My Matte Bronzer Collection and Swatches

Hey everyone,

Since it's getting a lot colder and downright unpleasant outside I thought I would share with you the products I use to cheat a sunkissed glow. Here are the matte bronzers I own and I feel can be used both as a bronzer and a contouring product! Enjoy!

 To begin I have a classic- Benefit's Hoola

 It's a great, pigmented matte bronzer which can be buildable, making is suitable for many skintones.

 Next up is NARS contour kit in Olympia (the lightest shade).

 This is designed to contour, but I find it to be a bit light to contour with (even on my pale skin!) so instead I love it as an all over bronzer which really warms up my skin and creates a very natural looking sun kissed glow, likely due to the pink undertones.

 As you can see, it's very pale in comparison to Hoola.

 Next up is Lorac's TANtalizer.

 The bronzer here is much darker than Hoola. I find this bronzer to be best for contouring because when applied with a small brush it can create a very natural looking shadow. This bronzer is too dark for me as an all-over application, but when applied strategically it works wonders!

 Next up is the very loved Honey Bronzer from The Body Shop.

 You can see very clearly that I adore this product. It's incredibly smooth and I love this as an all over bronzer because it has a bit of a yellow tone to it. It works best for me in the summer, but is pale enough for me that I can wear it year-round. 

And here are the swatches from L-R: Hoola, Olympia, TANtalizer and Honey Bronzer.

I hope you enjoyed this post!

Megan

Bite Beauty's "Mix N' Mingle" Lip Minis Review

Hey everyone,

Today I'm reviewing Bite Beauty's "Mix N' Mingle" Lip Mini's, which are available for a short time this holiday season. I believe they are exclusive to Sephora and retail for $15.00.

 The packaging for both of these products are super cute! They double up as ornaments for the tree and come with a little tag for you to sign!

 For mini's, they are a great size. The packaging is Bite Beauty's standard matte grey/black and the names are printed on the bottom of the bullet.

 I bought two shades, this is Maraschino, a bright red with some orange undertones.

 And i also bought Aubergine, a deep purple shade.

 Aubergine on left, Maraschino on right.

 Aubergine is a beautiful colour which works so nicely in Autumn and Winter. It also smells incredible! I was so, so impressed with this shade and I think I will get a ton of wear out of it. 

(Unfortunately this shade has sold out on sephora.com) 

 Here is a close up!

 And this is Maraschino, a bright holiday red! It applied really easily for a red, and because of the matte finish it is quite long lasting (and bonus: it leaves a stain on your lips!). I think this is such a perfect true red because you can wear it year-round. I was incredibly impressed with the pigmentation.

And here is another close-up!

Overall, it seems Bite Beauty just cannot let me down. Every product I have ever tried from them is a huge hit, and I will remain a loyal customer of their natural, food-grade ingredients for years to come! 

I hope you enjoyed this review,

Megan

Suncoat Natural Mascara Review

Hey everyone,

I've recently been trying the Suncoat Natural mascara. It's sugar based, made in Canada and comes in pretty simple packaging with a decent looking wand. Here's my review!

 As I mentioned before, the packaging is very simple but quite small and easy to travel with.

 When I saw that it was sugar-based I got pretty excited!

 I love that it's made in Canada, and based out of Guelph which is pretty close to where I am!

 The wand seemed to be very large in comparison to the tube, but I was excited to try it out.

 It's just a regular old-school mascara wand with bristles. 

 Here is application on the left and natural on the right.

 Here is application on both eyes.

 Close up of left eye.

 Close up of right eye.

 About 2 hours later I noticed some serious flaking.

 It had settled into the lines under my eyes.

 Later in the evening I noticed it had gotten even worse.

Not only had it not held up on my lashes for length, volume or curl, it also just didn't want to stay on my lashes at all. I found this mascara to be incredibly sticky (when you closed your eyes you could feel your lashes sticking- and it never really felt like it had set), I also found that it didn't do much for my lashes at all. I understand that some mascaras are not supposed to be full-on, false-effect lashes, but even for a more natural looking lash I think it wasn't really doing anything. I found the formula didn't want to collect on the wand and I had to apply several layers (which did nothing), and then it just made my lashes feel even stickier! The fallout also sucks, I was lucky I didn't leave the house or that I didn't have a full face of makeup on.

Overall, I would not recommend this mascara. I like the concept of a local, natural mascara but this just didn't do anything for me!

I hope you enjoyed this review,

Megan

The IMATS Tag

Hey everyone,

So this Saturday, November 22nd, I will be attending IMATS Toronto! I thought I'd do the IMATS tag for you since it's so soon, enjoy!

Which IMATS are you attending?

I will be attending the Toronto IMATS at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Have you ever been to IMATS before?

From our last little excursion to IMATS 2012!

- I went in 2012 also to IMATS Toronto. 

How are you getting there?

