Sparkled Beauty

In honour of all the fabulous women out there, I show you makeup art work today!

Hard Candy has recently graced our drugstore scene with these beautiful metal tins of the Velvet Mousse matte lip colors.

7 shades available, all with flower prints and bright colours on the case that are very hard to resist. I bought 4 for now - Cherry Blossom, Tulip, Dahlia and Wisteria.

Described as having a hydrating velvety texture, bold and long lasting colours in one swipe, these Velvet Mousses have a lot in common with L'Oreal Infallible Pro Matte glosses. They go on easily, wear comfortably (slightly drying) and last quite well but still transfer a tiny bit.

The tube rests on a velvet tray with a clear plastic cover taped down on both ends to seal it in, and a mirror under the cap. The elongated shape fits nicely in your pocket if you decide not to carry the case but it does not look as classy as the L'Oreal version.

You can probably fit 2 tubes in one tin without the tray, which is what I want to do.

The applicator is long and thin, quite different from others I have seen with liquid lipsticks and the like. No application issues though.

I find the Velvet Mousses have a little more pigmentation and dry more matte than L'Oreal Pro Mattes. They wear off and touch up nicely (except for Wisteria, because its dark nature).

The slight sweet scent, however, resembles that of Revlon Ultra HD Matte lip colours, a bit less intense. As I always say, it will depend on your preferences on lip products to pick out the line you like. I am just glad we have options.

And the beautiful swatches! I can wear Dahlia (second from right) every day and won't complain, or do am ombre with the first 2 - Cherry Blossom and Tulip. Don't forget that you can layer them to make your own colour too.

I would recommend to carry Wisteria along to reapply during the day as its fading and the patchy aftermath are more obvious.  

The tubes are 0.23oz/ 6.5g, $7.98 each ($6 in the US). I might grab Daffodil, a nude brown, later but am not sure Sweet Pea (pale pink) and Hibiscus (light coral) suit my skin tone. Crossing fingers for more shades down the road!

Hard Candy sure treats some of us like kids in a candy store, literally :) This is the holiday 15-piece Lip Colour collection for those who like to try lots of lip colours in one go.

A pail, with metal lid/ bottom/ handle, holds 15 lip items that wraps around its clear plastic wall. No shade names mentioned anywhere, and only 4-digit numbers are shown on the products (don't match up with the 3-digit numbers on the core products).

Here is the colour strip that holds the items in place, out of the pail.

The All The Glossed Up hydrating lip stains are on the left below (0.06oz/ 1.7g each vs. 0.11oz full size, reg. $5) - 5167, 5168, 5169, 5170 and 5173.

The Fierce Effects daring lip glosses are on the right. I am trying to get the name info from the brand/ its PR and will confirm later but for now, my guesses are Plum Diva, Skyfall, Knockout Punch, Daredevil and Nude Plunge.

You might notice I did not pay too much attention to these 5 All Gloss Up lip stains. The reason was I was not impressed with the colour choices.

The last 2 shades on the right are almost identical when swatched and they are sheer. The second shade from left also needs layering for pigmentation, while the shade in the middle could be a little more bold, you know, for the holiday.

The pinky red has fine silver sparkles, which is season appropriate but might not be everybody's cup of tea. I wish it were a true Christmas red.

The Fierce Effects daring lip glosses are a different story.

For some reason, my Walmart does not carry these in the core line nor online so I assumed Canada had missed out on them until I saw them on a few Canadian blogs.

So, if you can get your hands on them, I suggest you do - minis or full sizes, your choice, but note a few differences.

Infused with argan and citrus oils, these glosses are supposed to be light and glossy, with great colour payoff and a light minty scent. I find the minis in this set are thicker than say, Sephora Jem & the Holograms glosses I reviewed before, but they become less sticky as they wear off slightly, a lot more comfortable to wear.

Also, these minis have standard doe-foot applicators instead of brush applicators in the full sizes, which I am happy about. Not a fan of the brush in glosses.

The shimmer lip glosses (0.2oz/ 6ml each) - 5148, 5149, 5150, 5152 and 5153 - are too young to my taste. They will go to Squirt (or her friends) so I will not swatch them.

Obviously, I got this Lip Colour collection for the Fierce Effects glosses but they are not worth paying $19.97 for unless you can share the rest with someone else.

