Sparkled Beauty

Happy long weekend to those who have a holiday today! I am thankful for some extra sleep today :)

Thought I should get this post up so you have time to catch the 20% off sale on LA Girl at Lawtons this week. The latest hit product from the brand - the Matte Flat Finish pigment glosses - is going fast. I had to kiss a few frogs (bare displays) before I found the prince (a display that was quite fully stocked) :)

The shades I got: Dreamy, Fleur, Timeless, Rebel, Stunner, Frisky and Secret. I did want to get a good selection of colour families to swatch for you.

The applicator is smaller than the standard doe foot ones we see in most glosses, easier to follow the lip line in my case. The rounded tip and a not too long handle are precise enough. I like the slightly chubby tube too, houses more product :)

These glosses dry quite fast to a matte finish and do feel slightly tacky on. Full coverage can be achieved with layering. I won't say they are fully transfer resistant but close enough since they require some makeup remover to come off, a wet cotton pad won't do.

I hardly detect a scent on them. Once in a while I do get a whiff of some plastic-y smell but just for a quick second. Does not bother me.

Here are the 2 nudes: Dreamy and Fleur.

The pinks/ purples: Timeless (supposed to be a dupe of LC Pansy), Rebel (close to Anastasia Craft/ Sephora cream lip stain #14 Blackberry Sorbet) and Stunner.

The swatch of Stunner looks patchy because I use the tip of the applicator instead of the side. Please take note of this while layering.

The reds: Frisky (I don't need LC Red Velvet anymore) and Secret (close enough to LC Wicked).

If you want to hop on the liquid lipstick trend and do not mind matte finish, give these a try. The line has 16 shades, 0.17oz/ 5g, $5 or CAD5.99 at Lawtons (vs. LC 0.088oz/ $20, Anastasia 0.11oz/ $20 or Colour Pop 0.11oz/ $6).

Other possible dupes in the line to help with your shopping: Obsess = LC Suedeberry, Tulle = Anastasia Party Pink, Black Currant = Anastasia Potion, and Instinct = Anastasia Spicy.

The colourful but lazy-day FOTD is back :) It is when I skip foundation and powder all together but go for lots of colours for the look.

Lovely on my lips is Beautique lip liner in Jewel, a nice darker red. I have been wearing more lip liners by themselves when I don't have much time to get ready.

On the eyes are 3 LA Girl Glide gel eyeliners:
- Paradise Purple (upper lash line)
- Aquatic (inner half) and Royal Blue (outer half on lower lash line).

Cannot deny my love for Aquatic. I would wear it all over my eyes if I can but it sure is too bright for work. For now, I limit it to the inner corner :)

Other products used:
- It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eyes full coverage concealer in Neutral Medium
- Cover Fx Conceal Fx Camouflage concealer in Light
- Maybelline Color Tattoo in Pomegranate Punk on its own as an eyeshadow
- Elf baked highlighter in Blush Gems as brow bone highlight
- ArtDeco All in One mascara in 01 Black
- Annabelle Lipsies in Fruit Punch as blush, set with Essence duo blush in Nothing but Lovestoned
- Annabelle InstaGlam Brow Design + Fix in Medium to Dark and Wet n Wild Color Icon brow & eye liner in Dark Brown.

It is supposed to be balmy at 7 degrees later today, a substantial melt for all the snow left over from the storms last month (if only it does not freeze over night again lol). A sign that Spring might finally be here? I hope so!

It seems gel liner pencils are the new black these days, with their ease of application, soft texture and long lasting power.

I have thoroughly enjoyed Avon SuperShock gel eye liner pencils, so I thought I should check out LA Girl Glide gel liners when I found them on clearance at Lawtons.

Squirt helped me pick out a few colours, I didn't realize we did not chose a single light or nude shades lol.

Here are, from L-R: Black Magic, Black Amethyst, Paradise Purple, Gypsy Teal, Royal Blue and Aquatic.

Check out the swatches on my hand with only 2 swipes each.

