Tag: Reviews

Dose Of Colors Bake Browns Eyeshadow: Palette Collection Review Series

littlebeautyloves9 Comments

There are times when I appreciate a simple 5 pan palette especially when all the colours are meant to work together and it’s easy to just put together a couple of looks. That’s what I like about the Dose of Colors Baked Browns Eyeshadow palette. I find it convenient to just throw 2-3 shades together on my lids and be done with it. I don’t mull over the palette thinking about what would look good together and what I feel like wearing that day. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy coming up with fun looks but sometimes, especially when I’m heading to work, I just want something easy.

What It Is

A selection of warm-toned matte shadows, Baked Browns Eyeshadow Palette creates everything from neutral everyday eye looks to deep, dark smoky effects. (beautybay.com)

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Price

$48.70 CAD (8.5g – $5.73/g) This is a pricey eyeshadow palette in terms of dollar per gram. I think it’s the second priciest I own after the Estee Lauder Color Envy Sculpting Eyeshadow, see it here.

I received this in my October Boxycharm where I paid $33.00 CAD for the whole box and received other items along with the palette. I wouldn’t purchase this on it’s own. I got the cost from Beautybay.com (which has Canadian pricing and ships to Canada for those who might be interested in getting this)

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Packaging

I love the rose chrome colour of the palette itself. I like the sleek style of it too. It’s not very big being only 2″ X 5″ so I can easily store it away. The packaging feels like high-quality plastic. Even though I don’t use it too much I do like that it has a mirror. Inside the shades are laid out from lightest to darkest which is appealing to me.

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This comes with a double sided brush. One end is a small blending brush and the other end is a pencil brush. I’ve used this brush quite a bit to apply colour to my lower lash line with the blending end and used the pencil side to apply a smoky line to my upper lash line. It adds value to this product for me.

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Colour

I was really happy to receive the baked Browns in my Boxycharm because I knew I’d get good use out of it. These shades are ones that I have been using every day for my project pan. The colours all work together.

I love the warm tone of this palette and how it looks on my eyes. My favourite shades are Outdoorsy and Cherry Wood.

Now, if you like variety in your palettes, this one is definitely not for you. However, if you like a smooth, blendable formula and this 5 pan style, you will enjoy this. It does come in other shades including mauves, berries, etc.

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Application & Wear

One thing I’ll address right away here is that these shades are very dusty. They create so much fall out in the pan. After using this for a month I’ve noticed that a lot of excess product is wasted out of the pans and it looks like I’ve used this more than I actually have.

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Since it produces A LOT of fallout I have to be careful with how much product I put on my brush, especially if I’m doing my eyes after I apply foundation. I usually go for a simple look day-to-day but if I’m going for something deeper or smokier I need to apply this first and then foundation so I’m able to clean it up.

The upside of this is that they blend so effortlessly on the eyes. I can pull a look together very quickly because this is so easy to blend. I enjoy how easily I can put a look together with this.

My Looks

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This first look is one that I wear most days for work. I applied Tealight all over the lid and then applied Deserted in my crease and deepened it just slightly with outdoorsy. For liner I used Rock Bottom. I used deserted in my lower lash line.

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For this look above I put Deserted all over the lid and then used Cherry Wood in the crease. I then took some of Rock Bottom and blended it into the outer edge of my lash line. I used Rock Bottom in my lower lash line and blending it out with deserted.

The Breakdown

Pros

  • sturdy palette
  • easy to blend

Cons

  • not much colour variety
  • lots of fallout
  • price

My Thoughts

Overall, I really love this palette! The colours are ones I enjoy wearing and I like the formula and blend ability. I would recommend this palette except that the price is a bit high.

Have you tried this palette or any others from Dose of Colors?

Lots of Love,
Dal

Project Pan Monthly: October Roundup & November Items

littlebeautyloves2 Comments

This month I wanted to get this post out earlier than I did last month so that I could share with you what I plan on focusing on in my makeup stash! Then I totally got lazy for a week and here we are… late again… haha!