I am hoping to find in Canada the Wish for a Kiss lip gloss collection shown on Walmart US website with 6 Fierce Effects glosses at a much better price tag of $6. There is also a Lips of Love set below with 3 All Glossed Up (larger at 0.09oz/ 2.5g each but still not at 0.11oz full size) for $4.97.

I placed the red and nude from the collection above on the far left and far right next to the red and nude in this smaller set for size and colour comparison.

In the end, depending on how many lip products you want to try, pick the set that suits the need :) This is going to be a fun holiday!

Canada is not known for lots of advent calendars in the beauty world, we have been glancing jealous green eyes toward the UK bloggers for years.

This year, Hard Candy came out with 2 advent calendars at Walmart. I grabbed them off Walmart Canada website since I hadn't seen them in stores.

This post is more to let you know what hide behind those little doors and their sizes. Trust me, it is not easy to find out the full size of these products, as Hard Candy website does not mention them.

Here are the front of 12 Days of Beauty (left) and 12 Days of Nail (right).

The back does include pictures of the products inside, so don't look ahead if you want surprises. I do look to make sure I get my money's worth.

The 12 Days of Beauty calendar includes "Best of Hard Candy" minis.

- Walk the Line liquid eyeliner in Asphalt (0.14oz/ 4.2ml, full size, reg. $6)
- Fierce Effects daring lip gloss in Skyfall (0.11oz/ 3g vs. 0.5oz full size, reg. $5). Not an everyday colour!
- Sheer Envy colour correcting primer (0.35oz/ 10g vs. 1.6oz full size, reg. $8)
- Take Me Out eyeliner pencil in Soy (0.02oz/ 0.6g vs. 0.3oz full size, reg. $5)
- 2 Eye Def glitter eyeshadows in Robot and What Sandy Says Goes (0.04oz/ 1.2g each vs. 0.44oz full size, reg. $6)
- 2 Glow All the Way face and body luminizers in Doll Face and Glamazon Bronze (0.35oz/ 10g each vs. 2.7oz full size, reg. $9)
- 2 Plumping Serum volumizing lip glosses in Girl Next Door and Swan Lake (0.04oz/ 1.2g each vs. 0.1oz full size, reg. $6). Both are light pinks.
- Lash Tinsel glitter mascara in Spellbound (0.04oz/ 1.2g vs. 0.6oz full size, reg. $6)
- Glamoflauge heavy duty concealer in Light (0.25oz/ 7g vs. 0.71oz full size, reg. $7).

Overall, I am a little disappointed with the amount of glitters in this set. The only products I really want to try are the Glow All the Way luminizers and the Sheer Envy primer.

The 12 Days of Nail calendar carries 12 mini best selling nail polish shades.
- Bachelor Party (Crystal Confetti 2014 collection)
- Fireworks (Crystal Confetti 2013)
- Wedding Crasher (Crystal Confetti 2014)
- Bridal Party (Glitterazi Fall 2013)
- Bitty Blue (Itsy Glitzy 2013)
- Celebrate Sequins (Crystal Confetti 2013)
- Fairy Ball (Crystal Confetti 2014)
- Pop-arazzi (Pop Art 2014)
- Little Hottie (Itsy Glitzy 2013)
- Black Tie Optional (Crystal Confetti 2013)
- Pee Wee Purple (Itsy Glitzy 2013) and
- Piece of Papaya (Itsy Glitzy 2013).

Very "confetti and glitter" heavy. If you like that type of finish, you are in heaven :) The bottles are 0.09oz/ 2.7ml each (vs. 0.26oz/ 7.8ml full size, reg. $4).

Each advent calendar retails $9.97 each at Walmart. Stay tuned for swatches of another holiday kit tomorrow :)

Now that we started Hard Candy Fall 2015 collection with the Fierce Effects lipsticks, let's continue with the All Matte Up hydrating lip stains.

Now the All Glossed Up lip crayons have been out since 2013, I only have one shade - Love Bite. The new lineup for All Matte Up is quite limited, so I only got 2 to try.

Here are Earthy Marsala and Berry Matte. I was hoping for fall-ish colours since it is probably about time that we reach for darker/ warmer shades.

The tubes have plastic seals on them so I went with the packaging colours, which looked quite different. Once swatched, seen below, however, they are nowhere near those indication and and the red base makes them look quite similar on the lips.

