Memebox Thanksgiving Boxes - For Me & You [which kinda ended being For Me & Me]

This is not a review; just a post to show the awesome set of products that I got. 

A total value purchase from Memebox- I am so sad to see that they don't have many boxes coming in now.

Don't be like this, Memebox... bring us some more boxes..

Love the Pumpkin colored boxes and the design...

Nice message right?

All the products are full size.. Yummmmm

So happy to get a lipstick in this box....

 

Not surprisingly, I loved the "For Me" box better. The glitter box in the 2nd one and the brush roll, is pretty unexciting for me. However, the set of all full sized products in  the 2 boxes is like Christmas come early..

Love you Memebox, please be the same and keep coming up with nice boxes..

Too Faced Melted Kisses Lipstick Set [and why you need Too Faced Melted Lipstick in your life]

I think I gave away the plot with the title - I really love this lipstick and I am pretty sure, most of you will. I'd already tried a Melted Lipstick, so when I saw this set in Sephora, I didn't hesitate a bit before jumping in and buying it. 

I am not sure if this exact kit is available now, so consider this as my review and swatches on the 4 shades that came in the set. 

Price of this set was around $30 CAD and it has 4 shades - Melted Nude, Melted Peony, Melted Fuchsia and Melted Berry. 

Each of these lipsticks are 0.16 oz; full size version is $25 CAD for 0.4 oz i.e. $62.5 per oz. There fore, 4 tubes with 0.16 oz is worth $40. So there is a saving for $10 with these beauties. 

As you can see, each tube has a sponge-brushy applicator that is supposed to replace any need for brush. I can totally understand why you need a brush for this considering the pigmentation. But honestly, this nozzle is just bad news for me - cos there is so much of product wastage and its not that hygienic either. I wish they went with the OCC-Lip tar style packaging.

Look at the amount of product left to dry on the nozzle - and how dirty it makes it!

Shades from Top to bottom - Berry, Fuchsia, Peony, Nude

Shades from Top to bottom - Berry, Fuchsia, Peony, Nude

Melted Nude 

Its almost impossible to get a lipstick set where all the colors are useful and/or interesting for you, right? For me, in this set, the Nude shade is useless as a standalone lipstick. Just look at the washed out effect it has on my lips and you can understand. 

The only use I can think of is as a base for a lipstick or gloss. However, this shade is a testament to the pigmentation of the product - look at how this shade has covered my lips with its natural darker pigmentation! Awesome right? And its just 1-2 complete swipes with no layering. 

Melted Peony

Now we come to shades that I like and that I can wear. Peony is a nice blue-toned pink - an everyday shade for all seasons. Not my favorite but still something I can use and like. As with Nude, the pigmentation is just mind blowing!

Melted Fuchsia

Fuschia is one of those colors that makes you go  "Too bright..no way I can pull that off" and when on lips "Oh gosh, it looks so nice! My teeth is is whiter, my face is brighter". My favorite from the bunch!

Melted Berry 

This is a classic cherry red shade with blue under tones. You can layer this color to get a more Reddish effect. This is a great shade for Holidays and is one of those suits-every-skin-shade color. Love it and is my second favorite from the bunch. 

 

A problem that I experienced only with the Berry shade is that like most reds, this has a slight tendency to bleed. So my suggestion is to apply a lip liner to avoid feathering.

Staying power is pretty impressive for all of these lipsticks with the color remaining true for 2-3 hours even with mild food & drinks and fading evenly after that. There is a light staining effect for the darker shades, but I don't really mind that.

Feel of the lipstick is light and satiny on the lips - perfect for people who dont like the weight of a creamy lipstick. Pigmentation and application is awesome - it glides without any issues. With the lighter shades I noticed that it tends to look drier though it doesnt feel dry. This can be corrected by applying a peachy nude gloss or a lip balm underneath.

Too Faced is a Cruelty Free brand so for any purchase I made, I can always comfort myself with the thought that I am promoting a brand that doesn't blind rabbits in the name of beauty!

