Review and Swatches: Rexall Eyeshadow Palette

I got this eyeshadow palette from Rexall early 2013; there was some sale going on for the New Year and Xmas palettes and I saw this one from Rexall's own brand on sale for around $5.00.

Since I was looking for a dark blue shade, I thought this might be an interesting color and if the shadow is good for $5.00, well that good for me :) Alas but it was not to be! This is a very mediocre palette with most of the colors either dry chalky or non pigmented.

The fallout is also pretty extreme. I wouldn't recommend this palette to anyone. If you are looking for something around $5.00, try Essence, NYX or Wet n Wild. This is a lesson for me to not buy random cheap items in the hope that they may be hidden diamonds, especially if its about eye products.

This may look pigmented but its just the swatches !

Nothing much to add except - if you see any eyeshadow palette from Rexall, don't expect much!

Review: Lush Angels on Bare Skin Cleanser

Lush Angels on Bare Skin cleanser[ face scrub] is described as a 'nutty scrub' in their website and sells for $29 approx for 250 gms. The website also tells you how to use them. I got a sample of this when I was in Lush store at Eaton Center trying to find a product for treating pigmentation on my face. The SA praised this product but when I mentioned I am not looking for very gentle products she showed me the Ocean Salt scrub which I am yet to start using.

However she recommended this so much that I got a sample of this. After using this for around 4-5 times I still don't feel I really need this product. This is a bit too gentle for my face to provide any good cleansing or scrubbing action but it did make my face soft and smooth.
I did not see any other improvements but I liked how it felt. This may be an awesome product for people with sensitive skin or people who dislike grainier exfoliants but I like grainier ones so I wont be repurchasing this one.

Overall I love Lush, I like this scrub, I like its scent and its feel but it aint a love baby!

A New Beginning.. :) The Lazy Beauty Guide.. *Personally tried and tested

Its been such a long long time since I did a blog post.. new country, new life and lotsa work.. still no excuse for blogging... All I can say is that I found typing in my android heavy work and Garfield became my new guru [means I am now perfecting zzzzzzzzzzz as an art form :)]

So I thought I will start by doing a series of ideas for the lazy beauty guide... I hope there are lotsa people like me who like to look good, so long as it can be done within 5mins and with stuff I can buy easily or borrow from kitchen..and hey, I hope this doesnt turn out to be another boring DIY stuff..

Starting off with my latest beauty tip [personally tried and tested] and no, not copied at all from any website.. This started when I began to buy many oranges and got on a Vit C juice addiction.. I love Orange juice and after I filtered the juice, there was all this pulp and rind lying around... so started my new beauty regime and it works..really does..

What I do:

1. Make Orange juice and filter out the juice. Empty the blender and take off the juice to somewhere else.

2. Add the remaining pulp, orange rind, water[if needed] and some salt [optional] to the blender and puree till it gets as pasty as possible.

3. Next time you go for a face wash, use this paste after your normal face wash [I dont put soap on my face, so this is my only face wash].

4. The trick is to massage for 2-3 mins all over your face and keep for another min. Now wash off and see a brightness? no? well, keep trying and you can see a nice change and hey, it takes what 5mins total of your time? so give this tip a try next time you're making orange juice.. :)

NOTE: All Images are courtesy of Pixabay.com

Review and Swatches: Incolor Glimmer Blusher in shade Bronze 02

Incolor is a brand I didn't find in stores but only online in websites like Fashionandyou and Snapdeal. I don't even know if you can buy their products any more cos I couldn't find any active listing of this product.

This blush cost around 200 bucks [I think!] from Fashionandyou. This is a very very shimmery reddish brown blusher [?] whose purpose is unknown to me. This looks like a baked blusher, at least I have this idea that dome shaped products are usually baked but it doesn't say so.

Look at the fallout around the rim!

I have not yet found how to use it properly. I mean, it looks like a blusher but it has a very reddish tint that doesn't go well with my skin tone and I can't think of a skin tone where this color of red will look great. Also this is too shimmery to be applied for a day time use.

It looks bronzy on swatch but looks more reddish on cheeks

My problem is this has shimmer but I cant double this blusher as a highlighter as the shimmer applies very patchily. It swatches beautifully and looks great but doesn't blend well. I think that is the key problem- that it doesn't blend at all. Staying power is also negligible.

