Sparkled Beauty

Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Canadians! Hope you have had some great turkey dinner and quality time with family.

I was planning on taking a break on the blog but my Sephora order arrived with this little gem before the weekend and I couldn't wait to show you.

This is Stila Eternally Yours liquid lipstick set, which took a few days to show up on Sephora Canada website after making an appearance on Sephora US.

I don't think Stila Stay All Day liquid lipsticks need any introduction, considering a few shades in the line have made their own names in the beauty community.

Knowing how hard it is to get your hand on Patina, I was excited to see it as part of the set. I already have a thing with holiday gift sets, for the chance to try a lot of things with a discount, this set is an instant purchase.

So here they are, Caramello (new), Patina, Aria, Como, Chianti (new) and Fiery.

First to note: the tubes are really mini size, considering they are 1/2 of the full size (or 1/3, see explanation below). Not a deterrent by any means but worth noting to avoid disappointment.

The shades from the core line: Patina (second from left) is described as a dusty rose, great for any day, any time of the year. Aria, a magenta plum, is the darker version of Patina. Then Como, a new shade from the Summer collection, is my kind of colour - a purple. And lastly, Fiery (far right) is a orange-based red, quite flattering on me.

The 2 new shades, exclusive to this set at this point: Caramello (far left) is very nude, definitely needs a coloured liner underneath to work for me and Chianti (second from right) is that bold and dark vampy shade lots of people wants for Fall.

I am happy with the full coverage, the matte texture and long wear of these liquid lipsticks. I get to try 6 shades in one go and they are not terribly drying (supposed to be enriched with vitamin E and avocado oil). The applicator handle could be a little more stiff (less flexible) to help with precise application though.

The paper packaging indicates the 0.03oz/ 1ml size while the tubes inside are noted as 0.05oz/ 1.5ml each, so I can't comment on the true value of the set. Just know that the set retails for CAD51 (CAD86 value, out of stock online at the moment) vs. the full size of 0.1oz, CAD31.

Hard Candy Spring 2014 release has hit Walmart Canada!

I grabbed the item that peaked my curiosity the most - Single and Loving It eyeshadows (fun name lol), the tie dye version, in Sweet Sorbet and Sandy Beach.

Unfortunately, they failed to impress me, both at the store and when I got home to compare them with the Stila Countless color pigments I own.

First off, the name: Hard Candy already launched Single and Loving It eyeshadows (Fall 2012) which were true single shades, no mixing colours in the pans. Recycling the name for a total different product confuses people.

Product design and pricing: Hard Candy's (new) Single and Loving It eyeshadows come in square pots with 0.05oz/ 1.5g of product, $2.98 a piece.

Stila Countless Color pigments are in round pots with 0.1oz/ 3g of product, $22/ CAD29 each regularly, now $8 on their website, pulling pretty close to Hard Candy's price point (per oz).

The shades I have:

- Acoustic and Finale (first row), full priced
- Light Show and Melody (second row), Center Stage and Encore (third row), $4 each (Beauty Bash sale).

Colour selections: Hard Candy has 6 shades, which show some similarity to Stila colour range (10 shades in total).
- Hard Candy Low Rise Jeans and Stila Tie Dye (pink, light blue & navy)
- Hard Candy World Peace and Stila Light Show (pictured, green & teal, minus the yellow)
- Hard Candy Grape Dane and Stila Melody (pictured, light & dark purple)
- Hard Candy Sweet Sorbet and Stila Indie (pink & purple)
- Hard Candy Oink! and Stila Encore (pictured, light pink & brown)
- Hard Candy Sandy Beach and Stila Groupie (light & dark brown).

A swatch of Sandy Beach tester in store hardly showed any pigmentation without building up and it wore off by the time I got home to take pics. I am sending them both back so no swatches, unfortunately. Now, on to the next item - the So Baked contour trios :)

I was inspired by Lisa Elridge's latest look she did on Cara Delevingne and thought I could incorporate things I love into it.

Minus the false lashes, switched out high end items (Chanel Illusion D'Ombre, Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate, etc.), here we go!

Last shade of 24 Annabelle TwistUps I have to show you since the beginning of the month, this is Vamp! It is dark, pigmented and smooth. I feel bad playing favorites, but Vamp might just be the IT shade for me this year, in the non-purple range.

