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Clarins Garden Escape swatches, review, photos (+Sweet Rose, Intense Green) | Spring 2015

April 1, 2015

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The products: Clarins Garden Escape 6-Colour Eye Palette, Blush Prodige in 08 Sweet Rose, and Crayon Khôl in 09 Intense Green

This spring, Clarins is thrumming with the mantra of green eyes, pink cheeks, pink lips — and softness, softness, softness.

Here are three ways to get it.

UPDATE 01/04/15: Today only, Clarins.ca is offering free shipping on all orders plus 3 free samples of your choice with code APRIL1ST! (And no, it’s not an April Fool’s Day joke.)

Clarins Garden Escape 6-Colour Eye Palette ($45 USD/$44 CAD)

First off: the limited-edition Clarins Garden Escape 6-Colour Eye Palette Long Lasting. As you all know, I’m a sucker for Clarins’ Wet & Dry eyeshadows, and these are no exception!

With a mix of sheer/buildable satin and shimmery finishes, this palette crafts easy spring lids like a dream. My favourite shade (of course) is the taupe, but I was pretty impressed with all six of these shadows. The salmon pink in particular seems very contemporary, to me–it’s subtle, but more interesting than beige–and the dark green adds lovely depth without being too in-your-face green.

Clarins’ Wet/Dry shadows also wear pretty well on me, so these are good for the gal on the go, too. I can get 1-2 hours out of this palette without primer, which is really impressive for my lids! (Most shadows only make it to the 45 minute mark before they start to migrate.)

Clarins Garden Escape Wet & Dry 6-Colour Eye Palette swatches

Blush Prodige in Sweet Rose ($32 USD/$32 CAD)

Clarins Blush Prodige in Miami Pink (L), Sweet Rose (R)

There’s also a new Clarins Blush Prodige Illuminating Cheek Colour in Sweet Rose, a pretty apricot-pink with just the faintest touch of shimmer. (Just barely any; Sweet Rose is definitely more matte than Miami Pink.) It’s a little warm for my tastes, but if you like peachy blushes, this is a good one!

(Also… I mean, the Clarins blushes pretty much get bonus points in my books just for being pretty. Those right angles! That acrylic and gold brush!)

Clarins Blush Prodige in Sweet Rose, Crayon Khôl in Intense Green swatches

Keep reading! »

Tags: /Cheeks, Clarins, Eyes, Grouped reviews, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, Spring/Summer 2015

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Rodial Eye Sculpt, Smokey Eye Pen, Glamolash XXL review, swatches, photos | The sculpting story continues

March 30, 2015

Rae Chen

14 Comments

So last Thursday, I talked a little bit about Rodial, and I was basically like, “ooh, pretties, you must now look at them.”

Today, I’m still talking about Rodial, but these are the eye products — a.k.a. ones that come at a price point that you can totally justify. Let’s start right in with the one product that you NEED from this line (& may your lemming for it carry you through the week!)

Availability: Exclusive to Murale (in Canada).

Buy this thing!!! » Rodial Eye Sculpt ($34 CAD)

On the whole, brown eyeshadows are not a big deal. This one, however? Totally is.

The Rodial Eye Sculpt (which only comes in one, ashy red-brown shade) is an “eyeshadow” that’s actually just sculpting mousse in disguise. Lightweight and whipped, it’s meant to do more than just sculpt your socket line — Rodial intends for it to sculpt the eye, brow, and face.

I’m too yellow/olive to use this through my brows, but this is ALL I used to sculpt my face for this post — and it’s totally all you would ever need. It lasts for ages, blends like a dream, and the tone is spot-on for an Instagram-worthy contour.

(Plus, the heavy glass and matte black packaging is totally killer.)

Rodial swatches: Glamolash XXL, Smokey Eye Pen in Brown (heavily/blended), Eye Sculpt (heavily/blended)

Use it with this » Rodial Eye Smudge Brush ($28 CAD)

With a small, fluffy brush (I used the line’s appropriately-named The Eye Sculpt Brush) and some quick blending, the Rodial Eye Sculpt mousse can totally narrow your nose, darken your lids, and turn your cheekbones into razor blades. It’s pretty impressive.

And, at $28, the brush totally fits within a budget. It’s just as soft and bouncy as the other brushes in the Rodial line up, and manages cheekbones just as well as noses.

Pair it with this » Glamolash XXL Mascara ($29 CAD)

Keep reading; it’s not over yet!! »

Tags: /4. Makeup looks, Eyes, Grouped reviews, Makeup looks: neutral, Paraben-free, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, Rodial, Spring/Summer 2015, Tools

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Rodial review, swatches: Instaglam Bronzer, Illuminator, and Powder Brush (plus a makeup look!)

