Tuesday 27 September 2011

Mac Select Cover-Up (NW20) vs. Hard Candy Glamoflauge Heavy Duty Concealer (Medium 313)


This is what Mac says about Select Cover-Up Concealer: "Liquid camouflage for the skin. Texture-free,virtually invisible. Comes in a tube. Blends in. Brightens and lightens dark areas, erases spots, evens-out skin tones. Makes skin flaw-free. Use pre-foundation, or on its own. Don't reveal it, conceal it!" This is $17.00 USD for 10 ml or 0.33 fl oz. This comes in 13 shades.

This is what Hard Candy says about Glamoflauge Heavy Duty Concealer: "Glamoflauge - Heavy Duty Concealer A heavy duty, highly pigmented, multi-use concealer that delivers ultimate coverage. The formula blends seamlessly into skin with plenty of play time creating a flawless and natural look perfect for any occasion. You can hide everything from dark circles and blemishes to tattoos" This is $6.00 USD for 20g or 0.71 fl oz. in addition to the concealer you get a concealer pencil which is 0.65 g or 0.023 fl oz.

Mac Select Cover Up (NW20), Hard Candy Med. 313, Hard Candy Concealer Pencil

As you can see in the above photo there is quite a difference in shades of the two concealers. At first I thought this would be a problem but in actuality, it wasn't at all for me. The Mac concealer leans more on the pink side and Hard Candy's leans more towards yellow. Both concealers perform well, although if you're like me you need as much coverage as possible without looking too caked up. The Mac concealer covered about 75% of my dark circles and Hard Candy covered about 90%. 

I'm absolutely loving my Hard Candy concealer (I just wish it was for sale in Canada! I bought mine off ebay for about $14 with shipping - still cheaper then Mac, which is also half the size)

With Hard Candy's Glamoflauge you get double the amount of product for half the price and better coverage. I need only the smallest dot of Glamoflauge to cover all my imperfections, where in Mac's case I need just under a pea sized amount.


If you can squeeze yourself into Hard Candy's small window of shades, I say do it. You won't regret it. The product is fantastic and so is the price! My vote for best concealer is HANDS DOWN Hard Candy's Glamoflauge Heavy Duty Concealer.


PS- I didn't forget about Hard Candy's concealer pencil, I just haven't used it. I don't need it. The actual conceal does the job well enough without it. If I ever do use it I will add my review to the post.

Monday 26 September 2011

My Boyfriend & His Oily Skin.. Clinique Review

I've got straight hair, his is curly. He's olive skinned, I'm pale as hell. He's shorter than me, I'm taller than him. I'm younger than him, he's older than me. I'm easy going and he's totally mental (in the best way possible). To the point of this: My face is dry and his is oily - to further that, mine is SUPER dry and his is SUPER oily. The point is, I've come to somewhat understand the trials and tribulations of an oily face. The shiny-ness, the blotting, the need for alcohol in your facial cleansers and I can only imagine putting make up on top of it all and trying to make it stay in place.

Lets not make it seem that oily skinned people got the short end of the stick here. You oily skinned people get the benefit of aging slower then us dry skinned people. So I'll look like a wrinkled old fruit one day and you'll look young, zestful and full of life for at least a couple more years than me.
Clinique 2.5 Scruffing Lotion for Normal Skin        
My boyfriend has been using Clinique's Men's face line. Hes gone through three of the four toner steps available. Each step getting consecutively better than the last. He began his journey at level 2.5 which is geared towards "normal" skin (he truly believed he had normal skin, I have no idea what the hell he was thinking.. He was in MASSIVE denial I guess haha)

Anywhoo, he started off with Cliniques 2.5 scruffing lotion and moisturizer and cleanser for normal-oily skin. The cleanser he was using is a foaming cleanser & the moisturizer is quite lightweight. This was an improvement to the generic face wash he was using previous, but it was still a bad scene. I would say using the 2.5 toner would be more geared to guys out there who get a tad oily through the day - nothing intense oilwise at all.