Lastly, I've tried both Lip Tars and the latest LA Girl Glazed lip paints and neither are dupes for this one. I've not yet come across a lip product that can be a true dupe for this lipstick in terms of pigmentation, finished look and feel on the lips. 

Overall: Love love love love love love......

Live Clean Apple Cider Vinegar Clarifying Shampoo

I didnt bother taking pictures of this product - cos honestly whats the difference in seeing in real and the pictures below! The product looks the same, the shampoo is a clear lotion which I will have a hard time getting a shot of and it can all end up messy.

I bought this shampoo from Best Buy website: http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/live-clean-live-clean-apple-cider-vinegar-clarifying-shampoo-32153-32153/10247907.aspx

You can get the price & other details there. I am not recommending this website for your purchase, just FYI.

Courtesy: Best buy website

Review:

Why I liked this shampoo -  It didn't dry my hair like the Tresemme clarifying shampoo I used to try earlier. This doesn't have much of a scent, so on days when I am scent-o-phobic I like this. The price is not too high and I think this is easily available at least here in Toronto.
And best of all - its SLS/sulfate free, Paraben Free and the brand is cruelty free.
Awesome right?

What I didnt like - Err.. its a personal preference.. I like shampoos that lather well and gives that clean light feeling to my scalp. I don't think that's healthy as I know lather doesnt mean clean and that light feeling on scalp can translate to a very dry scalp later.
But still... ho hum..
The other thing is this doesnt have a scent. Feeling that I'm weird for listing this both in the Pro & Con?
Let me try to explain - on days when I like my hair to smell nice, I like a shampoo with some nice scent, nothing strong.
So a shampoo like this which leaves no scent is like a bummer.

Overall: I cannot comment on the clarifying effect as so far I have not been able to judge if a shampoo does "Clarify" or not. All I say is my scalp felt clean after this. So if you like a nature friendly mild shampoo that doesnt dry out your scalp, this may be something you'd like.

Holiday Reds - Prestige Cosmetics Color Persist Lipstick in Returning Rouge

Holidays are here and that means Red every where in shades of bright & dark. This is the perfect time to bring out the inner diva in you, without looking conspicuous [if thats a worry for you]. 

And I always maintain that there is no other color that looks as intensely feminine on any skin tone as Red can be...

This lipstick from Prestige [price - $7CAD approx] is from their Color Persist line - not sure if its still on the market or not. 

Prestige is available in some Rexalls, though I've never seen it in a location here in Toronto.  I got mine from a sale at London Drugs.

 

The shade Returning Rouge  is neither my most favorite color shade nor the perfect lipstick formula, but its a nice enough one. This a blue based orangey red, that looks brighter on tube than on lips.

 

I forgot to take a picture of it but this lipstick has a central core layer of lip balm. I dont see this replacing a lip balm but it does mean that unless the weather is really chappy you can skin the lip balm if you dont have very dry lips.

As you can see from swatch below, the color comes off as a coral reddish shade. The finish is more like a shiny satin; it applies super smooth, in fact so smooth that you can end up with a thick layer of color if you apply multiple dabs. The color applies 3/4 opaque in the 1st swipe; to get the full intensity, you can build it up-  I suggest using a brush to avoid the product layering on, cos its really very very smooth!

This is a beautiful color and I think, this shade will suit a lot of skin tones - warm & dark skin tones much better than cooler skin tones, cos of the coral color. Coral is one shade that really works only on warm or darker skin tones; to get a Coral shade to look nice on a pale or cool toned skin, it has to have either hints of peach or really strong tones of blue in it.

You dont need a lip balm with this lipstick - unless you have really dry lips. However, I noticed a strong tendency to feather and for the color to drift to the corners of the mouth - using a lipliner is a must do with this lipstick. 

Overall: For the price, this is a nice lipstick. I don't have any strong recommendations as neither the formula nor the color is very unique. Its just a nice shade for the holidays.