March 26, 2015

Rae Chen

9 Comments

So, here’s something that I’m excited about: the launch of the new Rodial makeup line, which you can find exclusively at Murale (in Canada).

And here’s what I’m doing about that: two makeup looks. Two image-heavy sets of reviews. Two days of pure, unbridled awesoooome.

Today is day one, and it’s going to cover everything cheek-related.

The lust object: Rodial Instaglam Compact Deluxe Illuminating Powder ($75 CAD)

I love a good highlighter, so I thought I’d start off this post with Rodial’s new Instaglam Deluxe Illuminating Powder. This one is weird, but good. Like, really good.

The shimmer that Rodial uses is very finely milled, so this powder reads as a sheen instead of a glitterbomb, and it feels like butter. It melts seamlessly into the skin (even if you apply with fingers!!!), and sits in a slightly darker base colour than it glows — so it reads as a really natural sheen on my fair skintone, but looks absolutely lucent against deeper complexions.

The base sheen in this powder tends to wear away more quickly than the shimmer, which creates a sort of mid-day transformation: it starts off as a subtle sheen in the morning, then slowly wears down to a fairytale shimmer by the evening.

See? Both weird and good. If you like your illuminators creamy, then you definitely have to check this one out.

Rodial Instaglam Compact Deluxe Illuminating Powder swatches

Rodial Instaglam Compact Deluxe Illuminating Powder

The you-could-skip-it: Rodial Instaglam Compact Deluxe Bronzing Powder ($75 CAD)

The Rodial makeup line is all about sculpting, so they do a contouring powder, a bronzer, and an illuminator. (Surprisingly, each one only comes in one shade!) I tested out the Illuminator with the line’s Bronzing Powder, which is really finely-milled and touts a light yellow undertone.

My favourite thing about the Instagram Deluxe Bronzing Powder is how easily it blend into the skin, but I find that it tends to kick up powder when I tap a brush to its surface — not even brush against; just tap.

This particular shade made me look a little sallow and gaunt, but to its credit, I do look very sculpted while wearing this. I say go for the Contouring Powder instead, or head straight for the Illuminating Powder.

Keep reading! »

Tags: /4. Makeup looks, Cheeks, Eyes, Makeup looks: neutral, Rodial, Spring/Summer 2015

9 Comments

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

11 Comments

Shu Uemura Satin Radiant Sticks in Pink, Orange Coral: swatches, review, photos

March 23, 2015

Rae Chen

9 Comments

The product: shu uemura Satin Radiant Sticks in Pink and Orange Coral

I’ve been all about stick makeup this month, so today I thought I’d share photos of one of my first cheek-stick loves: the Shu Uemura Brave Beauty Satin Radiant Sticks.

They’re not something that I was planning on reviewing, because they contain way more shimmer than I prefer, but… I mean, I’ve been wearing the pink one so often that it would basically just be wrong NOT to post about it.

So, consider this my not-rave product rave.

The shades: This stick is available (right now, at least; it’s limited edition from the fall) in four shades: two blushes, pictured here, and two highlighters. Orange Coral is a bright, super glowy orange with yellow/gold shimmer, silver microshimmer (for a super dewy finish), and literally no coral undertones. Pink is a gorgeous purpley pink with a cool pink sheen and silver microshimmer.

If you’re cool-toned and you’re looking for the perfect stick blush, the Pink Satin Radiant Stick is totally where it’s at.

shu uemura radiant blush stick swatches – pink (blended/unblended), orange coral (unblended/blended)

Heartbreak! Suspense!: So, if I’m so obsessed with these sticks, why the hesitation?

Well… for one, I’m big on totally invisible makeup, and silver shimmer doesn’t quite fit the bill. But more than that, my Pink stick doesn’t twist back down, so I have to twist it up, swipe twice, and then push it back in with my fingers. Which… is kind of icky, for travel purposes.

shu uemura brave beauty radiant blush stick swatches — pink; orange coral

The verdict?

The pros definitely outweigh the cons with these blush sticks, but for a whopping $55 CAD apiece, I expect a blush to be flawless if I’m going to recommend it to you guys. And these, with their silver shimmer and slightly flawed packaging, just aren’t flawless.

Are they pretty? Absolutely. Would I have been heartbroken if I hadn’t gotten something in that gorgeous Brave Beauty packaging? Definitely. But are these two products worth $110? Well… maybe not. I say get Pink if you’re an absolute blush fiend, but in general, I think that the Brave Beauty eyeshadow palettes are a better buy!

Availability: $55 CAD at shuuemura.ca and in select Holt Renfrew locations.

Additional photos & more »

Tags: /Cheeks, Fall/Winter 2014, Paraben-free, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, shu uemura

9 Comments

What makeup brand would you want to be an ambassador for? | Beauty Influencer’s Sunday Column Vol. 4

March 22, 2015

Rae Chen

2 Comments

If you could be a brand ambassador for a makeup company, what brand would it be and why?