Black Magic and Black Amethyst have subtle shimmers that are not that visible on the eyes. Black Amethyst has a light purple sheen while Black Magic has a matte base.

Paradise Purple has that blue purple duochrome look that I always enjoy.

Gypsy Teal has the best pigmentation among the 5 shimmer shades, just a tad more blue than Avon Super Shock in Aqua Pop, and Royal Blue is a medium sky blue, not as deep as Avon Cobalt.

Aquatic is the only matte shade in the bunch but it the prettiest one. I have got pretty obsessed using it on the lower lash line since I got it.

On the eyes, these Glide gel liners feel a little harder than the Avon Super Shocks (but do not pull or tug the eyes) and last equally as long.

I love both brands equally too, but LA Girls does have a wider range of colours (including mattes, 19 vs. 5 from Avon), plus lower price tag (reg. $3.99 at Lawtons or $5 on LA Girl website vs. $10 from Avon, same size 1.2g), so I have to say Glide gel liners win here :) Here is a FOTD so you can see the liners in action.

Give these a swatch if you ever come across them. Even if you are not a fan of bold colours, there are basic shades in the range too.

Merry Christmas (and Happy Holidays) everyone!

This is not really a festive smoky-eye-red-lip look for the occasion, I realize that. But it's something out of my comfort zone that I thought a holiday would be the right time to share :)

I wanted to show you how LA Girl Glazed lip paint in Coy looks on the lips, paired with Elf smudge pot in Poppin Party for a monotone purple look. Like I said, it's not an everyday type of look.

I prepped outside the lip line with Rimmel Moisture Renew Universal transparent lip liner, then layered on Coy for colour payoff - one layer with the applicator on the tube and another layer with a lip brush.

I was only going to use Poppin Party as a base all over lid with a synthetic brush, but after blending it out with a transition shade (see below), it looked great on its own, so I only added a light inner corner colour for some contrast.

Also contributing to the monotone purple look is Wet n Wild Petal Pusher palette:
- Pink brow bone colour as highlight and inner corner
- Bronze pink eyelid as transition to blend Poppin Party upward
- A mix of bronze pink eyelid and violet crease shades as blush.

Other products I used:
- Marcelle CC cream in Golden Glow (no foundation)
- Maybelline Baby Skin Instant pore eraser
- It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eyes full coverage concealer in Neutral Medium 
- Annabelle Smudgeliner in Vortex Violet on lower lash line
- Lise Watier Wow mascara in Black
- Annabelle InstaGlam Brow Design + Fix in Medium to Dark and Wet n Wild Color Icon brow & eye liner in Dark Brown.

I almost missed Christmas this year. Sure, the streets here have become so insanely busy with people celebrating, and certain areas of town are beautifully decorated with multi-coloured lights. However, not every family here (including mine) celebrates Christmas the same way most do in North America, so I didn't realize how close Christmas Eve was, i.e. now, at the time the post goes up!

Anyway, I hope you are spending this festive time with your loved ones. I am not doing much (catching a cold and all) but watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show with my family during dinner, and that's festive enough in my book :)

Another thing I can't afford not mentioning - the insanely large sale page on Sephora website. If you didn't see my tweet, I panicked and ordered a few things like 5 minutes before receiving the VIB Rouge 20% off code. Fun time!

I got 2 of the LA Girl Glazed lip paints off a display at Lawtons for a while now but didn't get a chance to show them to you until now.

This is Daring (top) and Coy (bottom), you weren't surprised by my colour choice, were you? :) I didn't go for any nudes or pinks as I personally thought the dark shades looked better with this formula and finish.

Advertised as having intense colour with extra glossy finish, the Glazed lip paints cool and nourish your lips with the added benefits of vitamin E and peppermint oil.

By the look and feel of the applicator, I assume it is meant to dispose the product on to the lips, not to even it out. So that is what I did - squeeze the tube (with less pressure than you think you need) and apply product on the lips in dots, then use a lip brush to spread it out. Of course you can use the edge of the top as a regular applicator but it would not give you a precise application.

