I’ve finally decided to splurge on a more high end foundation, so obviously I had to share with you my journey with it every step of the day ! I’ve been on and off about investing in a more high-end foundation for months now, researching which one would be the best bang for my buck. 

And to be quite honest, I had my mind set on the NARS Sheer Glow foundation for ages and yet some how.. I let my friends convince me that the Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide would be a better decision. 

Costing me $59 (before taxes) I damn well hope they were right  !

Here’s my first impression / demo of how this foundation applies to my dry skin ! 

Spoiler : SO FAR SO GOOD ! I think I might’ve found a new HG light weight everyday foundation ! 

I’ve been dying to try the MAC Pro Longwear concealer for literally YEARS now after hearing such good things about it. But could I justify spending 20 some what dollars on one concealer? HELL NAH. But lately I’ve been really trying to spend my money wisely and invest in more expensive and high-end makeup as to a) treat myself, and b) invest. As much as drugstore makeup will always hold a special place in my heart, it’s nice to be able to try some of the holy grail items that everyone talks about yanno?

Usually for concealer, I would wear quite a light shade so it not only conceals my dark circles, but also brightens up my under eye area. However, when I was inside of the MAC store getting the lovely MAC girl to shade match me, she actually recommended me to give NW25 a try. I was actually quite taken aback that she gave me such a dark shade to conceal my under eyes with. But she explained that the salmon tone of this concealer will actually help me colour correct the darkness underneath my eyes that a flat, bright concealer wouldn’t do. We actually tried on both NW25 and NW20 and she was right ! NW25 definitely colour corrected my dark circles, and although I loved how NW20 highlighted, it made my under eye area look slightly ashy.

That’s when we started talking about MAC’s Prep and Prime in Light Boost. I’ve also heard great things about this highlighting pen from the likes of my favourite Youtubers (LIKE JACLYN HILL!) so I decided to give it a go as well. She applied it on top of the NW25 concealer and it really just gave off the most beautiful highlighted look EVER.

Although I really did just go into MAC to spend 20 (ish) bucks on the concealer, Of course I left spending closer to 60 dollars *rolls eyes*. I literally have the worst self-control when it comes to this stuff. BUT I have been using these two products together everyday since I’ve purchased it, and I’ve got to say that I’ve indeed been LOVING THIS STUFF. These two just work together like two peas in a pod. Although the Pro Longwear concealer is quite a heavy-duty, high coverage concealer, some how it just never seems to look cakey under the eyes. And you would think that the highlighter would add an even heavier layer on top of the concealer but it completely doesn’t ! It’s got the thinnest consistency, perfect for blending on top of your concealer and foundation.

I pretty much have not used anything else as for as concealing and highlighting my under eyes go. I definitely want to do a demo or a fuller review on these products for you, but for now, just know that I am LOVING THEM !

More soon !

Semi-Recently, Maybelline came out with a collection of matte lipsticks. Just from swatching them in the store, I was blown away at the quality and texture of these lipsticks. For matte lipsticks, or just lipsticks in general honestly, these babies were unbelievably buttery and smooth.

I’ve always had a love for Maybelline lipsticks. Even their regular line of lipsticks have great pigmentation and texture, and are not drying on the lips what-so-ever. For someone with exceptionally dry lips (..like I mean my lips are pretty much ALWAYS chapped) it is really important for me that a lipstick has a non-drying formula. Which is why I actually tend to stay away from most matte lipsticks.

But since I’ve been obsessed with Maybelline lipsticks for so long, I decided to trust their brand and purchase a few of these bad boys to try… and OH MY LORD am I glad I did.

These lippies are unlike any other mattes I’ve ever experienced. Not only do they not drag across your lips like most matte formulas do (cough, MAC’s Ruby Woo cough), but they actually glide on smoother than most of my regular lipsticks. They almost feel like you are applying a very soft, light layer of butter on top of your lips. Not in the greasy sense, but in a smooth application sense. And the best part, they aren’t drying AT ALL. Like I mean AT ALL. I’ve had no problems throwing these on, even when I have a little flakey-ness on my lips, because they don’t accentuate the dry spots at all. It just glides right over them and sits beautifully on the lips.