I also used Stila Stay All Day waterproof liquid liner in Dark Brown from the Art of the Fine Line set and the lovely powders from the bareMinerals Complexion Superstars kit:
- Original Mineral Veil finishing powder to set the foundation and concealer
- Illuminating Mineral Veil finishing powder as highlighter, and
- Warmth All-over face color to contour, using the mini Full Flawless face brush.

Other products used:
- Annabelle CC Instant Perfecting base in Natural finish
- Vichy Norma Teint Anti Imperfection foundation in Sand
- It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eyes full coverage concealer in Neutral Medium
- Maybelline Color Tattoos in Gold Rush and Pomegranate Punk
Lisa reminded me that Maybelline Color Tattoos aren't just for bases on the eyes, so I used them by themselves here with no other eyeshadows
- Maybelline the Falsies Big Eyes mascara in Blackest Black
- Avon Ultra Luxury brow liner in Dark Brown.

So I did it, I finished the #24Days TwistUps series. It cost me a few weekends between doing the makeup and trying to take advantage of natural lighting for taking pictures.

Stay tuned for a giveaway, for all 24 shades I have been showing you. Do I have enough interest from those of you who live outside Canada and US to open it internationally?

If you don't know already, I am not very good with liquid liners. When I received Stila Art of the Fine Line set, I was not sure it was for me. Stay All Day waterproof liquid eyeliners sound good, but a little intimidating.

I braved it out, and yes, I liked it. Want to know why?

First off, the 4 shades in the set are best sellers of the brand, so they already did the homework for me. And I do like some colours for my liners other than black.

In the box: Intense Black came full size (0.016oz/ 0.5ml), followed by deluxe size of Midnight (navy), Moss (dark green) and Dark Brown (0.01oz/ 0.25ml each).

Secondly, they were not kidding about the "stay all day" claim. I do mean work days, as I have not tested the liners during 24-hour days, but that is good enough for me. The liners dry pretty quickly, and once set, they do not move or smudge. Mistake cleanup is easy though, a Q-tip with makeup remover would do.

I did not mind the deluxe shorter pens, as I felt like my hands were closer to the eyes (which wasn't true) and I had better control of the pen (which was true). I keep Intense Black for regular use and the other 3 will rotate when I travel.

Don't they look like mother and daughter here? Yes, I imagined my liners as girls, lol.

Another good thing about these liners was that the felt tip was not hard for beginners like me to maneuver. And they did not skip nor feather, lucky me :)

I am still practicing using less pressure to make precise lines. Thicker lines are easier, and sometimes they are to cover up boo-boos, real story!

It was suggested to shake the pen well before use, but I forgot to do this most of the time :)

Swatches, in the same order.

Intense Black does have a bit of silver sheen, I do set it with a black eyeshadow though.

Midnight is pretty, and I love me a dark navy blue. Moss is a antique green and Dark Brown is true to its name.

I'm excited to have coloured Stay all Day liners in my stash now, more chance to practice :)

The set retails $50 (values $75, as a full sized liner sells for $26) at Sephora, a Limited Edition. Check out the FOTD where I wear Dark Brown :)

This is a (blog birthday) look I did using Stila Countless Color pigments in Acoustic and Finale on my eyes and cheeks. Did I look as cheerful as I felt toward these little beauties lol?

Breakdown of the eye makeup:
- Base: CoverGirl Flamed Out eyeshadow pencil in Red Hot Flame
This shade is a perfect base for Acoustic. It is more pigmented on the lids than other CoverGirl Flamed Out pencils I tried, loved it! However, it stained my lids slightly pink after removal
- Eyeshadows: from Finale - the light peach in the inner corner and the reddish pink in the outer corner; from Acoustic - the mahogany in the crease and the beige on the brow bone
I used a blending brush with the darker colours and my fingers for the lighter colours. Worked pretty well
- Eyeliner: Annabelle Smoothie eyeshadow pencil in Licoriche, topped with the mahogany from Acoustic, and Gosh Velvet Touch eyeliner in Banana near the tear duct
- Mascara: Lancome Definicils HD mascara in Black.

For blush, I swiped the brush across Acoustic only ONCE for each cheek. As mentioned in my review, these pigments are insanely pigmented when used as blushes, so start with a light hand. If you are after a sheer look, one swipe is enough for both cheeks.