The lip paints do have light minty scent but offer no tingling sensation at application. They dry a little less glossy on the lips but are comfortable to wear and last quite long through food and drink.

Here are the swatches on my hand to give you an idea about the colour payoff. Daring happens to fall into the Marsala trend for 2015, so I have been wearing it a little more than Coy, which is totally not an every day colour :)

I would suggest an invisible lip liner (like Rimmel Moisture Renew Universal transparent lip liner) with these Glazed lip paints to avoid accidental bleeding.

The tubes are 0.4oz/ 12ml, $4 on LA Girl website, over $5 at Lawtons. Here is a FOTD with Coy.

LA Girl Glazed lip paints have finally arrived at Lawtons!

I did tweet about this couple days ago when I found the display but if you missed it, here is the display.

I was relieved to see all 18 colours in the line, from both releases, so for once Canada is not missing out. Note that there are 5 tubes for each shade, $5.49 each.

Back row, from L-R: Babydoll, Hot Mess, Blushing, Bombshell, Pin-up, Coy, Whisper, Elude and Flirt.
I guess my fellow Haligonians love nude shades, as Blushing, Elude and Flirt already run low.

Front row: Whimsical, Tango, Peony, Feisty, Seduce, Gleam, Tease, Daring and Tempt.

I went with the season trend and stayed on the dark side with Daring and Coy.

I was happy to see the clear plastic seals that covered the cap and almost half way down the tube to prevent in-store testing. You can see them here if you look closely.

Bear in mind that these lip paints are said to be closer to OCC lip tars' dupes and not so much of Too Faced Melted lipsticks.

Let the testing fun begin! Did you grab any of these lip paints and what are your favorites?

I am lost for words, why did it take me so long to try Orly Galaxy FX line?

Well, I do know why (I have been knee-deep in glitters lol) but I still question myself for skipping on the line until I found some at Sally clearance sale.

First Galaxy FX shade I tried, Star Trooper, is everything and more! A black jelly with micro/ medium gold glitters and small/ medium white glitters, which glows on top of a dark base. Don't think I need to explain further lol.

I used a plum underneath here (LA Girl Rock Star in Party Animal) and was in love already. Don't know if I can stand the awesomeness if I use a dark navy base, the mani would look like starry night sky :)

Which base would you go for if you have Star Trooper? I need ideas as I'm sure I will reach for it again.

The bonus is, 2 coats on its own (see my thumb), Star Trooper looks equally pretty. The gold glitters show up more in this case and tint the clear base a little, which I appreciate.

Need I say more with the closeup? Don't think so :)

How are you all doing with the first week of April? I think it is harder to digest the fact that it is April because it does not look like Spring outside.

On the positive side, Spring/ Summer makeup are making their way to stores. I have seen some makeup I definitely want to check out, but surprisingly, it is not the case for nail polish.

Which collection are you looking forward to this Spring?

NOTD with a newly released shade today, yay! :)

There was a bunch of Sally Hansen Insta Dri  came out in the US back in November but just made it to Canada this Spring - Walmart and Shoppers so far.

I was only interested in one shade, Grape Shifter, a multi-coloured glitter :) Because of the clear base, Grape Shifter still looks sheer after two coats on its own (on middle finger).

Not a big guess here, but it shows up a lot better on top of a dark base :)

Glowing in the bottle (and on my nails) are the micro silver and blue glitters, small purple/ pink glitters and silver holographic hex glitters in a clear base! Pheww, what a mix!

This might not sound very exciting to you, but I love a blue and purple glitter combination. Adding holographic hexes to that, not mentioning the wide brush, and we have a winner in my book :)

It has been a long time since I got an Insta-Dri, I am glad it is a good one!

If you are wondering, the base I used for this mani was LA Girl Addict in Intoxicate, a burgundy/ dark plum with gold (and sometimes coral) shimmers, opaque in one coat.

