Sparkled Beauty

No burning desire was stronger than me wanting to show you Vasanti Ultra Luxe lipstick in Zimbabwe after I swatched it.

It is quite different from what I normally reach for. And as you can see, the good tube of Zimbabwe does not have too much shine and is a true burgundy with strong brown tone. Here it is today, on top of Beautique lip liner in Sienna :)

On my eyes are the Milani Bella Eyes gel powder eyeshadows, in action.

Bella White is the bright star of the look, popping in the inner half of the lids :) Paired with it is Bella Bronze in the outer half and Bella Purple in the crease blended upward.

The eyeshadows appear on the eyes more subtle than the swatches you see in the review cause I did not intend to build them up too much. Love their blendability!

Other products used:
- L'Oreal Magic Nude liquid powder foundation in True Beige
Bought this foundation a long while ago but just got around to try it now. Love the light finish but it barely gives me any coverage at all
- It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eyes full coverage concealer in Neutral Medium and Annabelle BB Skin Perfect concealer in Medium
- Sephora + Pantone Universe Foiled waterproof eyeliner in Silver on inner half of lower lash line
- Yves Rocher eye pencil in Copper Brown on outer half of lower lash line
I love the pigmentation of these pencils but could not wear Copper Brown too much, due to its red tone
- CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara in Black
- Milani baked blush in Fantastico Mauve, very light-handed as it is super pigmented
- Wet n Wild Color Icon brow & eye liner in Dark Brown.

We are slowly thawing out of our winter "white coat". It was actually warm (i.e. near zero) yesterday lol. Have a great one!

I mentioned before that Lawtons will no longer carry Vasanti very soon and is clearing out all stock at 50%.

No new products like the Love Brights gel matte lipsticks or the Lip & Cheek colour pods sadly, so I only went in for some basics.

I bought 3 Ultra Luxe lipsticks - Zimbabwe, Qatar and Denmark, and a Soft Finish matte lipstick in USA, reg. $15 each. Matte silver tubes, with colour coded boxes for each product line (sky blue for Ultra Luxe and indigo for Soft Finish matte).

Also grabbed a Kajal Extreme Intense eyeliner pencil in Electric Navy (reg. $18) but I won't include it in this post.

The Ultra Luxe lipsticks are formulated with Peptide technology to supposedly plump, hydrate and smooth the lips.

The Soft Finish matte lipsticks have anti oxidants for hydrating and light diffusing effects, only 3 shades available.

I don't notice any plumping effects, but the lips feel hydrated with these lipsticks. Great pigmentation and finishes. I recommend checking these out when you still can. The colour range can accommodate pretty much anyone.

Zimbabwe is a deep burgundy, my favorite colour among the 4. Ignore the glossy finish and the darken colour of the swatch. My tube turned very sticky, so I exchanged it. Check out the right colour in the FOTD to see it in action.

Qatar is a light mauve with a subtle grey sheen that is very hard to catch on camera.

Denmark, the hot magenta pink, and USA, the (matte) red, have made their names known among bloggers already. Must haves!

Did you check out the sale? What are your favorites from Vasanti?

A soft FOTD to show you how the Vasanti and NYX products look on.

t have been doing so many neutral looks lately for work, I can hardly recognize myself anymore lol. So for this look, I went for a bit more colours on the eyes, paired with neutral lips.

What I used:
- Vasanti All Star 2-in-1 face and eye primer
Of course you can't see the primer but it is working in the background :)
- Vasanti Vitamin E-infused Lipshine in Darling River
With no lip liner or other lip colour underneath, Darling River is a good everyday shade
- NYX Skinny Black liner
Was not easy to get it on my eyes there, but I warmed up the tip a little between my fingers before application so it did not tug much.

I also tried the Cala Brow/ Lash comb, but again, you won't see it :)

Other products:
- CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 foundation SPF20 in 957 Golden Tan
- Maybelline The Eraser Dark Spot concealer + treatment in Light/ Medium
- NYX eyeshadow trio with White in the inner corner and on the brow bone, Tropical on mid lids and Silver in the crease (swatched in the Vasanti review linked above)
Tropical looks more red than orange on the eyes, and Silver has a hint of lilac. I like them more than I thought
- Marcelle Xtension Plus + Pro Lash Growth Complex mascara in Black
- Marcelle Eyebrow pen in Universal Dark
These two Marcelle Spring products have become an everyday duo for me since I tested and reviewed them
- Maybelline Dream Bouncy blush in Plum Wine.

