Hard Candy Sheer Envy Hydrating Primer Mist Review

       I spotted this primer mist at Wal-Mart about three weeks ago and I couldn't resist snatching it up. I know I'm supposed to be on hiatus but there are very few reviews for this primer mist out here on the internet and I just want to quickly share the knowledge with anyone who might want to know how this primer functions on combination oily skin. 

       Claims from the packaging: This lightweight primer mist hydrates skin and revitalizes radiance You will get the benefits of priming, hydrating and refreshing your face. Coconut water infused to boost hydration benefits for up to 12 hours. Leaves skin soft, smooth and supple.

       This product retails for about $9.98CDN which is quite expensive for Hard Candy which has always been an inexpensive brand. It's even more expensive than their setting spray which cost me $6-7CDN when I bought it during the summer.

      The packaging also says you can use this mist as a setting spray in addition to a primer spray.

   

     Here are the ingredients. Hard Candy really impressed me with this ingredients list. They said it was infused with coconut water and that's definitely true. Coconut water is high up on the list as well so they didn't skimp on the active ingredients.

     Coconut oil makes me break out like crazy. I've tried using coconut oil to remove my makeup and the next day I had a cluster of cystic pimples on my cheeks. I don't even like using it on my hair, because it causes me to break out all around my hair line and nape. But coconut water doesn't make me break out which I'm happy for. 

      I've used this primer every day since I've bought it, as the first step before I apply the rest of my makeup. This primer doesn't promise to control oil, and I've noticed it doesn't control oil at all. It doesn't make me greasier than usual, but it doesn't inhibit my oil either.

     The spray nozzle on this bottle is much much better than the Hard Candy setting spray nozzle. That thing would drench my face even if I held it a full arm's length away. The nozzle for this mist is very fine and delivers a light mist of product onto my face.

     The primer didn't smell the way I thought it would. I expected it to have sort of a coconut smell but it smells sweet and faintly spicy. It's not a strong smell and it fades very quickly after application.

     I do notice this primer makes my skin extra soft and makes my makeup slide on extra smoothly. After applying the mist my skin feels really soft and supple, so it delivers on those claims. It does make a great primer as it is slightly sticky, which helps makeup adhere to skin.

     As for the 12 hour wear? Normally, I don't wear my makeup for that long. For the usual eight hours that I do I've noticed this primer doesn't extend the wear of my makeup or inhibit it. It gives my skin a nice hydration boost which is why I really like it, but it doesn't make a difference in the wear of my makeup and that is what a primer is supposed to do. At the same time, Hard Candy doesn't say it's supposed to extend the wear of your makeup; it just says its supposed to "boost hydration benefits for 12 hours" and it delivers on the promise of lasting hydration. 

    In short; I like the hydration without extra greasiness this primer gives me and I really enjoy using it every day. It doesn't affect the wear of my makeup or decrease / increase my oil output. It does keep my skin hydrated which it promises to do. 

Likes:

1. Delivers on it's hydration promises

2. Delivers on it's skin softening promises

3. Mists finely

4. Makes my makeup go on smoothly

5. The coconut water doesn't break me out

6. Doesn't make me oilier

Dislikes:

1. Smells kind of odd

2. Doesn't extend the wear of my makeup
3. Doesn't control oil

A-

Canadiana Beauty on Hiatus

Hello, readers!

I have to apologize for my silence. A lot of things are happening in my life and as much as I would like to continue reviewing and swatching products, I won't be able to. I want to give you guys swatches but I'm not in the place right now to give right now 100%. I feel like giving anything less isn't worth it.

I'm hoping to come back and start blogging again in May 2016 but I'm not sure what life has in store for me. I hope that my previous posts have been useful for others while they research their next beauty buy.

- Jasmine

Maybelline Baby Lips Winter 2015 Limited Edition Review + Swatches on Dark Skin

 

 

    I spotted these lip balms at Walmart a couple weeks ago in a display and I picked them up. One of my first reviews on this blog covered Maybelline's limited edition baby lips collection for Winter 2014 and I can't believe we've went full circle and come back to this point!

     I picked up this lip balms for $3.97 or so at Walmart. I only picked up Mint Please, Sprinkled Pink and Spice it Up! There's a fourth shade called Cocoa Crush but it was all sold out so I never got a chance to swatch it!