The whole Addict line from LA Girl is just awesome with beautiful shimmers and nontraditional combinations of shimmers and base colours. I love to dig them out when I need a base for other glitters.

A popular topic next: Weather lol. It has been really messy and confusing here. Wet snow frozen over night gave me hell with shoveling/ salting the driveway. And when I finally could clear it up a bit, I woke up the next morning seeing new snow has already covered it again. And last night was a mix of snow and freezing rain. Oh the fun we have when mother nature can't decide what she really wants :)

Another shade from Claire's Splatter nail polish line to follow Flashing Lights (a blue), this time it's Paparazzi, a pink :)

A quick glance shows that the glitter size combination in Paparazzi is similar to Flashing Lights, small white hexa with mini/ medium/ large pale pink hexa & bar. However, the bar glitters are a lot more fine in Paparazzi, hardly noticeable when it's applied on top of a pastel/ light base. And there is black hexa floating around in there too, which Flashing Lights did not have.

For a change, I am showing you a dark vampy base with Paparazzi today.

This is LA Girl Color Addict in Intoxicate, a beautiful dark plum purple. That gorgeous gold glow in the bottle you see in the pic unfortunately hardly transferred to the nails. The gold sheen might be buildable if I do more coats of Intoxicate but that was not the purpose of this mani, so I didn't.

Nonetheless, Intoxicate was opaque in 1 thicker coat or two thin coats. I love the whole Color Addict line for its colour options and payoff. If you still can find them where you are, grab a few :)

Closeup on the glitters, just to make my point lol. I'd probably repeat myself, but I'm just glad more brands are jumping on the multi-glitter wagon with reasonable price range.

Upcoming is Avon with their Urban Splatter line, $6.99 each. The bottle is smaller than Claire's (12ml vs. 15ml) while costing a bit more (Claire's is $8 but BOGO1/2). Just like textures, chunky glitters are fun to play with but not for everyone :)

Did you try Claire's or Avon version, or other brands? What do you think?

I am trying to enjoy the last few days of August (and the long weekend) before Back to School season. Though it's only relevant to students or parents of some, Halifax is a university town after all and we'll all feel the impact soon enough (crazy traffic and public transit, influx of students everywhere, etc.). Brace yourself :)

In the midst of documenting and packing my nail polish stash, I deliberately kept the LA Girl Sand Blast bottles aside to wear them up till moving day. Can't help it cause they are all I want to wear lately.

Green Sand is a perfect example of a fun and interesting textured mani. Don't want to sound cheesy here but this green that leans a bit toward a mint is what got me through hot summer days.

I was hoping for a straight up mint texture shade, and maybe with more glitters added to it, but this will do for now :)

This is with direct flash to show how it sparkles in the light. Very subtle, nothing crazy, but enough to melt my heart.

I wore this mani for three days, didn't want to remove it, even with some tip wear lol. Thought about doing some nail art on it but couldn't bring myself to do it either. It's just perfect the way it is (I sound cheesy again, don't I?). Maybe next time :)

I heard quite a few people on twitter not feeling the textures, and I'm fine with that. Just hope, with the influx of textured manis on this blog, to persuade you to at least give it a chance.

Can't skip the closeup on this one, it is a beauty :)

Alright, I guess I'm obsessed enough over Green Sand. Let's catch up on what you have been up to.

Those in Toronto area, I hope the storm did not do huge damage on your house/ car and you got power back in reasonable time. I am really sad that my bff's basement got flooded, still waiting to hear how bad the damage was.

For the rest of you, how has your summer been? I am too busy with this move to actually have a feeling about summer just yet. Maybe in August :) Have a great one!

Textured nail polish for the world, still lol! I literally jumped from one texture shade to the next when I changed my mani without feeling enough of them. This trend definitely lasts longer with me than the crackles.

