Sparkled Beauty

The day before Christmas, thought I should do a big post before some random break I might take during the holiday :) This is my huge Black Friday order when LA Splash Canada had liquid lipsticks for $12.

First bunch: Lip Couture (with gold caps, reg. $15.99 each) which are supposed to glide on as liquid, dry matte and never transfers.

The shades I chose: Criminal, Summer Bliss, Latte Confession and Ghoulish - 2 easy to wear and 2 adventurous.

I am not sure I would ever wear Ghoulish by itself but I wanted a piece of "legend" and it's fun to pair up with a bold lip liner.

This was how they arrived - 2 different types of packaging in the same line. I certainly prefer the paper boxes, more professional looking but overall, outside packaging does not matter much.

The tubes themselves are ok, do the job. What bug me, however, are the safety stickers on them. They are necessary, I know, but the the residue they leave behind in this case do not come off easily. You know the "sticky situation" (lol).

LA Splash says Lip Coutures would be more drying and flake off/ fade faster if layered, but I do find it hard to get even application on the lips with just one layer of product.

Here are one coat each of Criminal, Summer Bliss, Latte Confession and Ghoulish, freshly applied.

Similar packaging situation with the Smitten lip tint mousse (with hot pink caps, reg. $15.99 each). The shades: Hypnotized and Inflamed.

They claim to be feather light, waterproof, smudge proof, dry to a velvet matte tint, not to transfer or fade. Can't say that I notice these being lighter than the other 2 lines, and pigmentation is also equally good, not just a tint but full on pigmentation.

Lastly, the Studio Shine Lip Lustres (with silver caps, $17.99 each) are formulated with "fairy dust" that is activated when rubbed with fingers. I don't know if I want to rub my finger onto these long wear lip colours though.

The shades: Dutchess, Selene, Medusa, Lady and one LE shade - Valentina from the Dia De Los Muertos collection with skull printed label on the cap (close enough to Medusa that I don't think you need both).

The finish appears to be more sheer but I normally do 2 layers on the lips anyway, not a big difference. Dutchess (far left) and Lady (second from right) have red glitters in the tube, not very visible on the lips.

The lighter colours do not give me any issues but the 2 really darker ones (Selene and Medusa, second and third from left) go on slightly patchy and leave spots of colours when fade, require more maintenance.

I get about the same wear time with all 3 lines, 5-6 hours on average. They do fade with regular eating/ drinking and transfer slightly, but at the end of the day, there is still enough product on the lips to get by. Touchup is not really necessary. I suggest Elf Kiss It Goodbye lip color remover with long wear liquid lipsticks - leave on for 30 seconds then wipe off. Micellar water will take some hard rubbing.

Shipping from LA Splash Canada was $10 flat rate at the time but now free with $50 orders. There was a 10% off floating around on instagram, I am not sure it still works.

Have a great holiday, everyone!

It was a rainy Friday, I wasn't planning doing anything after work other than my regular Lawtons round as usual. And oh boy, was I glad I did!

First off, some of you might have seen this display for L'Oreal Fall 2011 collection. That's what they call it for Canada, I am losing a bit of hope that we would be getting the whole Project Runway collection now. Why?

Because the 2 nail polish in this display - Cockatoo's Mystery and Owl's Lust are part of the Project Runway collection. Where is the rest? Nobody knows.

In the lower left corner are 3 brand new (matte) L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows - Sweet Strawberry, Coconut Shake and Pebble Grey. No testers, so I didn't swatch, but a blogger told me they have weird texture and aren't as good as the original Infallibles. Be warned!

Then, it was getting ridiculous when I got to the clearance corner, I couldn't believe it.

First I found the displays of Miss Universe and Nice Stem collections with red stickers. They weren't there last week. I did my best to control myself and only got It's My Year and I Lily Love You, CAD4.99 each.

It was late after Halloween, so the Wet n Wild On the Prowl display was all gone except Cougar Attack and Tangled in My Web laying around for CAD1.49 each. Mine!

