Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch review + swatch

The product for review today came from a Clarins Hudson's Bay bonus gift with purchase. The Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch is a primer that helps to provide a smooth canvas for makeup. It is formulated for all skin types so it is a perfect product for anyone to try.

This beauty-award winning primer is the perfect combination of make-up and skin care. With an ultra-light, ultra-smooth texture it glides on skin, leaving a imperceptible veil on its surface, filling in and smoothing away the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and pores. Your skin will be foundation ready to give your make-up a more even and flawless finish. Can be used alone or mixed with your foundation.

I use it after my moisturizer and let it sink in before applying foundation. The first thing I noticed about this is that it is SUPER smooth! It feels as smooth as silk and sometimes I swipe some just so I can feel it haha. It is a nudey pinkish colour but becomes translucent after application.

Similar to the texture of the cream, my skin also feels silky smooth after using this. It helps to smooth away pores but I don't have enough wrinkles to review about those benefits. It definitely helps with makeup application and also helps with making my makeup last longer. I have combo skin and I think it also does an okay job with controlling oil :)

The full size is 15 mL and sells for $35 so very pricey but worth it in my opinion!

This beauty-award winning primer is the perfect combination of make-up and skin care. With an ultra-light, ultra-smooth texture it glides on skin, leaving a imperceptible veil on its surface, filling in and smoothing away the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and pores. Your skin will be foundation ready to give your make-up a more even and flawless finish. Can be used alone or mixed with your foundation. - See more at: http://www.clarins.ca/en/instant-smooth-perfecting-touch/C050105002.html#sthash.348Q7OwY.dpuf

This beauty-award winning primer is the perfect combination of make-up and skin care. With an ultra-light, ultra-smooth texture it glides on skin, leaving a imperceptible veil on its surface, filling in and smoothing away the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and pores. Your skin will be foundation ready to give your make-up a more even and flawless finish. Can be used alone or mixed with your foundation. - See more at: http://www.clarins.ca/en/instant-smooth-perfecting-touch/C050105002.html#sthash.348Q7OwY.dpuf

This beauty-award winning primer is the perfect combination of make-up and skin care. With an ultra-light, ultra-smooth texture it glides on skin, leaving a imperceptible veil on its surface, filling in and smoothing away the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and pores. Your skin will be foundation ready to give your make-up a more even and flawless finish. Can be used alone or mixed with your foundation. - See more at: http://www.clarins.ca/en/instant-smooth-perfecting-touch/C050105002.html#sthash.348Q7OwY.dpuf

Topbox July 2014 review

Hello readers! For those who don't know, Topbox is a monthly beauty subscription box that allows you to "Get 4 hand-picked deluxe samples delivered to your door for $12 a month". They also have special Privé boxes you can add on your wishlist to replace the regular Topbox and the sometimes the option of getting the $10 mystery add-on. My review is for the July 2014 Topbox.

- LA Splash Nail Splash in Foolish (full size - $7.50)
- TheBalm Cosmetics INSTAIN Long-Wearing Powdering Staining Blush in Swiss Dot (0.5 g - $1.81)
- Clinique All About the Eyes (5 mL - $11.07)
- Bioderma Atoderm Moisturising Stick (full size - $6.95)
- Ceramic Glaze Nail Lacquer in Blueberry Bubblegum (full size - $11)

Total Value: $38.33
Paid: $13.56

According to my product card, the Ceramic Glaze nail polish was just a random extra so without it, it would have been a $27.33 value for my July Topbox.
EDIT: Apparently this could be part of the $10 mystery add-on

Like the LA. Splash Nail Splash I received in my April 2014 Topbox, I'm not really a fan of this colour. It's a very bright hot pink that seems to verge on neon. It's better than that green I got but I already have plenty of pinks that I do love so I'm hesitant to try this. The Ceramic Glaze polish is nice though and seems like a sea foam green. I've tried the white one from my May 2014 Topbox so I'm looking forward to trying this :)

As for the Clinique All About Eyes, I already have plenty of eye cream samples but this is a very generous sample that I will probably try next. Clinique isn't my favourite skincare brand but I know that some of there stuff is really great so this is nice to try. Bioderma Atoderm is probably my favourite product of this box! I love lip balms and this one smells like blue raspberry candy! This is a great brand so it'll be nice to try something other than their Sensibio Micelle Solution (which I also love)

Lastly, I'm also really excited to try TheBalm's Blush! It is a deep matte peach shade and the formula seems very buttery and long wearing (it did not wash off when I scrubbed my arm with water). My only complaint is the sample's surface is so small that I may have trouble getting my brush to get enough powder.

This month I also opted for the $10 mystery surprise. It was the Be a Bombshell eyeshadow quad in madrid. The colours seem pretty nice but unfortunately I've tried their eye shadows before and have gotten an allergic reaction :( I've emailed Topbox about this to see if anything can be done but it might just be a lost cause.

This was an okay Topbox but unfortunately I need to start saving up or tuition so this will be my last Topbox. It's been pretty great while it lasted so maybe I'll re-subscribe later on, but for now, goodbye Topbox!

What did you get in your July Topbox?

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Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder review

After making the transition to liquid foundation, I was on a hunt for a great setting/finishing powder and I settled on the Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder.

This translucent, silky finishing powder keeps makeup in place without ever appearing chalky and mattifies skin by removing excess surface oil. This powder can even be used alone as a treatment to reap all the benefits of Amazonian clay.

It is a white powder that goes on translucent and despite the whiteness, I never see any white cast in flash photography. I’ve heard a lot about Tarte and their Amazonian clay products being awesome for oil control and being long lasting so I finally decided to try this. Amazonian Clay: Acts as a total skin balancer by hydrating all skin types, reducing the appearance of dry, flaky skin, improving clarity and texture, and removing surface oil.

Since using this powder, I have noticed that my skin gets oily less quickly and that my foundation lasts for longer. It also makes my skin feel super smooth especially with the Covergirl Outlast foundation I recently started using. It definitely helps keep makeup on for longer and is my go to setting powder (okay it’s pretty much my only powder). I don’t carry it with me on the go so I have never used it for touch ups but I think that this would be a great powder for after that mid-day blotting session.

 
The packaging is very simple and sleek and is flat topped so you can stack your other products on top if necessary. It dispenses just through a tiny hole in the centre of the lid so it is a bit hard to get out. I find that when I turn it upside down onto the lid and shake the container side to side 2-3 times, I get enough powder. Unfortunately, one of the first few times I did this, the sifter part ended up coming off and a powder exploded everywhere :( I debated exchanging it for another but just ended up super gluing the sifter back on. I’m not sure if it was just mine that was like this, but beware! Make sure to test if the sifter is really stuck in before shaking this container.

I really like this powder and it does not take too much to cover your whole face so I can see it lasting me very long. I purchased this in November and I think I have only used (and lost) less than half of it. I'm going to keep using it until I'm done and am a bit undecided about repurchasing but I think I likely will :) It is sold in 0.32 oz. size at Sephora for $38.