Looking at the before and after of some of my liquid items from October it really feels like I didn’t make much progress although I used my items 28/31 days. While I usually don’t wear makeup on the weekend I did find myself out and about a lot more in October so I did wear some makeup and used my Project Pan items. Let’s jump into my progress!

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But before we do that….

In case you didn’t know, this is my Project Pan objective;

Project Pan Monthly

Each month I choose 4 items to use, sharing reviews of those products if they aren’t already on the blog. At the end of the month, I’ll share an update of how well I did and then list the items for the next month. The products are chosen from these categories;

  • One Eyeshadow Palette
  • One Lip Item (lipstick, lip balm, gloss, etc.)
  • One Face Item (foundation, highlighter, blush, bronzer)
  • One Random Item (can be another item from the categories above, or be something else like mascara, liner, skincare, body care, fragrance, etc.)

October Round-Up

One thing I love about focusing on specific items in my collection is that I can judge how much I actually like them. When I bought my Smashbox Minimalist Cover Shot Palette I was sure I would use this a lot, however, I realize after having this in my Project Pan I realize I don’t love the colours in this palette. One side is neutral, the other is cool. I leaned towards using neutral brown tones because the grey tones were not appealing to me.

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My Guerlain lip balm remained in my purse and I continued to use it frequently throughout the month. I like this lip balm and I think that I am going to go back and purchase more shades. It’s the only lip item I’ve enjoyed in this whole Project Pan series. Granted the before and after doesn’t show much has been used up believe me when I say that I used this quite a lot.

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At the beginning of October, I used the Becca Backlight Primer pretty often but after about a week I stopped using it and then that was that. It was just another step in my morning routine that I was too lazy to do.

I used my Maybelline Concealer every time I wore makeup, however, you wouldn’t guess based on the photo above that it was ever used. I do want to just use this up so I am avoiding using my other concealers for now that I finish this up. Maybe it’ll make it onto an empties post in a few months!

My November Items

For this month I chose;

  • One Eyeshadow Palette  – Dose of Colors Eyeshadow Palette in Baked Browns
  • One Lip Item – Urban Decay Lipstick In Sheer Liar
  • One Face Item – Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit – Volume 4 (reviewed here)
  • One Random Item – CoverFX Custom Enhancer Drops in Moonlight (reviewed here)

I love how I chose items will all chrome packaging! It’s so aesthetically pleasing.

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I’m really excited about the items I’ve picked for this month. I’m enjoying the eyeshadow so far – lookout for a review coming soon! I’m also very much in love with the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Palette so I’m excited to use it. Now is also the best time to try to use up the CoverFX drops. I’ve had this mini bottle for such a long time now and it was in last year’s Project Pan so I’m really hoping I use up more of it.

 

How is your progress been for Project Pan this month? What are you hoping to use up for November?

Lots of Love,
Dal

Bye Bye Empties, October 2019

littlebeautyloves7 Comments

It has been a beautiful fall season so far! Toronto weather has been mild and the leaves are changing colours! It’s looking gorgeous out there! October was a relaxing month for me. We had Canadian Thanksgiving at the beginning of the month which was a nice time spent with family. I also did Halloween Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland which is when they turn the amusement park into a scary playground at night with lots of haunted mazes, I loved it! Now it’s slowly easing into colder weather and we might have our first snowfall this week. I know some places in Canada have already experienced that. I’m really looking forward to it!

Now on to what I used up in October!

*Note: I’m on a no-buy this year. If I mention repurchasing an item, it just means that I really liked it and would buy again, just not in 2019.

Skincare & Makeup

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Ko Gen Do Makeup Wipe. I received this in my BoxyCharm and it was one of my favourite makeup wipes. The cloth itself was thick and the makeup removing solution worked extremely well at removing makeup. I’m having a hard time finding these from Canadian retailers so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to repurchase this. I will if I can find it!