When I first applied these lipsticks, I actually didn’t think they were as matte as I liked them. However, with the amazing formula and price, I honestly didn’t care. They still gave off a gorgeous, almost velvety finish, which I was perfectly fine with. However, as these lipsticks wear on your lips, they actually get more matte as they settle! So if you swatch these in the store, and they don’t seem that matte to you, be patient, as the formula actually dries to be quite matte.

I think there were about 8-10 colours available at my London Drugs, but I only picked up four of the colours. They also had some great reds and pinks, but these four were the ones that caught my eye the most.

From left to right the swatches are : Mesmerizing Magenta, Lust for Blush, Daringly Nude, and Touch of Spice.

My favourite out of the bunch has got to be Touch of Spice. It is such a beautiful darker brown nude colour, and actually makes a great Kylie Jenner lip colour.

Have you tried the new Maybelline Matte Lipsticks? If you have, what do you think about them and what’s your favourite colour in the collection?

Until next time !

Edit: I’ve since tried a lot of other masks in similar textures! If you’re looking for a good alternative to the Mask of Magnaminty, my new favourite is the PureHeals Centella Green Tea Pack! It has even better ingredients and is a Korean skincare brand! The texture and colour is quite similar but the PureHeals one is more buttery and soft on the skin.

About a month ago, I went to Lush and purchased a few products to try out. Since my skin has been really acting up lately, I decided I would give some natural products a try and see if it would help. If you’re interested in seeing what else I purchased from Lush, you can check out my mini haul here.

The product I want to review for you guys today is the Mask of Magnaminty. I’ve been using this for almost four weeks now, and I’ve been loving it ! The Lush girl suggested that I try this out when I asked her for something that would give me a nice deep clean and would help with the clogging of my pores. And I’ve definitely been seeing results !

 Magnanimity definition : the act of being magnanimous; generosity

I have been using this hand in hand with the two other products that I bought (the Tea Tree Toner, and Grease Lightening) so those could also have had an effect in the state of my skin, but because one of them is just a mild toner and the other is a spot treatment, I can conclude that this is probably what’s helping my skin overall.

I try my best to use this bad boy at least 2 – 3 times a week, and if I forget, then at least once a week at the bare minimum. I originally thought that buying the smaller size ($12.95 for 125 g) would only last me a couple of tries before I had to go back to purchase another tub of it, but surprisingly this has lasted me quite a well. I’ve used it probably 6-8 times now and it still has a pretty substantial amount left in the tub.

The description on the website says

Mask of Magnaminty isn’t technically a daily ‘facial wash’; it’s actually a deep cleansing face and back mask. China clay and fresh peppermint reach deep down to pull the debris from your pores, giving you that delightful tingly-clean sensation. We add loads of aduki beans to exfoliate flaky or dry skin, vanilla absolute to calm redness and honey to soothe. Our inventors created Mask of Magnaminty to be the ‘ultimate face mask’, intense but not harsh or abrasive on the skin. We recommend using Mask of Magnaminty weekly to keep the skin in good condition.

The grainy texture from the added aduki beans was definitely a little strange to me. This was probably the first face mask that I’ve tried that has that kind of texture to it. It wasn’t until I was washing the mask off before I realized why the beans were there. When you are rinsing off the mask, the aduki beans helps you really gently exfoliate your skin. So as you rub the mask away, you are actually rubbing the beans against your skin. I really enjoyed this because they actually give a gentle (but not so gentle that it doesn’t work) exfoliating, instead of a harsh one like my St. Ives Apricot Scrub does.

Another thing that was slightly alarming was the peppermint. When first applied to your face, the minty-ness is definitely very prominent and almost a little off-putting. Let me just tell you now.. this is a VERY minty mask. And most other minty, tingly masks that I’ve tried, I didn’t end up liking because it always seemed to dry out my skin in the end. So right off the bat, I already thought to myself “Nope, not going to like this. Definitely going to dry out my skin.” BUUUUT to my surprise, this actually did the exact opposite. Not only did it make my skin feel exceptionally clean afterwards, my skin actually felt moisturized and replenished as well. I’m guessing it’s the vanilla and the honey in it, but my skin felt soothed and polished all at the same time. Oh and the minty-ness only lasts for a couple of minutes. After the couple of minutes has passed, the mask will no longer feel extremely minty, and just feel normal on your skin.