New In Town: Almay Smart Shade Butter Kiss Lipsticks [ Nude -Light Medium, Berry - Medium] and a comparison with a Revlon Lip Butter..

Holidays are here... there is that excitement in the air, the feel of things-to-do and shopping lists hanging all around... and what best way for a makeup lover to relax and enjoy than to get some new lipstick releases in the kitty! 

1st we'd Revlon come in with their Ultra HD lipsticks, which I'm still not sure about buying.. I so hate the packaging! Then came Almay - an unusual entrant in the lipstick arena, with their dupe-for-lip-butters Butter Kiss lipsticks. What next? Give me more.. Come on, Annabelle/Essence, bring out some liquid lipsticks.. And where is the matte Apocalips from Rimmel?

I am greedy. I know.

I have no idea why Almay decided to be a Color-based Discriminator with their new lipsticks. I mean, when a brand that has just 1 lipbalm comes out with a lipstick, its not fair to market it as something for Light, Light-to-medium, Medium skin tones right? I mean, did they expect Olive toned people like me or the darker skinned beauties to just ignore this? Come on Almay. Be generous. Whats holiday season about, if not for generosity and goodwill? Show us darker skinned ladies some love!

Anyway I decided to brave it all, and get 2 shades - a nude from their Light Medium range and a berry from their Medium range. And thats another thing. They have made a matrix - 4 color groups [Berry, Pink, Nude, Red] and 3 skin shades [Light, Light Medium, Medium]. This is supposed to be Smart Shade, so if you're light skinned and you like Berry shade, pick up Column no 1, Row no 1 and you're done. Smart right? Well, not really since thats not how people work!

The price was almost the same as Revlon - around $10.5 CAD and there was a coupon for a $1 off in the Shoppers Drug mart I went to.

The design is pretty similar to Revlon lip butters. Scroll down to see a comparison...

Nude shade on the Left, Berry shade on the Right

I like the packaging. I really do. Easy to select, easy to maintain and pretty decent all in all.

I wish Almay had taken some efforts in naming these lipsticks, cos calling them Nude-Ligh-Medium is weird. Anyway, the Nude one is my favorite. It glides very well, applies the color evenly and the pigmentation is also pretty good. 

Couldnt like the berry shade - you can see the patchy application on the swatch. The same happens on lips. It is also not as pigmented as the Nude one. In the pics below, you can see that it does not cover my lip's pigmentation very well.

Nude color - you can see that it covers the pigmentation on lips pretty well. A nice pinkish nude shade-perfect for my skin tone!

In spite of many many swipes, the color still didnt have enough pigmentation to cover my lips very evenly.

This color is a fail for me - I didnt get the color in the tube :(

Overall:  Its early to judge the range as I liked one and I didnt like the other. I don't have strong feelings either way but I found the nude one pretty comfortable and hydrating enough. I am planning to return the Berry shade and pick up another shade, so may be I will have a better idea by then. 

Similar packaging - Revlon has colorful plastic outer casing, while Almay just swapped it for inner color casing.

Revlon Berry Smoothie on the left, Almay Berry shade on the right - the shades are similar, but you can see that Revlon is much more creamier and pigmented than the Almay one.

 

Revlon Berry Smoothie - check out the creaminess and pigmentation, this is not the best lip butter though as there is some patchiness cos of all the shimmer.

Revlon Lip Butters Vs Almay Butter Kiss - Sorry Almay, Revlon wins the round for the variety in shade selection, the creaminess and the lack of color based discrimination! 

I am planning to do a review of the 3 Lip butter/Butter lipsticks I have - Revlon Vs Almay Vs NYX... expect something soon :)

Hello Everybody Nature Holic Body Lotion Milk [Featured in Memebox Special #7 Milk Box]

I got this full size body lotion in the Memebox Special Milk Box. The price as listed on the box is $25 USD for full size of 300 ml, so I'd say this is rather pricey for a body lotion.

