BOXYCHARM November 2017

This is my second month receiving the BOXYCHARM beauty subscription. I have done ipsy in the past but I got sick of getting the same small things every time and I ended up with a large stockpile of skin products I never used. I have seen some great reviews on BOXYCHARM and decided to try it for myself because they give full size products and often include higher end brands. I paid $59 USD for 3 months so I saved $4 compared to monthly! Then it is $5 USD per box for shipping. All in all it was just under $100 CAD for 3 boxes shipped.

This months theme was Sweater Weather. I wouldn’t say the items really scream comfy cozy but I do think this box offered great value!

Included in the box was:

Luxie Beauty Quad Eye Travel Set (Est Value: $32) – I have tried Luxie brushes before and liked them, so I am happy to have a travel eye brush set to keep in my travel makeup kit!

KNC Beauty Collagen Lip Masks (Est Value: $15.00) – I got three of these and I am so excited to try them. I have heard really good things about these masks but never planned on spending the money on them. I am happy they included them!

Winkylux Kitten Palette (Est Value: $25) – These are my kind of eye shadow colors. I will probably use this when I travel because it is compact and has a good mix of matte and shimmer shades and will be great for day eye looks!

Laqa & Co Cloud Lips (Est Value: $17) – This is a really sleek looking lip color. It is not a shade I would usually try but I think I will try it out on my vacation coming up next week!

Cover FX Illuminating Setting Spray (Est Value: $31) – I saw they were including this in the spoilers on Twitter and was slightly disappointed. Last month the high end product was a Becca highlighter and I am in love with it. I do like setting spray but this one is illuminating and has actual shimmer in it which is not my style. I will use it for the odd night out though and may end up giving it to my sister.

Overall I did like this box and I do think every BOXYCHARM has amazing value! I am excited for my December box and think I will likely keep my subscription going.

Whats your favourite subscription?! Were you happy with yours this month?

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Tarte Don’t Quit Your Day Dream Palette Review

My sister Joyelle is a makeup junkie as well and recently got the Don’t Quit Your Day Dream palette from tarte. I have been bugging her to do a guest post on the blog and she finally agreed to review this palette! All the opinions and pictures in this post are hers. 

My sisters review: It is a perfect palette for everyday wear, I use it literally everyday. The “Lovee” shade (top right hand corner) is the perfect crease color, I use it for crease or transition color in every eye look I do. I really like the shimmer shades but it is better to use your finger as they don’t seem very pigmented when using a brush. I like the highlight shade for an inner corner highlight but find it too light for my cheekbones. The bottom left shade “Runway” is my favourite color in the whole palette. I was originally looking at Urban Decay Heat palette but I am glad I got this one instead because it is way better for everyday. This palette is also nice a small so it is easy to travel with. Every time my best friend comes over she wants to use it! It is on sale on the Tarte website right now, and its limited edition so I highly recommend you get your hands on it ASAP.

Makeup used in the above eye makeup look:

She used Essence 2 in 1 eye shadow and liner in 02 peach perfect as a base. Then she used the don’t quit your day dream pallet on the eyes – she used visionary all over the lid, then Loveee as a transition color, Mixed Werk and Runway for the crease and also Runway on the outer corner of the eye. Runway is smoked out on the bottom lashline. She also added Specter from the UD Moondust pallet over visionary because she loves extra glitter.

I hope you guys enjoyed my sisters review and eye shadow look! This truly is a beautiful palette and its awesome that it is currently on sale for $25 CAD on the tarte website. That is a steal for a higher end palette.

 

Fall Beauty Favourites

Snow has arrived in Saskatchewan! I love Autumn but I hate how short of a season it is. Usually it lasts most of October until the first snow fall, and that snow fall showed up here this past week.

I was planning to do a favourites post, and although fall has come and gone I figured I would update you all on all my makeup favorites from this fall.