Another shock. Remember I told you Lawtons got the whole display full of Del Sol Trick or Treat this year? Now the whole display was on 75% off. I got a few bottles to gift some friends. If you want it, let me know.

And lastly, not any less exciting, the Revlon Masquerade collection was there too. I grabbed Midnight Haze, Royal Cloak (gasp!) and Golden Charm, CAD1.37 each. So cheap!!!

Continuing with more LA Splash products being cleared out.

- From top to bottom: LA Splash liquid eyeliner in Tectonic Glitz, Sparkling Red Sea and Onyx, CAD1.74 each. I wanted to venture out with more non-traditional liner colours, even though I suck badly with liquid liners.

- From L-R: LA Splash Golden Moss, Starfish Silver, Abyss and Sparkling Wave, CAD1.24 each.

Note that only certain colours of these 2 product lines are on clearance, not all.

And Lastly, a LA Colors Color Craze mini glitter set, only CAD1.24 for Squirt to have fun with. No individual names. She also came home with some Halloween candy at half price from Lawtons too.

Hope this post is helpful for those of you who live near a Lawtons or are doing swaps/ CPs for friends. The staff told me they normally have LE or seasonal displays out for certain amount of weeks, then cleared them out. That explains why I keep having good luck finding great sales there. It takes a bit of hunting, as not all stores put clearance on at the same time.

Have a great weekend!

One of the highlights of my weekend was finding a big jackpot of Cargo makeup palettes at Winners. I went hunting for them after seeing a tweet about their very first appearance at Winners, but was still surprised of how much there were and how cheap they were sold for.

This is a quick snap shot of what I bought, and these weren't all from the brand on the shelf, mind you. I wasn't sure what was worth getting, so I grabbed a few and check out the reviews later.

First up is the City of Lights kit, supposed to be an Ulta-exclusive 2009 holiday collection, org. $34, Winners' price $14.99.

The set includes an eyeshadow quad in Paris, an eye pencil in Boogie Nights, a Face and Body sparkle and a lip gloss quad in Tijuana.

The red metal case was very eye-catching, with the clear window to show the products inside. Totally holiday appropriate, so was the name. The shades (of both eyeshadows and lip glosses) are however not too bold, more for a shy holiday look.

The next 3 items were $19.99 each, as their regular prices were a little higher than the first set.

Here is the 7in7 Mini kit, reg. $39. Note that this is not the full sized kit which retailed $59 regularly.

The content includes mini size of:
- OneBase (concealer and foundation in one)
- Eyeshadow palette with 4 neutral shades
- Eye pencil in Brown
- LashActivator mascara
- Beach Blush in Sunset Beach
- Reverse Lip liner in 01
- Classic Lip gloss with Timestrip technology in Tobago.

Again, this set I found is aiming toward neutral/ everyday looks, if that is what you are looking for.

If you are more of a bold kinda girl, this it for you - the Catwalk kit, reg. $49, on sale for $34 on Cargo's site.

What it comes with:
- Essential Palette in Gray
- Blush in Big Easy, Rome and Topeka
- Medium bronzer
- 6 Button Eye Shadows in Emerald Green, Charcoal Blue, Shimmering Green-Gold, Golden Brown, Dusk Blue and Matte Purple.

I have wanted this kit since the first time I saw a picture of it, but could never fork out that much money to get it full price. Was really happy to pay Winners' price for it :)

And the last palette I got was the Dare to Play kit, reg. $45.

This one is also more colourful, with:
- Eyeshadow base in Sheer Nude, Shimmering Shell, and Soft Beige
- Pressed eyeshadows in Popsicle Purple, Iced Mauve, Teal, Electric Blue and Sparkling Green Tea
- Glitter-filled eyeshadows in complementary shades.

Now we're talking, the glittery shades are totally for the holiday.

It was a miracle that I found these palettes in great condition, nobody decided to test out the shades in store. If you are a fan of the brand, hit your Winners ASAP.

Continue my good luck streak, I found awesome stuff on clearance at my trusted Lawtons as well.