After the 2.5 was used up he chose to step up to the 3.5, thank God. Sure it helped somewhat but it still wasn't enough. He would still get very oily throughout the day to the point where his eyes would start to sting and burn. We both thought it was a good idea that he take it to the highest level in Cliniques men's line. I would say using the 3.5 toner would be more geared to guys who have a moderately oily face who show quite a bit of oil throughout the day.
Clinique 4.5 Scruffing Lotion for Very Oily Skin        
Now, this is what I'm talking about he's oil free.. Almost. He's gotten rid of about 80% of his oily-ness the remaining 20% that still starts to appear throughout the day is solved by some blotting papers we got from The Body Shop. I would say using the 4.5 toner would be geared more towards guys who get extremely oily throughout the day.
Though it seems like this story ends on a positive, almost oil-less note. I'm sad to say it does not. Apparently Clinique is no longer making the 4.5 toner. Anything left out there is left over stock stores are selling off. So it looks like we're back to square one.
I've heard some rave reviews about a great cleansing system for people with oily skin. So expect another review on some other products! =)

Monday 12 September 2011

Annabelle Smudge Paint Swatches & First Impressions + $1 Off Coupon

Whhat? I'm making a post? What a shock!


Due to my disgusting obsession with make up, I'm constantly scouring the fourms on MakeupTalk, its a really great online community of makeup lovers, both far and wide. I noticed someone started a post about these Annabelle Smudge Paints. Which at a recent Shoppers Drugmart, I made a mental note of checking out online before I made any purchases.


After hearing some good testimony I thought I'd pick up a couple. The added bonus of  a $1 off coupon majorly sealed the deal (see below for coupon). Please be advised that my review on this is purely as an eyeliner, not a gel shadow.


Overall these things are great as eyeliners, which is what I used them for. They go on more on the sheer side though because they aren't specifically intended just as liners they're also gel shadows so they're something you may need to put a second layer on if you want the true to the in the pot (at least in the shades I bought). These are super creamy and easy to work with. When they set they don't budge. The only thing I'd suggest to anyone who buys these is to be aware that they are not strictly a liner. They aren't as thick as a liner so you need to be a tad more careful when your applying them. Again these are much much more creamy then a gel/cream liner.

Annabelle%2B-%2BSmudgepaint%2B-%2BPlummed.jpgAnnabelle SmudgePaint Skyline


Another great thing about these is the innovative packaging. Although I'd like to see the mouth of the pot to be larger or wider just the fact that they've some up with something as cool as an included brush within the lid is awesome. This is so much more sanitary then having the brush inside the product. You can wash the brush like you would any other. In addition to this: To make using the included brush more manageable you can pop it back into the other side of the lid for a longer handle.


L to R: Plummed, Sludge, Muddy, Skyline, Tar 


Plummed: Is a purple base with a slight pink/purple shimmer this shade comes off as a cross between purpleish/burgundyish.

Sludge: Is a dark matte brown which when dry comes across black (see photo above without flash)

Muddy: Is more is a shimmery bronze color.

Skyline: Is a a shimmery royal blue.

Tar: Is a matte back.

This is what Annabelle says about the Smudge Paints: "Catch the latest chic trend for smeared eyelids with the new Annabelle Smudgepaint. Creamy gel-shadow + liner with a velvety smooth, crease free, smudge free texture that will survive anything life throws at you! Its long-lasting waterproof formula glides on easily for a mess free look.Available in 5 highly pigmented shades that will be sure to bring your makeup case back to life!" You get 0.07 OZ / 2 g of product. The suggested reatil price on Annabelle's website is $10.95 CAD (I bought mine at Shoppers Drugmart for $12.99 CAD)
Rather then picking up all 5 of the colors I chose to only buy two which are Skyline and Muddy. I'm planning on going back to pick up Plummed. I swatched all the colors in the store.

Overall I love these, they're great. They're a dual usage thing and though I wish the jar was bigger. I like to know that some companies out there are thinking of new and out of the ordinary thing. I applaud you Annabelle. I now will be paying better attention to your section in the store!



This coupon requires a much thanks to musingmuse on Makeuptalk. She also has a blog so check it out =) GUILT / LUST.


11-00117-Annabelle-Coupon-Smudge-Paint_F.aspx




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