My most used product the last two months has definitely been my ELF blending brush. It is fairly dense and fanned out so it works great for bronzing! I literally use this brush everyday (as you can tell from how dirty it is!). My favourite blush this fall has been the Milani baked blush in the shade in Soleil, which is a medium shade with a bit of gold shimmer in it. The shimmer is not chunky at all and adds a nice shimmer to the skin!

My favourite highlight this month has been the Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder in the shade Incandescent. It gives a nice pink toned highlight that is perfect for the changing of seasons. In the summer I tend to lean towards gold highlight but in the fall and winter I like to add more frosty highlights to my routine.

The brow product I use literally everyday is the Essence Make Me Brow in shade 02 browny brown. It is a tinted brow mascara that works on its own or overtop filled in brows. Even on days I barely wear any makeup I still use this product to keep my brows in place.

I have also really been loving the Milani eyeshadow primer. I do find it helps my eyeshadow last all day, whether its high end or drug store! When I want a more dramatic eye look I have been reaching for the NYX matte liquid eyeliner in black. It has a nice brush applicator that makes winged eyeliner a breeze.

Lastly my go-to lip product this month has been the Kat Von D everlasting liquid lip in the shade Ludwig. I got this in my Sephora favourites nude lips and I have used it a lot since then.

Let me know if you have tried any of these and if you have been using them a lot as well and if there are any other new products I should be trying out!

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Small Project Pan – Winter 2017

Lately I have realized how hard it is to use up an entire full size makeup product. I find it especially hard to use up things like bronzer and blush. I rarely use up makeup products before they expire and I often buy something new before I finish what I already have. I love makeup so I do not see myself not purchasing more makeup this year, however I do want to use these few things up before I buy or use anything new in these categories.

My first goal is to use up the rest of my Revlon Colorstay Whipped foundation. This color is perfect for fall/winter because it is lighter and matches my skin when it is not very tan. I have already used an entire jar of this in the spring so I do think it will be quite easy to use the rest of this up before the new year. I think this formula is discontinued which I find disappointing because I really like it, but I do have other favourite foundations from the drugstore that I enjoy as well.

My next product I want to completely use up is my Maybelline Age Rewind concealer in the shade neutralizer. I really love this concealer but I have been reaching for my Shape Tape or Catrice camouflage concealer more lately. This is so close to being finished that I want to use it up before the end of the year!

The last thing I want to use up before the end of the year is my Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette. I don’t think its realistic to think I will use up all the shades by then but I do think I am able to hit pan on a few more and possibly use up the couple I have hit pan on already! I really loved this palette but it is getting old and I should probably use it up before I keep buying newer high end palettes. I have my eye on a few for the Sephora sale or for Christmas so I want to use this one more before then.

Have any of you tried to hit pan or use up more of your makeup this year? Has it been successful? Let me know in the comments!

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NYX Cosmetics Canada Haul and First Impressions

I know I have not been posting as often this month. Mom life is definitely more busy than I imagined and I have been focusing on things around the house as well as some volunteering lately. I hope to get back to blogging a bit more though!

I have been on the hunt for a great makeup Advent Calendar that is accessible to Canadian’s! I got an email telling me about this NYX set being available on the Canadian website so I HAD to have it. I had originally decided to go on a spending freeze in October but seeing this quickly ended that. Most advent calendars that appeal to beauty lovers are mostly skincare related and often come with a high price tag, so I appreciated that this one was makeup and was quite affordable!

My online haul from NYX Cosmetics included:

Lippie Countdown Advent Calendar $65 CAD

• This set is so beautiful. The packaging is really nice for its fairly affordable price point. You get 24 small lip products that vary in collection and color. I am excited to try these out, I likely won’t be able to wait until December. I may try these out in November in order to give a good review and a chance for beauty lovers to purchase this if they are interested!

Liquid Creme Suede Lipstick – Holiday Set $19 CAD

• I really like this formula and like that they offer holiday sets. You pretty much get one lipstick free so its definitely worth it! I also really like all 3 of these colors. Some of these may end up being gifts for some of my girl friends though.