I was excited seeing these Annabelle Dust Lust pigment stacks a while back. They come with 3 pigment dusts and a small brush, valued at $30, retail $9.99, already a steal. A better steal is to get them at 50% off :)

These are, from L-R:
- Funshine Fever, with Solar, Cool Mint and Prism
- Disco Glow with Tidal, Limelight and Golden Pink
- Shimmer Vibe with Azure, Chiffon and Cool Mint.

Looks like this is a combination of permanent and LE shades. I can't confirm if Cool Mint was misplaced in one of the stacks, or it was intentional, but it is a cool shade to have anyway.

More joy to be had when I found these Maybelline Color Sensational lipsticks in the clearance bin for 75% off.

I'd assume that they are LE shades being cleared out to free shelf space. No idea why one has off-white cap and the other two have red caps.

From L-R: Color Sensational lipsticks in Glisten Up Pink, Fuchsia Fever and Pink Satin, reg. $9.99 each.

Some LA Splash products were on 75% off as well. I tried to be good to pick out just 3 Diamond Dusts.

From L-R: Golden Smoke, Platinum Sand and Copper Glow, paid $2.24 a piece.

Lastly, I went to take advantage of The Body Shop 3/ $30 bath, body and hair products sale in the weekend. Good time to grab the Spa Wisdom products, as they are normally a little pricy to buy.

- Spa Wisdom Polynesia Monoi Body balm, reg. $24
- Spa Wisdom Morocco Black Olive and Argan Oil scrub, reg. $28
- Spa Wisdom Africa Ximenia and Salt scrub, reg. $28.

With the sale, these were more than half off, I was happy.

Could have got more, but I was a little disappointed as the 2 promotions that I wanted to pair with my purchase were not offered at my store. TBS tweeted that with $30 purchase from October 20 till November 20, we can get 6-month subscription of Elle magazine and a free Shimmering cube. The store said they ran out of the subscription cards, and the shimmering cube promo was meant for November, so I went home with neither.

Update: The free Shimmering cube promo requires a coupon from Elle Canada magazine (Health & Beauty guide), November edition. I have the magazine but can't find the coupon anywhere. Also, more subscription cards are sent to the stores, so they'll have more. For my sad little purchase, prob there isn't anything they can do at this point :(

Hope your weekend was relaxing and fun. I am still looking for the energy to fully unpack and put stuff away.

It's Monday again, how's everyone? Squirt and I stayed in all day yesterday, could have gone out to get a few things but it was gloomy and windy.

This is an overdue NOTD as I wore it on New Year's Eve going out for a drink with the bf. Better late than never huh?

The base colour is LA Splash Terra Beach, one of the colours the bf got for me from Ulta. Lawtons does carry LA Splash but the nail polish selection and price can't compete with Ulta.

The name suits the colour pretty well, as it is a peachy terracotta shade, a step up from regular pinky nude. Similar to my lips, my nails don't look good with nude colours. They need some pigmentation to show off, lol.

The reason I went for LA Splash Terra Beach was actually the glitters that I was putting on top of it: Milani Gems.

I probably don't need to explain much about how highly sought after this colour is. When I finally got it in my hands, I wanted to wear it right away. Kinda hate removing full glittery nails afterward, so I only used Gems as a glittery top coat. Terra Beach was subtle enough not to interfere with the multi-coloured glitters in Gems.

Feel free to click to enlarge the pic for full glittery effect. Do you like how the glitters look on top?

This is a non-flash shot to show you how the mani looked most of the time. I love how it turned out, a little toned down but still exciting enough :) Gems is truly a unique combo of glitters, at least to me, dupe of something famous or not.

A nontraditional choice of colours, I know, for a festive occasion, but I didn't really want to wear red and green or all blinged-out glitters. It was just the bf and I going out that night, none of our friends were around, so I think it was appropriate. He liked the idea of me wearing the colours he got for me :)

Looks like we are having the sun today, at least for now. My sunglasses sure love it :) Have a great day!

I have no idea where time went lately. Every morning I woke up, I kept asking myself what day it was and whether I had to go to work. Crazy stage of my life, I think.