      I'm not going to give an in depth review of Baby Lips because I've done that countless times on this blog so I'm just going to show you what these lip balms look like on someone with NW45 skin.

      Here's Mint Please. It was called Mint Candy in the UK and honestly I like that name better than this one! I love the little earmuffs on the package though. It's almost clear with a pale pink base. I really wanted it to be clear like all the other bloggers said, but it's got a white base in there that shows up on pigmented lips. Mint Please smells faintly of mint but doesn't tingle on the lips like other minty lip balms that I've tried.






















      This pink shade is Sprinkled Pink. It was called Sugar Cookie in the UK. Sprinkled Pink is a cool toned pink with silver shimmer. Sprinkled Pink smells faintly of vanilla.





















       The red balm is Spice it Up! It's called Sweet Apple in the UK and I love that name! Spice it Up! is a pink red shade. It's much more pigmented than Cherry Me from the original and permanent Baby Lips line. It smells mostly like cinnamon and ginger with a faint apple note in the background.

       So here's a swatch of all the shades side by side.

 

Mint Please swatched on lips. It looks fine in the picture but in real life it looks pale and completely washes me out. 

    

 

Sprinkled Pink swatched on my lips. This shade was a huge no-no. It sinks into all of my lip lines and I can never get an even application with this shade. This one left my lips much drier then the other ones and I'm guessing it's because this one has shimmer in it.

 

Spice it Up! swatched on my lips. Easily my favourite shade on the collection. It applies very evenly and smoothly and looks great on my lips, no sinking into lines or being patchy. It's deeper and more red in real life.

I can't wait to see what shades Maybelline will come out with for the Spring 2016 collection! 



Witchcraft Protein Hardener Review

This brand has been around for ages. My mother used this brand when she was trying to grow her nails and after years of torn nails I finally listened!

This product is $8.88 at Wal-Mart. It is a Canadian brand as well which is definitely something nice to know! I love supporting Canadian brands especially when they deliver outstanding products.


Claims from the Witchcraft website: Gives nails resistance, protects nails from daily tasks, and other damaging elements, stops nails from splitting and flaking. 
Contains essential amino acid found in brazil nuts and sesame seeds. 

The product is very runny and has a translucent blue colour that doesn't translate onto the nail at all. It has the typical nail polish smell and dries to an INCREDIBLY glossy finish. My nails look like I put a fresh coat of polish on all the time. It's fantastic.

My nail situation: I'm not looking for a miracle. My nails grow pretty fast so I'm not looking for a product that'll speed up growth. I'm looking for something that'll keep my nails from peeling and tearing.

The first week I applied two coats of this hardener the day I bought it and then I applied two coats of polish on top. As a base coat it works phenomenally. It kept my polish from chipping which is absolutely amazing because I work part-time at Canadian Tire (on the floor, no less!) so if my nails don't chip after the first day it's a miracle.

After a week of treatment my nails hadn't chipped or ripped or flaked and I was feeling pretty pleased.

Ten days in this happened. Then one day while I was working out my ring finger's nail just snapped and my heart broke! I wanted to quit but I said I had to give this hardener the benefit of the doubt and use it for at least a month.

The second week I took off the polish, moisturized my nails, wiped off the excess, and applied two more coats of the hardener and then added another coat for every day after. All of my nails have become longer, save for the ring finger which snapped off completley at work.

At this point I'm thinking of giving up, levelling all my nails and starting from the beginning but I want to see how much my non-broken nails grow with this protein hardener's help. If I get another split I was going to give up, no question about that and declare that this protein hardener didn't strengthen my nails at all.

The third week of treatment things just kept getting worse. Admittedly I hadn't been applying as many coats of polish daily as I should have been so maybe that was hindering development. My left hand looks good but my right hand has a wealth of problems.

I don't know if you can see it, but there are tears in the side of my nail, in the corner deep and far down. If it would tear, a good portion of my nail bed would have been exposed. There are two tears in the nail, so the polish isn't strengthening my nails at all.

There's a dent in my index finger's nail and then there's a rip in my middle finger. At this point I'm through with this treatment and I'm ready to level my nails and start anew with a new nail treatment. I really wanted to use this protein hardener for a full four weeks but I could see that it wasn't doing anything for my nails and I was wasting my time. This polish didn't strengthen my nails. It worked for ten days and then things all fell apart.