It looks good on my hand but trust me, it doesnt apply well on cheeks!

Overall I can't say anyone will miss this blush if it got discontinued. I like the packaging and I like the color. But I wish the product quality was better.

Review & Swatches: Joe Fresh Lip Tint in shade Berry

Joe Fresh is a brand that you can find in stores owned by Loblaws Inc like Real Canadian Super Stores which is where I found this beauty. They have clothing, accessories and a beauty section.

I usually ignore the beauty section of Joe Fresh because I don't find usually see people around there. But one day I was waiting for my husband to come and decided to check out the beauty section and I am so happy I did. This is a gem of a product! I don't see many reviews for this product or brand online, so may be this could be my 'Hidden beauty find' :)

I couldn't find this listed in the Joe Fresh Canada website but US website has a link . This is a beautiful lip tint that is very light weight, applies nicely and sets pretty fast. The color is a rich berry tint in the bottle [may scare you] but you can apply in in varying intensity on your lips.

My lips are pigmented so the color comes off very reddish on my lips. On non-pigmented lips, this may show up pink tones based on how you apply it. The intensity can be built up, I love wearing this in full color -  a dark red that is so perfect with the season.

This works great as a cheek tint too- gives the perfect 'out-in-cold' look to cheeks when applied lightly. Also unlike some other lip tints, it gives enough time to apply before setting.

Shade after blending in as a blush- check out that beautiful color!!

The color lasts for a goodish time even with food - I recorded full color for 4 hours with Indian food in between, another 2 hours on medium intensity and another 1-2 hours with reddish tint left on lips. On cheeks this lasted for around 3-4 hours if layered which is decent enough. There is a slightly sharp scent to this product but I don't notice it much except when I bring it very near to my nose. It has a sweet taste, nothing great but nothing bad either.

Here comes the best part - its just $6.00!! :) It comes in around 3-4 shades, I went back and got another shade. I will review that also soon.
Overall I love this product and I highly recommend this for anyone who loves lip tints.

Review and Swatches: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains in shades Adore & Rendezvous

From Revlon's website,
"It’s a pampering balm fused with a lightweight lipstain in an adorable chubby crayon. Just Bitten Kissable™ Balm Stain gives softer, smoother lips with a perfect flush of colour that lasts hour after hour. The gel formula comes in 12 vibrant shades that match any look or mood."

If you are a lippie-lover and you read claims like Soft Lips plus color, how long would you wait and torture yourself till you grab em? No wonder chubby lip crayons and 'balm stains' are popping like mushrooms everywhere, though not so much here in Canada :(. Almost all brands seems to have a type of lip crayons starting from Clinique's to the recent Wet n Wild [which didn't yet reach here in Canada :(]

I like lip crayons for their ease of use mainly. It's like having a lip liner that you can contour your lips plus color as well. No need to worry about applying color outside lip lines accidentally. And there is the fun of playing with crayons once again :)

I have tried 2 colors from Revlon's Just Bitten Balm Stain range and 1 which I have yet to try. I got this on sale but the normal price is around $9.00 I guess. This is a chubby pencil that doesn't need any sharpening.
One thing I really love about Revlon's packaging for this lip crayon is that the color of the casing matches the lippie color. I love that concept, makes it so much easier to select and so much fun to see it. A definite plus from the usually boring black packaging they have!

Both lippies have a mint fresh scent that I like very much. The color applies sheer but can be built to an extent. Lasting power depends on how intensely the color was applied but you can easily get a wear time of 2-3 hours with this which I think is good for a glossy product. The stain lasts much longer [avg 4-5 hours] so overall this is a nice product to take with you for travel.

Left - Adore, Right -  Rendezvous

Adore is a reddish sheer shimmer color with brown/copper hints. I don't care much for the shimmer in this, but it doesn't show much on lips, so no worries. The color intensity can be increased but if you are looking for the dark red color of the casing, that may not happen. This gives a lip-balm finish to lips without any heaviness or greasiness. This is a safe color for office makeup, night wear and for Fall season.

Adore is on Top, Rendezvous is the lower one, both layered 2-3 times

Rendezvous is looks very bright on packaging but it is most gorgeous summer orangey peach shade. I love it! This is the best bright orangey peach shade I have that is so easy to wear and rock. The best part is this is one color that I can wear without worrying about the color making my skin look dull. This color just perks up the whole face. Pictures don't do justice, you need to try this. This color suits almost all skin tones. A MUST BUY for your SUMMER!!!