Shiseido Ibuki Smart Filtering Smoother. I did a full review of this product which you can read here. This is like a blotting sheet but in liquid form. As someone who has dry skin, it didn’t work for me. I held on to it for the summer but I think it’s time I just removed it from my stash. I think the product is discontinued but I would not repurchase this anyways.

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Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara. I received this from Influenster a while back and spent the last 2 months focusing on using it up. This is a pretty good mascara. I loved how rich the colour was and how it fanned out my lashes. I have so many mascaras I like more than this one though so I won’t be repurchasing it.

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Moisturizer (sample size). I absolutely love this line from Neutrogena, it has hyaluronic acid which keeps my skin moisturized. I love the consistency of the formula, where it feels like a light cool gel rather than a heavy cream. I would definitely repurchase this.

Hair, Body, Misc.

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Dove Derma+Care Scalp Conditioner. This hydrated my hair way more than I thought it would. I used it after the Dove Anti-Dandruff shampoo and together these worked so well. I think it might give my Head & Shoulders’ shampoo and conditioner a run for it’s money! Plus the Dove conditioner smells so good! I would repurchase this.

Yves Rocher Monoi Lagoon Moisturizing Perfume Body Mist. This has such a tropical flower scent that I enjoy so much in the summer. It’s sweet but not super heavy so I can easily wear this all day without it giving me a headache. I used this about half-way through but I think it was getting really old because it was getting clumpy and gross on the inside. I decided it was best I just throw it out. I have a lot of perfumes and body mists to get through so I won’t be repurchasing this.

Marvis Jasmine Mint Toothpaste. I used up another one of my Marvis tubes of toothpaste. The Jasmine mint tasted like soap! yuck! I think there might be a few more uses in this tube but I’m not going to bother using it. I would not repurchase this particular flavour.

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That’s all I was able to use up in October! I have a couple of items that were near finishing I thought would make it on to this month but alas will probably show up in November. I feel like I’m making good progress through my skincare and body items but it’s taking so long to use up any makeup! Even with my no-buy and project pan!

What items have you used up for October?

Lots of Love,
Dal

Unboxing BoxyCharm, October 2019

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Price: $21.00 USD (+$5.00 shipping to Canada)
Number of items: 4-5 full-size items

Boxycharm is a monthly subscription box of full-size makeup, skincare and beauty tools. The theme for this month is “after dark”.

After subscribing to BoxyCharm for 2 years, I’ve decided to cancel after this month. I did enjoy this monthly box and would highly recommend it but I just am looking to try a different subscription service. It’s a bit of a bummer now that BoxyCharm is now offereing customization but I’ve been curious about trying FabFitFun and I don’t want to have two subscriptions at the same (especially since they are coming from the US and I have to take into account any shipping and conversion rates).

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Anyways! On to the last box!

PRICES ARE IN USD, CONVERTED TO CAD AT THE END

Dose of Colours Eyeshadow Palette
MSRP: $32.00 US

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These palettes are raved about on youtube so I am very happy to see this in my Boxycharm! I think the idea of a smaller 5 pan pallette with colours that are meant to work together to create easy go-to looks.

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I like that I received the Bakes Browns version since that will likely be one I’d wear quite a lot! It is a good palette to take on the go and I do think I’d use the two-side brush it comes with since one side is fluffy and the other is flat which are brushes that I tend to use the most anyways.

Touch In Sol Pretty Filter Glassy Skin Balm
MSRP: $32.00 US

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This is a priming skin balm that creates a glow. You apply this as the last step to your skincare routine. I really like receiving skincare items to try out. I think the packaging is really pretty however when it comes to the cream I wish it was in a tube style container. Anyways, I’ll give this a try and let you know what I think!

Iconic London Lip Plumping Gloss in Nearly Nude
MSRP: $26.00 US

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This is a non-sticky, plumping gloss that is high shine. The formula is infused with a biomimetic peptide, which helps support natural collagen. I didn’t have a chance to swatch this on my lips but I really like the smell and shade of this lip gloss. I think it’ll look really beautiful with a dark lip liner. It does have high shine but is not super sticky. The only thing I wasn’t too much of a fan of is the doe-foot style applicator. It’s scooped which is supposed to hug the lips but I thought it was very bendable, so I’d be nervouse it might break. Fingers crossed it doesn’t!