Other face products:
- Sunscreen: La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL cream SPF60
- Serum: Hydraluron moisture booster
- Moisturizer: Yves Rocher Anti-age Global day cream
- Primer: Annabelle CC Instant Perfecting base in Luminous finish
- Foundation: Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation in Fresh Beige
- Concealer: Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch highlight concealer in Buff
- Powder: CoverFx Setting Fx translucent mineral powder
- Brows: Avon Ultra Luxury liner in Dark Brown.

On the lips:
- Lip liner: Annabelle waterproof lip liner in Carnation
Rediscovered a love here. Carnation is a great liner to neutralize my pigmented lips, helping the lipstick show up closer to its true colour 
- Lipstick: Milani Color Statement lipstick in Nude Creme
One of the best "nude" shades on me. I can't do pale nudes as they wash me out, but this pink toned nude, I can do.

I'm on a roll in finding new makeup to try and fill my blogging schedule way into August. I never thought I could do a "makeup no buy" but a few youtubers have inspired me to decide to slow down, against my blogger nature. I trust that lots of you will understand how hard that is!

The stress of house hunting and my little girl turning 10 also start getting to me. I am doing all by myself and I am overwhelmed. But I'll stay on the positive side and wish Squirt and Sparkled Beauty a happy birthday today! Will you all hold my hands? :)

I got two Stila Countless Color pigments from Sephora VIB sale. It didn't take much for me to love them and definitely need to talk about them :)

Here are Acoustic (on the left) and Finale (on the right), part of Stila's LE Festival of Colour summer collection.

Described as full coverage, long wearing vibrant pigments with pearl formula, these little pots can be used different ways with different colour combinations. And no two Countless Colour pigments are alike, I gotta try 'em!

Bright and colourful thin compacts get an A for packaging. I found the paper box kinda hides the beautiful art work inside a little, despite the colour stickers on the front.

Aren't they looking gorgeous when the lids are up?

Acoustic is described as a combination of beige, red and mahogany brown

Finale has peach, orange and reddish pink - less contrasting colours I realized.

I went for this type of colour family, as I intended to use them as blushes as well as eyeshadows, get more bang for my bucks. Plus, I'm going through a dark pink/ red phase right now. However, the purples and blues are killing me too :)

This is Acoustic, with 3 colours swatched separately first.

Stila suggests using a finger or foam tip applicator to apply the pigments, which I can definitely confirm. I swatched these quickly in store with my fingers and fell in love :)

When it came to swatching though, I went with the regular (damp) eyeshadow brush before I realized they were not supposed to be used wet. A brush sure sheered the colours out a tiny bit, still quite intense though.

And next is Finale, a little more bright compared to Acoustic. I was a little disappointed when that beautiful peachy orange did not show up the same as it looked in the pot. That colour was kinda the reason why I bought Finale, so cheerful and summer-y.

When you use these pigments as eyeshadows, you gotta remember where in the pot you swipe the product the first time lol, or your makeup does not look the same between the two eyes. Since they work best with your fingers, dabbing the colours on the middle of your lids is the best way to show them off.

And lastly, swatched as blushes using a blush brush, Acoustic on the left, Finale on the right. And I can't tell which one I love more. Definitely love that darker red, but peachy pink also looks divine :)

I found it necessary to include ingredient list for these pigments for those who wonder: Talc, Mica, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Ethylene/ Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Magnesium Stearate, Silica, Polysorbate 20, Sorbic Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol.

May contain Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Ferric Ferrocyanide (CI 77510), Carmine (CI 75470), Ultramarines (CI 77007), Yellow 10 (CI 47005), Red 27 Lake (CI 45410), Red 28 (CI 45410), Blue 1 (CI 42090), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090),Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Red 40 ( CI 16035), Yellow 6 (CI 15985), Red 6 (CI 15850), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850). ***Contains Carmine as a color additive.

The whole line of 10 Countless Colour pigments, CAD29 for 0.1 oz/ 3g, was launched at Shoppers' selected locations on May 15 and will be available at Murale May 29. Sephora only had 7 shades when I bought mine - no Centre Stage (pink, peach & aqua), Melody (purples) and Encore (champagne & brown).

UPDATE (May 22): The displays at my local Shoppers locations have been updated with the Summer collection. I'll be there soon enough :)

Check out the FOTD where I wear both pigments, I sure look bright and cheerful in it lol.

Winners has become alive again with so many new beauty products, so this is a heads-up on what you might find in store.