 

For $25 for 300 ml [$8.33 for 100ml] this is costlier than my go-to body lotion Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossoms which costs around $5.30 for 100 ml.  And its not easily available either. So there must be something special to motivate a customer to buy this beauty, right?

Lets try the packaging. Do you love BBW's packaging? I do. I like the color bottles. But if you are in a minimalistic mood and wants something unisex,  this Hello lotion might be for you, cos its plain, its clear plastic and there is nothing girly about it. So thats like a BIG NO in the packaging department, cos frankly this looks like a medicine bottle than a lotion bottle.

The scent is nice - like a  baby powder and milk powder mixed together. Only problem is the scent is so strong, that when I applied this and slept over night, the next day it was still sharp and tangy.

The last part is the moisturisation and hydration. I have to say, this is a winner there. My husband suffers from extremely dry skin and since I couldnt find his Eucerin, I applied this on him one night. It absorbed very fast, unlike Eucerin and there was no stickiness. And he didnt experience any dryness till next day evening. That, in my book, is awesome! Whatever is there in this body lotion, does work.

Overall: If you dont mind the packaging, the sharp scent and the fact that you have to get it shipped - I'd say this is a nice hydrating cream especially for people with dry skin. But for me, the sharp scent and the cost is a bit of an issue, so ummm.. No..

Ipsy October 2014 Glam bag "Beauty Candy" [and Why I stopped subscribing to Ipsy]

I know this is a bit too late to review something that came & went in October, but since this the my last Ipsy Glam Bag I thought I will share the stuff & tell why I stopped my subscription to Ipsy.

 

I really liked this month's bag - a blue-green shade with shiny puffer design. I will definitely be using this one. This month bag came with 5 products including this face wipes from Skyn.

The cloths themselves look like normal cleansing wipes but actually feels soapier and has a kinda "lathered in soap" feeling. Considering that these facial wipes are to be used without water, I don't understand why they have made it so soapy. It stings the eyes like crazy too! Don't use this for your mascara unless you're planning to wash your face with water. I made the mistake of using this without washing and it stung like crazy. 

I couldn't really see much of an effect either, other than cleaning out the makeup nicely. Considering the hefty price tag of this product,[$16.50 at Murale]  I think I will stick to my baby wipes, thank you very much!

 

The other products I received were: 

- City Colors Be Matte Lipsticks in shade Cappuccino

- Jesse's girl Mineralized Eyeshadow in Plum Frost

- Remy Hair Envy Fake Eyelashes

- Fig & Rouge Hand Cream

 

This is a most useful product for me now - cos of the fact that Jack Frost is on the way & you can never have enough hand creams. This nifty sleek tube is handy for travel. The bohemian packaging is eye catching but green, yellow , pink and blue all together? A bit too gakk for me. Still a hand cream is a hand cream! I am not going to try hard to repurchase this as honestly - I can really think of any reason why I would trouble my head over a hand cream.

 

This is useful and I dont have to worry about expiry dates [hopefully, does fake eyelashes go bad?ever?] so may be I will try this out sometime soon. I am not a huge fan of fake eyelashes as I have this habit of washing my eyes with cold water every 3-4 hours - it helps relax my eyes but doesnt help with any eye makeup. 

This eyeshadow from Jesse's Girl Mineralized Baked Powder range has been around a while - I saw a post from Musingsofamuse from 2011. I am all for shades of plum as it goes well with my skin tone. My only problem with this eyeshadow is that this has to be applied wet or over a primer. There are baked eyeshadows which go well dry and excellent when wet, but this one just goes dusty when dry. To get the color on the pan, its got to be wet!

 

In the pic above, it is showing up more copper - this is not a true plum shade. It is a coppery plum-ish shade.

Matte lipsticks are always great for a classic look and I guess once you cross 30, you get into a mood for classic matte lips, especially on a daily basis. Thats the only explanation I can think of on why a creamy-lipstick lover like me now favors the matte finish. 