Overall, I love this product range from Revlon, Thank you Revlon for Just Bitten Balm Stains!

Review: Schwarzkopf got2b Rockin' It Encore Fresh Dry Shampoo

This is not a great dry shampoo -let me say that outright. I got this from Rexall here in Canada and I thought- 'hey Schwarzkopf is a famous brand for hair products, no matter that I can say the name right, may be this is a great product'. The product costs around $5.00.

Well it aint great...it aint worst either... Its just something you use, throw out and then never buy again unless you really really have no other choice. My biggest complaint is that this leaves a very whitish powdery layer on my brownish black hair and while I am not 17, I am not 60 either, so I really dont want grey hairs!

Can you see the whitish powder flakes around the nozzle?

This is not a dry shampoo I will buy again. I like the fragrance - it is a fresh scent, I like that it doesn't feel too heavy, but the whitish cast is not something I want when I am getting ready in a hurry to office.

I don't know who would like a white coat on their hair [May be Daenarys Targareyen?] but I would prefer something clear or may be dark brown. I read some nice reviews about Batiste's dry shampoo for brunettes so may be I will get that next.

Review & Swatches: Faces Canada Mineral Loose Powder in Sand Beige

I am so sad that this product and me are saying Bye Bye [Expiry date passed :(] but we had a good run together. Check this product at Faces website and Medplusbeauty website.

I got Faces Canada Mineral Loose Powder in Sand Beige to try out Mineral face products and to understand what the buzz was around mineral products. I chose a good one in this face powder. This is a golden warm powder that is not very silky to touch but applies and blends in beautifully.

I like the design of the jar. It has a spongy head that lets you apply the product directly to the face [not very hygienic though]. I usually don't apply the product using this sponge but if I am on a run, sometimes I do that and it is very useful in applying & buffing in the powder.

I am reviewing this against what FACES claims in their website so I can actually check my experience against what they claim:

FACES Mineral Loose Powder is an innovative non-comedogenic formulation - agree, this didnt irritate my face at any stage even when I had some serious breakouts. This was the only product that I could actually use when I had some chemical burns on my face.

which offers protection from harmful UV radiation - Dont know about that. It has no listed SPF, so I didn't skip my sunscreen when i used this

 and imparts a silky, irresistible touch to facial skin. - I didn't notice any change in skin quality. The powder is not silky and it didn't feel very silky after application also.


It does not clog pores and is hypoallergenic. -  Agree on hypoallergenic. Dont know about clogging pores. I didnt have any breakouts while using this.


It comes with a unique, spill-proof, easy-to-use applicator.  - Agree, this was one of the best designs I have seen so far, much better than the ELF mineral powder [ check review here]

Suitable for light to medium coverage on all skin types- Agree, this is not something to displace your foundation, this is when you want a light coverage for a summer day's outing.

Overall- this is a great mineral face powder if you are looking for a light coverage daily use face powder. Keep a good kabuki with you for effective application.

Review: Lotus Herbals Lip Balm in Orange

Lotus Herbals lip balm in Orange is my husband's favorite lip balm. I don't use this much as I prefer the tube versions and tinted lip balms better but he loves this. So this is mainly his review of the product than mine.

This product retails for INR 125 and you can buy it from Lotus website directly or from Medplusbeauty.com The jar is sturdy and the lip balm has a very pleasant orange soda fragrance which we both love.

My husband uses this every day before leaving to work. I'd bought 2 jars of this while I was in India and he is still finishing up the 1st one. The reasons my husband listed out for liking this product are:

1. No color - this is a clear lip balm. Also in the jar it looks orange tinted, it applies clear

2. No taste- this smells like orange pop but has no taste.

3. Lips feel good - I tried getting his answers on 'Does this dry you out? Does this feel heavy? How long did it keep your lips smooth' but I just got the same answer  -'I donno.. may be ..yeah.. whatever...it feels good..that is all'.

Based on my experiments, this lip balm has nice moisturizing effect. There are lip balms I love very much but this does the job even in the harsh winter here in Canada, so I cant complain.
This is not a must buy for me but if you like lip balms smelling like orange pop and doesn't mind applying from the jar, then this may be for you.

