Sparkled Beauty

First off, MAC. We all know MAC started out in Canada, but since then, it has grown so much to become an international brand. I don't think I need to say anything about MAC, but for the purpose of this post, MAC has to be here to start the show.

Thanks to the popularity of Shoppers and Sephora, you all probably knew and heard about CoverFX already. One of its best products is the Total Coverage Cream Foundation SPF30 which provides good coverage while not being heavy or oily on the skin. My favorite product from CoverFX, however, is the Lip Treatment & Tinted Lustre SPF15 (in the picture) which unfortunately has been discontinued. It comes in a silver dual-ended tube, the lip treament is to moisturize and prime the lips, and the lip tint will add a sheer hint of colour on top. I like the idea of them being separated, as when I want a bit more colour, I could just add it on top of the lip treatment and skip the tint. And as a bonus, it smells good too. I have one in the office, for touch up during the day and it works wonder.

I grabbed most of the shades I liked last time the product was cleared out at Shoppers. I'm so glad I did. It is now replaced by MintGlazeFX, a fortifying lip primer SPF15.

Price-wise, CoverFX is a higher end brand - e.g. the Lip Treatment & Tint was CAD24. I was lucky to win a ClearPrep FX on twitter from CoverFX. It's a matte foundation primer plus the anti-acne treatment. Just like the Lip Treatment above, it serves 2 purpose in 1 tube. Review to come, depending on how fast I am finishing the current primer.

Another proud Canadian brand is Cargo with catchy motto "Be-you-tiful" and the well known eco-friendly Plant Love line . The packaging is so cute, the shades are paired with celebrities or places with ecology beauty. And part of the sales is to support good cause, which I thought was so cool.

Cargo released its latest Blu-ray collection a while back. I quite like the lip gloss palette and the blushes/ highlighters. The colours are very fun to play with. However, they have been quiet lately, I haven't heard any new product announcement from them. Cargo products is in the mid-range of cost as well.

There is only one place here that I can come and see Cargo goodies in person - Mills. But I am always kinda intimidated walking in stores like that, so I haven't been back for a while, lol.

Annabelle is a re-discovered brand to me, as I see its products at Shoppers all the time but never picked up anything. The shelf was boring, nothing new, and I never heard anybody mentioning them. Until recently with their youtube competition and the launch of the custom quads with mono shadows, I am more interested in checking them out. I have purchased a few quads, as you have seen on this blog, and am quite happy with them.

The news on youtube is that Annabelle is going to release the new Studio collection in August 16, with 6 bright pigments at CAD8.50. I'm so there to check them out!

Marcelle is a sister brand of Annabelle, used to be known more for its skincare products than makeup. Recently, they came out with a few makeup collections that caught my attention. The Aquatik collection was very interesting, plus the added effect of the Horizon Bronzing Pressed Powder (in the picture), and the Colour Cube Powders - Multi-Blush. These products are of good size and the price is quite reasonable. The bronzer is CAD16, and it's huge (18gr) - probably the biggest bronzer I have seen around. Just for comparison purpose, MAC's MSFs are CAD32.50 for 10gr of product.

I have to say they have done a decent job to gain back some popularity in the community. I always feel happy walking in a drugstore and see new product displays, as they prove that the brands are doing their job to entertain the makeup crowd. The isle needs to look sparkly new and interesting!

Quo is the makeup home brand of Shoppers and is not available outside the stores. It currently shares the website with Shoppers which is not necessary a good thing. New products haven't been promoted, even a few regular products aren't on the site either. For this reason, I have to browse the isle to be in the known if Quo has new products or promotions.

Quo makeup is of decent quality and nice/ simple packaging. Their brushes are probably their best sellers as they have received good reviews from users. I do hope the brand gets more publicity, at least has its own website and proper media image promotion, as it deserves it.

The last brand is Inglot, a Polish makeup brand, but has established a network of stores in Canada way before coming to the US, so I thought I should include it. I have a hard time looking for information about this brand, as the Inglot Canada website only listed 5 stores in Quebec with no product information, and the Inglot Australia site is under construction. But... I found a great youtube video from JustMakeUpYourMind that shows you all about Inglot, for your viewing pleasure.


Don't you want to go shopping after seeing the pictures? As Inglot made its way to the US with its very first store opened about a month ago in NY, the feedbacks from bloggers has been very positive. Prices are comparable to MAC as well: their shadows are $13 and lipsticks $12. I will definitely come to a store if I'm travelling anywhere near one.

EDIT TO ADD:
Beauté Cosmetics is a new-to-me brand but has been popping up in a few blog posts from some blogs I frequent. The product stands out the most is the Luminous Volume Gloss with shiny, creamy texture plus plumping effect. Based on an interview that ThisThatBeaty did with Beau Nelson - Beauté's Creative Director, among the Luminous Volume Glosses (retail CAD26), Heroine (in the picture) is the YLBB (Your lips but better) universal shade, and the best seller is the Liqui-Gel Stain in Flouron (CAD29).

Beauté products are available on their website, Holt Renfrew (which we don't have around here), some salons in Alberta, and a few shops in the US. I couldn't find info about shipping cost, and haven't shopped with them before, so I can't comment about that, but at least I'm glad that there is an option if I do one day decide to try their products.

3 more brands to add, thanks to the lovely Michelle and Naomi:
I can't believe I left Lise Watier out. I have been lemming the Sea Belle collection display at Shoppers when it was first released. Probably because they are a higher end brand, I don't come to their conner often enough.