Skin&Co Truffle Therapy Radiant Dew Mist
MSRP: $35.00 US

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This is a hydrating mist to soothe, protect and illuminate the skin. It’s enriched with antioxidants and botanicals. The mist encourages a radiant complexion while re-balancing the skin’s PH level, tightening pores, and setting makeup. Nothing like a good skincare mist! I am very excited to give this a try!

Chella Slanted Tip Tweezers
MSRP: $20.00 US

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I always enjoy getting a new tool! I tried these tweezers the other day and they were great. The circle grip makes it really easy to hold the tweezers comfortably and they are really good at pulling unwanted hairs.

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I can never have enough tweezers. It can be hard to find good ones so whenever there is one I like I try to not lose it. Which can be hard to do! Having extras around is always good.

My Thoughts

For my last BoxyCharm this had a lot of really good staple items for me. As much as I love makeup, I am most happy for the skincare balm and the face mist as well as the tweezers!

Total Value: $145.00 US ($190.35)

Did you get BoxyCharm this month? What did you get in your box and what are your thoughts?

Lots of Love,
Dal

Bye Bye Empties, September 2019

littlebeautyloves4 Comments

I seriously don’t know where September went! It was a strange feeling to have it turn to October so quickly!

I am looking forward to October since it’ll be Canadian Thanksgiving and Halloween! The weather is getting cooler but I’m still holding on that we will have a nice long Fall season and some sunny and mild days!

On to what I used up in September!

*Note: I’m on a no-buy this year. If I mention repurchasing an item, it just means that I really liked it and would buy again, just not in 2019.

Skincare

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Fresh Sugar Lip Polish. I have a review of this lip scrub on the blog that you can check out here. I have owned this particular tub for a while so I think it’s time I threw it out. I have a polish from Bite Beauty and one from Lush that I wanted to use so I won’t be repurchasing this for some time.

Garnier Ombrelle 60 SPF Tinted Lotion. This is maybe my third bottle of this sunscreen that I’ve used up. You can read my review of this product here. What I like about this is that it’s a mineral sunscreen so it doesn’t absorb into the skin but rather sits on top of the skin and reflects UVA/UVB rays. I like the light coverage which I have really been enjoying lately. I am going to repurchase this.

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FAB Pure Skin Face Cleanser. It wasn’t too long ago that I was raving about this face cleanser on the blog which you can read here. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this cleanser. It’s gentle, creamy, and effective. It leaves my skin feeling clean and hydrated. It’s perfect at removing tough makeup and great as a daily cleanser. I have a few other face cleansers that I need to get through so I won’t be repurchasing this one just yet!

Quo Miceller Water Facial Wipes. I received these wipes at an event and thought they were OK. They might be fine for everyday but since I like to wear mascara and liner I need my facial wipes to remove that easily. Unfortunately, I felt this was a bit too harsh for me and while I was able to use up all the wipes in this pack I won’t be purchasing another one myself.

Body Care

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Bath and Body Works Sheer Cotton & Lemonade Shower Gel. A tried and true body product. I love BBW shower gels and this was great! I really enjoy the scent and it lathered up nicely (I like a lot of suds in my shower gels). It also worked nicely for bubble bath. I would repurchase this.

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SOOOOOO I didn’t use up too many items in September but there were a couple of makeup items that I could have added to this month’s empties but I decided to use them up as much as I could for October.

What items made it to your empties in September?

Lots of Love,
Dal

Project Pan Monthly: August Roundup & September Items

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This post is going up later than my usual schedule. I have been using my September Items since the beginning of the month but I’ve finally gotten around to posting it.

For August I was again on the minimal makeup train. I really don’t like piling a lot of makeup on when it was super hot outside. I also feel like generally, I want to wear less and less makeup, especially foundation. I have recently started wearing BB Creams again. You’ll see below that I added a BB Cream to my September Project Pan.  I did enjoy using my colourful eyeshadows though, so I’m going to continue to incorporate that. I think by the end of August I had used my products about 23/30 days.