Haul: A mini haul for New Year! Soap & Glory, Hard Candy, Soho NY & NYC

This is just a mini haul from Shoppers Drug Mart and from Walmart.

I always wanted to try Hard Candy's All Glossed Up lip balm sticks [or crayons], but somehow or other I missed this every time I went to Walmart. I got the shade Mauveous which looks a nice wearable pinkish shade. I think its around $5.00.

I was drooling after this Soap and Glory Mother Pucker mini lip gloss set [$25.00] ever since I saw them on the flyer for Xmas. Finally found them at a Shoppers near my office.

I wish cosmetic brands wouldn't put names that make it embarrassing for people to talk about it. I was asking this SA at Shoppers 'Do you have Soap & Glory Mother Pucker gloss set?" and she looked stunned for a min and asked me 'What do you mean by 'Mother *#$$'? I am sorry but please be nice'. Well, I had to dig up my phone, search for the product and show that to the SA before she finally understood that I wasn't bad mouthing cos of any frustration!

There was this buy 1 get 1 offer for $5.00 for NYC Appelicious Lip balms . I have never tried this so I picked the set containing a shade of Red. The shades I got are Caramel Apple and Big Apple Red. Lets see how that goes.

Finally is this brush set I got on a random online order from Walmart. There was no special need or reason, I just felt like buying it. I liked the feel of the fibre brush, expect reviews soon.

Review & Swatches: Colorbar Blush in Just Earth 05

This was one of my blog sale purchases from Corallista. I liked her review on this blush and since I was experimenting with blush shades then, I thought a natural shade may be something I can try without worrying about looking clownish.

Since this blush has been discontinued by Colorbar, I am not doing a detailed product review here, but instead I am focusing on the color of this blush. This is a matte orangey pinkish color with brown tints. I saw this shade of Orange called 'Apricot' listed in Wikipedia [for HTML web colors] which pretty well matches this color.

This is a color that works as a bronzer for some and as a blusher for some. If you are very fair, then this might work better as a bronzer for you, but if you like me are medium warm skin toned then this would be a really nice natural color for cheeks.

Nothing much to add on, except that the quality of this blush is not that great, so I dont really miss this blush. However it served it purpose i.e. building my confidence in using blushes, so I guess I am happy I found this one.

Review and Swatches: Colorbar Velvet Matte lipstick in Smokey Rose AND How to Use Lipstick Testers

I have reviewed 2 Colorbar Velvet Matte Lipsticks here – Thrilling Pink and Creme cup .

So I am not going to review the product per se, this is more of a shade review.

Pinks in my opinion is a dangerous color… It lures us into thinking that a shade might suit us, but it can look horribly weird based on your skin tone and makeup.

Red is usually touted as a color to be used with caution but I say Pink is what we should be wary of.

The right pink shade can flatter your face but the wrong one can make your skin dull, teeth look yellow and show up all bad things about your skin & makeup.

This is one pink shade with which I’ve had love-hate relationship. Some days it looks great on my skin, some days it makes me look as if I borrowed lippy from a 13yr old. 

Colorbar’s Smoky Rose is a beautiful blue-toned pink shade that looks brighter on lips than on swatches.

I think this is a discontinued shade, but if you find similar shades my advice is to make sure you test it out on your lips as this color may not be for everyone.

Shade is worn as a stain here after multiple 'apply & blots'

On that note, here is what I suggest you do to test lippies when you go shopping and find that you don’t really care for the much used testers:

1.       Always keep a tester set with you when you go scouting. Kit should contain – set of paper napkins or wet wipes, cotton, cotton swab or buds or q-tips & a tea stirrer or any thin wooden stick

2.       If the lipstick bullet is not very short, use the napkin or wipe to clear the top layer of the product. Make sure you explain to any SA around that you are going to try on lips, so she doesn’t think you are crazy.

3.       If the lipstick bullet is very short, use the tea stirrer to slowly discard top 1-2 layers.

4.       Use the cotton swab, bud or q-tip to get the color from the fresher layer and apply on lips.

5.       Some tips – SAs can be pushy, but stand your ground and let them know you prefer applying yourself. Also smell the lipstick before application. If there is any damage to product, it usually comes of in the smell.  If possible try viewing the color in different lights, if you are trying this out at night.