Makeup and Skincare Haul | Glo Skin Beauty

If you follow me on IG, you may have already seen this haul.

I was one of Glo Skin Beauty's lucky winners on Instagram. I was really not familiar with the brand but I'm always excited to learn about new brands and test out their products.

I won credit to their site, so everything you see in this haul I picked out myself.

I've only tested out the makeup so far as I just received the package and I am more than ecstatic with this brand so far!

Let's see what I picked out with my credit...

Glo Skin Beauty items I chose:

1. Moisturizing Tint in Light - $59.00CAD
2. Conditioning Hydration Cream - $53.50CAD
3. Eye Shadow Palette in Velvets - $60.50CAD
4. Cream Glaze Crayon in Chiffon - $19.50CAD
5. Finishing Sponge - $7.00CAD

The eyeshadow palette comes in a sleek compact with mirror. It has pretty much everything I've been looking for in an eyeshadow palette.

The shadows are not powdery at all and they are very pigmented. You know when you go into stores like Sephora and swatch all those high-end palettes and even the light colours swatch like "woah!"

I like that Glo Skin Beauty made the two shades that would be used the most in larger sizes!

Swatches of The Velvets Eye Shadow Palette

 All of the above swatches were finger swatches with one swipe (not built up) and no primer used.

I'm also head over heels for the Cream Glaze Lip Crayon in Chiffon. It reminds me of my favourite lip product by Sonia Kashuk featured here in my "If I Could Only Have One, Lip Products" post.

This has a creamy formula as the name implies, almost like a gel formula. It feels AMAZING on my dry lips and is the most beautiful nude shade. It really improves the look of my aging, dehydrated lips. I am really in love with this!

Swatch: Cream Glaze Lip Crayon in Chiffon

I can't wait to try out the Tinted Moisturizer and Conditioning Hydration Cream. Look out for some reviews on these in the future.

I feel so lucky and grateful to have won these products! I've truly discovered some new favourites.

Glo Skin Beauty is a cruelty-free brand.

Have you tried anything by Glo Skin Beauty? Let me know what you love!

*not sponsored. 

Instagram Challenge: Finish #7bySpring

In January I decided to join some other beauty junkies on Instagram who were participating in a challenge called #7BySpring. The objective was to finish up 7 beauty products by spring aka today!

Finishing beauty products can be quite the challenge. Products like mascara are easy since we replace them on the regular. I ended up adding a mascara to this challenge as I didn't have anything else that I could come close to finishing up.

These challenges can get tedious as we end up using the same products everyday, which kind of takes the fun out of playing with makeup. But, it's also rewarding to finish products up so we can move on to something new and say goodbye to the old.

For challenges like this, I recommend selecting products that are older and may expire if you don't use them up.

Here is a screenshot of my initial Instagram post, showcasing the items I chose for this challenge. 

And, here we are today on the first day of Spring and the last day of this challenge

I don't remember the last time I finished up a lipstick!

Products I finished:

-Marcelle Sheer Tint Fluid Moisturizer- I have used for years and would repurchase

-Elf Lash and Brow Clear Mascara- I use this all the time and will definitely repurchase

-Jordana Best Lash Extreme- Another product I've used for years and will repurchase

-Maybelline Color Whisper in Lust for Blush- I recommend this formula for aging lips as it's very hydrating and doesn't accentuate lines. It's a more sheer formula and I do like it, but I became a little sick of it after using it everyday. I started to mix it with a lipstick I have that is too brown for me and then I wound up with the perfect pinky-brown/ mauve shade! (I liked it so much I did a blog post on it HERE).

Products I did not finish:

-Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Face Powder- I was sooo close to finishing this! I would not repurchase this as I found I became oily quickly with this powder and it was a little heavy and accentuated pores. I would buy other powders by PF like their Youthful Wear powders.

-Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark Circle Roller- This thing just keeps on ticking! It's made it through 2 "empty" challenges and it's still going. I got this on sale for such a good price that I have backups! I just hope they don't expire!