In case you didn’t know, this is my Project Pan objective;

Project Pan Monthly

Each month I choose 4 items to use, sharing reviews of those products if they aren’t already on the blog. At the end of the month, I’ll share an update of how well I did and then list the items for the next month. The products are chosen from these categories;

  • One Eyeshadow Palette
  • One Lip Item (lipstick, lip balm, gloss, etc.)
  • One Face Item (foundation, highlighter, blush, bronzer)
  • One Random Item (can be another item from the categories above, or be something else like mascara, liner, skincare, body care, fragrance, etc.)]

August Roundup

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Starting with the eyeshadow palette, I used my Smashbox Cover shot Palette during the week for fun one sweep eyeshadows for work. I loved using the shades on the right-hand quad because it has the golden and orange colours which worked a lot with the outfits I wore in August.

The orange blush got good use at the beginning of summer when I was really into wearing warm colours and I was wearing warmer bronzer. Towards the end of August though I started wanted to wear cool pink blushes that I have instead so this didn’t get as much use as I was hoping.

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I was pretty consistent with wearing my Yves Rocher Foundation in August because I would mix it with my bb cream to sheer it out to make it lighter coverage. The shade was just right for my summer skin and I really love this formula. I was able to use about a quarter of the bottle which I think is great progress.

Lastly, although I didn’t use my Laritzy Lip Crayon as often, I still really enjoyed it whenever I did wear it. This felt more like a balm which made it very comfortable to wear. I, unfortunately, kept forgetting to put it in my purse so I would remember to reapply it during the day but if I did I’m sure I would have used up more of it.

My September  Items

This month I’ve chosen;

  • One Eyeshadow Palette – Too Faced Just Peachy Mattes (reviewed here)
  • One Lip Item – Guerlain Hydrating & Plumping Lip Balm
  • One Face Item – Garnier SkinActive BB Cream 5 in 1
  • One Random Item – Nest Cocoa Wood Eau De Parfum

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This month, I’m going to be focusing on pinks and peaches since I just feel like continuing the colour train from last month. It has been a while since I’ve used my Just Peachy Mattes Palette but I think it’ll really work with Fall vibes.  Since I’ve was mixing my foundation with this BB CReam anyways I thought I’d focus on my Garnier SkinActive BB Cream. I received it at a beauty event thrown by ChichAdvisor and I’ve been enjoying it ever since.

I’m also going to be heading back to lip balms for September. I was tempted to pick a warm nude or brown shade for Autumn, but I figured that the season hasn’t justed just yet so I wanted to give my brighter shades one last go. Plus, it’s a balm so it’s very comfortable to wear. Lastly, I added perfume to my Project Pan. This one from Nest came as a set that I received on my birthday. I decided I would start wearing it more often since I loved this scent.

How is your progress been for Project Pan this month? What are you hoping to use up for September?

Lots of Love,
Dal

Bye Bye Empties, August 2019

littlebeautyloves4 Comments

It feels like August flew by so quickly! There was so much that was going on that it really felt like all my days were filled with time spent with family and friends. At the beginning of the month I celebrated a friend’s engagement which was a lot of fun. I also had family visit from out of town so I spent a lot of time with them. I also went twice to the CNE! The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is put on the last two weeks of August. It’s a large fair with carnival rides, games and a lot of food! Since it’s close to my home I love going to walk around and take in all the sights.

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The only sad part is that it means summer is coming to end and school is around the corner for a lot of students. So far September has been much cooler so it really feels like Autumn is not too far away which I’m not upset about because I love Autumn and I’m looking forward to bringing out my sweaters and boots!

On to what I used up in August!

*Note: I’m on a no-buy this year. If I mention repurchasing an item, it just means that I really liked it and would buy again, just not in 2019.