This is LA Girl Sand Blast nail polish in Sandy Beach, a beautiful deep navy blue. The pic was taken in the shade, no flash in an effort to show you the true colour of this navy. It was deep and that was the beauty of it :)

I only did one coat, started out with a thin coat on the index finger but then wanted a bit more depth so I did thicker coats on the rest of my fingers.

The colour showed up lighter in the sun, felt like I had different shades of blue on the nails at different time and lighting lol.

I think I said it before that textures have replaced matte nail polish as "emergency" colours for me. Being one coaters and not requiring a top coat, they are perfect when I am in a rush.

With the number of brands and colours they are available in, with or without glitters, we have lots to chose from. So far I have only tried LA Girl, OPI and Jesse's Girl and I haven't come across a texture I didn't like :)

I'm trying to show you the depth of this colour here, thick coats definitely win. LA Girl's textures have similar grittiness as Jesse's Girl's, not as intense as OPI's but I don't mind either one.

How have you guys been? I still can't wrap my mind around packing in full force, so I'm taking my time, trying not to overwhelm myself. My mind is always on super thinking mode, it is hard to sleep.

Anyway, I am looking toward to the Canada Day long weekend to just keep up with things. The forecast at this point said we're getting rain way into Monday lol.

Have a great day everyone, rain or shine :)

Nope, I haven't had enough of textured nail polish just yet :) This trend definitely lasts longer than the crackles to me. I keep wanting more textured shades that I don't already have.

This is LA Girl Sand Blast textured nail polish in Sands of Time. Don't think it is a boring champagne until you click to see the picture in large view (or keep reading to see the closeup).

Yes, all those sparkles on top of a medium level of grittiness made me love Sands of Time a lot more than I thought. You know I'm not normally into this type of shade with regular nail polish.

And this is just one coat, no base, I was so impressed. I was lucky to catch a glimpse of the sun on the way home to take this pic to show you, but unlike holos, this Sand Blast did not need the sun to shine.

I bought Sands of Time (and a few other shades from the line) when I first saw the display at Lawtons last week, not knowing the finish I'd get. I am so glad I did.

LA Girl Sand Blasts offer the glittery type of textured polish with chunkier glitter pieces like OPI Liquid Sands and more than Jesse's Girl Julie G). And they don't feel extremely sandy. I have absolutely no problem with this :)

If you haven't seen enough of the glow, here it is in full blast. Textures and glitters, 2 of my favorite things, in one nail polish, it can't get any better than this. Well, maybe until someone comes out with a holographic texture lol.

LA Girl Sand Blast line has 8 shades in total, retails $3.99 each. The display only has 3 bottle of each colour, so check the store if you want any before they are gone.

Other than nail polish (or makeup), anything new or exciting in your world? Mine is filled with emails and phone calls to my realtor, lawyer and insurance companies lol This is going to be a crazy summer but hopefully a good one.

I am a minimalist today, that doesn't happen very often :)

Just wanted to show you the Milani and LA Colors/ LA Girl products I reviewed in the last 2 days on the face:

- LA Girl Pro Conceal HD concealer in Pure Beige
- Milani Baked powder blush in Corallina
- Milani Illuminating face powder in Amber Nectar
- Milani Runway Eyes eyeshadow in Golden Touch all over the lids and on brow bone
- Milani Liquid Eye liquid-like eyeliner pencil in Black on upper lash line
- LA Colors Grafix eyeliner in Black on lower lash line
- LA Colors moisturizing lip gloss in Tickled Pink, no liner.

Other products used:
- Sunscreen: Vichy Bare Skin Feel lotion SPF45 (review coming soon)
- Serum: Vichy LiftActiv Serum 10
- Moisturizer: Yves Rocher Anti-age Global Day cream
- Powder: Annabelle CC pressed powder in Light/ Medium
- Outer corner eyeshadow: the purple shade from Wet n Wild Petal Pusher palette
- Mascara: Yves Rocher Sexy Pulp Collector Ultra Volume mascara in Black
- Brows: Yves Rocher eyebrow pencil in Brown.

