheen, and it reminds me of the Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop Shimmering Skin Perfector ($38 USD/$46 CAD) when patted — but with more controllable shimmer placement. (Am I the only one who didn’t really like Champagne Pop? Becca highlighters are so pretty, but kind of get everywhere on me.)

Elizabeth Arden Sunset Bronze Prismatic Highlighter in Eclipse, swatched (blended / heavy)

The formula & packaging: Elizabeth Arden’s Prismatic Highlighter formula contains silicones, but it is gorgeously creamy — and doesn’t seem to breaking me out in this concentration (yet). The texture is melty-smooth without being slippery, and it comes amped up with vitamin E, zinc PCA, and aloe vera leaf extract to nourish your skin.

Elizabeth Arden Sunset Bronze Prismatic Highlighter swatch (top), Clinique Chubby Stick in Hefty Highlight (bottom)

The only other highlighting stick that I use regularly is the Clinque Chubby Stick highlighter ($21 USD/$24 CAD), but the two are like night and day. The Elizabeth Arden stick is softer, creamier, stouter, and easier to blend, while the Clinique stick is firmer and disappears into the skin.

Both are stunning in their own way, but one is a cool-toned illuminator while the other is warm, intense highlighter. (In other words, you totally need both!)

The verdict?

Elizabeth Arden is one of those brands that can sometimes feel dated, but they absolutely killed it with their Sunset Bronze 2016 collection. The entire launch is tightly edited and beautifully packaged, and the Sunset Bronze Prismatic Highlighter is honestly the crown jewel of the whole production.

My only reservation about this highlighter is that it won’t be going into the permanent Elizabeth Arden line, so snap it up while you can!

Availability: $28.50 USD/$34.50 CAD. Limited edition at select Hudson’s Bay, London Drugs, and Shopper’s Drug Mart locations as of February 2016.

More pictures! »

Tags: /Cheeks, Elizabeth Arden, Paraben-free, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, Spring/Summer 2016

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2015 favourites: My makeup & fragrance must-haves

January 11, 2016

Rae Chen

15 Comments

2015 was, for some reason, a major skincare year for me. I didn’t fall in love with any new makeup products until December, and while I do love those with a passion–well, it makes for a favourites list that is much the same as 2014’s.

Which was the same as 2013’s.

You can see where I’m going with this, right?

My favourite everyday products

For me, “the basics” begin with a black eyeliner that never smudges (I rely on Annabelle SmudgePaints and Marcelle Double Extension eyeliners for that — I think I’m on my third Marcelle pen) and an eyeshadow base that can keep you totally crease-free (the cheap-as-dirt Wet ‘n Wild Fergie primer or Pür Mineral’s awesome new Eye Polishes, both of which perform, for me, leaps and bounds better than Urban Decay Primer Potion or NARS Pro Prime.)

You’re only as good as the number of people who fear you, after all, and raccoon eyes don’t usually make for terrified weeping.

I also couldn’t live without my Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Plum (the perfect medium-coverage MLBB shade), a few matte eyeshadows to contour with, and a basic lip balm.

I’m currently fixated on Burt’s Bees’ Refreshing lip balm, which is only moderately hydrating. It smells like pink grapefruit, though, so I mean… Really.

Add in a ‘cone-free face powder (no one does a satin finish like Marcelle) and a flawless foundation (thank you again, Pür Minerals, you radiant, beautiful unicorn) and I’m all set.

My favourite colour products of 2015

I discovered a lot of absolutely stellar brow products last year, but only a few made the cut for my favourites: Stila’s, which is glorious but outrageously overpriced, and Annabelle’s, which is as wonderful as it is budget-friendly.

My eyeshadow favourites haven’t changed at all–always Clarins, and always their flaky-shimmer quads–and neither have my lip and everyday mascara favourites: Imju Fiberwig (all hail the ~~glow cloud~~ magic of tubing technology), Burt’s Bees, and Clinique Chubby Sticks.

I did add two totally new favourites to my repertoire last year, though, and I couldn’t be happier to have found them!

Annabelle’s Blush On range is awesome (for some reason, I always reach for them before my Clinique Cheek Pops), and the new blue and purple Clinique Chubby Lash mascaras wear like a champ. I don’t think the black shade is a must, but the blue? Totally.

My favourite tools of 2015

My do-everything powder brush, Senna’s Powder Point Brush #33, is my only new favourite this year — but it lives at my partner’s house, so I’m afraid I couldn’t include it in this photo! I feel like that speaks for itself, though: it’s my only powder brush at his place, and it does a good job of applying foundation, powder, contour, blush, and highlighter. It doesn’t do an amazing job of any of them, but for that kind of versatility, I’ll live.

My favourite fragrances of 2015

And last but not least… The perfumes that I couldn’t get enough of last year. I looooove Aerin Waterlily Sun (I’m wearing it right now, actually!) and Frédéric Malle Musc Ravageur, as I’ve talked about at length on theNotice, but I’ve been using Leila Lou by Rosie Jane a lot, too — it’s great for smelling really, really clean in an instant.