This lipstick in shade Cappuccino is a good choice for all those who love the recent Kendall/Kylie Jenner lips. Cappuccino is a reddish brown slightly creamy matte lipstick, with some hints of peach in it.

I like this color and will be definitely getting a lot of use out of it as its a good office-wear shade.

From Top to bottom - City Colors Be Matte Lipstick in Cappuccino, Jesse's girl eyeshadow applied dry and slightly wet.

Overall: This is pretty decent bag, nothing "WOWOWOW" but nothing I cannot use. All the products have some use or other; my favorite out of the bunch is definitely the lipstick.

Now, to the story of why this is the last Ipsy Glam bag for me.....

I have this habit of stashing all my subscription box products in one kit as opposed to mixing it up with my regular purchases. This October, I was arranging my stash when I noticed how little do I use all the products I get from these subscription boxes. That really made me think - is it worth getting a hoard of new stuff which I don't use as much as I wish?

I think the reason is because - I don't select these products, so they are not my choice- so I don't have the same comfort level with these ones as I've with items I like & buy for a reason. For example, take this eyeshadow in this month's bag. I don't think I will ever buy it, cos I prefer matte shades that have much more pigmentation - which I don't usually get from drugstore shadows.  Same with many other products I receive in the subscription boxes - not my choice, not something I will buy or use, so I drift off to stuff I like & am comfortable with.

For $10 a month + $5 in shipping, Ipsy is not a wallet-breaker and is a fun way to try out new stuff every month. However, when I think of the total amount I have spent so far  [from December 2013 to October 2014],its a goodish amount of  $165 CAD! But do the set of products which I like & use justify the amount I've spent? So I decided to take an inventory of all the stuff I've got so far from Ipsy.

1. POP Beauty Bright Up Your Life Eye Shadow Trio    - Not used, didnt like
2. Be a Bombshell The One Stick    - Okay, but too shimmery and greasy
3. Nicka K New York Nail Color - Like the shade
4. Ardell Natural Lash  -  Not used
5. J.Cat Beauty Big Lip Pencil - Okay, nothing great
6. Elizabeth Mott Smooth Shadow - Liked it, easy to use
7. Nourish Organic Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion - Okay, nothing great
8. Faith Aromatherapy Tahitian Monoi Anti-Aging Sugar Scrub - Not used, too small size
9. MicaBeauty Tinted Lip Balm - Used, didnt like
10. Sexy Hair Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave In Conditioner - Okay, nothing great
11. POP Beauty Plump Pout Mini    - Okay, nothing great
12. Zoya Nail Polish    - Liked the product, but not the shade
13. City Color Be Matte Blush - Okay, didnt like the shade    
14. Tini Beauty Eyetini Cordial Cream Shadow + Base In One     - Okay, nothing great
15. Pacifica Hawaiian Ruby Guava Body Butter - swapped
16. bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie™ Lipstick in Get Ready    - Like the lipstick but not the shade
17. NYX Love in Rio Eye Shadow     - Okay, used once but not a fan
18. Chella Indigo Blue Eyeliner    - Okay, used once but not a fan
19. Pixi Beauty Flawless Beauty Primer- Didnt like
20. Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil Travel Size    - Liked
21. Coastal Scents Medium Shadow Brush    - Okay, used once but not a fan
22. dr. brandt® microdermabrasion    - Okay, used once
23. Elizabeth Mott pop! goes the shadow    - Didnt get
24. Starlooks Luscious Longwear Lip Pencil- Not used
25. Hang Ten Classic Sport SPF50    - Not used
26. Pacifica Mineral Eyeshadow Duo     - Didnt like
27. Avène Thermal Spring Water    - Liked
28. Nailtini Straight Up Color Nail Lacquer (Frappe, Champagne, Bloody Mary, Caviar Cocktail)     - Liked
29. Pur~lisse pur~moist hydra balance moisturizer- Okay, used once but not a fan
30. Be A Bombshell Lash Out Mascara    - Didnt like
31. DERMAdoctor DD Cream Dermatologically Defining BB Cream with Broad Spectrum SPF 30- okay nothing great
32. Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray     - Okay, used once but not a fan
33. Nicka K New York  Shimmer Eyeliner    - Okay, used once but not a fan
34. NYX Butter Gloss Tiramisu - Like the product but not the shade
35. bareMinerals READY® Eyeshadow 2.0    - Okay, nothing great
36. Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass    - Okay, used once but not a fan
37. Hang Ten dark Tanning Oil SPF 08    - Useless
38. Marrakesh Hair Care Marrakesh Endz- Useless
39. wHet Nail Polish in Facetious- Didnt like the shade
40. nicka K Absolute Lip Balm    - Didnt like the product
41. Dr. Brandt Pores No More Pore Refiner- Okay, nothing great
42. Urban Decay Perversion Mascara    - Okay, nothing great
43. Coastal Scents Forever Blush Sample Duo    - Too small to use, cant dip a brush in
44. Lord & Berry Silk Kajal Kohl Eye Pencil- Okay, nothing great
45. Crown Brush Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet Brush    - Okay notthing great
46. Pacifica Natural Water-Proof Eye Pencil    - Liked
47. Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair!™ Deep Conditioning Mask    - Okay, nothing great
48. CAILYN Art Touch Tinted Lip Gloss    - Okay. but didnt like the shade very much
49. Nourish Organic Moisturizing Cream Face Cleanser - Okay, nothing great

