Photo Friday: Red Squirrel

Fridays I let the picture do the talking. A Red Squirrel as photographed by my FIL in the wild in Nova Scotia.

Review & Swatch: Lise Watier Nuits Magiques Collection

I walked through Shopper last Saturday and passed the new Lise Watier display - which was troublesome because it meant that I went back on Sunday in order to purchase them LOL

Lise Watier Cosmétiques is a Canadian conceived and as far as I know, owned by Ms. Watier since 1972. Yes, Estee Lauder hasn't managed to buy this one out yet LOL

The collection is called Nuits Magiques (pardon my French, but I guess its Magical or Magic Nights?) and consists of a few limited items. Now the Lise Watier website isn't clear on some of the colours being LE , but I am assuming the products in the special packing are LE (someone please correct me if I am wrong).

Here is what I hauled:

First is the product which I fell in love with many years ago - the Glitter Eye Liner. I have a few of these and every time I have worn them ppl have asked me what I was wearing. This year's offering for Winter 2009 is a colour called Émeraude. Which since my French is pretty much non-exsitent other than saying "Louis Vuitton", I thought meant Emerald , but I guess am I am def. wrong since the colour in question is a vibrant Teal.

 

Here's a swipe on my hands - can you see the lovely colour and all that glitter? I am a Magpie and ♥glitter! Now I don't know if this colour is LE or not as the website doesn't say if it is. There are at least 12 other shades of Glitter Liners available - not sure which,  if any are LE.

The next item is the Eye Shine Metallic Eyeliner in Teal - I have no idea again if this is LE, or a permanent addition , but I am assuming its part of the regular line up.

A closer look at the pencil.

Here it is swiped on my hands - first just the liner, then the liner smudged slightly, then with the Glitter Liner on top. There are other shades on the Eye Liner for this collection as well which I did not purchase.

The next item is def. LE - the E/S Quartet in Émeraude. Note that the compact is a nice sized palette in a a metallic black/dark gray colour and four tiny crystals set on top. It is prone to fingerprints , but its actually quite pretty and thankfully not made out of cardboard, taking notes Estee Lauder?

It also comes with a handy chart with two suggested looks. I know seasoned  pros don't need it ,but I love the idea of having a chart to give me at least a basic idea of utilizing the palette.

The quartet opens up to reveal the shadows, a good sized mirror and two applicators (which I mostly ignore anyway as with most palettes lol)

Here are the shadows swatched on my arm - they are nicely pigmented and go on smoothly. Shades 1 and 2 are neutral gold/champagne colours, shade 3 is a lovely gray , but the stand out shade is shade 4 - a gorgeous Teal shade.

I wanted to show you how the Teal Glitter Liner and Eye Liners look paired with the shadow.

Note that there is another shade of the Nuits Magiques Quatret in Saphir not reviewed here.

Next is an item that I went a little ga-ga for - the Divine Lash and Line Duo in Gold.

 

The idea of the item is a liner and mascara to brighten the tips of the lashs with all in one convenient package.

Here is a swatch - I paired it over Shadows 1 & 2 from the Émeraude quartet, then just swatched the liner portion and then the mascara portion.

So how does it work? Here's a sloppy pic of it on my lashes. Can you see the gold on the tips? Most likely not, so you'll have to take my word for it. And sorry for the hair everywhere - I took a few pics but this was the only one where the gold tips were mostly  visible. Pardon my unmade face and unkept eyebrows , too while you are at it.

The liner portion of the wand works fine. To some degree the mascara portion works ok enough , but when you are applying it closer to the middle and inner portions of your lashes, the liner brush keeps hitting the inside of your nose or face. Which results in a messy application., at least for me anyway. Don't expect it to work like a mascara - you are meant to pair it OVER your regular mascara and you will need to practice a lot to get it right or just not be as clumsy as me.