The natural light pic on the right does show the matte finish, and more muted colours. Still not deep enough for Fall, unfortunately.

And for Hard Candy to call them hydrating lip stains, I am not sure I see any staining effect when the colours wear off on my lips. They are not drying but not extremely moisturizing either.

I do enjoy the All Matte Up on until they slowly fade after a few hours, or after a meal. Don't know if they stand out among other matte lip crayons in the market.

The tubes are 0.081oz/ 2.3g, $5.98 each.

As promised, here is the look with 2 Hard Candy Fierce Effects lipsticks - Newly Berried on the upper lip and Thunder on the lower lip, no lip liners.

Before you protest, no I didn't leave the house with 2 different lip colours (this pic) lol, but I did after I pressed my lips together to mix them (the pic below).

I have grown to like the 2 toned lips lately. This time turned out pretty well, I think :) Thunder became a lot more wearable, and since it did not blend all the way into Newly Berried, I kinda had a gradient effect going on.

And to stay with the Fierce Effects theme, I also used Hard Candy Fierce Effects shadow duo in Slow & Steady from the Spring launch on the eyes.

Other products used in the look:
- Vichy Normaderm BB Clear in Light (review coming soon)
- Cover Fx Conceal Fx Camouflage concealer in Light
- Freedom Makeup Pro blush in Beyond (swatches to come)
- Annabelle Brow to Go kit in Light/ Medium
- Wet n Wild clear brow gel
- Vasanti All Star 2-in-1 face and eye primer
- Annabelle Instaglam Kajal eyeliner and Annabelle Kohl duo eyeliner in Tuxedo on the lower lash line
- Essence I ♥ Extreme Crazy Volume mascara.

Hope everyone had a great long weekend. We had great weather, sunny and quite warm, but I spent a good amount of time doing blog work. Wish I got paid for that lol, but at least I was glad I could still can do that before life gets very busy with Squirt's new school year - Junior High at that!

Happy long weekend guys! Hard Candy Fall 2015 collection has arrived at Walmart last week. I couldn't wait to tell you, so no break for me today.

Now you know how much I love the formula of Hard Candy Plumping serum lipsticks from the Spring launch, so I am now most excited about the Fierce Effects lipsticks for Fall.

The packaging is matte black, glammed up by tiny "gems" embedded on the cap (not exactly age appropriate for me anymore but not a deal breaker either) and colour indication at the top. The tube feels slightly heavy on my hand, not the cheap thin plastic type.

The shade I bought: 1048 Galactica, 1049 Newly Berried, 1050 Provocative, 1051 Prowler, 1052 Show Off and 1053 Thunder.

Yes, Hard Candy goes pretty dark for Fall :) The line has 10 shades, I think, but I don't recall what the other 4 shades look like.

A little note I want to make: the surface on most bullets does not look completely smooth coming out of the tube. Again, not a deal breaker but I can't help wondering why they are that way.

Swatches of the first 3 shades, 2 swipes each, natural lighting on left, flash on right. Galactica is quite frosty, with a plum/ purple sheen but hardly shows up on my dark lips. Newly Berried is the easier-to-wear purple and Provocative is the more pink version.

The more extreme group here: Prowler is that Fall colour we all spot when the time comes, slightly patchy at certain spot. Show Off is a beautiful red pink. Thunder looks darker in the tube, is a purple but with a strong blue tint.

The lipsticks have great colour payoff on the lips. The formula is also great, slide on easily and wear well (up to 4 hours on me). Check out the FOTD where I mixed 2 colours together.

And if you are wondering, I prefer the formula of the Plumping serum lipsticks but the pigmentation of the Fierce Effects lipsticks. But we can tell at this point that Hard Candy does lipsticks quite well :)

The Fierce Effects lipsticks are 0.11oz/ 3.2g, $5.98 each.

If Hard Candy Spring 2015 products have not made enough impression, their 20th anniversary nail polish definitely did. I grabbed a few of these "legendary" shades as soon as they showed up at Walmart.

This is Sky, the most famous shade in the line, with a heart "jewel". I appreciate the rectangular bottle shape, easier to hold. The rubber ring with faceted "jewel" is cute but has no practical purpose :)

A cousin of Sky is Mint, with a diamond "jewel". They both have a beautiful sheen in the bottle but not very visible on the nails.