I don’t think I would use this mask every single day, because it does perform quite a deep clean for your skin, so I would assume that if used too much, it may strip your skin of some of its essential oils. But I will use this mask every other day, and I have no problems with my skin drying out from it. I naturally have extremely dry skin, so this is always a relief for me when it comes to cleansers and masks.

Overall, this mask seems like it’s been doing wonders for my skin ! After the first use, my skin had just felt well-cleaned, but I didn’t see much of a difference as far as my spots go. But after a few times of using this cleanser, I definitely noticed a positive change in my skin. My break outs have definitely lessened, and my skin has been feeling less dry and flakey, since it does a great job moisturizing, restoring and exfoliating it !

If you’re in the market for a new deep cleanser, or even just a nice mask to try, I would definitely give Mask of Magnaminty a go. It’s no wonder the Lush girl told me this is one of her holy grail products, because I know for fact I will definitely be repurchasing this one when I need a refill.

Not to mention it smells like mint chocolate ice cream… ♡

Hope this post was helpful !

More soon,

1. Covergirl Ready Set Gorgeous Foundation : I honestly didn’t even think that I would like this foundation when I purchased it. I bought it purely to try out for review purposes. I have a friend who uses this foundation and has oily skin, so I wanted to try it out and see how it fends with dry skin. Yet some how it just… worked. Now I pretty much use this foundation every single day. I’m not going to lie, I think Covergirl has really been killin’ it with their foundations as of late.
2. Chantecaille Anti-Glycation Primer : I got gifted this product quite a while ago, but never really enjoyed using it. Honestly I don’t even know whether my foundations applies any smoother after I use this primer, but I mainly use it as a little bit of sun protection for my face, and just as an extra bit of moisture incase I had any dry spots. I think if anything, at this point I’m just trying to use up this product, but I have been using it almost everyday in January so I thought I would include it here.
3. False Lashes : Been getting back into the falsies game lately, and I’ve been loving these ones that I purchased from China. They don’t even have a brand on them anywhere, but I think you can definitely find similar looking ones on Ebay for cheap. I’ve definitely been leaning more towards the lashes that wing/fan out and get longer towards the end. I find that it gives your eyes an even more almond / cat-eye effect, and I’ve been obsessed pretty much.
4. Vice 3 Palette : K SERIOUSLY THIS PALETTE THOUGH. Man it is just such perfection. It’s got all the colours that I feel comfortable using (purples, golds, browns, bronzes, burgundies), and then also have a few that I could experiment with (blues and greens). Not to mention they all have such amazing pigmentation it blows me away. I didn’t use anything else for SO long after I bought this palette; I just never had the need to. It’s just… perfect. I don’t even know how else to explain it, I’m so in love.
5. Tapered Kabuki Brush : So earlier on, in January, I wrote about a new, super affordable brush set that I recently bought, and I’ve been trying them out ever since. I’ve been adoring their tapered kabuki brush for setting underneath my eyes and around my nose areas in those pesky, hard-to-reach places. The point just fits so well in the contours under my eyes, that I haven’t been using anything other than this to set.
6. Flat Top Kabuki Brush : When I want a super flawless foundation application for a night out downtown, I’ve been loving the flat top kabuki brush from the same affordable brush set I mentioned above. I feel like this would actually be a pretty good dupe for the Sigma flat top kabuki brush, but since I don’t own the Sigma one, I can’t tell you guys for sure. But honestly, this brush has pretty much ruined the relationship I had with my Real Techniques buffing brush, which was my old favourite foundation brush. It just swooped in and took over, and now I don’t even touch my RT buffing brush (I’m sorry baby, we had a good run).
7. Tapered Precision Brush : Next up for brushes, is the mini version of number 5 on this list. It is the tapered precision brush. I’ve been using this to buff colour underneath my eyes, into my lower lash line. Works like a charm. I also use it sometimes to contour my nose.
8. Round Precision Brush : UNNNFFF. I can’t say enough good things about this brush. I’ve been using this one as a blending brush for my crease, and my dear lord, it works so well. I will usually use this to deposit and blend a transitional shade into my crease, and then again to blend out whatever other colours I had to my lid as well. It just works. It’s amazing. Buy the brush set guys. It’s $10 for 9 brushes. Just go buy it please.
9. Flat Angled Precision Brush : This particular brush, I’ve been loving for depositing a darker shade into my outer v and crease area. I found that it fit perfectly into the outer corner of my eye, so I use it for just that purpose.
10. Maybelline Touch of Spice Matte Lipstick : Definitely my favourite shade out of their matte lipstick line, I’ve been obsessed with Touch of Spice lately. It is one of those plummy, pinky, nude-y Kylie Jenner lip colours that everyone has been obsessed with lately. I remember seeing a few swatches on the internet comparing Touch of Spice and Mac’s Twig and they looked pretty similar, but don’t quote me on it, since I don’t actually own Twig.
11. Josie Maran 100% Argan Oil : I was using a lot of this oil when my skin was so dry that it started to become flakey and patchy. I got this as a 500 point perk along with a couple other Josie Maran products to try out. Despite the fact that it’s a small sample bottle, it’s actually going to take me a LONG time before I get through this bottle, since I only use, literally, a drop or two each time. And now that my skin has been quenched, and does not have dry patches anymore, I’ve laid off it for a while, as to make sure my skin doesn’t think it has too much oils and dry itself out even more. I think I might pass this along to Ryan to try to see if it does anything to help with his Eczema.
12. MAC Melba Blush : Last but definitely not least, is my newest MAC blush addition… MELBA ! I’ve actually wanted this blush for years and years now, and I finally went out and bought it. And ohmylord it is everything I’ve ever imagined it to be and more. It is a matte, peachy, warm, neutral blush that just gives your skin the nicest warm tone to it. What I love about this blush, is that you can wear it with pretty much any look since it doesn’t add too much crazy colour to your cheeks, but instead just warms it up and makes it look lively. I’m OBSESSED. I probably wore this almost every time I wore make up since I’ve purchased it. I can’t pick any other blush up.