-Essence Eye Shadow Base- This is just like the Garnier Roller above, it doesn't end. It has also survived 2 Instagram "empty" challenges and doesn't seem to be close to being empty. I would buy it again but I have another eye primer that I bought last summer that is still waiting on standby!

I guess 4 out of 7 isn't bad. 

I'm definitely looking forward to using my other products now that this challenge is over! And, I'm also looking forward to some new challenges!  

If you know of any fun challenges, please leave them in the comments or click on my Instagram link at the top of this page and leave me a comment there..

Thanks for stopping by!

Amy

xoxo

New Essence Sheer and Shine Lipstick Review: Cute Nude & Candy Love!

I was at my local Shoppers Drug Mart the other day and whenever I'm there I always have to check out the Essence makeup display to see if they have anything new. That's when I saw their new Sheer and Shine lipsticks and I couldn't resist, so I grab a couple to share with you. 

They had 9 shades to choose from and a nice range of colours from nudes to pinks and corals and deeper shades. I went for the two nudes that I knew I would get the most use of and it's a pretty safe bet that they'll suit me too. 

I picked out #02 Cute Nude a nice sheer pinky nude and #12 Candy Love a sheer light berry toned pink with blue undertones.

 Cute Nude (left) Candy Love (right)

Here they are swatched in daylight. Cute Nude is the paler colour and Candy Love is pinker.

The swatches here have been built up with a few swipes. One swipe would be much more sheer. Either way, you will not end up with an opaque lipstick look, which I'm not a huge fan of on myself.

I find that they are nice and moisturizing and they don't leave a stain. They are easily built up to get more colour (as pictured). They don't last too long as they have a balm-like texture. I find these are great everyday lipsticks to throw in my purse, and these are the kind of shades you can just slap on and go! They also don't settle into lip lines. I love them both but I like Candy Love a little bit more as it has more colour and I find that blue-based pinks really suit me.

If you have aging or even just dehydrated lips I think you would really like these. Same, if you have a lot of lip lines as I do and you can't pull off all the matte lip looks. I think this type of formula and these lighter colours are good for creating a more youthful look on the lips. 

I'm really liking these and at only $3.49 you really can't go wrong. I'm generally a nude and pink lips kind of person, but if you want something a lot darker or deeper they have that too, they just won't be opaque. And, did I mention that Essence is cruelty-free!?

Have you tried any of these new lippies? If so, how do you like them?

Amy

xoxo

Mini Beauty Haul, New Products! NYC, Wet n Wild, Quo Contessa (LE) Palette #makeup

HAUL!!

I love finding some new, budget friendly beauty products to try out! I wanted to share my new beauty finds with you. I thought some of you may be interested since they are all fairly new to the market and really budget friendly!

Shown above:

NYC CityPROOF Twistable Perfecting Lip Primer/ Quo Face Palette in "Contessa"/ Wet n Wild's new Wild Shine Nail Polish in Dreamy Poppy/ Wet n Wild's new Lipstick in 501C "A Short Affair"

NYC City Proof Twistable Perfecting Lip Primer- as far as I know this is a totally new products and I'm excited to try it out as I've never owned a lip primer before, and I love the newer crayon style lip products. I'm hoping it will help me wear some of my more unforgiving lipsticks and matte lipsticks that don't get worn since they settle into my lip lines too much. Cost $2.97

Quo Face Palette in "Contessa"- Includes full-size blush, bronzer and highlight. There was another palette with different shades but this is the one I was attracted to the most, although I admit that I was tempted to get both! ;)  I couldn't find any reviews online so I think I'll do a post with some swatches and a first impression. This was part of Shoppers Drug Mart's spring Limited Edition (LE) collection. My Shoppers had it on sale for $10 from $20, and I had enough points in my Optimum account so I ended up getting it for free!! Gotta love Shoppers Drug Mart's Optimum program!