A new shipment of Cargo products has just arrived, with the mini 7in7, eyeshadow quads and duos, Lash Activator, etc.
EDIT: the brand is on HauteLook the day after I posted this, so I now add price comparison too. I got a blush in Mallorca for $9 (vs. $12 on HauteLook, retails $29), Safari and Mediterranean sets for $15 each (vs. $18 on HauteLook, reg. $34).

The Safari set (Spring 2011) has:
- BeachBlush in Coral Beach (full size)
- Eye lining pencil in Khaki (full size)
- Eyeshadow duo with a gold and a khaki (full size),
- Lip gloss in Serengeti (mini),
- 3 Triple Action mascara (mini).

The Mediterranean set (Summer 2011) has:
- Blush in Mendocino (full size)
- Eyeshadow duo with a gold and a copper (full size),
- Better-than-waterproof mascara (full size)
- Lip gloss in Morocco (mini),
- Swimmables Waterproof Eye pencil in Teal (mini).
Both sets comes with a small makeup bag.

I only paid $12 for the Mediterranean set because the teal liner was missing. Don't know if I'll keep it, cause the liner is kinda the reason I wanted the set at the first place.

I also found new Stila products. The brand was just on HauteLook, so I do some price comparison.

- One Step primecolors $8 at Winners vs. $6 (or a set of 3 for $10) on HauteLook
- Convertible eye colours have similar price at both places (around $7-8)
- One Step foundation $13 at Winners vs. $8 on HauteLook
- Kajal eyeliner (I found Sapphire) $9 and Smudge Stick Waterproof eyeliner (in Koi and Silver Dollar) $8 at Winners vs. $5 on HauteLook.

Considering HauteLook's Canada shipping isn't cheap, it's probably still worth it to get Stila from Winners. I think I'll only keep the Smoky Eye (Platinum collection) Talking palette ($13) though. Any of you has this palette?

From Pixi, I bought:
- Lumi Lux Radiance powder in Peach Petal $10 - beautiful rose patterns, good size too
- Lip blush in Love $7. I saw this shade in Sam Schuerman's Valentine tutorial and has been wanting to get it.

Both these items were on HauteLook before, for $7 and $5 respectively, so yeah, we pay a little more in store. Do you feel like Winners is our HauteLook lately, with no shipping cost?

I don't think we have access to this brand much, though this is not the first time I saw it at Winners.

On to nail polish.

With Color Club, I found 2 new sets with no names, just "All About Color" sticker on the packaging, $15 each.

It looks like these bottles are randomly selected to put in sets. I have no clues on shade names for the first set, as bright colours could end up anywhere.

For the second set, the first 3 shades are from the Under the Mistletoe collection, which Winners had before. The second last shade looks like Covered in Diamonds. I don't think I would ever know all names for sure. Why do they do this?

And Jessica, which I notice a small display a while ago but didn't really look.

This time, I spotted Iridescent Eye and gasped. It is the exact dupe of Chanel Peridot, with the price tag of $6. How can I not get it?

Words are there are other Jessica shades that dupe Chanel colours, and they might even have better quality/ application. The nail polish section just got a little more exciting :)

I also found Color Club magnetics, LA Girls trios and some sets from random brands that I never heard of.

Skin care wise, I have been really into serums lately. I love how fast they sink into the skin, ready for moisturizer instantly.

I found H2O Green Tea Antioxidant serum (25ml, $10, was $36 before being discontinued last summer) and Sea Results Daily Defense serum (30ml, $15, reg. $60 on H2O website).

Looks like online reviews are more positive toward the Sea Results serum than the Green Tea one, so I might not keep both.

So, what is on your Winners radar now?

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was crazy :) Saturday was so nice, we spent hours at my friend's sitting on the beach and soaked up the sun on her deck. It was heaven. Sunday was a lot running around finding Squirt a new bed.

Anyway, this is a quick post just to let you know about the deals I found, hoping this will be helpful for you ladies who are looking for the same thing.

At Winners, there were tons of the Stila Lip Envy trios, CAD9.99 each, available in 4 different colour sets. The 2 sets I got are shown on the first row. The other 2 are from the April haul and a giveaway that I won. I put them all here to give you an idea what colour combinations are available out there. There might be more or less depending on the stock at your store.

Sorry that my pic is not very colour correct - the peach shades showed up too pink, so keep that in mind. Some shades are really pretty with fine glitters, some are cream. The ones I tried go on quite smooth and not sticky.