Skincare

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The Face Shop Nutriganics Foaming Facial Wash. I absolutely love this face wash because it’s so gentle on the skin and effective at removing makeup and dirt from my face. If you want to see a full review of this, you can read it here. I have a lot of face washes that I need to get through but I would definitely repurchase this.

Yves Rocher Elixier. This serum is meant to help fight off the effects of environmental aggressors. I like this because it’s light and was great for my skin. I generally enjoy Yves Rocher skin care items and this is definitely one I would repurchase.

Body Care & Makeup Samples

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Fresh Sugar Eau de Parfum. This is a sample I got from Sephora a while ago and I had used it after my shower. I enjoy this scent because it’s fresh and sweet. I don’t think I’d purchase a full size of this but I’m happy I got to try it.

Benefit Gimme Brow +. You know what’s funny? I have never purchased a full size of this product! I always seem to receive samples of this in monthly boxes or with purchases of Benefit products. I always use this when I want to quickly do my brows so I know I would purchase a full size if I ever needed to. I currently have another sample of this open so hopefully I won’t need to purchase one until the end of my no-buy

Lipsticks

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The other day I went through my makeup collection and pulled out a bunch of lipsticks that I’ve opened and are more than two years old. Since they aren’t empty I didn’t think it was necessary to write down each one. A couple that I really enjoyed include Too Faced Sweet Peach gloss and the Estee Lauder Lipstick (in the center).

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I didn’t use up very many items in August, however, I did clear out some old lipsticks. I feel like I need to go through my makeup collection more often and de-clutter a lot of the old stuff.

What items made it to your empties in August?

Lots of Love,
Dal

Five Eye Brushes I use A Lot!

littlebeautyloves5 Comments

I own quite a lot of brushes. I’m sure that is a statement that a lot of us can agree to! LOL!

I’m sure we’ve all gone through so many brushes, ones that we bought thinking they would be perfect only to end up switching them for something else. It took me a long time to build the collection I have and although I’m happy with them I’m always trying new ones to see how they might make my makeup application better or easier.

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I decided for this post to pull out five eye brushes that I enjoy using and share them. I have a few posts on brushes in my collection that I’ve reviewed and you can read them here and here. I still use all those brushes but since my collection is large I figured why not share more!

Here are five eye brushes that I use a lot!

Quo Eye Shadow Smudger Brush

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This is the first smudger style brush that I ever bought and I’ve purchased more smudger brushes ever since! I think Shoppers was having a sale on Quo brushes at the time so it was the perfect opportunity to grab one and see how I liked this style brush. I love using this to apply shadow to my lower and upper lash line because it gives a nice smokey effect.

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The bristles on this brush are short and dense which helps keep everything close to the lash line but the brush itself is really soft. I like that I can get really close to my lash line to frame my eyes. I also like that the ends are rounded so that I can move the brush around the curve of my eyes.

Sephora Pro Featherweight Crease Brush

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I use this brush a lot for my crease because I find that it’s soft but not so fluffy so it keeps product from blending out too much around my eyes. It keeps the look precise but still creates a seemless blend. I own a lot of blending brushes but I really like this one when I want to take time to blend out my eyeshadow.

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What I love about this brush is that after so much use it continues to hold it’s shape. I love the domed tip which makes it really comfortable to use in the crease. I’m a bit bummed that this is no longer at Sephora and if I knew it was going to be discontinued I might have bought another one.

Artdeco Blending Brush

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I featured this brush before on the blog in the post focusing on the brushes in my One Look, One Week Review Series. I mentioned that this brush is quite versatile and it continues to be a well loved and highly used brush. Recently, I’ve been using it a lot for cream shadows I have (ie. the Nudestix shadows) to blend out any rough edges. The brush is dense so it really blends out cream perfectly.

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What I love about this brush is that one side is wide, while the other side is flat.

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This allows me to use this to lightly blend out shadow in my crease using the flat side or to sweep shadow on my lid using the wider side. It’s even been used as a liner smudger and to blend shadow on my lower lid. It does everything I want a brush to do. Whenever I travel I take this brush with me because I can use it in a variety of ways. I plan on purchasing more of these types of brushes.