This is an over-due post, as I got these items way back at Christmas. They were CP'ed for me by the bf at US drugstores. Every time they had a good sale, I asked him to get a few things. And he ended up putting them in a gift box for me at Christmas, didn't want me to pay him back :)

First batch, from Ulta sale:
- NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in Rocky Mountain Green, Electric Blue and Gold. I was looking for the 4 new ones that came out last summer, but the store didn't have Purple Velvet and Pure Gold.
- Physician's Formula Custom Eye Enhancing Gel CreamLiner for Green Eyes. There is quite a mark-up for this item in Canada, I didn't want to buy it here.
- LA Splash nail polish, from L-R: Sparkling Rose, Sparkling Jellyfish, Golden Seahorse, Pretty Jellyfish and Terra Beach.

LA Splash has recently arrived at Lawtons, but the nail polish are CAD4.99 here (I think), so US sale still beats it.

Can't remember which store exactly this is from, but it gotta be a BOGO or BOGO 1/2 sale.
- Milani Liquif' Eye Metallic Eyeliner pencil in Silver. One of the best sellers from Milani, so I gotta get one.
- Milani Lip Flash gloss pencils in Hot Flash and Photo Flash. Lots of raves for these as well, review is coming.
- Milani Gems nail polish. This shade was certainly the most wanted, but I kinda regret I didn't ask for other shades from this collection too, as they are all fabulous. I wore Gems for New Years Eve, feeling all bling-y :)

More nail polish:
- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Purple Fiesta and Concrete
- Sally Hansen Complete Salon in Problem Child and Sequin Scandal.

These aren't new or anything, but they were 50% off :) My Melmer drawer for Sally Hansen is overflowing, just because it has so many lines, and keeps coming out with new shades. Xtreme Wear and Complete Salon are the most popular among all Sally Hansen in my stash.

- Revlon Super Lustrous lip gloss in Coral Reef. I finally got a hold of this shade (for cheap), as it was a LE colour in Canada up until recently when it was released with a new collection.
- Wet n Wild Mega Last lipstick in Red Velvet and Wine Room. Heard quite a lot about these lipsticks, and they were BOGO. What not to love?
- L'Oreal HIP shadow pigment in Intrepid. Can't remember exactly now but I think this was the only item I got at CVS 75% off sale. It is the most beautiful duochrome shade among the HIP pigments, IMO.

As I tried to put the stuff away after Christmas, I went into quite a withdrawal, seeing how much makeup I have. Have been "enforcing" a low buy on myself since. My defense is I got them on sale, but still I need to downsize, right?

These EOS lip balms, however, are must-haves. As I was frustrated not being able to find them around here, there was a promo where you technically could get them for free in the US. The bf found Lemon Drop (SPF15) and Summer Fruit for me.

Very recently, I saw the Honeysuckle (green) ones at my Shoppers, sold for CAD5.99 though. Only if you are still looking for them.

Hope everyone is doing well. Today is the second day with freezing temperature we have here. We are talking -30 degrees (for those in the US, it's -22 Fahrenheit). And we are right next to the ocean, so the wind is just killing my face, on top of that. Now that is Canadian winter for you :)

Finally, I got some time to sort out pictures and draft up this post about IMATS LA. I gotta say it was the best IMATS experience I have had, for a few reasons.

First, it was the biggest IMATS in history. According to Makeup Artist Magazine, 9,000 people attended the show this year (compared to 6,000 last year) and 119 exhibitors (vs. 85 last year). When we got there, the line of people to pick up their tickets was so long that it wrapped around the front lobby to the side. We were just lucky to have press passes to bypass the line. And through the door, we saw 8 isles of booths and tons of products, we were overwhelmed at first sight.

Second, the companion. I was with Ms. Naz, the lovely blogger with whom I shared the love of makeup. I couldn't imagine going there by myself, and the trip wouldn't happen if she didn't agree to come along. While in California, we stayed at a friend's and were driven to and from the show. They took good care of us.

Third, the shopping, interaction with the exhibitors, and the classes were all awesome. Nothing like seeing someone face to face, talk to them, hug them. And the specials brands offered at the show were just amazing. It took everything for me not to buy more.