So that concludes my January Favourites ! I hope you guys found this a good read, or maybe it gave you a few suggestions of new products to try !

Let me know down below what your favourite products of January 2015 are, or if you also write a blog, link me to your post ! 

I’m already thinking about what I want to include in my February favourites, but I haven’t actually tried out very many new products this month so I have no idea ):

Until next time my lovelies,

MY MAKEUP GEEK EYESHADOWS ARRIVED. GAH. I’ve been waiting so long to try these babies out, especially hearing pretty much ALL of my favourite Youtubers rave about them. SOOOO I finally decided to order them !

Now don’t get me wrong, these are super affordable. That isn’t the reason I held out on them. It was more so because I have a very long wish-list, and it took me a while to get down to these. But I regret those months that I lost, buying other shit. Because these babies are fan-freaking-tastic.

With Makeup Geek, I pretty much went ahead and picked out the shades that I’ve heard are the most loved and most popular. So what if they’re all super neutral, and my friends all think I’m crazy because they look super similar. They look different to me, and I use them all for different purposes so fuck em’. I love them.

Let me just start out by saying that the quality of these eyeshadows are unreal. They are so comparable to MAC eyeshadows. Creamy, pigmented, and a pretty large variety of colours. They are sold for $5.99 each, which just blows me away considering MAC is pretty much double the price, yet the quality is on par with each other. Definitely going to be purchasing more eyeshadows from them. The only downfall with Makeup Geek eyeshadows is that you can’t swatch the colours yourself, since they are only selling online right now.

Okay now actually onto their shadows.

1. Creme Brulee – A medium sand color with a soft matte finish

Similar to MAC’s soft brown, but a little more tan than Soft Brown. Great transitional shade.