Here are my thoughts on each of the items - the Divine Lash and Line is priced at CAD$20. Now can you easily put some  liquid liner/glitter over your lashes - so you don't really need a product which will need some practice to apply. I was very excited when I saw it was a GOLD mascara (the Guerlain and Clarins "gold" mascaras for the Holidays were a fail IMHO in that they didn't really have any "gold"). I do like the idea of having one convenient product , but I think the design needs to be tweaked a little. Maybe have a tube with the product in the middle and two ends - one with the liner brush, and the other with the mascara portion would work better? So I'd kinda pass on this.

If you don't have similar shadows the Quatret is a great buy to add to your collection at around CAD$35.00 - the shadow are nicely pigmented, easy to blend and that palette is uniquely designed .Or just buy it anyway if you are like me and like hoarding and stashing things just because you can.

My highest recommendation would be for the Glitter Eye Liners (CAD$17) and Metallic Liners  (CAD$16) - they are better priced than the Urban Decay  (UD  Heavy Metal Glitter Liner and 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils retail for CAD$23 and $21 respectively) items for virtually the same size and very, very similar colours offerings. Paired with the Émeraude quatret they do make it a good buy and a great colour choice for the Holidays. There is also a LE Illuminating Powder but I haven't come across it yet. I do recommend checking out the Nuits Magiques Collection and Lise Watier in general and support a true-blue Canadian brand.

The Lise Watier Winter 2009 Nuits Magiques Collection is available  for a limited time at select Shoppers, The Bay and Sears outlets across Canada.

ETA: According to justine - London Drugs also carries them. I also wanted to say if you have enough Shoppers Optimum points and don't want to actually spend cash, redeem them to try out a product or two. My whole haul was a result of Optimum points redemption. 

Photo Friday: Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Fridays I let the picture do the talking. An obviously-named Yellow-Rumped Warbler as photographed by my FIL in the wild in Nova Scotia.

Swatch & Review: CARGO Hands of Hope Eyeshadow Palette

Remember when I said I shouldn't have gone to Sephora the other day? Well here is the another reason why - the CARGO Hands of Hope Eyeshadow Palette.

CARGO says its "A palette featuring nine brilliant eyeshadows—each is embossed with the Hamsa hand, an enduring emblem of peace, hope, and prosperity."

Its a sizable pallete - I have it here with my copy of the 300 for comparision.

Its pretty much as think as the book , too!

It opens up like a book - the shadows are covered with a thin paper. The palette closes with magnets on the side.

Inside are 9 full sized eye-shadows. From the Sephora website the shadows listed are as follows:

- Vibrant Purple

- Fern Green

- Frosted Cool Brown

- Nude Pink

- Midnight Blue

- Gold

- Aqua

- Warm Reddish Brown

- Gunmetal Gray

Here's the first row:

 

2nd Row

3rd Row:

Here is a close-up, can you see the details? That tiny middle flower is actually raised up, I wish I could have captured the details better.

The size compared to a regular M.A.C e/s.

Here is the swatch of the 1st row. The Vibrant Purple swatches to a nice shimmery purple which is buildable. The Fern Green is nice green while the Frosted Cool Brown is a nice, shimmery taupe.

In row 2 the first colour is the Nude Pink, which looks really more Champagne to me. The Midnight Blue is a shimmering shade of mid-tone blue, followed by the shimmery warm Gold shadow.

The last row contains Aqua, a bright silver-based blue. The Warm Reddish Brown almost blended into my skincolour with a gorgeous sheen. The last shadow is the Gunmetal Grey which I think is my fave of the palette.

I though I'd compare the Gold (Row 2, shadow 3) to M.A.C's Creme de Miel. Its a warmer gold compared to the cooler Creme de Miel even though they looked similar in their respective cases.

Overall I am very impressed with the palette. All the shadows have a gorgeous sheen to them, are very soft and pliable. The darker colours are highly buildable so if you prefer a sheerer wash you needn't be afraid to dip your brush into this palette. They are also sized generously compared to some other palette offerings. The pigmentation is really great.

The only drawback I can see is the size - even though its flat it still takes up a lot of space. You can pack this in your suitcase but you can't stow a few colours in a make-up case if you want to carry it with you.