And now, let's re-live Day 1 of the show :)

As almost everybody who came to the show, first thing we did was lining up at Makeup Forever booth. We came in at 9, and the line already wrapped around their booth and stretched way pass a few neighbour vendors.

It took us 3 hours to get to cashier to pay, we were just so glad we were done with it.

I got:
- HD Micro Finish Cream blush in #6 (Quickie, a salmon pink), $15 (reg. $25)
- Aqua Cream in #21 (Turquoise) and #5 (Peach, peachy pink with gold flecks), $13.20 each (reg. $22).

Swatching was such a hassle, cause everybody wanted to do the same thing as I did, lol. And then we had to narrow down the list to avoid huge bills at the end. But I am really happy with what I got. Don't know I'd want to line up again though as it would take basically the whole morning for that. And we didn't even have time to have breakfast :)

We went to Purely Cosmetics next to grab their Diamond Perfect Finishing Powder, fearing it would be gone.

And indeed, they were flying off the display and sold out by the end of the day. Show price was $15 (reg. $18.50).

I also got Mint, an LE eyeshadow. It looked prettiest on Naz's hand when she swatched a few. It was $5 (reg. $6.50).

NYX booth was really busy too, as the discount was good (about $2 or more off regular price, minus shipping cost). I got:
- A Chrome pigment in Beanie, $3.50
- Single eyeshadows in My Favorite Color and Dune, $3.50 each
- Jumbo Eye pencils in Black Bean and Milk, $2.50 each.

They had almost every product there, except the round lipsticks and nail polish. Bummer!

We were starving at this point. The healthy option (salad) was all gone, so I had a burger and a bottle of water. Can't say I was a big fan of the food.

I was happy to see LA Splash had a small display of nail polish besides their makeup products. The deal was 5 for $15, so I certainly got 5 shades to try out.
- Charcoal, shimmery black
- Fabuluxe, glittery magenta
- Sparkling Ocean Spray, glittery teal
- Sparkling Silver
- Sparkling Stratosphere, glittery blue.

There were cream polishes too, but I was more into their glitters :) This brand hasn't made it to Canada yet, unfortunately.

We spent the rest of the day wandering around, planning for day-2 purchases and checking out classes on stage. Pasadena Convention Centre was so big that many classes were held in big rooms outside the main hall. It took us a while to find the class with Rae Morris, the famous MUA from Australia. Really enjoyed her session.

Another highlight of the day was the freebies at Nailene.

Naz and I walked by their booth to say hi, just to realize that they were giving away their products for free. The staff was so nice and friendly.

So I grabbed 2 different sets of nails (a pretty bridal-ish flowery pattern and a black French), a French Tip Pen kit and some nail glue. Still can't believe they were free :)

Migi Nail Art was offering sets of 8 colours for $25. They sold out too quickly, so then offered free shipping to anybody who ordered, and free refills for life. Naz and I both picked the Original set as it had black and white, the most basic colours we need for nail art. I am still waiting for the product to get here, so no picture of it just yet.

Other fun offers at the show:
- Clarisonic offered the Pro set for $100, free US shipping, $12 Canada shipping
- Lots of brands at Naimie's offered 20 - 40% off - Lise Watier, CoverFX, Eve Pearl, Bobbi Brown, Beauty Blender, etc.
- A few false lashes brands had them for $1 a pair
- Zuca had 25% off, and free US shipping, etc.

I missed some of my favorite youtube gurus at the show. I know they were there but didn't see them anywhere. Now I just have to wait for them to post up their IMATS videos, lol.

Naz and I stopped for dinner at an Asian restaurant on the way back to the hotel. We each ordered an appetizer and an entree, just like we normally do in Canada, without realizing that the portions in the US are a lot bigger. We were full after the salad (for Naz) and the soup (for me) and had to pack the entrees to go (for lunch the next day, and still couldn't finish them then). So, certainly made a note on that one, lol.

Stay tuned for Day 2, when I made my best purchase of the whole show :)