Inglot Large Eyeshadow Brush, 28 PO (I think?)

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This brush has a special place in my heart because it was one of the first professional style brushes that I ever purchased and it’s held up all these years. I don’t think at the time Inglot had put the brush numbers on their brushes so I’m guessing it’s the 28PO based on their description online. I purchased this brush to help clean around the edges of my eyeshadow because it’s a super big and dense brush.

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If ever my eyeshahow is starting to blend out a little too far on my eye and I want to blend out the colours I’ll take this brush to help clean it all up. The brush is also perfect as a shadow brush because it’s so big that I can definitly use it as a one sweep brush and be done with eyeshadow. I don’t use this too often because it is so big, but whenever I need a brush like this I’m also so happy I have it.

Luxie 111 Mini Flat Angled Brush

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I received this brush in my November BoxyCharm as part of a four-pack brush set. I use all the brushes in that set but this one is one that I use most out of all of them and I use it specifically to apply eyeshadow to my lower lashes.

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Because the brush is angled, it fits perfectly under my lower lashes and applies shadow really close to my lower lash. By being able to apply a thin shadow under my lashes I keep my shadow looking sleek. I really enjoy this brush. I don’t think I would have thought to purchase this on my own, but after receiving it and trying it out, it has really improved my eyeshadow application.

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These are some of my favourite eye shadow brushes. I plan to share more of my favourite brushes for my eyes and face on the blog since I have so many that I really like and I’m curious to know what are some of your favourite brushes too!

Let me know what brushes you use a lot for your eye shadow application.

Lots of Love,
Dal

Project Pan Monthly: July Roundup & August Items

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I have been keeping my makeup extremely minimal in July since it was a pretty warm month. There were some items in my July Project Pan that I used so much and then there were some items that I hardly touched at all! I think it’s partly because I didn’t anticipate it being as warm so I was really not in the mood to wear a lot of makeup that would melt off. I’ll break it down more in my July Roundup below. All in all, I used my items about 24/31 days.

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In case you didn’t know, this is my Project Pan objective;

Project Pan Monthly

Each month I choose 4 items to use, sharing reviews of those products if they aren’t already on the blog. At the end of the month, I’ll share an update of how well I did and then list the items for the next month. The products are chosen from these categories;

  • One Eyeshadow Palette
  • One Lip Item (lipstick, lip balm, gloss, etc.)
  • One Face Item (foundation, highlighter, blush, bronzer)
  • One Random Item (can be another item from the categories above, or be something else like a mascara, liner, skin care, body care, fragrance, etc.)

July Roundup

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Let’s start with the eye makeup items I chose for this month. It was so easy for me to use the three Nudestix products I have in the photo above because they were great as one and done shadows or applying two for a slightly more done up look. The bronze tones were prefect on my slightly tanned skin and went with a lot of my summer outfits.

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When it came to the lip item, I used Pulse the most this month. I also used it quite a bit as a blush because it was a nice natural shade on me. As much as I wanted to use the dirty little secret lip liner it just wasn’t something that I was reaching for at all! I think it’s mostly because I was happy with Pulse on it’s own so I always forgot to add lip liner.

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Now, as much as I thought the Clinique Powder was going to work perfectly for me in the summer, it just didn’t work on my dry skin. It actually made me feel really dry and itchy and I didn’t like that at all. Even though it was very warm my skin remained super dehydrated so this got immediately tossed to the side in my project pan. I’m tempted to toss this out only because having my skin feel itchy after applying it made me a little nervous about using it.