(And–ahem–it’s excellent for directing attention to certain areas at close range.)

What were your favourite products of 2015?

Tags: /Annabelle, Base, Cheeks, Clinique, Estee Lauder, Eyes, Fragrance, Grouped reviews, Holy Grail, Indie brands, Lips, Marcelle, Product Photos, Product snapshots, Pur Minerals, Real Techniques, The Edit

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Annabelle Lipsies Lip Balm in Grapefruit | Your one-step pink grapefruit fix

December 21, 2015

Rae Chen

11 Comments

The product: Annabelle Cosmetics Lipsies Lip Balm in Grapefruit

One of my go-to lip combinations is to apply a swipe of grapefruit-scented Burt’s Bees Refreshing Lip Balm ($3.29 USD), and then top it off with a Clinique Chubby Stick ($17 USD) in either Super Strawberry or Whoppin’ Watermelon.

I’m kind of super bad at the whole “stop being lazy and layer your goddamn products” thing, though, so when I realized that Annabelle made a product that would cover both steps, I immediately made grabby hands at it.

Annabelle Grapefruit Lipsies Lip Balm swatches

Annabelle Lipsies Lip Balm in Grapefruit

Annabelle’s grapefruit scent isn’t quite as bright or zesty as Burt’s Bees’, but it helps lift my mood and my look at the same time with a lovely, juicy-looking swath of colour. And, for less than the price of a cup of coffee, who can say no to a tasty scent and a moisturizing hint of pink?

Availability: $4.95 CAD online at Annabelle.ca (US/Canada shipping) and in drugstores & mass-market retailers across Canada. Read my full review of the Lipsies formula here!

The whole (current) Lipsies range! I think. As of Spring 2015, at least.

See what other bloggers thought of the Annabelle Lipsies:

Beauty Infinitum loves Fruit Punch (which looks SO good on her lips) and Cupcake!
Workaday Beauty and her super-cute spring hair has Grapefruit swatched alongside Strawberry, Cherry, and Raspberry.
Just J reviewed Fruit Punch and Coco-Vanilla, and totally hated the scent of the latter. (It’s okay, MizzJ. I hate the way it smells too.)

Tags: /Annabelle, Lips, Product Photos, Product Review

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The purple pout: A Body Shop Universal Lip Pencil vs. Clinique Voluptuous Violet comparison

March 24, 2015

Rae Chen

11 Comments

I recently got a question on Instagram asking me to compare The Body Shop’s Universal Shade Lip & Cheek Velvet Pencil ($15 USD/CAD) with Clinique’s Voluptuous Violet Chubby Stick ($17 USD/$19 CAD), so I thought I’d follow up with a super short blog post on the topic.

If all you’re looking for is a sheer, comfortable violet lip pencil, then either one of these will fit the bill. But here’s where the differ: Chubby Sticks are glossy and emollient while The Body Shop’s Velvet Pencils are satin-matte and, well, velvety. (Neither are particularly drying or hydrating on me!) Voluptuous Violet reads as more of a pinky-red, while the pH-adjusting Body Shop pencil is an ashier purple, though it stains pink.

For wearability, definitely opt for the Clinique. But for coolness (both tonally and metaphorically), go for the Body Shop pencil.

The Body Shop Universal Shade Lip & Cheek Pencil, Clinique Voluptuous Violet Chubby Stick swatches (layered to maximum intensity)

Do you own any purple lipsticks, pencils, balms, or glosses?

Tags: Clinique Chubby Sticks/Clinique, Grouped reviews, Lips, Paraben-free, Product Photos, The Body Shop

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Annabelle Lipsies review, swatches, photos (Holiday 2014)

November 24, 2014

Rae Chen

10 Comments

The product: Annabelle Lipsies Lip Balm (Holiday 2014 edition)

↳in Roasted Marshmallow, Yummy Gingerbread, Flirty Candy cane, Grandma’s Peppermint, Cinnamon Candy, and Hot Chocolate

So, you guys know how much I love jumbo lip pencils, right? (Right). Well — Annabelle Cosmetics has come out with a limited-edition range of six for the holiday season, and they smell amazing.

The formula and wear: I get 2-3 hours of comfortable, moisturizing wear out of these (more moisturizing than a Chubby Stick; less moisturizing than an eos sphere), with clear to medium coverage depending on the shade. They have a soft-shiny finish, and all five shades are quite understated.

The packaging (retractable!) and overall aesthetic makes them a lot less, uh, luxe than most jumbo pencils, but I think they’d make amazing stocking stuffers — especially for a pre-teen or teenager just getting into makeup. (Or a makeup addict who doesn’t take her stash too seriously!)

Each Lipsies balm comes adorned with a cartoon drawing of their scent!