This could work as a typical gentle V Day look if I were to go out on a date this Friday. But the plan is Squirt and I would go to dinner, and it wouldn't be me if I am not wearing at least a bold lip for the occasion :) I do have pink nails on now, shocking huh?

YT in the last week has been filled with V Day tutorials and ideas, very helpful :) Squirt has made me a tiger charm with her Rainbow Loom (thanks to YT of course), plus 2 V Day cards, couldn't ask for more!

Do you have plans for V Day yet? Either you are with your other half or not, celebrate the day for love and emotions. Cheers for that!

The BOGO promotion on Vasanti products at Lawtons made me realize it has been a while since I last reviewed Vasanti 2010 Spring products. I received two items for review a few weeks ago, thought it is the right time to post :)

I had not been aware that Vasanti has made a primer called All Star 2-in-1 face and eye primer - the grey squeeze tube in a blue box.

The claims:
- keeps your face and eye makeup fresh, radiant and flawless for up to 18 hours
- blurs imperfections and fine lines with anti-aging ingredients.

The product comes out of the tube like an off white lotion but becomes clear once rubbed in, almost s liquid-to-powder texture. It makes the skin feel smooth and a tiny bit sticky.

I found the product works great on my lids, no creasing or fading of the eyeshadows for about 13 hours. Since it is translucent on, it does not improve the colour payoff of my eye products, which it does not claim to.

On the face, it only keeps my liquid foundation and concealer on for about 8 hours. Of course I touch my face a lot more often than I do my eye lids, but still I think the primer works better with powders than liquids. I'll keep using it only as my eye primer as that's what it does best, but if your normal day does not go beyond 8 hours, All Star is a good primer for both purposes.

For the tiny amount of product used on the face areas I want to use it at, I won't count too much on the anti-aging effect.

Ingredients: Isododecane, Cyclopentasiloxane, Polyethylene, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Trihydroxystearin, Hexyldecanol, VP/Eicosene Copolymer, Propylene Carbonate, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Dimethicone, etc.

All Star is paraben/ oil/ gluten free, retails $24 for 15ml/ 0.5oz (the size pictured) or $39 for 30ml/ 1oz.

Then, there is Vasanti Vitamin E-infused Lipshine in Darling River, a mauvy pink with high shine but no shimmer.

On top of my dark lips, Darling River appears as a YLBB (and more pink) colour, which makes it an everyday choice easily.

The gloss feels very comfortable on the lips and not drying at all. The claim to be wind and cake proof, besides being cute and funny, is quite true lol. My hair does not stick to my lips in the wind. And while I did not have any cake during the testing period, the gloss does last through breakfast most days. I still reapply for more colour and for that comfortable feeling it gives.

The gloss has no paraben, mineral oil, petrolatum, sulfates, GMO's or Tricosan, retails $15 for 2g/ 0.7oz. Check out other colours in the line too.

Below is the swatch of Darling River up top, then three NYX eyeshadows over All Star (bottom half) and by themselves (top half), in different lighting.

As I mentioned, All Star does not make the eyeshadows pop, so swatches don't help much in this case but its staying powder stays true. And Darling River is semi sheer but is buildable to a beautiful pink. Check out the FOTD I did with these.

If you need more recommendations, I just picked up the staple Eye Wonder (eye cream), BrightenUp! Enzymatic face rejuvenator (facial scrub), and Sun Peached Glow brightening mineral powder (a light peach blush).

I didn't go to the Redemption event at Shoppers, telling myself that I didn't need anything. By the way, they are doing a "Spend your points and get points back" tomorrow with a coupon - 50,000 points = $85 + 15,000 points back, or 95,000 points = $170 + 30,000 points back, which I think is even a better offer.

So, no Shoppers goodies (yet) but I have a good haul from Lawtons :)

Vasanti eyeshadows are BOGO until Thursday (never happened before), if you haven't dropped by to grab a few :) Me? I got the gorgeous Tinseltown palette (11.25g, reg. $40). Look at the shimmers. Love the colour combination in this one.

I also grabbed 2 eyeshadow duos - Mount Rushmore (left) and Lake Louise (3g, reg. $20 each). For the money, the palette beats these by miles, almost 4 times as much product, only twice the price. However, the duos have more colour selections, I couldn't resist.

Found the OPI Holland collection on clearance for $4.99 a piece. Been wanting these for so long, but most locations don't even have this collection anymore.

I got I Have a Herring Problem, I Don't Give a Rotterdam and Thanks a Windmillion. Yeah, just 3, I tried really hard not emptying the little basket they put these pretties in on the shelf :)

A few LA Splash nail polishes were on clearance for $1.24 too, but only one shade caught my eyes - Sparkling Wave. Glitters, of course!