My August Items

This month I’ve chosen;

  • One Eyeshadow Palette – Smashbox CoverShot Palette in Ablaze (reviewed here)
  • One Lip Item – Laritzy Cosmetics Lip Stix in Wafer
  • One Face Item – Yves Rocher Flawless Skin Foundation
  • One Random Item – Sephora Blush in Apricot Sheen

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I thought I’d stick with a warm palette for August as an ode to summer! I know warm toned orange/red/gold palettes like Ablaze are not as popular as they were two years ago but I still love these colours so I’m sure I’d get good use out of it. (If you want to see the inside of the palette, check out the link here since it seems I totally didn’t upload the photo of the open palette for this post). Same goes for the Sephora blush I’ve included for this month. I bought this blush on sale and I don’t think Sephora carries it anymore but it’s a gorgeous warm blush with little flecks of golden sparkle. It looks really pretty and dewy on and I think with the eye shadow palette it’ll look really good.

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For this month’s lip item I decided to include the Laritzy Lip Stix I received in my Topbox. I enjoy the texture of this lip crayon. It’s very smooth and hydrating and the colour is a beautiful nude which will also work with a lot of the looks I want to create using the Ablaze palette. I’ve included my Yves Rocher Foundation since the colour is a bit darker which is working for my complexion now. I mostly use it around my eyes and the centre of my face for a very light amount of coverage.

Here’s hoping I get good use out of these items for August! I have already used these this 3 times since the start of the month so that’s really good so far!

How is your progress been for Project Pan this month? What are you hoping to use up for August?

Lots of Love,
Dal

Bye Bye Empties, June 2019

littlebeautyloves1 Comment

June was a great month! The weather got warmer and although there were still a lot of rainy days, whenever there were sunny ones I took advantage of them. I enjoy the warmer months for hanging out with friends on patios and walking around the city which I did a lot of in June. I’m looking forward to doing more of that in July! It’s been pretty hot and humid the last few days in Toronto and I love it!

Now on to what I used up!

*Note: I’m on a no-buy this year. If I mention repurchasing an item, it just means that I really liked it and would buy again, just not in 2019. However, I did break my No-Buy to purchase the Alyssa Edwards x Anastasia Hills Palette in June, but I’ve been really good otherwise.

Skincare

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Aveeno Ultra-Calming Sensitive Skin Make-Up Wipes. These makeup removing wipes were alright. I found that they started to dry out a lot sooner than other wipes I’ve used in the past. I also found the wipe itself to feel a bit harsh. I won’t be repurchasing these.

Dr. Roebuck’s Pure  Moisturizer. I got this with other Products from Dr. Roebucks back when I was still subscribed to Topbox. This moisturizer is extreme, it’s great if you have very dry skin and is made for those who may suffer from eczema. I used this at first for my face when I was feeling extremely dry but then I started using it a lot on my hands because they are always dry and really loved this product. I would repurchase this.

Haircare

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Pantene Intense Rescue Shots. I received this treatment mask from Influencer to test out and while I did think the mask itself was good, I was not a fan of the packaging. Each tube is supposed to give you enough product for one use which I think gets to be a little wasteful. I’m on the fence whether I would repurchase this.

Shu Uemura Silk Bloom Restorative Treatment. Another hair mask that I used up this month, I absolutely love and recommend this hair mask. You can read my full review here.  I would repurchase this product.

Makeup

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Lancome Monsieur Big Mascara. I love this mascara because it gives me instantly full and dramatic lashes. At first, I would only wear it when going out because it was super bold on me. As it started to dry though I would were this during the day to use it up and loved how it really made my lashes look flared out. This is one of my favourite mascaras to wear and I have a few small samples of this that I’m going to use up. I would repurchase this.

Ciate London Bamboo Bronzer. I shared a review of this bronzer back in March which you can read here.  I loved this warm-toned bronzer but it got more and more difficult to use because this pan was too small that it made it really difficult to dip my large bronzer brush into so I figured I might as well just toss this out now since I can’t get it to evenly cover my brushes.

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I’m happy with my empties for this month. I used up some hair, skincare and makeup items. Now that I’m half-way through my no-buy year I feel like I’m making a lot of progress of using up the items in my collection. I’ve also really started to appreciate the makeup and skincare I have without being consumed with the new products that I have been realized. It feels really good to just use up what I have.

What items have you used up for June?

Lots of Love,
Dal