RAE | Canada | the Notice: a beauty blog

Marcelle! I’d want to pick a Canadian company that I already know and love, and there’s no one sweeter than the folks that work at Annabelle/Marcelle. It’s the only pairing that I think would really make sense for theNotice, and I couldn’t live without their Cleansing Milk, 3 in 1 Micellar Solution, and translucent face powders. (That said, though, I would DIE if I could be a brand ambassador for Clinique — their makeup line right now is killer!)

Lily | Malaysia | Chloe Ash
I don’t think I’d like to be a brand ambassador. Being a brand ambassador means being employed by a company, having to use everything from that one brand and to promote all the products whether or not you really like it. I love my variety, and there’s no one brand out there that does everything right. That’s the beauty of being a blogger. I get to sample a variety of things and also tell my readers the good, the bad and the ugly. What ambassador can do that?

LENA | USA | Lenallure

Hmmm, it is a toughie! I have a feeling that I am not the only one who would choose this brand, but I would have to go with Chanel. Mostly because I have been buying quite a few things from the brand lately, and pleasantly surprised by their recent offerings. Plus I have my respect for their unique yet timeless color compositions. Chanel isn’t a brand that is known to feature Asian faces often, so maybe it would be a nice change in my wild imagination.

AGATA | USA | Her and Makeup

This is a really hard question to answer because there are so many amazing makeup brands out there that I’d love to be an ambassador for. However, I would go with Hourglass Cosmetics. Everything about them says luxury- high quality ingredients, hand made products, beautiful and elegant packaging. Each and every product they release involves a cutting-edge technology and amazing formulas. Although their makeup comes with a high price tag, I feel like you get what you pay for- luxurious packaging, high quality makeup, long lasting formulas and products that quickly become your every day staples (looking at you Ambient Lighting Powders and Blushes!)

ALICE | Belgium | Alice Yeh

That’s an absolute no-brainer. Even though I adore countless brands, Charlotte Tilbury stands out immediately. There’s just nothing not to love about her as a person, her make-up and the philosophy behind it. Her brand reflects her immense passion and knowledge of make-up, which embodies quality and luxury. I have yet to find a product I dislike. She does everything so well, from base to eyes to lip products – she doesn’t disappoint. It’s a brand I’d recommend to everyone – from my closest friends to complete strangers. She deserves to live in everyone’s make-up bag.

JAA | USA/Thailand | Hello Jaa

I shouldn’t have asked this question because I am having a hard time deciding myself! I’d like to say VERSO because I love all the science behind their products but then I realized they are not really a makeup brand! I think I’ll go with MAC Cosmetics because it would be so much fun to present and play with new makeup collections all the time! They have some really nice, good-quality, and affordable staple-worthy products in the line-up, too. Their MUAs are also talented, professional, and friendly which are the type of people I want to be working with.

Tags: /BISC, Marcelle

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New 21/03/15: Contouring products abound, abound, abound

March 21, 2015

Rae Chen

13 Comments

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”615193″]

And, from the contouring committee… (for some reason almost none of these were available in widget form): six ~~freaking~~ gazillion new releases.

I mean, hey. I love contouring as much as the next gal–possibly more; I learned to sculpt and contour long before I even bothered to buy my first blush–but can you say whoa? Talk about options! These are the contouring products from just the “what’s new” page; this doesn’t even cover the rest of the category!

Mind = blown. And mildly terrified.

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

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The Body Shop Lip & Cheek Velvet Stick swatches, review, photos (& a little Smoky Poppy preview)

March 19, 2015

Rae Chen

17 Comments

The products: The Body Shop Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks in Universal Shade and 40 Red

↳ Photographed with the limited-edition Smoky Poppy Body Butter ($20), which smells amazing but contains silicones, so I can’t touch it! (But seriously: amazing. It’s super sultry for a Body Shop fragrance.)

My love affair with jumbo lip pencils is a long and almost frighteningly well-documented one, but when I tried these for the first time, I actually stopped and went, “oh, cool,” for a moment.

The texture: Unlike your standard jumbo lip pencil (sheer-glossy or opaque-matte), these Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks are exactly that: velvety. They apply with an incredibly natural finish, softly matte but not at all drying.

Unlike most mattes, though, they’re sheer — or, rather, they’ll sheer out if you blend them. Red (and I’m assuming the rest of the regular line) applies with a very medium opacity, but blends out to create the most seamless, perfect flush; the Universal Shade applies more sheerly, but in a way that’s suited well to the shade.