So I'm low scoring this treatment because it doesn't deliver on its promises of ending splitting, flaking and tearing.

Likes:

1. How glossy it is!
2. It works well as a base coat for polish
3. It temporarily strengthened my nails

Dislikes:

1. It didn't strengthen my nails for the duration of the period I was to use it
2. My nails felt as weak as usual

C

CoverGirl Ready, Set, Gorgeous Liquid Foundation 320 Soft Sable Review + Swatches

This foundation has been reputed to be a true drugstore gem in the online beauty community. Poor reviews of this foundation are few and far between. That, along with the fact that this foundation retails for a $7.97CDN caught my attention immediately. I'm almost done this tube of foundation and I'm ready to give you my verdict on it.

 Claims from the packaging: One simple step for a flawless, natural look that lasts all day. This formula blends easily to even skin tone and reduce shine all day.

Those claims are true! This foundation is so easy to blend into the skin, I barely have to do any work. Using fingers I can get a great finish, but when I use a blending sponge - like the Quo one I reviewed here - I get a flawless finish.

The left side of the back of my hand has a blended out swatch of the foundation on my hand. The right side of my hand has a drop of foundation, which is a really great match for my skin in the summer and the summer transitioning into fall. Shade 320 Soft Sable is a good colour for my NW45 skin when I've got a bit of a tan. During the winter and the winter transitioning into spring it's just a little bit too dark.

I'm proud of CoverGirl for a while they didn't have Soft Sable in Canada, the darkest shade they had was Tawny and Tawny is much lighter and much more golden. Though they could do better as Soft Sable is the darkest colour they offer and I know there are girls who want foundation who are darker than I am.

This foundation has no detectable smell which is always pleasant, I'm not a fan of scented foundation.

The foundation has a somewhat thick texture but spreads very easily on my skin. After about a minute the foundation sets into a satin matte finish. It's matte, but it's not a flat matte as CoverGirl's 3-in-1 foundation is. It gets dewier as the day wears on, but never gets super greasy.

I find this foundation keeps me matte in all areas aside from my nose which gets oily in two to three hours no matter what I do to it. The longevity of this foundation is really nice. When it fades, it loses its power to mattify and my skin gets dewy but doesn't break up and get patchy.

My skin is combination, slightly sensitive, and acne prone and I've never broken out from this foundation which is really nice.

This foundation feels so weightless on my skin and I love it! I love how this foundation has a thick and creamy texture, yet it feels like absolutely nothing on my skin. This foundation is as comfortable as a moisturizer all throughout the day.

In short, I really like this foundation because of the satin finish, how long it lasts and how weightless it feels. It's honestly one of my the better foundations that I've purchased and I'll repurchase it again, once I finish my grand tour of the foundation world.

I'd recommend this foundation to people who have slightly oily skin. I think it might be a little drying for people with dry skin. People with oily skin will benefit from it, but don't expect it to put a lock down on your oil, it'll keep it at bay but not for an extended period of time.

Likes:

1. Weightless feel on my skin
2. Blends really well
3. Lovely satin matte finish
4. Hasn't broken me out
5. Affordable

Dislikes:

1. I wish it would keep my oily nose under control
2. Needs deeper shades

A+



Milani Eyeshadow Primer Review

 

 

 

Some people don't think shadow primer is necessary. For people like me with oily lids, primer is a must. For a long time I really disliked wearing eye shadow because it would crease and look awful on me really quickly. I tried another eyeshadow primer from Essence - The I Love Stage shadow base - that did nothing to prevent creasing.

 

 

 

The most important thing to me with primer is one that will keep my lids from creasing. The second most important thing is that the primer keeps my eyeshadow from fading. The least important thing to me is having the primer make my eyeshadows more vibrant.

 

 

Here are the claims on the back of the packaging. I bought it for $8.99 from Well.ca. It is sold wherever Milani is sold such as Loblaws, Superstore and select Wal-Marts. It says the shade number is 01 Nude as if it comes in other shades, but it doesn't. Perhaps Milani is planning to release other shades, like a primer with a shimmer finish or dark finishes for smokey eyes. The nude shade is completely invisible on my skin unless I over apply it. 