The shades and scents

Roasted Marshmallow is clear with a bit of super-fine, glossy-looking sparkle and a fruity scent — weird, considering its name, but delicious. Yummy Gingerbread is an almost-clear peach shade, and it smells like sugared cereal in milk (or an Urban Decay Rocket Lipgloss; those things were equally gross.)

Flirty Candy Cane is a sheer milky pink with a white frost finish–which makes it look more pigmented in this swatch than it really is–and again, it smells quite fruity. It’s a more standard fruit scent than Roasted Marshmallow, and a tiny bit sweeter, but both are mouthwatering. Grandma’s Peppermint is a pretty, universal sheer pink that smells like peppermint tea rather than your standard minty lip balm, and is the glossiest of the bunch.

Cinnamon Candy is by far the highlight of the group, and smells exactly like cinnamon hearts — but without the burn. It’s a new-to-me lip product scent, with a warm-red tint that sinks in to look like a stain after 15 minutes. Finally, Hot Chocolate smells like your typical chocolate-scented drugstore product, and both it and Cinnamon Candy have good pigmentation — more than Fresh or Clinique tinted balms, and I’d recommend using a mirror to apply.

Annabelle Lipsies swatches: Roasted Marshmallow, Yummy Gingerbread, Flirty Candy Cane, Grandma’s Peppermint, Cinnamon Candy, Hot Chocolate

The verdict?

These ones aren’t available online, but if you can pick them up in-store, do it!! They’re a lot of fun, and at $4.95 CAD, they’re a really good price — for yourself or as a gift.

Must-have: Cinnamon Candy, especially if you look best in warmer reds! And Grandma’s Peppermint, if you love peppermint tea — this scent is spot-on. (The shade’s really pretty, too.)

Nice-to-have: Roasted Marshmallow and Flirty Candy Cane — the shimmer in both is very fine, and both are inoffensively fruity. If colour is of no consequence to you, I say go for the marshmallow.

Skip: Yummy Gingerbread and Hot Chocolate. They’re pretty gross-smelling, to be honest.

Available at drugstores and mass retail stores across Canada while quantities last.

Tags: /Annabelle, Grouped reviews, Holiday 2014, Lips, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, The Gift Guide

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Clinique custom phone cases & more | New 14/09/14

September 14, 2014

Rae Chen

6 Comments

New this week are a few long-awaited launches (like the NARS Audacious lipsticks), as well as a couple new-to-store ones (Charlotte Tilbury at Nordstrom, and that pastel Shiseido trio!) and a few unique items that caught my eye. If you’ve tried the new Micro.mini Beautyblenders, for instance, or that new Sephora makeup-removing lip gel, I’d be curious to hear what you thought of them! (And those new Bottega Veneta perfumes, hrrrnnnngh.)

New (& more than noteworthy)

Also upcoming this week is an event — and a very, very cool one at that. Manhattan residents are invited to the Clinique counter at Bloomingdale’s on 59th St. to receive a complimentary Smart Skin Consultation and create a customized smartphone case designed by fashion illustrator Brooke Hagel.

The event will be held this Thursday, September 18th, and while I obviously won’t get to go… I can only hope that one of you will take this opportunity to have a phone case custom-illustrated with Chubby Stick sketches!

What: Complimentary Smart Skin Consultations, a fall trend fashion preview, and a custom-illustrated phone case with the purchase of Clinique’s Smart Repair Serum.

When: Thursday, September 18, 6pm-8pm

Where: Bloomingdale’s 59th Street Beauty Studio (1000 3rd Ave at 59th Street, NY)

Pre-book an appointment at the counter or by calling (212) 705-2879.

Tags: /Clinique, New This Week (& etc)

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L’Oreal Privée Nudes, Lancome French Riviera, Anti-Redness BB Creams, and more | 21/06/14 Link Love

June 21, 2014

Rae Chen

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The L’Oreal Privee Nudes Collection is back and bigger then ever – check out the swatches from Lisamarie at Beauty Crazed to find your perfect nude!

This week at theNotice, Rae’s going sheer with Clinique. Check out her reviews & swatches of 14 different Chubby Sticks and A Different Nail Enamel polishes!

Glitter lovers, FabDiva20 is excited to show you the Voilet Voss Glitters that she has won from a giveaway! Check out her Violet Voss post!

Phyrra brings you the new Makeup Geek Blushes! Find out which shades are her favorite.

Jenn from Spiced Beauty shows you her new obsession from Benefit Cosmetics! Do you like Tinted Lip Balms?

Who doesn’t want a beautiful and bronze Summer look, right? Pammy Blogs Beauty scopes out Lancome’s new for Summer 2014 French Riviera Collection.

What is Beauty Info Zone obsessing about this week? Just maybe it’s eye creams. Be prepared to go shopping.

Beauty Reflections demonstrates the new L’Oreal Paris Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream Anti-Redness and you have to see how well it works! No more red cheeks!

—What’s the best way to celebrate summer? Head over to Makeup Morsels and ring in warm weather with an Urban Decay giveaway.

Tags: /BBLL (link roundups)

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