And this next brand turns out to be a total mystery. I never heard of "True Colors" before, google didn't show any results - no website, no e-tailers, no blog swatches. If you saw this brand or tried it before, let me know.

There was a gorgeous display of True Colors "Gems" glitter collection, $1.99 each. The 2 shades I chose - Midnight Bold and Mystic Grape are both dark, and the label is black, I couldn't figure out what it said at all.

A little off the topic here, these Nabi magnetic nail polish were found at Sirens (of all places, lol), 2 for $5. Thought I should include them in this post, in case some of you are looking. Here are Dark Wine and Teal.

My camera died before I could take more display pics, so I only have one to show you. But at least it is a good one - Cherimoya Pebble Beach nail polish, retails $2.99 a piece. Oh my precious, they are really pretty, just sitting there waiting for me to put them in the basket. And yes I did, twice :)

Stay tuned for my NOTD post with more information about this line. Promise it is a good one.

Lawtons also has Vichy Dermablend line for 25% off, and L'Oreal Color Riche lip products on BOGO (including the Balms). It is really a good week there.

I'm waiting for a few packages, hoping that'd grant another fun haul post for you soon. Have a great start of the week!

I was sick at home yesterday, was not productive at all, as you can guess. Today is IMATS Toronto which I couldn't go, so I went to the mall (20% off sale) to make up for it. I was sad, so damage was done badly.

First stop: Sirens. They were doing 30% off the entire store or 50% off if you have their loyalty card (which I do).

I used to think Sirens was more for teenagers and often overlooked their stuff. Then I found their sales were pretty good, and went there more often. Today's sale was one of those cases.

The halter bra top on the left is quite sparkly, with zebra-like print and lace along the waist line in the front, I paid CAD8.75 for it.

The corset on the right also has a built-in bra which I'm a fan of, CAD9.75.

A pair of glossy animal-print leggings, CAD5.25, and a sequin eternity scarf, CAD6.25.

I would prefer a longer form of eternity scarf, but this scarf is quite wide, which probably made up for the length :)

I was probably in a holiday mood, as I realized I got quite a few sparkly things, just from this one store. Was quite close to get another pea coat jacket, but I still have 2 I got from Old Navy.

They had some LA Colors nail polish and eyeshadow palettes, but even with the sale, it wasn't worth it, as they are found at Dollar Tree in the States (i.e. they are $1).

The Fairweather store is closing down, I was hoping for more discount but they only did 20% on top of the discounted price. I noticed the "motorcycle-styled" jacket on the way out and couldn't pass it up.

The jacket also came in black but I don't have anything in this colour, so I was drawn to it. 2 zippers in the front, under the fold, and 2 on the side, and the stripe pattern on the shoulder. There were only 2 of them left in the store, and 1 was my size. It came home with me, CAD23.99 later.

It's probably a good idea for those of you who live around here to keep an eye on this store, in case they bring the price down even more. We haven't had a closing-down sale for quite a while now, have we?

On to the more exciting stuff - nail polish :)

The Ardene store at the mall always has their nail polish 2 for CAD6 (reg. CAD3.50 each) but I always forget to check it out. For those who don't know, Ardene is similar to Claire's, but I think it's only in Canada.

Today, with the sale, thought it was a good time to haul. I saw 2 different bottle shapes of the nail polish but can't tell whether they are changing the packaging or have 2 lines together.

From L-R: Navy Girl, Rockin Purple, Emerald Green and Heavy Metal. Not many shades to choose from, but I think I did an ok job picking these out from the bunch.

And here are the new La Senza Ooh La Nails finally. Again, La Senza is the Canadian version of Victoria's Secret.

There are 15 shades available (mostly cream), retail 3 for CAD15 (reg. CAD6.50 each). I picked, from L-R: Moscow Nights, Big Ben Baby! and Make Mine Milan!. The bottles are quite small (6.7g/ .23oz). Can't wait to test them out.

I also get myself some awesome push-up bras (2 for CAD36.50, which came with a free cotton panty) but didn't think I need to take pics of them lol.
Last stop, Lawtons. Surprisingly, I didn't go crazy there.

They just had Vasanti in stores, so I got the Eye Wonder Triple Action Eye Treatment cream, reg. CAD42.

Heard good things about it but Vasanti doesn't go on sale at Shoppers ever, so I thought I would grab it here with 20% off.

Wanted to get a EcoTools foundation brush but it was sold out, so I just grabbed this lonely Revlon Matte Suede Emerald City on clearance to accompany my Eye Wonder :)

Ok, that's my haul. Now I brace myself for the IMATS haul posts that will start popping up on my google reader very soon. Have a great weekend everyone!