Out of the 49 products I received [excluding this month's bag], there are only 8 products that I like and will get some good use out of. There are other products like Ardell lashes which I have not used but may get a use out of some day and products like NYX Butter Gloss where I like the product itself but not the shade. Out of the 5 products I received in this month's bag, the ones I'd probably get some real use of of are the Lipstick and the hand cream.That makes a total of 8 products out of a total of 54. Does this at least cover the cost I paid? Lets check.

1. Nicka K nail polish - $5 approx 
2. UD eyeliner - $24 for full size[0.04 oz]  ; travel size Ipsy [0.03 oz] is $18 
3. Avene Thermal Spring Water - $16.29 for 5.0721 oz; for Ipsy size of 1.76 oz, $5.65
4. Nailtini Nail Lacquer: Ipsy full size is $13 USD = $15 CAD approx
5. Pacifica eye pencil: Full size 0.1 oz is $11.50, Ipsy size 0.026 oz is $2.99 CAD
6. Elizabeth mott eye pencil- $14.99 USD for 0.05 oz; Ipsy size is 0.$7.5 for 025 oz i.e. $9 CAD approx
7. City colors be matte lipstick - Ipsy Full size is $5 USD = approx $7 CAD
8. Fig & Rouge hand cream - Ipsy size 20ml is $6.37 USD = $7.5 CAD approx

Total value =  $70 CAD approx.
Amount in Opportunity cost [i.e. the remaining amount which I could have used to buy stuff I like & use] = $95 CAD

Thats a pretty high amount, right?

I think Ipsy is very good & value for money and excellent if you want to try different brands. The problem is that different or new doesn't equate to liking the stuff.

What would make me try Ipsy again 
I feel that their customer profiling and customization is not that great yet; for e.g . I am an Indian with all the tan in the world I need, but I got a tanning oil!
So, I would try Ipsy again if I hear that their customization is better or if they come up with an option for me to select at least 3 or 4 items in the bag.  If someone from Ipsy is reading this mail - how about allowing your customers to select at least 3 items in a bag that will come out in 1-2 months? That will give Ipsy enough time to place orders [I think?] and make us customers happy - right?

Overall: Its been an interesting journey with Ipsy; I have got a lot of products and if I was able to enjoy all of it, it would have been perfect! But nothing is perfect in this world, so Adieu for now Ipsy...