Essence Dark Romance Collection - Blush, Highlighter and Lipstick

I usually don't review a collection. Most of the collections I've seen so far, had may be 1 or 2 interesting pieces which I'd buy - which to me, doesn't justify it as a "review" of the collection.

However, when I saw this new collection from Essence - Ahh!!!

How can I resist a collection called Dark Romance, espl when Fall is on the way????

The collection had some nail colors and some nail strips and some other stuff, which I cant recall right now. 

However, this is Canada - so don't expect to see the entire collection! 

You can see the entire collection here - LINK

 

Here are the swatches. This is not a review as I've not used it much.  More like, 1st impressions really.

 The one lipstick that was displayed is the shade "Red Romance". Though the packaging is similar to their long lasting lipstick range, they make no claim with this one.

 

This is the highlighter - a very unusual one actually. 

It has a duo-color effect .. like cream and some tints of red & pink.. it looks awesome especially in daylight.

I hope it works as well as it swatches.

 

The blush is "Painted Love. Its has a very custard-like texture.

As this is a bright shade and gives a very "winter-cold-red-cheek" look, application must be very careful to avoid a clownish effect.

Again, since I didnt try, I cannot really say how it works. 

It looks like a nice fun product to try, especially for fair complexions in Winter.

Out of the 3, the one that disappointed me was curiously enough, the one that I was most excited about - Life, huh??

The lipstick applies beautifully, has a creamy-satin semi-sheer finish and is a gorgeous color.

No complaints there. 

But, this is not the vampy or gothic red color I expected with a range called "Dark Romance" and a lipstick called "Red Romance".

This leans more towards a  cherry-pinkish shade. 

I would say its a comfortable red - nothing you'd pick for a night-out; more like a comfortable day time wear.

Again, I've not tested the wear time, so cant really comment on that.

Considering the cost of each product , I always find Essence Limited Editions so much fun. Such variety, for pretty good quality and price!

I'd say - if you find it, grab it. 

Even if you didnt like the colors or the product, it would look nice for Fall and Winter :) :)

What not to buy - NYX Retractable Eye Liner in Deep Purple

I'm shocked - at my self, cos I'm dissing a favorite brand of mine; NYX needs no introduction, its famous for its affordable awesome range of great quality products. I love so many of them - but then, occasionally you get Lemon-ed!

I got this NYX eye liner mainly cos of the color. I was after a good purple eyeliner and when I saw this on sale at my local Rexall, I didn't hesitate much. 

NYX is one of the few drugstore brands here, that has got the concept of "fun and attractive" packaging - like this pencil that is cased in a plastic sturdy purple packaging. 

 

As its retractable, you don't have the hassle of sharpening this pencil. The cost of this eyeliner here in Canada is around $5 CAD.

 

When I got this pencil, I was under the impression that this would be a close match for Revlon's Colorburst Matte balm in Shameless. But its not. Shameless is more fuschia-ish purple while NYX Deep Purple leans more towards deeper blue. 

BUT........................

Here is where my problem starts - you can see that it does not apply very well on lids. Its a drier formula, even on my slightly oily lids, it didnt go smoothly. 

The application, as you can see, gave a very patchy result. It doesnt look very good on its own. 

My next option was to see how this worked if I tried to smoke it out as an eyeshadow. 

 

Surprisingly that looks like the best use for this pencil - to create an easy purple smoky effect.

Caution - don't use this on its own, use it with a black or cream-color eyeshadow to create a good effect.

Lastly, I tried this as a lip color - as you can see, it sucked big time!

 

Overall: It fails in the main use of it - as an eyeliner. Only use I can think of is as a base for a black liner or eyeshadow. 

Even so, there are so many other better products out there, so why try so hard!!!

NYX's Slide On eye pencil range has some rave reviews, so thats my next target. 

But this one - goes to the far away Land of Makeup Up Bought But Never Used Cos It Sucked & I Couldn't Return The Bugger !!!

E.L.F Primer Eyeshadow in Sexy Silver and How NOT to use it

E.L.F is a great brand - not cos they churn out products thats's an exact dupe of either a MAC or UD, but cos of the sheer variety of products and the quality of it compared to the price. 

Whenever I review an ELF product, I try to keep that in mind - and I hope I am being fair.

I honor brands like ELF that keep things affordable yet fun and of good quality. 

E.L.F primer eyeshadow is part of their Essentials line and retails for $ 2 and has 3 shades.

Check this out here - Link

Now if you went to their website, you can see that they advertise this product as an eyeshadow with a built-in primer.  

Just 1 coat - and you're good to go.. nice idea but, it doesnt really work that way....

The doe foot applicator makes it easy to apply the color on the lids.

Now , treat this like you'd treat a highly pigmented lip gloss.

So, clean out the wand of excess product before you apply on the lid. 

This will help you to apply the product without much hassle and clumping.