Precision Brow Pencil $12 CAD

• I saw this in the NYX store in Edmonton but they were all sold out of my color. I have been using it for a few days and I really like it. The applicator is a bit thicker than the micro brow pencil and I like that because I already have full brows. I can do my brows quickly but precisely and I am really loving this so far. I also appreciate how it has a spoolie!

I hope you enjoyed this post! I really love NYX Cosmetics because they are affordable and good quality. They are a part of L’Oreal Group and I feel they compare in quality and price but often come out with more fun colors and ideas. Let me know in the comments if you are excited about any of these products, or if you have tried some of them out yourself!

 

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Almay Mega Volume Mascara Review – My first VoxBox

In September I received my very first VoxBox from Influenster.com. I was so excited when I got the email saying I made the short list and even more excited when I actually got the VoxBox in the mail.

I love mascara, whether high end or from the drug store. I tend to lean towards drug store mascara because I find they perform just as good as most high end ones and tend to cost 1/3 of the price! Recently my go-to has been Lash Paradise so I was excited to try this one from Almay.

The brush is shaped like a megaphone, starting off small and getting larger at the end. I thought the shape was strange because it would be too large for the inside of my eye, however the bristles are fairly strong and do a good job of not creating clumps even closer to the inside of the eye. It truly is a one coat mascara, any more than one coat and it gets clumpy and spidery. The formula is not too dry, but dry enough to create some volume. It can occasionally leave some transfer on my eyelid, but not enough to bother me. I really enjoy this for quick makeup days because it gives a good amount of volume with one coat and you don’t find yourself fussing with it too much. I have never seen a mascara perform so well after one coat!

If you are looking for a quick everyday mascara I highly recommend this one. I tend to like more dramatic looking lashes so I only reach for this one on very light makeup days, but I have already got a lot of use from it for those days I am in a rush!

Let me know if you have tried out this mascara and if so do you agree with my review!

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*Disclaimer: I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes*

 

Drugstore Skincare Haul

I have been seeing a lot of The Ordinary skincare on blogs lately and I was super impressed with their price point, transparency, and the fact that they are made here in Canada! DECIEM is a well known skin care brand so the fact that they make The Ordinary was enough for me to want to try it!

I have never seen The Ordinary brand here in drugstores or even department stores so I checked out Well.ca and found that they sell quite a bit of the line. I decided to try a regimen for Anti-Aging because this year is my 30th Birthday and I know I need to start being more proactive about my skin and signs of aging. The Buffet and 2% Retinoid are supposed to be great for anti-aging so I ordered them along with their primer.

My haul included:

The Ordinary High-Adherence Silicone Primer $4.90

The Ordinary Advanced Retinoid 2% $9.80

The Ordinary Buffet Serum $14.80

PiperWai Activated Charcoal Natural Deodorant $15.99

I have started using the PiperWai deodorant and I love it! I have been searching and searching for a great natural deodorant. I really liked Schmidts but I got a skin infection after using it so I wanted to try something else. It is unconventional as you have to take it out with your hands and spread it under your arms. I like that though as you don’t use very much and its actually more hygienic. If you are on the hunt for a good natural deodorant I highly recommend this one!

If you live in Canada and are hoping to grab some of these products you can use my coupon code beautyandmomlife for $10 off any $40 purchase at Well.ca.

I will start to use The Ordinary skincare in my regular regime and let you all know it works out for me in a future review!

Let me know in the comments if you have tried any of these products and if they have worked out well for you!

*None of the above links are affiliate links, however I do receive a referral bonus for the use of the coupon code!

Friday MOTD

Today I decided to try out a few new products and so far my first impressions of them are great! I will keep trying them out a bit more to let you what I think soon.