You have heard me mentioning Vasanti Cosmetics in the past on this blog for a few reasons. First, they are a Canadian brand (woo hoo), and second they are hard to find where I live which leads to lots of lemmings. Recently, I have been very lucky to be sent the Spring Collection for review, and I can't wait to tell you about it.

Here are the goodies, in and out of the packaging. Gorgeous, I'm telling you.













And the swatches.

The Hamptons Eye Colour Palette was the first thing I swatched, obviously, as I'm always drawn to eye colours first. The colours are awesome for spring.

By the look, I liked the navy on the very far right, but after swatching, I loved them all, lol. The 2 lightest colours (beige and light grey) are perfect for highlighting. The pink and warm brown are the most pigmented and are my most favorites. Especially the brown caught me by surprise as how pretty it is on my hand. The navy has some teal shimmer in the pan but it doesn't show on the swatch. I can't wait to start creating looks with this palette. Vasanti, you did a great job on this palette, I give you full credit for that :-)

The Ultra Luxe lipsticks are really fun too and they are not drying on my lips.

On the left is Sweden, a nude pink with intensity level 2 which I agree. It is quite sheer, which would be perfect to pair with a smoky eye look. I don't normally wear nude lipsticks, as they don't look good on me. Now I'm on a mission to find a way to make Sweden work. It's just so pretty.

In the middle is Denmark, an intense berry red with the highest intensity of level 5. Holy molly, look at it. I'm shy of red too, so I wouldn't pick this shade myself, to be honest, but now I see how nice it is on the swatch, I'll bring myself to wear it - maybe with a LBD :-)

On the right is Swiss Alps blush, a beautiful shimmery plumy pink. The sparkles are so awesome in the pan but don't transfer to your cheeks, so no worries there. The colour is pretty and it's buildable to the intensity you want. I wouldn't wait until spring to wear this blush :-)

All in all, I am happy with the goodies I got to try and like the challenge of a few colours that brought me out of my comfort zone. That's the beauty and fun of makeup, isn't it?

If you are in Canada, you would probably heard quite a bit about the Vancouver Winter Oplympics. It is a bit over 20 days away, and lots of people are getting ready - either competing in it or watching it :-)

While browsing the net, I saw Vasanti Go Canada! Eye & Lip Palette, totally Olympics-inspired. Wanna see for youself?

You'll have a chance to "achieve" all 3 best medals - Gold, Silver and Bronze (as eyeshadows) and the spirit of Canada flag (as a shimmery white highlighter and a sheer red lip tint). Don't you think this is an awesome idea? Go Canada!

Vasanti is a brand that I starting seeing more often in blogs and on twitter. I once fell for their USA lipstick, a gorgeous red. I'm excited to see a Canadian makeup brand doing well in the market but hope that they would be more accessible around here. Would you get this palette if it's sold where you live? It retails for CAD40 at certain Shoppers.

And while you're there, check out their Shimmer Powders in Arctic Shimmer and Snowflake, CAD14 each.

Within this month, Vasanti will donate 100% proceeds of these 2 shades to Wear White 4 Winfall - the new clothing and basic needs bank for the needies in Toronto. Good cause!

This is not a sponsored post, as Vasanti doesn't even know who I am, lol. I'm just excited about their palette and think it's sweet that they are contributing in some charity work.

Go Canada!

Photo credit: vasanticosmetics.ca

Hi everyone! Another mild day this side of the country, not much sun though.

First off, I have added 2 brands to the Less known Canadian makeup brands, so check back if you like. There's a giveaway for one of the brand that you can enter for fun too :-)

Ok, on to the main purpose of this post. Remember Vasanti Cosmetics from my Canadian makeup brands post? I just got their latest newsletter and there are some fun stuff for those of you who live in Toronto.

Vasanti has recently come to a few new locations in Canada. They listed 2 specific locations in downtown Toronto: Rexall at First Canadian Place and Shoppers at Queen West & Portland. So if you live near any of these 2 stores, have a peek at their products. I hope they broaden the product ranges in stores, as what I saw at the only Shoppers store that carries this brand around here was quite minimal.

Also, they are the featured brand at the Grand opening event of Shoppers at Queen & Bathurst with free makeovers and GWPs, starting tomorrow (September 24) until September 27, 11am to 5pm.

They have came out with the fall lipstick shade called USA - a matte red (in the picture). I'd be curious to get a swatch of this one.

Don't know when my store will have USA, so I would love to hear what you think about Vasanti (and the lipstick) if you have a chance to try it out.

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