2. Peach Smoothie – A light peach beige with a soft matte finish

HOLY. GRAIL. I totally understand why people love Peach Smoothie now. It makes a great transitional shade. It’s dark enough to show up on your skin so you can set a guide line to where you want the rest of your eyeshadows to be or end, yet it’s light enough that it doesn’t add anything extra to the look. Just helps blend it all together.

3. Beaches and Cream – Creamy Matte Natural Beige with Just A Hint of Peach

Beaches and Cream turned out to be lighter than I imagined it, but I still enjoy it a lot. I will use this to blend out the edges of Peach Smoothie at the very end just to make sure there are no harsh lines WHATSOEVER. It’s also light enough to be a matte all over the lid colour as well.

4. Cocoa Bear – Matte reddish brown

OH. MY. LORD. This colour is so freakin’ beautiful. Just LOOK at the swatch below… LOOK AT IT. Matte colours never swatch that beautifully, but oh my lord it is so creamy and fantastic. It’s also pretty much my favourite brown now EVER. I love how warm and irresistible it is.

5. Frappe – Medium maple brown matte

I love Frappe as well but I’m not gunna lie, it just isn’t as beautiful as Cocoa Bear. However, I use Frappe hand in hand with Cocoa Bear. I like apply Frappe into my outer V and crease first and blending that in, before I go in with Cocoa Bear. I just find that when I slowly layer on the shades like that, it just makes blending THAT much easier.

All of these eyeshadows are so unbelievably creamy and buttery and pigmented, as you can probably tell from the swatches below. UNF. I cannot get enough. I will probably buy more in the future, but for now, honestly these are all the shades that I need. Plus I have a few other things I want to spend my money on first.

Hope this was a helpful little post. If you haven’t heard of or checked out Makeup Geek eyeshadows before, definitely go take a gander. They are definitely very comparable to even MAC shadows, yet only costs about half of what MAC charges.

Oh yeah, and if you were wondering, they don’t actually fit into the MAC palettes as well as the MAC shadows themselves do (obviously). The Makeup Geek eyeshadows are the same size as the Coastal Scents eyeshadows. They’re exactly the size of the palette holes, which means I really have to wedge them in there. But since they do wedge in there, it holds the eyeshadows and makes sure it doesn’t fall out, so I’m fine with it. Makeup Geek also sells Z Palettes on their website for those of you who want to customize their own palettes.

Love y’all ,

So this is the first look I’m creating with my Makeup Geek eyeshadows. I’ve always loved warm colours, so these shadows, and this look, are pretty much what my signature look would look like.

I’m so glad I finally decided to pick up the infamous Makeup Geek eyeshadows. After hearing countless different beauty gurus talk about them, I finally had a little extra cash to spend, and voila ! Here I am, with 5 new gorgeous eyeshadows to play with.

I’ve also been pretty consistent with wearing falsies lately. I used to wear them everyday, but I stopped for a solid 2-3 years or so, just because I felt like it was too heavy for everyday. However, as I’ve started to make videos more consistently, as well as just wear a full face of make up more often, I just don’t feel right sometimes, leaving the house without them. I’m getting through my collection pretty quickly though, might need to order some new ones soon. Most of the falsies I own currently are ones that I bought while I was in China, so I don’t really want to be recommending them to you because I’m honestly not sure where you can purchase them here. BUT when I actually do start restocking my collection (probably from Ebay) I will be sure to review all of the ones I purchase for you guys.

I’ve put the video tutorial I made for this look down below, as per usual, so if you’re interested in how I achieved this look with my new Makeup Geek eyeshadows than go and check that out ! Also, if you want to find out more about Makeup Geek eyeshadows and the shades that I picked up, along with swatches and everything, check out the post I wrote about it here.

More soon,

I don’t even know if I qualify to write this post or not, because I personally do not own a super large collection of MAC eyeshadows to begin with. But these are the MAC shadows that I started out with and I am extremely glad that they are the ones I ended up picking ! I feel like it’s a good selection of eyeshadows that are neutral enough that you would use them often (because I don’t know about you, but if I’m spending over 10 bucks on a single eyeshadow, I better be goddamn using it a lot), but also unique enough that you’re not just buying an eyeshadow you would find anywhere.