- I am likely taking public transit since I live quite close by! Probably a variety of busses and subways!

Are you bringing anyone along?

Here we are in 2012, looking super excited about all of the money we spent!

- Yes!! I'm going with my friend from University, Jessica, who I bonded with in residence over our love of makeup! I went with her in 2012 and we had a blast, so I'm very excited to spend the day with her on Saturday! She also posted the IMATS tag on her YouTube channel which you can see here!

Is there anything else in the IMATS host city that you want to see?

- There isn't anything I'm desperate to see on the same day as I live just outside of Toronto anyway. There are definitely some great things to see in the city, but I spent this past weekend downtown and I think I'll use this Saturday just to explore IMATS and make the most of my time there.

What days will you be in the city that IMATS is in?

- I will just be coming into Toronto for the day because I live so close. I'm only going to IMATS on Saturday so I'll be coming and going all in one day!

What companies exhibits are you most excited to see?

Some of the incredible art we saw in 2012.

- I love seeing the special effects makeup because they're always demonstrating cool things by the booths. Although I may not buy any of this makeup, I love looking at it all! I'm also super excited for OCC, MAC, NARS, MakeUpForEver and Real Techniques.

What products are you looking for?

- I'm not going in with a list because I know there will be things that have sold out or aren't available, and I know if I go in with a list of things I must buy I might feel limited or see something later on which I'd rather have instead. I know I'll be picking up another Beauty Blender and some more Real Techniques brushes, but other than that I have no plans!

What do you want to get out of IMATS?

- I just want to have a fun day with my friend, Jess, and spend it with everyone else who loves makeup just as much as I do! I think it's a great experience to meet new people and to get inspiration to create new looks or try new products, so that's always great too!

How much do you plan to spend?

A bit of 2012's haul

- Not a whole lot. It's so close to the holiday season so I want to save some money for gifts for my family and friends, but the deals at IMATS are usually fantastic, so I'll likely save a lot of money by purchasing cosmetics there rather than in-store. 

Who do you want to meet there?

- I'm dying to meet the Pixiwoo sisters. I've watched them for years and they are always creating such unique looks! I love that all of their videos are makeup related because it's what I love to watch the most, and we're also both from Norwich in the UK, so I definitely have a bit of a soft spot for them!

I hope you enjoyed this post! I'm not a well-known blogger by any means, but if you're attending and want to say hi please do! I'd love to meet all of you! 

Thanks for reading!

Megan

Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel Review

Hey everyone,

If you've been reading my blog for a while now, you'll know I've used Clinique's "Dramatically Different" moisturizer for quite some time. It's been constantly in my skincare regime since I first bought it in about 2011. I think to have a skincare item stay in my routine for that long says something about the quality and results that product has. Here is my rave review, and one thing I really dislike!

 I must have gone through at least 5 of these moisturizers in the past few years. It comes in a cube like container with a pump dispenser. I like the pump dispenser, but I hate the cube. It makes it incredibly hard to finish the product and I have to use the end of the pump to scrape the remaining product out of the bottle.

 The bottle is simple enough and clearly states that it's the gel, but be warned, the moisturizing lotion and gel are very different! The gel is very light and leaves no residue, but the lotion is much heavier and does leave a bit of a sticky residue on the face.

 It is 100% fragrance free and allergy tested, I think it works wonderfully on my dry, sensitive skin.

 It's a relatively light, yellow gel which absorbs into the skin very quickly, leaving it instantly smoother with no residue. 

 Here is a list of the ingredients...

 And the same ingredients for the mens "M gel-lotion"

 Here are the two side by side.

And the same yellow formula inside.

I'm not sure if the products are identical, but they certainly are similar. I'm going to look into it a bit more and perhaps purchase the men's in future as it has much better packaging! 

Thanks for reading!

Megan

Covergirl "Ready, Set, Gorgeous" Concealer Review

Hey everyone,

Today I'm writing about a relatively new release at the drugstore from Covergirl. It's from their new "Ready, Set, Gorgeous" line, and today I'll be reviewing the concealer. It comes in a pretty good shade selection, the shade I have is 105/110. I hope you enjoy the post!

 The packaging is quite easy to spot and seems to be targeted at a tween/teenage sort of age.

 The concealer is oil free, won't clog pores and is dermatologically tested.

 I got it in the shade 105/100 Fair.

 The packaging itself is pretty standard, just a doefoot applicator in a simple tube. I like that it has the name printed on it and the shade on the bottom.

 Although doefoot applicators can get a bit germy, I think it's alright if you don't use it directly on blemishes or if you don't share it around. 

 I was really impressed with the pigmentation of the colour when first applied.

 I would say it's more yellow-toned than pink, but it's certainly a very neutral base. 

And finally when it's all blended in it adds quite a bit of coverage and looks pretty natural.

I hope you enjoyed this review! 

Thanks for reading!

Megan