Although the dominant colour of this collection is blue (as it is Under the Sea theme), I like the Beach quad (in the picture, CAD35) better as it features a variety of fun shades while the Lagoon quad only has blue. But the blue packaging is obviously catchy.

One of their best sellers is the Professional Correctors porfolio (CAD29) with 5 different shades in 1 wheel, infused with vitamins and chamomille. I can't say how well it works, as I haven't tried it. I might go to the counter to try it out.

Vasanti Cosmetics is a Canadian owned and operated brand (see the comments below). I'm certainly drawn to their shadows and pigments first. The shadows (CAD15) are named after famous cities around the world. In the picture is the new "Montreal", described as a purple with hints of two-toned blue shimmer, very tempting to me.

The shimmer powders (CAD14) has some bright shades that I certainly like to try. There's "Solar Flare" which is a Pale golden yellow, might satisfy my crave for yellow shades.

According to the locations on their site, the brand has made it to one Shoppers here, so I'll go check it out. Online shopping is available with shipping between CAD7 and CAD9.75. International customers could contact Customer Service before ordering. Vasanti does have a US website and a UK website as well.

This third brand, Balmshell is totally new to me, as I have never heard of it before. According to their website, they currently only have lip and cheek products.
I like the look of the Lip-gloss in "Confession of a Call girl" (in the picture, CAD20) the most, as it is described as a sheer hot orange and I believe coral/orange shades look better with my skin tone. Their Smear Campaign stains (CAD20) are gorgeous too. They are available at Shoppers and Mills here. It's just funny I haven't known about it until today.

SECOND EDIT TO ADD: Thanks to Julie :-)
I have come across FACEatelier a couple times but didn't remember it at the time of this post. The products remind me of MAC, just by the look of them, especially the shadows (CAD17 each) and palettes ($9 for 4-pan palette and $18 for 12-pan one). This is out of my range already, they are even more costly than MAC.

In the picture is the Eye shimmer in Pink Glaze(CAD19), a cute pink shade. It's ok to look, right? lol.

I have seen Nacara once, at a Shoppers that I don't normally go to, and it's not the same one that carries Vasanti above. Lol, is Shoppers playing games with me or what? Can't they just all carry the same stuff? Their website said they are at some Walmarts as well, hmm...

Does this little wheel looks pretty to you? It's their Custom Corrector.
Straight from the website:
Which to use when:
Dark Brown: Hides dark circles and imperfections
Medium Brown: Corrects areas that lack pigment
Light Brown: Corrects areas that lack pigment
Orange: Illuminates skin
Yellow: Conceals redness or blemishes
I will have to go to that Shoppers to test out this concealer wheel and check the brand's price range as well. If it works, it might help me to save some $ as an alternative to Lise Watier's portfolio. Hopefully!

Nacara only has 6 shades of eyeshadows right now, named after exotic birds. Quetzal sounds like a great bird, lol. Creative, don't you think?


One last brand I just remember seeing at Walmart, with a little display shying away from the big brands - Indulge Cosmetics. There has been no promotions on this brand, and it never made it to Walmart flyers. It is interesting to know that this brand is available at Walmart in Canada and Dollar Tree in the US. Reasonable pricing?

I actually noticed this brand through a Canadian nail polish blog - Deez Nailz. Check out her gorgeous Indulge polish swatches. These bottles might be mine next time I am looking for new nail colours to wear. FYI, they come in sets of 3 as they are a lot smaller than regular sized bottles.

THIRD EDIT TO ADD: Thanks to Cherz...master
Joe Fresh Beauty is the lastest creation of Joe Mimran, creative director of Joe Fresh. The brand is housed in Loblaws store (a groceries chain) around the country (here in the East coast, the stores are called Atlantic Superstore). I remember all the buzz when Joe Fresh announced their makeup line. People kept checking the store for product display, complained when they didn't see it, and intrique when they finally did.

Surprisingly their eye products didn't cath my attention as much as the face products did. In the picture is the Cheek Tint in Cherry, at the bottom are Nude and Pink shades. I swatched them in store and quite liked them. Creamy and easy to apply. Right now they have 6 shades, I'm torned between Peach and Pink.

Besides makeup, the line also includes brushes and accessories. The 4-sided display is always fun to look at. Stocks, however, vary in stores, so it does take a bit of time to hunt down the shelf that has the shade(s) I wanted to test out. Due to my overgrowing stash, I haven't picked up any of these babies, but glad to see another Canadian brand showed up in stores. Yet again, I forgot to include it in this post until getting a comment, lol.

FOURTH EDIT TO ADD: Thanks to Revolution themselves
I was lemming over these Freedom Lip Glosses from Revolution for their chic look and fun colour selection the first time I saw it on a blog post. Organic lipsticks with vitamins and antioxidants plus green packaging, how much more fun could it be? "Guilt-free Glam", as they said it.

I'm voting for Integrity in the middle, described as a shimmering golden rose colour, but also like the daring Vibe with its peachy colour, CAD29.

Revolution also has Freedom Glow Beauty Balms (CAD37) that could work as blush, lipstick, bronzer, and eyeshadow. Multi-tasking products are love, aren't they?

Their products are available on The Shopping Chanel, Pistachio stores in Toronto, and QVC in US.

This is like my longest post ever. So proud of our Canadian brands!

Photo credit: coverfx.com, cargocosmetics.com, annabellecosmetics.com, marcelle.com, shopperdrugmarts.ca, beaute-cosmetics.com, lisewatier.com, vasanticosmetics.ca, balmshell.com, faceatelier.com, nacara.com, indulgecosmetics.com, joe.ca/en/beauty, revolutionorganics.com