 

The directions on the back of the package are right; apply it to clean dry lids. I've tried applying cream under the primer and that compromised the wear of the primer. If I apply cream I wait until my lids are dry. 

What I love love LOVE about this primer is the fact that its a squeeze tube primer! When shadow primer has a doe foot I absolutely hate it. For me it always ends up applying way too much onto my lids. I hope Milani never changes the packaging on this like certain other brands that will remain nameless *cough Urban Decay cough*. 

 

 

Here's a dot of primer on my hand (much larger then what I would actually use for both eyes). On the right side of the dot is a completely blended in dollop of primer. It's basically sheer with the slightest hint of beige.

 

I've had this primer for several months now and I absolutely love it. Whenever I use eyeshadow, this is the first step in my routine. The shadow proved it's worth to me this August. I wore it for eight hours and during that time I was out in the heat, I was sweating, and when I came home I was amazed to see my eyeshadow was still uncreased. If I hadn't been wearing the eyeshadow primer, it would've been faded, and badly creased. After wearing the shadow for ten hours I noticed there was light creasing. My shadows don't fade when I use this primer!

 

Caveats with this primer: When I apply too much primer it makes my lids look ashy. In addition to that it makes my shadows difficult to blend because they just stick in place and won't want to budge.

 

All in all; I absolutely LOVE this primer. It works incredibly well and the price is lovely. I love using it and I love how well it works.

 

Likes:

 

1. Keeps my eyeshadow from creasing

2. Keeps my eyeshadow from fading

3. Dries invisibly on my lids

4. Doesn't irritate my lids

5. Has a squeeze tube!

6. Affordable!

 

Dislikes:

 

1. If I apply too much I get a white cast and it's difficult to blend but that's my own fault

 

A+

Colourpop Ultra Matte Lips Tulle & Bumble Review

 

 

 

These two liquid lipsticks were my first order from Colourpop. I was dying to try out the liquid lipstick phenomenon that was sweeping the blogosphere but I wanted to do it as cheaply as possible. That way if I didn't like the lippies, it wouldn't be too big of a loss. 

 

They sent me this cute handwritten note which I thought was a cute note. I don't think they handwrite the notes anymore, but they're still a really adorable thing to include in a package. These liquid lipsticks retail for $6USD and the price in CDN varies with how strong our dollar is but it'll be around $7.90CDN. 

 

 

I ended up picking up Tulle and Bumble. Tulle is on the left and Bumble is on the right. Tulle is a dark burgundy brown while Bumble is a brightened terracotta rose.



 

Bumble is really bright on my skin worn straight out of the tube without a lip liner. Remarkably bright. So bright I wasn't even sure if I liked it on my skin tone. After playing with it I realized it looks really lovely with a lip liner and a small bit blended with the liner. Bumble is much more opaque then Tulle. 

 

Tulle is my favourite shade out of the two without a doubt. When I first put it on, I was in awe. It's such a beautiful colour! It's almost like a matte MLBB on my skin tone. It's gorgeous. I don't need a lip liner. Tulle is less pigmented then Bumble and I feel like I have to work a little harder (not hard at all but in comparison to Bumble) to get an even coat.

Now about the formula. These things dry quickly (after about twenty seconds) and feel very weightless on the lips so initially after I put them on, they felt so good I didn't even know I had anything on. But later on in the fifth and sixth hours my lips were feeling really parched. After eight hours I just wanted to take these off entirely because the dryness was maddening. At the same time I'm primarily used to hydrating lipsticks and glosses so going from that into one of these was tough for me. Others who have a higher threshold for dryness might find these downright comfy.

They are transfer proof once they've set which is really lovely. My lips don't stick together once they've set. They feel really smooth and soft when I touch my finger against my lips.

Taking these off is easy if you've got oil or an oil based makeup remover. These don't come off with standard cleansing facial towelettes. I appreciate the fact that they don't fade away and the fact that the colour comes off easily at the end of the day.

I do like these as matte lip colours but I'm not a big fan of how drying they are. Of course I expected them to be because that's just how liquid lipsticks are.

Likes:

1. Great range of colours
2. Sets quickly
3. Feels weightless on lips
4. Long lasting
5. Transfer proof

Dislikes:

1. Drying
2. If blending with a liner I've got to work really quickly!

A-