Its priced at an incredibly low price of CAD$29 - which makes it around mere CAD$3.22 bucks a pop of very, very good quality shadows with a very uniquely detailed imprint. A variety of skin tones can pull this off - don't be fooled by the dark colours, as I said you can go sheer or heavy with this sort of quality. My swatches are slightly heavy-handed in some cases because I wanted them to photograph well with indoor lighting and of course my poor photography skills.

So I'd give this a great thumbs up - pick up one for your self or as a gift, you wouldn't regret it. When I picked this up on Monday evening from Sephora, they had the shelf space filled with about 6/8 of the palettes. When I went in yesterday, they were all gone! So I suggest you get them while they last.

The CARGO Hands of Hope Eyeshadow Palette available for a limited time, retails at CAD$29.00 and can be purchased online at Sephora, and instore at Sephora and at select retailers like The Bay across Canada.

Review: Lancome Holiday 2009: Expert Brush Set Collection

I ordered the Lancome Holidy 2009 Expert Brush Set last Thursday Oct 22 and got the package from Lancome on Monday - pretty good right? Taking notes, M.A.C? Here's the outer packing.

I was taking pics of the KVD palette that night and noticed the purples matched lol. The clutch itself it very vinyl looking and feeling. When I ordered it I thought it might be passable as a clutch for a night out but I don't think I would personally carry it as one because it just looks too tacky as a purse.

The inside quality is also so-so, the middle-part is the brush holder. One one side there is a open slot and on the other side there is a zipped pocket. The Lancome Rose motif is visible on the lining, purple rose on black once your lift the brush flap (sorry I didn't take a picture of that).

The brushes consists of Lancome Powder Brush # 1, Foundation Brush # 2, Dual Ended Brush # 18, Precision Crease Brush # 17 and a Large Shadow Brush.

Here is the close of the first two brushes - that purple hue is was made me want the set in the first place.

These the the rest of the brushes. Oh and you can sort of make out the purple Lancome Rose in the back ground there.

Now honesly I am not an expert on brushes - well I am not an expert on anything come to think of it other than being extremely good at spending other ppl's money. But I was a tad disappointed with the set.

The brushes are good, but they didn't make me go "Oh wow this is the most amazing brush I have ever felt on my face" kwim? I actually prefer the feel of my Eco Tools Blush Brush on my face then this Powder Brush. Yah, I know I am strange bird. I am not 100% sure what if the bristles are natural or artificial, I couldn't find any information on that online or on the card that came with the set.

So yah, they are pretty to look at, they feel fine, the quality of the "clutch" brush holder is meh-h though, in fact that middle brush holder part doesn't give you enough space to store all 5 brushed without crowding them a bit. Hence the other slots and pocket maybe? I guess the other idea is also to maybe use it as clutch if you like. I just would have preferred a full on brush holder given the quality of the case.

I guess I should have know better than to expect an orgasmic experience for $59 bucks. DH is better at that for free *wink* I should have saved my money for something better , but having missed out on the Declaring Indigo set (wasn't available to Canada), I kind of bought this as a consolation purchase esp. since I love purple.

All things considering you do get 5 decent quality brush plus a brush holder so I guess its not that horrid , but I can't in all honesty say I recommend you run out and buy this. Unless you REALLY like Lancome brushes and/or can't resist the thought of purple hued brushes, I'd pass.

Kat Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette: It's True Love , baby!

I should not have ventured into Sephora after work last night. I had that VIB email about some free mascara with any purchase in-store for ages so I thought to unwind after a long day at work I'll go in and pick up something little.

Of course I had been lemming the Kat Von D True Love palette and lo, and behold there it was in-store. So without much further ado - Ladies and Gentlemen, here it is:

Just in case you are not familiar with KDV palettes - they are made by Sephora and come in individually designed packing, depicting tattoo-like artwork.

While the packing is not made from high-end materials, Sephora does make an effort to make it look pretty, I always feel like I am opening an elaborate gift with these things.