Wet n Wild's new Lipstick in 501C "A Short Affair," This is a new formula in new packaging. This looked to be the lightest colour in the collection. I would say it's a neutral to cool tone light baby pink with a sheen (no glitter.) I quite like it so far! I have tested 2 of the new lipstick formulas and so far they seem to go on quite a bit darker than what you see in the tube. Cost $1.50

Wet n Wild's new Wild Shine Nail Polish formula in 477C "Dreamy Poppy." Note: This colour is not new but this is a newer formula that is supposed to last much longer than the previous formula. I never owned this colour. It looks like a gorgeous deep coral for the summer and would look great with a tan. Unfortunately, the  handle is broken on the bottle that I got so I have to go and exchange it. Cost $1.50

All in all this little haul cost me a total of around $6! Not bad at all! Granted, I got a great deal on the $20 Quo palette since it was half off and I had enough Shopper`s Optimum points to get it for free.  The cosmetician at Shopper`s Drug Mart said that each store may have the Quo palettes on sale at different times, so check your local Shopper`s if you are interested.. once they go on sale this cheap, I doubt they will last very long!

I hope you enjoyed my little haul and maybe you`ll want to check out a few of these for yourself.

Have you come across any new products or great deals lately, I would love to hear about them!

Xo Amy

#LipstickLeague May 2015 Instagram Photo Challenge!

I came across this May photo challenge on Instagram from a beauty blogger and vlogger that I follow on social media named Makeup Obsessed Mom/ thejools123. She had just posted the list below as well as her photo for the first challenge. It looked like fun, so I thought I'd join in. 

Who are the #Lipstickleague? These are their Instagram accounts:

@weheartthisdotcom, @nouveaucheap, @gouldylox, @mybeautybunny, @phyrra, @loveforlacquer, @beautyjunkies, @vampyvarnish, @eaumg, @primebeauty, @clumpsofmascara, and @janinefalcon

The May Photo Challenge:

Here is my first challenge completed and posted on Instagram 

Admittedly, I have to work on my selfie skills, clearly! But, at least I can laugh at myself in the meantime! There are 31 challenges in total, one for each day of this month. Complete as many as you are able/want to and have fun!

My favourite lipstick/gloss combo: Elf's Matte Lip Color in Natural with Burt's Bees lip gloss in Nearly Dusk.

I tag anyone who reads this and would like to participate!

Xo Amy

Cruelty Free, Affordable Lipstick Dupe! #Review

I'm always on the lookout for cruelty-free, affordable dupes in makeup, skincare, hair care, really in anything!  My go to lip colour is usually a nude, nude-pink or something along that line. And, quite by accident I found a dupe in a nude-pink shade that I adore!

Here they are side by side:

Pictured on the left is the cruelty-free dupe, which is Essence Long-lasting Lipstick in Nude Love (11). On the right we have CoverGirl's Lip Perfection Lipstick in Honeyed (258):

Here are the swatches on the back of my hand. As you can see they are quite nude in colour.  The swatch pictured on top is the one by Essence, it is slightly rosier than CoverGirl's (pictured below.) Neither are matte, they both have a similar sheen.

As a test, I wore one on my top lip and the other on the bottom and I could not see a difference at all. The feel on the lips was similar, CoverGirl's may have felt slightly more drying.  They also wore for the same amount of time on my lips, I did not find either of them long-lasting. They both wore like a typical lipstick (IMO). They would need to be re-applied, which I really don't mind- these are the kind of colours I can kind of "slap-on-and-go." Also, the Essence lipstick lacks that infamous CoverGirl scent that many are not a fan of.

The Essence Long Lasting Lipstick is only $2.99 and can be found at Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada. (And this colour "nude love" goes quite nicely with many of the Essence creamy lip liners that are only $1.49 each. I often wear this lipstick with their liner in "nude"- Gorg!)

The CoverGirl lipstick retails for approx. $8.99

I would love to hear if you have any cruelty-free affordable dupes!

xo Amy