These eyeshadows have quickly become some of my holy grail eyeshadows of all time, so I wanted to share them with you too !

So the four eyeshadows that’s been my tried-and-true holy grail MAC shadows are Nylon, All That Glitters, Sketch, and Soft Brown. Let me tell you why.

1. Nylon – Pale gold with an icy shimmer

I LOVE Nylon for a highlight. Nylon was actually the second highlight shade I picked up from MAC, Phloof being the first one, but definitely ended up being my favourite. It’s just such a beautiful, versatile shade. I probably use Nylon in my inner corners 90% of the time, when I do decide to put make up on. It is just so unbelievably pigmented and gorgeous; It gives your inner corners a pop like none other. I also love dusting this lightly on my brow bone for a highlight as well, or as a very bright all over the lid shade.

2. All That Glitters – Beige with gold pearl.

UNF. ALL THAT GLITTERS. I would describe it as more of a very beautiful satin rose gold shade. Being such a pretty, unique colour, I actually use it way more than I thought I would. It looks amazing all over the lid, and some how it seems to work so SO well with a bunch of different looks. It’s definitely neutral enough that makes it very wearable, yet such a pretty shade that it stands out and pops. I will also use it on the inner half of my lower lash line for a pop of brightness and highlight.

3. Soft Brown – Soft golden peachy brown.

Definitely a cult favourite, Soft Brown is a must-have for anyone starting out with MAC shadows, or starting out with make up in general. When I first started to use makeup, I definitely did not know about the magic or importance of a transitional shade. If you had shown me Soft Brown I would’ve stared at you blankly and asked “Why the HELL would I spend 12 bucks on this bland brown shade”. Yet now, I seem to use Soft Brown probably literally every time I put on eyeshadow. It is just the most perfect warm transitional shade. Or even just as a crease shade if you were doing a super natural eye look. It seems to work when I’m doing a super dark smokey eye as well as when I just want to run out the door real quick and throw it on, by itself in my crease, to give my eyes some depth. I. Love. It. All that time that I spent trying to blend out black eyeshadow on it’s own… oh man. If only I knew about this beauty earlier.

4. Sketch – Burgundy with red shimmer.

I know you must be thinking, “Angel… why the hell would I buy a maroonish burgundy colour if I was just starting out with make up… when the HECK am I ever going to use this?” Honestly, you would be surprised. Sketch turned out to be such a versatile shade for me. It’s like All That Glitters. It’s unique enough that it gives your eye looks a cool little spin, yet actually is super wearable. I love putting sketch in my crease and outer V to darken up a look instead of black or a dark brown. Because it is a burgundy shade, it really changes up an look and makes it look like you’ve put a lot more effort in than just blending a black shadow into your crease. Yet it’s dark enough of a colour, and not some bright maroon shade, that it doesn’t look like you’re trying too hard to use colour. I also love putting sketch all over my lid for a wine coloured smokey eye. I think it looks so sexy and endearing… like you’ve really given your make up some thought… When in reality, I just threw it on all over and blended it out.

I also love these four shades because they work really well together as well. One of my all time favourite looks of 2014 has been using Soft Brown in my crease as a transitional shade, Sketch in my outer V and crease to darken the look up, All That Glitters all over the lid, and Nylon as a highlight. It just gives beautiful rose gold and wine coloured smokey eye. JUST. SO. BEAUTIFUL. Not to mention super duper easy to achieve.

I do a very similar look with almost identical colours in the video I linked below. I created that look prior to purchasing All That Glitters, Sketch, and Nylon (but I use Soft Brown in it). But I replaced Amber Rush with All That Glitters, Deep Damson with Sketch, and the highlight shade with Nylon, and never returned.

I hope this was helpful for my girls that are just starting to dabble into the world of MAC cosmetics. I know when I first walked into the MAC store, set out to purchase my first set of eyeshadows, it was definitely a daunting experience. But I’m telling ya, you’re going to love these shades. They are shades that you will wear often, yet love for ages.

Let me know what you thought of these shades, if you’ve tried them out! OR what are your favourite MAC shadows that you think I should try out !

Much love,