As you can see, Sexy Silver does live up to its name. Its a nice gun metal silvery gray color with a shimmery satin finish. 

On a white surface, you can see that it has a coffee brownish tint, but on lids its mostly silver. 

In the pic below, I have applied 1 coat and has slightly sheered it out as a base for another eyeshadow. You can see that it gives a metallic foil like effect.

Here, I've tried to increase the intensity to make it a single coat of eyeshadow - apologies for the shaky pic.

I wanted to show you how this works as an eyeshadow. 

So I wore it around the house for around 1 hour. 

The pic below is taken after 1 hour and a snarky comment from my husband to "remove the stuff pls"

 

As you can see, its all flaked off and kinda ugly.....

I think this proves that this is not your eyeshadow of choice from ELF.

Now how it really works is, as an eyeshadow enhancer.

Don't try this if you're expecting to extend the wear time. 

Use this as a base if you want to make your eyeshadow more shimmery..or just if you want to make the color pop out.

I'd suggest using this as a base for powder eyeshadows, and for night time looks. 

Overall: For $2, this does decent. Its an easy to apply product and works well as a base to highlight the eyeshadow. Just don't make the poor thing work on its own! 

Also, if you've the luxury of choosing from ELF, I'd suggest you go with their paint pots or creamy eyeshadows...

A Lip Gloss and Liquid Lipstick haul

With Fall and Winter and Dry chapped lips in the offing, I've been loading up on lip glosses and some liquid lipsticks..

Well, not that I need an excuse to haul lippies, but thats what I tell myself for consolation!

I've been eyeing the Dose of Colors and Pretty Zombie cosmetics websites for such a long time.

Finally, I cracked when DoC added a matte liquid lipstick to its range. 

And I got tired of waiting for PZC to restock their pink shade. 

LE products of drugstore brands are not common in Canada :( :( so when I saw these LE liquid lipshines from NYC, I didnt hesitate before picking up. 

Note that this is not a review. Just a swatch fest for some of the products in the haul, i.e. the ones I already opened and tried :)

From Left to Right: Revlon Moisture Stain in Shanghai Nights, Miami Fever, H&M lip gloss, NYC Guava, NYC Passion Fruit, Essence Lip gloss in My Favorite Milkshake, Essence Stay Matte Lip cream in Smooth Berry, Rimmel Apocalips in Galaxy, Joe Fresh liquid lipstick in Rouge

Do you want me to review any products in particular? If so add it in the comments :)

My one and only Wantable box [and why I didnt repurchase! ]

Here is another subscription box review.

This time it is the more expensive, Wantable box - July Edition.

Before I go into the review, let me explain why I subscribed.

See, I hadn't used my husband's credit card for a long time for purchasing any beauty or make up stuff.

So when I saw this review of Wantable, I thought - well, a golden opportunity to spend $40 and try something new!

Now, Wantable knows that they are expensive. So they make it easy by giving you the option of switching ON and OFF. 

Thats nice...

They also have a more customized service than Ipsy, who sends medium toned customers, tanning oil!

So, now that you've the background, here it goes:

Wantable July box has one of the most boring cartons ever. I mean considering the variety of colors, why do they go and pick this boring color combo!

I liked the impersonal yet personal note :)

 

I get that white eyeliner is interesting, gives a Mod look , can be edgy and blah blah blah.

But its not something I am going to use on a daily basis.  :(

I wish  they'd given something of more practical value like a dark green or some other shade.

I'd never heard of this brand - PLA Beauty - it sounds weird when I say..like Pla Pla.. :) :)

This lip gloss has a pretty color -when you look at the tube.

 

The shade is called Sheer Beauty. So there is no surprise for you when you find that this is a pretty sheer pink gloss.

 

It is not-very-sticky, average lip gloss. Nothing great in its packaging or performance.

 

The next product is something I have no idea how I'll use. From their website, I understand this is meant to be used on face and decollete. 

The packaging looks very cheap - tacky gun metal grey case and the sticker on the back doesn't scream sophistication.

I wouldn't be snobbish about the packaging, if the product worked. 

But it doesnt. 

The champagne shade just falls flat on my skin. 

I cant find any effect at all. Also it does feel kinda greasy and heavy with silicones. 

I wish they'd the ingredients listed!

Now we come to the most exciting product for me in this bag - this very pretty pigment brush from Tarina Tarantino. 

I absolutely love this brush - the color, the soft bristles..Awesome!

Now here is why I wouldn't subscribe again...

After checking the websites of the products, I found out the cost of each product:

- PLA Lip Gloss - $22 , though I couldnt find the shade there,so I am assuming it is a discontinued one

- 3 Custom Colors Shimmer - $22.50

- Ofra Gel Eyeliner - $17

- Tarina Tarantino brush - I couldnt find an individual brush online, so I go by what Wantable says,which is $25

So total value is  - $86.50, which is definitely above the value of what I paid for this box. Right?

