Tarte Baby It's Bold Outside Sets Review

Hi all! Before I begin my review today, please check out my last blog post to win some free makeup. Open to everyone! All you have to do is follow me on Twitter and tell me what you would like to see next on my blog. It's that simple :)

Back to our main topic today.. Tarte. I've been a great fan since I discovered their products about 2 years ago. Outside of North America I find that it is almost impossible to get their products, and if lucky enough, the products will cost a bomb!

Today I'm sharing a short review about the holiday sets that came out in Sephora. You'll be able to find this set in store and online.

Baby It's Bold Outside Makeup and Blush Set 

The first set is one that comes with 24 FULL SIZE Amazonian clay eyeshadows, 8 maracuja lipglosses, 1 Amazonian clay blush in Shimmering Rose, 1 brush, 1 tester size mascara and a small finishing powder. 

The shadows

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Shimmering Rose

This set is amazing for $70! The eyeshadows are super pigmented as well as the blush. Their Amazonian clay line it most well known for the longevity of the products. A little goes a long way :)

At first I was concerned that the lip glosses will be really crappy as the packaging looks like the ones you can find for little girl makeup sets. But no! They are amazing glosses despite the slightly cheap plastic container it comes in. I'm super stoked to have so many colours to play with. 

The brush and the bag that it comes with are also very handy. Size is great, good for travelling and makeup gigs!

The blush set comes with 4 Amazonian Clay blushes (I LOVE THEM!) in colour Angelic, Fantastic, Magic, and Stellar. It's a great selection and fits most skin tones. Prior to this I only have Dollface, and this has made my blush collection so much better!!!

All in all, I highly recommend you to check it out in stores if Tarte is accessible to you. I'm sure you will fall in love with it!

Stay tune tomorrow for some Givenchy makeup review.

YSL Teint Resist Long Wear Foundation Review

YSL Teint Resist Long Wear Foundation

I don't usually go for a high end foundation if it's not required. I understand that some people think that more $$ means better quality, but in my opinion, I give everything a fair chance and it's safe to say that  drugstore brands have outperform the expensive brands over the years.

YSL recently came out with another foundation, the Touche Eclat but I haven't gotten a chance to try it out yet. If you would wish me to compare the 2 foundations please leave a comment down below! :D

Bare face

As usual, I'm showing you the bare face! hahaha. Lately I have not been  much outside so I believe I have lost some of the tan that I gained during the summer. Toronto is also getting very cold now (ugh! hate it!) so I am staying indoors as much as I can.

After

I applied the fondation with my trusty Sigma F80 Flat top brush. I reallllly need to get a new one! That brush is my fav and always give me a perfect finish!

Close up

I went along to put on the rest of my makeup. I did not set this foundation with any powders or setting sprays.

3 hours later

Excuse me with the bad hair. My fringe is growing at this weird length that it keeps falling on my face so I have to pin it back. I went out around Bloor st and my makeup stayed intact for that 3 hours.

7 hours later (with flash)

We met up with our friends and went to Hapa Izakaya for dinner. My makeup still looks very fresh even though it has been 7 hours. No signs of blush sliding down my cheeks or eyeshadow going under the eyes. 

Check out my lashes!!!! I'm only using the new Givenchy mascara!

Pros:

• Light weight
• Medium coverage
• Long lasting (May differ slightly if humidity and temperature is HIGH outside)
• Great colour selection

Cons:

• I honestly can't think of any! 

Thank you for reading and see you soon!

What has your makeup done for you lately? Tarte Cosmetics Review

Hi all! Today I'm here to share a very popular cosmetic set that just launched recently on QVC. That is the Tarte Cosmetics - What has your makeup done for your lately? set. I'll be demonstrating a tutorial featuring all of the products in the set and a Tarte Amazonian Clay blush as that is not included in the bundle.

What has your makeup done for you lately?

All the products here have maracuja oil (passion fruit oil) in it as it's suppose to help moisturise and brightens your skin. My box also came with a premium tester of the Tarte Maracuja C-brightener Eye Treatment. 

I wasn't very smart and accidentally bought the foundation in a shade too light for myself. However I'll still be using the foundation without mixing in a darker colour in the tutorial. I start to lightly run the Pure Maracuja Oil on the spots of my face that are usually more dry, such as underneath the eyes, around the nose and mouth. Blend it out with your fingers.

Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil

The oil absorbs into the skin quickly and is not scented. It smells a bit like any oil.. cooking oil. 

Maracuja Miracle Foundation in Fair

 BEFORE

AFTER

I used one pump of the foundation and blended it out with the brush that came with the set. Foundation is medium to high coverage. The brush smells pretty bad even though I've already washed it twice and it is rather scratchy to use it as a foundation blush. I would say this serves better as a contour or blush brush.

Tarte Modern Eyes Waterproof Creaseless Shadow/ Liner Duo in Plumberry/ Plum Brown

The eyeliner is probably my favourite product out of the set. It is super pigmented and soft. The colour is absolutely beautiful too! I used it for tight lining in this tutorial.

Tight line + shadow pencil

Creaseless shadow in Plumberry

Blend it out with your fingers. Ideally I would use this only as a base and top it off with a powder eyeshadow. Despite of what it claims, the shadow still creased on my eyelids. I do have particularly oily lids!

Progress so far... TOO WHITE OMG

I am very aware that the foundation it way too fair for my skin tone. Funnily enough though, in person it seems to have oxidised into a colour that is closer to my skin tone now! I only applied very little amount of the foundation this time.

Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara in Gifted

This mascara has a dry formula, which I love! Although it doesn't provide super voluminous lashes compare to MUFE's, it still does a pretty amazing job. Perhaps it will become better as I use it more.

Mascara

For the sake of a complete look, I pulled out my one and only Tarte blush.

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush in Dollface

Tarte LipSurgence in Smitten

Love the LipSurgeon! I like the minty feeling it gives on the lips. The new packaging is no longer a twist up, it now comes with a sharpener so that your tip is always sharp!

Complete Look Close Up

Complete Look!

If you have a chance I would highly recommend you to get some Tarte products, especially this particular set as it is a super great deal! I just wished I picked the correct foundation instead of this one that is way too fair for me. Only $59 for all these!!! 

Thank you and see you in my next post! ^.^

Hard Candy Naturally Naughty Review & No Brush Makeup Tutorial

Hard Candy products are only available in Walmart and some of their products have been quite popular in the beauty community. Today I'm sharing a set that I recently purchased for about $8 at Walmart. It comes with 2 kal-eye-descopes eyeshadows, an eyeshadow primer, lash tinsel, take me out liner, & ginormous lash mascara.

Hard Candy Naturally Naughty Set at Walmart

I will be using my fingers for all the makeup application today. You certainly don't have to own brushes to do your makeup in you're on a budget! It's really quick and easy.

I applied L'oreal True Match Lumi Foundation and blend it out with my fingers. This colour was a bit too dark for me just about a month ago, but now it matches my skin perfectly.

L'oreal True Match Lumi Foundation in W5 Sand Beige

BEFORE (with foundation)

Firstly, apply a thin layer of the eyeshadow primer on your lids.

Hard Candy Eyeshadow Primer

Use your clean ring finger and pick up the lighter eyeshadow and apply it on the inner 2/3 of your lids.

Kal-eye-descope Baked Eyeshadow in High Maintenance

As such

Then use another finger and apply the darker shade on the 1/3 outer part of your lids. Blend lightly with another clean finger. You'll realise that the application is fairly smooth and seamless with fingers!

Eyeshadows complete

Line your upper lash line and 1/3 outer corner of your lower lash time with a brown liner.

Hard Candy Take Me Out Liner

Apply mascara and layer it with the glitter mascara provided.

Hard Candy Glamorous Lash Volumizing Mascara 

Hard Candy Lash Tinsel Glitter Mascara

Complete your face with your favourite blush and lip colour. Here I used an ELF All Over Stick as my blush/ highlight.

ELF All Over Color Stick in Golden Peach

Complete look close up

Eye makeup

Complete!

Although Hard Candy products are cheap, some of them are not that great in quality. Some of the products that are lacking in this set are:

1. The lighter colour of the baked eyeshadow. It was quite hard to pick up the colour, maybe foiling it would be the only way for it to be more vibrant.
2. Take Me Out Eyeliner. The pencil is quite drying, more like an eyebrow pencil than eyeliner.
3. Ginormous Lash Volumizing Mascara. It does nothing for my lashes. 