My makeup today:

Primer: NYX Pore Filler

Foundation: Maybelline Fit Me Matte and Poreless Shade 310

Concealer: Maybelline Age Rewind in Neutralizer

Powder: Maybelline Fit Me Light/Medium

Brows: Essence Make Me Brow

Contour: Subconscious from the Kat Von D Shade and Light Palette

Bronzer: tarte Park Ave Princess

Blush: Makeup Revolution Gradient Highlighter Rose Quartz Light

Highlight: Makeup Revolution Pro Illuminate

Eyes: Naked 2 Palette and High Strung single from ColourPop

Eyeliner: Physicians Formula Eye Booster in Black

Mascara: Almay One Coat Mega Volume Mascara

Lips: L’Oreal Infallible Pro Matte Liquid Lipstick in 360 Angora

 

 

 

 

 

Sephora Favorites Give Me Some Nude Lip – Review

Sephora often releases Sephora Favorites kits with a bunch of deluxe sample sized and one full size lip product. I often snatch them up because they sell out fast and tend to be a really good way to try out higher end lip products without spending a ton of money. I bought two of these kind of sets last year and have found myself using the more neutral one a lot. When I saw they were releasing a nude set I just had to have it!

The Give Me Some Nude Lip set comes in a cute little box that is in the shape of lips! You get six products, 5 sample size and one full size. This set retails at $33 CAD claiming to have a value of $84 CAD.

According to the Sephora Website, this set contains:
– 0.07 oz/ 2.1 g Bite Beauty Multistick in Brioche (rich terracotta)
– 0.07 oz/ 2 mL Buxom® Full-On Lip Cream in Dolly (sultry mauve)
– 0.22 oz/ 6.5 mL Full size Ciaté London Liquid Velvet Moisturizing Matte Liquid Lipstick in Bitter Sweet (gray mink)
– 0.10 oz/ 3 mL Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Ludwig (nude fawn)
– 0.04 oz/ 1.4 g MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Rouge in C211 (rose wood)
– 0.035 oz/ 1 g tarte™ Rainforest of the Sea™ Color Splash Lipstick in Rum Punch (nude)

Bite Multistick in Brioche:

A full size Bite Multistick is .17oz/4.75 g and retails for $28 CAD. I like this color and this formula a lot, however I do not like the shape of the Multistick when using it as a lipstick. Rounded lip products I find hard to apply and I honestly do not see myself using this for anything other than the lips. I like that they include a Bite Beauty product though and do recommend there lipsticks for the formula alone!

Buxom® Full-On Lip Cream in Dolly

A full size Buxom Lip Cream is .14oz/ 4.45 ml and retails for $24 CAD. I really love this lip cream. I find it is closer to a lip gloss and it does give a bit of the tingly sensation because it has lip plumping product in it. I find this lipgloss is very long lasting and I do own these in a few other colors and reach for them a lot. It provides a bit of color and a high shine gloss that lasts quite a while. They are a bit sticky but nothing too major. I highly recommend these and was happy to see them included in this set.

Ciaté London Liquid Velvet Moisturizing Matte Liquid Lipstick in Bitter Sweet

The full size Ciate London liquid velvet retails for $23 CAD. I am not the hugest fan of this product at all. I was disappointed that this was the full size product as I rarely reach for it. The color is not my favourite because I find it a bit too gray for my skin tone. However, the worst part of this is the formula, it slides everywhere and does not last at all on my lips. I have tried it twice, making sure I allow time for it to dry, and it just doesn’t seem to dry down at all.

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Ludwig

A full size Kat Von D Liquid Lipstick is .22oz/ 6.6 ml and retails for $24 CAD. This is my second Kat Von D liquid lipstick and I have to admit I was not a fan of them before this one. I really like this shade, and with a good lip liner and lip primer I find it can last quite awhile as well. When I wore this without a liner and primer it did not last at all and slid around a lot but another beauty blogger (Hollie) recommend using liner and it made a huge difference. This is a perfect pinky nude shade, it is definitely a your lips but better kind of color. I highly recommend it as I reach for it a lot!

MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Rouge in C211

A full size Makeup Forever lipstick is 0.12 oz/ 3.5 g and retails for $27 CAD. This is by far the darkest of all the lipsticks in this set. I find it very creamy and comfortable on the lips and I actually really like the color. I have tried these lipsticks before and do enjoy them. I am glad this one was included in the set.

tarte™ Rainforest of the Sea™ Color Splash Lipstick in Rum Punch

A full size Tarte lipstick is 0.12 oz/ 3.6 mL and retails for $27 CAD. This is a true nude lipstick. It is too nude for my skin tone and makes my lips look pale and sickly almost. I think someone with fairer skin may look great in this shade though. I like the formula and find it smooth and wearable, however this is one of the most expensive lipsticks in the set and I honestly do not find it worth the money.

Final Verdict:

All in all I think this is set is a great value and offers a chance to try some fantastic nude lip products. Although two of the lip products weren’t my cup of tea, I still think the set was worth the money! I find full size lipsticks hard to use up so I like that this gives me a chance to own quite a few higher end lip sticks and try different shades and brands. I highly recommend this lip set if you love a nude lip!

Let me know in the comments if you have tried any of these lip products or other Sephora Favorite sets!

 

LUXEBOX Unboxing

LUXEBOX is a beauty subscription box that is $26 CAD and offers free shipping in Canada. Most beauty subscriptions charge quite a bit of shipping to Canada which I find decreases its value for us Canadians. I used to subscribe to Ipsy but started to find it wasn’t worth the almost $15 price tag. I have heard good things about Topbox so I thought I would try their Luxebox and see how I like it.

With Luxebox you get a new box every three months. You receive a personalized beauty box with 7-8 products in it. They email you reminding you about the box and a few days before it arrives they send you an email with all the products listed and the websites you can purchase them from. Although the email spoils the surprise, I like that it saves paper! Often times subscription boxes have a lot of fancy printouts and I appreciate that Luxebox skips that and just provides great products.

The descriptions I am including are the descriptions from the email regarding the contents of the box.

This months box included four skincare items and four makeup items:

For skincare:

AvryBeauty
Shea Butter Everyday Luxurious Hand Cream
A Silky and Radiant Moisturizer Made with Shea Butter for Younger Looking Skin.  2oz Retails for $2.99

Barefoot Venus
Green Tea Body Wash
This mild plant-derived wash creates a rich, luxurious lather that cleans without stripping or drying. Packed with skin loving extracts of; White Pine Bark, Green Tea, Ginseng, Bearberry and Licorice, skin is left silky soft.  50ml  Retails $5.50

GLAMGLOW
SUPERMUD® CLEARING TREATMENT
Apply a Thin Layer to Clean Skin. Leave on for 5 – 20 minutes & remove with water. Use as a Full Face Mask or Spot Treatment as often as needed. Avoid eye area.  15g Retails $24

*I also received a Garnier Skinactive Moisture Bomb sample that has no retail price.

For Makeup:

LARITZY Cosmetics
Liquid Lip Stain – Pebble
A velvet matte stain that lasts all day.  3.1g  $20 USD

China Glaze
Nail Lacquer
These unique lacquers contain China Clay as a nail hardener, the same material that gives porcelain its shiny finish.  14mL Retails $10

Doucce
Punk Volumizer Mascara
Define lashes one by one, adding extreme volume and thickness to your lashes. Instantly creates dramatically full and seductive lashes for an audacious false-look effect. Retails $24

Manna Kadar
Glo Illuminator
An incandescent highlighter that can be used on the face and body to create a beautiful “Glo”! Formerly known as Sheer Glo, the newly re-formulated, Glo Illuminator is an incandescent liquid that lights up your skin giving it an all over radiance.  20mL Retails $29

Approximate total Value: $115.50

All in all I think this subscription was a success. I find skincare products very hit and miss in beauty boxes but these ones seem to be a hit. I will always use body wash and hand creme and I have been eyeing the GlamGlow mask for a long time and the value of it pays for the whole box! I have yet to try any of the makeup except the lip stain which was a bit of a miss. However, I think the nail polish is a great nude colour and the highligher looks lovely.

I do not regret this purchase at all and I already cannot wait for my next LUXEBOX!

Let me know in the comments if you have tried Luxebox and also what other beauty subscriptions you love!

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