The back displays the names of the eye shadows.

I personally find it ironic that we in Toronto have to pay 5 cents for plastic grocery bags when everything is redundantly packed in layers of paper or plastic. But I digress. On with the show.

I didn't try or even look at the display properly when I  purchased it so I was a little apprehensive when I  got home. When I opened it up after all that packing,  it just looked like a neutral set of shadows thrown in together with a smokey purple set.

As soon as I swatched the first shadow my doubts vanished, and then I fell hard for Benji! It was True Love (ha, ha, me so punny) at first swatch.

In the "neutral" part of the palette Peanut it a lovely beige-ish shade which is anything but, with almost white-gold undertones. Benji is a stunning copperish/gold creme shadow that I simply adore. Rebekah is a medium chocolate shimmery brown which will compliment Benji IMHO. No KVD True Romance palette is complete without Lucifer - a solid black liner.

The "smokey" portion of the shadows start of with Cholita, a deep dark chocolate purple. Next to is a dark shimmery purple called Shiba. Babe is a midtone purple with gorgeous lilac-ish undertones. Missy looks white, till you swatch it - it has def. lilac undertones.

All shadows are easy to apply, smooth and silky, without any fall-outs or grittiness. Lucifer is a liner which you can use wet to line or add extra smokiness to other shadows. All are very blend-able of course. The brushes are the only drawback as they are tiny and aren't worth anything , but then when you have a MU addiction like me , there are plenty of other brushes which will do the job right?

This palette is def. made for mixing it up - pair up the "neutrals" and the "smokeys" in whatever combination you creative types can think of . I sadly lack that skills , but this gives me the option of playing it safe as well as experiment.

If you are a collector of KVD True Romance shadows this one is a MUST! If you are new to them I'd seriously consider this one over the always-available Ludwig and Beethoven as it offers a good mix of colours.

Oh and they don't have that Free mascara for VIB's at any Toronto locations if you are wondering , but heck I walked off pretty happy with this even if I didn't get the free mascara!

Considering that you are getting 8  well-pigmented and stunning eyeshadows at about only around CAD$5.12  a pop, its a fab deal. Haul now if you can still get the Sephora F&F in the US or buy it at a steeper price if you are Canadian , but either way GET IT! LOL

The Kat Von D True Romance Eye Palette in True Love is LE retails at CAD$ 41.00 and  is available only at Sephora in-store and online here.

The Revenge Post: Swatches of Annabelle Winter 2009 Colour Collection - Super Nova

I went to grab some household stuff from Shopper's yesterday and then got completely side-tracked by the Annabelle display. Annabelle is a Canadian cosmetics line owned by Groupe Marcelle, and can be found at drugstores around the country.

Recently Annabell has really stepped up their game with some really nice products and this recent collection called Super Nova is really awesome!

Promo Pic for the Super Nova collection - you can get the directions on how to achieve this look here

Here are the items which I hauled - there are other items in the collection including a lip gloss, but these are what appealed to me the most.

Ok my photography skills and camera are not the greatest , but can you see how pretty those things are, right?

First up the Glitter Studio Pigment in Lunatic: Regularly CAD$8.99, was on sale for CAD$5.99 at Shopper's.

The color is snow-white with a lot of tiny glitters. The product felt smooth and not gritty at all swatched on the back on my hand.

The other colour that I picked up is called Sky Rock. There is a third colour called Aurora, but I thought it looked a bit too pink for my taste so I passed.

This is again very smooth, but not as glittery as Lunatic. Its a mid to dark-tone blue with purple undertones. Disclaimer: I am bad at describing colours lol

This is the only face product for the collection - a Domed Face Powder called Star Dust, priced at CAD$11.99 (hmm, the Annabelle website says SRP CAD$10.95 - hmmm interesting)

It looks like a baked product to me (but don't quote me on that) with several strips of pinkish to nudish colours in a row.