Lastly, a dark shade for a change - Zombie, with a rectangular hexagon "jewel".

All 3 nail polish are one coaters, I totally love that. The formula is slightly thicker but does not affect application. Their wear is average 2 days on me.

If you are a collector and don't have these already, I guess you will have to now :) The bottles are of decent size (0.46oz/ 13.5ml), retail $3.98 each.

Omg guys, it has been raining so much since Sunday (60mm in total). But the sun comes out today, fortunately.

I was out of town at a golf resort right on the water. The tranquility of the water, green grass and cool air infused with a bit of sadness in the rain. Those calm moments are precious.

Anyway, makeup is more fun to talk about, so let's get back to it. Like I mentioned in my post about Hard Candy Spring products, the new products sell out faster than Walmart can keep up. It took some hunting to find what I wanted, so here is the rest of the load.

The hottest item of all, I think, is the Fast & Fabulous makeup setting spray.

I am so happy to see the setting spray scene having new players in the drugstore price range. Also happy to say Fast & Fabulous is quite fab. The claim of it being weightless and long lasting without settling into fine lines is true.

Instruction says to shake well and spray 2-4 times from 8-10 inches away. No X formation suggested but I would do it anyway :)

The pump could be a little more sturdy and the spray could be more fine, but I wouldn't complain for the price the product sells for.

Worth noting that the spray does have a light floral scent that dissipates quickly.

Ingredients: Water, PVP, SD Alcohol 40-B, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Fragrance, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Ethylhexyl Isononanoate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Sodium Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimodium Chloride Phosphate.

The bottle is 2.2oz/ 64ml, $5.98.

On to the Eyes the Limit eye shadow primer and Smokey shadow primer.

I did touch on the Eyes the Limit primer when I reviewed the Natural Eyes palette (linked above), I just wanted a full size of it.

The Smokey primer, on the other hand, I was quite curious about. Mind you, it is not hard to find a dark base for smoky eye looks - from black pencil/ gel liners to cream eyeshadows, but a primer dedicated to this purpose is convenient, especially with promise of long wear and no creasing.

The pointed tip is a plus, so I don't need a brush at all to pick up the product. The blend, however, I do suggest a brush with the colour this dark, to keep your finger clean :)

Below are the swatches freshly applied, lightly smudged out with a finger.

Note that they will dry down to a semi matte finish and will sheer out when blended with a brush. The Eyes the Limit primer will blend right in with your skin tone, and the Smokey primer will give you a dark tinted base. If you want it to stay very black, blend lightly with your finger instead, but it does feel a little thick that way.

I do recommend Eyes the Limit, and Smokey will do the job for a quick smoky eye but might not be dark enough to intense looks. The tubes have 0.46oz/ 13g of product, sell for $4.98 each.

Now the lip products might not be new, but this is my first time diving into them, so I include them in this post.

I grabbed one Plumping serum volumizing lip gloss (Magic Mauve, 0.1oz/ 2.7g, $5.98) among the 4 shades in the pigmented group and skipped the sheer ones (thankful for the clearly marked coverage on the shelf).

Also went in the basket were 2 Plumping serum lipsticks in Idolized and Wanted (0.11oz/ 3.2g, $4.98 each). I love that simple mirror-like packaging with curvy black pattern.

Standard doe foot applicator on the gloss. It smells lightly sweet but not overwhelming at all. It does feel tingly on but that only lasts for about a minute. The plumping action, if visual, is more because of the shine than a chemical effect. No sticky feeling, yay!

The lipsticks stay quite true to the colours in the bullets. The tip on one of the lipstick was destroyed inside when the bullet was twisted up with the cap on somehow. The safety sticker was still on so I didn't open the tube until I got home :(

No noticeable volumizing effect, but the formula is an absolute dream to work with. Glides on so smoothly, light on the lips, feels like air! And it lasts quite well through water/ tea during the day. I am going to need more than 2 shades now.

Magic Mauve is a pink, not too much of a mauve as I hope for but does give my lips some colour in addition to the shine. Idolized is my kind of the colour and Wanted is the raspberry red that works well on my skin tone.

I love it when my money is well spent. Makeup like this beats the weather anytime!