Other items found in store: Elf Encyclopedia books, China Glaze Poolside, Barielle and Jessica polishes, etc.

Shoppers is having selected L'Oreal products on great discount.

First, I grabbed the Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base for CAD9.99 (reg. CAD17.99, cross price check at Walmart: reg. CAD12.96). What a steal, isn't it? I wanted to try it forever, and I have been a fan of its expensive version (Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch).

Also, the Double Extend mascara with Lash Boosting Serum (reg. CAD14.99) was on sale for CAD9.99 too. I got sucked in by the "serum" part, we'll see how it plays out.

Next is the latest mascara in the Cover Girl Lash Blast line: Lash Blash Fusion, in purple packaging (sorry it showed up more blue than purple in the pic), on sale for CAD6.99. I heard good reviews about it, so gotta try it out for myself.

So that's it for last weekend :) If you ladies found any good deals in store, feel free to let me know. Cheers!

Ladies, it has been a while that I talked about Winners, thought I should do some updates on beauty brands they have at the moment. There are some surprises, at least to me :-)

First, CHI nail polish - official name: CHI Ceramic Nail Lacquer. I have never seen this brand before around here, and read that it's available at some Ulta in the US around $8 a bottle. They are supposed to be 3-free polish with great application.

I found 2 shades of CHI at my Winners, from L-R: Open Door Policy and Office Gossip (from the Success ACHIived Fall 2008 collection), plus a base coat, CAD2.99 a piece. Definitely a steal.

Wish I could find more but I'm happy with these 2 for now.

Next: CND (Creative Nail Design) and Stila.

I found a full display of CND polish ranging from white to pink. So happy to get my very first bottle from the brand - Make A Wish. It's the only shade that interested me, a pink with green duochrome. Also found CND Solar Oil, extremely excited about this one, lol. They are CAD4.99 each.

On the right is Stila Lip Envy Silk Shimmer gloss trio, the only thing from this brand on the shelf. There were 2 colour combos, I picked this one for the deep burgundy shade in the middle. The gloss on the far right hand side has lots of glitters in it, very pretty too. This set sells for CAD9.99, no individual gloss name.

Other brands that I saw but didn't get anything from:
- Elf: the Studio Line is in, from brushes to compact, HD powder, etc. Price ranges between CAD5-8
- Orly Foil FX collection, CAD5.99 a bottle. If you missed it at Sally when it was out, now is the time :-)
- Gotta B’ Urban brushes
- Essie: a full display of only 2 colours - black and white.

So head on over to your Winners, to see what your store has to offer. I always feel like a treasure hunt when I'm there :-) Have a great one!

I always love to look at blog sales, to find things that I can't normally get from here. And a few weeks ago, I found some good stuff to buy :-)

The first haul is from Keri at Glimmer Gloss Glow. I was extremely happy with what I got, as belive it or not, these items are all the first of their kinds that I own.

The nail polishes are OPI DS in Fantasy and Vintage, and Zoya Matte Velvet in Loredana. I don't have any OPI, not mentioning the Designer Series. Always love holo polishes, so I hasd to get them. I haven't had any matte colour from Zoya either.

I also got some Bare Minerals pressed shadows in Firelight, True Gold, Fire Opal (first row), Aurora, Trinity, and Firefly (second row). I already put them in test runs a few times. The colours are gorgeous, but they don't stay on the lids as long as my pigments do, unless I put extra work in prepping the lids.

Keri included some extras too:
- Stila Convertible Color (Lip & Cheek Cream) in Peony
- Barry M Shimmering Eye & Lip Crayon in #7 Golden Bronze
- Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil in 1999.
My first Stila and Barry M too, and I was looking for a liner that is not black. So, perfect!

Another haul came from Sara at The Makeup Snob. I love the drugstore items that she had.

Here they are:
- Milani Wet/Dry shadows in Shamrock, Black Out, Girls Luv Pink, Leaf Green, and Blue Lagoon
- Jesse's Girl Baked shadow in Moonbeam
- Physician Formula Face Sculpting Trio in Tan Organics
- Revlon ColorStay Mineral Finishing Powder in Brighten
- L'Oreal Wear Infinite Pressed shadow quad in Petals of Promise and Bouquet of Strength (LE).

It's exciting to have new makeup to play with.

Visit my blog sale too, if you are looking for some MAC. I made a tab at the top of the page for it too, for easy browsing. Have a good day.