Wrong! 

Why, you ask?

Cos I wouldnt pay $22 for such an average lip gloss. Why would I? I can pick up a Too Faced Melted lipstick for the same price; it will give me much better pigmentation!

Cos I wouldnt pay $22.50 for a skin color greasy shimmer product loaded up on silicones.The stuff just disappeared on skin. In all fairness, it may look better on a fairer skin group. But I cant believe that all the silicon-y feel is good for anyone!

Cos I wouldnt pay $17 for a white gel liner - if I pay $17, I would buy a more practical color.

Overall: For me, it looks like I paid $40 for a set of products from which, the only one I can think of having some value is that brush.

So effectively I paid $40 for a $25 brush. Which means, this is not a profitable purchase, but a bad loss....

I totally appreciate what Wantable is trying to do - provide luxury products for less price.. but the thing is unless they absolutely perfect their customer profiling process or provide me with an option of picking my products for the box, I dont want to pay $40 for this kinda unpleasant surprises.

I will consider buying again - if Wantable comes up with an option of giving customers a chance to pick at least 60-75% of the products. 

Till then, its bye bye from me.

Ipsy Glambags for July and August 2014 -Clearing a Backlog [Combined Review]

Okay, I am late. But that doesn't I can post my 2 penny thoughts on these Ipsy bags right?

So here we go!

Ipsy July bag - "Sensationally Sunkissed"

Is it horribly shallow of me to admit that I love this bright fuschia-ish pink bag? Cos I do :)

 

The items I received in July Ipsy bag are: 

bareMinerals READY® Eyeshadow 2.0  in the shade The Inspiration

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass    in shade Cherry

Hang Ten Dark Tanning Oil SPF 08  

Marrakesh Hair Care Marrakesh Endz  

wHet Nail Polish in Facetious

 

I liked the nail polish, but I'm a bit iffy on the color - not cos I don't like it, but cos it doesn't really suit my complexion. This color is more suited for  fairer skin tones

The product I liked the best in the set was the eyeshadow - not both the colors, but the one on the right called "Passion". Its a beautiful shimmery plum shade, the shimmer not on the obvious side but giving a great dimension to the already pretty color. 

I wish they sold this in singles, cos I really didnt care much for the pale pink satin shade on the left!

As for the other products, the cherry tint is okay and works like most other tints. I like it.

Marrakesh split hair ends thingy leaves me cold - I prefer using my hair oils and rely on a good diet for any split end treatments and it seems to be working fine.

But the award for the most useless product goes to the tanning oil. Really!

Ipsy, this is too much! Don't you consider that your customer group can contain people other than the Fairest of Fairs who can use this product?

We are not all Snow Whites looking for a holiday in Hawaii, just so you know!

 

Ipsy Glam Bag for August - "Beauty Schooled"

I dont get the bag name - does it mean beauty has to be schooled for, well school? or does it mean, beauty for school?

Anyways, this is one of the most boring Ipsy bag, with the sickly orange polka dots on a cheap white plastic. 

I cant imagine anyone being happy to take this bag to their 1st school day! 

 

The big focus for this month was the Urban Decay Perversion mascara sample. 

I am yet to try this, but I am excited. 

 

The other products in the kit are:

Dr. Brandt Pore No More Pore Refiner 

Nicka K Absolute Lip Balm in Grape

Coastal Scents Forever Blush sample

Lord and Berry Silk Kajal Kohl Eye Pencil in Black

 

I have yet to ty the Dr Brandt one. Will let you know my thoughts on this soon.

 

Nicka K's Absolute Lip balm is purely for people who likes to be hit by the strong artificial scent of grape soda as soon as they open the jar. I am not one of these people, so this is a turn off for me from the start. 

Also a lip balm in a jar is pretty unhygienic and makes it hard for me to use. 

On top of that, it has glitters - you can see that right? Why? Why? Why? I've no idea what made these guys put glitter in a clear lip balm!

I'll forgive all this if this works well as a lip balm. I'll test it in the coming winter season and will let you know.

However, I don't have much hopes!

Emily Noel had raved about these Coastal Scents blushes. Unfortunately the small pan makes it hard for me to dip a blush brush and use it effectively. Still, these colors are nice and pigmented.

The last and the most usable one for me , is the Kajal Kohl pencil.

Yeah, you read that right. Kajal Kohl Pencil.

Well, if you're from the East, you know that Kajal and Kohl are essential synonyms. 

But Lord & Berry decided not to take a risk and add both the words into the name. Whatever.

Its an average kajal pencil, I've to test it out for more details.

Its not very creamy and not very black. 

So lets see.

 

Overall: The thing with Ipsy bag is - its value for $10. So its well and good , and occasional great samples like BareMinerals eyeshadow and UD mascara makes it interesting. 

If you're interested in Ipsy, give it a try here - referral link