Swatched a few times using my fingertips over all the colours, on the back of my hand it gives off a really sparkly glow. It feels fine and smooth, the glittery parts don't feel gritty. This looks like a great highlighter for the cheeks.

Annabelle has a four shades of the Glitter Eye liners for this collection. I only picked up the titled Super Nova as I already have Starmania (silver glitter), Deep Space (navy glitter) and Cosmic Joy (gold glitter) dupes. That doesn't mean they weren't nice , but I just didn't want to purchase colours I already have.

This is a great dark purple colour - it swatched fairly smootly on my hand , but it does container glitter so if you have issues with that I'd skip it. I personally don't have any problems with it so I will def. be using it.

Next up are the items that caught my eye first and stopped me in my tracks, the Dome Eyeshadows. Blue Nebulla  retails at CAD$9.99 (although the Annabelle website says the SRP should be CAD$8.95)

Its a trio-eyeshadow which I have swatched here wet and dry. The colour pay-off dry is quite nice and well pigmented , but of course used wet gives its that extra intensity which is you can really see in that silver swatch.

The second Dome E/S is called Moon Illusion.

This is a nice basic collection of black, white and a nudish color. Again note that using it wet gives it that extra oomph.

 

This is my fave of the Dome e/s called Bling Bang - this what caught my eye the most in the display.

They don't seem like your typical winter colours and that my dears, is a good thing! The colours are nice enough dry but this one looks the best used wet. I love the almost tropical feel of the colours, such a nice feeling to have in winter when everything is so blah.

I know you've been thinking that they look a lot like M.A.C items so I thought I'd compare in pictures the sizes to some random M.A.C items.

First up - the Dome Face Colour & M.A.C.'s Grand Duo Mineralize Blush

They are not exact dupes in terms of colour and of course as one is a blush the other is more of a highlighter but honestly, the Annabelle one is not bad at all for a drugstore product.

When I saw Annabelle Glitter Eye Pencil in Super Nova, I thought it might be similar to M.A.C's Iris Accents but the M.A.C eye pencil is much bigger in size and the colours are different as well.

 

Here are the swatches of the two colours for comparision. Not a dupe but if you don't want to spead more M.A.C's and/or want a darker shade of purple this is the way to go.

Now for the eye shadows - Bling Blang vs. M.A.C's under your spell.

Now I don't know why I didn't do a swatch comparision , but from what I recall the lilacy colour from Bling Bang might be a fairly good dupe for the lilac colour from Under Your Spell (again I have a faulty memory so don't quote me on the dupe thing, ok? lol). While the sizes are not the same the products are quite similar in texture (if not the exact colour dupes) and the Annabelle e/s trio swatch better dry than some M.A.C. e/s. For the price, really its a great deal IMHO in terms of quality and colour pay-off.

All in all I think Annabelle has a pretty solid collection out with the stand-outs being the Dome Eyeshadows - a really, really great buy. I really can't wait to wear Bling Bang, it just makes me happy looking at that awesome colour trio.

Annabelle Super Nova Collection is available for a limited time at your local Canadian drugstore - do go and take a look and then haul the Dome Eyeshadows. Priced from CAD$5.99 to CAD$11.99 - its a great buy.

Oh yes, you are wondering why I called it a "Revenge Post" - well, if you have followed me in the past or if you live in Canada and read other beauty blogs, you must have come across a million and three items (give or take a few items) which aren't available to us Canadians either at retail level or online. So I thought it was nice to post about something which is NOT available anywhere else on the planet save Canada - take that, all your other countries pfffffffftttt :-Þ

And before all the 'Mericans get thier unmentionables in a knot and start petitioning the U.S. Senete to boycott Canada, Annabelle puts the U.S. retailers to shame and does one better by offering shipping to our neighbours south of the border. So now how about doing the same for us US retailers? You  can order by calling Annabelle and placing a phone order through their Consumer Services department at 1 800 387-7710. For further details, please visit the Annabelle website F.A.Q section.

See we, CANADIANS are nice ppls after all!  pfffffffftttt :-Þ