Notice anything missing? Yes, I did not use any primer nor foundation. Excited to see I could get away with just a concealer on acne scars and pimples (not all over the face).

It's fair to say I am very happy with the LA Girl Pro Conceal HD concealer. Can already predict I'd wear this look a lot in the summer, probably will add Annabelle CC Instant Perfecting bases to even out the skin tone a bit more.

Have a great day with whatever season you are having :) I think it's spring around here today, was summer yesterday.

LA Colors and LA Girl are brands that seem to be overlooked in Canada, just because of their availability. Atlantic Canada is lucky to be able to get the products from Lawtons, and I have some new products to review for you.

This is just a small representation of those new products, see something that has been a bit of a rave on blogs and YT lately?

I have LA Colors Glossin Go! in Shiny, Grafix eyeliner in Black, moisturizing lip gloss in Tickled Pink and LA Girl Pro Conceal HD concealer in Pure Beige.

Before we get to the review, note that all four products are coming out this week, retail for $2.99 each - my kind of price :) I'm hoping we get the whole line of shades as showed on the brands' websites.

I like the shape of this LA Colors Glossin Go! tube, thin and flat, easy to slip in your pocket (or purse).

I don't normally go for a clear gloss as I want to get some colour on the lips, but in its defense, when you have a colour on your lips that you like, a clear gloss won't affect it but just add a hint of shine and a light whiff of vanilla scent :) Sorry for those who are scent sensitive.

The gloss is not sticky nor drying, but as you know with most glosses, it does not last long on the lips.

0.19oz/ 5.5ml, 24 colours.

Another gloss from LA Colors is the moisturizing lip gloss, featuring the shade in Tickled Pink here. The formula has vitamin E and aloe vera, I'm all for soft and smooth lips.

The pointy handle is quite long, I'm not sure if there is a logical reason for it lol. What surprised me, however, was the colour. The plastic tube was a lit more opaque that it needed too, so it showed me the colour a little darker and the shimmers were not very visible. Upon swatching, I was floored at how beautiful Ticked Pink is.

 0.34oz/ 10ml, more than 20 shades available

Swatches of the glosses.

Shiny is on the left, no shimmer but is very shiny :) Tickled Pink is on the right, looking all pretty. Apologize if I sound cheesy, but I love a surprise (in a tube) lol.

So, for travel convenience, Glossin Go! gets my vote. If they have testers on the display, I'd make sure I swatch them all to find a coloured favorite.

For comfort (and who knows, maybe more colour surprises), I'd reach for the moisturizing glosses. Still need some getting used to toward the tube shape.

And now the famous one among them all, LA Girl Pro Conceal HD concealer, I got Pure Beige.

This concealer is awesome, you guys! It gives almost full coverage, is creamy but not heavy nor cakey. I'm not picky with my concealers, so I use the same concealer for dark circles, old acne scars and things. It works all well and good, check out the FOTD for proof :)

The product has pretty good lasting power as well, minimal fading. The squeeze tube and the brush applicator work well for a concealer type of product. Can't say I have anything to complain about it, except maybe the tube somehow shows the colour a little darker (like the gloss above).

0.25oz/ 8g, 18 shades..

Entering the "shy" area of my makeup routine - the liquid liner :)

This is LA Colors Grafix liquid liner in Black. It is supposed to be smudge proof, water resistant with a flexible foam tip applicator. I can testify the non existence of smudges or fading on my lash line through a whole day of wear. I didn't even set it, just swiped and went, and it was still on my eyes when I came home.

0.12oz/ 3.5ml, 10 shades. I am after the Teal colour next.

Swatches of the concealer and the liner (thick line using the side of the brush and thin line using the tip of the brush).

See, Pure Beige is lighter than in the tube, definitely for yellow toned ladies among us. The flash lightened the black colour, but trust me it is black - not the most intense black but is black enough.

All in all, if you don't need any more liners or glosses, at least check out the concealer. All products featured are sealed with plastic wraps or stickers, another bonus point besides the reasonable price point.