The 2 other products are decent but there is nothing special to say about it. Overall I would say give this set a pass unless you really want to try it out for yourself.

I do not like to provide negative reviews but I feel that it is important for companies to know that their products need improvement and consumers should not waste money on cosmetics that don't work.

Favourite Mascaras 3 Hits 1 Miss

Happy Friday!! Hope everyone is had a great day! I certainly did. We went to Canada's Wonderland for the first time and went on a lot of "line rides". haha! I mean fun rides!

I'll be sharing 3 of my favourite mascaras and 1 not so favourite (although it's a very popular one in Asia).

1.

L'oreal Voluminous Hydrofuge Waterproof Mascara (Drug store)

Love this because:

• Gives a lot of volume
• Does not smear, smudge, or flake
• Long lasting
• Affordable

Sometimes I hate it because:

• Definitely need to rub it in a little bit more when washing your face to get rid of everything
• Might leave residue on the lower lashes after cleaning your face

2.

Bobbi Brown Lash Glamour Extreme Lengthening Mascara (Sephora or Shopping Mall)

Love this because:

• Gives both lengthening and voluminous finish to your lash
• Does not smear, smudge or flake
• Easy to remove

Hate this because:

• Expensive
• Takes a LONG time to build up to the desired look

3. 

Prestige My Blackest Black Lashes Mascara (Drug Store)

Love this because:

• Gives a voluminous finish
• Easy to remove
• Does not smear, smudge, or flake

Hate this because:

• It only works better for me after I've used it for several weeks when the products becomes more dry

There is actually another one more mascara that I really like but I did not repurchase it due to the price point, that is Make Up Forever Smoky Lash Mascara. It is absolutely amazing but so expensive!!

Last but not least, my 1 miss!

Majorlica Majorca Lash Enamel Glamour -NEO (Asian Drug Store)

Hate this because:

• Absolutely ridiculous to remove. I could scrub off my eyes with make up remover and it will still be there.

Hope this helps some of you out there that are looking for new mascaras to try! 

If you have any recommendations please leave a comment so I can try it out next. ^.^

Lazy day make up (suitable for work/going out)

*** GIVEAWAY : http://aivysbeautyadventure.blogspot.ca/2012/06/maybelline-dream-fresh-8-in-1-beauty.html ***

Hello there! Today I'll be demonstrating a look that I often wear out during my lazy days. It's suitable for work, hanging out, and humid days. This is also a very cost friendly look!

First remember to put on your sun screen! My apologies that I look sleepy here. I think I didn't open my eyes properly when the camera flashed at me!

Completed Look

Before

Begin with setting your face with some face powder. If you have anything you wish to conceal, do so before the powder.

Ecotools Angle Brush (available at drug store); Elf Powder Brush

ZA 2 Way Brightening Powder

Use the ELF powder brush to apply your favourite powder and blend evenly. 

Prestige Blackest Black Mascara, Physicians Formula Eye Bright Pencil in Black

Tight lining

Then tight line your eyes using the Physicians Formula pencil liner. This eyeliner is smudge proof and I am using it a lot at the moment!! 

Left eye: tight lined; Right eye: Bare

Tight lining makes your lashes look thicker and your eyes more awake. This technique is not for all as some people get very irritated on the eyes. Although it does come with practice and finding out which product suits you more. I particularly like doing this on myself, people with sparse eye lashes, or blonde lashes.

Close up

Use the eyeliner to go across only half of your lash line for a more natural look.

ELF Brightening Eye Color Quad in Hazy Hazel

Use Ecotools Angle Brush with the darkest colour on the palette and smudge it all across your lash line to blend out the eyeliner. I usually use a brown colour for this look so that it'll create a more natural effect.

Like so!

Apply the lightest colour on the inner corner and all over the lid to bring some light onto the eyes. Apply your favourite blush with the same ELF brush and blend, finish off with a lip colour of your choice!

ELF Studio Baked Blush in Passion Pink

ELF Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Raspberry

Close up of the completed look!!

Tomorrow Yoshi and I will be heading to Canada's Wonderland so I may do a theme park themed topic!