The Body Shop Universal Shade Lip & Cheek Velvet Stick

The Body Shop Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks, swatched – Universal Shade (heavily/blended) and 40 Red (heavily/blended)

The shades: Red is a bright strawberry red, but the pH-adapting Universal Shade is the Lip & Cheek Velvet Stick that really steals the show. Purple-black in the tube, it applies as a very sheer dark purple. It’s less glossy and more plummy than Clinique’s Voluptuous Violet Chubby Stick (the closest dupe that I’ve seen), and you NEED it.

When sheered out, the Universal shade reads as a muted flush of colour, and on the lips, it’s nothing short of perfect. My natural lip colour leans a bit orange (bleh), which makes most medium/dark lip colours look punchy and ostentatious as they wear off, but this weird, pH-adjusting pencil is perfect. It darkens my natural lip colour considerably without making my lips look bright!, which–believe me–is a pretty substantial feat.

Bare lips

The Body Shop Universal Shade Lip & Cheek Velvet Stick lip swatch

The Body Shop Smoky Poppy Body Butter

The verdict?

These sheer-matte Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks are great both for the lips and cheeks, but it’s the black Universal Shade pencil that you really need to own. If you’ve ever been intrigued by a sheer purple lipstick, or if you’ve ever been tempted to try Clinique’s classic Black Honey, get this one instead — you won’t be disappointed.

Availability: $15 USD/CAD at The Body Shop. Permanent.

Keep reading! »

Tags: /Cheeks, Fragrance, Grouped reviews, Lips, Product Photos, Product Review, Product Swatches, Spring/Summer 2015, The Body Shop

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Kaia Bamboo Tapioca Beads review, photos | A semi-DIY cleanser/exfoliator/mask

March 17, 2015

Rae Chen

7 Comments

The product: Kaia Naturals Bamboo Tapioca Beads Daily Powdered Face Cleanser

How it works: DIY meets green beauty, baby! Instead of releasing a ready-made exfoliator, Kaia offers a cleansing kit comprised of an exfoliating powder, a mini vial of moringa oil, and instructions.

Now, I’m all about customizing products, and this kit is perfect for it. All you do is tap out some of the powder into your hand, then blend with a liquid to make a cleanser/mask/exfoliator that’s customized to meet your needs exactly.

Kaia Naturals Bamboo Tapioca Beads kit

What to blend it with: Kaia recommends moringa oil, a makeup-removing dry oil that’s rich in vitamin C, but the sample they provided goes cloudy and thick in my (cold, cold, cold) bathroom. They also suggest water, yogurt (for a mask), other oils, and green tea.

I liked it best paired with my go-to cleanser, though — a dollop of Marcelle Essentials Cleansing Milk, a tap of powder, and you’re off to the races.

Kaia Naturals Bamboo Tapioca Beads

The caveat: While I like the idea of this cleansing powder a lot, I still prefer an enzyme powder cleanser (like Tatcha’s) over a gritty one like this. But, as a physical exfoliator, this powder definitely isn’t too harsh for my sensitive skin, and is far less abrasive than all of the regular-line Clarisonic heads!

The verdict?

At $38, this cleansing powder is a little pricy — but it leaves my face feeling super soft. I love that Kaia has taken the usual approach to cleansing and broken it down into its component parts, allowing the consumer to decide how to use the product without needing to buy three separate versions of it.

If you’re really picky about things being just-so (or if you need an exfoliator/cleanser for your carry-on luggage), then definitely give this one a look. My recommendation? Go with the refill, not the kit — you’ll save $8 and all you miss out on is a spoon and a tiny-baby vial of oil.

Availability: $38 USD/CAD at Kaia Naturals and select Holt Renfrew locations.

Keep reading! »

Tags: /Canadian beauty, Cleansing, Other, Paraben-free, Product Photos, Product Review, Silicone-free, Skincare

7 Comments

Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser – Foaming Wash review, photos | Currently hooked on…

March 13, 2015

Rae Chen

18 Comments

Okay, so you know how I took that trip to Toronto a couple of weeks ago? Well, like an idiot, I totally forgot to bring soap with me — I guess I figured my crazy-dry skin could handle bar soap for a couple of days or something. (WHY, Rae.)

Luckily for me, my welcome basket from Neutrogena just so happened to contain this little gem, which I’ve always passed over for its non-foaming creamy counterpart!

Turns out, Neutrogena’s Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser is ultra gentle — and the foaming version is AMAZING as a bodywash. It feels and smells super luxurious in the shower, but because it’s an enormous face wash from a drugstore brand, it’s not going to run you $20-30 like a lot of department-store body washes will.

Plus, it comes in totally cute, sensible packaging, and it foams up really easily. (I’ve always found that shower gels are too thick to really enjoy using unless you put them on a shower puff.) So the next time you’re at the drugstore and you feel like treating yourself to something: give this a go!

I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

Tags: /Cleansing, Neutrogena, Other, Product Photos, Product Review, Product snapshots, Skincare, Travel

18 Comments